Identification of dynamic loading on a bending plate using the Virtual Fields Method

This paper aims at identifying local dynamic transverse forces and distributed pressures acting on the surface of a thin plate, from its measured vibration response. It is related to previous work by other authors on the so-called Force Analysis Technique but uses a different formulation. The paper first presents the theoretical developments based on the Virtual Fields Method and then, numerically simulated data are processed to validate the identification algorithm. Finally, experimental data are used. Both mechanical point load excitation, and distributed acoustic excitation of a bending panel are considered. The force reconstruction results are very satisfactory and the low computational times together with the simple implementation make the Virtual Fields technique attractive for this type of problem.