A residual strain energy based damage localisation method for offshore platforms under environmental variations

ABSTRACT

Vibration-based damage identification methods are committed to detecting structural damage by examining changes in the vibration characteristics of structures. However, these characteristics are not only affected by the structural damage but also subject to the change of environmental condition. A new damage localisation method, termed as residual strain energy (RSE) method, which is capable of locating damage on 3D structures under environmental variations, is presented. This RSE method employs the residual mode shapes to construct the damage localisation indicator, in which the principal component analysis algorithm is introduced to eliminate the influence of environmental variations. Numerical simulations were conducted on a 3D offshore platform structure considering temperature variations. Results indicate that the RSE method can effectively eliminate environmental influences and identify structural damage sites correctly.

KEYWORDS:

• Strain energy
• damage localisation
• offshore platform
• environmental variations

Acknowledgements

The valuable comments from the anonymous reviewers are highly appreciated.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge the support by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars [grant number 51625902], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 51379196], and the Taishan Scholars Program of Shandong Province [grant number TS201511016].