ESPOO, Finland—Engineers at the VTT Technical Research Centre here recently developed a process to print smart shafts. It combines metal additive manufacturing, sensor technology, wireless data transfer and condition monitoring in the same package.
“In the application, sensors form a functional part of the 3D-printed metal structure,” says Pasi Puukko, VTT research team leader. “[This shows} that a range of sensors or smart identifications can be added to printed metal parts during manufacture.