Ship hull stress reconstruction with limited sensors: A time-domain coupled modal superposition method and parametric layout optimization

The growth in ship size and intelligence has raised the demands on structural health monitoring. This study addresses the challenge of improving stress reconstruction accuracy and engineering applicability under sensor-number constraints in structural health monitoring. A time-domain coupled modal superposition (TCMS) method is proposed, in which the estimation of modal coefficients is formulated as a joint time-domain problem with time-smoothing and other constraint equations. This reformulation decouples the number of participating modes from the number of measurement points, enabling richer use of modal data under sparse sensing and yielding more accurate stress reconstruction and more reliable fatigue assessment. In parallel, a priori sensor layout indicator S is developed based on the sensor–mode information matrix. The correlation between this quantitative indicator and time-domain reconstruction accuracy is systematically quantified. An optimized sensor layout selected solely based on S is further validated through numerical experiments, demonstrating higher reconstruction accuracy and an expanded spatial range of reliable reconstruction. Overall, the proposed TCMS method and S-based layout optimization strategy provide an integrated technical route that combines algorithmic enhancement with sensor layout design for full-field stress reconstruction of large ship structures under limited measurement points.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2026.124468
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0029801826003021
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00298018
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2026 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Jing, Boxiang
  • Yuan, Yuchao
  • 0000-0003-2799-8782
  • Guo, Li
  • Tang, Wenyong
  • 0000-0002-5168-919X
• Publication Date: 2026-4-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Pagination: 124468
• Serial:
  • Ocean Engineering
  • Volume: 351
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Pergamon
  • ISSN: 0029-8018
  • EISSN: 1873-5258
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00298018

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Hulls; Sensors; Ships; Stresses; Structural health monitoring; Time domain analysis
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01979052
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 9 2026 8:42AM