Detection of structural damage is an inverse problem in structural engineering. There are three main questions in the damage detection: existence, location and extent of the damage. In concept, the natural frequency and mode shapes of any structure must satisfy an eigenvalue problem. But, if a potential damage exists in a structure, an error resulting from the substitution of the refined analytical finite element model and measured modal data into the structural eigenvalue equation will occur, which is called the residual modal forces, and can be used as an indicator of potential damage in a structure. In this study, a useful damage detection method is proposed and compared with other two methods. Two degree-of-freedom system and Cantilever beam are used to demonstrate the approach. And the results of three introduced method are compared.