Abstract
The degradation process of structural systems is usually due to a combination of reasons such as design or constructive problems, unexpected loading or even natural causes. Such deterioration process results in damaged regions whose main characteristics are localized stiffness decreases in the structure. In this article, the efficiency of a damage detection technique is analyzed through experimental tests and numerical simulations performed in a cantilever beam involving several damage scenarios. The methodology consists of two stages: (i) damage location — determined by means of the strain energy deviation between damaged and undamaged structural vibration modes; and (ii) damage quantification — developed through the analysis of measured natural frequencies of a damaged structure and its respective undamaged numerical model. In general, this two-step strategy shows good results although more robust results are obtained by using numerical data rather than by experimental data.
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