  In this paper, we study the inverse problems of determining the unknown
transverse shear force $g(t)$ in a system governed by the damped
Euler-Bernoulli equation $\rho(x)u_{tt}+\mu(x)u_t+ (r(x)u_{xx})_{xx}+
(\kappa(x)u_{xxt})_{xx}=0, ~(x,t)\in (0,\ell)\times(0,T],$ subject to the
boundary conditions $u(0,t) =0$, $u_{x}(0,t)=0$,
$\left[r(x)u_{xx}+\kappa(x)u_{xxt}\right]_{x=\ell} =0$,
$-\left[\big(r(x)u_{xx}+\kappa(x)u_{xxt}\big)_{x}\right]_{x=\ell}=g(t)$, $t\in
[0,T]$, from the measured deflection $\nu(t):=u(\ell,t)$, $t \in [0,T]$, and
from the bending moment $\omega(t):=-\left(
r(0)u_{xx}(0,t)+\kappa(0)u_{xxt}(0,t) \right)$, $t \in [0,T]$, where the terms
$(\kappa(x)u_{xxt})_{xx}$ and $\mu(x)u_t$ account for the Kelvin-Voigt damping
and external damping, respectively.
  The main purpose of this study is to analyze the Kelvin-Voigt damping effect
on determining the unknown transverse shear force (boundary input) through the
given boundary measurements. The inverse problems are transformed into
minimization problems for Tikhonov functionals, and it is shown that the
regularized functionals admit unique solutions for the inverse problems. By
suitable regularity on the admissible class of shear force $g(t),$ we prove
that these functionals are Fr\'echet differentiable, and the derivatives are
expressed through the solutions of corresponding adjoint problems posed with
measured data as boundary data associated with the direct problem. The
solvability of these adjoint problems is obtained under the minimal regularity
of the boundary data $g(t)$, which turns out to be the regularizing effect of
the Kelvin-Voigt damping in the direct problem.
