Achieving Structural Health Monitoring Using Additive Manufacturing

摘要

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a process which produces components by continuously adding layers of material to produce a product. Initially, AM was used to produce prototypes. However, AM is now commonly used to create functional components. A significant amount of research has been focused on the investigation of the mechanical properties these products. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is a technique, which combines sensors with advanced engineering structures. SHM is commonly used in the aerospace and construction industries to monitor structural integrity. Many researchers have focused on AM and SHM technologies individually, but few have investigated the possibility of combining these two technologies. This study reports on a proof-of-concept work that demonstrates the feasibility of achieving SHM using AM. AM components embedded with thin conductive graphene-layers were produced using dual-extrusion 3D printers. The specimens were then deformed using a tensile test frame equipped with extensometers to measure the mechanical strain. The resistance changes of the conductive layer (SHM-sensor) were also measured during the tests. Later, the strains from the extensometer were used to calibrate the resistance changes of the SHM-sensor to obtain their gage factors. This work develops a method for integrating SHM within advanced AM structures.