Criteria for determining the optimal sensor layout for identifying building inelastic deformation mode

For buildings with few accelerometers, the accelerometer layout should be able to account for various possible inelastic deformation modes (i.e., total-yield or soft-story). Two criteria are proposed for evaluating the suitability of an accelerometer layout: (i) maximum recorded floor displacements should vastly differ for different deformation modes, and (ii) the maximum representative building-level displacement should be accurately estimated. The application of these criteria was demonstrated using a case study of a 12-story building with different accelerometer layouts.