Inverse damage prediction in structures using nonlinear dynamic perturbation theory

A non-linear perturbation theory which furnishes an exact relationship between the perturbation of structural parameters and the perturbation of modal parameters is presented. A system of governing equations is derived, where the information about incomplete modal data can be directly adopted. The Direct Iteration and the Gauss–Newton Least Squares techniques for an inverse prediction of structural damage are discussed, where both the location and the extent of structural damage can be correctly determined using only a limited amount of incomplete modal measurements data. Structural damage is assumed to be associated with a proportional reduction of the original element stiffness matrix or with a proportional reduction of the contribution of a Gauss point to the element stiffness matrix, which characterises a structure at an element level or at a Gauss point level. Finally, a damaged cantilever beam is considered using different model problems to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.