On-line identification of non-linear hysteretic structures using an adaptive tracking technique

System identification and damage detection based on vibration data have received considerable attention recently because of their importance to structural health monitoring. Various technical approaches have been proposed in the literature; however, the on-line identification of the changes of parameters for non-linear structures due to damages is still a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose an on-line adaptive tracking technique, based on the least-square estimation, to identify the system parameters and their changes of non-linear hysteretic structures. The method proposed is capable of tracking abrupt or slow changes of the system parameters from which the damage event and the severity of the structural damage can be detected and evaluated. Simulation results for tracking the parametric changes of non-linear hysteretic structures are presented to demonstrate the application and effectiveness of the proposed technique in detecting the structural damages. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.