Materials and Devices for Smart Systems III

Smart/intelligent systems employ active materials as sensors/actuators to respond to environmental conditions for next-generation machines and structures - applications ranging from everyday life to space exploration missions from civilian products to military needs from robots to information/communication technology. It is not surprising then that the development of smart materials systems and structures demand higher performance sensors/actuators with new and reliable functions and a fully integrated composite system design. This requires the combination of active and passive materials systems often including the coupling of relevant mechanical electrical magnetic thermal or other physical/chemical properties. This book bridges the fields of smart materials sensing and actuating devices and intelligent/smart systems and provides an opportunity for researchers from related disciplines to build an interdisciplinary research field and community. Topics include: ferroelectrics and piezoelectrics; nanomaterials and nanofabrication; shape-memory alloys and magnetomaterials; active polymers and soft matters; and other materials devices and characterization.