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Smart Materials in Aerospace Industry

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[pic] AE2009 Aerospace Materials Assignment Report Use of Smart Materials in Aerospace Industry List of Contents 1. Introduction 3 1. Purpose 4 2. Background 4 3. Scope 4 2. Types and Applications of Smart Materials 1. Piezoelectric Material 5 2. Shape Memory Alloys 14 3. Magnetostrictive Materials 20 4. Rheological Fluids 22 3. Discussion 25 4. Conclusion 26 5. References 27 Abstract This report will cover the different types of smart materials, and their applications in the aerospace industry. An introduction is made with regards to the background and history of smart materials, after which 4 different types of smart materials are introduced. Within each subsection, we …show more content…

Five year later, in 1938, the same phase transformation was observed in brass. In 1962, Beehler and coworkers discovered the shape memory effects of Nickel-Titanium alloy, and they named this family of alloy as Nitinol. The discovery of Nitinol ignites the discovery of other alloy systems with shape memory effect, and also accelerates the use of smart materials in product development.[3] Since then, aerospace companies are also exploring the use of smart materials in aircraft components. Conventional automatic control systems which use servo-valve or hydraulic actuators face a lot of limitations. These limitations include multiple energy conversions, complexity due to large number of parts resulting in large number of potential failure sites and large weight penalty, high vulnerability of hydraulic network, and frequency limitation. In contrast, the advantages from the use of smart materials actuators include the direct conversion of electrical energy to high frequency linear motion, easier transmission of electrical energy throughout aircraft, and light and compact smart materials induced-strain actuation in place of bulky hydraulic power systems. With this huge potential offered by smart materials, researchers are eager to tap on this potential, by exploring on ways to implement these smart materials into aircraft components. 1.3 Scope This report will present the 4 common types of smart

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