Guided Modal Strain Energy-Based Approach for Structural Damage Identification Using Tug-of-War Optimization Algorithm

In this paper a new guided structural damage identification approach is presented in order to localize and quantify multiple damage cases in different structural systems. The change in the amount of modal strain energy of a structural element due to damage is utilized as a means to guide the structural identification process, which is formulated as an inverse optimization problem. The objective function of the optimization problem, which is defined using the generalized flexibility matrix (GFM) of the structure, is then optimized using the newly developed tug-of-war optimization (TWO) algorithm. Three numerical examples are studied in order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach. The results indicate that the presented method can properly locate and quantify induced structural damage using only the first few modes of the structure. The method is particularly useful when the extent of damage in the structural elements differs greatly.