Analysis of non-homogeneous Timoshenko beams with generalized damping distributions

This paper presents a study on the effects of generalized damping distributions on non-homogeneous Timoshenko beams. On the basis of some fundamentals of modal analysis for damped continuous systems applied to the particular case of the Timoshenko beam model, the eigenproblem is solved by applying a method combining a state-space representation with a transfer matrix technique, yielding closed-form expressions for the eigenfunctions. After validation by means of numerical examples using the Finite Element Method, response functions in both the time and the frequency domain are discussed and compared according to different damping distributions.