Damping loss factor identification based on energy finite element method

A new method for the identification of damping loss factor (DLF) is proposed in this paper, combining energy finite element method (EFEM), energy density testing theory and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms. An experimental system is designed to identify the DLF of a rectangular plate made in steel based on the theoretical formulation. The identification results are compared with the power injection method (PIM) results. Besides, the identification method is modified by considering the range of test deviation. This research shows that the new method is less dependent on the location of the selected exciting points and the location of the measurement points in far-field conditions, and it is more consistent with the PIM method and has a higher accuracy within the correction range. In addition, the method can be used to obtain an accurate identification results with fewer measurement points compared with PIM, which is of high practicality.