Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) is widely employed and became an industrial standard technique for identifying the modal parameters (i.e. resonance frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes) of mechanical structures. The advantage, if compared with Experimental Modal Analysis (EMA), is that it is not necessary to stop the machine, but its modal characteristics can be estimated during its operating cycles. In other words, OMA does not rely on known and deterministic excitation, but it uses exclusively the natural vibrations of the structure. It is very useful in cases in which the forces cannot be measured or when it is very difficult to excite a structure and it is more convenient to exploit the natural ambient excitation.

In the aerospace field many applications of OMA have been employed, for understanding the dynamic behaviour of light, flexible structures, for analysing data coming from flight testing, for predictive maintenance of systems, for safely operations for wind turbines and, broadly speaking, rotating machines.

This special session of IOMAC 2027 is collecting recent experiences on methods, measurements and simulations which employ OMA in aerospace applications and is bridging for future implementations of AI for improving data analysis, structural optimizations and certification requirements.

Keywords: Flight Testing, Light Structures, Wind Turbines, Numerical-Experimental Correlation, Structural Health Monitoring

Track chairs

Francesco Marulo, University of Naples Federico II

Emilio Di Lorenzo, Siemens Digital Industries Software