Localization of Structural Damage Based on First Passage Times for a Pre-stressed Steel Strip

First passage time (FPT) maps and histograms of FPT are known to be capable of detecting slight deliberately operated structural changes in a steel strip. In this chapter, the question of the localization of the damage is tackled. It is studied by comparing the predictions of a 2-D updated finite-element model and the observed experimental results. We numerically simulated various damage scenarios by modifying the damage location until a good match of FPT histograms was found with the experimental investigations of virtually damaged structures. The detection and localization process was proven to be successful, and we attribute it to the large sensitivity of the FPT maps and histograms to slight changes in the model.