Intelligent material

Under smart materials (engl. Also smart materials or Responsive material ) be in the narrower sense materials understood that have been specifically designed to in a certain manner autonomously to changing ambient conditions to react (z. B. increases in temperature , mechanical stress , pH ) . In a broader sense, it includes all materials whose properties can be influenced by active control (e.g. via an electrical voltage ) in a way that is not possible with ordinary materials.

Examples of intelligent materials

As examples of intelligent materials can

• electro - / magneto - / optorheological materials,
• Piezoelectrics ,
• OLEDs ,
• Micro / nano capsules,
• Chromogenic materials ( electrochromic , photochromic and thermochromic ),
• smart hydrogels ,
• Carbon nanotubes ,
• Shape memory alloys and shape memory polymers as well
• electrostrictive and magnetostrictive materials

are listed.

Application examples

Intelligent materials are used in practice, e.g. B. in the automotive industry . Magnetorheological fluids are used, for example, in shock absorbers , whose damping properties can be actively adjusted or adapt themselves to road conditions. Piezoelectrics and shape memory alloys are used in actuators . Another relevant field of application for shape memory alloys is medical technology. Chromogenic materials are used in window panes which, in the case of electrochromic materials, can be actively darkened and, in the case of photo- or thermochromic materials, change their transparency automatically when the sun falls . There are also some R&D programs in aircraft construction , such as B. the Morphing Aircraft Structures and the Smart Wing program of DARPA and NASA , in which intelligent materials are used.

literature

• A. Ritter: Smart materials - in architecture, interior architecture and design. Birkhäuser, Basel 2007, ISBN 978-3-7643-7326-9 .
• DM Addington, DL Schodek: Smart materials and technologies - for the architecture and design professions. Elsevier, Amsterdam 2007, ISBN 978-0-7506-6225-3 .
• Inderjit Chopra, Jayant Sirohi: Smart Structures Theory. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2013, ISBN 978-0-5218-6657-6 .

Web links

• Center Smart Materials at Fraunhofer ISC
• Smart materials innovation network: smart³ eV
• piezotransfer - The platform for bundled knowledge of the piezoceramic industry

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DARPA's Smart Wing Program dnc.tamu.edu; pdf ( Memento of the original dated November 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. navy.mil 
2. ↑ Buck Rogers, Watch Out! science.nasa.gov.Retrieved April 14, 2011