DIMOSS (Displacement Monitoring using Strain Sensors) is an integrated structural monitoring software based on discrete strain measurements for aerospace, civil, and marine structures. It includes all the necessary tools to design and implement an effective system for monitoring the displacements, strains, and stresses experienced by a structure during its operational life. DIMOSS represents a key ingredient for achieving a predictive maintenance paradigm. In this case, constant monitoring of structural characteristics can give fundamental indications on its health condition and allow maintenance interventions to be planned based on the actual state of the structure.
DIMOSS is based on the inverse Finite Element Method (iFEM), which allows for the reconstruction of the entire displacement field of the structure from a few discrete strain measurements. Structural strains can be measured using either strain gauges or fibre optic sensors instrumented on the structure. DIMOSS contains features that can guide users through all stages of a monitoring application including, but not limited to, identification of the optimal sensor configuration for monitoring a specific structure, processing the strain data coming from the sensors to best adapt them to the application, computing the continuous strain and stress fields starting from the displacement fields, and finally the compatibility of the results with some of the most common Finite Element analysis software in the industry.
Key Features:
- A sensor configuration optimization module (based on a genetic algorithm), for identifying the optimal quantity, location, and type of strain sensors to be installed on the structure for accurate monitoring;
- Input strain data processing to correctly feed the iFEM algorithm. Also, in cases where little strain data is available, DIMOSS contains strain smoothing algorithms to expand the limited set of physical strain measurements and compute a larger set of ‘virtual’ strain measurements;
- A repository of 1D beam and 2D shell inverse elements to model the various type of structural geometries observed in practical applications. Additionally, DIMOSS implements a ‘hybrid’ iFEM discretisation scheme whereby the structure is modelled with beam and shell elements used together. This is useful in the case of stiffened or thin-walled structures to obtain accurate results using only a few strain measurements and at a low computational cost;
- Compatible with commercial FE software like PATRAN/NASTRAN & ABAQUS. This includes the capability to directly import a finite element mesh within DIMOSS from a .bdf or .inp file generated by the FE software, and export the computed results back in terms of a .h5 or .odb file format;