Determination of the truss static state by means of the combined FE/GA approach, on the basis of strain and displacement measurements

• Published in: Inverse problems in science and engineering Vol. 27; no. 11; pp. 1537 - 1558
• Main Author: Milewski, Sławomir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 02.11.2019
• Subjects: 65Cxx; 65Kxx; 65Lxx; finite element method; genetic algorithms; Inverse truss analysis; load determination
• ISSN: 1741-5977; 1741-5985
• DOI: 10.1080/17415977.2018.1509966

A real engineering inverse problem is considered in this paper, namely the recovery of the full static state of plane truss for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) purposes. Available experimental data include strain or strain/displacement measurements done at few selected construction bars and nodes. All measurements are performed by means of sensors attached to the construction. The appropriate non-linear constrained optimization problem is formulated. Its numerical analysis is performed through the combination of the finite element method with genetic algorithms (FE/GA). Apart from the truss static load determination, the proposed approach may be applied to the identification of its bars with reduced tensile stiffness, as well as defective strain sensors. Moreover, the selection of the optimal number of strain sensors is considered. The work is illustrated with selected examples of truss analysis with various geometric complexity.