Hybrid health monitoring of structural joints using modal parameters and EMI signatures

To develop a promising hybrid structural health monitoring system, which enables to detect damage by the dynamic response of the entire structure and more accurately locate damage with denser sensor array, a combined use of mechanical vibration and electro-mechanical impedance is proposed. For the verification of the proposed healthmonitoring scheme, a series of damage scenarios are designed to simulate various situations at which the connection joints can experience during their service life. The obtained experimental results, modal parameters and electro-magnetic impedance signatures, are carefully analyzed to recognize the connecting states and the target damage locations. From the analysis, it is shown that the proposed hybrid health monitoring system is successful for acquiring global and local damage information on the structural joints; hence, its effectiveness is verified.