On the application of bees algorithm to the problem of crack detection of beam-type structures

► The application of the bees algorithm in the crack detection practice was examined. ► A numerical and experimental studies on the cracked cantilever beams was conducted. ► The results showed that the crack locations and depths were predicted well by BA. ► Results of BA were compared with those of the PSO. ► BA was shown to be accurate and robust to be used in the crack detection practice. In this paper, the application of the bees algorithm (BA) to the problem of crack detection in beams is introduced. A numerical as well as an experimental study is designed to predict a single open edge-crack in cantilever beams. The crack is modeled by a rotational spring, whose stiffness could be determined by the size of the crack. The weighted sum of the squared errors between the measured and computed natural frequencies is used as the objective function. The results show that both the size and location of the crack can be predicted well through this method.