Model-based damage detection technique for a structural system

An electronic device comprising:

• a display screen;
• one or more processors;
• and
• a memory configured to store a model representing elements of a structure, measured responses resulting from physical testing of the structure, and executable instructions for a plurality of software modules that are executable on the one or more processors, the plurality of software modules including:
• an optimization module configured to generate solutions that include a proposed set of damaged elements and a proposed set of damage parameters, and to evolve the solutions to minimize an error produced by an error function;
• a calibration module configured to receive the solutions and update the model based on the solutions, and to receive modeled responses for the solutions and the measured responses, and to compute the error using the error function based on modeled responses and the measured responses,
• an model solver module configured to calculate the modeled responses based on the model as updated, and
• a user interface module configured to display a selected solution to a user,
• wherein the error function calculates a discrepancy between a modeled response difference and a measured response difference, the modeled response difference is a difference between modeled responses determined from the model configured to model initial conditions and configured to model conditions with selected damaged elements, the measured response difference is a difference in measured responses determined from physical testing of the structure under the initial conditions and under damaged conditions, and the displayed selected solution is a solution that minimizes the error produced by the error function that evaluates goodness-of-fit between the model and the structure under damaged conditions based on the discrepancy between the modeled response difference and the measured response difference.

A non-transitory electronic device-readable medium having executable instructions stored thereon, the instructions when executed by one or more processors being operable to:

• access a model of a structure;
• receive measured responses resulting from physical testing of the structure, the measured responses including responses measured under initial conditions and under damaged conditions;
• search for a set of damaged elements that minimizes error produced by an error function that evaluates goodness-of-fit between the model and the structure under damaged conditions based on a discrepancy between a modeled response difference and a measured response difference, wherein the modeled response difference is a difference between modeled responses determined from the model configured to model initial conditions and configured to model conditions with selected damaged elements, and the measured response difference is a difference in measured responses determined from physical testing of the structure under the initial conditions and under damaged conditions;
• and
• display indications of the set of damaged elements that minimizes the error produced by the error function that evaluates goodness-of-fit between the model and the structure under damaged conditions based on the discrepancy between the modeled response difference and the measured response difference.