Identification of cracks in beams with auxiliary mass spatial probing by stationary wavelet transform

This paper proposes a new approach based on auxiliary mass spatial probing by stationary wavelet transform (SWT) to provide a method for crack detection in beamlike structure. SWT can provide accurate estimation of the variances at each scale and facilitate the identification of salient features in a signal. The natural frequencies of a damaged beam with a traversing auxiliary mass change due to the change in flexibility and inertia of the beam as the auxiliary mass is traversed along the beam. Therefore, the auxiliary mass can enhance the effects of the crack on the dynamics of the beam and, therefore, facilitate the identification and location of damage in the beam. That is, the auxiliary mass can be used to probe the dynamic characteristic of the beam by traversing the mass from one end of the beam to the other. However, it is difficult to locate the crack directly from the graphical plot of the natural frequency versus axial location of auxiliary mass. This curve of the natural frequencies can be decomposed by SWT into a smooth, low order curve, called approximation coefficient, and a wavy, high order curve called the detail coefficient, which includes crack information that is useful for damage detection. The modal responses of the damaged simply supported beams with auxiliary mass used are computed using the finite element method (FEM). Sixty-four cases are studied using FEM and SWT. The efficiency and practicability of the proposed method is illustrated via experimental testing. The effects of crack depth, crack location, auxiliary mass, and spatial probing interval are investigated. From the simulated and experimental results, the efficiency of the proposed method is demonstrated.