Southern Cross University

ePublications@SCU
23rd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials

2014

Vibration-based structural damage identification

using ensemble neural networks
S J S Hakim
University of Malaya

H Abdul Razak
University of Malaya

S A. Ravanfar
University of Malaya

Publication details
Hakim, SJS, Abdul Razak, H, Ravanfar, SA 2014, 'Vibration-based structural damage identification using ensemble neural networks',
in ST Smith (ed.), 23rd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials (ACMSM23), vol. II, Byron Bay, NSW,
9-12 December, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, pp. 1167-1172. ISBN: 9780994152008.

ePublications@SCU is an electronic repository administered by Southern Cross University Library. Its goal is to capture and preserve the intellectual
output of Southern Cross University authors and researchers, and to increase visibility and impact through open access to researchers around the
world. For further information please contact epubs@scu.edu.au.

23rd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials (ACMSM23)

Byron Bay, Australia, 9-12 December 2014, S.T. Smith (Ed.)

VIBRATION-BASED STRUCTURAL DAMAGE IDENTIFICATION USING

ENSEMBLE NEURAL NETWORKS
S.J.S. Hakim*
StrucHMRS Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. sjs.hakim@gmail.com (Corresponding Author)
H. Abdul Razak
Professor, StrucHMRS Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala
Lumpur. hashim@um.edu.my
S.A. Ravanfar
StrucHMRS Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. r.ravanfar@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
Damage in structures often leads to failure and can be defined as a weakening of the structure which
may cause undesirable displacements, stresses or vibrations to the structure that adversely affects its
current or future performance. Thus, it is very important to monitor structures for the occurrence of
damage. Reduction in the structural stiffness produces changes in the modal parameters such as the
natural frequencies and mode shapes. In this paper, artificial neural networks (ANNs) based damage
identification techniques were developed and applied for damage identification in I-beam structures
using dynamic parameters. Experimental modal analysis was applied to generate dynamic parameters
of the first five flexural modes of structures. In damage identification using ANNs, five individual
networks corresponding to mode 1 to mode 5 were trained, and then a method based on neural
network ensemble was proposed to combine the outcomes of the individual neural networks into a
single network. The ensemble network has the advantages of all the individual networks from different
vibrational modes. The results showed that ensemble neural networks have a strong potential for
structural damage identification.
KEYWORDS
Artificial neural network, ensemble network, damage identification, modal analysis.
INTRODUCTION
Structural systems in civil engineering are exposed to deterioration and damage during their service
life. Damage in structures often leads to failure and can be defined as a weakening of the structure that
adversely affects its current or future performance. Thus, it is very important to monitor structures for
the occurrence of damage. Many techniques have been used to locate and identify damage in civil
structures. In recent decades, artificial neural networks (ANNs) are becoming widely accepted in
identifying the extent and location of damage in structures. They have the capability to learn from their
experience in order to improve their performance when presented with new datasets. ANNs based on
dynamic characteristics have been applied increasingly for damage detection owing to their pattern
recognition and information processing capabilities. For example, a combination of natural frequency
and mode shape for the identification of crack severity and its location in a cantilever beam using the
ANN technique was applied by Das and Parhi (2009). Results showed that this approach can be
applied as a useful and effective tool for damage identification.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

1167

Mehrjoo et al. (2008) studied the damage of joints in two truss bridge structures using ANNs. Based
on the findings, ANNs could identify the severity and locate damage of the joints in the truss bridges
with an error of 1%. There were many other research efforts that attempted to apply ANNs to identify
damage in structural engineering (Hakim and Razak 2014, 2013, 2011; Rosales et al. 2009). The main
focus of this research was to investigate the possibility of using ANNs trained with natural frequencies
and mode shapes obtained from experimental modal analysis of intact and damaged structures for
structural damage identification. Vibration data from four I-beam structures with regards to different
damage scenarios were measured to obtain the first five natural frequencies and mode shapes of the
structures. Subsequently, a combination of natural frequencies and mode shapes of the first five modes
of structures were selected as the input parameters of ANNs. In damage identification using ANNs,
five individual networks corresponding to mode 1 to mode 5 were trained, and then a method based on
a neural network ensemble was proposed to combine the outcomes of the individual neural networks
into a single network.
METHODOLOGY
Artificial Neural Networks
ANNs attempt to imitate the parallel architecture of the mammalian brain. ANNs are composed of
several processing elements, namely neurons that are interconnected with each other. The neural
network structure consists of an input layer, an output layer, and at least one hidden layer. All neurons
are linked to the neurons in the next layer through their connectivity weights (Hakim et al. 2011).
Backpropagation (BP) algorithm in multi-layer feed-forward networks is the most applicable
algorithm and has a performance index, which is the least Mean Square Error (MSE) (Noorzaei et al.
2007, 2008; Hakim, 2006). In this algorithm, the error is calculated as the difference between the
target output and the network output. This algorithm has the ability to minimize the MSE by applying
a gradient-descent that follows the gradient error curve downward across all the input patterns.
Neural network ensemble is a type of ANN which a specific number of neural networks are trained for
the same task to show the generalization ability of ANNs, i.e., training many neural networks
individually and then combining the outputs of each network. The typical concept of neural network
ensemble is depicted in Figure 1. Marwala and Hunt (1999) were the first researchers that employed
the ensemble networks in the area of damage identification using vibration datasets. According to their
strategy, networks are trained and tested individually, and their outcomes are combined by an
ensemble network. These networks were shown to carry out better results than individual networks.

Figure 1. Concept of neural network ensemble (Akhand 2009)

Experimental Modal Analysis
Experimental modal analysis is the process of characterizing the dynamic properties of a test structure
by exciting the structure artificially and identifying its vibrational modes. When a structure is damaged,
its geometrical and material properties change, its boundary conditions are modified and the dynamic
characteristics of the structure in the forms of natural frequencies and mode shapes will change. In this
study, four identical healthy steel beams with a length of 3200 mm including a 100 mm overhang at
both support ends were considered. The dimensions of the beams included flange width of 75 mm,

ACMSM23 2014

1168

section depth of 150 mm and thickness of 7 mm and 5 mm for the flange and web, respectively. The
modulus of elasticity of steel was 2.1*1011kg/m2 , with a Poissons ratio of 0.2 and density of 7,850
kg/m3. The experimental test set up of the beam is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Experimental set up

To identify the modal parameters of the structure, experimental modal analysis and modal testing with
different damage scenarios were performed. In modal testing, the beam structures were excited by a
shaker at a certain reference point and the responses of the structures were measured by
accelerometers. In experimental modal analysis, the converted signals from the shaker and the
accelerometers were analyzed and the modal parameters of the beams were determined. The four Ibeam structures were tested in its undamaged state and under different damaged states to determine the
first five natural frequencies and mode shapes. The results of the first five natural frequencies for the
undamaged I-beams are shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. First five natural frequencies of undamaged beams

From Figure 3, it can be seen that although the beams were identical, there were differences in their
modal parameters. Also, in higher modes that were more difficult to obtain, the differences were more
significant than in lower mode shapes that were easily obtained. In the experimental study, various
damage scenarios were created in the test structures. These scenarios consist of 4 locations with 25
levels of severity for each location. The damage with 5 mm width and depth of 3 mm to 75 mm with
an increment of 3 mm were gradually induced for each level of severity. Modal testing and
experimental modal analysis for each case was done, individually. The damage locations were at
2L/15, 4L/15, 6L/15, and L/2 away from the left support of beams B1 to B4. Single damage was
introduced in the form of a saw cut and a disk grinder was used to cut a slot at the aforementioned
locations of the structures. According to results, after gradually inducing damage from 3 mm to 75 mm,
the natural frequencies decrease with severity level. The results of the extracted first five natural
frequencies of the undamaged and damaged states for beams B1 to B4 specified that the natural
frequencies of a structure will drop when damage is induced.

ACMSM23 2014

1169

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Damage Identification Using ANN
In this study, the inputs to the network for identifying the severity and location of damage included the
first five flexural modes and all corresponding mode shape values at the points on the centerline of the
beams, except the points at the supports, which were given the value 0 in all modes. Firstly, five
individual neural networks corresponding to mode 1 to mode 5 were considered. Secondly, a method
based on neural network ensemble was proposed to combine the outcomes of the individual neural
networks into a single network. Various damage scenarios consisting of four locations with twentyfive levels of cut slot for each location were created in the I-beam structures. The four damage
locations at 2L/15, 4L/15, 6L/15 and L/2 of the span length corresponded to a ratio of damage location
from support to length of beam (ld/L), as shown in Table 1. Also, the damage severities corresponded
to a ratio of damage depth to height of beam (dd/h), as shown in Table 2.
Table 1. Ratio of damage location from support to length of beam (ld/L)
Damage location (ld)
2L/15
4L/15
6L/15
L/2

ld/l
0.133
0.267
0.400
0.500

Table 2. Ratio of damage depth to height of beam for different cut slot
Cut slot
(mm)
3
6
9
12
15
18
21
24
27
30
33
36
39

dd/h
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.18
0.20
0.22
0.24
0.26

Cut slot
(mm)
42
45
48
51
54
57
60
63
66
69
72
75
-

dd/h
0.28
0.30
0.32
0.34
0.36
0.38
0.40
0.42
0.44
0.46
0.48
0.50
-

dd/h: Ratio of damage depth to height of beam

Several multilayer feedforward neural networks were constructed and designed to determine damage
characteristics of I-beams. Therefore, the input layer of the ANN had 15 neurons comprising of one
input that is the first natural frequency and fourteen inputs corresponding to all mode shape values of
mode 1 at the points on the centerline of the beam. The output layer of the ANN which had 2 neurons
consisting of the ratio of damage depth to height of beam (dd/h) and the ratio of damage location from
support to length of beam (ld/L), were considered as damage severity and damage location indices. In
this study, 208 different datasets from undamaged and damaged I-beams with a single location of
damage were considered in the ANN. Datasets were divided into training, validation and testing sets.
Out of the 208 datasets, 146 (70%) were used as training datasets, while the remaining data (30%)
were used for the validation and testing phase (62 data sets). The remaining data were evenly divided
as the testing and validation sets. Results showed that the network 15-7-4-2 had acceptable error and a
small number of hidden neurons. Moreover, absolute errors for testing and validation datasets were
lower than other networks and the correlation of this network was higher than other networks.
Therefore, this network was selected as the best possible architecture for identifying severity and
location of damage in I-beam structures with single damage.

ACMSM23 2014

1170

Five ANNs were created with the same methodology for the first five flexural modes to identify the
damage severity and location in I-beam structures. Each individual ANN was trained with data
obtained from one of the five extracted vibrational modes and the architecture of the best performing
ANN model, termed as 15-7-4-2 was chosen based on trial and error. After that, an ensemble neural
network combined the outputs of five individual networks to give the merged output results. Therefore,
the initial architecture of the ensemble network had 10 neurons in the input layer and two neurons in
the output layer. From the training, testing, and validation process, an optimal structure was obtained
that included 2 hidden layers with 6 and 3 hidden neurons in the first and second hidden layers,
respectively, at 14852 iterations.
According to the results, the minimum MSE was found to be 0.000343 and the maximum value of
correlation was obtained. Correlation of all datasets reached 0.9962 and 0.9889 for severity and
location of damage, respectively. The ensemble network reached a maximum absolute error of 0.87%,
1.17%, and 1.12%, for training, validation, and testing datasets, respectively, for damage severity
identifications. On the other hand, for damage location identification, error for the three datasets was
0.86%, 1.16%, and 1.11%, respectively. Comparison of the identified damage severity and location
from the ensemble network and target values for all datasets are depicted in Figures 4 and 5,
respectively. According to the results, the ensemble network accurately located damage cases.
However, some incorrect results were obtained for damage severity of extra-light cases.

Figure 4. Damage severity identified by ensemble network and actual values for all datasets

Figure 5. Damage location identified by ensemble network and actual values for all datasets
Based on the results, a network with the architecture of 10-6-3-2 provided good outcomes with high
correlation and low errors. Results showed that the ensemble network gives better results than the five
individual networks and by using the proposed architecture for the neural network ensemble, damages
were identified with high accuracy, as compared to individual networks. It is important to note that the
accuracy of damage identification will be better when the data of a higher number of mode shapes are
applied to ANNs. However, it is apparent that the higher mode shapes are more difficult to extract and
usually contain more noise.

ACMSM23 2014

1171

CONCLUSIONS
In this study vibration data from four I-beam structures with regards to different damage scenarios
were measured and experimental modal analysis was successfully applied to obtain the first five
natural frequencies and mode shapes of the structures. For damage identification of structures, five
individual neural networks corresponding to mode 1 to mode 5 were considered. Then, a method based
on a neural network ensemble was proposed. In the ensemble network, five individual neural networks
were trained, and the outputs were combined into a single ensemble network. The results showed the
best performance of ensemble network to predict the severity and localization of damage. Good results
of neural network ensemble showed the effectiveness of this method to filter less accurate outcomes
from individual networks and deliver better results than individual networks.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to University of Malaya for the support given
through research grants UM.C/625/1/HIR/MOHE/ENG/55 and PV043/2011B.
REFERENCES
Akhand, M.A.H. (2009) Ensembles of Diverse Neural Networks. PhD Thesis, University of Fukui,
Japan.
Das, H.C., Parhi, D.R. (2009) Application of neural network for fault diagnosis of cracked cantilever
beam, World Congress on Nature & Biologically Inspired Computing (NaBIC 2009), Coimbatore,
India, Article No. 5393733, 1303-1308.
Hakim, S.J.S., Noorzaei, J., Jaafar, M.S., Jameel, M., Mohammadhassani, M. (2011) Application of
artificial neural networks to predict compressive strength of high strength concrete International
Journal of the Physical Sciences (IJPS), Vol. 6, No.5, pp. 975-981.
Hakim, S.J.S, Abdul Razak, H. (2014) Frequency Response Function-Based Structural Damage
Identification Using Artificial Neural Networks-A Review Research Journal of Applied Sciences,
Engineering and Technology,Vol. 7, No.9,pp. 1750-1764.
Hakim, S.J.S., Abdul Razak, H. (2013) Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and artificial
neural networks (ANNs) for structural damage identification, Structural Engineering and
Mechanics 45(6); 779-802.
Hakim, S.J.S., Abdul Razak, H. (2011) Application of combined artificial neural networks and modal
analysis for structural damage identification in bridge girder, International Journal of the
Physical Sciences (IJPS),Vol. 6, No.35, pp.7991-8001.
Hakim, S.J.S. (2006) Development and applications of artificial neural network for prediction of
ultimate bearing capacity of soil and compressive strength of concrete, Master Thesis, university
Putra Malaysia, Malaysia.
Marwala, T., Hunt, H.E.M. (1999) Fault identification using finite element models and neural
networks, Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, No.13, pp. 475-490.
Mehrjoo, M., Khaji, N., Mo harrami, H., Bahreininejad, A. (2008) Damage detection of truss bridge
joints using artificial neural networks Journal of Expert Systems with Applications,Vol. 35, No.3,
pp. 11221131.
Noorzaei, J., Hakim, S.J.S., Jaafar, M.S. (2008) An Approach to predict ultimate bearing capacity of
surface footings using artificial neural network Indian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 38, No.4, pp.
515-528.
Noorzaei, J., Hakim, S.J.S., Jaafar, M.S, Abang, A.A.A., Thanoon, W.A.M. (2007) An optimal
architecture of artificial neural network for predicting of compressive strength of concrete,
Indian Concrete Journal , Vol.81, (8): 17-24.
Rosales, M.B., Filipich, C.P., Buezas, F.S. (2009) Crack detection in beam-like structures. Journal
of Engineering Structures , No.31, pp. 2257-2264.

ACMSM23 2014

1172