Minimal-order experimental component mode synthesis - New results and challenges

An experimental component mode synthesis procedure is presented that consists of an objective substructure-level modal identification, a minimum-order substructure realization expressed in terms of physical displacement and residual modal coordinates, and a global synthesis that exploits the physical form of the substructure realizations. The present experimental procedure is analogous to and approaches in its asymptotic limit to the well-known Craig-Bampton analytical component mode synthesis but is motivated by the physical form of the minimal-order mass and stiffness representation. The procedure is illustrated in a step-by-step manner via a numerical example and then demonstrated by applying it to an experimental component mode synthesis of assembling two truss structures into a global structure.