The role of the experimental analysis in the formulation and validation of a reduced order analytical model of a planar arch under a vertical, sinusoidally varying, concentrated force on the tip, is analyzed in this work. One of the main dynamical phenomena exhibited by such systems is the loss of stability of the directly excited simple, 1-mode, symmetric, periodic solution and the evolution towards different regular and nonregular coupled motions where anti-symmetric components of the motion arise. The experimental analysis allows one to characterize the different classes of motion, bifurcation paths and main characteristics of the spatial flow and gives useful hints to be used in the analytical approximation. A minimal analytical model able to reproduce the actual dynamics of an experimental prototype is eventually proposed.
