Damage detection for an elastic thin plate based on Gauss curvature modal difference

The feasibility of damage detection for plate structures using curvature modal difference was explored. The concept of Gauss curvature in differential geometry was introduced to calculate the curvature modes from the deflection modes of a plate. A simply supported rectangular plate was adopted in the verification of the proposed damage detection method. In the simulation of damage detection, the curvature modal differences between an intact plate and a damaged plate were calculated, and the location of damage could be identified from the variation of the curvature modal differences. Furthermore, an index was also proposed to evaluate damage level using curvature modal differences together with natural frequencies of the damaged plate and the intact one. Numerical simulations for the detection of damage location and damage level were performed and the results showed that the presented method is feasible and effective for damage detection of plate-like structures.