Abstract
Tubular structures are widely used in infrastructure, especially for pipes and marine installations. Corrosion is a key damage type for these structures, and if undetected may cause structural deficiency or even collapse. This paper investigates the effects of localised corrosion on the vibration properties of axisymmetric tubular structures and proposes a novel baseline-free damage identification method to overcome the fact that the difference between undamaged and damaged properties is usually small and contaminated by noise. The proposed vibration-based method exploits the phenomenon of repeated mode pairs which is peculiar to axisymmetric tubular structures with non-axisymmetric damage. Unlike intact tubular structures, it is found that each vibration mode of a locally damaged tubular structure comprises of two components: active and passive. The active component is sensitive to the local damage and can be used to infer damage existence while the passive component is retentive of the undamaged pipe's properties. Therefore, the passive component of a damaged pipe’s local vibration mode pair (LVMP) can be used to predict its baseline (undamaged) modal properties, which in this research was achieved within a margin of ±2%, whereas the active component confirms damage existence. The work also establishes the criteria for validation of LVMPs through experimental tests involving various corrosion scenarios ranging from longitudinal strips to through-thickness pits. Based on the obtained results, it is proposed that the properties of LVMPs can be linked to corrosion-like local damage in axisymmetric tubular structures, underpinning a new damage detection and identification approach.