Delay differential-algebraic equations in real-time dynamic substructuring

Abstract: Hybrid numerical-experimental testing is a standard approach for complex dynamical structures that are, on the one hand, not easy to model due to complexity and parameter uncertainty and, on the other hand, too expensive for full-scale experiments. The main idea is to subdivide the structure in a part that can be accurately simulated with numerical methods and an experimental component. The numerical simulation and the experiment are coupled in real-time by a so-called transfer system, which induces a time-delay into the system. In this paper, we study the solvability of the resulting hybrid numerical-experimental system, which is typically described by a set of nonlinear delay differential-algebraic equations, and extend existing results from the literature to this case.