Abstract This paper presents a structural damage detection system. Variations in elasticity module are used as a damage condition in a structural finite element model. This deviation alters vibration natural frequencies and shape modes; which is the fault indicator in this proposal. Noise and incomplete data are used to emulate real conditions in a beam and truss in different fault scenarios. Simulations show satisfactory performance in all cases studied. Therefore, this system can be used as suitable structural damage detection system.