Optimal Sensor Placement for Active Sensing

We present a novel approach for optimal actuator and sensor placement for active sensing-based structural health monitoring (SHM). Of particular interest is the optimization of actuator-sensor arrays making use of Lamb wave propagation for detecting damage in thin plate-like structures. Using a detection theory framework, we establish the optimum configuration as the minimization of the expected percentage of the structure to show type I or type II error during the damage detection process. The detector incorporates a statistical model of the active sensing process which implements both pulse-echo and pitch-catch actuation schemes and takes into account line of site and non-uniform damage probabilities. The optimization space was searched using a genetic algorithm with a time varying mutation rate. We provide four example actuator/sensor placement scenarios and the optimal solutions as generated by the algorithm.Copyright © 2008 by ASME