Structural damage detection using a parked vehicle induced frequency variation

Natural frequencies are attractive in structural damage detection as they can be conveniently measured and are usually less contaminated by experimental noise. However, generally natural frequencies alone are not sufficient for a unique solution when applied in finite element model (FEM) updating based damage detection. In view of this, a damage detection method by using a parked vehicle induced frequencies variation is proposed in this paper. Firstly the phenomenon of frequency variation caused by a parked vehicle is illustrated via a simulated simply supported beam. Then a FEM updating based damage detection method is proposed by using measured frequencies of the vehicle-bridge system with the vehicle parked at different locations. Numerical and experimental examples with different damage scenarios are conducted to verify the feasibility of the proposed method. The results indicated that it possesses the ability of taking advantage of the high accuracy and overcomes the insufficient quantity of the natural frequencies for damage detection.