A Practical Estimation of Frequency Response Functions for System Decoupling Indirectly Using a Variable Cross Section Rod

It is of high importance to be able to decouple a system to obtain the dynamic characteristics of its substructures; however, the necessary frequency response functions (FRFs) of the coupling interface are usually challenging to measure due to the limited accessible space and complex geometries. In this paper, a measurement technique in the decoupling process of a coupled system is proposed in order to obtain the FRFs at coupling interface. Specifically, a variable cross section rod is adopted to transmit the dynamic behavior of coupling interface. The proposed technique has three advantages: (a) the thick end with large cross section can provide enough area for applying excitation force like using impact hammer and/or setting up sensors; (b) the slender end with small cross section can break through the spatial limitation more easily; and (c) the convenience that no additional experimental setup is required but just using an available variable cross section rod. Vibrational equation of the variable cross section probe method is derived and then combined with the existing decoupling theories. Finally, the proposed probe method and the new decoupling theory combining probe theory are validated through numerical simulations (FEM) and laboratory experiments, respectively. The results show its great practicability in decoupling process especially in low frequency range.