Structural damage identification using incomplete static displacement measurement

A local damage identification method using measured structural static displacement is proposed in this study. Based on the residual force vector deduced from the static equilibrium equation, residual strain energy (RSE) is introduced, which can localize the damage in the element level. In the case of all the nodal displacements are used, the RSE can localize the true location of damage, while incomplete displacement measurements are used, some suspicious damaged elements can be found. A model updating method based on static displacement response sensitivity analysis is further utilized for accurate identification of damage location and extent. The proposed method is verified by two numerical examples. The results indicate that the proposed method is efficient for damage identification. The advantage of the proposed method is that only limited static displacement measurements are needed in the identification, thus it is easy for engineering application.