An analytical-numerical method that can be used to describe the dynamic behavior of continuous beams carrying a moving mass is presented in this thesis. Continuous beams are idealized as Bernoulli-Euler beams, and the dynamic behavior of moving mass across multispan continuous beams is studied by means of the system of distributed coordinates. The main advantage of this technique is that it requires a little amount of computational effort, therefore it is especially efficient for a continuous beam with many spans.
An analytical method is used for determining eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of continuous beams with arbitrary boundary conditions by using a general solution of a differential eqation for the lateral vibration of the beams. For the analysis of the dynamic response of continuous beams traversed by moving mass with constant velocity, the governing partial differential equation can be transformed into a series of coupled ordinary differential equations, and then can be solved by using Newmark Beta direct integration method. Also, it is possible to investigate the contribution of each vibrational mode as well as response characteristics of continuous beams.
This study shows that the response of structures due to moving mass, which has often been neglected in the past, must be properly taken into account because the behavior of moving mass model often differs significantly from that of moving force model. The effect of vehicle mass is more significant at higher speeds within range of practical vehicle speeds and higher ratios of vehicle mass to total bridge mass.
