Dynamic Behavior of a Rigid, Perfectly Plastic Free-Free Beam Subjected to a Local Uniformly Distributed Impulsive Load at one End

Abstract

The small-deflection response of a free–free beam subjected to a local uniformly distributed impulsive load at one free end is examined; the material of the beam is assumed to be rigid and perfectly plastic. Solutions are obtained for various combinations of the magnitude and length of the local uniformly distributed impulsive load. The location of the plastic hinge on the beam depends not only on the magnitude of the load but also on the length of the load applied. As the length of the applied uniformly local distributed load is fixed, the plastic hinge would occur in the region between the limit position of plastic hinge εlim and the critical position of plastic hinge εc which are determined by the length of the applied load.