Modelling of bridge-vehicle system

Beam vibration due to passage of moving Sprung Masses

𝑣𝑡

In the beam and vehicle model of Figure.1, the displacement of the sprung mass relative to its
position of equilibrium under self-weight is represented by 𝑢𝑣 , and the deflection of the beam is
𝜋𝑥
represented by 𝑢𝑏 = 𝑧(𝑡) sin 𝑙 is the first mode shape of the beam. If the vehicle is moving with a
constant speed of v, the force applied to the beam is expressed by
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑡 (𝑔 − 𝑢̈ 𝑏 ) + [𝑘𝑣 (𝑢𝑣 − 𝑢𝑏 ) + 𝑚𝑣 𝑔] (1)

Where 𝑚𝑡 = un-sprung mass of the vehicle, 𝑚𝑣 = sprung mass of the vehicle and 𝑘𝑣 = sprung
mass 𝑚𝑣 is supported by a spring of stiffness 𝑘𝑣
The dynamic deflection is represented by the summation of modal components
𝑛

𝑢𝑏 = ∑ 𝐴𝑛 𝜙𝑛 (𝑥) (2)

Where 𝐴𝑛 is the modal amplitude (which varies with time), and 𝜙𝑛 (𝑥) is the modal-shape is
function for the nth mode.
The equation of motion of the bridge for nth mode using Lagrange’s Equation is given by
𝑙
𝑓(𝑡) ∫0 𝑝1 (𝑥)𝜙𝑛 (𝑥)𝑑𝑥
𝐴̈𝑛 + 𝜔𝑛2 𝐴𝑛 = 𝑙
𝑚 ∫0 𝜙𝑛2 (𝑥) 𝑑𝑥

where 𝑓(𝑡) = load-time function and 𝑝1 (𝑥) = The load distribution along the span which is
any function of x
It was found that the modal equation of motion (neglecting damping) for a beam with single
concentrated load is
𝐹𝜙𝑛 (𝑐𝐹 )
𝐴̈𝑛 + 𝜔𝑛2 𝐴𝑛 = 𝑙
(3)
∫0 𝑚[𝜙𝑛 (𝑥)]2 𝑑𝑥
 where 𝑐𝐹 is the distance from the end of the span to the force. In the present case 𝑐𝐹 is a function of
time and is equal to 𝑣𝑡, where t is measured from the instant at which the force entered the span. As
the beam is simply supported and prismatic,
𝑛𝜋𝑥
𝜙𝑛 (𝑥) = sin
𝑙
and Equation (3) becomes after substitution of 𝑐𝐹 = 𝑣𝑡,
2𝐹 𝑛𝜋𝑣𝑡
𝐴̈𝑛 + 𝜔𝑛2 𝐴𝑛 = sin (4)
𝑚𝑙 𝑙
Substituting Equation (1) into Equation (4) to obtain the modal equation of motion for the
beam and inserting
𝑁
𝑛𝜋𝑣𝑡
𝑢𝑏 = ∑ 𝐴𝑛 sin
𝑙
𝑛=1
𝑁
𝑛𝜋𝑣𝑡
𝑢̈ 𝑏 = ∑ 𝐴̈𝑛 sin
𝑙
𝑛=1

𝑚𝑏 𝑙
Multiplying both sides by , and rearranging we get
2
𝑁
𝑚𝑏 𝑙 𝑛𝜋𝑣𝑡 𝑛𝜋𝑣𝑡 𝑚𝑙𝜔𝑛2
̈
𝐴 + (𝑚𝑡 sin ̈
) (∑ 𝐴𝑛 sin )+ 𝐴𝑛
2 𝑛 𝑙 𝑙 2
𝑛=1
𝑁
𝑛𝜋𝑣𝑡 𝑛𝜋𝑣𝑡
= [(𝑚𝑣 + 𝑚𝑡 )𝑔 + 𝑘𝑣 (𝑢𝑣 − ∑ 𝐴𝑛 sin )] sin (5)
𝑙 𝑙
𝑛=1

Above equation indicates a set of equations, one for each normal mode of the beam. The dynamic
equilibrium equation for sprung mass
𝑁
𝑛𝜋𝑣𝑡
𝑚𝑣 𝑢̈ 𝑣 + 𝑘𝑣 (𝑢𝑣 − ∑ 𝐴𝑛 sin )=0 (6)
𝑙
𝑛=1

Equation (5) and (6) provide a set of N+1 equations, where N is the number of beam modes
considered, which is solved by numerical analysis for the motions of the beam and the sprung mass.
Including only first mode, let 𝑧𝑐 be the midspan beam deflection, and introducing viscous-damping
terms, the foregoing equations may be written as
1 𝜋𝑣𝑡 𝑚𝑏 𝑙𝜔12
( 𝑚𝑏 𝑙 + 𝑚𝑡 sin2 ) 𝑧̈𝑐 + 𝑧𝑐 + 𝑐𝑏 𝑧̇𝑐
2 𝑙 2
𝑁
𝜋𝑣𝑡 𝜋𝑣𝑡
= [(𝑚𝑣 + 𝑚𝑡 )𝑔 + 𝑘𝑣 (𝑢𝑣 − ∑ 𝐴𝑛 sin )] sin (7)
𝑙 𝑙
𝑛=1

𝜋𝑣𝑡 𝜋𝑣𝑡
𝑚𝑣 𝑢̈ 𝑣 + 𝑘𝑣 (𝑢𝑣 − 𝑧𝑐 sin ) + 𝑐𝑣 (𝑢̇ 𝑣 − 𝑧̇𝑐 sin )=0 (8)
𝑙 𝑙
 𝜋𝑣𝑡
𝑚𝑣 𝑢̈ 𝑣 [(𝑚𝑣 + 𝑚𝑡 )𝑔 + 𝑘𝑣 (𝑢𝑣 − 𝑢𝑏 )] sin
𝑙

𝜋𝑣𝑡
𝑚𝑡 sin2
𝑙
𝑚𝑣 1
𝑀𝐵𝑒 = 𝑚𝑏 𝑙
2
𝑢𝑣
𝑢𝑏
𝑐𝑏 𝑢̇ 𝑏
𝜋𝑣𝑡
𝑐𝑣 (𝑢̇ 𝑣 − 𝑢̇ 𝑏 ) ቀ𝑀𝐵𝑒 + 𝑚𝑡 sin2 ቁ 𝑢̈ 𝑏
𝑙
𝑘𝑣 (𝑢𝑣 − 𝑢𝑏 )
𝑚𝑏 𝑙𝜔12
𝑢𝑏
2
Figure 1: Free Body Diagram

𝐸𝐼
For the first mode natural frequency 𝜔1 = 𝜋 2 √𝑚 4
𝑏𝑙

𝑚𝑏 𝑙𝜔12 𝑚𝑏 𝑙𝜔12 𝑚𝑏 𝑙 𝜋 4 𝐸𝐼 𝜋 4 𝐸𝐼
Substituting the above into we get = × =
2 2 2 𝑚𝑏 𝑙4 2𝑙3

Representing Equation (7) and (8) into matrix form we get

𝜋𝑣𝑡
𝑚𝑣 0 𝑘𝑣 −𝑘𝑣 sin 𝑢𝑣 0
[ 𝑚𝑏 ] [𝑢̈ 𝑣 ] + [ 𝑙
] [ ] = 𝑔 [ 𝜋𝑣𝑡 ] (9)
0 𝑧𝑐̈ 𝜋𝑣𝑡 2
𝜋𝑣𝑡 𝜋 4 𝐸𝐼 𝑧𝑐 𝑚𝑣 sin
2 −𝑘𝑣 sin 𝑘𝑣 sin + 𝑙
𝑙 𝑙 2𝑙 3
𝑚 𝑚𝑏 𝜋 4 𝐸𝐼
We now define 𝜒 = 𝑚𝑣 = mass ratio, 𝑚∗ = , 𝑘∗ = , 𝜔𝑣 = bounce frequency of the vehicle,
𝑏 2 2𝑙3
𝑘∗ 𝜔 𝑚𝑣 𝑔
𝜔𝑏 = √𝑚∗ = frequency of the bridge model, 𝜙 = 𝜔𝑣 = frequency ratio, Δ𝑠𝑡 = = maximum static
𝑏 𝑘∗
𝑚𝑣 𝑔
midspan deflection of the bridge under vehicle load, and 𝛿 = = static deflection of vehicle
𝑘𝑣
spring. In addition, we define the following set of coordinates
𝑢𝑣 𝑢𝑣 𝜔𝑣2 (10a)
𝑢̃𝑣 = =
𝛿 𝑔
𝑧 𝑧𝜔𝑏2
𝑧̃ = = (10b)
Δ𝑠𝑡 2𝜒𝑔
Note that 𝑧̃ is equal to the dynamic amplification factor.
On transformation to coordinates 𝑢̃𝑣 and 𝑧̃ , reduces to

1 𝛼
0 1 −2𝜒𝜙 2 sin 𝜔 𝑡 0
𝜔𝑣2 𝑢̃̈𝑣 𝜙 𝑣 𝑢̃𝑣
[ ]+[ 𝛼 𝛼 ][ ] = [2𝜒𝜙 2 sin 𝛼 𝜔 𝑡] (11)
2𝜙 4 𝜒 𝑧̃𝑐̈ 𝑧̃𝑐
𝜙 𝑣
0 −2𝜒𝜙 2 sin 𝜔𝑣 𝑡 4𝜒 2 𝜙 4 sin2 𝜔 𝑡 + 2𝜒𝜙 2
[ 𝜔𝑣2 ] 𝜙 𝜙 𝑣