• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.119-133
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• 2023

Impact event is the key factor influencing the operational state of the mechanical equipment. Additionally, nonlinear factors existing in the complex mechanical equipment which are currently attracting more and more attention. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel hybrid-separate identification strategy to solve the force identification problem of the nonlinear structure under impact excitation. The 'hybrid' means that the identification strategy contains both l1-norm (sparse) and l2-norm regularization methods. The 'separate' means that the nonlinear response part only generated by nonlinear force needs to be separated from measured response. First, the state-of-the-art two-step iterative shrinkage/thresholding (TwIST) algorithm and sparse representation with the cubic B-spline function are developed to solve established normalized sparse regularization model to identify the accurate impact force and accurate peak value of the nonlinear force. Then, the identified impact force is substituted into the nonlinear response separation equation to obtain the nonlinear response part. Finally, a reduced transfer equation is established and solved by the classical Tikhonove regularization method to obtain the wave profile (variation trend) of the nonlinear force. Numerical and experimental identification results demonstrate that the novel hybrid-separate strategy can accurately and efficiently obtain the nonlinear force and impact force for the nonlinear structure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.409-424
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• 2007

In this paper, an identification method of impact force is proposed for composite structures. In this method, the relation between force histories and strain responses is first formulated. The transfer matrix, which relates the strain responses of sensors and impact force information, is constructed from the finite element method (FEM). Based on this relation, an optimization model to minimize the difference between the measured strain responses and numerically evaluated strain responses is built up to obtain the impact force history. The identification of force history is performed by a modified least-squares method that imposes the penalty on the first-order derivative of the force history. Moreover, from the relation of strain responses and force history, an error vector indicating the force location is defined and used for the force location identification. The above theory has also been extended into the cases when using acceleration information instead of strain information. The validity of the present method has been verified through two experimental examples. The obtained results demonstrate that the present approach works very well, even when the internal damages in composites happen due to impact events. Moreover, this method can be used for the real-time health monitoring of composite structures.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.123-139
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• 2019

Impact forces induced by external object collisions can cause serious damages to civil engineering structures. While accurate and prompt identification of such impact forces is a critical task in structural health monitoring, it is not readily feasible for civil structures because the force measurement is extremely challenging and the force location is unpredictable for full-scale field structures. This study proposes a novel approach for identification of impact force including its location and time history using a small number of multi-metric observations. The method combines an augmented Kalman filter (AKF) and Genetic algorithm for accurate identification of impact force. The location of impact force is statistically determined in the way to minimize the AKF response estimate error at measured locations and then time history of the impact force is accurately constructed by optimizing the error co-variances of AKF using Genetic algorithm. The efficacy of proposed approach is numerically demonstrated using a truss and a plate model considering the presence of modelling error and measurement noises.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.195-214
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• 2016

Monitoring of impact loads is a very important technique in the field of structural health monitoring (SHM). However, in most cases it is not possible to measure impact events directly, so they need to be reconstructed. Impact load reconstruction refers to the problem of estimating an input to a dynamic system when the system output and the impulse response function are usually known. Generally this leads to a so called ill-posed inverse problem. It is reasonable to use prior knowledge of the force in order to develop more suitable reconstruction strategies and to increase accuracy. An impact event is characterized by a short time duration and a spatial concentration. Moreover the force time history of an impact has a specific shape, which also can be taken into account. In this contribution these properties of the external force are employed to create a sample-force-dictionary and thus to transform the ill-posed problem into a sparse recovery task. The sparse solution is acquired by solving a minimization problem known as basis pursuit denoising (BPDN). The reconstruction approach shown here is capable to estimate simultaneously the magnitude of the impact and the impact location, with a minimum number of accelerometers. The possibility of reconstructing the impact based on a noisy output signal is first demonstrated with simulated measurements of a simple beam structure. Then an experimental investigation of a real beam is performed.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.97-116
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• 2024

The standard l₁-norm regularization is recently introduced for impact force identification, but generally underestimates the peak force. Compared to l₁-norm regularization, l_p-norm (0 ≤ p < 1) regularization, with a nonconvex penalty function, has some promising properties such as enforcing sparsity. In the framework of sparse regularization, if the desired solution is sparse in the time domain or other domains, the under-determined problem with fewer measurements than candidate excitations may obtain the unique solution, i.e., the sparsest solution. Considering the joint sparse structure of impact force in temporal and spatial domains, we propose a general l_p-norm (0 ≤ p < 1) regularization methodology for simultaneous identification of the impact location and force time-history from highly incomplete measurements. Firstly, a nonconvex optimization model based on l_p-norm penalty is developed for regularizing the highly under-determined problem of impact force identification. Secondly, an iteratively reweighed l₁-norm algorithm is introduced to solve such an under-determined and unconditioned regularization model through transforming it into a series of l₁-norm regularization problems. Finally, numerical simulation and experimental validation including single-source and two-source cases of impact force identification are conducted on plate structures to evaluate the performance of l_p-norm (0 ≤ p < 1) regularization. Both numerical and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed l_p-norm regularization method, merely using a single accelerometer, can locate the actual impacts from nine fixed candidate sources and simultaneously reconstruct the impact force time-history; compared to the state-of-the-art l₁-norm regularization, l_p-norm (0 ≤ p < 1) regularization procures sufficiently sparse and more accurate estimates; although the peak relative error of the identified impact force using l_p-norm regularization has a decreasing tendency as p is approaching 0, the results of l_p-norm regularization with 0 ≤ p ≤ 1/2 have no significant differences.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.4
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• pp.391-405
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• 2019

Compared to the ambient vibration test mainly identifying the structural modal parameters, such as frequency, damping and mode shapes, the impact testing, which benefits from measuring both impacting forces and structural responses, has the merit to identify not only the structural modal parameters but also more detailed structural parameters, in particular flexibility. However, in traditional impact tests, an impacting hammer or artificial excitation device is employed, which restricts the efficiency of tests on various bridge structures. To resolve this problem, we propose a new method whereby a moving vehicle is taken as a continuous exciter and develop a corresponding flexibility identification theory, in which the continuous wheel forces induced by the moving vehicle is considered as structural input and the acceleration response of the bridge as the output, thus a structural flexibility matrix can be identified and then structural deflections of the bridge under arbitrary static loads can be predicted. The proposed method is more convenient, time-saving and cost-effective compared with traditional impact tests. However, because the proposed test produces a spatially continuous force while classical impact forces are spatially discrete, a new flexibility identification theory is required, and a novel structural identification method involving with equivalent load distribution, the enhanced Frequency Response Function (eFRFs) construction and modal scaling factor identification is proposed to make use of the continuous excitation force to identify the basic modal parameters as well as the structural flexibility. Laboratory and numerical examples are given, which validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Furthermore, parametric analysis including road roughness, vehicle speed, vehicle weight, vehicle's stiffness and damping are conducted and the results obtained demonstrate that the developed method has strong robustness except that the relative error increases with the increase of measurement noise.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.623-630
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• 1995

The impulse response functions (force-strain relations) for Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko beams are considered. The response of a beam to a transverse impact force is numerically obtained with the convolution approach using the impulse response function obtained by Laplace transform. Using this relation, the impact force history is determined in the time domain and results are compared with those from Hertz's contact law. The parameters of timpact force model are identified using the recovered force and compared with the Hertz's contact model. In order to verify the proposed algorithm, measurements were done using an impact hammer and a steel ball drop test and these results are also compared with the simulated values.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.2A
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• pp.161-168
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• 2010

The bonded tendon was adopted to the reactor building of some operating nuclear power plants in Korea and the assessment of the effective prestress force on the bonded tendon is being issued as an important pending problem for continuous operation beyond their design life. The sensitivity analysis of various parameters was carried out to evaluate the effective prestress force using the system identification technique and the optimal parameters were determined for SI technique in this study. The 1/5 scaled post-tensioned concrete beams with the bonded tendon type were manufactured and in order to investigate the relationship of the natural frequency and the displacement to the effective prestress force, impact test, SIMO sine sweep test and bending test using the optical fiber sensor and the compact displacement transducer were carried out. As a result of tests, both the natural frequency and the displacement show the good relationship with the effective prestress force and both parameters are available for the SI technique to estimate the effective prestress force.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.437-443
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• 2012

In this paper, the hybrid method to identify the exciting forces and radiated noise generated from the reciprocating compressor was presented. In order to identify the exciting force, both the acceleration data measured at the compressor shell and numerical finite element model for the full set of compressor were used simultaneously. Applying the identified exciting forces to the numerical model, the velocity responses of all nodes at the shell were predicted. Finally the radiated noises from the vibrating shell were predicted by using the direct boundary element acoustic analysis. For precise numerical modeling, the stiffness of rubber mounts and body springs were identified experimentally from the natural frequencies measured by impact testing. The error of over-all sound pressure level between predicted noise and measured noise was about 2.9 dB.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.129-136
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• 2011

The aim of this paper is to present the method of identifying the impact location on the plate. This basic research has the future purpose to achieve the human-interaction technology based on the signal processing, piezoelectric materials, and wave propagation. The present work concerning the location identification of a single impact on the plate simulated the waveform numerically generated by impact force and applied the SWFOM(sliced Wigner higher fourth order moment) to the waveform to get the arrival time differences due to impact force between three sensors attached to the plate. The simulated signal is useful to get the information for time interval for the only direct wave. This information is used the source localization by using experimental work. The measured signal is also used for source localization of a single impact based on the higher order time frequency as a novel work.