Designing distributed modal sensors for plate structures using finite element analysis

Designing constant thickness, distributed modal transducers for plate structures is difficult. One option is to alter sensor effectiveness by changing the electrode pattern. This paper considers an alternative approach where the shape of the sensor is optimised, and parameterises the sensor boundary using a limited number of boundary points and spline interpolation. The modes are obtained from a finite element model of the plate structure, and used to create an objective function to design modal sensors. The approach is demonstrated on a plate structure with various boundary conditions.