Experimental verification of a distributed computing strategy for structural health monitoring

A flexibility-based distributed computing strategy (DCS) for structural health monitoring (SHM) has recently been proposed which is suitable for implementation on a network of densely distributed smart sensors. In that approach, a hierarchical strategy is proposed in which adjacent smart sensors are grouped together to form sensor communities. Structural health monitoring is done without relying on central data acquisition and processing. The main purpose of this paper is to experimentally verify this flexibility-based DCS approach. The damage locating vector method that forms foundation of the DCS approach is reviewed. An overview of the DCS approach is presented. This flexibility-based approach is then experimentally verified employing a 5.6 m long three-dimensional truss structure. To simulate damage in the structure, the original truss members are replaced by ones with a reduced cross section. Both single and multiple damage scenarios are studied. Experimental results show that the DCS approach can successfully detect the damage at local elements using only locally measured information.