abstract
- This paper reviews a method of localized structural health monitoring based on relative changes in localized flexibility properties. The localized flexibility matrices are obtained either by applying a decomposition procedure to an experimentally determined global flexibility matrix or by processing the output signals of a vibration test in a substructure-by-substructure manner. The theory is based on the partitioning of the energy functional of a discrete dynamic system, for which Lagrange multipliers are utilized to enforce compatibility constraints between neighboring substructural regions. The resultant dynamics are then stated in terms of generalized variables that are unique to each substructure and the Lagrange multipliers that can be considered as interface forces which transfer energy between substructures. This theory is demonstrated with an experimental damage detection test of a bridge column model.