Experimental validation of usual numerical models of cracked beams for damage detection approaches

The performances of damage detection approaches are often tested by using numerical solutions of undamaged and damaged structures. However, the numerical results used for a preliminary analysis are useful as far as they can provide a good approach to real experimental results. This paper presents a collection of numerical results obtained from three different finite element models that are extensively used in the literature for the analysis of damage detection approaches, and compare them with experimental results. The paper considers beam, plate and solid models. Natural frequencies and mode shapes of the beams are analyzed. The results show that the results obtained with 1D models are not likely to be well related to a specific experimental test, whereas 2D and 3D models provide good results if the damage is a notch, but, the do not if it is a fatigue crack.