Response of a finite beam in contact with a tensionless foundation under symmetric and asymmetric loading

In this work a general analytical model is developed for the static response of a beam resting on a tensionless elastic foundation subjected to a lateral point load. This load may either be located at the center of the beam or may be offset. An analytical/numerical solution is obtained to the governing equations; this solution makes no assumption about either the contact area or the kinematics associated with the transverse deflection of the beam. This is in contrast to previous work in which, for an infinite beam (where the load is symmetric by definition), implicit assumptions about the contact area and the response kinematics were made. Because these assumptions are dropped, the contact behavior differs in several fundamental ways from its infinite counterpart. Specifically, it is shown that (i) the contact area is a sensitive function of the beam length and that this function may change nonmonotonically, (ii) the contact area may depend on the magnitude of the load, (iii) asymmetric loads, which cannot exist in the infinite problem, have a dramatic influence the contact area for the finite system. These features are demonstrated with specific examples and explained in terms of the fundamental physics of the system. The implications for these behaviors are also discussed.