Generalized receptance-based method for accurate and efficient modal synthesis

Modal synthesis plays an important role in efficient dynamic analyses of large structural assemblies. However, the numerical accuracy and the computational efficiency which existing modal synthesis methods have achieved to date are not quite satisfactory. This paper presents a new generalized receptance-based modal synthesis method which is numerically very accurate and computationally very efficient. The method employs receptance data computed at just few frequency values to formulate a derived equivalent eigensys tem from which required eigenvalues and eigenvectors of interest can be solved. It provides mathematical generalization for existing mode-based modal synthesis methods since modal data are essentially those receptance data at resonant frequencies. A normalization procedure is also presented which can be used to mass normalize computed mode shapes which are often required in practice. Compensation for the contribution of higher uncomputed modes to receptance data at lower frequency of interest is made to improve analysis accuracy by using lower calculated modes and known system matrices. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.