Engineering Research Equipment Grant: Structural Laser Velocimeter

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This project provides resources for the procurement of equipment to support structural dynamics research. The equipment comprises a single laser Michelson interferometric velocimeter with its associated control/display computers and software for structural measurements. This system could establish the basis of a unique and innovative technological advancement in experimental structural dynamics modeling. The noncontacting characteristic of laser measurements eliminates many of the problems of contaminated response data encountered with accelerometers normally used in experimental structural analysis. Rotational effects, which cannot be measured with translational transducers, can also be determined with the laser velocimeter. The equipment supports two major current research activities. The first, high density mode shape extraction and spatial modal analysis, focuses on the experimental extraction of real or complex modes of a structure at more than 65,000 points with 3 degrees of freedom. The second activity addresses the assessment of existing modeling approaches and development of new elasticity theories for predicting dynamic behavior of structures. Furthermore, this velocimeter will be used for a six dimensional comparison of finite element models and experimental modal analysis mode shapes for the determination of finite modeling defects, for quantitative non-destructive structural damage evaluation via detailed mode shape comparison, and for the development of mathematical models from measured multi- mode six degree of freedom experimental mode shapes.