Dynamic Response of Beam on Viscoelastic Subgrade

Initial elasticity and restricted viscous flow of a subgrade greatly influence the dynamic response of a Bernoulli-Euler beam supported by such a subgrade. The beam is of infinite length and is subject to a moving concentrated load. The standard linear viscoelastic solid represents the Winkler-type viscoelastic foundation. It is shown that the effect of the foundation damping is most pronounced over a certain limited velocity range of the concentrated load. Unbounded critical-velocity resonance does not occur. The influence of initial elasticity is exhibited by a comparison with the response of a beam supported by a foundation of Kelvin models. Analytical expressions as well as graphs are presented for the beam deflections and the bending moments.