USING THE CROSS-CORRELATION TECHNIQUE TO EXTRACT MODAL PARAMETERS ON RESPONSE-ONLY DATA

Modal parameter identification is used to identify those parameters of the model which describe the dynamic properties of a vibration system. Classical modal parameter extractions usually require measurements of both the input force and the resulting response in laboratory conditions. However, when large-scale operational structures are subjected to random and unmeasured forces such as wind, waves, or aerodynamics, modal parameters estimation must base itself on response-only data. Over the past years, many time-domain modal parameter identification techniques from output-only have been proposed. Among them, the natural excitation technique (NExT) has been a very powerful tool for the modal analysis of structures excited in operating environment. This issue reviews the theoretical development of natural excitation technique (NExT), which uses the cross-correlation functions of measured responses coupling with conventional time-domain parameter extraction under the assumption of white-noise random inputs. Then a frequency-domain poly reference modal identification scheme by coupling the cross-correlation technique with conventional frequency-domain poly reference modal parameter extraction is presented. It uses cross-power spectral density functions instead of frequency response functions and auto- and cross-correlation functions instead of impulse response functions to estimate modal parameters from response-only data. An experiment using an airplane model is performed to investigate the effectiveness of the cross-correlation technique coupled with frequency-domain poly reference modal identification scheme.