Structural Analysis Methods for Structural Health Management of Future Aerospace Vehicles

Two finite-element-based, full-field computational methods and algorithms for use in Structural Health Management (SHM) systems are reviewed. Their versatility, robustness, and computational efficiency make them well suited for real-time, large-scale space vehicle, structures, and habitat applications. The methods may be effectively employed to enable real-time processing of sensing information, specifically for identifying three-dimensional deformed structural shapes as well as the internal loads. In addition, they may be used in conjunction with evolutionary algorithms to design optimally distributed sensors. These computational tools have demonstrated substantial promise for utilization in future SHM systems.