Bird mating optimizer for structural damage detection using a hybrid objective function

A structural damage detection approach based on bird mating optimizer (BMO) in time-frequency domain is proposed in this paper. A hybrid objective function is introduced by minimizing the discrepancies between the measured and calculated natural frequencies and correlation function vector of acceleration of damaged and intact structures. Then the BMO algorithm with a disturbance procedure is developed to solve the objective function. Benefited from the hybrid objective function, only a few number of natural frequencies are needed in the detection process. And the disturbance procedure designed in this paper can enhance the precision of identification. The efficiency and robustness of the proposed method are verified by a planar truss and a frame, a three connected shear buildings and an experimental work. The studies in numerical simulations validate that the proposed objective function and disturbance procedure are helpful to improve the precision of identification. The experimental work shows that the proposed method has the potential of practical application. In addition, comparison among the proposed method and other optimization algorithms, i.e. GA, ABC, L-SHADE and HCLPSO, reveals the superiority of the proposed method in structural damage detection.