STOCHASTIC VIBRATION OF AN ELASTIC BEAM DUE TO RANDOM MOVING LOADS AND DETERMINISTIC AXIAL FORCES

This paper deals with the random vibration of a simply-supported elastic beam subjected to random loads moving with time-varying velocity. The beam is also subjected to axial forces. Based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and stochastic methods, the problem is formulated by means of a partial differential equation. Closed form solutions for the mean and variance of the response are obtained. Results are presented for different cases of speed, damping and axial force parameters. The results show the effect of the variations of these parameters and interactions among them on the random vibration characteristics of the beam. Comparisons with known solutions are made.