Three dimensional solution of thick rectangular simply supported plates under a moving load

Dynamic behavior of continuous systems such as beams and plates, under a moving load is an important engineering subject. In this paper, 3D elasticity equations are solved by use of the displacement potential functions and the exact solution of a simply supported thick rectangular plate under moving load is presented. For this purpose, the governing equations in terms of displacements, Navier's equations, are converted to two linear partial differential equations of forth and second order using displacement potential functions. Then the governing equations in terms of the potential functions are solved using the separation of variables and Laplace integral transform, satisfying exact initial and boundary conditions. In order to validate the present approach, the obtained results of this study are compared with the results of the classical theory of plates for thin and existing solutions for moderately thick plates. Also, it is observed that the speed of a moving load has an important effect on the dynamic response of plate.