A Fourier spectrum-based strain energy damage detection method for beam-like structures in noisy conditions

In this paper,the Fourier spectrum-based strain energy damage detection method for beam-like structures is proposed based on the discrete Fourier transform.The classical strain energy damage detection method localizes damage by the comparison of the strain energy between the intact and inspected structures.The evaluation of the 2nd-order derivative term in the strain energy plays a crucial part in the comparison.The classical methods are mostly based on a numerical derivative estimation for this term.The numerical derivative,however,introduces additional disturbances into damage indications.To address this problem,a discrete Fourier transform-based strain energy is proposed with the emphasis of enhancing the performance in noisy condition.The validations conducted on the simulated and experimental data show that the developed method is effective enough for composite beam damage detection in noisy environments.

Damage localization for beams based on the wavelet correlation operator

The continuous wavelet transform(CWT) is one of the crucial damage identification tools in the vibration-based damage assessment. Because of the vanishing moment property, the CWT method is capable of featuring damage singularity in the higher scales, and separating the global trends and noise progressively. In the classical investigations about this issue, the localization property of the CWT is usually deemed as the most critical point. The abundant information provided by the scale-domain information and the corresponding effectiveness are, however, neglected to some extent. Ultimately, this neglect restricts the sufficient application of the CWT method in damage localization, especially in noisy conditions. In order to address this problem,the wavelet correlation operator is introduced into the CWT damage detection method as a post-processing. By means of the correlations among different scales, the proposed operator suppresses noise, cancels global trends, and intensifies the damage features for various mode shapes. The proposed method is demonstrated numerically with emphasis on characterizing damage in noisy environments, where the wavelet scale Teager-Kaiser energy operator is taken as the benchmark method for comparison.Experimental validations are conducted based on the benchmark data from composite beam specimens measured by a scanning laser vibrometer. Numerical and experimental validations/comparisons present that the introduction of wavelet correlation operator is effective for damage localization in noisy conditions.