Protocol for Reliability Assessment of Structural Health Monitoring Systems Incorporating Model-Assisted Probability of Detection (MAPOD) Approach

Abstract

This paper will describe the progress in the development of a methodology for reliability assessment for SHM systems. The methodology consists of the development and use of appropriate statistical metrics of reliability for SHM systems that detect, localize, and/or size damage, and a protocol designed for utilizing empirical data, models, simulations, and uncertainty analyses for statistically characterizing these systems. The protocol comprises several critical steps: a procedure for analyzing all pertinent characteristics of the SHM system to identify the critical factors that affect system performance, a multistage approach to system validation, a modeling and experimental methodology for efficiently addressing a wide range of damage and operational conditions, and effective methods for evaluating the appropriate metrics of reliability depending on the SHM system type and function. A critical aspect of the protocol is that by addressing variability in the model and minimizing unexplained error in the representation, less experimental data will be required to address the total unknowns in the evaluation. The application of these methods in the protocol will be presented in detail including several demonstrations using simulation-based case studies.