Comparison of Optimal Sensor Placement Technics for Structural Health Monitoring Application

The information value of high-rise structural health monitoring applications relies significantly on optimal sensor placement (OSP) technics as it aims to deploy optimally, for economical and data management considerations, a limited number of sensors to obtain structural modal and vibration characteristics. Thus, the reliance and the efficiency of three optimal sensor placement methods: modal assurance criterion (MAC), effective independence (IE), Fisher information matrix (FIM), have been investigated in this paper using a high-rise building as a numerical case study. The detailed finite element model (FEM) served to extract the mode shapes of the reduced FEM model that served as an input for the optimal sensor placement problem. The three OSP technics were mutually evaluated in order to identify the most suited technic based on two criterions: the root mean square (RMS) index and the determinant of the Fisher information matrix (FIM). The results demonstrate that the joint objective function of MAC-FIM delivers satisfying performances in both OSP criteria as it provides the largest amount of mode shape information.