An Effective Damage Identification Method for Large Truss Structures Containing Multiple Damaged Truss Members on the Basis of Successive Iteration Method of Bounding Domain

Damage identification methods using finite element methods need a long computational time for large and complex structures. In this paper, we develop an effective damage identification method for large truss structures containing multiple damaged truss members using a successive iteration method of bounding domain and a domain decomposition finite element technique. The subdomains of truss structures which contain damaged truss members are first determined by a flexibility method. The subdomains are subdivided into smaller subdomains using a successive iteration method of bounding domain, and finally the damaged truss members are identified. By conducting the damage identification for a large three-dimensional truss structure, it is recognized that the damaged truss members and their residual stiffnesses can be identified precisely and the present damage identification method can reduce the computational time.