Numerical and experimental verification of a method of identification of localized damages in a rod by natural frequencies of longitudinal vibration.

A method for identification of multiple transverse cracks and other localized defects in a rod by means of two spectra of longitudinal vibrations that correspond to free–free and fixed–free end conditions is presented. A numerical algorithm is developed that implements the method. The algorithm was tested on experimental data obtained on a cylindrical sample of aluminum alloy D16 with the created localized damages. The experiments were carried out on a rod with free ends. The created damages were ring grooves symmetrically located relative to the middle of the rod. With the help of such experiments, natural frequencies were obtained that correspond to two types of boundary conditions for a half-length rod. The experimental data were processed using the developed algorithm. The results showed that the model on which the developed algorithm is based describes well the longitudinal vibrations of the rod with localized damages in a fairly wide frequency range, and the algorithm enables to reconstruct multiple damages accurately enough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]