Optimal transducer placement for health monitoring of long span bridge

In experimental modal testing, the measurement locations and the number of measurements have a major influence on the quality of the results. In general, there are several alternative schemes for sensor placement, and the accuracy of the data increases as the number of sensors utilized increases. However, the number of transducers that can be attached to a real structure is limited by economic constraints. Therefore, algorithms that address the issue of limited instrumentation and its effects on resolution and accuracy are important from the standpoint of experimental modal analysis. The authors are particularly interested in structural dynamics based damage evaluation of large structures, and the development and implementation of suitable sensor location algorithms are critical for such a problem. A kinetic energy optimization technique (EOT) has been derived, and numerical issues are addressed and applied to real experimental data obtained from a model of an asymmetric long span bridge. Using experimental data from the bridge model, the algorithm proposed in this paper is compared to Kammer's EIM algorithm, which optimizes the transducer placement for identification and control purposes.