A Novel Approach of Interface Stiffness Identification Based on Wave Propagation Method

Abstract The contact joint in mechanical system will bring uncertainty, which leads to the uncertainty of dynamic response. Identification of interface stiffness is particularly important in the assembly process, such as bolt connection and rivet connection. In this paper, the contact joint can be regarded as a kind of structural discontinuity, and the contact joint in two beams is modeling with shear stiffness and bending stiffness. The wave theory is integrated into the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory to establish the relationship between the power reflection coefficient and the interface stiffness. The proposed method is verified by establishing a finite element model. The results show that the interface stiffness is accurately identified. In addition, the influence of interface stiffness on power reflection coefficient is discussed. This method has better local characteristics and avoids the disadvantages of identification by natural frequency method.