Smart Materials Flashcards
Advantages of thermo ceramics
- High heat resistance: withstand temperatures without breaking down
- Resistant to wear, corrosion and oxidation
- Lighter than metals
- Versatile
- Keeps heat in and out
- Can handle sudden temperature changes
Disadvantages of Thermo ceramics
- Can break and crack under mechanical stress
- High manufacturing costs
- Not as flexible as metals
- Time consuming
- Not good at transferring heat
Uses of thermo ceramics
- aerospace
- exhaust system and engines
- power plant
What is Thermo ceramics?
Materials that have excellent heat resistant properties and are designed to perform under high temperatures.
What are photo-chromic materials?
Substances that change their colour or transparency when exposed to light, typically UV.
Advantages of Photo-chromic materials
- automatically adjust to light
- block harmful UV rays
- reduce glare
- help control temperature by blocking sunlight
- change colour (unique look)
Disadvantages of Photo-chromic materials
- can take time to adjust between light and dark
- may lose their effectiveness after prolonged use
- may not get dark enough
- expensive
Uses of Photo-chromic materials
- Glasses lenses
- security inks
What is reactive glass
Is a materials that changes from transparent close to transparent able to be seen through
Advantages of reactive glass
- helps control temperature
- can adjust for privacy
- glass can change transparency
- blocks UV
- helps reduce the need for artificial lighting and climate change
Disadvantages of reactive glass
- expensive compared to regular glass
- technology may wear out over time
- requires electricity to change its properties
- not widely available
Uses of reactive glass
- windows and skylights
- car window and sunroofs
- electronics
What is carbon fibres?
- are about 5-10 micrometers in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms
Adavantages of carbon fibres
- high stiffness
- high tensile strength
- low weight
- high chemical resistance
- high temperature tolerance
- low thermal expansion
Disadvantages of carbon fibre
- very expensive
- negative impact on the environment
- very brittle
What are shape memory alloys?
- is an alloy that can be deformed when cold but returns to its pre-deformed shape when heated.
Advantages of shape memory alloys
- lightweight
- won’t fatigue over time
Disadvantages of shape memory alloys
- expensive
- spend time to train it
Examples of shape memory alloys
- spectacle frames
- heart stents
What is liquid crystal displays?
incoming light rays hit the layers of liquid crystals (black lines) and reflect back out again, with outgoing rays interfering (adding together or subtracting from one another) to produce light of a particular in this case blue.The colour of the reflected light depends on how closely the crystal layers are together.
Advantages of liquid crystal display
- low power consumption
- Very compact
- Very thin
- Adaptable
Disadvantages of liquid crystal displays
- suffer from motion blur
- More fragile
- visibility affected by outdoor use
Uses of liquid crustal displays
- televisions
- computer monitors
- laptops
- smartphones
- gaming devices
Thermo-chromic materials
some materials signal temperature changes by changing colour as they get hotter or colder