Spectral-Domain Based Impact Force Identification for Rod Structures

Indirect impact force identification has attracted researchers due to the simplicity of indirect methods for calculating the applied force during the impact incident. In this paper, an impact force identification method for rod structures is proposed. The proposed method uses the spectral finite element method. The spectral finite element method is a frequency-based finite element method that takes advantage of the benefits of spectral methods and the simplicity of the finite element method. Using the frequency domain method for impact force identification simplifies the calculations and allows for the identification of impact forces with high frequency content, including MHz and above. The impact force identification method uses the collected data of the response of a section of the structure and utilizes the spectral finite element model of the structure to calculate the impact force. The results of the numerical study display strong agreement between the simulated impact force and the identified force. The performance of the force identification method is verified by applying it to experimental data collected from an impacted rod structure.