Paper 2, Section II, E

Further Complex Methods
Part II, 2020

A semi-infinite elastic string is initially at rest on the xx-axis with 0x<0 \leqslant x<\infty. The transverse displacement of the string, y(x,t)y(x, t), is governed by the partial differential equation

2yt2=c22yx2\frac{\partial^{2} y}{\partial t^{2}}=c^{2} \frac{\partial^{2} y}{\partial x^{2}}

where cc is a positive real constant. For t0t \geqslant 0 the string is subject to the boundary conditions y(0,t)=f(t)y(0, t)=f(t) and y(x,t)0y(x, t) \rightarrow 0 as xx \rightarrow \infty.

(i) Show that the Laplace transform of y(x,t)y(x, t) takes the form

y^(x,p)=f^(p)epx/c\hat{y}(x, p)=\hat{f}(p) e^{-p x / c}

(ii) For f(t)=sinωtf(t)=\sin \omega t, with ωR+\omega \in \mathbb{R}^{+}, find f^(p)\hat{f}(p) and hence write y^(x,p)\hat{y}(x, p) in terms of ω,c,p\omega, c, p and xx. Obtain y(x,t)y(x, t) by performing the inverse Laplace transform using contour integration. Provide a physical interpretation of the result.