A comparison between the use of physical parameters and correction factors in dynamic model updating

The selection of quantities and/or variables that have to be corrected during the updating process is addressed in this paper. Among quantities, the major alternative is the choice between correction factors and physical parameters. The former represent scale factors used to adjust mass and stiffness submatrices of the analytical model, while the latter include parameters such as the elasticity modulus, mass density, geometrical dimensions, etc. Advantages and limitations in the process of updaring physical parameters instead of correction factors are highlighted: it can be shown that only a limited number of physical parameters can be simultaneously updated for each element. The two approaches are compared using a previously developed updating procedure to solve an experimental test case.