  This paper proposes the response surface method for finite element model
updating. The response surface method is implemented by approximating the
finite element model surface response equation by a multi-layer perceptron. The
updated parameters of the finite element model were calculated using genetic
algorithm by optimizing the surface response equation. The proposed method was
compared to the existing methods that use simulated annealing or genetic
algorithm together with a full finite element model for finite element model
updating. The proposed method was tested on an unsymmetri-cal H-shaped
structure. It was observed that the proposed method gave the updated natural
frequen-cies and mode shapes that were of the same order of accuracy as those
given by simulated annealing and genetic algorithm. Furthermore, it was
observed that the response surface method achieved these results at a
computational speed that was more than 2.5 times as fast as the genetic
algorithm and a full finite element model and 24 times faster than the
simulated annealing.
