Nonlinear dynamical modeling and response analysis of complex structures based on assumed mode weighting

The assumed mode method (AMM) is widely used for dynamical modeling but faces increasing challenges in developing low-dimensional and high-precision models of complex structures for investigations of nonlinear dynamical responses and active vibration control. This is mainly because the current complex structure has an increasing number of components, each of which needs to be discretized by multiple assumed modes in dynamical modeling, leading to increasing degrees of freedom for the system. To address this issue, this paper proposes a dimension-reduced method based on the assumed mode weighting method, referred to as Mode Weighting Method (MWM). The modeling process of a multi-beam structure is fully presented as an example to show the strategy of the MWM. During this process, the assumed mode (AM) model (the dynamic model derived in terms of a set of assumed modes) is developed first where the joints of the structure between its components are considered as artificial springs and each component is discretized by its vibration modes without constraints. The components of the eigenvector of the characteristic equation derived from the AM model are taken as the weighting coefficients to get the approximate analytical global modes of the structure by multiplying the corresponding assumed modes. Consequently, a nonlinear dynamic model with a few degree of freedom is obtained by discretizing the structure with the weighted modes. Moreover, a technique for simply obtaining the weighted mode (WM) models by directly processing the AM model through a transformation matrix is presented. To validate the proposed method, the simulations on the natural characteristics and the dynamical responses for both linear and nonlinear models, are performed respectively based on the WM and the finite element models, where both results are well matched each other. This work provides a new way of developing advanced dynamical modeling methods for structural dynamics design, optimization, and active vibration control. [Display omitted] •A Mode Weighting Method (MWM) for nonlinear dynamical modeling of complex structures.•A low-dimensional and high-precision dynamical model of a muti-beam structure.•Investigation of the dynamical characteristics of the muti-beam structure with nonlinear elastic supports.