RESPONSE SELECTION AND DYNAMIC DAMPER APPLICATION TO IMPROVE THE IDENTIFICATION OF MULTIPLE-INPUT FORCES OF NARROW FREQUENCY BAND

Abstract

In identifying input forces by using FRF matrices and response measurements, improper selection of the response measurement position and the excitation frequency, if it coincides with the natural frequencies of the structure, may cause doubtful accuracy and effectiveness. This paper presents two methods to improve force identification. The first is by improving the conditioning of the system FRF matrix by a proper selection of the measurement positions. An expression for the covariance matrix representing the uncertainty on the force estimate is defined. Then the response selection algorithm, which is both systematic and effective, is derived. The basic strategy in selecting the response positions is to let the smallest singular value be as large as possible. The second method is to modify the structure by attaching a dynamic damper at a suitable location to minimise the ill-conditional nature of the FRF matrix especially near a resonance frequency. The methods suggested are tested numerically and experimentally in two examples: a beam structure and a rectangular plate structure. The test results show that the response selection and the addition of a dynamic damper are very effective in solving ill-conditioning problems, especially when the structure has a large degree of freedom and when the excitation frequencies are near one of the structure's natural frequencies.