The early detection of damage in structural or mechanical systems is of vital importance. With early detection, the
damage may be repaired before the integrity of the system is jeopardized, resulting in monetary losses, loss of life or
limb, and environmental impacts. Among the various types of structural health monitoring techniques, vibration-based
methods are of significant interest since the damage location does not need to be known beforehand, making it a more
versatile approach. The non-destructive damage detection method used for the experiments herein is a novel vibration-based
method which uses an index called the EMD Energy Damage Index, developed with the aim of providing
improved qualitative results compared to those methods currently available. As part of an effort to establish the integrity
and limitation of this novel damage detection method, field testing was completed on a mechanical pipe joint on a
condensation line, located in the physical plant of Dalhousie University. Piezoceramic sensors, placed at various
locations around the joint were used to monitor the free vibration of the pipe imposed through the use of an impulse
hammer. Multiple damage progression scenarios were completed, each having a healthy state and multiple damage cases. Subsequently, the recorded signals from the healthy and damaged joint were processed through the EMD Energy Damage Index developed in-house in an effort to detect the inflicted damage. The proposed methodology successfully detected the inflicted damages. In this paper, the effects of impact location, sensor location, frequency bandwidth, intrinsic mode functions, and boundary conditions are discussed.
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