Random analysis of coupled vehicle–bridge systems with local nonlinearities based on explicit time-domain method

Based on the explicit time-domain method, an efficient analysis algorithm is developed for the random vibration analysis of the coupled vehicle–bridge system with local nonlinear components. In this work, the coupled vehicle–bridge system is divided into two subsystems, including the linear bridge subsystem and the nonlinear vehicle subsystem. Firstly, using the equivalent linearization technique, the equivalent linearized subsystem is constructed for the vehicle subsystem with the hysteretic suspension spring at a given time instant. Then, the explicit expressions of the responses of the linearized vehicle subsystem and the linear bridge subsystem are constructed corresponding to contact forces, respectively. Further, the explicit expression of the contact forces is derived in consideration of the compatibility condition. Lastly, the dimension-reduction vibration analysis for the equivalent linearized coupled vehicle–bridge system can be carried out based on the explicit time-domain method. The numerical example about a coupled vehicle–bridge system under the random irregular excitation is investigated, and the results indicate that the proposed approach is of feasibility.