Modal Testing and Modal Analysis Lab Services

CI Testing Labs offers contracted modal testing and modal analysis services that characterize the structural dynamics of a test object. A complex dynamic behaviour is represented by decoupled modes, each described by a natural frequency, a damping value and a mode shape, and this set of modal parameters forms the modal model. Typical subjects range from a turbine blade rotating at high speed to a bridge excited by heavy traffic and strong wind. The workflow has three stages: test preparation (support conditions, excitation type and location, force and response instrumentation, and a structural geometry model), frequency response measurement with data storage, and modal parameter identification from the measured FRF data. Excitation options include impact hammer testing, the roving measurement method, and modal shaker excitation for large or complicated test articles. For civil structures such as bridges, buildings and stadiums that cannot be actively excited, Operational Modal Analysis identifies the modal parameters from measured responses alone. Deliverable capabilities cover geometry creation, import, export and animation, Operational Deflection Shape analysis, high-channel modal testing up to 512 input channels, impact hammer modal testing, single or multiple shaker testing, single-axis or MIMO swept and stepped sine testing, operational modal testing and modal playback analysis of recorded files. Identification methods include single-reference, poly-reference and Poly-X (p-LSCF) algorithms, with Stochastic Subspace Identification for OMA. Hardware includes the portable CoCo-80X analyzer for on-site work, the Spider-80Xi modular system up to 512 channels, the Spider-80SG for strain measurement and bench-top through MIMO modal shakers running EDM Modal software. Reports are issued in Microsoft Word and PDF, and CI Testing Labs also runs modal analysis training seminars. All work is performed under an ISO 9001:2015 certified quality system.