Modal Strain Energy-based Structural Damage Identification: A Review and Comparative Study

Abstract

Thanks to its sensitive characteristics to damages, modal strain energy (MSE) has been widely utilized for structural damage identification. Various MSE-related techniques on structural damage identification are surveyed and classified as damage index (DI) method, modal strain energy change (MSEC) method, cross-modal strain energy (Cross-MSE) method, and other methods. Four typical MSE-related methods are selected and firstly overviewed. Then damage identification of 1-D beam and 3-D offshore platform structures, considering the issues of spatial incompleteness, noise contamination, etc., are examined systematically with numerical simulation and experimental data. The ability of these four methods to locate damage is compared. Finally, some generalized criteria on these methods for damage identification are concluded, and suggestions for future work are discussed. This brief review aims to help readers identify starting points for research in vibration-based damage identification and health monitoring, and guide researchers and practitioners in better implementing available MSE-based damage identification algorithms.