Smart/Modern Materials and Composites Flashcards
What is a composite
A material comprised of two or more materials usually a matrix and a reinforcement
What is a smart material
A smart material is a material that changes its physical properties based off an external input such as: light, pressure or temperature.
What is a modern material
Modern material are man made materials developed through invention for example: Kevlar
What is Kevlar
Kevlar is a synthetic fibre made of a polymer and an acid which is extremely strong due to the chemical bonds, used in bulletproof vests and aerospace engineering
What is carbon fibre
Carbon fibre is plastic reinforced with fibres of carbon
It is very light and still quite strong
What is Fibre glass
Fibre glass is a matrix typically of polyester or epoxy resin
with glass fibres embedded into it for extra strength
Name 6 composites
Carbon fibre
Tungsten carbide
Aluminium composite board
Concrete
MDF
Cement
Concrete
Kevlar
Name 6 smart materials
Thermochromic pigment
Photochromic pigment
Phosphorescent materials
Piezoelectric materials
Shape memory alloy
Electroluminescent wire
What are thermochromic and photochromic pigment
They are pigments which change colour due to
temperature (thermochromic)
or UV light (photochromic)
What is shape memory alloy+an example
Shape memory alloy is an alloy that can be bent but when heated will return to its original shape for example nitinol (nickel and titanium alloy)
What are phosphorescent materials
Phosphorescent materials are materials that absorb sunlight and slowly re-distribute it,
therefore phosphorescent products glow in the dark
What are piezoelectric materials
Materials that generate an electric current when pressure is applied OR work the other way around
What is Teflon
Teflon is a composite of fluorine and carbon which is extremely slippery due to a low co-efficient of friction and being chemically inert
What are 2 disadvantages to modern materials/composites
Expensive to manufacture
More difficult to recycle
What is a smart material
A smart material is a material that reacts to a change in the environment it is in
What are micro electronics and what did they allow
Micro electronics are essentially very small electronics such as transistors and silicon chips
They allowed the miniaturisation of electronics which gave way for the creation of more powerful devices
What is glulam
Several pieces of timber are glued together to create a strong material that can be used it structures of many shapes due to it being able to be glued in curved forms
What is PMC
Precious metal clay is a mix of gold, silver and other metals in a pliable medium so that they can be shaped into jewellery.
This is then heated to 700°C and the binding medium melts off leaving the metals in the shape desired-however the jewellery shrinks by 10%.
What are nano materials and give some examples
Materials which are on a scale of 1-100 nm
Examples: sunscreen additives, nanotechnology, graphene
Describe electro hydraulic forming
A sheet of material is placed with a tank of water above it and a cavity below it in the shape of the mould
A vacuum sucks from beneath the mould and a spark is created in the water
which makes a pulse of water which pushes the sheet down into the mould
What is fibre injection moulding
Injection moulding which instead uses glass pellets or carbon fibre filled polymers
