A theorem on damage localization from flexibility changes has been proven recently,
where it has been shown that the image of the change in flexibility δF between
damaged and reference states of a structure is a basis for the influence lines of stress
resultants at the damaged locations. This damage localization approach can operate on
output-only vibration measurements from damaged and reference states, and a finite
element model of the structure in reference state is required. While the localization
approach is based on purely mechanical principles, an estimate of the image of δF is
required from the data that is subject to statistical uncertainty due to unknown noise
excitation and finite data length. In this paper, this uncertainty is quantified from the
measurements and a statistical framework is added for the decision about damaged
elements. The combined approach is successfully applied to a numerical simulation
and to a cantilever beam in a lab experiment.
Operational modal analysis and vibration based damage detection of engineering
structures have become important issues for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and
maintenance operations, e.g. on transport infrastructure. Methods from control
engineering have been adopted and converted for the application on civil structures.
Approaches like subspace-based system identification combine excellent theoretical
properties under the unknown excitation properties of a structure with practical
usefulness.
In this paper, the implementation of covariance-driven stochastic subspace
identification (SSI) on the smart wireless sensor platform PEGASE is described.
Special care is taken about the fast implementation of this technique since the
computations are embedded on the platform and perform in real-time. The most
efficient and current version of subspace algorithms has been implemented. Efficiency
and memory consumption are primary criteria in this implementation.
First validated results will be given for each step of the algorithms: crosscorrelation
on natural inputs signal from sensors; Hankel matrix output; SSI
implementation using the LAPACK library to get a SVD, pseudo-inverse, eigenvalues
etc. Results validation has been correlated between PEGASE implementation and the
previous processing in static situation: the same data was collected by wired sensors
and data-loggers, then, later, processed on a PC using traditional Matlab software.
In parallel, from an engineering point of view, a description of the PEGASE
wireless platform will be given: generic usage, wide capacities, embedded Digital
Signal Processing (DSP) processor and Library over a small embedded Linux
Operating System, a very accurate synchronization principle based on a GPS/PPS
principle, etc. Perspectives about a complete technical in-situ installation will also be
given.