Enhancement of accuracy in deformation and load estimation of gentelligent, sensor-integrating components for technical inheritance

The integration of sensors into load-carrying structural, so-called gentelligent, components allows to get insights into load histories during the product use phase. This data enables optimisations of the structure for adaptions on the operational loads. An easy way to reconstruct deformations and loads from measurements at discrete sensor positions on beam-like structures, like an aircraft wing box, is Ko’s displacement theory, which suffers from inaccuracies due to needed assumptions when complicated free-form geometries are considered. Therefore, this paper presents an algorithmic solution to enhance the accuracy of this reconstruction by calculating geometric parameters from CAD models for this purpose.