Damage modeling and detection for a tree network using fractional-order calculus

Large networks are increasingly common in engineered systems, and therefore, monitoring their operating conditions is increasingly important. This paper proposes a model-based frequency-domain damage detection method for an infinitely large self-similar network. The first aim is to exactly model the overall frequency response for any specific damage case of that network, which we show has an explicit multiplicative relation to the undamaged transfer function. Then, leveraging that knowledge from modeling, this paper also proposes an algorithm to identify damaged components within that network as well as quantifies their respective damage amounts given a noisy measurement for that network’s overall frequency response.