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Smart Electroceramics
Author(s) -
Newnham Robert E.,
Ruschau Gregory R.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1991.tb04047.x
Subject(s) - smart material , actuator , piezoelectricity , electroceramics , smart system , materials science , electronic nose , computer science , nanotechnology , embedded system , internet of things , microfabrication , artificial intelligence , composite material , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , fabrication
“Smart” materials have the ability to perform both sensing and actuating functions. Passively smart materials respond to external change in a useful manner without assistance, whereas actively smart materials have a feedback loop which allows them to both recognize the change and initiate an appropriate response through an actuator circuit. Many smart materials are analogous to biological systems: piezoelectric hydrophones are similar in mechanism to the “ears” by which a fish senses vibrations. Piezoelectrics with electromechanical coupling, shape‐memory materials that can “remember” their original shape, electrorheological fluids with adjustable viscosities, and chemical sensors which act as synthetic equivalents to the human nose are examples of smart electroceramics. “Very smart” materials, in addition to sensing and actuating, have the ability to “learn” by altering their property coefficients in response to the environment. Integration of these different technologies into compact, multifunction packages is the ultimate goal of research in the area of smart materials.