Numerical Optimization of Strain Sensor Placement for Load Monitoring in 2D Structures

Operational load monitoring is essential for structural health assessment and possible fatigue failure prediction.In such processes strain sensors are usually used to capture localized deformations for precise load estimation.But, the monitoring accuracy depends on placement and orientation of the sensor.This study employed a numerical method to optimize strain sensor placement in 2D structures.The goal is to determine sensor location and orientation in order to capture maximal values of strain in the structure.Objective function was definied and genetic algorithm was implemented to find the global extremum of the function.The developed methodology and algorithms were tested with two structural examples of irregular geometry.In both cases the optimization algorithm converged to optimal sensor position.The results proved that the method can be used to improve measurement accuracy and cost efficiency for operational load monitoring processes.