Data-driven modeling techniques to estimate dispersion relations of structural components

Dispersion relations describe the frequency-dependent nature of elastic waves propagating in structures. Experimental determination of dispersion relations of structural components, such as the floor of a building, can be a tedious task, due to material inhomogeneity, complex boundary conditions, and the physical dimensions of the structure under test. In this work, data-driven modeling techniques are utilized to reconstruct dispersion relations over a predetermined frequency range. The feasibility of this approach is demonstrated on a one-dimensional beam where an exact solution of the dispersion relations is attainable. Frequency response functions of the beam are obtained numerically over the frequency range of 0 - 50kHz. Data-driven dynamical model, constructed by the vector fitting approach, is then deployed to develop a state-space model based on the simulated frequency response functions at 16 locations along the beam. This model is then utilized to construct dispersion relations of the structure through a series of numerical simulations. The techniques discussed in this paper are especially beneficial to such scenarios where it is neither possible to find analytical solutions to wave equations, nor it is feasible to measure dispersion curves experimentally. In the present work, actual experimental data is left for future work, but the complete framework is presented here.