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A flexibility-based method via the iterated improved reduction system and

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 Smart Materials and Structures
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019 (14pp) doi:10.1088/0964-1726/23/4/045019

A flexibility-based method via the iterated

improved reduction system and the
cuckoo optimization algorithm for damage
quantification with limited sensors
Ali Zare Hosseinzadeh1 , Abdollah Bagheri2,4 , Gholamreza Ghodrati Amiri1 and
Ki-Young Koo3
1
Center of Excellence for Fundamental Studies in Structural Engineering, School of Civil Engineering,
Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
2
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA
3
Vibration Engineering Section, College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter,
Exeter EX4 4QF, UK

E-mail: abb46@pitt.edu

Received 2 September 2013, revised 20 December 2013

Accepted for publication 27 January 2014
Published 5 March 2014

Abstract
In this paper, a novel and effective damage diagnosis algorithm is proposed to localize and quantify
structural damage using incomplete modal data, considering the existence of some limitations in the
number of attached sensors on structures. The damage detection problem is formulated as an
optimization problem by computing static displacements in the reduced model of a structure subjected to
a unique static load. The static responses are computed through the flexibility matrix of the damaged
structure obtained based on the incomplete modal data of the structure. In the algorithm, an iterated
improved reduction system method is applied to prepare an accurate reduced model of a structure. The
optimization problem is solved via a new evolutionary optimization algorithm called the cuckoo
optimization algorithm. The efficiency and robustness of the presented method are demonstrated through
three numerical examples. Moreover, the efficiency of the method is verified by an experimental study of
a five-story shear building structure on a shaking table considering only two sensors. The obtained
damage identification results for the numerical and experimental studies show the suitable and stable
performance of the proposed damage identification method for structures with limited sensors.
Keywords: damage prognosis, incomplete modal data, flexibility matrix, static displacement, iterated
improved reduction system, cuckoo optimization algorithm
(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

1. Introduction of these methods is based on the existence of a relation

Early structural damage identification is one of the most
important parts of a structural health monitoring (SHM) proce-
dure which hinders calamitous events. Most of the developed
damage detection methods are focused on using vibrational
properties of structures for damage prognosis. The basic idea
4 Address for correspondence: 720 Benedum Hall, 3700 O’Hara Street,
Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
between the vibrational parameters and physical properties
of structures. The occurrence of damage causes changes in
the physical properties of structures and these changes affect
the vibrational properties. Comprehensive reviews of these
methods can be found in [1, 2].
Some researchers developed methods based on the natural
frequencies of structures [3, 4], and other researchers proposed
methods using mode shapes or their derivatives [5–8]. Both

0964-1726/14/045019+14$33.00 1 c 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd

Printed in the UK
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019
of these approaches are useful in damage localization, but
their unsuitability for the estimation of damage severity has
led researchers to develop methods that use a mixed form of
natural frequencies and mode shapes for defect identification
and quantification [9–14]. Yang [12] proposed a direct ap-
proach for damage localization and quantification of structures
by solving the residual force problem as an inverse scheme
through an eigendecomposition method. Tomaszewska [15]
investigated the influence of statistical errors on damage de-
tection methods by considering flexibility and modal curvature
approaches as methodologies using both natural frequencies
and mode shapes. He concluded that a high level of accuracy
in modal data recording is necessary, because a small level
of error in the modal data can lead to false results. Koo
et al [16, 17] studied damage diagnosis in shear buildings
based on the computation of static displacements by means
of the flexibility matrix. Recently, Ghodrati Amiri et al [18]
developed two damage prognosis approaches based on the
diagonalization method to identify damages in structures with
tri-diagonal stiffness matrices, such as shear frames, by means
of the modal residual force and static deflections using the
flexibility matrix. Some researchers formulated the damage
identification problem as an optimization procedure by means
of evolutionary optimization algorithms [19–27].
All of the mentioned methods attempted to identify
structural damage by using modal data. Despite their success
in achieving this aim, they require that the number of attached
sensors must be equal to the total number of degrees of freedom
(DOFs). This is inapplicable in real SHM programs, because
of limitations in the usage and installation of many sensors
in a structure. Therefore, it is essential to develop algorithms
for damage diagnosis using modal data obtained by a limited
number of sensors, which means using an incomplete set of
modal data. A few studies have been conducted in this research
area using the expansion of mode shape data [28–30], the
sensitivity of mode shape or natural frequency [31, 32], and
the Guyan static reduction method [33–35]. Methods based on
the expansion of mode shape are suitable for damage detection
in beams and columns when these elements are discretized
to many segments, but not applicable for frames with no
discretization in beams and columns. In the sensitivity-based
methods, it is possible to consider the effect of mode shape
or natural frequency in the damage identification problem,
but it is impossible to calculate the effect of both of them
simultaneously. In the Guyan method, error in the obtained
results for the natural frequency of the structure increases
for the higher mode shapes of the system, which means that
the method is reliable only at zero frequency. Due to these
issues, the accuracy of estimated results for damage magnitude
decreases.
In this paper, an effective method is presented for damage
identification and quantification in engineering structures by
considering a limited number of installed sensors. In order
to overcome the disadvantages and limitations mentioned
in the previous paragraph, the presented approach employs
an iterative improved reduction system (IIRS) method for
reducing the finite element analytical model of the full size
structure to a reduced model consisting of DOFs equipped
2
A Z Hosseinzadeh et al
by sensors. The accuracy of the IIRS method in higher
modes with high frequencies is very good in comparison
with the Guyan method. In the presented method, the damage
detection problem is formulated as an optimization problem
by considering static displacements in an objective function,
and is solved by means of the cuckoo optimization algorithm.
The static displacement of DOFs in the reduced model of a
structure subjected to a unique static load is computed using
the flexibility matrix of the structure. By utilizing the flexibility
matrix not only can static displacement be determined by only
a few modes, but also the existence of some complexities
in the measurement of static displacement in real cases can
be overcome. The cuckoo optimization algorithm is a new
global search strategy, which has recently been presented
for dealing with different optimization tasks [36]. Its good
performance and speedy operation are the most important
advantages of this evolutionary optimization algorithm. Due to
these advantages, we decided to employ this algorithm in this
study for the optimization task. The efficiency of the presented
defect diagnosis method was demonstrated by studying some
numerical examples of various kinds of structure. Furthermore,
this method was applied to an experimental five-story shear
building structure by considering only two sensors.
The paper is organized as follows. The background of
the optimum lifestyle of the cuckoo and the cuckoo optimiza-
tion algorithm is presented in section 2. Then, the damage
identification method, which consists of problem formulation,
model reduction methodology, and cost function formulation,
is described in section 3. Section 4 introduces three numerical
examples and presents the obtained results, whereas section 5
describes the experimental setup and the damage prognosis
results. The paper ends with some concluding remarks.
2. Background
2.1. Optimum lifestyle of cuckoo
The cuckoo optimization algorithm is a novel evolutionary
algorithm for global optimization inspired by the special
lifestyle of the cuckoo family [36]. In this section, the main
rules of the optimum lifestyle of this bird are introduced.
The reproduction method of this bird is based on a special
procedure which can be interpreted as the brood parasite
method. Cuckoos lay their eggs in other host birds’ nests
instead of incubating and taking care of the eggs themselves.
It is obvious that those eggs that are not detected by host birds
can survive and become mature cuckoos.
As the reproduction season approaches, mature cuckoos
search the environment around their settlement (habitat) to
select the best host nest position for egg laying. The best host
nest can be defined as a nest of eggs that are similar to the
cuckoo’s egg. It is a surprise that each cuckoo lays only one egg
in each host nest. In some cases, host birds recognize cuckoo
eggs and destroy them. Therefore, cuckoos attempt to mimic
the shapes and features of special kinds of birds’ egg. This
strategy and the quality of its execution is one of the greatest
mysteries of nature. The undetected eggs are incubated by host
birds. Amazingly, if the host does not recognize the cuckoo’s
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019
egg, the egg produces a chick which survives in all cases. If
the cuckoo chick hatches earlier than the host’s other chicks,
the cuckoo ejects the other eggs, and if the host’s eggs hatch
before the cuckoo’s egg, the large size of the cuckoo chick’s
body pushes out the other chicks, and also the cuckoo eats all
of the food that the host bird is bringing to the nest, so that the
real chicks of the host bird die after a few days.
Mature cuckoos live in their own area until egg laying
time approaches, when they migrate to better habitats to lay
their eggs. In addition, this migration guarantees access to
the best food sources. This migration is done by flying to the
best point around their present habitat. This random flying
of the birds produces the best chance of better utilization of
the environment potential in accessing the best habitats for
egg laying purposes. The most important point is that, by
these reproductions, the cuckoo population increases quickly;
but environmental conditions, such as death of some cuckoos
because of aging, shortage of nutrient sources, or being prey
to wild animals, control their population. After this, the other
mentioned steps are repeated until all or at least many cuckoos
move to a unique habitat for living and reproduction. This
habitat is the point of the environment that has the most ideal
options for the cuckoo’s lifestyle [36].
Inspection of the lifestyle of cuckoos can lead to a
good procedure for accessing the maximal points in studying
the possible habitats for reproduction purposes in relation
to the important coordinates, such as best host birds, most
comfortable life, and best food sources. This procedure can be
used for maximizing or minimizing a mathematical function.
2.2. Cuckoo optimization algorithm
At the first step of the algorithm, an array of random points
is selected on the cost function, which is called Habitat. This
array is defined as
Habitat = [x1 , x2 , . . . , x N ], (1)
where xi is the ith variable in the cost function and N is the
number of variables. The cost of a habitat is obtained by the
evaluation of the cost function
Cost = f (Habitat). (2)
To start the optimization algorithm, an initial number of
the cuckoo population, Npop , is selected. There is not a regular
rule for the selection of Npop —it is estimated by a trial and
error procedure. Then, a number of eggs is assigned to every
habitat randomly. Each cuckoo can lay from two to 20 eggs
in host nests. Thus, the upper and lower limits of eggs are
determined for any cuckoo. As mentioned before, cuckoos
lay eggs within a maximum distance from their habitat. This
distance is defined as the egg laying radius (ELR):
NEi
ELRi = β × × (varhigh − varlow ), (3)
TNE
where β is an integer for handling the maximum value of ELR,
NEi is the number of eggs assigned to the ith cuckoo, TNE is
the total number of eggs assigned to all of the cuckoos, and
varlow and varhigh are the lower and upper limitations of the
3
A Z Hosseinzadeh et al
cost function, respectively. Therefore, cuckoos lay their eggs
at points inside or on the perimeter of a circle centered on their
habitat with a radius equal to ELR.
Some laid eggs are detected and destroyed by the host
birds. These eggs are selected from the eggs with the lowest
cost function in their host nest coordinates. Survivor eggs
grow and become mature cuckoos and live in their own areas.
Approaching egg laying time, cuckoos migrate to the places
where they have a good chance of reproduction. Thus, the best
habitat of the best society of cuckoos is considered for the
migration. For the ith society of cuckoos with n g cuckoos, the
mean value of the cost function f m (gi ) is computed as
Pn g
j=1 f (the jth Habitat in the ith society)
f m (gi ) = . (4)
ng
The society with minimum f m (g) is considered as the
goal society for migration. Consequently, the best habitat of
this group is selected as the goal point. To reach a best search
strategy, it is assumed that cuckoos migrate toward the best
point with a random approach and that each cuckoo only flies λ
percent of the distance toward the goal habitat with a deviation
of ϕ radians. These parameters can be defined as
λ ∼ U (0, γ ) (5)
ϕ ∼ U (−η, η) (6)
where λ is a uniformly distributed random number between 0
and γ and ϕ is the amount of deviation from moving to the
goal point, which is a uniformly distributed random number
between −η and η. By selecting η = π/6 and γ = 2, one
can reach a good convergence in some global optimization
problems. Figure 1 shows the migration of a cuckoo toward
the global habitat.
Due to equilibrium in the cuckoo population, it is neces-
sary to limit the maximum number of living cuckoos to Nmax .
This is done by retaining Nmax cuckoos with best cost values
and removing the others.
Finally, if more than a given percentage of all cuckoos
select the same habitat, the optimization is stopped; otherwise,
the process of egg laying and migration is repeated until the
optimization procedure reaches the optimal solution for the
problem. The flowchart of the cuckoo optimization method is
shown in figure 2.
Some advantages of this optimization algorithm are as
follows:
• it converges very quickly,
• it does not require derivative information,
• it is able to find the global minimum or maximum of a
function,
• it is suitable for parallel computers,
• it searches all possible points on the solution domain by
an increasable methodology with considerable speed,
and
• it provides a list of solutions instead of a single solution.
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019 A Z Hosseinzadeh et al

Figure 1. The migration of a cuckoo toward the global habitat.

approach to reach an optimal solution without being arrested

by local extrema. However, like other evolutionary optimiza-
tion algorithms, the cuckoo optimization algorithm cannot
always reach the global optimal solution and does sometimes
reach local extrema. In order to overcome this disadvantage,
the algorithm is run many times for a given function, and then
the best solution among the obtained solutions is selected as a
global extremum.

3. Damage detection method

3.1. Problem formulation

The free vibration eigenvalue problem for a structure can be

expressed as

(K − ωi2 M)9 i = 0, i = 1, 2, . . . , n, (7)

where K and M are the stiffness and mass matrices of the

structure, respectively; ωi and 9 i are the natural frequency
and the mode shape vector of the ith mode shape, respectively;
and n is the total number of DOFs of the structure. The mode
shape matrix 9 of the structure can be written as
Figure 2. Flowchart of the cuckoo optimization algorithm.

As mentioned, one of the most important advantages of 9 = [9 1 9 2 . . . 9 n ]. (8)

the cuckoo optimization algorithm is its searching strategy, The mode shape matrix can be normalized with respect to the
which scans almost all points on the solution domain with mass matrix as follows:
an increasable methodology and at considerable speed. The
scanning strategy employs the reproduction procedure for 8T M8 = I (9)
all of the suitable members in the initial population and is
continued on by other mature descendants. This increasable where 8 and I are the normalized mode shape matrix and an
searching strategy guarantees the ability of the optimization identity matrix, respectively.

4
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019 A Z Hosseinzadeh et al

The flexibility matrix G of the system can be derived using Consider a damaged structure with n DOFs and m
the modal data as installed sensors on m DOFs of the structure. Therefore, each
mode shape vector consists of m elements. By defining a
G = 8−1 8T (10) unique static load such as FrI which is applied to the m DOFs,
where  is a diagonal matrix consisting of the natural FrI = {1.0 1.0 . . . 1.0}T1×m , (14)
frequencies that can be shown as
where the superscript r and the subscript I refer to the reduced
ω1 0 . . . 0
 2 
 0 ω2 . . . 0  finite element model of the structure and the unique static load,
=  .
2 respectively. The static displacement vector ud of the damaged
.. . . ..  , ω1 < ω2 < · · · < ωn . (11)
 
 .. . . .  structure can be computed as
0 0 . . . ωn2
ud = Grm FrI (15)
If a static force such as the vector F is applied to the DOFs
of the structure, the static displacements of these DOFs can be in which Grm is the flexibility matrix of the damaged structure
calculated from formed using the first m modes’ data by considering the
reduced finite element model of the damaged structure.
u = GF. (12) Damage can be simulated by reducing the stiffness of
elements. Then, the stiffness matrix of the ith element Kiα in
One of the most significant advantages of the flexibility the damaged condition can be modeled as
matrix in the computation of static deflections is its ability to
calculate static displacements by data from only the first few Kiα = (1 − αi )Ki , i = 1, 2, . . . , n (16)
modes. Therefore, if we just access the first m modes’ data, we
can calculate the static displacements of the DOFs subjected where Ki is the stiffness matrix of the ith element in the
to the static load F using undamaged state and αi is the damage severity, that can have
a value between 0 and 1 for the healthy and fully damaged
u = Gm F, (13) cases, respectively. By combining the elements’ stiffness, the
global stiffness matrix of the structure can be determined as
where Gm is the flexibility matrix formed by using the data
of the first m mode(s). This approach is very important in real n
Kiα .
[
cases, because the excitation of modes with high frequencies K(α1 , α2 , . . . , αn ) = (17)
and access to their modal data is difficult for real SHM i=1
programs. In addition, the use of a large number of modes’
data magnifies the noise effects and has negative effects on the 3.2. Model reduction
efficiency and reliability of a damage identification method. As mentioned before, in order to develop a method considering
As a result, it is interesting to develop some methods for the effect of a limited number of installed sensors, we employ
identifying damage with only a few modal data. the IIRS method, which is an improved version of the static
In the following, a damage diagnosis algorithm is pre- reduction procedure. The Guyan static reduction method
sented based on the static displacements of the DOFs ob- is based on splitting the mass and stiffness matrices into
tained from the flexibility matrix computed by the modal submatrices for the slave and master DOFs [37]. By this
data. The most important property of the static displace- methodology the free vibration equation can be written as
ment can be summarized in its one-to-one relationship with     
a unique combination of the elements’ stiffness. The presence Mmm Mms ẍm Kmm Kms nxm o
of a one-to-one relation between the static responses and Msm Mss ẍs + Ksm Kss xs = 0 (18)
a special combination of the elements’ stiffnesses proves
where ẍ and x are the dynamic acceleration and displacement
that different damage member combinations cannot have the
vectors, respectively; the subscripts m and s refer to the master
same static response. In other words, for a given external
and slave coordinates respectively. Neglecting the inertia terms
static load, any combination of elements’ stiffnesses gives
for the second set of equations, the reduced mass MR and
different static displacements. Despite this, the measurement
stiffness KR matrices are given by
of static displacements is difficult in real cases. To overcome
this limitation, the static displacements can be computed MR = TTS MTS (19)
by the flexibility matrix formed using only the first several
modes’ data from installed sensors on the structure. In real KR = TTS KTS , (20)
applications, the number of installed sensors on a structure
where TS is defined as a static transformation matrix given by
is lower than the real DOFs in the finite element model of
the structure. Thus, it is important to present methods that
 
I
can identify damage by using incomplete modal data. In this TS = . (21)
−K−1 ss Ksm
paper, the presented method employs an iterative static based
reduction scheme for producing an incomplete finite element The Guyan method is reliable only at zero frequency. To
model of the monitored structure. overcome this disadvantage, O’Callaghan [38] developed an

5
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019
improved reduction system (IRS) method by perturbing the
transformation from the static case by including the inertia
terms as pseudo-static forces. In the IRS method the reduced
mass MIRS and stiffness KIRS matrices can be written as
MIRS = TTIRS MTIRS (22)
KIRS = TTIRS KTIRS (23)
in which the transformation matrix TIRS is as follows:
TIRS = TS + SMTS M−1R KR ,
(24)
 
0 0
S= . main strategy in forming a cost function is based on fitting
0 K−1
ss
Although the IRS method can estimate a better behavior
than the Guyan static reduction method, its predicted natural
frequencies have some difference from the full size structure.
To improve the accuracy of the IRS method, Friswell et al [39]
proposed an iterative method based on the IRS and Guyan
reduction methods. In this paper the IIRS method is used for
preparing an accurate reduced model of a structure.
In the IIRS method, the first iteration is followed by
estimating the reduced mass and stiffness matrices obtained
by equations (22) and (23), and also computing TIRS,1 using
equation (24). For subsequent iterations, the transformation
matrix is computed as
IRS, j KIRS, j ,
TIRS, j+1 = TS + SMTIRS, j M−1 (25)
where the subscript j denotes the jth iteration. Also, the
reduced mass and stiffness matrices at the jth iteration can
be calculated by equations such as equations (22) and (23),
respectively.
It is important to mention that the number of iterations
is dependent on the master DOFs of the structure and a poor
choice of master DOFs may require more iteration. Friswell
et al [39, 40] proved based on their studies that the IIRS method
converges in all cases. Thus, we can use the IIRS method to
reduce the size of the finite element model of the monitored
structure based on the DOFs equipped by sensors. In this study,
the number of iteration is limited to ten for all examples. This
value is selected by the trial and error method.
It must be noted that the location of sensors can influence
the convergence speed of the IIRS method. Based on the
analysis in [40], it is better that master coordinates are chosen
where the inertia is high and the stiffness is low. This process
can be carried out by examining the ratio of the diagonal terms
in the stiffness and mass matrices. For the kth coordinate, if the
ratio is small then there are significant inertia effects associated
with this coordinate and thus it must be retained as a master
coordinate; if the ratio is large then the kth coordinate must be
selected as a slave coordinate.
3.3. Cost function
The damage severities αi for all elements can be determined
by defining the damage detection problem as an optimization
problem. Because of the complexities of the damage detection
problem, traditional optimization strategies are not suitable
6
A Z Hosseinzadeh et al
Figure 3. The finite element model of the two-span continuous
beam.
for solving this problem. Therefore, in the presented method,
the cuckoo optimization algorithm procedure inspired by the
special lifestyle of the cuckoo is employed.
In the optimization-based damage detection methods, the
formulation of a cost function plays an important role. The
some data. In this study, we search for the best combination of
the elements’ stiffnesses to reach ud under the given external
load FrI . Consequently, the static displacements of the damaged
structure subjected to FrI with unknown damage severities can
be calculated from
uα = Grm,α FrI , (26)
where Grm,α is the flexibility matrix of the modeled structure
with the unknown damage severities that is formed by using
the first m incomplete modal data.
In order to define a cost function, the residual vector e can
be defined as
e = uα − ud . (27)
By using the residual vector, the cost function can be defined
as follows:
f (α1 , α2 , . . . , αn ) = eT e (28)
subject to the constraint
0 ≤ αi ≤ 1, i = 1, 2, . . . , n. (29)
To solve this problem to find the unknown damage
severities, we employ the cuckoo optimization algorithm
described in section 2.2.
4. Numerical studies
In this section, the efficiency of the proposed method is
investigated by studying several numerical examples. In the
first example, the method is applied to a two-span continuous
beam. This is followed by two other numerical examples of
engineering structures, namely a plane truss and a three-story
plane frame. In these examples, the application of the method
under different environmental conditions such as noise effects
is investigated.
4.1. Two-span continuous concrete beam
Consider a two-span continuous beam as shown in figure 3.
The finite element model of this beam consists of 20 elements
with 21 nodes, and each node has two DOFs. As a result,
this beam consists of 42 DOFs. The Young modulus and
mass density of the beam are taken as E = 25 GPa and
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019
Figure 4. Convergence curves of the cuckoo optimization algorithm for two damage patterns of the two-span continuous beam: (a) damage
pattern 1 and (b) damage pattern 2.
Figure 5. Damage detection results for the two-span continuous beam: (a) damage pattern 1 and (b) damage pattern 2.
ρ = 2500 kg m−3 , respectively. The cross sectional area and
the moment of inertia for all elements are A = 0.35 m2 and
I = 0.014 29 m4 , respectively.
In order to investigate the application of the method for
damage identification in the described beam, the following
damage patterns were considered.
(1) The stiffness of element 3 is reduced by 10%.
(2) The stiffnesses of elements 1, 15, and 19 are reduced by
15%, 10%, and 20%, respectively.
Damage pattern 1 is a single damage scenario, whereas
damage pattern 2 is devoted to inspection of multiple damages.
In this study, we use only translational DOFs to reach a
reduced model of the beam. In other words, we assume that the
SHM program is followed by installing 18 sensors on the 18
translational DOFs, and the analytical model is reduced to a
model with 18 translational DOFs of the full size structure.
Also, we considered only the first mode data for damage
identification purposes.
7
A Z Hosseinzadeh et al
Table 1. Input parameters for the cuckoo optimization algorithm.
Parameter Value
Number of initial population 100
Minimum number of eggs for each cuckoo 2
Maximum number of eggs for each cuckoo 4
Maximum number of cuckoos that can be alive at the same 300
time
Maximum number of iterations 600
By applying the presented method, damage severities
can be determined for each damage pattern. The values of
parameters of the cuckoo optimization algorithm are listed
in table 1. These parameters were selected by the trial and
error scheme, and they are dependent on the complexity of the
cost function and also the number of variables in a problem.
To solve the damage detection problem, the optimization
procedure is started by the initial population of cuckoos that
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019
Figure 6. Convergence curves of the ICA for two damage patterns
of the two-span continuous beam when natural frequencies are
contaminated by 5% random noise.
is generated randomly. It is followed by laying eggs in the
host nests and migration to the goal points. The convergence
performance curves of the cuckoo optimization algorithm for
the two damage patterns are shown in figure 4. By inspecting
the cost values, it can be said that the optimization algorithm
has a good performance in reaching the optimal solution. In
addition, the algorithm converges after ∼20 iterations, and so it
can be concluded that the convergence speed of the algorithm is
excellent. The obtained results of damage severity estimation
for the two defect scenarios in the noise-free state are shown
in figure 5. It is clear that there is no difference between the
estimated and actual damage severities.
In order to study the application of the presented method
for damage identification under noise effects, the natural
frequencies were polluted with noise as
ωin = ωi (1 + τ εi ) (30)
in which ωin is the ith natural frequency contaminated by
noise, τ is the noise level, and εi is a random value in the
range [−1 1] which is generated by MATLAB software using
a special function for producing random numbers, namely
rand. In the studied damage scenarios, two levels of noise
were added to the natural frequencies, namely 3% and 5%.
Also, the generated random numbers are 0.6286, −0.5143,
−0.5275, and −0.3046. The convergence curves and the
obtained damage identification results for these two levels of
noise are shown in figures 4 and 5, respectively. The results
are promising, showing good performance of the approach for
damage detection in the state of incomplete modal data by
using only the first mode data. In addition, the robustness of
the presented method under different levels of noise is another
advantage of the algorithm.
In practice, not only the modal frequencies but also the
mode shape vectors are polluted with noise. Thus, it is desirable
that the effect of noise in the modal frequencies and mode
shape vectors is considered for damage diagnosis. For this
purpose, in section 5, we will investigate the performance of
the damage identification algorithm using experimental data
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A Z Hosseinzadeh et al
for a five-story shear frame structure on a shaking table. There-
fore, we do not study this effect in the numerical examples.
Additionally, the presented approach in equation (30) is not a
suitable approach for contaminating the mode shape vectors
with noise, because in practice the noisy mode shapes are
extracted from noisy response signals. It should be noted
that in most real SHM applications the polluted response
signals are denoised before the damage detection process.
By applying a denoising procedure, one can obtain reliable
damage identification results.
In order to compare the performance of the cuckoo opti-
mization algorithm with other evolutionary optimization ap-
proaches, we used the imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA)
to identify damage magnitude in the two-span continuous
beam. The ICA is an evolutionary optimization algorithm
which was inspired from a socio-politically motivated global
search strategy [41]. This algorithm is applied to both the
studied damage patterns when the natural frequencies are
contaminated by 5% random noise. The convergence curves of
the ICA are shown in figure 6. Comparison of the convergence
curves in this case with those gained via the cuckoo optimiza-
tion algorithm demonstrates the fast convergence speed and
the good optimal results of the cuckoo optimization algorithm.
The obtained results of damage prognosis using the ICA are
shown in figure 7. As can be seen, in the first damage pattern,
the 20th element is reported falsely as a damaged element with
a high level of deterioration. In addition, in the second damage
pattern, the 15th damaged element cannot be identified and this
is interpreted as a false-negative result. Thus, in summary, the
cuckoo optimization algorithm can be considered as a robust
algorithm for solving the damage identification problem when
the cost function is formed by noisy and incomplete modal
data.
4.2. Plane steel truss
Consider a plane steel truss as shown in figure 8. The finite
element model of the truss consists of 13 members (six
horizontal elements, three vertical elements, and four diagonal
elements), and six free nodes where each node has two DOFs.
For this steel truss, the material properties of steel include
a Young modulus of E = 200 GPa, and mass density of
ρ = 7850 kg m−3 . The mass per unit length and cross sectional
area for the top horizontal elements are m = 78.50 kg m−1
and A = 1.0 × 10−2 m2 , those for the bottom horizontal
elements are m = 4000 kg m−1 and A = 1.0 × 10−2 m2 ,
those for the vertical elements are m = 39.25 kg m−1 and
A = 0.5 × 10−2 m2 , and those for the diagonal elements are
m = 62.80 kg m−1 and A = 0.8 × 10−2 m2 .
In this example, the following two damage scenarios were
considered.
(1) The stiffness of member 10 is reduced by 10%.
(2) The stiffnesses of members 3 and 10 are reduced by 15%
and 20%, respectively.
The effect of an incomplete set of the modal data was
simulated by considering half the number of all DOFs, which
means that the sensors are only attached at three nodes for
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019
Figure 7. Damage detection results via the ICA for the two-span continuous beam when natural frequencies are contaminated by 5%
random noise: (a) damage pattern 1 and (b) damage pattern 2.
Figure 8. The finite element model of the plane steel truss.
measuring in the vertical and horizontal directions. The master
DOFs consist of six DOFs related to nodes shown by A, B,
and C in figure 8.
For a realistic simulation of data from field monitoring,
two levels of noise were considered. In this example, the
damage identification procedure was carried out by using
only the first mode data. Damage detection results without
and with considering noise in the modal data are shown
in figure 9. As can be seen, the obtained results present a
good agreement between the actual and estimated damage
magnitudes. Additionally, there is only a small difference in
the obtained damage severity for element 3 in damage pattern
2 when the level of noise is 5%.
4.3. Three-story plane steel frame
In this section, the presented method is applied to the damage
identification in a three-story plane steel frame. Consider a
three-story plane frame as shown in figure 10. The finite
element model of this frame consists of nine elements (six
columns and three beams), and six free nodes with three DOFs
for each node. The modulus of elasticity and mass density for
all elements are the same as in the previous example. The
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A Z Hosseinzadeh et al
mass per unit length, inertial moment, and cross sectional
area are equal to m = 117.7 kg m−1 , I = 3.3 × 10−4 m4 , and
A = 0.0150 m2 for columns, and m = 119.32 kg m−1 , I =
3.69 × 10−4 m4 , and A = 0.0152 m2 for beams, respectively.
In this frame, two damage cases were considered.
(1) The stiffnesses of elements 2 and 7 are reduced by 10%.
(2) The stiffnesses of elements 1, 2, and 9 are reduced by 10%,
15%, and 20%, respectively.
We used only six horizontal translational DOFs to reach a
reduced model of the structure for simulating the incomplete
modal data. The obtained results for the two damage cases
are shown in figure 11. All results emphasize the efficiency
of the damage identification method in different conditions
such as the use of the first mode data in the incomplete state
of modal data, and various levels of noise. By inspection
of the results, it can be found that a few healthy elements
are reported as damaged elements when the modal data are
polluted by noise. The negligible amounts of damage severity
in these elements do not influence the robustness of the defect
prognosis algorithm.
To investigate the effect of damping in identification
results, we used a damping ratio of 3% in this frame, which
has some effect on the modal data results that are employed for
identifying defects. For this purpose, a white noise excitation
was applied at the base of the frame. Then, the response time
history of the frame at each sensor location was computed,
and finally the modal frequencies and mode shape vectors of
the structure were obtained using the response time history.
Figure 12 indicates the damage localization and quantification
results for damage case 1, for example, for damping ratios
0% and 3%. As can be seen, the algorithm is able to find
the location of two simulated damages in the frame, and also
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019
Figure 9. Damage detection results for the plane steel truss: (a) damage pattern 1 and (b) damage pattern 2.
Figure 10. The finite element model of the three-story plane steel
frame.
the values of estimated damage severities are acceptable. In
addition, element 8 is reported falsely as a damaged element
with a small level of deterioration. These differences in the
obtained results are due to the elimination of damping effect in
computing of the flexibility matrix in equation (26). Therefore,
these differences can be removed by considering the damping
effect in the formation of the flexibility matrix.
5. Experimental validation
The application of the proposed method in real structures was
verified by testing a five-story shear building structure on the
shaking table. The experimental setup is shown in figure 13.
The main objective of this experiment is to demonstrate that
10
A Z Hosseinzadeh et al
the damage quantification by the modal deflections is close
enough to those from the static deflections. For this purpose,
a set of ambient vibration tests was conducted.
The value of mass for each story is 16.09 kg, the story
stiffness is equal to 11.89 kN m−1 , the story damping is
3.27 N s m−1 , and the height of each story is 0.345 m.
For this steel frame, the material properties of steel include
Young’s modulus E = 200 GPa, Poisson ratio υ = 0.28, and
mass density ρ = 7850 kg m−3 .
Damage was simulated by reduction in the cross section
of columns in the damaged story. The column shapes for the
initial and damaged cases are shown in figure 14. In this
study, the damage detection algorithm was validated for two
scenarios.
(1) Initial structure without damage.
(2) Damage at the first story with 10% reduction in the
stiffness.
Therefore, by considering the cross sections shown in
figure 14, the bending stiffness EI of each story in the initial
structure is 20 N m2 , and it is 18 N m2 for the damaged case.
Shaking table excitation was applied in a random load
format for 600 s, and two accelerometers that were sampled at
20 Hz were installed on the second and fifth floors of the frame.
Therefore, we used only two DOFs to reach an incomplete
scheme of the structural model. In order to investigate the
influence of the uncertainty of modal data and damage
diagnosis, the experiments were repeated four times for each
scenario.
Modal parameters were identified by the data-driven
stochastic subspace identification method [42]. For the initial
structure, the natural frequencies of the first and second modes
are 1.24 Hz and 3.70 Hz, respectively, whereas those for the
damaged frame are 1.21 Hz and 3.63 Hz. As expected, the
natural frequencies decrease in the damaged structure.
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019 A Z Hosseinzadeh et al

Figure 11. Damage detection results for the three-story plane steel frame: (a) damage pattern 1 and (b) damage pattern 2.

Figure 12. Damage detection results for damage pattern 1 of the three-story plane steel frame with two different damping ratios.

In this experimental study, not only the modal frequencies

but also the mode shape vectors are contaminated with some
noise. Therefore, the effect of noise in the modal frequencies
and mode shape vectors is considered for damage diagnosis.
Furthermore, the effect of damping in identification results is
notable in the experimental example due to the existence of
damping in the shear frame structure.
Damage identification was carried out by using two sets of
modal data: (1) the first mode data and (2) the first and second
mode data. The mean and one standard deviation value of the
predicted damage severities for the first scenario are shown
in figure 15. As expected, damage severities are zero for all
stories by using two sets of the modal data.
The convergence curves of the cuckoo optimization algo-
rithm for four experiments for the second scenario are shown in
figure 16. It is clear that the optimization algorithm converges
very quickly to find the optimal solution. Figure 17 shows
the obtained results for the damaged structure. As can be
seen, the results have good compatibility with the simulated
Figure 13. The experimental setup of the five-story shear frame.
damage magnitude, although we used only two DOFs of the
structure to access the modal data. As a result, the efficient

11
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019
Figure 14. Column shapes for the experimental study: (a) undamaged state and (b) damaged state (10% reduction in the stiffness of the
story).
Figure 15. The mean and one standard deviation value of damage
detection results in the experimental five-story shear frame for the
first damage scenario using (a) the first mode data and (b) the first
and second mode data.
Figure 16. Convergence curves of the optimization algorithm for the
experimental five-story shear frame for the second damage scenario
using (a) the first mode data and (b) the first and second mode data.
performance of the presented method for damage identification
via the incomplete modal data can be concluded from this
experimental study.
6. Conclusions
An effective damage identification algorithm for engineering
structures based on the definition of the damage detection
problem as an optimization problem has been presented in
this paper. The objective function was formulated by means
of the static displacements of the DOFs of a structure under a
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A Z Hosseinzadeh et al
Figure 17. The mean and one standard deviation value of damage
detection results in the experimental five-story shear frame for the
second scenario using (a) the first mode data and (b) the first and
second mode data.
unique static load by using modal data. The main advantage for
calculating the static displacements by employing modal data
is the ability to form the flexibility matrix by using data from
only a few modes. Additionally, in this process, the presence of
some difficulties in applying static loads and measuring static
displacements are eliminated. To consider a limited number
of sensors in this method, the IIRS method was employed to
simulate the analytical model of the monitored structure. The
accuracy of the iterated improved reduction system method
in higher modes is very good in comparison with the Guyan
reduction method. The optimization problem was solved by the
cuckoo optimization algorithm, which is a new algorithm for
global optimization purposes inspired by the special lifestyle
of a group of birds.
Some advantages of the presented algorithm can be
summarized as follows.
• It is suitable for all kinds of engineering structure with
limited sensors.
• It does not require derivative information and is suitable
for parallel computers.
• It searches all points on the solution domain by an
increasable methodology with a considerable speed.
• It provides a list of damage severities instead of a single
solution.
• It does not require modal data from a pristine structure.
Smart Mater. Struct. 23 (2014) 045019
The presented damage prognosis method was verified
through several numerical examples. In the first example, a
two-span continuous concrete beam with 20 elements was
studied. Then, the method was applied to a plane truss
and a three-story steel plane frame. All the obtained results
indicated that the presented method has reliable and efficient
performance for damage quantification in various kinds of
engineering structure. The robustness of the algorithm was
investigated when the modal data was polluted by different
levels of noise. Further, the effect of damping in damage
identification results was notable in a numerical example, and
we found that some error may appear in the identification
results due to excluding the damping effect from the formation
of the flexibility matrix. Last, the capability of the approach
was verified by studying an experimental five-story shear
frame structure on the shaking table using only two sensors
on the frame, which were attached on the second and fifth
stories. In this experimental study, both the modal frequencies
and the mode shape vectors were contaminated with noise, and
the effect of noise in the modal data was notable for damage
detection. The results emphasize the viable applicability of the
proposed process and introduce it as a strong approach for the
estimation of damage in real structures.
Acknowledgments
AB acknowledges the support of the US National Science
Foundation under grant number CMMI 1029457.
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