Vibration-based method for damage detection at welded beams and rods

In this work, a vibration-based method for damage detection at welded beams and rods is presented. The model of the structural element includes the effect of the added inertia due to the welding process. Two methods of solution, analytically and by means of the Finite Element Method (FEM), are presented. From the results obtained it can be asseverated that the method can be a useful tool to detect degradation of welded structures. In contrast to other existing methods for cracks detection, it is shown that several frequencies have to be taken into consideration to determine the wear characteristics of the welded elements, since depending on the location of welding, some frequencies can be very little sensitive to the reduction of rigidity at the welded section. The results presented show similar tendency to those obtained by other investigations for cracks detection when added inertia was not included