Damage identification in a lightly reinforced concrete beam based on changes in the power spectral density

Abstract

This paper deals with the detection of damage in a lightly reinforced concrete beam using dynamic measurements. An algorithm based on changes in the power spectral density (PSD) is presented. The algorithm is used to detect damage, predict the location and assess the extent of damage in the reinforced concrete beam. The method is based on the measured data on the beam after introducing some damage at salient locations. A tuneable piezoelectric actuator was used to produce additional peaks in the dynamic response of the system in the frequency domain. These additional peaks were adjusted over the frequency band by tuning the actuator. It was noticed from the results, that the PSD method detected the damage, determine the location and could monitor the increase in damage in the beam