Approximation and Calibration of Nonlinear Structural Dynamics

In this paper, a methodology for the calibration of nonlinear structural dynamic models is presented. Calibration of nonlinear structural dynamics offers several additional challenges beyond that of linear dynamics. Even with advanced computational power, exact nonlinear finite element simulations often take several hours to complete on engineering workstations. Thus, the proposed model calibration method utilizes an approximate structural model. This approximate analysis is embedded in the outer loop, which utilizes an exact finite element analysis to verify the validity of the approximate model. If the approximate model is shown to be invalid at that point in parameter space, then the new exact analysis is used to develop an improved approximate model and the inner loop is executed again. Specifically, this paper will focus on the two key aspects of the inner loop, namely the development of an approximate model, and the parameter identification using the approximate model.