Detection of Cracks in a Cantilever Beam Using Signal Processing and Strain Energy Based Model

Structure health monitoring is one of the most important aspects in an industry, as structures should work safely during their service life. Cracks are the most common damage that initiates a breakdown phase and hence timely and accurate detection of these cracks is imperative. In this article, a vibration based non-destructive technique is presented to detect one or multiple edge cracks in beam like structures. This model is based on variation in mode shapes and natural frequencies that provide accuracy in results as well as ease in practical applications. The crack location is identified using mode shapes of damaged beam wherein an appropriate signal processing technique is implemented by using which the noise in the signal can be reduced. Along with this, the crack severity is also determined using a strain energy based mathematical model. The model presented in this study is capable of detecting an arbitrary number of cracks in cantilever or simply supported configuration. The results obtained using the proposed method is also validated by considering few case studies.