Damping identification in a non-linear aeroelastic structure

An energy-based method is proposed to identify damping parameters from time histories of responses to sets of single-frequency harmonic excitation. The method is intended to be practically applicable to real structures and is able to identify the value of viscous damping, Coulomb friction and eventually other forms of non-linear damping models in aeroelastic systems. The inputs required are simply the accelerometer signals and the forces applied. It will be shown that if the system is undergoing Limit Cycle Oscillations, no external force is required for the identification process.