Enhanced Modal Participation Ratio-Based Structural Damage Identification: A New Filtering Approach Using Modal Assurance Criteria

The interest in damage identification methods has increased significantly in recent years due to the rising demand for structural health monitoring of structures. This study presents an enhanced version and validation of a recently introduced method for damage detection, localization and quantifying damage using vibration data. The method is validated through a building application, a scaled steel frame model built in the laboratory. The validation is carried out using eight different damage scenarios in numerical and experimental studies. These studies are based on finite element analysis and ambient vibration tests. A newly introduced filtering approach that utilizes MAC rejection levels in Modal Participation Ratio derivation is provided to replace the user-controlled bandpass filter to obtain more reliable vibration data in experimental investigations. The results showed that the proposed procedure is more capable of correctly detecting, localizing and quantifying damage to a building, considering the real-life conditions.