An approach to the mode pairing problem

The problem of matching modal vectors that stem from two different sources is addressed. While the traditional solution is to maximise the trace of a certain matrix of MAC (modal assurance criterion)-numbers, an improvement by which the full matrix is taken into account is suggested. The proposed method does not invoke any lengthy calculation and embraces the conventional approach as a special case. Art industrial finite element model updating application is used to illustrate the performances of the traditional and modified strategies. (C) 1998 Academic Press.