Dynamic response of a Mindlin elastic rectangular plate under a distributed moving mass

The elastodynamic response of a rectangular Mindlin plate subjected to a distributed moving mass is investigated. The set of governing characteristic partial differential equations that include the effects of shear deformation and rotary inertia is expressed in its dimensionless form. A finite difference algorithm is employed to transform the differential equations into a set of linear algebraic equations. Simply supported edge conditions were used as an illustrative example. The analysis is also valid for other edge conditions. It is found that the maximum shearing forces, bending and twisting moments occur almost the same time. Also, the values of the maximum deflections are higher for Mindlin plates than for non-Mindlin plates.