Identification of pseudo-natural frequencies of an axially moving cantilever beam using a subspace-based algorithm

This study focuses on extraction of frequency information of a linear time-varying system using free response data. Frequency information is obtained from the pseudo-modal parameters that were defined in a previous study. A subspace-based identification algorithm is introduced. An improved version is proposed to make the algorithm less sensitive to measurement noise. An axially moving cantilever beam is used as the experimental system. A dynamic model is presented to show that lateral vibration of the axially moving cantilever beam is governed by a linear time-varying model. A computer simulation is conducted to compare the true pseudo-modal parameters and approximate ones that can be identified using the improved algorithm. The experimental study focuses on the capabilities of the algorithm and the factors that affect the identification results. A method of grouping identified structural pseudo-natural frequencies is proposed. Limitations of the algorithm are discussed.