Hybrid Directed Energy Deposition for Fabricating Metal Structures with Embedded Sensors for the Oil and Gas Industry

摘要

Hybrid additive manufacturing combines additive manufacturing (AM) and traditional subtractive processing with synergistic layer-by-layer access. The integration of both manufacturing processes leverages the benefits of AM - including complex geometries, mass customization and advanced high-temperature metal alloys - with traditional processes providing superior surface finish and dimensional accuracies. Hybrid AM integrates a suite of manufacturing processes within a single build volume and one benefit of this approach that was not previously leveraged is access to the structure at intermediate steps during fabrication. This access can enable the next generation of oil and gas industry offshore devices capable of providing sensing data from within the metal structural element. The sensors can inform the process of maintenance requirements and structural health management. In this report, an Ambit~(TM) system was used to fabricate a tensile bar with a strain sensor encapsulated within the structure in order to provide a proof-of-concept demonstration for the oil and gas industries.