Smart Materials Flashcards
Smart materials
Originally called material responsive materials.
Materials respond to environmental stimuli with particular changes in some variables.
Depending on changes in some external conditions, they can change their properties (mechanical, electrical, appearance), their structure or composition, or their functions.
Thermo ceramics
Internal structure very hard
Stable at high temperatures
Produced by combining ceramic and metallic powders by sintering
Used in specialist engineering situations (eg turbine blades in jet engines)
Very brittle and costly
Photochromic
Used in
Photochromic glass- tinted (impregnated with silver halide)
Children’s swim suits (turns different colour with UV)
High security documents
Thermo chromic
Has built in ink polymers
Used in
Test panels on battery packaging
Thermometers
Special printing effects for promotional panels
Polymorph
Developed to be used as a modelling material
Can be shaped by heating in water to a temperature of 60 degrees
Non toxic material that is fully biodegradable
Solar panels
Harness sun through photovoltaic cells
Thin layers of silicon
Used where power is not readily available
Shape memory alloys
Can be deformed by outside stimulus
Reverts back to original once stimulus removed
Nitinol is programmed to maintain a particular length or shape at a set temperature
Used in
Hot water systems, central heating systems, fire alarms, window stays
Quantum Tunnelling Composites
QTC is a flexible polymer which contains tiny metal particles, normally an insulator but when squeezed conducts
QTC Properties
Can be moulded into virtually any size, thickness, shape
Durable (no moving parts to wear out)
Mechanically strong
Can be made to withstand extreme temperatures
Versatile, both electrically and physically (range of sensitivity can be altered)
Intrinsically safe (contactless switch, ideal for spark free operation)
Can be directly interfaced to standard electronic devices
Wire free
