Connectivity and Health Monitoring of 3D-printed Components in Extreme Conditions

Purpose and goal

The aim of the planning project to investigate the conditions for digitalized measurement conditions (temperature, strain, etc.) of critical components located in harsh environments and pave the way for a major project was fulfilled. By bringing together a number of companies that produce or use components that are exposed to harsh environments gave a picture of the needs and together with expertise in additive manufacturing, fiber optics applications, electronics, data management and visualization, a strategy for the current digitalization task could be a concretized.

Expected results and effects

Experimental studies indicated that optical fibers of glass could be coated with a silver layer and attempts to integrate copper coated fibers as well as steel pipes for post-placement of fibers in a steel component using selective laser melting (SLM) showed that it could be made with adjusted method of placement and machine parameters. With other skills within the project, the plan for the digitalization task in terms of collect, manage and visualize data for the condition monitoring of components in demanding environments was realized, forming the good basis for a major project.

Planned approach and implementation

The implementation consisted in a workshop where industries expressed their needs and technical solutions were discussed, literature studies and experimental trials with the intention to create a basis for a major future project. Further contacts with both users and operators on the digitizing hand strengthened the overall concept and formed the basis for a project application to be carried out with an informed and realistic content. With driving force from the user side and the other participants´ motivation and skills, a strong consortium was hence created.