Structural Dynamics Teaching Example: A Linear Test Analysis Case Using Open Software

摘要

Teaching the topic of structural dynamics in any engineering field is a true challenge due to the wide span of the underlying subjects like mathematics, mechanics (both rigid body and continuum mechanics), numerical analysis, random data analysis and physical understanding. With the increased availability of computers many engineering problems in practice are evaluated by means of numerical methods. The teaching task within the field of structural dynamics thus has to include analytical models in order to create a theoretical basis but also has to include computational techniques with its approximations, and knowledge about their limitations. Equally important is for students to have knowledge of the experimental verification of the obtained models. This paper describes a teaching example where a simple plate structure is modeled by shell elements, followed by a model calibration using experimental modal analysis data. By using open software, based on MATLAB as a basis for the example, the applied numerical methods are made transparent to the student. The example is built on a combination of the free CALFEM and ABRAVIBE toolboxes, and thus all code used in this paper is publically available as open source code.