• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.223-239
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• 2011

This paper presents a methodology to detect and locate damages and faults in orthotropic plate structures. A specific damage index based on dynamic mode shapes of the damaged and undamaged structures has been introduced. The governing differential equation on transverse deformation, the transverse shear force equations and the invariant expression for the sum of transverse loading of an orthotropic plate are employed to obtain the aforementioned damage indices. The validity of the proposed methodology for isotropic and orthotropic damage states is demonstrated using a numerical example. It is shown that the algorithm is able to detect damages for both isotropic and orthotropic damage states acceptably.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.16-23
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• 2018

A damage detection method for the tripod support structure of offshore wind turbines is presented for structural health monitoring. A finite element model of a prototype tripod support structure is established and the modal properties are calculated. The degree and location of the damage are estimated based on the neural network technique using the changes of natural frequencies and mode shape due to the damage. The stress distribution occurring in the support structure is obtained by a dynamic analysis for the wind turbine system to select the output data of the neural network. The natural frequencies and mode shapes for 36 possible damage scenarios were used for the input data of the learned neural network for damage assessment. The estimated damages agreed reasonably well with the accurate ones. The presented method could be effectively applied for damage detection and structural health monitoring of various types of support structures of offshore wind turbines.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.63-86
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• 2023

Structural health monitoring and damage detection are essential for assessing, maintaining, and rehabilitating structures. Most of the existing damage detection approaches compare the current state structural response with the undamaged vibrational structural response, which is unsuitable for old and existing structures where undamaged vibrational responses are absent. One of the approaches for existing structures, numerical model updating/inverse modelling, available in the literature, is limited to numerical studies with high-end software. In this study, an attempt is made to study the effectiveness of the model updating technique, simplify modelling complexity, and economize its usability. The optimization-based detection problem is addressed by using programmable open-sourced code, OpenSees^® and a derivative-free optimization code, NOMAD^®. Modal analysis is used for damage identification of beam-like structures with several damage scenarios. The performance of the proposed methodology is validated both numerically and experimentally. The proposed method performs satisfactorily in identifying both locations and intensity of damage in structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.53-71
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• 2016

Unconventional computer vision and image processing techniques offer significant advantages for experimental applications to shaking table testing, as they allow the overcoming of most typical problems of traditional sensors, such as encumbrance, limitations in the number of devices, range restrictions and risk of damage of the instruments in case of specimen failure. In this study, a 3D motion optical system was applied to analyze shake table tests carried out, up to failure, on a natural-scale masonry structure retrofitted with steel reinforced grout (SRG). The system makes use of wireless passive spherical retro-reflecting markers positioned on several points of the specimen, whose spatial displacements are recorded by near-infrared digital cameras. Analyses in the time domain allowed the monitoring of the deformations of the wall and of crack development through a displacement data processing (DDP) procedure implemented ad hoc. Fundamental frequencies and modal shapes were calculated in the frequency domain through an integrated methodology of experimental/operational modal analysis (EMA/OMA) techniques with 3D finite element analysis (FEA). Meaningful information on the structural response (e.g., displacements, damage development, and dynamic properties) were obtained, profitably integrating the results from conventional measurements. Furthermore, the comparison between 3D motion system and traditional instruments (i.e., displacement transducers and accelerometers) permitted a mutual validation of both experimental data and measurement methods.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.165-175
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• 2024

Rotating beams play a crucial role in representing complex mechanical components that are prevalent in vital sectors like energy and transportation industries. These components are susceptible to the initiation and propagation of cracks, posing a substantial risk to their structural integrity. This study presents a two-stage methodology for detecting the location and estimating the size of an open-edge transverse crack in a rotating Euler-Bernoulli beam with a uniform cross-section. Understanding the dynamic behavior of beams is vital for the effective design and evaluation of their operational performance. In this regard, modal parameters such as natural frequencies and eigenmodes are frequently employed to detect and identify damages in mechanical components. In this instance, the Frobenius method has been employed to determine the first two natural frequencies and corresponding eigenmodes associated with flapwise bending vibration. These calculations have been performed by solving the governing differential equation that describes the motion of the beam. Various parameters have been considered, such as rotational speed, beam slenderness, hub radius, and crack size and location. The effect of the crack has been replaced by a rotational spring whose stiffness represents the increase in local flexibility as a result of the damage presence. In the initial phase of the proposed methodology, a damage index utilizing the slope of the beam's eigenmode has been employed to estimate the location of the crack. After detecting the presence of damage, the size of the crack is determined using a Genetic Algorithm optimization technique. The ultimate goal of the proposed methodology is to enable the development of more suitable and reliable maintenance plans.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.719-743
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• 2011

A hybrid damage monitoring scheme using parallel acceleration-impedance approaches is proposed to detect girder damage and support damage in steel plate-girder bridges which are under ambient train-induced excitations. The hybrid scheme consists of three phases: global and local damage monitoring in parallel manner, damage occurrence alarming and local damage identification, and detailed damage estimation. In the first phase, damage occurrence in a structure is globally monitored by changes in vibration features and, at the same moment, damage occurrence in local critical members is monitored by changes in impedance features. In the second phase, the occurrence of damage is alarmed and the type of damage is locally identified by recognizing patterns of vibration and impedance features. In the final phase, the location and severity of the locally identified damage are estimated by using modal strain energy-based damage index methods. The feasibility of the proposed scheme is evaluated on a steel plate-girder bridge model which was experimentally tested under model train-induced excitations. Acceleration responses and electro-mechanical impedance signatures were measured for several damage scenarios of girder damage and support damage.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.139-149
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• 2018

In this paper a new multi-step damage detection approach is provided. In the first step, condensed modal residual vector based indicator (CMRVBI) has been proposed to locate the suspected damaged elements of structures that have rotational degrees of freedom (DOFs). The CMRVBI is a new indicator that uses only translational DOFs of the structures to localize damaged elements. In the next step, salp swarm algorithm is applied to quantify damage severity of the suspected damaged elements. In order to assess the performance of the proposed approach, a numerical example including a three-layer square laminated composite plate is studied. The numerical results demonstrated that the proposed CMRVBI is effective for locating damage, regardless of the effect of noise. The efficiency of proposed approach is also compared during both steps. The results demonstrate that in noisy condition, the damage identification approach is capable for the studied structure.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1996.10a
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• pp.138-146
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• 1996

The presence of a damage, such as a crack, in a structure increases the flexibility and damping in the structure. Most of methods to detect damage or damage location uses stiffness matrix of the structural system. The modification of stiffness matrix, however, has complicated procedures to identify structural. system in the basis of finite element model and has too many degree of freedom to calculate. Identification of changes of flexibility of structure can offer damage information immediately and simple procedure can employ real time continuous monitoring system. To identify changes of the flexibility, vibration mode shapes and natural frequencies are usually used. In this paper, a procedure for damage location in continuous girder bridges using vibration data is described. The effectiveness and sensitivity of the presented method to measurement errors in mode shapes and natural frequencies are investigated using analytical results from finite element models. It is shown that the errors in the first mode shape and first natural frequency demonstrate much larger influence than those in the higher mode shapes and modal frequencies.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.667-691
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• 2016

This study focuses on the damage detection of defect types in plate structures based on wavelet transform (WT) and curvelet transform (CT). In particular, for damage detection of structures these transforms have been developed since the last few years. In recent years, the CT approach has been also introduced in an attempt to overcome inherent limitations of traditional multi-scale representations such as wavelets. In this study, the performance of CT is compared with WT in order to demonstrate the capability of WT and CT in detection of defect types in plate structures. To achieve this purpose, the damage detection of defect types through defect shape in rectangular plate is investigated. By using the first mode shape of plate structure and the distribution of the coefficients of the transforms, the damage existence, the defect location and the approximate shape of defect are detected. Moreover, the accuracy and performance generality of the transforms are verified through using experimental modal data of a plate.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1998.04a
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• pp.414-421
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• 1998

The content of this paper consists of two related subjects. One is the assessment of damages in the existing structure and the other is the evaluation of seismic capacity of the structure with damage. A method is presented for damage assessment of existing structures using the modal data measured at limited points by the inverse medal perturbation technique. For efficient damage assessment, the number of the unknown probable damaged members is reduced for each damage identification by grouping the members in the large structure. The aseismic capacity is evaluated for the structure using the results of damage assessment. An example analysis is carried out for a building structure subjected to different earthquake excitations.