skip to main content


Title: Baseline-Free Structural Damage Identification for Beam-Like Structures Using Curvature Waveforms of Propagating Flexural Waves
Curvatures in mode shapes and operating deflection shapes have been extensively studied for vibration-based structural damage identification in recent decades. Curvatures of mode shapes and operating deflection shapes have proved capable of localizing and manifesting local effects of damage on mode shapes and operating deflection shapes in forms of local anomalies. The damage can be inversely identified in the neighborhoods of the anomalies that exist in the curvatures. Meanwhile, propagating flexural waves have also been extensively studied for structural damage identification and proved to be effective, thanks to their high damage-sensitivity and long range of propagation. In this work, a baseline-free structural damage identification method is developed for beam-like structures using curvature waveforms of propagating flexural waves. A multi-resolution local-regression temporal-spatial curvature damage index (TSCDI) is defined in a pointwise manner. A two-dimensional auxiliary TSCDI and a one-dimensional auxiliary damage index are developed to further assist the identification. Two major advantages of the proposed method are: (1) curvature waveforms of propagating flexural waves have relatively high signal-to-noise ratios due to the use of a multi-resolution central finite difference scheme, so that the local effects of the damage can be manifested, and (2) the proposed method does not require quantitative knowledge of a pristine structure associated with a structure to be examined, such as its material properties, waveforms of propagating flexural waves and boundary conditions. Numerical and experimental investigations of the proposed method are conducted on damaged beam-like structures, and the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the results of the investigations.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1762917
NSF-PAR ID:
10296685
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Sensors
Volume:
21
Issue:
7
ISSN:
1424-8220
Page Range / eLocation ID:
2453
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. An accurate non-model-based method for delamination identification of laminated composite plates is proposed in this work. A weighted mode shape damage index is formulated using squared weighted difference between a measured mode shape of a composite plate with delamination and one from a polynomial that fits the measured mode shape of the composite plate with a proper order. Weighted mode shape damage indices associated with at least two measured mode shapes of the same mode are synthesized to formulate a synthetic mode shape damage index to exclude some false positive identification results due to measurement noise and error. An auxiliary mode shape damage index is proposed to further assist delamination identification, by which some false negative identification results can be excluded and edges of a delamination area can be accurately and completely identified. Both numerical and experimental examples are presented to investigate effectiveness of the proposed method, and it is shown that edges of a delamination area in composite plates can be accurately and completely identified when measured mode shapes are contaminated by measurement noise and error. In the experimental example, identification results of a composite plate with delamination from the proposed method are validated by its C-scan image. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract

    Among many structural assessment methods, the change of modal characteristics is considered a well‐accepted damage detection method. However, the presence of environmental or operational variations may pollute the baseline and prevent a dependable assessment of the change. In recent years, the use of machine learning algorithms gained interest within structural health community, especially due to their ability and success in the elimination of ambient uncertainty. This paper proposes an end‐to‐end architecture to detect damage reliably by employing machine learning algorithms. The proposed approach streamlines (a) collection of structural response data, (b) modal analysis using system identification, (c) learning model, and (d) novelty detection. The proposed system aims to extract latent features of accessible modal parameters such as natural frequencies and mode shapes measured at undamaged target structure under temperature uncertainty and to reconstruct a new representation of these features that is similar to the original using well‐established machine learning methods for damage detection. The deviation between measured and reconstructed parameters, also known as novelty index, is the essential information for detecting critical changes in the system. The approach is evaluated by analyzing the structural response data obtained from finite element models and experimental structures. For the machine learning component of the approach, both principal component analysis (PCA) and autoencoder (AE) are examined. While mode shapes are known to be a well‐researched damage indicator in the literature, to our best knowledge, this research is the first time that unsupervised machine learning is applied using PCA and AE to utilize mode shapes in addition to natural frequencies for effective damage detection. The detection performance of this pipeline is compared to a similar approach where its learning model does not utilize mode shapes. The results demonstrate that the effectiveness of the damage detection under temperature variability improves significantly when mode shapes are used in the training of learning algorithm. Especially for small damages, the proposed algorithm performs better in discriminating system changes.

     
    more » « less
  3. null (Ed.)
    Bistability is exhibited by an object when it can be resting in two stable equilibrium states. Certain composite laminates exhibit bistability by having two stable curvatures of opposite sign with the two axes of curvature perpendicular to each other. These laminates can be actuated from one state to the other. The actuation from the original post-cure shape to the second shape is called as ‘snap-through’ and the reverse actuation is called as ‘snap-back’. This phenomenon can be used in applications for morphing structures, energy harvesting, and other applications where there is a conflicting requirement of a structure that is load-carrying, light, and shape-adaptable. MW Hyer first reported this phenomenon in his paper in 1981. He found that thin unsymmetric laminates do not behave according to the predictions of the Classical Lamination Theory (CLT). The CLT is a linear theory and predicts the post-cure shape of thin unsymmetric laminates to be a saddle. MW Hyer developed a non-linear method called the “Extended Classical Lamination Theory” which accurately predicted the laminate to have two cylindrical shapes. Since then, a number of researchers have tried to identify the key parameters affecting the behavior of such laminates. Geometric parameters such as stacking sequence, fibre orientation, cure cycle, boundary conditions, and force of actuation, have all been studied. The objective of this research is to define a relation between the length, width and thickness of square and rectangular laminates required to achieve bistability. Using these relations, a 36 in × 36 in bistable laminate is fabricated with a thickness of 30 CFRP layers. Also, it is proved that a laminate does not lose bistability with an increase in aspect ratio, as long as both sides of the rectangular laminate are above a certain ‘critical length’. A bistable laminate with dimensions of 2 in × 50 in is fabricated. Further, for laminates that are bistable, it is necessary to be able to predict the curvature and force required for actuation. Therefore, a method is developed which allows us to predict the curvature of both stable shapes, as well as the force of actuation of laminates for which the thickness and dimensions are known. Finite Element Analysis is used to carry out the numerical calculations, which are validated by fabricating laminates. The curvature of these laminates is measured using a profilometer and the force of actuation is recorded using a universal test set-up. 
    more » « less
  4. Fromme, Paul ; Su, Zhongqing (Ed.)
    We investigate curved surfaces operating as geodesic lenses for elastic waves. Consistently with findings in optics, we show that wave propagation occurs along rays that correspond to the geodesics of the curved surfaces, and we establish the geometric equivalence between Gaussian curvature and refractive index. This equivalence is formulated for flexural waves in curved shells by showing that, in the short wavelength limit, the ray equation corresponds to the classical equation of geodesics. We leverage this result to identify a non-Euclidean transformation that maps the geometric profile of a isotropic curved waveguide into a spatially varying refractive index distribution for a planar waveguide. These theoretical predictions are validated first through numerical simulations, and subsequently through experiments on 3D printed curved membranes with different curvature distributions. Numerical and experimental findings confirm that focal regions and caustic networks are correctly predicted based on geodesic evaluations. Our results form the basis for the design of curved profiles that correspond to spatial distributions of the refractive index and induce focal points by forcing waves to propagate along predefined trajectories. The findings of this study also suggest curvature as an attractive alternative to strategies based on the local tailoring of material properties and geometrical patterns that have gained in popularity for gradient-index lens design. 
    more » « less
  5. Introductory steel design courses focus on the analysis and design of primary members, which typically include tension members and connections, compression members, flexural members, and beam-columns. Introducing structural steel design concepts to students presents its fair share of challenges. First, it is difficult for students to visualize and accurately predict the potential failure modes of a tension member: yielding of the gross section, rupture of the net section, and block shear. Second, it is also difficult for students to visualize the buckling modes of steel columns, which vary with shape and type of bracing. Students particularly struggle with the determination of buckling modes between strong and weak axes based on effective lengths. Third, flexural failure modes of steel beams are very difficult for students to visualize and understand when each mode controls. The failure modes are complex and fall into three categories for compact shapes: yielding of the cross section, inelastic lateral torsional buckling, and elastic lateral torsional buckling, which is dependent on the unbraced length of the compression flange. Non-compact sections also include local buckling of the flange or web, but identifying the relationship between the unbraced length and beam span and how the unbraced length affects the flexural capacity tends to be the most difficult concept for students to grasp. This paper provides a detailed overview of the design, fabrication, and implementation of three large-scale experiential learning modules for an undergraduate steel design course. The first module focuses on the tension connections by providing physical models of various failure types including yielding of the gross section, rupture of the net section, and block shear; the second module focuses on the capacity of columns with different amounts of lateral bracing about the weak axis; and the third module focuses on the flexural strength of a beam with different unbraced lengths to illustrate the difference between lateral torsional buckling and flange local buckling/yielding of the gross section. The three modules were used throughout the steel design course at Saint Louis University and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to illustrate the failure mechanisms associated with the design of steel structures. 
    more » « less