Response Surface Models to Detect and Localize Distributed Cracks in a Complex Continuum

Abstract

Linear response surface (RS) models are used to represent the relationship between samples of response time histories measured by sensors placed across a structure. Different structural states of a general time-variant system are considered for short intervals capturing a linearized model of each state. Within this framework, the error associated with each RS model is sensitive to a modification of the structural state. A method that relates the changes of the statistical characterization of the error to the occurrence of a structural modification is developed for damage detection. The localization of damage is then pursued by identifying the largest discrepancies resulting from the comparison between the statistics of the sum of the squares of the error obtained at each sensor location. The generality of the method is shown by applying it to the experimental data of a realistic structure, which is representative of a continuous body affected by distributed cracking.