Monitoring the structural health of aerospace structures is a key step for the next generation of aerospace vehicles and an important prerequisite for improved aviation safety. Effective structural health monitoring requires an adequate distribution of sensors on the structure that would enable accurate real-time assessment of structural integrity. A computational mechanics methodology which is capable of reconstructing the full-field structural displacements, strains, and stresses based upon discretely distributed strain sensor measurements, known as the Inverse Finite Element Method (iFEM), has been recently developed at NASA Langley. iFEM has been demonstrated to be a high-fidelity computational tool for use in real-time applications, such as providing feedback to the actuation and control systems of adaptive self monitoring structures.

A preliminary study focused on developing suitable computational schemes for designing optimally distributed strain sensors is discussed in the context of the iFEM reconstruction of full-field displacements in plate structures undergoing in-plane, bending, and twisting modes of deformation.