TY - GEN A1 - Rabe, Torsten T1 - Development of ceramic helical springs for sensor applications N2 - At high temperatures and in harsh environments ceramic springs are often superior to metallic ones and allow for innovative solutions. A further application was proposed by using ceramic springs as capacitive force sensor. Lower and upper coil surfaces are coated by electrically conducting layers. Deformation of such spring results in a change of capacity. Sensor application calls for helical springs with rectangular cross-section, a linear stress-strain characteristic over entire deformation range and low manufacturing tolerances relating to inner and outer diameter, coil cross section and spring pitch. Furthermore, complex spring design with integrated connecting elements has to be realized. Alumina, zirconia (Y-TZP) and silicon nitride springs were produced by hard machining starting from sintered hollow cylinders. After external and internal cylindrical grinding the hollow cylinders were filled with hard wax, followed by multi-stage cutting of spring coils with custom-made cutting discs. Finally, hard wax was removed by melting and burnout. Best surface and edge qualities of springs were reached using Y-TZP material and hot isostatic pressed alumina. Y-TZP springs produced with material-specifically selected cutting discs and optimized process parameters show sharp coil edges without spallings and mean roughness values of inner surfaces < 0.2 μm. Manufacturing tolerances of spring diameters, spring pitch, height and width of coil cross section are in the range of ± 10 microns. Good reproducibility of spring geometry by optimized hard machining technology allows for production of Y-TZP springs with spring constants differing less than ± 1 % within a series. According to DIN 2090 spring constant for rectangular coil cross section is proportional to the square of height and width of coil cross section and indirectly proportional to number of active coils and to the cube of the mean spring diameter. Hence, spring constants can be tailored over a range of many orders of magnitude by changing the spring dimensions. Good agreement was reached between calculated target spring constants and measured values on produced springs. Alumina and zirconia springs were characterized relating to deformation behavior under dynamic compression load with various deformation speeds and under static tensile loads over long periods of time. Contrary to alumina springs, a non-linear stress-strain behavior of TZP springs was proved in both test series. It is supposed, that pseudoelasticity caused by stress-induced transformation of tetragonal to monoclinic phase is responsible for this special feature of TZP springs. Therefore, TZP material cannot be used for capacitive spring sensors. T2 - European Ceramic Society Conference (ECerS) CY - Torino, Italy DA - 16.06.2019 KW - Ceramic spring KW - Sensor KW - Spring constant KW - Failure test KW - Microstructure PY - 2019 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/48610 AN - OPUS4-48610 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany