Point mass identification in rectangular plates from minimal natural frequency data

Abstract The inverse problem of determining the location and size of a point mass attached on a simply supported, isotropic and homogeneous rectangular plate from minimal natural frequency data is considered in this paper. Under the assumption that the size of the mass is small compared to the total mass of the plate, we show that the problem can be formulated and solved in closed form in terms of point mass-induced changes on the first three natural frequencies. Numerical simulations indicate that the method allows for accurate identification, provided that measurement/modelling errors are smaller than eigenfrequency changes.