Damage Detection in Laminated Composite Plates Using Modal Strain Energy and Improved Differential Evolution Algorithm

In this paper, a model strain energy based method and an improved differential evolution algorithm are used to locate and quantify damage on the laminated composite plate. Firstly, the modal strain energy based method is employed to identify a set of potential damaged elements. Then the improved differential evolution algorithm is utilized to minimize a mode shape error with the damage variables to indicate the extent of elements defined in the previous task. The numerical examples carry out a three-layer square laminated composite plate with two damaged elements. In addition, the effect of noise on the accuracy of damage localization is also investigated.