Numerical Study of the Vibrations of Beams with Variable Stiffness under Impulsive or Harmonic Loading

The behavior of beams with variable stiffness subjected to the action of variable loadings (impulse or harmonic) is analyzed in this paper using the successive approximation method. This successive approximation method is a technique for numerical integration of partial differential equations involving both the space and time, with well-known initial conditions on time and boundary conditions on the space. This technique, although having been applied to beams with constant stiffness, is new for the case of beams with variable stiffness, and it aims to use a quadratic parabola (in time) to approximate the solutions of the differential equations of dynamics. The spatial part is studied using the successive approximation method of the partial differential equations obtained, in order to transform them into a system of time-dependent ordinary differential equations. Thus, the integration algorithm using this technique is established and applied to examples of beams with variable stiffness, under variable loading, and with the different cases of supports chosen in the literature. We have thus calculated the cases of beams with constant or variable rigidity with articulated or embedded supports, subjected to the action of an instantaneous impulse and harmonic loads distributed over its entire length. In order to justify the robustness of the successive approximation method considered in this work, an example of an articulated beam with constant stiffness subjected to a distributed harmonic load was calculated analytically, and the results obtained compared to those found numerically for various steps (spatial h and temporal τ ¯ ) of calculus, and the difference between the values obtained by the two methods was small. For example for ( h=1/8 , τ ¯ =1/ 64 ), the difference between these values is 17%.

Non-Linear Response of Tethers Subjected to Parametric Excitation in Submerged Floating Tunnels

For the study of the non-linear response of inclined tethers subjected to parametric excitation in submerged floating tunnels, a theoretical model for coupled tube-tether vibration is developed. Upon the assumption that the static equilibri- um position of the tether is a quadratic parabola, the governing differential equations of the tether motion are derived by use of the Hamihon principle. An approximate numerical solution is obtained by use of Galerkin method and Runge-kutta method. The results show that, when the static equilibrium position of the tether is assumed to be. a quadratic parabola, the tether sag effect on its vibration may be reflected; the tether sag results in the asymmetry of tether vibration amplitude ; for the reduction of the tether amplitude, the buoyant unit weight of the tether should approach to zero as far as possible during the design.