Improved Adaptive Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization of Sensor Layout for Shape Sensing with Inverse Finite Element Method

The inverse finite element method (iFEM) is one of the most effective deformation reconstruction techniques for shape sensing, which is widely applied in structural health monitoring. The distribution of strain sensors affects the reconstruction accuracy of the structure in iFEM. This paper proposes a method to optimize the layout of sensors rationally. Firstly, this paper constructs a dual-objective model based on the accuracy and robustness indexes. Then, an improved adaptive multi-objective particle swarm optimization (IAMOPSO) algorithm is developed for this model, which introduces initialization strategy, the adaptive inertia weight strategy, the guided particle selection strategy and the external candidate solution (ECS) set maintenance strategy to multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO). Afterwards, the performance of IAMOPSO is verified by comparing with MOPSO applied on the existing inverse beam model. Finally, the IAMOPSO is employed to the deformation reconstruction of complex plate-beam model. The numerical and experimental results demonstrate that the IAMOPSO is an excellent tool for sensor layout in iFEM.