The main objective of this study is to evaluate the dynamics-based techniques for damage detection in laminated composite cantilevered rectangular plates and cylindrical shells with damages in the form of surface macro-level cracks using finite element analysis (FEA). However, the quantitative change in global vibration characteristics is not sufficiently sensitive to local structural damages especially to small size damages. Hence certain parameters called damage indicators based on mode shape curvature, which are the second derivatives of the vibration characteristics (mode shapes), are used in this study to detect the location and size of even small damages accurately in laminated composite structures. The commercial FEA package ANSYS is used for the theoretical modal analysis to generate the natural frequencies and normalized mode shapes of the intact and damaged structures. Experimental investigations are carried out on the laminated plate and shell structural elements to provide a validation of the analysis. Experimental investigations are carried out on the laminated composite (E-glass unidirectional fibers reinforced epoxy resin) cantilevered plate and shell structural elements to provide a validation of the analysis. The effectiveness of these methods is clearly demonstrated by the results obtained.
