On the Numerical Treatment of the Temporal Discontinuity Arising from a Time-Varying Point Mass Attachment on a Waveguide

Abstract

A vibrating pylon, modeled as a waveguide, with an attached point mass that is time-varying poses a numerically challenging problem regarding the most efficient way for eigenvalue extraction. The reason is three-fold, starting with a heavy mass attachment that modifies the original eigenvalue problem for the stand-alone pylon, plus the fact that the point attachment results in a Dirac delta function in the mixed-type boundary conditions, and finally the eigenvalue problem becomes time-dependent and must be solved for a sequence of time steps until the time interval of interests is covered. An additional complication is that the eigenvalues are now complex quantities. Following the formulation of the eigenvalue problem as a system of first-order, time-dependent matrix differential equations, two eigenvalue extraction methods are implemented and critically examined, namely the Laguerre and the QR algorithms. The aim of the analysis is to identify the most efficient technique for interpreting time signals registered at a given pylon as a means for detecting damage, a procedure which finds application in structural health monitoring of civil engineering infrastructure.