Identification method for lightly damped structures

Abstract

A structural model identification method is developed for determination of the mass and stiffness matrices of an undamped structure along with the damping matrix of a lightly damped structure. Using measurements of natural frequencies, damping factors, and frequency response elements, a unique identification of the model is established through incorporation of the spectral decomposition of the frequency response function and the modal orthonormality conditions. Numerical simulations demonstrate the flexibility and potential of the proposed method.