DAMAGE IDENTIFICATION IN BEAM-LIKE STRUCTURE USING RELATIVE NATURAL FREQUENCY SHIFTS

Abstract

Vibration-based damage identification methods have demonstrated significant potential for structural health monitoring. Modal parameters, including natural frequencies and mode shapes, serve as global indicators of a structure’s condition. Changes in these parameters can be indicative of damage within the structure. This article proposes an enhanced methodology for damage detection through shifts in natural frequencies. By precisely determining the frequencies of both the intact and damaged structure, frequency shifts can be computed, thereby transforming the damage detection process into a minimization of error in the identification task. This approach involves comparing the measured frequency variations with analytical values, which characterizes the frequency shifts resulting from damage. The effectiveness of the proposed procedure is validated through numerical simulations, followed by experimental testing.