Optimal Sensor Placement in Composite Circular Cylindrical Shells for Structural Health Monitoring

Abstract

This work presents an approach for optimal placement of strain sensors in composite circular cylindrical shells. The approach uses numerical strain values in longitudinal and transverse directions extracted from the top surface of the thin-walled composite cylindrical shell. Numerical model of composite cylindrical shell was modelled using the FE commercial solver ANSYS. The modal analysis was performed to determine the first 12 natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes. Number of sensors and their locations were obtained taking into account physical constraints of strain sensors and optimization strategies. Finally, the optimal sensor placements were obtained. Maximal number of sensors in each direction equals 30.