Numerical and Experimental Study on the Application of Mode Shape Curvature for Damage Detection in Plate-Like Structures

Abstract

The paper describes on-going research effort at detecting and localizing damage in plate-like structures using mode shape curvature based damage detection algorithm. The proposed damage index uses data on exclusively mode shape curvature from the damaged structure. This method was originally developed for beam-like structures. The article generalizes the method of plate-like structures characterized by two-dimensional mode shape curvature. To examine limitations of the method, several sets of simulated data are applied and the obtained results of the numerical detection of damage are validated by comparing them with the findings of the case of the experimental test. The simulated test cases include the damage of various levels of severity. In order to ascertain the sensitivity of the proposed method for noisy experimental data, numerical mode shapes are corrupted with different levels of random noise. Modal frequencies and corresponding mode shapes of an aluminium plate containing mill-cut damage are obtained via finite element models for numerical simulations and by using a scanning laser vibrometer (SLV) for the experimental study.