A combination of Additive Manufacturing Technologies and Structural Health Monitoring systems as an intelligent structure

This work will present how new material processing methodologies of additive manufacturing can improve the effectiveness of a structural health monitoring system (SHM). Two different techniques, Selective Laser Melting and Layer wise Laser Cladding, and two different materials Ti6Al4V and AISI SS316L were used for the production of four point bending specimens with an integrated structural health monitoring system. A four point bending test was selected and the fatigue behaviour of stainless steel and titanium was studied with emphasis on crack detection and crack initiation. The objective of this work is to prove that the SHM system has reached technological readiness level 3 and to indicate that during fatigue tests the integrated SHM system had no influence on the crack initiation behaviour. The specimens were subjected to the so-called step test method with constant fatigue stress amplitude and a constant R ratio in each step.