Probabilistic Sensor Fault Detection in Structural Health Monitoring Systems Using Mahalanobis Distance

Publikation: Beitrag in Buch/Bericht/Sammelwerk/KonferenzbandAufsatz in KonferenzbandForschungPeer-Review

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OriginalspracheEnglisch
Titel des SammelwerksExperimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures, EVACES 2025 - Volume 3
Herausgeber/-innenÁlvaro Cunha, Elsa Caetano
Herausgeber (Verlag)Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Seiten473-484
Seitenumfang12
ISBN (elektronisch)978-3-031-96114-4
ISBN (Print)9783031961137
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 1 Okt. 2025
Veranstaltung11th International Conference on Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures, EVACES 2025 - Porto, Portugal
Dauer: 2 Juli 20254 Juli 2025

Publikationsreihe

NameLecture Notes in Civil Engineering
Band676 LNCE
ISSN (Print)2366-2557
ISSN (elektronisch)2366-2565

Abstract

Structural health monitoring (SHM) systems rely on a network of sensors to assess the health of engineering structures that are designed to last for decades. Over time, engineering structures such as wind turbine towers can experience degradation-related damage, while the monitoring systems themselves can age and degrade, becoming less reliable. This aging of SHM systems can result in sensor faults that produce plausible but incorrect data, leading to misinterpretations of structural integrity and potentially catastrophic failures. Therefore, distinguishing between sensor faults and structural damage is critical to ensuring the reliability of SHM over the lifetime of the structure. This study presents a probabilistic sensor fault detection approach to address this issue. The sensor correlation within the sensor network is analyzed and sensor faults are detected using Mahalanobis distance. The sensor fault detection is validated on a real support structure in the field, which is realized as a 9-m-high lattice mast under real environmental conditions. The results show that different sensor faults such as bias and drift can be accurately distinguished from structural damage, whereas gain and noise increase are not detectable. The advantage of this approach is that a generalized threshold can be defined based on the probabilistically based Mahalanobis distance, which enables automated sensor fault detection. Overall, increasing the robustness of SHM systems will significantly improve the reliability of data-based assessments, a task that is becoming increasingly important for long-lived structures.

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

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Probabilistic Sensor Fault Detection in Structural Health Monitoring Systems Using Mahalanobis Distance. / Bartels, Jan Hauke; Mett, Felix; Winnewisser, Niklas et al.
Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures, EVACES 2025 - Volume 3. Hrsg. / Álvaro Cunha; Elsa Caetano. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025. S. 473-484 (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering; Band 676 LNCE).

Publikation: Beitrag in Buch/Bericht/Sammelwerk/KonferenzbandAufsatz in KonferenzbandForschungPeer-Review

Bartels, JH, Mett, F, Winnewisser, N, Potthast, T, Beer, M & Marx, S 2025, Probabilistic Sensor Fault Detection in Structural Health Monitoring Systems Using Mahalanobis Distance. in Á Cunha & E Caetano (Hrsg.), Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures, EVACES 2025 - Volume 3. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Bd. 676 LNCE, Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, S. 473-484, 11th International Conference on Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures, EVACES 2025, Porto, Portugal, 2 Juli 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-96114-4_49
Bartels, J. H., Mett, F., Winnewisser, N., Potthast, T., Beer, M., & Marx, S. (2025). Probabilistic Sensor Fault Detection in Structural Health Monitoring Systems Using Mahalanobis Distance. In Á. Cunha, & E. Caetano (Hrsg.), Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures, EVACES 2025 - Volume 3 (S. 473-484). (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering; Band 676 LNCE). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-96114-4_49
Bartels JH, Mett F, Winnewisser N, Potthast T, Beer M, Marx S. Probabilistic Sensor Fault Detection in Structural Health Monitoring Systems Using Mahalanobis Distance. in Cunha Á, Caetano E, Hrsg., Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures, EVACES 2025 - Volume 3. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. 2025. S. 473-484. (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering). doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-96114-4_49
Bartels, Jan Hauke ; Mett, Felix ; Winnewisser, Niklas et al. / Probabilistic Sensor Fault Detection in Structural Health Monitoring Systems Using Mahalanobis Distance. Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures, EVACES 2025 - Volume 3. Hrsg. / Álvaro Cunha ; Elsa Caetano. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025. S. 473-484 (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering).
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AU - Bartels, Jan Hauke

AU - Mett, Felix

AU - Winnewisser, Niklas

AU - Potthast, Thomas

AU - Beer, Michael

AU - Marx, Steffen

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

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