Study of modal parameters and vibration signatures of notched concrete prisms

In the present study, vibration tests have been carried out on notched concrete prisms. The tests have been conducted to study modal parameters and vibration signatures in order to enhance the knowledge of monitoring concrete structures. Notch (artificially introduced crack) of constant widths and varying depths has been introduced in the concrete prisms at different locations. The specimens have been subjected to impact excitations by dropping a specific weight from a fixed height and at a particular location. The natural frequencies of notched and intact prisms have been experimentally measured. The frequency response functions (FRF) as obtained from multichannel pulse analyzer have been synthesized to evaluate the fundamental mode shape of vibration of the prisms by a curve fitting method. These curves have been further post-processed to obtain the modal curvature values. Pattern Recognition Scheme is applied to synthesize vibration signatures for the evaluation of the curvature differential values. The curvature differential values corresponding to different sensor locations in both intact and notched specimens have been obtained. Experimental results with different depth of flaws suggest that natural frequency alone cannot be a reliable parameter for the detection of damage in concrete beams with shallow depth of flaws. The modal curvature values have been found to be a reasonably good indicator of the location of the damage. The curvature differential values show the extent of damage but found to be dependent on the sensor location from the position of notch.