Identification of Dynamic Structures with Special Attention to Damping Matrix Representation

Abstract : In finite element modeling, damping parameters, structural characteristics of joints, and boundary conditions are very difficult to estimate, causing discrepancy between analytic results and actual measured behavior. Various methods of structural identification were studied and compared in terms of their basic assumptions and advantages. A nonlinear optimization based method was though to be promising for the identification of structures with highly uncertain structural parameters. An algorithm was developed to construct the damping matrix from experimental data. A computer program was developed for verification of this method. The method appeared to work well for lightly, viscously damped structures.