Passive Control in a Continuous Beam under a Traveling Heavy Mass: Dynamic Response and Experimental Verification

The motion of a heavy mass on a bridge span causes vibrations whose magnitude and frequency content depend on the mechanical properties of the structural system, including the magnitude of that mass and its speed of traverse. In order to limit vibrations that could potentially cause damage, a simple passive device configuration, namely the tuned mass damper (TMD), is introduced and its effect on the beam vibrations analyzed. Specifically, a TMD in the form of a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) unit comprising a mass and a spring is placed on the span to act as a secondary system for absorbing vibrations from the primary system, i.e., the bridge itself. A Lagrangian energy balance formulation is used to derive the governing equations of motion, followed by an analytical solution using the Laplace transform to investigate the transmission of vibratory energy between primary and secondary systems. Results are given in terms of time histories, Fourier spectra and spectrograms, where the influence of the TMD in reducing vibratory energy is demonstrated. The TMD is placed in the region where the beam's transverse motion is at a maximum, while its mechanical properties are sub-optimal, in the sense that there is no separate damper present and minimal damping is provided by the spring element itself. In parallel with the analysis, a series of experiments involving a simply supported model steel bridge span traversed by a heavy mass are conducted to first gauge the analytical solution and then to confirm the validity of the proposed passive scheme.