Efficient Computation of Closed-loop Frequency Response for Large Order Flexible Systems

An efficient and robust computational scheme is given for the calculation of the frequency response function of a large order, flexible system implemented with a linear, time invariant control system. Advantage is taken of the highly structured sparsity of the system matrix of the plant based on a model of the structure using normal mode coordinates. The computational time per frequency point of the new computational scheme is a linear function of system size, a significant improvement over traditional, full-matrix techniques whose computational times per frequency point range from quadratic to cubic functions of system size. This permits the practical frequency domain analysis of systems of much larger order than by traditional, full-matrix techniques. Formulations are given for both open and closed loop loop systems. Numerical examples are presented showing the advantages of the present formulation over traditional approaches, both in speed and in accuracy. Using a model with 703 structural modes, a speed-up of almost two orders of magnitude was observed while accuracy improved by up to 5 decimal places.