• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.237-250
• /
• 2022

Structural health monitoring (SHM) plays an important role in ensuring the safety and functionality of critical civil infrastructure. In recent years, numerous researchers have conducted studies to develop computer vision and machine learning techniques for SHM purposes, offering the potential to reduce the laborious nature and improve the effectiveness of field inspections. However, high-quality vision data from various types of damaged structures is relatively difficult to obtain, because of the rare occurrence of damaged structures. The lack of data is particularly acute for fatigue crack in steel bridge girder. As a result, the lack of data for training purposes is one of the main issues that hinders wider application of these powerful techniques for SHM. To address this problem, the use of synthetic data is proposed in this article to augment real-world datasets used for training neural networks that can identify fatigue cracks in steel structures. First, random textures representing the surface of steel structures with fatigue cracks are created and mapped onto a 3D graphics model. Subsequently, this model is used to generate synthetic images for various lighting conditions and camera angles. A fully convolutional network is then trained for two cases: (1) using only real-word data, and (2) using both synthetic and real-word data. By employing synthetic data augmentation in the training process, the crack identification performance of the neural network for the test dataset is seen to improve from 35% to 40% and 49% to 62% for intersection over union (IoU) and precision, respectively, demonstrating the efficacy of the proposed approach.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.1217-1231
• /
• 2016

In this research, a slotted patch antenna sensor is designed for wireless strain and crack sensing. An off-the-shelf RFID (radiofrequency identification) chip is adopted in the antenna sensor design for signal modulation. The operation power of the RFID chip is captured from wireless reader interrogation signal, so the sensor operation is completely battery-free (passive) and wireless. For strain and crack sensing of a structure, the antenna sensor is bonded on the structure surface like a regular strain gage. Since the antenna resonance frequency is directly related with antenna dimension, which deforms when strain occurs on the structural surface, the deformation/strain can be correlated with antenna resonance frequency shift measured by an RFID reader. The slotted patch antenna sensor performance is first evaluated through mechanics-electromagnetics coupled simulation. Extensive experiments are then conducted to validate the antenna sensor performance, including tensile and compressive strain sensing, wireless interrogation range, and fatigue crack sensing.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.9
• /
• pp.814-822
• /
• 2013

For the fault diagnosis of a mechanical system, pattern recognition methods have being used frequently in recent research. Hidden Markov model(HMM) and artificial neural network(ANN) are typical examples of pattern recognition methods employed for the fault diagnosis of a mechanical system. In this paper, a hybrid method that combines HMM and ANN for the fault diagnosis of a mechanical system is introduced. A rotating blade which is used for a wind turbine is employed for the fault diagnosis. Using the HMM/ANN hybrid model along with the numerical model of the rotating blade, the location and depth of a crack as well as its presence are identified. Also the effect of signal to noise ratio, crack location and crack size on the success rate of the identification is investigated.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.279-288
• /
• 2018

In this paper, a new method has been proposed to detect crack in beam structures under moving mass using regularized extreme learning machine. For this purpose, frequencies of beam under moving mass used as input to train machine. This data is acquired by the analysis of cracked structure applying the finite element method (FEM). Also, a validation study used for verification of the FEM. To evaluate performance of the presented method, a fixed simply supported beam and two span continuous beam are considered containing single or multi cracks. The obtained results indicated that this method can provide a reliable tool to accurately identify cracks in beam structures under moving mass.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.13-27
• /
• 2023

Fatigue crack is a fatal problem for steel structures. Early detection and maintenance can help extend the service life and prevent hazards. This paper presents the ultrasonic guided waves-based (UGWs-based) fatigue crack detection of a steel I-beam. The semi-analytical finite element model has been built to obtain the wave propagation characteristics. Damage indices in both time and frequency domains were analyzed by considering the characteristic variations of UGWs including the amplitude, phase angle, and wave packet energy. The pulse-echo and pitch-catch methods were combined in the detection scheme. Lab-scale experiments were conducted on welded steel I-beams to verify the proposed method. Results show that the damage indices based on the characteristic variations in the time domain can identify and localize the fatigue crack before it enters the rapid growth stage. The damage severity can be reasonably evaluated by analyzing the time-domain damage indices. Two nonlinear damage indices in the frequency domain give earlier warnings of the fatigue crack than the time-domain damage indices do. The identification results based on the above two nonlinear indices are found to be less consistent under various excitation frequencies. More robust nonlinear techniques needed to be searched and tested for early crack detection in steel I-beams in further study.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.320-325
• /
• 2015

This paper dealt with a defect identification algorithm which is based on single partial discharge (PD) pulse analysis in gas insulated structure. Four types of electrode systems such as a needle-plane, a plane-needle, a free particle and a crack inside spacer were fabricated to simulate defects in gas insulated switchgear (GIS). We measured single PD pulse by an oscilloscope with a sampling rate of 5 GS/s and a frequency bandwidth of 1 GHz. Data aquisition and signal processing were controlled by a LabVIEW program. Physical shapes of PD pulses were compared with kurtosis, skewness and time-based parameters as rising time, falling time and pulse-width. These parameters were analysed by an algorithm with a back propagation algorithm (BPA). By applying the algorithm, the identification rate was 97% for the needle-plane electrode, 96% for the plane-needle electrode, 91% for the free particle and 93% for the crack inside spacer. The results verified that the algorithm could identify the type of defects in GIS.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.1107-1132
• /
• 2015

A damage detection algorithm based on neuro fuzzy hybrid system is presented in this study for location and severity predictions of cracks in beam-like structures. A combination of eigenfrequencies and rotation deviation curves are utilized as input to the soft computing technique. Both single and multiple damage cases are considered. Theoretical expressions leading to modal properties of damaged beam elements are provided. The beam formulation is based on Euler-Bernoulli theory. The cracked section of beam is simulated employing discrete spring model whose compliance is computed from stress intensity factors of fracture mechanics. A hybrid neuro fuzzy technique is utilized to solve the inverse problem of crack identification. Two different neuro fuzzy systems including grid partitioning (GP) and subtractive clustering (SC) are investigated for the highlighted problem. Several error metrics are utilized for evaluating the accuracy of the hybrid algorithms. The study is the first in terms of 1) using the two models of neuro fuzzy systems in crack detection and 2) considering multiple damages in beam elements employing the fused neuro fuzzy procedures. At the end of the study, the developed hybrid models are tested by utilizing the noise-contaminated data. Considering the robustness of the models, they can be employed as damage identification algorithms in health monitoring of beam-like structures.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.26 no.4A
• /
• pp.693-700
• /
• 2006

To detect and evaluate the damage present in bridge, static identification method is known to be simple and effective, compared to dynamic method. In this study, the damage detection method in steel box girder bridge using static responses including displacement, slope and curvature is examined. The static displacement is calculated using finite element analysis and the slope and curvature are determined from the displacement using central difference method. The location of damage is detected using the absolute differences of these responses in intact and damaged bridge. Steel box girder bridge with corner crack is modeled using singular element in finite element method. The results show that these responses were significantly useful in detecting and predicting the location of damage present in bridge.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.29 no.12 s.243
• /
• pp.1586-1596
• /
• 2005

In this paper, a structural damage identification method (SDIM) is developed to identify the line crack-like directional damages generated within a cylindrical shell. First, the equations of motion for a damaged cylindrical shell are derived. Based on a theory of continuum damage mechanics, a small material volume containing a directional damage is represented by the effective orthotropic elastic stiffness, which is dependent of the size and the orientation of the damage with respect to the global coordinates. The present SDIM is then derived from the frequency response function (FRF) directly solved from the equations of motion of a damaged shell. In contrast with most existing SDIMs which require the modal parameters measured in both intact and damaged states, the present SDIM may require only the FRF-data measured at damaged state. By virtue of utilizing FRF-data, one may choose as many sets of excitation frequency and FRF measurement point as needed to acquire a sufficient number of equations for damage identification analysis. The numerically simulated damage identification tests are conducted to study the feasibility of the present SDIM.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2005.10a
• /
• pp.394-399
• /
• 2005

In this paper, a structural damage identification method (SDIM) is developed to identify the line crack-like directional damages generated within a cylindrical shell. First, the equations of motion fur a damaged cylindrical shell are derived. Based on a theory of continuum damage mechanics, a small material volume containing a directional damage is represented by the effective orthotropic elastic stiffness, which is dependent of the size and the orientation of the damage with respect to the global coordinates. The present SDIM is then derived from the frequency response function (FRF) directly solved from the dynamic equations of the damaged cylindrical shell. In contrast with most existing SDIMs which require the modal parameters measured in both intact and damaged states, the present SDIM requires only the FRF-data measured in damaged state. By virtue of utilizing FRF-data, one may choose as many sets of excitation frequency and FRF measurement point as needed to acquire a sufficient number of equations fer damage identification analysis. The numerically simulated damage identification tests are conducted to study the feasibility of the present SDIM.