Comparison between DET and FEM in Vibration Analysis of Beams Subjected to Moving Loads

Discrete element technique (DET) and finite element method (FEM) are two methods that are used widely in various problems such as vibration analysis of beams subjected to moving loads. However, the advantages of one method to another are unknown and therefore this paper compares these two methods and explains the advantages of each method. First, the formulation of DET and FEM is presented briefly and then the analytical formulation of traveling moving loads on simply-supported beams is presented. At last several examples are solved to show the accuracy of these two methods by comparing them with exact solution.