QUICK LOOK MODAL TESTING OF FLEXIBLE STRUCTURES

AN INNOVATIVE, MODAL-TEST ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE FOR SUCCESSFUL GROUND TESTING OF LARGE, PRECISION SPACE STRUCTURES WILL BE INVESTIGATED. TRADITIONAL APPROACHES TO MODAL TESTING ARE HAMPERED BY THE OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF DATA THAT MUST BE ACQUIRED, STORED, AND ANALYZED FOR THESE LARGE, FLEXIBLE STRUCTURES, WHICH REFLECTS DIRECTLY ON TESTING COSTS AND TIME. THE APPLICATION OF DATA-COMPRESSION PRINCIPLES TO MODAL ANALYSIS IS PROPOSED AS A METHOD OF PROVIDING A COST-EFFECTIVE, QUICK LOOK AT THE TEST DATA. THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY A COMBINATION OF AUTOMATED ZOOMING IN ON THEBANDWIDTHS OF INTEREST, AND EFFICIENT MANIPULATION OF THE COMPRESSED INFORMATION FOR THE EVENTUAL VISUALIZATION OF THEMODAL DATA. THE SPEED AND ACCURACY OF THE PROPOSED QUICK-LOOK METHOD WILL BE COMPARED WITH STANDARD MODAL-TESTING ALGORITHMS SUCH AS ERA, ITD, AND THE POLY-REFERENCE METHOD. AN INNOVATIVE, MODAL-TEST ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE FOR SUCCESSFUL GROUND TESTING OF LARGE, PRECISION SPACE STRUCTURES WILL BE INVESTIGATED. TRADITIONAL APPROACHES TO MODAL TESTING ARE HAMPERED BY THE OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF DATA THAT MUST BE ACQUIRED, STORED, AND ANALYZED FOR THESE LARGE, FLEXIBLE STRUCTURES, WHICH REFLECTS DIRECTLY ON TESTING COSTS AND TIME. THE APPLICATION OF DATA-COMPRESSION PRINCIPLES TO MODAL ANALYSIS IS PROPOSED AS A METHOD OF PROVIDING A COST-EFFECTIVE, QUICK LOOK AT THE TEST DATA. THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY A COMBINATION OF AUTOMATED ZOOMING IN ON THEBANDWIDTHS OF INTEREST, AND EFFICIENT MANIPULATION OF THE COMPRESSED INFORMATION FOR THE EVENTUAL VISUALIZATION OF THEMODAL DATA. THE SPEED AND ACCURACY OF THE PROPOSED QUICK-LOOK METHOD WILL BE COMPARED WITH STANDARD MODAL-TESTING ALGORITHMS SUCH AS ERA, ITD, AND THE POLY-REFERENCE METHOD.