A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO MODAL PRETEST DESIGN

The pretest design of an efficient modal test is described from the test engineerʹs perspective. A pretest modal model is used together with practical considerations to arrive at the number and location of excitation and response sensors on the test structure. Sensor subsets are selected to facilitate modal parameter estimation. An example illustrates the design of a multi-input random test of a transport aeroplane. Several questions are raised in hopes of stimulating further discussion and research.