Journal ofSound and Vibration (1991) 145(2), 321-332

DAMAGE DETECTION FROM CHANGES IN CURVATURE

MODE SHAPES
A. K. PANDEY, M. BISWAS AND M. M. SAMMAN
Transportation and Infrastructure Research Center, School of Engineering, Duke University,
Durham, North Carolina 27706, U.S.A.
(Received 18 September 1989, and in revised form 29 May 1990)
A damage in a structure alters its dynamic characteristics. The change is characterized
by changes in the eigenparameters, i.e., natural frequency, damping values and the mode
shapes associated with each natural frequency. Considerable effort has been spent in
obtaining a relationship between the changes in eigenparameters, the damage location
and the damage size. Most of the emphasis has been on using the changes in the natural
frequencies and the damping values to determine the location and the size of the damage.
In this paper a new parameter called curvature mode shape is investigated as a possible
candidate for identifying and locating damage in a structure. By using a cantilever and a
simply supported analytical beam model, it is shown here that the absolute changes in
the curvature mode shapes are localized in the region of damage and hence can be used
to detect damage in a structure. The changes in the curvature mode shapes increase with
increasing size of damage. This information can be used to obtain the amount of damage
in the structure. Finite element analysis was used to obtain the displacement mode shapes
of the two models. By using a central difference approximation, curvature mode shapes
were then calculated from the displacement mode shapes.
1. INTRODUCTION
Any crack or localized damage in a structure reduces the stiffness and increases the
damping in the structure. Reduction in stiffness is associated with decreases in the natural
frequencies and modification of the modes of vibration of the structure. Many researchers
have used one or more of the above characteristics to detect and locate a crack. Most of
the emphasis has been on using the decrease in frequency or the increase in damping to
detect the crack. Very little work has been done on using the changes in the mode shapes
to detect the crack.
Adams et al. [l] used the decrease in natural frequencies and increase in damping to
detect cracks in fiber-reinforced plastics. Loland et al. [2] and Vandiver [3] used the same
principle to detect damage in offshore structures. From relative changes in the natural
frequencies of different modes, Loland et al. could predict the location of the damage.
They demonstrated the use of their technique on some platforms in the North Sea. The
essence of the methods developed by the other researchers is similar, but different methods
of data analysis were used.
Adams et al. [l] developed a theoretical model to predict the damage and its location
based on receptance analysis. The analysis was done by using axial modes of vibration
and is valid for structures which can be treated as one-dimensional. Adams and Cawley
[5] employed sensitivity analysis to deduce the location of damage in two-dimensional
structures, based on a finite element analysis method. Flexural modes of vibration were
used in this case. The method was applied to the case of a flat plate with the assumption
that the modulus of elasticity in the damage area was equal to zero. For each element of
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0022-460X/91/050321 + 12 %03.00/O @ 1991 Academic Press Limited
322 A. K. PANDEY ET AL.
the model, the sensitivity of the change was evaluated. The results of the analysis agreed
well with the experimental results. The drawback of this method is that a lot of computation
has to be performed subsequent to data collection to predict the location of the damage.
Very little use has been made of the changes in the mode shapes in detecting a crack
or damage in a structure. Yuen [6] in his paper showed for a cantilever beam that there
is a systematic change in the first mode shape with respect to the damage location. He
used finite element analysis to obtain the natural frequencies and the mode shapes of the
damaged structure.
From changes in frequency one can easily determine the presence of crack or damage
in a structure. But determining the location of the crack, knowing the changes in the
frequencies, is a completely different question. This is because cracks at two different
locations associated with certain crack lengths may cause the same amount of frequency
change. Other parameters need to be determined which will directly identify the location
of crack or damage in a structure.
In this paper, a new parameter called curvature mode shape is introduced. The
difference in the curvature mode shapes between the intact and the damaged case is
utilized to detect the location of the crack. The changes in the curvature mode shapes
are shown to be localized in the region of damage compared to the changes in the
displacement mode shapes. A cantilever and a simply supported beam model are used
to demonstrate this characteristic of the curvature mode shapes.
Different ways of comparing mode shapes include the Modal Assurance Criterion
(MAC) [7] and the Co-ordinate Modal Assurance Criterion (COMAC) [8]. MAC indicates
the correlation between two sets of mode shapes. It is used to study overall differences
in the mode shapes. COMAC compares mode shapes in a point-wise manner. It indicates
the correlation between the mode shapes at a selected measurement point of a structure.
2. METHOD OF CRACK DETECTION
Curvature mode shapes are related to the flexural stiffness of beam cross-sections.
Curvature at a point is given by
u= M/(EI),
(I)
in which t) is the curvature at a section, M is the bending moment at a section, E is the
modulus of elasticity and I is the second moment of the cross-sectional area.
If a crack or other damage is introduced in a structure, it reduces the (EI) of the
structure at the cracked section or in the damaged region, which increases the magnitude
of curvature at that section of the structure. The changes in the curvature are local in
nature and hence can be used to detect and locate a crack or damage in the structure.
The change in curvature increases with reduction in the value of (EI), and therefore,
the amount of damage can be obtained from the magnitude of change in curvature.
3. ANALYTICAL MODEL
A cantilever beam and a simply supported beam of uniform square cross-section were
used for this study. The dimensions of the two beams are shown in Figures 1 and 2. These
two cases were chosen because, for a simply supported beam both curvature mode shapes
and displacement mode shapes are of the same form, whereas, for a cantilever beam,
they are different. For example, in an uniformly loaded simply supported beam, maximum
curvature occurs at the mid-span where displacement is also maximum whereas, in a
cantilever beam, maximum curvature occurs at the support, where displacement is
minimum.
CURVATURE MODE SHAPE DAMAGE DETECTION 323
Y
t
500
12.7
I
Figure 1. Cantilever beam model. (a) Finite element model; (b) cross-section of the cantilever. Dimensions
in mm.
Y
t
_ 500
254
o~o~,o,o,o,o,o,o,o,o,o,o,qo,o,o,o,o,e
1 ,2, 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1 16 17 ( 8 19
A2 3 4 5 6 7 8 91011121314151617161920 -
1
21
la)
12.7
I
( bl
Figure 2. Simply supported beam model. (a) Finite element model; (b) cross-section of the simply supported
beam. Dimensions in mm.
The finite element model for each of the beam consisted of 20 equal length two-
dimensional beam elements. Three degrees of freedom, translations along the X and Y
axes and rotation along the 2 axis, were used at each node in the finite element analysis.
It was assumed that damage in a structure will affect only the stiffness matrix and not
the inertia matrix in the eigenvalue problem formulation. This assumption is consistent
with those used by Adams and Cawley [5]. The eigenvalue problem for the intact case
can be written as
(K - AjM)xj = 0,
(2)
and for the cracked case as
(K- hjM)x; = 0,
(3)
in which K is the stiffness matrix of the intact structure, K is the stiffness matrix of the
damaged structure, Aj is the jth eigenvalue of the intact structure, Ai is the jth eigenvalue
324 A. K. PANDEY ET Al
of the damaged structure, M is the inertia matrix of the structure, x, is thejth displacement
eigenvector of the intact structure, and x: is the jth displacement eigenvector of the
damaged structure.
The change in the stiffness due to damage was modeled by a reduction in the modulus
of elasticity of the section [6]. The degree of damage is then related to the extent of
reduction in the modulus of elasticity, E. This method requires only a simple modification
in the finite element analysis data and no new element is needed.
A study was conducted with a 50 percent reduction of the modulus of elasticity imposed
in turn to all 20 elements for the two beams. This simulated cases of damage located in
each of the sections, respectively. For each of the damage locations, the first five natural
frequencies and corresponding mode shapes were calculated.
A further study was carried out in which damage was prescribed in the element number
10 of each of the two beams. The intensity of damage was varied by changing the modulus
of elasticity over the range of 0.1 to 0.9 of the full value in steps of 0.2. This represented
the case of a varying degree of damage at a particular location.
4. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
The mode shapes calculated were orthonormalized against the inertia matrix, i.e.,
xfMxi = 1.
(4)
Only the translation degree of freedom along the Y axis was considered in the analysis.
This was done because, in any experimental work, in general, rotations are not measured
because of difficulty in their measurement. Moreover, since we are interested only in
flexural modes of vibration, translation along the X axis can also be neglected.
From the displacement mode shapes, obtained from the finite element analysis, cur-
vature mode shapes were obtained numerically by using a central difference approximation
as
Vr=(Ui+I-2Ui+vi_,)/h2,
where h is the length of the elements.
(5)
For each damage location, the percentage change in the natural frequency from the
intact case to the damaged case, MAC between the intact and the damaged mode shapes,
COMAC between the intact and the damaged mode shapes, absolute difference in the
displacement mode shapes and absolute difference in the curvature mode shapes were
calculated.
5. NUMERICAL RESULTS
5.1. DAMAGE LOCATED IN TURN AT EACH ELEMENT
5.1 .l. Cantilever beam model
The first five natural frequencies of the intact cantilever and of the cantilever damaged
at element 13 (50 percent reduction in E) are listed in Table 1. The first five displacement
mode shapes for the cantilever are shown in Figure 3. From the percentage change in
the frequency from the intact to the damaged case a state of damage is discernible, but
no indication of the location of damage is obtained from this, without further analysis.
The Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC) and the Co-ordinate Modal Assurance Criterion
(COMAC) values for the intact and the damaged (element 13) displacement mode shapes
CURVATURE MODE SHAPE DAMAGE DETECTION
325
TABLE 1
Naturalfrequencies of thejrstjve modes for the intact cantilever
and the cantilever damaged at element 13
Mode no.
Natural frequency (Hz) Percentage
,
L-
\ change in
Intact Damaged frequency
1 39.63 1 39463 042
2 247.110 237.181 4.02
3 687.663 665.472 3.23
4 1336.898 1331.641 0.39
5 2188.828 2108.587 3.67
32.61
16.36
; 6.24
E
8 0 11
%
0
-6 01 -
-16.14-
-24.26 -
Poi nt no.
Figure 3. First five displacement mode shapes for the intact cantilever
TABLE 2
Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC) values for the intact
and the damaged (element 13) displacement mode shapes
for the cantilever
Intact cantilever
Damaged ,
cantilever 1 2 3 4 5
1 140 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01
2 0.01 140 0.00 0.01 0.01
3 0.01 0.01 l-00 0.01 0.01
4 0.01 0.01 0.01 140 0.00
5 0.01 o-01 0.00 0.01 140
326 A. K. PANDEY ET AL.
are listed in Tables 2 and 3, respectively. All the diagonal entries in Table 2 and all entries
in Table 3 are equal to 1, which indicates that the mode shapes are almost identical.
Hence, MAC and COMAC do not detect the state of damage.
The curvature mode shapes for the intact cantilever are shown in Figure 4. The absolute
differences between the curvature mode shapes of the intact and the damaged (element
13) cantilever are plotted in Figure 5. The maximum difference for each curvature mode
shape occurs in the damaged region, which is between point 13 and 14 for this case. The
differences in the curvature mode shapes are localized near the damaged zone, i.e., it is
much smaller outside the damaged region. The changes in the displacement mode shapes
are not localized to the damaged zone. The absolute difference in the displacement mode
shapes between the intact and damaged (element 13) cantilever is shown in Figure 6.
This characteristic of curvature mode shapes can be very useful in locating the damaged
area.
TABLE 3
Co-ordinate Modal Assurance Criterion (COMAC)
values for the intact and the damaged (element 13)
displacement mode shapes for the cantilever
Point COMAC
no. values
Point
no.
COMAC
values
1 1.00
2 1.00
3 1.00
4 1.00
5 1.00
6 1.00
7 1.00
8 1.00
9 1.00
10 1.00
11 1 .oo
12 1.00
13 1.00
14 1.00
15 1.00
16 1.00
17 1.00
18 1.00
19 1.00
20 1.00
21 1.00
f 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21
Point no.
Figure 4. First five curvature mode shapes for the intact cantilever.
CURVATURE MODE SHAPE DAMAGE DETECTION
327
Figure 5. Absolute difference between the curvature mode shapes for the intact and the damaged (element
13) cantilever.
Figure 6. Absolute difference between the displacement mode shapes for the intact and the damaged (element
13) cantilever.
Similar results were obtained for damage at other elements.
5.1.2. Simply supported beam model
A similar analysis was done for the simply supported beam model. In Table 4 the
natural frequencies for the first five modes of vibration for the intact simply supported
beam are listed. Natural frequencies for the simply supported beam damaged at element
13 (50 percent reduction in E) are also listed in Table 4. Again, from the percentage
change in the natural frequencies a state of damage is discernible but the damage cannot
be located.
The MAC and COMAC values, again do not indicate the presence of damage.
For the simply supported beam the curvature mode shapes are of the same form as
the displacement mode shapes and are shown in Figure 7. The absolute difference between
328 A. K. PANDEY ET AL
TABLE 4
Natural frequencies for the first five modes for the intact and
the damaged (element 13) simply supported beam
Mode no.
Natural frequency (Hz) Percentage
I
I change in
Intact Damaged frequency
1 111.327 106.857 4.02
2 444.228 434.274 2.24
3 995.420 987.643 0.78
4 1759.279 1690.227 3.93
5 2727.609 2702.741 0.91
l - 02-
0. 77-
0. 51 -
0. 26-
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21
Poi nt no.
Figure 7. First five curvature mode shapes for the simply supported intact beam.
the curvature mode shapes of the intact and the damaged (element 13) case are plotted
in Figure 8. For each curvature mode, the maximum difference again occurs in the
damaged zone. The difference in the displacement mode shapes, plotted in Figure 9, does
not give any idea of the damage location.
5.2. INCREASING DAMAGE AT AN ELEMENT
For the case of increasing damage at element 10, the absolute differences in the curvature
mode shapes for the cantilever beam and the simply supported beam are plotted in Figures
10 and 11, respectively. The maximum difference for each of the cases occurs in the
damaged zone. The maximum difference increases with the reduction in the stiffness of
the damaged zone. Therefore, the amount of damage can be obtained from the maximum
difference in the curvature mode shapes.
6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The numerical results for the cantilever beam model and the simply supported beam
model demonstrate the usefulness of curvature mode shapes in detecting and locating a
state of damage. It has been shown that changes in the curvature mode shapes are localized
CURVATURE MODE SHAPE DAMAGE DETECTION
329
Figure 8. Absolute difference between the curvature mode shapes for the intact and the damaged (element
13) simply supported beam.
Figure 9. Absolute difference between the displacement mode shapes for the intact and the damaged (element
13) simply supported beam.
in the region of damage. On the other hand, changes in the displacement mode shapes
are not localized and, hence, they do not give any indication of the location of damage.
The Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC) and the Co-ordinate Modal Assurance Criterion
(COMAC) are not sensitive enough to detect damage in its earlier stages. This is because
in calculating MAC and COMAC, differences become averaged over all the measurement
points (MAC) or all the mode shapes (COMAC) [93.
For obtaining curvature mode shape, by using the techniques of experimental modal
analysis, one has to take a full set of readings on a structure. To avoid this problem,
curvature mode shapes can be used in conjunction with the natural frequencies. Changes
in natural frequencies can be used to detect the presence of a state of damage, since this
can be done from a single point (e.g., reference point or driving point) measurement.
330
A. K. PANDEY ET AL.
2.0
_ (e)
14.
12 -
Figure 10. Absolute difference between the curvature mode shapes for the intact and the damaged (element
10) cantilever. (a), Mode 1; (b) mode 2; (c) mode 3; (d) mode 4; (e) mode 5.
CURVATURE MODE SHAPE DAMAGE DETECTION
331
1
(b)
t
(cl
6
1 (d)
14t-- (e)
m
;l3
5
!% 6
*
4
E= O.lE
2 E= 0.3E
0
@
0
5
Point 10
nun
Figure 11. Absolute difference between the curvature mode shapes for the intact and the damaged (element
10) simply supported beam. (a)-(e) as Figure 10.
332 A. K. PANDEY ET AL
Once the presence of damage is detected, curvature mode shapes can be obtained to
locate the damage.
Since curvature is proportional to the bending strain, in experimental tests curvature
mode shapes can be obtained directly by measuring strains instead of displacement or
acceleration. Recently, many researchers have demonstrated the feasibility and usefulness
of measuring strain mode shape with the help of strain gauges instead of measuring
acceleration or displacement mode shape [ 10-121.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The work reported here is a part of a continuing research project sponsored by the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (G. L. Hoffman, Project Manager) and the
U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
The contents of this paper reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the
facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily
reflect the official views of either the USDOT-FHWA, or the Commonwealth of Pennsyl-
vania at the time of publication. This paper does not constitute a standard, specification
or regulation.
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