Structural Damage Detection Depending on Curvature Matrix of Change in Flexibility

Abstract

Flexibility is more sensitive to structural damage than frequency or mode. Curvature matrix of change in flexibility is presented as a new index of nondestructive damage detection, which is derived from change in structural flexibilities calculated from before damaging and after damaging by means of difference calculation twice, firstly to columns, and then to rows. Therefore a new indicator called as δ Flexibility Curvature Matrix Diagonal (δFCMD) is constructed from the principal diagonal elements based on curvature matrix of change in flexibility. The numerical simulation examples indicate that the damage location and severity in structures, with single damage, multiple ones, slight ones and ones at the supports, can be detected efficiently for a cantilever beam, a fixed supported beam, a simply supported beams and so on by the indicator of δFCMD depending on only a few of lower order modes.