Damage Identification of Truss Structures Based on Force Method

An computationally efficient damage identification technique for the planar and space truss structures is presented based on the force method and the micro genetic algorithm. For this purpose, the general equilibrium equations and the kinematic relations in which the reaction forces and the displacements at nodes are take into account, respectively, are formulated. The compatibility equations in terms of forces are explicitly presented using the singular value decomposition (SVD) technique. Then governing equations with unknown reaction forces and initial elongations are derived. Next, the micro genetic algorithm (MGA) is used to properly identify the site and extent of multiple damage cases in truss structures. In order to verify the accuracy and the superiority of the proposed damage detection technique, the numerical solutions are presented for the planar and space truss models. The numerical results indicate that the combination of the force method and the MGA can provide a reliable tool to accurately and efficiently identify the multiple damages of the truss structures.