STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS MODEL VALIDATION: PUSHING THE ENVELOPE

SUMMARY: “Pushing the envelope” is a phrase commonly used to refer to the action of approaching or exceeding known performance boundaries. “Model validation” refers to the assessment of the accuracy of computational simulations with respect to experimental reference data. Recent advances in computational capability, coupled with an increasing demand for computational predictive accuracy and the ever-increasing cost of experimental data, have driven an increased interest in model validation for the assessment and improvement of the predictive accuracy of finite element simulations for structural dynamics. In this paper, a general process of model validation is reviewed with regard to the current state of the practice and for each step of the process it is illustrated how modern techniques are “pushing the envelope” of this technology.