Testing Summary for the Box Assembly with Removable Component Structure

The boundary conditions of a test will have an effect on the dynamic response of a test unit. The industry standard of designing the most rigid fixture possible may not be the correct approach to replicate responses to service environment loads. The Box Assembly with Removable Component (BARC) structure was developed as a challenge problem for those investigating boundary conditions and their effect on these tests. Several BARC structures have been manufactured and sent to collaborators who have performed a variety of structural tests on the hardware. This paper serves as a collection and comparison of the dynamic testing that has been performed to date by several organizations taking part in this research challenge problem. Of particular interest is the variability in modal parameters between different test articles, as well as any nonlinearities that can be identified.