Damping identification of an elastic panel coupled to a fluid: model-scale and full-scale investigations for ships

In this paper the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) along with the Random Decrement Technique (RDT) are applied to the identification of the modal properties of elastic plates coupled to fluid (water). The excitation is provided by the turbulent boundary layer wetting the plate on one side and the plate response is measured with an array of twelve accelerometers. Two cases are considered: an aluminum plate mounted at the bottom of a scaled hull model tested in the towing tank and a stiffened steel plate of a ro-ro pax ferry during regular service.