Development of elastic damage load theorem for damage detection in a statically determinate beam

A system identification technique based on the static displacement changes due to damages is proposed to enhance the efficiency of damage detection in flexural structures. For this, an elastic damage load theorem was derived and verified. Comparisons with numerical and experimental tests were performed to investigate the applicability and advantage of the proposed theorem. In addition, it is shown that the sparse measurement can be overcome by increasing the loading conditions instead of increasing the number of measurement sensors. From numerical and experimental application of the elastic damage load theorem to damage identification, it can be concluded that the elastic damage load theorem may be useful in the long term health monitoring and the damage assessment using periodical static loading test.