Baseline-free damage detection method for beam structures based on an actual influence line

摘要

The detection of structural damage without a priori information on the healthy state is challenging. In order to address the issue, the study presents a baseline-free approach to detect damage in beam structures based on an actual influence line. In particular, a multi-segment function-fitting calculation is developed to extract the actual deflection influence line (DIL) of a damaged beam from bridge responses due to a passing vehicle. An intact basis function based on the measurement position is introduced. The damage index is defined as the difference between the actual DIL and a constructed function related to the intact basis, and the damage location is indicated based on the local peak value of the damage index curve. The damage basis function is formulated by using the detected damage location. Based on the intact and damage basis functions, damage severity is quantified by fitting the actual DIL using the least-square calculation. Both numerical and experimental examples are provided to investigate the feasibility of the proposed method. The results indicate that the present baseline-free approach is effective in detecting the damage of beam structures.