Structural damage identification based on best achievable flexibility change

A new method based on best achievable flexibility change is presented in this paper to localize and quantify damage in structures. Central to the damage localization approach is the computation of the Euclidean distances between the measured flexibility change and the best achievable flexibility changes. The location of damage can be identified by searching for a value that is considerably smaller than others in these distances. With location determined, a simple extent algorithm is then developed. Three examples are used to demonstrate the efficiency of the method. Results indicate that the proposed procedure may be useful for structural damage identification.