Data fusion of acceleration and angular velocity for improved model updating

In the traditional finite element (FE) model updating, translational responses, such as acceleration, have generally been employed to identify the structural properties. However, the boundary conditions of a structure are associated with both translational and rotational DOFs. Thus, the combinational measurement of translational and rotational responses (e.g., angular velocity) would increase accuracy of FE model updating of structures, especially in identifying their boundary conditions. This paper proposes data fusion of translational and rotational responses for improved system identification using FE model updating technique. In the proposed method, the accelerometers and gyroscopes are installed in between and near the supports of a structure, respectively, and FE model updating is carried out using the natural frequencies, the translational mode shapes obtained from accelerations, and the rotational mode shapes obtained from angular velocities. Numerical and experimental verifications are carried out on simply-supported beam structures. The verifications show that the proposed FE model updating strategy based on the data fusion results in more accurate assessment of both structural properties and boundary conditions than the traditional FE model updating using translational responses only.