Study on damage detection software of beam-like structures

A simply structural damage detection software is developed to identification damage in beams. According to linear fracture mechanics theory, the localized additional flexibility in damage vicinity can be represented by a lumped parameter element. The damaged beam is modeled by wavelet-based elements to gain the first three frequencies precisely. The first three frequencies influencing functions of damage location and depth are approximated by means of surface-fitting techniques to gain damage detection database of forward problem. Then the first three measured natural frequencies are employed as inputs to solve inverse problem and the intersection of the three frequencies contour lines predict the damage location and depth. The DLL (Dynamic Linkable Library) file of damage detection method is coded by C++ and the corresponding interface of software is coded by virtual instrument software LabVIEW. Finally, the software is tested on beams and shafts in engineering. It is shown that the presented software can be used in actual engineering structures.