STUDY ON CHARACTERIZATION OF HORIZONTAL CRACKS IN ISOTROPIC BEAMS

A theoretical analysis and experimental study to characterize horizontal crack in isotropic beams is presented. In the theoretical analysis, the beam is divided into domains and a harmonic load is applied on its surface. Displacement in the thickness direction along the beam was measured. Strip element method (SEM) was also used to compute these displacements for beams under study. Comparisons between theoretical and experimental results are then conducted. Both results show that the crack length can be determined from the response pattern. It is also found that higher-frequency excitation is needed to obtain a clear indication of the location of deeper cracks. The results from this study show that the present technique is an efficient alternative method to characterize horizontal crack in isotropic beams.