Determination of the flexural rigidity of a beam from limited boundary measurements (Q815972)

The author studies the following inverse problem: Consider the equation (possibly in the weak sense) \[ (k(x) u''(x))'' + q(x) u(x) = f(x),\quad x \in [a, b]. \] This equation models a loaded beam, where \(u(x)\) is its deflection, \(k(x)\) its flexural rigidity, \(f(x)\) the transverse distributed load to which the beam is subject, and \(q(x)\) the foundation modulus. In this setup, the bending moment is \(M(x) = k(x) u''(x)\) and consequently \(M'(x)\) is the shear force. Given \(q(x)\) and \(f(x)\), the problem is to estimate \(u(x)\) and \(k(x)\), from the values of \(u\), \(u'\), \(M\), and \(M'\) at the two boundary points \(x = a\) and \(x = b\) (in particular, it is assumed that \(u(a) = u'(a) = 0)\). Of course this is a very limited data and for this reason the author restricts his search in small classes of functions, namely low-degree polynomials. He, also, looks for ``quasi-solutions'', namely solutions that minimize certain functionals. This is more realistic since measurements are not exact.