Continuous laser scanning of a lightweight membrane with monotone and multi-tone excitation techniques

Given the lightweight and sensitive nature of gossamer structures, applying non-intrusive and fast testing techniques can be beneficial during either the design stage or in operational conditions. This paper presents the feasibility of using continuous scanning techniques to characterize the operational deflection shapes of a circular lightweight membrane. The experimental results are also compared to an impedance-based model of a circular membrane that takes into account energy loss due to radiation to the far field. The work herein also describes a new technique that uses a multi-tone excitation together with continuous scanning in order to obtain all operation deflection shapes in one single attempt.</p