Numerical solution of fractionally damped beam by homotopy perturbation method

Abstract

This paper investigates the numerical solution of a viscoelastic continuous beam whose damping behaviours are defined in term of fractional derivatives of arbitrary order. The Homotopy Perturbation Method (HPM) is used to obtain the dynamic response. Unit step function response is considered for the analysis. The obtained results are depicted in various plots. From the results obtained it is interesting to note that by increasing the order of the fractional derivative the beam suffers less oscillation. Similar observations have also been made by keeping the order of the fractional derivative constant and varying the damping ratios. Comparisons are made with the analytic solutions obtained by Zu-feng and Xiao-yan [Appl. Math. Mech. 28, 219 (2007)] to show the effectiveness and validation of this method. © 2013 Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Wien.