Obtaining the Coupled Response of Structures from their Mass Loaded Forced Response

This paper outlines a newly developed method for predicting the coupled response of structures from their uncoupled forced responses without having to know the forces acting on such structures. It involves computing the forced response of originally uncoupled structures with several mass loadings at a potential coupling point. The response data obtained from such computations is then used to predict the coupled response. The theory for discrete linear systems is outlined in the paper and a numerical example is given to demonstrate the validity, advantages and limitations of the method.

The method is primarily devised to obtain coupled response of linear dynamic systems from independent and uncoupled analytical simulations. Its application significantly decreases computation time by reducing the simulation model size and is excellent for “what if” scenarios where a large number of simulations would otherwise be necessary.

In its current form, the method can be utilized solely as an analytical approach as numerous difficulties arise when measurement data is used. Major difficulties related to the use of measurement data, several ideas in order to overcome these difficulties and the scope of further development to render the method viable as a hybrid or an exclusively experimental technique is also discussed.