Incipient damage localization with smart piezoelectric transducers using high-frequency actuation

Modal analysis based damage detection techniques using only first few modes are not sensitive for damage identification. The sensitivity of the modal parameters to damage is greater at the higher modes of vibration. Yet, actuation of structures at high frequencies is very difficult with the conventional modal testing methods. In this paper, a new technique that uses smart piezoelectric (PZT) material to extract the modal frequencies for higher modes of vibration is presented. A PZT transducer possesses simultaneous actuating and sensing capabilities. The electromechanical (e/m) impedance method exploits this feature of the PZT transducer to measure its drive-point impedance characteristics when bonded to a structure. Damage location is identified using the natural frequency shifts obtained from the structural impedance signatures and the corresponding undamaged state modes shapes. This technique is superior to other methods, which rely only on statistical quantification of changes in the measured structural signatures. The damage locations were successfully identified by this method for a finite element simulated beam model. The natural frequencies obtained experimentally for longitudinal and bending modes were fairly consistent with the analytical predictions. However, the modeling of damage as merely a source of stiffness reduction proves insufficient to accurately estimate its location, experimentally.