ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an analysis which deals with the predication of a single aperiodic load using one or more measurements but is easily extended to several loads. In addition, the method allows the use of more than one type of measurement at the same time, such as velocity and strain versus time data. The chapter applies dynamic programming and cross validation to various inverse structural dynamics problems ranging from a simple spring mass system to a structure with many degrees of freedom. In static problems one investigates the behavior of structures under loads that are imposed slowly and therefore considered static. There has been only a limited amount of research performed in the area of inverse structural dynamics problems. In the literature many authors use "inverse problem" synonymously with the term "identification problem." In terminology, identification problems relate to determining an unknown system parameter such as mass, stiffness and damping coefficient.
