Structural Damage Detection Using Static Strain Data

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an effective way to maintain the civil infrastructure against unexpected collapse. In recent years, many researchers have developed numerous damage detection methods to identify possible damage locations. The damage locating vector (DLV) method proposed by Bernal has received significant attention because this method was verified by a series of proof-of-concept tests measuring accelerations. However, static strain measurements are more reliable and realistic than acceleration data in practice. In this paper, a strain DLV method, i.e. a method combining DLV and static strain measurements, has been developed. A series of numerical simulations and laboratory experiments have been conducted to verify the validity of the strain DLV method. From these results, the proposed strain DLV method is shown to determine damage locations successfully using a smaller number of strain sensors even when the strain at the damaged element is not available.