A novel surrogate-based crack identification method for cantilever beam based on the change of natural frequencies.

• A novel surrogate-based crack identification method is presented. • Structure frequency shift characteristics is analyzed. • The crack identification is converted to an optimization problem. • Numerical examples and experimental validation prove satisfactory precision. A novel crack identification method is presented in this paper for cantilever beam-type structures within the scope of vibration-based damage identification. Natural frequencies are more easily to be measured yet are weakly sensitive to damage in comparison to other dynamic parameters such as mode shape and damping ratio. Therefore, this paper develops a surrogate-based crack identification method in order to overcome the low sensitivity of frequency to damage. The surrogate model was constructed using radial point interpolation method (RPIM) and subsequently trained with the frequency shift database established from parametric finite element analysis (FEA) modeling of cracked/ non-cracked cantilever beams. On this basis, the crack identification problem had been converted to a standard optimization model with crack length and location as design variables. Subsequently, genetic algorithm (GA) was employed for solving the optimization model to achieve crack parameters. In the end, numerical examples and experimental test have been conducted to validate the developed method, revealing maximum relative errors within 0.5% and 2.5%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]