Dimensional Analysis and Development of Similitude Rules for Dynamic Structural Models

Reduced scale models are widely used for experimental investigations of large civil engineering structures due to limitations of the facilities available in testing laboratories as well as less costing of the experimental set up and fabrication of reduced scale models. Scale modeling reduces the size of a structural model without losing important characteristics in the behavior of the prototype. Scale models should satisfy similitude requirements so that they can be used to study the response of full scale (prototype) structures scale structures. However, very few studies have been carried out on the similitude rules for scaling down of the prototype structures with the models. In this study, an attempt has been made to develop the similitude relations dynamic structural models based on dimensional analysis which is a mathematical technique to deduce the theoretical relation of variables describing a physical phenomenon.