Experimental validation of a finite-element model updating procedure

This paper validates an approach to damage detection and localization based on finite-element model updating (FEMU). The approach has the advantage over other existing methods to FEMU that it simultaneously updates all three finite-element model matrices at the same time preserving their structure (connectivity), symmetry and positive-definiteness. The approach is tested in this paper on an experimental setup consisting of a steel cable, where local mass changes and global change in the tension of the cable are introduced. The new algorithm is applied to identify the size and location of different changes in the structural parameters (mass, stiffness and damping). The obtained results clearly indicate that even small structural changes can be detected and localized with the new method. Additionally, a comparison with many other FEMU-based methods has been performed to show the superiority of the considered method.