A two-stage method to identify structural damage sites and extents by using evidence theory and micro-search genetic algorithm

A two-stage method of determining the location and extent of multiple structural damages by using information fusion technique and genetic algorithm is presented in this paper. First the damage detection strategy is to localize the damage sites by using an evidence theory, which can perfectly integrate the damage identification information coming from both natural frequencies and mode shapes. Then, a micro-search genetic algorithm (MSGA) is proposed to determine the damage extent. A cantilever beam is analyzed as a numerical example to compare the performance of the proposed method with the multiple damage location assurance criterions (MDLAC) and the simple genetic algorithms. Simulation results show that identification results of the evidence theory are better than those both of the frequency MDLAC method and the mode shape MDLAC method, and the MSGA is also more accurate and effective than the simple genetic algorithms. Therefore, the two-stage method is very effective for the identification of multiple structural damages. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.