Damage detection of a structure using a combined approach of IPV method and data fusion

A structural damage detection method using inner product vector (IPV) of vibration responses and data fusion was investigated here, and the corresponding damage detection tests were performed. In tests, random excitations and sinusoidal excitations were adopted, respectively, and acceleration responses of a structure were acquired. The damage indexes were calculated based on IPV technique, and then the data fusion technique was further used to fuse the damage indexes calculated for different measured reference points. The damage detection test of a frame structure showed that the effect of reference points selection on the correctness of measurements in the original IPV method can be avoided and the structural damage can be detected correctly with combination of the IPV method and the data fusion technique. The comparison of the damage detection results with the two different type excitations demonstrated that the data fusion technique can improve the damage detection precision significantly when a structure is excited with sinusoidal signals.