The Effects of Window Functions And Trigger Levels On FRF

Estimations From Impact Tests

Kenneth G. McConnell

Paul0 S. Varoto

Professor and SEM Fellow

Grad. Student and SEM Member

Aerospace Engineering and Engineering

Mechanics Department
Iowa State University of Science and Technology
Ames, IA 50011
U. S. A.
Abstract
Impact tests are frequently employed in modal testing. This paper presents a theoretical study performed on a MDOF linear system in order to show
the effects of digital signal processing on FRF estimations when sing impact excitation. The impact
hammers impulse is modeled as a half sine pulse and
the FRF is calculated by sing FFT techniques. The
time domain truncation effects on FRF estimations
(in magnitude and phase angle) are shown. Input
trigger levels and transient window origins relative
to the trigger point are shown to have strong influence on the systems FRF estimation. The double
impact phenomenon is also investigated. Results indicate that the parameters set on the spectrum analyzer for impact data acquisition should be carefully
choseu to avoid serious distortions on the resulting
FRFs. A set of practices for setting up the frequency
analyzer for impact tests to avoid these problems are
recommended.

Nomenclature

A,
fn
FO
F(w)
F.n (w)
Gxx &J)
CFX (w)
GNN (a)
H(w)
IIn3 (w)
If.. (w)
j

Modal constant
Natural frequency [Hz]
Impact excitation amplitude [A]
Ideal input Fourier transform
Measured input Fourier transform
Output excitation auto spectrum
Input-output cross spectrum
Input noise auto spectrum
Ideal systems FRF
Measured systems FRF
Anti-aliasing filter FRF
G
Input noise

N
1
T
Tp
TL
TP
X(w)
xm (w)
Greek
a

Af
w
W
7
re
Cn

Number of modes in theoretical model

Time (xc)
Output analysis period (s)
Excitation pulse duration (s)
Input trigger level
Input trigger point (s)
Ideal output Fourier transform
Measured output Fourier transform
Exponential window constant
Frequency spacing (Hz)
Frequency (rad/s)
Natural frequency (rad/s)
Pulse durat.ion (s)
Exponential window time constant (s)
Modal damping ratio

Introduction
Impact testing is a popular method used in experimental modal analysis. The excitatiou hardware rc
quired in impact tests consists of either an instrumented hand held or electric impact hammer. The
electric impact hammer has the advantage of causing more consistent impacts compared to the hand
held hammer. The impact hammer enables the experimeuter to quickly obtaiu driving point and transfer
point FRFs at several points on the structure since
the excitation can be easily moved from one location
to another.
While impact testing has many advantages for certain
structural tests, the technique requires careful signal
processing since we usually mix two types of data windows, rectangular for input pulse and esponentia,l for
output response. The parameters that control these
data windows are controlled by the user; aud as we

798

shall see, can have a proround

elfcct on the colllputed

FRF. It is assumed tlrat, mat,cbed anti-a,lia,sing filters

are used on a,ll d&a channels before A/D co~nersio~~
occurs.
The rectangular window (also called boxcar or transient window) is used to filter the input excitation
signal as shown in Fig. la. The excitation pulse cow
sists of two parts: a ma,in lobe and a trailing edge that
results from ringing of the a,nti aliasing electronic
filter. The parameters that control the data processing are shown. The first is the window length T that
controls the frequency spacing Af = l/T. The origin
and end points of the rectangular window are 11 and
la, respectively. The dashed transient window is used
to improve the signal to noise ratio by eliminating
instrument noise from tz to T. The pulse duration
Tp is the sum of the main lobe plus the ringing duration. Obviously, Tp < (tz - tl), The signa,ls dynamic
range is limited by the A/D converter while the full
scale voltage FS is controlled by the input pre-amp
gain. The signels trigger point is controlled by two
paramet,ers, t.rigger level TL and and slope S so that
the signal voltage E, 2 TL and its slope is either
positive (point A) or negative (point B). The trigger
point TP sets the time axis location where the trigger point is to be stored when the data is captured.
We note that setting the slope to negative will shift
the trigger point data from point A to point B being
at TP. Thus, tl must be before TP by a sufficiently
lxge amount to accommodate time T. Otherwise, an
important part of the input signal will be removed
from the analysis.
The output signal is depicted in Fig. lb along with the
exponential window function. The exponential window is used in this case to force the systems output
motion to decay out to very low amplitudes at the
end of the analysis period T. This is done in order
to reduce filter leakage problems. The origin of the
exponential window is indicated as tz.
This paper discusses the effects of improperly capturing data with respect to either the rectangular window for the input or the exponential window for the
output when different window origins are used relative
to the trigger point. A three DOF system is used to
illustrate these errors through computer simulations
using MathCad@ 5.0.

Impact Excitation FRF Estimation

A viscously damped three DOF lumped system is
used to illustrate the type of FRF distortions that
can occur. The systems modal parameters are given
in Table 1 and are chosen so that the natural frequencies are well spaced in the 0 to 100 EIz frequency
range and modal constants are all real and positive.
The corresponding driving point FRF H (w) is then
Table 1: Model Parameters

obtained by modal superposition, as

The theoretical excitation pulse is modeled as a half

sine and is defined according to

f(t)=

0
Fo sin (;t)
1 0

o<t<t;
ti 5 t 5 t,
2, < t

(2)

where ti and t, define the initial and end times for the
duration of the pulse, and 7 = t. -t; is the pulse duration interval. The impact excitation frequency spectrum F(w) is obtained by taking the FFT of Eq. 2.
Then the ideal output response frequency spectrum
X (w) is calculated from
X(u)=H(w)F(w)

(3)

1n practice, the above frequency spectra are obtained

through the time domain sampling of tire input and
output signals. These signals are filtered by suitable
electronic anti-aliasing filters that attenuate higher
frequency components above the Nyquist frequency.
The anti-&wing filter is desired to be as flat as possible in tlw usable frequency range and then falling
off in a log-linear plot at a given rate above the cutoff
frequency. Real filters present oscillations and phase
shifts between input and output signals. The antialiasing filter used in this work is shown in Fig. 2
where the filter is flat up to 100 Hz and then falls off
linearly in the log-linear plot. The measured input
frequency spectrum becomes
Fm (w) = Ha, (w) F(w)

799

(4)

and the output frequency spectrum becomes

&I &J) = Haa (w) x (w)

(5)

The the ratio of X,,, (w) to F,,, (w) gives H(w) as seen
from Eq. 3 when H.,(w) is the same for both channels.
The half sine pulse in Eq. 2 is assumed to start at
t = 0.020 s, to have a duration r = 0.010 s, and to
have a magnitude of 1 N. The frequency spectrum
of the original impact pulse F(w) and the measured
impact pulse F,,,(w) are shown in Fig. 3a. The measured impact pulse (solid line) is shown along with
the original pulse (dashed line) in Fig.
3b. The
measured pulse is time delayed with respect to the
original pulse, is rounded at the leading edge, is approximately 1 N in magnitude, is ringing after the
main lobe, and is approximately 0.010 s long.
The measured input and output frequency spectra are
used to estimate the systems FRF that is equivalent
to HI(U) so that

H, (&)) = GFX (w) _ X,(w)

GFF (w)
Fm (~1

(3)

where GFF (w) and GFX (w) are the input auto spectrum and the cross spectrum, respectively. The auto
and CIOSS spectra are given by
GFP = 2Fm 6.~) Fm (w)

(7)

GFX = 2F.n (w) Xm (w)

(8)

where F, (w) is the complex conjugate of F,,,(w).

Note tha,t Hi(w) = H?(w) in the absence of noise.
These expressions are used to calculate H,,(w)
under
various test conditions.

Truncation and Exponential Window Effects on Output Signal

In this section we discuss the truncation effects of
the out,put motion on the FRF estimations and the
use of the exponent,ial wiudow to reduce these effects.
The systems measured output frequency spectrum
X, (w) is obtained by using Eqs. 3 and 5. from
which the time domain output response is obtained
by taking the inverse Fourier transform of X,,, (w).
This time domain output motion is shown in Fig. 4
for a 5.0 s analysis period that contains 4096 data
points.

In order to illustrate the truncation effects we will assume that only the first 1024 data poiuts from the
time signal shown in Fig. 4 are captured. Then, the
data windows length is reduced to 1.25 s, and the
resulting frequency resolution is increased to 0.8 Hz.
The FRF determination from the truncated input. and
output signals cau be done in two ways. First, we
can use all 4096 data points in both channels. In this
case, the last 3072 data points in the input and output time signals are set to zero. When this approach
is used, the resulting FRF magnitude and phase angle plots shown in Fig. 5a and 5b are obtained when
Af = 0.20 Hz. The theoretical FRF is shown for
comparison purposes In this case, the box window
function used to truncate t,he time histories generates
a sine function digital filter that causes all kinds of
uncertainty in both the ma,gnitude and phase angle.
This ef&ct is due to excessive zero padding of the
signal. Trethewey and C&o [2] found similar oscillations in their analysis. It is obvious that this is a
poor choice.
The second approach is to use only the first 1024 data
points from each input and output signal. This choice
makesour data window 1.25 s loug so tha,t the resulting frequency resolution of 0.8 Hr. When the FRF is
calculated from this data, we obtain the results shown
in Fig. 6a and 6b. The theoretical FRF is shown in
these plot,s for comparison purposes. The truncated
plots for the magnitude aud phase are surprisingly
smooth compared to those in Fig. 5. It is clear that
the peaks are rather close but the valleys are off by a
considerable amount. In fa,ct, an analysis of the peak
values at each resonance is shown in Table 2 where we
see that the truncated peak FRF values run about 75
to 77 per cent of the ideal values in this case. In addition we see that the phase angle is correct at the
peaks at points A, B, and C in Fig. 61, appea to be
close to -90 degrees at exh resonance condition while
it is uncertaiu in the valley regions between the resonances where the angles exceed -180 degrees when
-180 degrees should be the limit.

Table 2: Peak values for truncated and exponential

FRFs

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Now we apply a,u exponential window to the trunated data in Fig. 4 in order to remove the window
leakage in the 1024 data window. This wiudow is
defined a.5
111, (1) =

0
e-*
0

o<t<t,
t,_<t<T

(9)

T < t

where r, is the exponent,ial window decay factor given

by PI

T - t ,
re = - In (a)

(10)

where 0 is the percenta,ge

that the systems output
response is forced to decay to by the exponential wiudow. A 2% exponential wiudow is used in our calculations. The resulting FRF is shown in Fig. 7. An
obvious result is that the valleys of the FRF maguitudes in Fig. 7a are less distorted while the peaks are
significantly lower. These peak values are compared
to the original pea,k values in Table 2. Here we see
that the exponential peak va,lrres are about 23 to 25
per cent of the original peak values in this case. Note
that the pea,k values are nearly the same percentage
at each peak beca,use the moda, damping product is
the same for each mode; i. e. (,,f,, Y 0.180
The phase angle in Fig. 7b is much sharper and the
uncertainty is removed at near valley frequencies. The
fact that t,he exponential window adds a,pparent damping to each resona,nce is clear in both Figs. 7a and 7b
since the peaks are lower, the valleys are higher, and
the phase angle variations sta,rt sooner and vary more
slo\z~ly.
It is easy to begin to believe that the exponential
windowed data is accura,te since there is no apparent
phase uncert,ainty and the oscillations due to filter
lea,kage seen in Fig. Gb are a,bsent,. Ifowever, when
dealing with a,n unknown struct,ure, we have no idea
what the pea,k a~nd v&Icy values should be. Thus, the
exponential time constant r, contributes with significant damping to the results.
The results shown here indicate that a sufficiently
long period analysis should be taken in actual tests
to minimize the truncation effects. A previous work
by Trethewey aud Cafeo [2] gives an indication of
the errors incurred when using inadequate capture
times. If the output signal decays slowly, an exponential window can be used to reduce the truncation
effects. lfowever, this window introduces FRF magnitude truncation that causes uncertainties in the FRF
peaks and valleys, (as shown in Fig. 7a), that can be

corrected for on a mode by mode basis but not in the

FRF plots alone.

Double

Impacts

Sometimes double hits can not be avoided while running impact tests so that t,wo impulses are wplied to
the system. This section discusses the double impact
phenomenon 8s well as its influence ou the FRF estimation under two common situations. First, both
impacts are captured by the rect,angular window. Second, the rectangular window is set to wpture only
the first impact. The resulting FRFs are computed
in both casea
It is assumed that two 0.01 s half sine impulses occur
that are 0.05 s apart so that the measured impulses
appear as shown in Fig. 8a, a,fter b&g filtered by the
anti-aliasing filters. Obviously, the time between inpulses and their relative magnitude can vary widely in
different test setups. The measured impulses show filter ringing aud the smoothing out of the initial slope.
The corresponding input frequency spectrum is shown
in Fig. 8b which, when compa,red to the flat single
impact spectrum in Fig. 3a, contains a number of
significant variations in the 0 to 100 Hz frequency
range. These variations are controlled by the relative
magnitudes and spacing of the impulses and are a
clear indication that multiple impacts have occurred.
The output time history is calculated using a numerical time integration routine. This output was then
processed through the anti-aliasing filter to obtain
X,,,(w) so that the measured data is calculated in a
different manner that is independent of Eq. 3.
The measured and theoretical FRFs (magnitude and
phase) are compared in Figs. 9a and 9b, respectively. Thus, if dual impacts occur that are correctly
captured and the iuput frequency spectra as seen in
Fig. Sb has no zeros or excessively deep notches, then
the measured FRF is accurately estimated. In this
case, no exponential window is used and sufficient
time is allowed so that window leakage is not a probIeKl.
The second case analyzed considers that only the first
of the two impacts is captured. In this case, the length
of the rectangular window in Fig. la is set to exclude
the second impact from the resulting frequency spectrum. The FRF characteristics are calculated again
and shown in Fig. 10. In this case, the estimated
results present serious distortions when compared to
the theoretical results. These inconsistent results are

due to the fact that the second impact is filtered by

the rectangular window, while the system actually responds to both impacts. Thus, the input frequency
spectrum does not contain any information regarding
the second impact whereas the output frequency spectrum does contain information from both impacts.
This can be seen in Fig.
10 where the input variations of Fig.
8b are not present in the measured
input frequency spectrum (which looks quite flat as
in Fig. 3a). These results indicate that the length
of the transient window employed must be carefully
chosen in order to capture both impacts in the event
of double hits and we may have to monitor the input
frequency spectra to reject those tests where near zero
events occur.

instrumentation noise floor less important. Consider

that we have a 1 mu wns noise floor and a 100 mv
full scale A/D setting. Then, a 2% trigger level could
result in a 3 mu peak pulse triggering the data acquisition so that noise is a major problem. A GO% FS
trigger level would result in a pulse that is 20 times
larger so that the inst,rument,
noise floor is less important. In addition, a higher trigger level causes a more
consistent impulse to be applied to the structure for
given FS voltage, i.e., if TL = 50%, then the pulse
peak must he between 0.5FS < E,i, < FS in order
to be accepted. Then, the full dynanic range of the
A/D converter is being used and the structure has
consistent inputs. If TL = 5%, the input can vary by
20 to 1 compared to 2 to 1 for TL = 50%.

Windows

Two minimum input pulses corresponding to 5% and

50% trigger levels are show in Fig. 12. The effect
of input noise is simulated by adding a 1% rms zero
mean random signal n(t) to the pulse signal. The output motion is calculated for each ideal pulse and then
passed through the anti-aliasing filter. The data window T is long enough so that there is no filter leakage
problems for this simula~tion. Then, the input-output
FRF is calculated with this noisy input. The results
are shown in Fig. 13 where Fig. 13a and b show
the 5% TL magnitude and phase while Fig. 13~ and
d show the 50% TL magnitude and plrax. It is clear
that using higher TL vastly improves the input signal
to noise mtio.

Origin

Misalignment

In tbis section we examine the effects of selecting the

slope to be negative so that point B in Fig.
1 becomes the trigger point, TP. The rectangular window
is applied so that tl = TP and tz extends well beyond
filter ringing. The data window T is long enough so
that all significant output data is measured, i.e., decays to zero. Hence, the only errors are due to removal
of a significant portion of the input pulse due to improper setting of the slope.
The resulting FRF (magnitude and phase as well as
Nyquist plot) is shown in Fig.
lla, b, and c. The
FRF magnitudes are too large and the phase angles
are severely distorted by a linear phase shift being superimposed to the correct phase shift in Figs.
lla
and b. Tlre Nyquist plot in Fig llc shows the phase
distortion. We see that the circle fit has been rotated
for all resonant frequencies. IIence, Nyquist plot that
show rotation of the ~esonnnce circle from the vertical (imaginary) axis is an indication that we may be
eliminating some of either the input or output signals
by our window functions.

Input Trigger Levels Effects on FRF Estimations

This last section discusses tlre effects of trigger levels
on the FRF estimations. The trigger level TL sets the
minimum exit&on pulse amplitude for which input
trigger occurs with either positive or negative slope S
as shown in Fig la. A small trigger level can cause
noise problems since small amplitude pulses are easily
captured and the instrumentation noise floor can contaminate the FRF results. On the other hand, large
trigger levels cause strong excitation pulses that make

We need t,o be clear a,bout why TL should be approximately 50%. First, it guarantees we are fully utiliaing the dynamic rwge of our Af D converter. Second,
we have a consistent input to the structure and ca,n
set the output A/D converter to use its full dynamic
range as well. If the instrument noise floor is a problem with either channel, then we need to increase the
FS voltage of each channel. Thus, we recommend
that 40% < TL < GO% for impxt tests.

Summary and Conclusions

In this paper, the effects of windows functions and
trigger levels on FRF estimates from impact tests
are investigated. Computer simulated results are obtained for a discrete three DOF linear system. The
filter leakage effects, due to truncating the length of
the output response are shown. Tire use of an exponential window helps to reduce the filter leakage effects but introduces pea,k and valley FRF estimation
errors, errors that can be corrected for on a modal
basis. The double impact phenomenon is shown to
give good FRF estimations provided both impulses

802

supporting this research. MI Paulo S. Varoto, from

Universidade de S&J Paula - Sao Carlos Brasil in
a PhD program, financially sponsored by CNPq
Brazil.

are ca,ptured in the trzmsient window and no near

zero input frequency spectra occur. When only one
impulse is captured, the measured FItFs are seriously
distorted.

References

The locat,ion of the input rectangulw window ad

the out,put exponential window relative to the trigger
point is important. The Following rules a.re recommended

[l] McConnell, K. G., Fundamentals of Vibration Testing John Wiley and Sons, to be published.

1. Determine the polaity and duration T of the impulse, i.e., is the nmin lobe positive and negative and
what is its d&ion.
2. If the impulse is positive, se positive slope (negative, use negative slope).
3. The trigger point TP should be at least 2r into
the data window so we can see the input before the
real pulse starts.
4. The rectangular a,nd exponential windows should
start at the same time, i.e., tl = 13. This stat time
should be selected so that TP - tl > $ so that you
can not hwe data outside either window.
5. Set rectangular window time t* = TP+5r or until
input ringing is less than I% of the peak.
6. Set the trigger levels in the 40% to 60% range.
7. Set your exponentia,l window for 1 to 10% leakage
lax.
8. Adjust the input full scale voltage so that signal
to noise problems are under control, i.e., instrument
noise floor is less than 1.0% FS. Remember we have
the transient windows to help us on this noise floor
problem.
9. Adjust output full scale voltage to be compatible
with input, i.e., se as much for the A/D converters
dynamic range as possible and iustrument noise floor
should be less than 0.1% FS since we can not remove
this noise.

[2] Trethewey, M. W. and Cafeo, J. A., Tutorial: Signal Processing Aspects of Structural Impact Testing,
The Internationa~l Journal of Amxlytical and Expcrimental Modal Analysis, V 7, n 2, pp 129.149, 1992.
[3] C&o, .I. A. and Trethewey, M. W., Impulse Test
Truncation aud Exponential Window Effects on Spectral and Modal Parameters, Proceedings of the 81h
IMAC, V 1, pp 234-240, Orlando FL, 1990.
[4] Clark, R. L., Wicks, A. L. and Becker, W. J.,
Effects of an Exponential Window on the Damping
Coefficient. Proceedixes of the ? IMAC. V 1. . DD. 83.
86, Las Vegas, 1989. FS

_-------__---___,

If we follow these rules, the measured FRFs should

contain only peak and valley truncations that can be
corrected for since we know TV. Also, a review of the
resulting Nyquist plots should show resonances that
are symmetrical about the imaginary axis where the
imaginary values are either positive or negative. If
they are not symmetrical, it is time to review the analyzer and instrumentation choices in order to isolate
the cause.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Iowa State University Engineering College and the Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department for

Fig. 1 - Analyzers parameters: (a) Excitation pulse and

transient window function; (b) Output response and expouential window function

803

Fig. 2 - Anti-r&sing

digital filter characteristics

Fig. 5 - FRF from truncated signal (4096 points): (a)

Magnitude; (b) Phase Angle (solid: measured: dashed:
original)

Fig. 3 - Excitation pulse characteristics: (a) Frequency

spectrum; (b) Time signal (solid: filtered; dashed: origi4

--.I

10

2,

20

Fig. 6 - FRF from truncated signal (1024 points): (a)

Magnitude; (b) Phase Angle (solid: measured; dashed:
original)

804

a
Fig. 7 - FRF from exponential window function: (a)
Magnitude; (b) Phase Angle (solid: measured; dashed:
original)

Fig. 8 - Double impa&: (a) Time domairl signal; (b)

Frequency spectrum

Fig. 9 FRF from double impact, both impacts captured:

(a) Magnit,ode; (b) Phase angle (solid: measured; dashed:
original)

Fig. 10 - FRF from double impact, only first captured:

(a) Magnitude; (b) Phase angle (solid: measured; dashed:
original)

805

Fig. 12 - Minimum

input pulses: dashed: 5 %; solid: 50%

Fig. 13 5% trigger level FRF: (a) Magnitude; (b) Phase

angle (solid: measured; dashed: original)

Fig. 11 - FRF from mismatch in windows origins: (a)

Magnitude; (b) Phase angle; (c) Nyquist plot (solid: measured; dashed: original)

806

Fig. 14 50% trigger level FRF: (a) hfagnitude; (b) Phase

angle (solid: measured; dashed: original)

807