Model updating in structural dynamics through a confluence algorithm

The identification of the dynamic response of a structure in the presence of structural degradation has potential practical use on health monitoring systems and can contribute to improve the safety of rotorcraft flight and wind-turbine operations and to decrease their handling costs. A combined numerical and experimental procedure, called Property Identification Algorithm, updates the numerical model based on a limited set of experimental measurements in order to accurately predict the dynamic response of a system in the presence of structural degradations. The algorithm is designed based on modal decomposition and discrete experimental measurements, and is formulated in the case of periodic excitations. It is demonstrated that the updated dynamic response represents an accurate map of the experimental response in the domain. The paper describes the proposed algorithm and presents validation cases.