ABSTRACT
This paper presents the application of artificial neural networks (ANN) in the identification of damage in simple engineering structures. Three numerical examples are presented considering the identification of damage in a cantilever beam with and without an additional support. The application of ANNs expands the nondestructive damage identification method using an additional parameter introduced to the structure. The input vector of the ANNs consists of the dynamic responses of a structure with additional mass. The output vector is composed of the position of damage and, in the last example, the extent of damage.