Selection of Degrees of Freedom for Dynamic Analysis

A technique for the selection of dynamic degrees of freedom (DDOF) of large, complex structures for dynamic analysis is described and the formulation of Ritz basis vectors for static condensation and component mode synthesis is presented. Generally, the selection of DDOF is left to the judgment of engineers. For large, complex structures, however, a danger of poor or improper selection of DDOF exists. An improper selection may result in singularity of the eigenvalue problem, or in missing some of the lower frequencies. This technique can be used to select the DDOF to reduce the size of large eigenproblems and to select the DDOF to eliminate the singularities of the assembled eigenproblem of component mode synthesis. The execution of this technique is discussed in this paper. Examples are given for using this technique in conjunction with a general purpose finite element computer program GENSAM[1].