A numerical study of structural damage detection using changes in the rotation of mode shapes

Damage detection using changes in global dynamic characteristics has been a hot research topic and attracted civil, aerospace, and mechanical engineering communities in recent years. In this paper, a numerical study of the relationship between damage characteristics and the changes in the dynamic properties is presented. It is found that the rotation of mode shape is a sensitive indicator of damage. The numerical results clarify that the rotation of mode shape has the characteristic of localization at the damaged region even though the displacement modes are not localized. Also, the results illustrate that the rotations of modes are robust in locating multiple damage locations with different sizes in a structure. Furthermore, using the changes in the rotation of mode shape does not need very fine grid of measurements to detect and locate damage, effectively. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.