Traveling waves in a suspension bridge system

Robert A. Ain, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Abstract

In this thesis, we study the traveling waves in a Lazer-McKenna suspension bridge system which is governed by two coupled nonlinear beam and wave equations. The Lazer-McKenna suspension bridge system describes the vertical deflections in the roadbed and supporting cable of a suspension bridge. Based on some basic analysis on the system, we are able to compute traveling waves numerically by using MAPLE. Multiple large-amplitude traveling waves are obtained. The graphs of various traveling waves are displayed and discussed.