Harmonic class loading for damage identification in beams using wavelet analysis

The harmonic displacement response of a beam is utilized as the input signal function in wavelet analysis. Sudden changes in the spatial variation of transformed response identify the location of damages and defects. The damage incurred causes a change in the stiffness or mass of the beam. This causes a localized singularity which can be identified by a wavelet analysis of the displacement response. In this article, it is shown that using harmonic response is superior to the static deflection response and this approach is more effective in the presence of noise and more sensitive to the versatility of the applied harmonic loads.