Damage identification using simulated annealing

In this article a method for the detection of damage in elastic structures and based on the Simulated Annealing Technique is presented. The damage identification problem, without separating it in two distinct tasks of location and quantification with the aid of the powerful methods of stochastic optimisation, represents an aim for which previous attempts have been already done using genetic algorithms. The minimisation of the appropriate cost function, formulated in terms of the parameters of the damage, provides means for identificating the damage. Here the technique of Simulated Annealing, drawing an analogy between energy minimisation in physical systems and objective function minimisation, is applied on a simulated test structure and on experimental data obtained from cracked steel cantilever er beams.