Open Access

ARTICLE

Multiple-damage detection using the best achievable flexibility change

Q.W.Yang¹, J.K.Liu², C.H. Li³

1 Corresponding author. Department of Civil Engineering, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, China. E-mail address: yangqiuwei79@gmail.com.Tel: +86-575-88341503. Fax: +86-575-88341503.
2 Department of Mechanics, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
3 Department of Civil Engineering, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, China.

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2013, 91(4), 313-335. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmes.2013.091.313

Abstract

A method based on best achievable flexibility change is presented in this paper to localize and quantify multiple damages in structures. The key process of the damage localization approach is the computation of the Euclidean distances between the measured flexibility change and the best achievable flexibility changes. The location of damage can be identified by searching for a value that is considerably smaller than others in these distances. For the multiple-damage case, a sequential damage localization approach is proposed to locate the damage sites one by one. With the suspected damaged elements determined, the flexibility sensitivity method is employed to calculate the damage extents. Three numerical examples are used to demonstrate the efficiency of the method. Results show the good efficiency and stability of the presented method on the identification of single damage or multiple damages.

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Keywords

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