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Structural Health Monitoring and
Damage Identification
An updated finite element model reflects the observed
dynamic characteristics of the real damaged structure. When
this model is compared against a reference model of the
undamaged structure, structural changes can be detected,
serving as a monitoring, damage detection or QA method.
The major tasks in structural health monitoring and damage
identification are
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identifying the existence of damage (correlation
analysis)
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identifying the location of the damage (error localization,
sensitivity analysis)
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estimating the magnitude of the damage (model updating)
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estimating the residual lifetime of the structure
When damage is completely identified, it can be decided
to repair the structure or replace it. In practice, damage
detection relies not only on error localization methods
but also on correlation analysis, sensitivity analysis,
model updating, numerical experimentation, simulation of
damage patterns etc. This is still an area of extensive
research and new methods and procedures are proposed regularly.
It is also clear that successful damage detection largely
depends on the amount and quality of the test data.
Applications can be found in all kind of industries but
particularly in:
- Civil infrastructures: Bridges, highway systems,
buildings, power plants, etc.
- Aircraft and missile structures: Helicopters, airplanes,
engines, motor cases, etc.
- Space structures: Satellites, space stations, reusable
launch vehicles, etc.
- Land/Marine structures: Automobiles, trains, submarines,
ships, etc.
Structural Health Monitoring
This is an application of damage detection where the
detection procedure is repeated at specific intervals during
the lifetime of the structure. Initially the focus is on
identifying the existence of damage. Only if damage is identified
will the next phases be started.
Quality Control
This is an application of damage detection where the
detection procedure is applied on large quantities of identical
products. Like structural monitoring, the focus is on identifying
the existence of damage. Localization and quantification
of damage will be done only if repair costs are low compared
to manufacturing costs.
Residual Lifetime Estimation
Combining structural health monitoring with fatigue analysis
allows to estimate the residual lifetime of structure under
dynamic loading.
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SHM