Structural system identification using degree of freedom-based reduction and hierarchical clustering algorithm

Abstract

A system identification method has been proposed to validate finite element models of complex structures using measured modal data. Finite element method is used for the system identification as well as the structural analysis. In perturbation methods, the perturbed system is expressed as a combination of the baseline structure and the related perturbations. The changes in dynamic responses are applied to determine the structural modifications so that the equilibrium may be satisfied in the perturbed system. In practical applications, the dynamic measurements are carried out on a limited number of accessible nodes and associated degrees of freedom. The equilibrium equation is, in principle, expressed in terms of the measured (master, primary) and unmeasured (slave, secondary) degrees of freedom. Only the specified degrees of freedom are included in the equation formulation for identification and the unspecified degrees of freedom are eliminated through the iterative improved reduction scheme. A large number of system parameters are included as the unknown variables in the system identification of large-scaled structures. The identification problem with large number of system parameters requires a large amount of computation time and resources. In the present study, a hierarchical clustering algorithm is applied to reduce the number of system parameters effectively. Numerical examples demonstrate that the proposed method greatly improves the accuracy and efficiency in the inverse problem of identification.