Analysis of truss-like cracked structures with uncertain-but-bounded depths

In this paper, an approach that deals with the dynamic response of linear elastic truss structures with cracked members is presented. Crack depths are modeled as uncertain-but-bounded variables. The objective of the study is the evaluation of the time-varying upper and lower bounds of the response of a truss structure with multiple cracks with uncertain interval depths subjected to a deterministic excitation. The proposed procedure is validated through numerical tests on truss-like structures. The accuracy is evidenced by the excellent agreement between the response bounds calculated by the present approach compared with the exact bounds derived via a combinatorial procedure.