Stability switches in a neutral delay differential equation with application to real-time dynamic substructuring

In this paper delay differential equations approach is used to model a real-time dynamic substructuring experiment. Real-time dynamic substructuring involves dividing the structure under testing into two or more parts. One part is physically constructed in the lab- oratory and the remaining parts are being replaced by their numerical models. The numerical and physical parts are connected via an actuator. One of the main difficulties of this testing technique is the presence of delay in a closed loop system. We apply real-time dynamic sub- structuring to a nonlinear system consisting of a pendulum attached to a mass-spring-damper. We will show how a delay can have (de)stabilising effect on the behaviour of the whole system. Theoretical results agree very well with experimental data.