A modified monkey algorithm for optimal sensor placement in structural health monitoring

Abstract

Proper placement of sensors plays a key role in construction and implementation of an effective structural health monitoring (SHM) system. This paper outlines a novel methodology called the modified monkey algorithm (MA) for the optimum design of SHM system sensor arrays, which is very different from the conventional method and is simple to implement. The integer coding method instead of the binary coding method is proposed to code the solution. The Euclidean distance operator and the stochastic perturbation mechanism of the harmony search algorithm are employed to improve the local and global search capability. A computational case of a high-rise building has been implemented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the modified method. The obtained sensor placements using the modified MA are compared with those gained by the existing MA using the integer coding method and the famous forward sequential sensor placement algorithm. Results showed that the innovations in the MA proposed in this paper could improve the convergence of the algorithm and the method is effective in solving combinatorial optimization problems such as optimal sensor placement.