Identifying axial load patterns using space frame FEMs and measured vibration data

The axial loading of a space frame may need to be quantified, perhaps for improvement of a finite element model (FEM) to better represent the structural dynamics or to ascertain how close the structure is to buckling. The coexistence of compressive and tensile forces in a space frame causes certain frequencies to increase with respect to load while others decrease. This intricate behaviour has been modelled in the FEM of a bi-tetrahedral space frame through consideration of the geometric stiffness, which accounts for stiffness changes in the loaded members. Updating the load pattern in the FEM using Newton's method (traditional sensitivity-based model updating) brings the model frequencies closer to those physically measured from the real bi-tetrahedral frame and thus provides identification of the axial loads. This load pattern is a predetermined set of frame axial forces in equilibrium. Such a constraint means that the extent of loading can be described by just one scalar updating parameter, an improvement upon former methods that updated member forces as independent parameters. When compared to the loads measured using strain gauges, the loads identified by model updating are seen to offer approximations of the actual loading. Difficulties such as modelling joint behaviour are discussed. The present work extends a series of numerical studies on load updating published by the authors by offering a demonstration of load pattern identification using physically measured vibration data from a real space frame.