Baseline-Free Structural Damage Identification for Beam-Like Structures Using Curvature Waveforms of Propagating...

Area of Science:

• Structural Health Monitoring
• Mechanical Engineering
• Applied Physics

Background:

• Curvatures of mode shapes and operating deflection shapes are used for vibration-based structural damage identification.
• Propagating flexural waves are effective for damage identification due to high sensitivity and long propagation range.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a baseline-free structural damage identification method for beam-like structures.
• To utilize curvature waveforms of propagating flexural waves for damage detection.

Main Methods:

• A multi-resolution local-regression temporal-spatial curvature damage index (TSCDI) is defined pointwise.
• Two-dimensional and one-dimensional auxiliary damage indices are developed to enhance identification.
• A multi-resolution central finite difference scheme is employed to improve signal-to-noise ratio.

Main Results:

• The proposed method effectively localizes and manifests damage effects using curvature anomalies.
• High signal-to-noise ratios in curvature waveforms aid in detecting local damage effects.
• The method successfully identified damage in numerical and experimental investigations on beam-like structures.

Conclusions:

• The developed method provides an effective baseline-free approach for structural damage identification in beams.
• The use of curvature waveforms of propagating flexural waves offers a robust damage detection strategy.
• The method's independence from baseline structural data makes it broadly applicable.