[pt] O aumento dos custos relacionados aos processos de manutenção em estruturas como aeronaves, aliadas à crescente demanda das mesmas, alimentam a necessidade de investimentos em técnicas inovadoras de monitoramento estrutural. Dessa forma, o trabalho realizado nesta tese, busca o desenvolvimento de uma técnica de monitoramento ativo, visando o acompanhamento de parâmetros da estrutura analisada, a fim de identificar e caracterizar processos de dano não visíveis, tais como corrosão e delaminação. A metodologia empregada, teve como base a análise dos padrões de deformação superficial, obtidos com o uso de grades de sensores à fibra óptica baseadas em redes de Bragg (FBG). Inicialmente, tais padrões foram provocados por carregamentos estáticos (tração), e posteriormente por atuadores PTZ fixados à estrutura. Estes últimos são submetidos a uma voltagem alternada e frequência fixa. Esta técnica apresenta todas as vantagens dos sensores FBG (massa e dimensões reduzidas, imunidade eletromagnética, elevado poder de multiplexação e alta sensibilidade entre outras), alem de permitir a visualização de alterações nos padrões de deformação, provocados por danos, através da variação da frequência de excitação. Com relação à interpretação dos resultados, a estratégia empregada consistiu em separar o problema de detecção e caracterização dos danos. Dessa forma, a detecção é realizada comparando a energia das deformações superficiais dos corpos de prova nos casos com e sem defeito, enquanto a caracterização é obtida através a utilização de redes neurais artificiais (RNA), por meio de rotinas de reconhecimento de padrões. / [en] The higher costs related to maintenance processes in structures such as aircraft, coupled with the growing demand of them, fueling the need for investment in innovative techniques for structural monitoring. Thus, the work done in this thesis seeks to develop a technique of active monitoring, aiming at monitoring of structure parameters analyzed in order to identify and characterize processes of hidden damage such as corrosion and delamination. The maid methodology was based on the analysis of patterns of surface deformation, obtained with the use of nets of optical fiber sensors based on fiber Bragg gratings ( FBG ). Initially, these patterns were caused by static loads (tension ), and later by PTZ actuators fixed to the frame, who are subjected to an AC voltage and fixed frequency. This technique has all the advantages of the FBG s sensors (mass and small dimensions, electromagnetic immunity, high multiplexing s power and high sensitivity among others), in addition to allowing visualization of changes in the patterns of deformation caused by damage, by varying the frequency excitation. With respect to the interpretation of the results, the strategy employed was to separate the problem of detection and characterization of damage. Thus, the detection is performed by comparing the deformation energy of the surface of the specimens in the cases with and without defect, whereas the characterization is obtained through the use of artificial neural networks (ANN) by means of pattern recognition routines.

Advanced aerospace materials, including fibre reinforced polymer and ceramic matrix composites, are increasingly being used in critical and demanding applications, challenging not only the current damage prediction, detection, and quantification methodologies, but also the residual life of the structure. The main objective of this work consists of developing theoretical and experimental studies about residual strength for composite structures, which are damaged by impact loading, aided by a SHM system, which combines different methods. For this, it is necessary: to identify, and to localize damage, as well as to calculate the severity of the damage and to predict the residual strength of the composite structure. To achieve these goals, the research methodology should consider three methods: (1) Vibration Based Method (VBM); (2) Shearography Speckle (SS) and (3) Flexural After Impact (FAI). Composite plates, made of epoxy resin reinforced by carbon or glass fibre, are evaluated. Firstly, VBM provide Frequency Response Functions to be analysed by suitable metrics (including a new metric), which are compared in terms of their capability for damage identification and global location. Afterwards, the extension of impact damage is determined by using shearography speckle. This technique has demonstrated great potential for damage detection in composite laminated structures. The identification of the damage from the measurements performed with the SS technique is based on the analysis of disturbances in the speed field caused because of the different properties of the material. These abnormal deformations can be verified as typical strains in damaged structures. SS is a laser interferometry method sensitive to displacement gradient in a surface direction out of the plane. Under the action of a smaller load, the structure is deformed and the presence of damage is shown through local peculiarities of surface deformation observed field. Finally, a flexure after impact (FAI) test is used to evaluate its limitations and potentialities as a damage tolerance technique. The residual flexural strength of damaged specimens is evaluated by quasi-static four-point bending test. A new criterion based on a relationship between damage metric from VBM and FAI analysis is presented and discussed. Thus, these results are normalized by using the maximum load and the metrics for damage analyses, i.e. if there is no damage in the structure, then the metric returns zero value. If the structure is partially damaged then the metric returns a number between one and zero. In addition, if the structure is totally damaged (i.e. residual strength is lower than specified in design), then the metric returns a value equal one. Finally, it is discussed the advantages and limitations of this combination into the context of SHM system (Structural Health Monitoring System). / Materiais compósitos estão cada vez mais sendo usados em aplicações críticas e exigentes, desafiando não apenas as metodologias atuais de previsão de dano, detecção, quantificação, mas também da vida residual da estrutura. O principal objetivo deste trabalho consiste no desenvolvimento de estudos teóricos e experimentais sobre a resistência residual de estruturas de compósito, que são danificadas pelo carregamento de impacto, auxiliado por um sistema SHM, que combina diferentes métodos. Para isso, é necessário: identificar, localizar danos, bem como determinar a severidade dos danos e estimar a resistência residual da estrutura. Para atingir esses objetivos, a metodologia de pesquisa considerou três métodos: (1) Método baseado em vibração; (2) Shearography Speckle (SS) e (3) Flexão após Impacto (FAI). Placas de compósito, fabricadas em resina epóxi reforçada por fibra de carbono ou de vidro, são avaliadas. Em primeiro lugar, o método baseado em vibração produz Funções de Resposta em Frequência, que são analisadas através de métricas adequadas (incluindo uma nova métrica), que são comparadas em termos de sua capacidade de identificação de danos e de localização global. Depois disso, a extensão de danos causados pelo impacto é determinada empregando SS. Esta técnica tem demonstrado grande potencial na detecção de dano em estruturas laminadas compósito. A identificação do dano a partir das medidas realizadas com a técnica SS tem por base a análise das perturbações no campo de curvaturas causada devido à heterogeneidade das propriedades do material. Estas deformações anormais podem ser verificadas como deformações típicas de estruturas danificadas. A SS é um método de interferometria laser sensível ao gradiente de deslocamento de uma superfície na direção fora do plano. Sob a ação de um pequeno carregamento, a estrutura é deformada e a presença de danos é revelada através de singularidades locais do campo de deformação observado na superfície. Finalmente, teste de flexão após o impacto (FAI) é usado para avaliar suas limitações e potencialidades como uma técnica de tolerância ao dano. A resistência à flexão das amostras intactas e danificadas é avaliada por ensaio de flexão em quatro-pontos quase-estático. Um novo critério baseado em uma relação entre a métrica de dano prevista pelos métodos de vibração e a análise via FAI é apresentado e discutido. Assim, estes resultados são normalizados utilizando a carga máxima e as métricas de dano, ou seja, se não houver nenhum dano na estrutura, a métrica retorna valor igual a zero. Se a estrutura é parcialmente danificada, a métrica retorna um valor entre um e zero. Além disso, se a estrutura está totalmente danificada (ou seja, a resistência residual está abaixo do especificado em projeto), a métrica retorna um valor igual a um. Por fim, discutem-se as vantagens e limitações desta combinação para o contexto de sistema SHM (Sistema de Monitoramento da Integridade Estrutural).

The present document covers the studies over Structural Health Monitoring systems via vibration based methods. The topic is organized in two parallel studies. The first one analyzes the integrity of metal-composite single lap bonded joints. The second one approaches similar analyses for sandwich structures. The monitoring was made by investigating the dynamic response both computationally and experimentally to verify the reliability of applying vibration based SHM procedures, specifically with the objective of identifying the presence of debonding damage. The dynamic responses were obtained via accelerometers and piezoelectric sensors placed on top of the investigated structures (on the outward surface). The purpose for the accelerometers is to provide reference data for the analyses involving the piezoelectric sensors. Different metrics of damage identification were investigated, all working over a determined frequency range. They quantify the damage by analyzing either the magnitudes or phase angles of the dynamic responses among the undamaged and damage structures. This present work proposed modifications to some methodologies of damage quantification found in the literature and compared the results. The new metrics offered more reliable values for the damage quantification on several of the analyses. It was verified that the metrics are valid for the scenarios observed in the present study. The experimental analyses showed also the influence on the dynamic response due to the position of small elastomeric elements. In regards to the finite element analyses, the computational models showed similar results to the experimental data, the more accurate ones being the models for the bonded joints. For the computational models, improvements can be applied into the piezoelectric sensor (e.g. by using new finite element formulations), as well as the region of debonding (e.g. by using contact algorithms). It is important to highlight that the elastic properties of the skins for the sandwich structure were obtained by the literature, so the model can be improved in the future by applying properties obtained experimentally. / Esta dissertação aborda os estudos realizados no campo de Sistemas de Monitoramento da Integridade Estrutural por meio de métodos baseados em vibrações. O tópico abordado é organizado em dois estudos paralelos. O primeiro é relativo ao monitoramento da integridade de juntas coladas metal-compósito. O segundo versa sobre análises semelhantes em estruturas sanduíche. O monitoramento foi executado através das análises das assinaturas dinâmicas das estruturas, tanto computacionalmente quanto experimentalmente, visando avaliar a capacidade de metodologias vibracionais de SHM em detectar dano de descolamento. As respostas dinâmicas foram obtidas por meio de acelerômetros e sensores piezelétricos dispostos sobre a superfície das estruturas avaliadas. Os acelerômetros fornecem dados de referência para as análises realizadas com base nas respostas do sensor piezelétrico. Diferentes métricas de identificação de dano são abordadas, sendo que todas estão baseadas em análise no domínio da frequência, utilizando parâmetros de magnitude ou ângulo de fase das estruturas danificadas e intactas. O presente trabalho propôs alterações em algumas das metodologias encontradas na literatura e comparou os resultados das métricas originais com as modificadas. As métricas modificadas apresentaram resultados mais consistentes em vários cenários de análise. Constatou-se também que as métricas abordadas mostram-se válidas para os casos observados no presente estudo. As análises experimentais também evidenciaram a influência na assinatura dinâmica da estrutura sanduíche causada pelo posicionamento de pequenos elementos elastoméricos. Com relação às análises via elementos finitos, os modelos computacionais apresentaram resultados similares aos obtidos experimentalmente, sendo os da junta colada os mais precisos. Tais modelos computacionais podem ser melhorados no futuro por meio de uma modelagem mais detalhada dos elementos piezelétricos (por exemplo: por meio de novas formulações), como também da região de descolamento (por exemplo: por meio da implementação de algoritmos de contato). Deve-se ressaltar também que as propriedades elásticas das lâminas externas da estrutura sanduíche foram obtidas da literatura, assim sendo, o modelo poderá ser melhorado em estudos futuros por meio do emprego de propriedades obtidas experimentalmente.

Hydrogen fuel cells, and notably the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), present an important opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within a range of sectors of society, particularly for transportation and portable products. Despite several decades of research and development, there exist three main hurdles to full commercialisation; namely infrastructure, costs, and durability. This thesis considers the latter of these. The lifetime target for an automotive fuel cell power plant is to survive 5000 hours of usage before significant performance loss; current demonstration projects have only accomplished half of this target, often due to PEFC stack component degradation. Health management techniques have been identified as an opportunity to overcome the durability limitations. By monitoring the PEFC for faulty operation, it is hoped that control actions can be made to restore or maintain performance, and achieve the desired lifetime durability. This thesis presents fault detection and diagnosis approaches with the goal of isolating a range of component degradation modes from within the PEFC construction. Fault detection is achieved through residual analysis against an electrochemical model of healthy stack condition. An expert knowledge-based diagnostic approach is developed for fault isolation. This analysis is enabled through fuzzy logic calculations, which allows for computational reasoning against linguistic terminology and expert understanding of degradation phenomena. An experimental test bench has been utilised to test the health management processes, and demonstrate functionality. Through different steady-state and dynamic loading conditions, including a simulation of automotive application, diagnosis results can be observed for PEFC degradation cases. This research contributes to the areas of reliability analysis and health management of PEFC fuel cells. Established PEFC models have been updated to represent more accurately an application PEFC. The fuzzy logic knowledge-based diagnostic is the greatest novel contribution, with no examples of this application in the literature.

Les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit sont basés sur des études précédentes réalisées à l’Institut d’Électronique de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (IEMN) de l’Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut Cambrésis (UVHC). Ils concernent le développement d’un système de surveillance embarqué destiné au contrôle des matériaux et des structures utilisés dans différents domaines de transport (fluidique, tubulaire, aéronautique, ferroviaire…). Il s’agit du principe de Contrôle Santé Intégré CSI (ou SHM en anglais pour Structural Health Monitoring). L’idée est d’intégrer des capteurs sur les surfaces des structures à contrôler pour aboutir à un système de contrôle non destructif de ces dernières durant la totalité de leurs fonctionnements. Tout d’abord, les travaux réalisés à l’IEMN dans ce domaine sont illustrés, quelques définitions comme celles des ondes ultrasonores, du Contrôle Non Destructif et du Contrôle Santé Intégré sont rappelées, avant d’aborder l’explication du passage d’un contrôle actif à un contrôle passif. Dans un deuxième temps, un algorithme de comparaison d’images basé sur les minimums locaux présents dans ces images a été proposé et testé sur des images simples de seize pixels, et a permis de tester le degré de ressemblance entre elles. L’explication de l’algorithme développé est divisée en deux grandes parties. Dans la première nous expliquons comment extraire les minimums locaux d’une image. La deuxième partie expose la procédure pour déterminer le taux de ressemblance entre les images. La simulation de la propagation d’un signal dans une plaque réverbérante et l’obtention des images temps-fréquence correspondantes à des corrélations filtrées (autocorrélation) ont été décrites. L’algorithme proposé a été validé sur ces images, permettant ainsi la localisation d’une position inconnue de la source. / The works presented in this manuscript are based on previous studies conducted at the Institute of Electronics Microelectronics and Nanotechnology of the University of Valenciennes and Hainaut Cambrésis. They concern the development of an embedded monitoring system for the control of materials and structures used in different transport domains (pipeline, aerospace, railway ...). This is the Structural Health-Monitoring principle. The idea is to integrate sensors into the surfaces of the controlled structures in order to achieve a non-destructive control system for the control of the latter during their entire lifetime. First the work done at the laboratory in this domain, are illustrated, some definitions such as ultrasonic waves, the Non Destructive Testing and the Structural Health Monitoring are recalled, to switch later to the explanation of the passage from an active control to a passive control. In a second step, an images comparison algorithm based on the local minima present in these images has been proposed and tested on simple images of sixteen pixels and was used to test the degree of resemblance between them. The explanation of the developed algorithm is divided into two parts. In the first one, we explain how to extract the local minima of an image. The second part describes the procedure for determining the rate of resemblance between the images. The simulation of the propagation of a signal in a reverberant plate and the obtaining of the frequency time images corresponding to filtered correlation (autocorrelation) has been described. The algorithm was validated on those images allowing the localization of an unknown source position.

Le Contrôle-Santé Intégré (CSI) réduit les besoins d’inspections humaines grâce à une surveillance automatisée, réduit les coûts de maintenance grâce à la détection précoce des anomalies avant qu’elles ne dégénèrent et améliore la sécurité ainsi que la fiabilité des services. L’objectif de cette thèse est de concevoir une plateforme de communication sans fil pour le CSI des structures ferroviaires. Le principe de contrôle repose sur la reconstruction des réponses impulsionnelles (fonctions de Green) par corrélation de bruit aléatoire se propageant dans le milieu. Durant ces travaux, nous avons éprouvé expérimentalement la relation entre les réponses actives expérimentales et une version post-traitée des fonctions de corrélation de bruit dans un contexte ferroviaire. Ainsi, nous avons démontré l’applicabilité des fonctions de corrélation pour la détection d’un défaut local sur un rail. Ensuite, nous avons réalisé une étude expérimentale comparative sur la caractérisation d’une transmission ZigBee en termes d’atténuation et de portée dans plusieurs environnements. Dans l’environnement ferroviaire sous test, nous avons démontré l’adéquation avec la portée d’une transmission ZigBee mono-saut (dans un rayon de 76m). Une solution de synchronisation des capteurs lors du prélèvement du signal basée sur la norme IEEE 802.15.4 a été proposée et validée par une campagne de mesures. Il a été démontré que cette approche offre une précision de l’ordre de quelques centaines de nanosecondes. Un prototype-plateforme de communication sans fil basé sur la technologie ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 a été mis en place et déployé sur un échantillon de rail. Cette solution a permis de valider les performances de cette plateforme, une fois les données récoltées par les transducteurs, ces informations sont transmises par un lien ZigBee vers une station de base où des algorithmes de détection leurs sont appliqués. / Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) reduces human inspection requirements through automated monitoring, reduces maintenance costs by early detection of defects before they escalate, and improves safety and reliability of services. The work presented in this thesis aims to design a wireless communication platform for railway structures health monitoring. The control principle is based on the reconstruction of impulse responses (Green’s functions) by correlation of random noise propagated in the medium. In this work, direct comparison between an active emission-reception response and the estimated noise correlation function has confirmed the validity of the equivalence relation between them. Thus, we have demonstrated the applicability of the correlation functions for local defect detection in a rail. Then, we conducted an experimental study on the characterization of a ZigBee transmission in terms of path loss and communication range in multiple environments. In the railway environment under test, we showed the adequacy with the range of a ZigBee single-hop transmission (within a radius of 76m). Furthermore, a flexible solution for sensors synchronization during the sampling process, based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard was proposed and validated by a measurement campaign. It has been demonstrated that this approach provides a precision of a few hundred nanoseconds. A wireless communication-platform prototype based on the ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 technology has been implemented and deployed on a rail sample. This solution enabled the validation of the platform performances, once the data collected by the transducers, the information is transmitted by a ZigBee link to a base station where detection algorithms are applied.

This thesis work deals with the development of three different categories of interrogation techniques for Fiber Bragg Grating based sensor networks. Such networks are used for structural health monitoring and other applications. A bulk grating based interrogation system is described first, which includes an optical source, switch, circulator, embedded controller, and software. The center wavelength determination technique employed is detailed and is shown to be highly accurate from test data. The comparison with resistance strain gauges is presented which shows that the system developed provides an accurate strain reconstruction. The system is also compared with a commercial optical spectrum analyzer and is found to exhibit good accuracy and fidelity. The system has been field tested on an aircraft structure with 14 sensors spread over 4 channels. Strain data reconstruction from these tests is shown to accurately reproduce the loading conditions. A second system developed is based on the matched filter technique using a mechanical fiber stretcher; the details of this system are presented with a mathematical treatment of the technique. The design of the fiber stretcher is also described. This design is regarded to be novel since it tries to provide large interrogation bandwidths using a parallel topology. The results of tests have shown good resolution and comparative tests with resistance strain gauges have shown accurate reproduction of strain. Finally, an interrogation system based on a wavelength tunable source is presented. This system is a precursor to a time division multiplexed interrogation system, which has also been described. Three laser configurations have been set up and characterized. The laser sweep tests have been performed on two configurations and a sensor grating reconstruction test has also been carried out.

Countries world-over have thousands of critical structures and bridges which have been built decades back when strength-based designs were the order of the day. Over the years, magnitude and frequency of loadings on these have increased. Also, these structures have been exposed to environmental degradation during their service life. Hence, structural health monitoring (SHM) has attracted the attention of researchers, world over. Structural health monitoring is recommended both for vulnerable old bridges and structures as well as for new important structures. Structural health monitoring as a principle is derived from condition monitoring of machinery, where the day-to-day recordings of sound and vibration from machinery is compared and sudden changes in their features is reported for inspection and trouble-shooting. With the availability of funds for repair and retrofitting being limited, it has become imperative to rank buildings and bridges that require rehabilitation for prioritization. Visual inspection and expert judgment continues to rule the roost. Non-destructive testing techniques though have come of age and are providing excellent inputs for judgment cannot be carried out indiscriminately. They are best suited for evaluating local damage when restricted areas are investigated in detail. A few modern bridges, particularly long-span bridges have been provided with sophisticated instrumentation for health monitoring. It is necessary to identify local damages existing in normal bridges. The methodology adopted for such identification should be simple, both in terms of investigations involved and the instrumentation. Researchers have proposed various methodologies including damage identification from mode shapes, wavelet-based formulations and optimization-based damage identification and instrumentation schemes and so on. These are technically involved but may be difficult to be applied for all critical bridges, where the sheer volume of number of bridges to be investigated is enormous. Ideally, structural health monitoring has to be carried out in two stages: (a) Stage-1: Remote monitoring of global damage indicators and inference of the health of the structure. Instrumentation for this stage should be less, simple, but at critical locations to capture the global damage in a reasonable sense. (b) Stage -2: If global indicators show deviation beyond a specified threshold, then a detailed and localized instrumentation and monitoring, with controlled application of static and dynamic loads is to be carried out to infer the health of the structure and take a decision on the repair and retrofit strategies. The thesis proposes the first stage structural health monitoring methodology using natural frequencies and static deflections as damage indicators. The idea is that the stage-1 monitoring has to be done for a large number of bridges and vulnerable structures in a remote and wire-less way and a centralized control and processing unit should be able to number-crunch the in-coming data automatically and the features extracted from the data should help in determining whether any particular bridge warrants second stage detailed investigation. Hence, simple and robust strategies are required for estimating the health of the structure using some of the globally available response data. Identification methodology developed in this thesis is applicable to distributed smeared damage, which is typical of reinforced concrete structures. Simplified expressions and methodologies are proposed in the thesis and numerically and experimentally validated towards damage estimation of typical structures and elements from measured natural frequencies and static deflections. The first-order perturbation equation for a dynamical system is used to derive the relevant expressions for damage identification. The sensitivity of Eigen-value-cumvector pair to damage, modeled as reduction in flexural rigidity (EI for beams, AE for axial rods and Et 12(1 2 )3− μ for plates) is derived. The forward equation relating the changes in EI to changes in frequencies is derived for typical structural elements like simply-supported beams, plates and axial rods (along with position and extent of damage as the other controlling parameters). A distributed damage is uniquely defined with its position, extent and magnitude of EI reduction. A methodology is proposed for the inverse problem, making use of the linear relationship between the reductions in EI (in a smeared sense) to Eigen-values, such that multiple damages could be estimated using changes in natural frequencies. The methodology is applied to beams, plates and axial rods. The performance of this inverse methodology under influence of measurement errors is investigated for typical error profiles. For a discrete three dimensional structure, computationally derived sensitivity matrix is used to solve the damages in each floor levels, simulating the post-earthquake damage scenario. An artificial neural network (ANN) based Radial basis function network (RBFN) is also used to solve the multivariate interpolation problem, with appropriate training sets involving a number of pairs of damage and Eigen-value-change vectors. The acclaimed Cawley-Adams criteria (1979) states that, “the ratio of changes in natural frequencies between two modes is independent of the damage magnitude” and is governed only by the position (or location) and extent of damage. This criterion is applied to a multiple damage problem and contours with equal frequency change ratios, termed as Iso_Eigen_value_change contours are developed. Intersection of these contours for different pairs of frequencies shows the position and extent of damage. Experimental and analytical verification of damage identification methodology using Cawley-Adams criteria is successfully demonstrated. Sensitivity expressions relating the damages to changes in static deflections are derived and numerically and experimentally proved. It is seen that this process of damage identification from static deflections is prone to more errors if not cautiously exercised. Engineering and physics based intuition is adopted in setting the guidelines for efficient damage detection using static deflections. In lines of Cawley-Adams criteria for frequencies, an invariant factor based on static deflections measured at pairs of symmetrical points on a simply supported beam is developed and established. The power of the factor is such that it is governed only by the position of damage and invariant with reference to extent and magnitude of damage. Such a revelation is one step ahead of Caddemi and Morassi’s (2007) recent paper, dealing with static deflection based damage identification for concentrated damage. The invariant factor makes it an ideal candidate for base-line-free measurement, if the quality and resolution of instrumentation is good. A moving damage problem is innovatively introduced in the experiment. An attempt is made to examine wave-propagation techniques for damage identification and a guideline for modeling wave propagation as a transient dynamic problem is done. The reflected-wave response velocity (peak particle velocity) as a ratio of incident wave response is proposed as a damage indicator for an axial rod (representing an end-supported pile foundation). Suitable modifications are incorporated in the classical expressions to correct for damping and partial-enveloping of advancing wave in the damage zone. The experimental results on axial dynamic response of free-free beams suggest that vibration frequency based damage identification is a viable complementary tool to wave propagation. Wavelet-multi-resolution analysis as a feature extraction tool for damage identification is also investigated and structural slope (rotation) and curvatures are found to be the better indicators of damage coupled with wavelet analysis. An adaptive excitation scheme for maximizing the curvature at any arbitrary point of interest is also proposed. However more work is to be done to establish the efficiency of wavelets on experimentally derived parameters, where large noise-ingression may affect the analysis. The application of time-period based damage identification methodology for post-seismic damage estimation is investigated. Seismic damage is postulated by an index based on its plastic displacement excursion and the cumulative energy dissipated. Damage index is a convenient tool for decision making on immediate-occupancy, life-safety after repair and demolition of the structure. Damage sensitive soft storey structure and a weak story structure are used in the non-linear dynamic analysis and the DiPasquale-Cakmak (1987) damage index is calibrated with Park-Ang (1985) damage index. The exponent of the time-period ratio of DiPasquale-Cakmak model is modified to have consistency of damage index with Park-Ang (1985) model.

Many of the existing ambient modal identification methods based on vibration data process information centrally to calculate the modal properties. Such methods demand relatively large memory and processing capabilities to interrogate the data. With the recent advances in wireless sensor technology, it is now possible to process information on the sensor itself. The decentralized information so obtained from individual sensors can be combined to estimate the global modal information of the structure. The main objective of this thesis is to present a new class of decentralized algorithms that can address the limitations stated above. The completed work in this regard involves casting the identification problem within the framework of underdetermined blind source separation (BSS). Time-frequency transformations of measurements are carried out, resulting in a sparse representation of the signals. Stationary wavelet packet transform (SWPT) is used as the primary means to obtain a sparse representation in the time-frequency domain. Several partial setups are used to obtain the partial modal information, which are then combined to obtain the global structural mode information. Most BSS methods in the context of modal identification assume that the excitation is white and do not contain narrow band excitation frequencies. However, this assumption is not satisfied in many situations (e.g., pedestrian bridges) when the excitation is a superposition of narrow-band harmonic(s) and broad-band disturbance. Under such conditions, traditional BSS methods yield sources (modes) without any indication as to whether the identified source(s) is a system or an excitation harmonic. In this research, a novel under-determined BSS algorithm is developed involving statistical characterization of the sources which are used to delineate the sources corresponding to external disturbances versus intrinsic modes of the system. Moreover, the issue of computational burden involving an over-complete dictionary of sparse bases is alleviated through a new underdetermined BSS method based on a tensor algebra tool called PARAllel FACtor (PARAFAC) decomposition. At the core of this method, the wavelet packet decomposition coefficients are used to form a covariance tensor, followed by PARAFAC tensor decomposition to separate the modal responses. Finally, the proposed methods are validated using measurements obtained from both wired and wireless sensors on laboratory scale and full scale buildings and bridges.

The reliability of modern gas turbine engines is largely due to careful damage tolerant design a method of structural design based on the assumption that flaws (cracks) exist in any structure and will continue to grow with usage. With proper monitoring, largely in the form of periodic inspections at conservative intervals reliability and safety is maintained. These methods while reliable can lead to the early retirement of some components and unforeseen failure if design assumptions fail to reflect reality. With improvements to sensor and computing technology there is a growing interest in a system that could continuously monitor the health of structural aircraft as well as forecast future damage accumulation in real-time. Through the use of two-dimensional and three-dimensional numerical modeling the initial goals and findings for this continued work include: (a) establishing measurable parameters directly linked to the health of the blade and (b) the feasibility of detecting accumulated damage to the structural material and thermal barrier coating as well as the onset of damage causing structural failure.