Structural damage detection and diagnosis is a very important factor to the structural safety. Wavelet transform combined with artificial immune algorithm can be used for improving the application of artificial intelligence algorithms. for structural damage detection. The result of the simulation and verification by analyzing suspension bridge structure suggest that this approach combines the advantages of wavelet analysis and artificial immune algorithm : quickly and accurately identifying the damage location and calculating the extent of the damage. This method can be used in engineering practice of structural damage detection to improve the efficiency of structural damage identification.