Damage Localization Strategy in Beams through Stiffness Modulation and Controlled Deformation

Adaptive systems embody actuators and sensors to maintain optimal performance under changing operating conditions through active control. By exploiting this dual actuation-sensing capability, an eigenfrequency-based damage localization method for beams is presented. Although damage localization that relies on relative changes in eigenfrequencies has been extensively studied, existing methods have inherent limitations as eigenfrequencies are global properties that provide limited spatial information. Two adaptation strategies, one involving stiffness modulation and the other utilizing controlled deformation, are employed in this theoretical study to enable damage localization based on global modal features while mitigating ambiguity due to system symmetry. Leveraging the spatial information from these adaptation strategies, a new damage indicator based on Laplacian similarity kernels is introduced. Semianalytical and numerical case studies are presented to demonstrate the potential of the proposed method. Results show that the spatial information provided by stiffness modulation and controlled deformation resolves symmetric ambiguity in simply supported configurations and reduces the need for higher-mode measurements.