Elasto-dynamic Response Analysis of a Curved Composite Sandwich Beam Subjected to the Loading of a Moving Mass

In this paper, the dynamic response of a simply - supported relatively thick composite sandwich curved beam under a moving mass is investigated. In contrast to previous works, the geometry of beam is considered to be in a curved form. Moreover, the rotary inertia and the transverse shear deformation are also considered in the present analysis. The governing equations of the problem are derived using Hamilton's principle. Then, the obtained partial differential equations are transformed to the ordinary differential equations with time varying coefficients, using the modal analysis method. Fourth-order Runge-Kutta method is applied to solve the ordinary differential equations in an analytical – numerical form. The obtained results are validated by the results existed in the literature. Performing a thorough parametric study, the effects of some important parameters such as the mass and the velocity of moving mass, the radius of curvature of the beam, the core thickness to the total thickness ratio and the stacking sequences of the face sheets on the dynamic response are investigated. It is observed that increasing the mass and the velocity of moving mass and the radius of curvature of beam, result in an increase, decrease and increase of the dynamic deflection of curved beam, respectively.