An implementation of structural change detection procedure based on experimental and numerical model correlation

A correlation of the experimental and the numerical model is implemented in order to detect structural change. The implementation of the method involves two steps: in the first the respective location is detected, and in the second the structural change is quantified. The method can detect changes in mass, stiffness or both. The numerical simulations demonstrate that the method is accurate and reliable. The method is implemented analytically and experimentally in parallel with laboratory test-cases. Improvements of the procedure are suggested and implemented in order to study the applicability to real-world cases. This study shows that model update significantly contributes to the successful structural change detection. The influence of the model reduction and model update on the detection accuracy is studied. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.