Best achievable modal eigenvectors in structural damage detection

This paper reports a modal formulation of the original method presented by Lim and Kashangaky, based on the use of the best achievable eigenvectors in damage detection problems. The method requires the measurement of both frequencies and mode shapes. The structural damage is located by computing the Euclidean distances between the measured mode shapes and the best achievable modal eigenvectors. The method is able to detect loss of both stiffness and mass properties, even though in this paper only the loss of stiffness will be analyzed. A simple numerical example is reported to investigate the applicability of the modal formulation. Finally, an experimental validation is included using a 10-bay truss laboratory structure.