RANDOM: A program for the stationary random vibration analysis of linear structures with hereditary characteristics

The paper describes a general framework for the spectral analysis of linear structures under stationary random excitation. The method can be implemented as a post-processor to a Finite Element programme.

The formulation is made in the frequency domain in a way which includes structures with hereditary characteristics. It uses the coupled equations of the normal mode components.

The method is illustrated by two examples. The first is used to show that the off-diagonal terms in the modal equations may sometimes be significant and that the damping must be treated carefully in the formulation. The second is concerned with the along wind response of buildings and is used as a benchmark. It is shown that in this case, which involves a fairly complicated excitation mechanism, the algorithm is very fast, and can reproduce previously published results.