What is the best method for structural damping identification? Part 1: A survey of methods

Identification of damping matrices from measured frequency response functions is a difficult and error‐prone procedure. In practice, the assumption of proportional damping is frequently made without physical justification. Several researchers have suggested identification algorithms for the full damping matrix. A critical review is presented of algorithms which work in the frequency domain. Some novel approaches are included: one new algorithm is based on matrix perturbation theory, while others are hybrid combinations of earlier methods. The sensitivity of the algorithms to measurement noise and other commonly encountered difficulties in realistic measurements is addressed. Representative results from a simulation study comparing all the methods will be presented, leading to recommendations for the choice of identification algorithms in practice.