Strain Transmission Characteristics of Steel Substrates for Additive Sensor Manufacturing with Selective Laser Melting

In this work we investigate the mechanical characteristics of steel substrates, manufactured with selective laser melting (SLM), for the use as deformation elements of force sensors. First, the influence of different build-up directions in the SLM process is validated with test geometries. The experiments show a significant anisotropy in terms of intrinsic tension and surface quality. Second, the strain transmission behavior of the SLM steel test sample (1.4542) is measured with a foil strain gauge using a 4-point flexure test. In comparison to conventionally rolled stainless steel test samples (RSS), both manufacturing techniques show deviations of approx. 3 % to ideal linear behavior