Experimental investigations on the cross-correlation function amplitude vector of the dynamic strain under varying environmental temperature for structural damage detection

This article focuses on the experimental investigations on the cross-correlation function amplitude vector of the dynamic strain (CorV_S) under varying environmental temperature for structural damage detection. It is verified that under white noise excitation, CorV_S is only related to the natural frequencies, mode shapes, and damping ratios of structures. The normalized CorV_S of the undamaged structure maintains a uniform shape. A laboratory experimental investigation based on an end-fixed steel beam shows that CorV_S can be used for structural damage detection. However, CorV_S constructed by the dynamic strain of in-situ test varies with time, and the CorV_S curves do not have the same shape. When the environmental temperature fluctuates significantly, high correlation exists between the dynamic strain and environmental temperature. By analyzing the power spectral density of the signals measured from active and inactive strain gauges, it is found that the signals induced by temperature stress, which do not reflect the dynamic performance of the bridge, exist in the very low-frequency band. To avoid the interference to CorV_S, the temperature effect component is separated from the dynamic strain by analytical mode decomposition method. Then, each CorV_S curve maintains a uniform shape. The results demonstrate that it is prone to get a misjudgment for the condition of a structure if temperature effect on CorV_S is ignored. It is necessary to eliminate the environmental temperature effect on CorV_S for the damage detection of a structure in service.