Structural damage assessment in lattice towers based on a novel frequency domain-based correlation approach

Abstract

The goal of this experimental study is to validate a novel vibration-based damage identification methodology for lattice structures. To this end, this work has determined experimentally the degradation state of a lattice tower under different damage conditions by assessing variations to its vibration response, which lead to the identification of spectral-domain indicators that correlated with the structure’s severity of damage. These indicators are derived from the complex frequency domain assurance criterion (CFDAC) matrices, which are obtained by comparing the vibration response of the structure between damaged and undamaged scenarios. The results showed that there exists a correlation between the proposed spectral correlation indices (SCI) and changes to stiffness and mass in the lattice tower. The results obtained in this work further demonstrate the viability of this technology as an innovative tool for autonomous and remote structural monitoring.