Study of the temperature effect on the electromechanical impedance technique applied to structural health monitoring of a beam

Abstract

Different structures are subjected to operational and external effects which can generate structural damage. The structural performance must be carefully designed to avoid failures because their consequences typically involve economic, social and environmental impacts. Damage detection is then one of the great concerns of the engineers, who have carried out numerous researches to develop techniques in the field of structural health monitoring (SHM). Among different techniques, Electromechanical Impedance (EMI) technique has attracted attention due to its important and promising results, mainly involving signal processing. This technique consists of the use of piezoelectric transducers, which are responsible for exciting the monitored structure and measuring its response. However, the sensitivity of the technique to variations in environmental conditions can lead to false diagnoses and the temperature is one of the most critical factors for EMI technique. In this point of view, the present article investigates the influence of temperature in a mechanical system characterized by a piezoelectric transducer coupled in a Euler-Bernoulli beam described by the Spectral Elements Method. By the results obtained through numerical simulations, it was possible to conclude that the influence of the piezoelectric transducer in EMI technique is superior than that practiced by the monitored structure. Furthermore, the behavior of EMI curves under temperature variation is in agreement with reference works.