Structural dynamic characteristics are the most significant parameters that play a decisive role in structural damage assessment. The more sensitive parameter to the damage is the damping behavior of the structure. The complexity of structural damping mechanisms has made this parameter to be one of the ongoing research topics. Despite all the difficulties in the modeling of damping, there are some approaches like as linear and nonlinear models which are described as the energy dissipation throughout viscous, material or structural hysteretic and frictional damping mechanisms. In the presence of a mathematical model of the damping mechanisms, it is possible to estimate the damping ratio from the theoretical comparison of the damped and un-damped systems. On the other hand, solving the inverse problem of the input force estimation and its distribution to each SDOFs, from the measured structural responses plays an important role in structural identification process. In this paper model-based damping approximation method and a model-less structural input estimation are considered. The effectiveness of proposed methods has been carried out through analytical and numerical simulation of the lumped mass system and the results are compared with reference data. Consequently, high convergence of the comparison results illustrates the satisfactory of proposed approximation methods.