Crack Identification in a Cantilever Beam Using Coupled Response Measurements

Abstract

Identification of crack location and magnitude through measurement in changes in system characteristics, such as modal measurements, has been studied by various researchers. In the present work based on the new method proposed by Gounaris et al. (1996) for crack detection through coupled response measurements, experiments were carried out on a cracked cantilever beam for eigenfrequencies, bending, and axial response measurements. It has been observed that the rate of change of direct response (bending) is much less at small cracks, while that of the coupled response (axial) changes substantially, which allows for diagnoses of smaller cracks.