Effective Structural Health Monitoring with Additive Manufacturing

In this paper, a new structural health monitoring methodology will be presented for components that can be processed by additive manufacturing or 3D printing. The current remaining challenges for structural health monitoring (SHM) systems will be highlighted. The origin of the source concept will be explained together with the intrinsic strengths of the system. In addition, some additive manufacturing (AM) methods for the production of metallic components will be discussed and their potential to create fully optimized,customized products with integrated functions such as a structural health monitoring system. These new AM production techniques and new SHM technique should allow us to develop "intelligent" metal structures in the future. The importance of the SHM system for the breakthrough of the AM techniques will be discussed for critical components such as primary aeronautical structures.

Publication year:2014

Keywords:3D printing, additive manufacturing, fatigue, intelligent structure, structural health monitoring methodology

Accessibility:Open