Dynamic Responses of Functionally Graded Sandwich Beams Resting on Elastic Foundation Under Harmonic Moving Loads

This paper investigates the free vibration and dynamic response of functionally graded sandwich beams resting on an elastic foundation under the action of a moving harmonic load. The governing equation of motion of the beam, which includes the effects of shear deformation and rotary inertia based on the Timoshenko beam theory, is derived from Lagrange’s equations. The Ritz and Newmark methods are employed to solve the equation of motion for the free and forced vibration responses of the beam with different boundary conditions. The results are presented in both tabular and graphical forms to show the effects of layer thickness ratios, boundary conditions, length to height ratios, spring constants, etc. on natural frequencies and dynamic deflections of the beam. It was found that increasing the spring constant of the elastic foundation leads to considerable increase in natural frequencies of the beam; while the same is not true for the dynamic deflection. Additionally, very large dynamic deflection occurs for the beam in resonance under the harmonic moving load.