AN EXPLICIT TIME-INTEGRATION METHOD FOR DAMPED STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

A damped trapezoidal rule method for numerical time-integration is pre sented, and its application in analyses of dynamic response of damped structures is discussed. It is shown that the damped trapezoidal rule method has features that make it an attractive approach for applicatio ns in dynamic analyses of structures. Accuracy and stability analyses are developed for the damped single-degree-of-freedom systems. Error a nalyses are also performed for the Newmark beta method and compared wi th the damped trapezoidal rule method as a basis for discussion of the relative merits of the proposed method. The procedure is fully explic it and easy to implement. However, since the method is an explicit met hod, it is conditionally stable. The methodology is applied to several example problems to illustrate its strengths, limitations and inheren t simplicity.