Application of Transfer Path Analysis Techniques to the Boundary Condition Challenge Problem

A Boundary Condition Challenge Problem was released in May 2017 by Sandia National Laboratories and Kansas City's National Security Campus (KCNSC). The challenge problem is intended to facilitate collaborative research on methods used for laboratory shock and vibration testing of aerospace components. Specifically, the challenge problem presents a test bed structure consisting of two sub-systems and an applied shock loading. The goal is to replicate the environment observed on one of the sub-systems when it is attached to a different sub-system in a laboratory testing environment. Meanwhile, transfer path analysis (TPA) tools have been available for several decades. TPA techniques are used extensively for noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) engineering in the automotive industry. The techniques provide insight into the vibration transmission of a source excitation to a receiving structure. By re-framing the boundary condition problem into the TPA framework, it becomes clear that TPA tools are directly applicable to the boundary condition challenge problem.