Parameter identification for cracks in elastic plate structures based on remote strain fields

A method for the detection of cracks in plate structures is presented. In contrast to most of the common monitoring concepts taking advantage of the reflection of elastic waves at crack faces, the presented approach is based on the strain measured at different locations on the surface of the structure. This allows both the identification of crack position parameters, such as length, location and angles with respect to a reference coordinate system and the calculation of stress intensity factors (SIF). The solution of the direct problem is performed on the basis of the BFM (body force method). The inverse problem is solved applying the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. The BFM is based on the principle of linear superposition which allows the calculation of the strain field in a cracked body. The strain at an arbitrary point in the structure is replaced by the strain provided by body force doublets in the uncracked structure. The doublets as well as external loads are parameters which have to be determined solving the inverse problem by minimizing a fitness function, which is defined by a square sum of residuals between measured strain distributions and computed ones for an assumed crack. The PSO algorithm applied to the fitness function operates on the basis of a swarm of candidate solutions. Once knowing loading and crack parameters, the SIF can be determined.