Spatial system identification of a simply supported beam and a trapezoidal cantilever plate

Dynamic models of structural and acoustic systems are usually obtained by means of either modal analysis or finite element modeling. Detrimentally, both techniques rely on a comprehensive knowledge of the system's physical properties. As a consequence, experimental data and a nonlinear optimization are required to refine the model. For the purpose of control, system identification is often employed to estimate the dynamics from disturbance and command inputs to set of outputs. Such discretization of a spatially distributed system places unknown weightings on the control objective, in many cases, contradicting the original goal of optimal control. This paper introduces a frequency domain system identification technique aimed at obtaining spatially continuous models for a class of distributed parameter systems. The technique is demonstrated by identifying a simply supported beam and a trapezoidal cantilever plate, both with bonded piezoelectric transducers. The plate's dimensions are based on the scaled side elevation of a McDonnell Douglas FA-18 vertical stabilizer.