Patent ID: 8069011

Claim:
A method for determining a probability of detection (POD) of a damage in a structure with a network of transducers placed at respective locations on a structure, the method comprising: specifying parameters descriptive of the structure on which the network of transducers is placed; specifying a minimum desired POD of damage detection, POD d ; generating, in a digital computer or controller, a plurality of different transducer position layouts for the network, each layout being determined by the number and placement of the transducers therein; in the digital computer or controller, generating a POD curve for each layout using a POD determination method; in the digital computer or controller, finding from the POD curve of each layout the damage size that corresponds to POD d , denoted by l k , for k=1, 2, . . . , K, where K denotes the total number of the layouts; and, in the digital computer or controller, generating a layout density curve as a function of the values of l k found.