Experimental application of pseudo-equivalent deterministic excitation method for the reproduction of a structural response to a turbulent boundary layer excitation

Abstract. The use of wind tunnels for studying the vibrational response of structures subjected to turbulent flows presents various challenges, such as background noise and complex setup requirements. This work introduces an alternative experimental method called X-PEDEm (eXperimental Pseudo-Equivalent Deterministic Excitation) that aims to reproduce an equivalent structural response to a Turbulent Boundary Layer (TBL) excitation without the need for a wind tunnel. X-PEDEm involves coupling the experimental acquisition of the structure's vibrational response with deterministic forces, such as an impulse force from a hammer, followed by post-processing. The method has been validated for different boundary conditions and flow speeds, offering versatility in recreating various types of TBL. While not an exact reproduction of turbulent flow-induced responses, X-PEDEm provides an optimal approximation with low time and resource requirements, making it easy to implement experimentally.