• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.99-110
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• 2018

The focus of this paper is on the elements with stable open cracks. To analyze plane problems, two triangular elements with three and six nodes are formulated using force method. Flexibility matrices of the elements are derived by combining the non-cracked flexibility and the additional one due to crack, which is computed by utilizing the local flexibility method. In order to compute the flexibility matrix of the intact element, a basic coordinate system without rigid body motions is required. In this paper, the basic system origin is located at the crack center and one of its axis coincides with the crack surfaces. This selection makes it possible to formulate elements with inclined cracks. It is obvious that the ability of the suggested elements in calculating accurate natural frequencies for cracked structures, make them applicable for vibration-based crack detection.