State-Space Dynamic Substructuring with the Transmission Simulator Method

Dynamic substructuring is a technique to simplify the analysis of complex structures. The vibrational problems of the constituent substructures are analysed and solved individually and their solutions are then assembled to form the global solution. In experimental dynamic substructuring, at least one of the constituent substructures is identified experimentally. The coupling interfaces are commonly simplified in such syntheses, which can result in poor prediction quality in many applications. The transmission simulator was introduced to address this problem. Transmission simulators are well-modelled parts attached to the interface of the substructures to be coupled. This allows for distributed interfaces and a relaxation of the coupling conditions by using the transmission simulator’s analytical modes as a basis for the coupling equations, at the cost of adding a decoupling step to the substructuring problem. In this paper, the transmission simulator method is translated to the state-space substructuring domain. The methodology is applied to the Society for Experimental Mechanics’ substructuring focus group’s Ampair A600 test bed in form of experimental-analytical substructuring. The Ampair wind turbine’s hub is used as the transmission simulator and is modelled with finite elements while the three blades, individually attached to the real hub, are experimentally identified. The three experimental blade hub systems are then coupled and two finite element hubs decoupled from the system, using the derived method. Finally, this system is compared to a directly measured hub with three blades by means of frequency response functions and modal properties.