Influence of higher order modes and mass configuration on the quality of damage detection via DWT

In recent decades, wavelet transforms as a strong signal processing tool have attracted attention of researchers for damage identification. Apart from the wide application of wavelet transforms for damage identification, influence of higher order modes on the quality of damage detection has been a challenging matter for researchers. In this study, influence of higher order modes and different mass configurations on the quality of damage detection through Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) was studied. Nine different damage scenarios were imposed to four cantilever structures having different mass configurations. The first four mode shapes of the cantilever structures were measured experimentally and analyzed by DWT. A damage index was defined in order to study the influence of higher order modes. Results of this study showed that change in the mass configuration had a great impact on the quality of damage detection even when the changes altered natural frequencies slightly. It was observed that for successful damage detection all available mode shapes should be taken into account and measured mode shapes had no significant priority for damage detection over each other.