Identification of Structural Damage by Rate of Change of Non-Dimensional Displacement of Beams Subject to Moving Loads

Abstract

This study aims to identify structural damage in beams subjected to moving loads using the rate of change of the time history response of non-dimensional displacements. We analyze the time response of displacements of beams subjected to moving loads using the finite element method. The structural damage of the beam is simulated by changing the cross-sectional shape of the beam in a part of the section. The analysis results show that damage cannot be identified by the displacement time-history response alone but can be identified using the change rate of the displacement time-history response. Furthermore, it is shown that damage can be identified independent of the magnitude and velocity of the moving load by using the rate of change of the non-dimensional displacement time history response. These results suggest that our method can be used to identify damage in actual structures subjected to moving loads.