Smart materials have one or more properties that can be dramatically altered. These are materials that respond to changes in external stimuli such as humidity, pH, temperature and pressure.A variety of smart materials already exist, and are being researched extensively. Some everyday items are already incorporating smart materials (coffeepots, cars, the International Space Station, eyeglasses) and the number of applications for them is growing steadily.
Advanced man-made composites such as glass and carbon fibre reinforced plasticscan be tailored to suit the requirements of their end application, but only to a single combination of properties. Whereas,the materials and structures involved in natural systems have the capability to sense their environment, process this data, and respond. They are truly ?smart? or intelligent, integrating information technology with structural engineering and actuation or locomotion.
There are many possibilities for such materials and structures in the manmade world. Engineering assemblies could operate at the very limit of their performance envelopes and to their structural limits without fear of exceeding either. Smart materials and structures will solve engineering problems with hitherto unachievable efficiency, and provide an opportunity for new wealth creating products.
Some materials and structures can be termed ?sensual? devices. These are structures that can sense their environment and generate data for use in health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS). To date the most well established application of HUMS are in the field of aerospace, in areas such as aircraft checking.An aircraft constructed from a ?sensual structure? could self-monitor its performance and provide ground crews with enhanced health and usage monitoring.Potential applications of such adaptive materials range from the ability to control the aero-elastic form of an aircraft wing, thus minimising drag and improving operational efficiency, to vibration control of lightweight structures such as satellites, and power pick-up pantographs on trains.
This paper will provide an overview of the smart materials. Smart material can be defined as material that can significantly change their mechanical properties (such as shape, stiffness, and viscosity), or their thermal, optical, or electromagnetic properties, in a predictable or controllable manner in response to their environment. Such materials have the ability to change shape or size simply by adding a little bit of heat, or to change from a liquid to solid almost instantly. Each individual type of smart material has a different property such as volume, viscosity, and conductivity which can be significantly altered.
The various types of smart material are also presented in the paper. To get the clear idea about the smart materials, its definition and types are explained briefly. Some of the types of these include piezoelectric materials, magneto-rheostatic materials, electro-rheostatic materials, and shape memory alloys piezoelectric, Varieties of smart materials already exist, and research is being carried out extensively to device new materials.
Applications of various types of smart materials are clearly explained. Some of applications of already existing smart materials are studied. The expectations of the smart materials and the predictions of future applications have been presented on the later part of the paper. And it is concluded that the application of smart material in future becomes a trend in various fields in engineering.
INTRODUCTION
The development of durable and cost effective high performance construction materials and systems is important for the economic well being of a country mainly because the cost of civil infrastructure constitutes a major portion of the national wealth. To address the problems of deteriorating civil infrastructure, research is very essential on smart materials. This paper highlights the use of smart materials for the optimal performance and safe design of buildings and other infrastructures particularly those under the threat of earthquake and other natural hazards. The peculiar properties of the shape memory alloys for smart structures render a promising area of research in this field.
Everyday materials have physical properties, which cannot be significantly altered; for example if oil is heated it will become a little thinner, whereas a smart material with variable viscosity may turn from a fluid which flows easily to a solid. Varieties of smart materials already exist, and are being researched extensively. These include piezoelectric materials, magneto-rheostatic materials, electro-rheostatic materials, and shape memory alloys. Some everyday items are already incorporating smart materials (coffeepots, cars, the International Space Station, eyeglasses) and the number of applications for them is growing steadily.
Each individual type of smart material has a different property which can be significantly altered, such as viscosity; volume Smart materials have one or more properties that can be dramatically altered. Most, and conductivity. The property that can be altered influences what types of applications the smart material can be used for.
Download your Full Reports for Smart Materials
Advertisement