Advances in dynamic load identification based on data-driven techniques

Dynamic loads on engineering structures are often difficult to measure directly. Therefore, indirect identification methods based on dynamic responses are commonly used. However, this approach is often influenced by ill-conditioned matrices, noise interference, unknown structural and/or material parameters, and difficulty of constructing transfer functions when the traditional physics-based model is used. To address these issues, significant strides have been made in data-driven identification of dynamic loads, which are model-free and independent of structural characteristics. This paper tries to present a comprehensive review of dynamic load identification methods based on data-driven techniques, covering two aspects: load localization and load reconstruction. Features of the widely used data-driven techniques such as the geometric method, reference database method, machine learning methods including SVM-based methods and ANN-based methods and deep learning methods are discussed in detail. Additionally, this paper offers insight into the challenges and prospects of the data-driven techniques for dynamic load identification. The review aims to provide valuable insights for identifying dynamic loads in complex structures based on data-driven techniques and suggests future research directions.