dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaModal Parameter Extraction via Propeller-Driven Vibration Testing
| Authors | Gabriele Dessena, Alessandro Pontillo |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | 2601.08123vv1 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.08123 |
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Abstract
Ground Vibration Testing (GVT) supports aircraft certification but often requires lengthy and costly campaigns. Propeller-driven Vibration Testing (PVT) is assessed here as an output-only alternative, in line with Operational Modal Analysis approaches such as Taxi Vibration Testing and Flight Vibration Testing. A cantilever Aluminium 7075-T6 wing spar is instrumented with seven accelerometers and excited by an outboard electric motor and propeller. Seven runs are carried out: a motor-off baseline, five constant-throttle cases, and a manual up-down throttle sweep. The acquired spectra indicate that the dominant resonances remain observable under propeller excitation, while low-throttle conditions introduce narrowband harmonics that may mask structural peaks; the sweep reduces persistent overlap. Modal parameters are identified for the baseline and sweep cases using the Natural Excitation Technique with the Loewner Framework (NExT-LF). The first two modes remain closely matched (Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC) > 0.99), whereas the third mode shows reduced repeatability (MAC = 0.827) and a larger frequency shift, consistent with propeller-induced bending--torsion coupling and non-ideal sweep control. Overall, PVT provides a viable complement to GVT for extracting low-frequency modal information and motivates pursuing future work on automated throttle scheduling and coupling-aware test planning.
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"abstract": "Ground Vibration Testing (GVT) supports aircraft certification but often requires lengthy and costly campaigns. Propeller-driven Vibration Testing (PVT) is assessed here as an output-only alternative, in line with Operational Modal Analysis approaches such as Taxi Vibration Testing and Flight Vibration Testing. A cantilever Aluminium 7075-T6 wing spar is instrumented with seven accelerometers and excited by an outboard electric motor and propeller. Seven runs are carried out: a motor-off baseline, five constant-throttle cases, and a manual up-down throttle sweep. The acquired spectra indicate that the dominant resonances remain observable under propeller excitation, while low-throttle conditions introduce narrowband harmonics that may mask structural peaks; the sweep reduces persistent overlap. Modal parameters are identified for the baseline and sweep cases using the Natural Excitation Technique with the Loewner Framework (NExT-LF). The first two modes remain closely matched (Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC) \u003e 0.99), whereas the third mode shows reduced repeatability (MAC = 0.827) and a larger frequency shift, consistent with propeller-induced bending--torsion coupling and non-ideal sweep control. Overall, PVT provides a viable complement to GVT for extracting low-frequency modal information and motivates pursuing future work on automated throttle scheduling and coupling-aware test planning.",
"arxiv_id": "2601.08123",
"authors": [
"Gabriele Dessena",
"Alessandro Pontillo"
],
"categories": [
"eess.SP",
"cs.SY",
"eess.SY"
],
"license": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"title": "Modal Parameter Extraction via Propeller-Driven Vibration Testing",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.08123",
"version": "v1"
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