Optimal Sensor Placement in Reduced-Order Models Using Modal Constraint Conditions

Sensor measurements of civil structures provide basic information on their performance. However, it is impossible to install sensors at every location owing to the limited number of sensors available. Therefore, in this study, we propose an optimal sensor placement (OSP) algorithm while reducing the system order by using the constraint condition between the master and slave modes from the target modes. The existing OSP methods are modified in this study, and an OSP approach using a constrained dynamic equation is presented. The validity and comparison of the proposed methods are illustrated by utilizing a numerical example that predicts the OSPs of the truss structure. It is observed that the proposed methods lead to different sensor layouts depending on the algorithm criteria. Thus, it can be concluded that the OSP algorithm meets the measurement requirements for various methods, such as structural damage detection, system identification, and vibration control.

A State-of-the-Art Review on FRF-Based Structural Damage Detection: Development in Last Two Decades and Way Forward

Vibration-based damage detection techniques receive wide attention of the research community in recent years to overcome the limitations of conventional structural health monitoring methods. The modal parameters, namely, natural frequencies, mode shapes, transmissibility, frequency response function (FRF), and other damage sensitive features are usually employed to identify damage in a structure. The main objective of this review is to generate a detailed understanding of FRF-based techniques and to study their performance in terms of advantage, accuracy, and limitations in structural damage detection. This paper also reviews various approaches to develop methodologies in terms of efficiency and computational time. The study observed that excitation frequency, location of application of excitation, type of sensor, number of measurement locations, noise contamination in FRF data, selection of frequency range for simulation, weighting and numerical techniques to solve the over-determined set of equations influence the effectiveness of damage identification procedure. Limitations and future prospects have also been addressed in this paper. The content of this paper aims to guide researchers in developing formulations, updating models, and improving results in the field of FRF-based damage identification.

Lamb Wave Based Structural Damage Detection Using Stationarity Tests

Lamb waves have been widely used for structural damage detection. However, practical applications of this technique are still limited. One of the main reasons is due to the complexity of Lamb wave propagation modes. Therefore, instead of directly analysing and interpreting Lamb wave propagation modes for information about health conditions of the structure, this study has proposed another approach that is based on statistical analyses of the stationarity of Lamb waves. The method is validated by using Lamb wave data from intact and damaged aluminium plates exposed to temperature variations. Four popular unit root testing methods, including Augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) test, Kwiatkowski–Phillips–Schmidt–Shin (KPSS) test, Phillips–Perron (PP) test, and Leybourne–McCabe (LM) test, have been investigated and compared in order to understand and make statistical inference about the stationarity of Lamb wave data before and after hole damages are introduced to the aluminium plate. The separation between t-statistic features, obtained from the unit root tests on Lamb wave data, is used for damage detection. The results show that both ADF test and KPSS test can detect damage, while both PP and LM tests were not significant for identifying damage. Moreover, the ADF test was more stable with respect to temperature changes than the KPSS test. However, the KPSS test can detect damage better than the ADF test. Moreover, both KPSS and ADF tests can consistently detect damages in conditions where temperatures vary below 60 °C. However, their t-statistics fluctuate more (or less homogeneous) for temperatures higher than 65 °C. This suggests that both ADF and KPSS tests should be used together for Lamb wave based structural damage detection. The proposed stationarity-based approach is motivated by its simplicity and efficiency. Since the method is based on the concept of stationarity of a time series, it can find applications not only in Lamb wave based SHM but also in condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of industrial systems.