Some precautions to consider in using wavelet transformation for damage detection analysis of plates

摘要

Over the last two decades Wavelet Transformation (WT) method has been widely utilized for the damage identification of structures. The main objective of this paper is to discuss and present some of common shortcomings and limitations of mathematical software, as well as other precautionary measures that need to be considered when using them for wavelet analysis applications. Due to popular usage of MATLAB® comparing to other mathematical tools among researchers for data processing of structural responses through WT analysis, this software was chosen for specific study. To the best of the authors' knowledge, these limitations and observations have not been previously identified or discussed in the literature. In this work, a square plate with a severe damage, in form of a crack, parallel to the left edge of the plate is selected for a pilot study. The steady state harmonic response is used for measuring the deflection shape across the line parallel to one edge and perpendicular to the damage. Several criteria and cases such as the smallest size damage that can be detected, correlation between the crack width and the number of sampling points, and the influence of the damage thickness on the accuracy of the result are investigated.