title: Experimental Study on Damage Detection in Timber Specimens Based on an Electromechanical Impedance Technique and RMSD-Based Mahalanobis Distance.
abstract: In the electromechanical impedance (EMI) method, the PZT patch performs the functions of both sensor and exciter. Due to the high frequency actuation and non-model based characteristics, the EMI method can be utilized to detect incipient structural damage. In recent years EMI techniques have been widely applied to monitor the health status of concrete and steel materials, however, studies on application to timber are limited. This paper will explore the feasibility of using the EMI technique for damage detection in timber specimens. In addition, the conventional damage index, namely root mean square deviation (RMSD) is employed to evaluate the level of damage. On that basis, a new damage index, Mahalanobis distance based on RMSD, is proposed to evaluate the damage severity of timber specimens. Experimental studies are implemented to detect notch and hole damage in the timber specimens. Experimental results verify the availability and robustness of the proposed damage index and its superiority over the RMSD indexes.
authors: School of Civil Engineering & Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China. danshwang@hust.edu.cn.
authors: Dansheng
authors: D
authors: Wang
authors: School of Civil Engineering & Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China. M201473117@hust.edu.cn.
authors: Qinghua
authors: Q
authors: Wang
authors: School of Civil Engineering & Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China. wangh31@vanke.com.
authors: Hao
authors: H
authors: Wang
authors: School of Civil Engineering & Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China. hpzhu@hust.edu.cn.
authors: Hongping
authors: H
authors: Zhu
keywords: Mahalanobis distance; RMSD; damage detection; electromechanical impedance; experimental study; timber specimen