A new FEM procedure for transverse and longitudinal vibration analysis of thin rectangular plates subjected to a variable velocity moving load along an arbitrary trajectory

A combined plate element is presented for the analysis of transverse and longitudinal vibrations of a thin plate which carries a load moving along an arbitrary trajectory with variable velocity. Depending on the acceleration of the point load on its trajectory on the plate surface, the combined element, which is a combination of the 24 DOF plate element and an equivalent mass element, represents transverse (z) inertia, Coriolis and centripetal and longitudinal (x, y) inertia effects of the moving load. In order to obtain the combined element, mass, damping and stiffness matrices of the equival...