A study on the identification of the second-order linear Nomoto model from the zigzag test

In this paper a simple four-point, in terms of time, but eight-value in total, identification method has been developed for the second-order linear Nomoto steering model. The algorithm intrinsically uses the zigzag test data in that it inherited some principles of the well-known procedure for the first-order model, from which it is essentially derived. The performance evaluation was then conducted with both simulated and real data. However, the results of these early, unprecedented efforts are far from satisfactory. Some potential sources of difficulties have been discussed. This calls for further research and improvement in order to provide a practical application of the method.