Multi-Functional Materials and Structures

Smart Materials are materials that can respond to environmental stimuli by exhibiting particular changes in some of their properties. Depending upon the change in some external condition, a smart materials can change its own characteristics (mechanical, electrical, appearance), structure, composition and/or response. These materials are usually embedded into systems whose inherent properties change favourably in order to meet performance needs. By integrating sensors and actuators into structures, real-time monitoring of potentially damaging structural responses within large-scale infrastructures becomes possible. Such responses might include, for example, fatigue cracks, degradation of structural connections or bearing wear in rotating machinery. Over the past decade, there has been increasing interest in the development of miniature smart structures and systems; particularly micro- and nano-systems (MEMs and NEMs).Integrated biosensor systems have opened a new chapter in the fields of science and engineering. This evolution has establishes the need to integrate technologies from different disciplines in order to provide structural health monitoring for materials, systems, devices and structures at the micro-scale level in order to ensure their integrity. Multi-functional materials systems are capable of performing multiple 'primary' functions simultaneously or sequentially in time, and have been specifically developed to improve system performance by reducing the redundancy between sub-system materials and functions. The present 376 papers are the cream of 650 submitted abstracts, selected after rigorous review, and focus mainly on the front-line research work done by the various authors. They therefore represent the best current guide to the 'state-of-play' in this field.