Embedded Sensors in Layered Manufacturing a Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Committee on Graduate Studies of Stanford University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Layered Manufacturing can be applied to build "smart" parts with sensors, integrated circuits, and actuators placed within the component. Embedded sensors can be used to gain data for validating or improving designs during the prototype stage or to obtain information on the performance and structural integrity of components in service. Techniques for embedding fiber optic sensors in metals, polymers, and ceramics have been investigated. Embedding optical fibers into metals is especially challenging because engineering alloys tend to exhibit high melting temperatures. In the present research an embedding sequence was developed capable of embedding fiber sensors into parts made of metal alloys with high melting temperatures. Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors were selected as the most promising sensor candidate. The embedded FBG sensors were characterized for temperature and strain measurements. The embedded FBG sensors in nickel and stainless steel provided high sensitivity, good accuracy, and high temperature capacity for temperature measurements. Temperature sensitivity approximately 100% higher than that of bare FBGs was demonstrated. For strain measurements, the sensors embedded in metal and polyurethane yielded high sensitivity, accuracy, and linearity. The sensitivity of the embedded FBGs was in good agreement with that of bare FBGs. Moreover, a decoupling technique for embedded FBG sensors was developed to separate temperature and strain effects. The embedded FBG sensors were used to monitor the accumulation of residual stresses during the laserassisted Layered Manufacturing, to measure the strain field in layered materials, to measure pressure, and to monitor temperature and strain simultaneously.