Fast frequency response analysis of large-scale structures with non-proportional damping

Modal frequency response analysis is an economical approach for large and complex structural systems since there is an enormous reduction in dimension from the finite element frequency response problem. However, when non-proportional damping exists, the modal frequency response problem is expensive to solve at many frequencies because modal damping matrices are fully populated. This paper presents a new algorithm to solve the modal frequency response problem for large and complex structural systems with structural and viscous damping. The newly developed algorithm, fast frequency response analysis (FFRA) algorithm, solves the damped modal frequency response problem with O(m2) operations at each frequency. Then the FFRA algorithm is extended for solving a system of equations in optimization application with the modal correction approach, in which the mass, stiffness and damping matrices of a modified configuration differ from the original configuration. Numerical results show that the FFRA algorithm dramatically improves the performance of the modal frequency response analysis compared to conventional methods in industry while obtaining the same accuracy. Copyright q 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.