In a single degree of freedom model, with light damping, the maximum amplitude of response is at, or very close to, a phase shift of 90 degrees.
In a lightly damped linear structure with a low modal density you will often see behaviour approximating to this as well. That is, if you look at the driving point FRF the phase swings from zero through 90 to 180 or vice versa during each successive resonance.
On real engineering structures in their operating range you may see this behaviour, or you may not. I typically don't. Even if the phase stays in 0 to 180 range (hurrah) it is rare for modes to be sufficiently decoupled to manage the full swing, and to be centred on 90 degrees. Look at the Nyquist plot and things become much clearer.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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