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Fatigue failures at fastener holes in structures are undesirable as they can lead to catastrophic mechanical failures. Interference pins create interference fits with joined components to reduce stresses around fastener holes and extend the fatigue life of a structure. In this research, a novel method for finite element (FE) modeling of interference pin connections in a wind turbine lattice tower component was developed. The installation of interference pins was modeled using a two-stage process that causes local stiffness changes in joined members of the component. The local stiffness changes were accounted for in the FE model by using cylinders to represent the interference pins. An experimental setup, including a three-dimensional (3D) scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (SLDV) and a mirror, was used to measure out-of-plane and in-plane natural frequencies and mode shapes of the component. Ten out-of-plane modes and one in-plane mode from the FE model are compared with the experimental results to validate the accuracy of the FE modeling approach. The maximum percent difference between the theoretical and experimental natural frequencies of the component is 3.21%, and the modal assurance criterion (MAC) values between the theoretical and experimental mode shapes are 0.92 or greater, showing good agreement between the theoretical and experimental modal parameters of the component. 

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.