ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the basic concepts and status of structural damage detection with a relatively complete coverage of the subject. It provides the general concepts of structural damage detection, and examines non-destructive testing (NDT) methods, which are commonly used damage detection methods for civil structures and are regarded as the local approaches. The chapter presents dynamic characteristics-based damage detection methods, which are often regarded as the global approaches. It discusses multi-scale damage detection methods by considering both global and local structural responses and using multiple types of sensors. The chapter also presents statistical approaches with consideration of the uncertainties involved in structural damage detection. The commonly used damage detection methods for civil structures are visual inspection and NDT techniques, such as acoustic or ultrasonic methods, magnetic field methods, radiographs, eddy current methods and thermal field methods. Many NDT methods have been developed to detect damage/change to the materials or structural components and to evaluate their condition.
