An Underdetermined Blind Source Separation Method with Application to Modal Identification

In structural dynamic analysis, the blind source separation (BSS) technique has been accepted as one of the most effective ways for modal identification, in which how to extract the modal parameters using very limited sensors is a highly challenging task in this field. In this paper, we first review the drawbacks of the conventional BSS methods and then propose a novel underdetermined BSS method for addressing the modal identification with limited sensors. The proposed method is established on the clustering features of time-frequency (TF) transform of modal response signals. This study finds that the TF energy belonging to different monotone modals can cluster into distinct straight lines. Meanwhile, we provide the detailed theorem to explain the clustering features. Moreover, the TF coefficients of each modal are employed to reconstruct all monotone signals, which can benefit to individually identify the modal parameters. In experimental validations, two experimental validations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.