An efficient algorithm for stiffness identification of truss structures through distributed local computation

This paper presents an efficient stiffness identification technique for truss structures based on distributed local computation. Sensor nodes on each element are assumed to collect strain data and communicate only with sensors on neighboring elements. This can significantly reduce the energy demand for data transmission and the complexity of transmission protocols, thus enabling a simplified wireless implementation. Element stiffness parameters are identified by simple low order matrix inversion at a local level, which reduces the computational energy, allows for distributed computation and makes parallel data processing possible. The proposed method also permits addressing the problem of missing data or faulty sensors. Numerical examples, with and without missing data, are presented and the element stiffness parameters are accurately identified. The computation efficiency of the proposed method is n² times higher than previously proposed global damage identification methods.