Smart materials and smart

systems

may be regarded as an 'active' material in the sense that it

is being used for more than just its structural properties

a smart structure is neither a small structure nor one made

of silicon

Term smart really implies a form of intelligence and is

applied to civil buildings and bridges

Various possible uses of the

prefix 'smart'

Description

Meaning

Example

Smart material

Material with a
function other than
passive mechanical
support

Shape-memory alloy

Smart structure

Civil structure that

adapts to changes in
its environment

Building with an active

damping system

Smart sensor

Micro-sensor with part,

or all, of its processing
unit integrated into
one chip

Commercial (e.g.
Motorola)
automotive pressure
sensor

Smart actuator

Actuator with part, or

all, of its processing
unit integrated into
one chip

Micro-motor

Smart materials & smart

systems for the future

smart systems trace their origin to a field of research that

envisioned devices and materials that could mimic human
muscular and nervous systems
essential idea is to produce non-biological systems that will achieve
the optimum functionality observed in biological systems through
imitation of their adaptive capabilities and integrated design
system and its related components form an entity that will act and
react in a predicted manner, and ultimately behave in a pattern that
emulates a biological function e.g. the human body is the ideal or
ultimate smart system
One of the first attempts to use the smart materials technology
involved materials constructed to do the work of electromechanical
devices for e.g. many types of sensors and actuators have been
developed to measure or excite a system.

Beneficial scope of smart

materials, structures &
provides a promise of optimum responses
systems
in
the
future
to highly complex problem areas like by
providing early warning of the problems
or adapting the response to cope with
unforeseen conditions
enhances the survivability of the system
and improves its life cycle
provides better control by minimizing
distortion and increasing precision
enhances preventative maintenance of
systems resulting in a better performance

Smart systems for

engineering applications

General Requirements and Expectations

High degree of reliability, efficiency and
sustainability not only of the structure but
also of the whole system.
High security of the infrastructures
particularly when subjected to extreme and
unconventional conditions.
Full integration of all the functions of the
system.
Continuous health and integrity monitoring.
Damage detection and self-recovery.
Intelligent operational management system.

Smart systems for

engineering applications

Smart Technologies Prospects

New sensing materials and devices.
New actuation materials and devices.
New control devices and techniques.
Self-detection, self-diagnostic, selfcorrective and self-controlled functions
of smart materials/systems.

SMART MATERIALS?

Smart or intelligent materials are

materials that have the intrinsic and
extrinsic capabilities,
first, to respond to stimuli and
environmental changes
second, to activate their functions
according to these changes.
To use smart materials with more
acute recognition, discrimination and
reaction capabilities, new materials
and alloys have to satisfy a number
of fundamental specifications.

Requirements for New

Material:
technical properties , including mechanical

characteristics such as plastic flow, fatigue and

behavioural characteristics such as damage
tolerance and electrical, heat and fire resistance;
technological properties, encompassing
manufacturing, forming, welding abilities,
thermal processing, waste level and repair
capacities;
economic criteria, related to raw material and
production costs, supply expenses and
availability;
environmental characteristics, including features
such as toxicity and pollution;
Note: If the functions of sensing and actuation
are added to the list, then the new material/alloy
is considered a smart material.

Classification of Smart
Materials

Piezoelectric: When subjected to an electric charge or a

variation in voltage, piezoelectric material will undergo some
mechanical change, and vice versa. These events are called the
direct and converse effects.
Electrostrictive: This material has the same properties as
piezoelectric material, but the mechanical change is proportional
to the square of the electric field. This characteristic will always
produce displacements in the same direction.
Magnetostrictive: When subjected to a magnetic field, and vice
versa (direct and converse effects), this material will undergo an
induced mechanical strain, therefore, can be used as sensors
and/or actuators.
Shape Memory Alloys (SMA): When subjected to a thermal
field, this material will undergo phase transformations which will
produce shape changes. It deforms to its martensitic condition
with low temperature, and regains its original shape in its
austenite condition when heated for e.g. Nitinol TiNi
Optical Fibres: Fibres that use intensity, phase, frequency or
polarization of modulation to measure strain, temperature,
electrical/magnetic fields, pressure and other measurable
quantities, constitute excellent sensors.

SMART STRUCTURES
a

smart structure is a system that

incorporates particular functions of
sensing and actuation to perform
smart actions in an ingenious way.
The basic five components of a smart
structure are summarized as follows
shown in (Figure1)
Data Acquisition (tactile sensing)
Data Transmission (sensory nerves)
Command and Control Unit (brain)
Data Instructions (motor nerves)
Action Devices (muscles)

Five basic components of a

smart structure

(a) Data Acquisition (tactile

aim: to collect the required raw data
sensing)
needed for an appropriate sensing

and monitoring of the structure.

event to be sensed- radiation,
magnetic, thermal, mechanical or
chemical
according to the nature of the output
required, such as thermal, magnetic,
electrical, optical or mechanical
Fibre optics are an excellent example
of sensors

(b) Data Transmission (sensory

nerves)

aim: to forward the raw data to the local and/or

central command and control units
fibre optics: used as sensors, duplicate the action
of conventional strain gauges and respond to a
change in transmitted light which could be in
intensity, phase, frequency, polarization,
wavelength or mode
They are highly sensitive, can detect minuscule
variations and thus work very well
Bragg grating sensors work very well but are
expensive, while Fabry-Perot sensors are cheaper to
build, which is already used in a few civil
engineering applications
For e.g., deformation and vibration are being
measured in a cracked bridge in Berlin, Germany
and Vibration and corrosion are being monitored in
a few bridges in the US and Canada

(c) Command and Control Unit

(brain):
aim: to manage and control the whole system
by analyzing the data, reaching the
appropriate conclusion, and determining the
actions required
the manager of day-to-day operations,
responsible for monitoring the health and
integrity of the system by means of a
communication network which works in real
time
operates by managing optical fibre sensors
and actuators, or by overseeing operational
and control devices.
It has two basic & distinct functions
a. The Processing Function
b. The Analysis Function

Command and Control Unit

(brain)
The Processing Function:
(contd.)
receives information; analyses it; sorts

and classifies it; and stores and/or

processes it
depending on the nature, frequency and
quality of the data and its origins.
operations are dealt with by intelligent
or smart processing, with or without
human intervention, and with little or
no human interaction
Lastly, expert systems can handle the
retrieval, management, classification,
and storage of the data

Command and Control Unit

(brain)
The Analysis Function:
(contd.)
deals with the detailed examining of the raw

data in an intelligent way; using the analysis,

it will exploit the results to assess the
condition of the structure.
analysis consists of localizing and identifying
specific variables or features as compared to
threshold levels defined in codes, rules,
regulations or standards
In an adverse condition, the apt
corresponding conclusion is reached,
decisions are sent to the action controlling
devices, which will be triggered to react
To operate these functions, special algos are
established.

(d) Actuating Component

they are designed according to the nature of

the required actuation-optical, magnetic,
thermal, mechanical or chemical
as well as according to the nature of the
driving energy, such as thermal, magnetic,
electrical or chemical
environmental considerations too such as
thermal, magnetic # electrical properties
and corrosion, #as well as the size,
geometry and mechanical properties of the
interface have to be considered.
lastly, the properties of the actuators such
as displacement, force generation,
hysteresis, response time and bandwidth are
also specified aptly

(e) SENSORS AND

ACTUATORS

For active noise control applications

microphones are used as acoustic sensors and
loudspeakers as acoustic actuators
For displacement and velocity control, two types
of transducers are convenient:
Linear Variable Differential Transformers
(LVDT) and
Linear Variable Inductance Transformers
(LVIT)
two basic types of actuators
Hydraulic and pneumatic actuators :
employed when low frequency, large force and
displacements are required, while
the electromagnetic/ shaker types are utilized
to react against an inertial electro-dynamic mass

Supporting with a few

examples

Vibration reduction in sporting goods: a new generation

of tennis rackets, golf clubs, baseball bats (Fig. 3) & ski
boards etc. have been introduced to reduce the
vibration in these sporting goods, increasing the users
comfort and reducing injuries.
Noise reduction in vehicles. Filaments of piezoelectric
ceramic fibre shaped into various geometries are used
in conventional fabric or material processing to counter
noise in vehicles, neutralize shaking in helicopter rotor
blades, or nullify or at least diminish vibrations in air
conditioner fans and automobile dashboards.
Spatial High Accuracy Position Encoding and Control
System (SHAPECONS) incorporates smart components
that were developed for the STEAR-9
Program (Fig. 4).
Frangibolt, a system flown on the 1994 Clementine
mission to the moon, is used to deploy solar arrays,
antennae and satellite from a launch vehicle [9].

Applications (contd.)
Few

applications were established for

military
Smart Skin
Smart Aircraft
Autonomous Smart systems
Stealth Applications: smart vehicles
could be constructed using stealth
technologies for e.g. the B-2 stealth
bomber or the F-117 stealth fighter
Identifying space/underwater stealth
targets

INTRODUCTION TO SMART
SENSORS
Main

aim of Integrating the electronics and the

Sensor is to make and intelligent sensor.

Smart

Sensor have the ability to take decision.

Complete
Smart

system is called a system on Chip.

Sensor consist of Transduction Element,

Signal Conditioning Electronic and
controller/processor.

DEFINITION
Sensor(producing electrical output) + interfacing
electronic circuit = Smart Sensor
Combination of both sensor & actuator
Capable of
1. Logic functions
2. Two-way Communications
3. Making decisions

MAIN FEATURES
VLSI

technologies
Low power consumption
Small size
Low cost
Single chip solution
Less space in configuration
Works with small signals
Wireless RF communication

WHY SMART SENSORS?

Smart
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Sensor enhances the following applications -

Self-calibration: Adjust deviation of o/p of sensor from desired

value.
Communication: Broadcast information about its own status.
Computation: Allows one to obtain the average, variance &
standard deviation for the set of measurements.
Multisensing: A single smart sensor can measure pressure,
temperature, humidity, gas flow & infrared, chemical reaction,
surface acoustic vapour, etc.
Cost Effectiveness: Less hardware and reduction of repititive
testing make smart sensor cost effective.

A smart

sensor is made with same technology as Integrated

circuits
A transduction element either includes thin metal films, Zinc
Oxide and Polymeric films

GENERAL ARCHITECTURE

A general Architecture of smart sensor consist of

following important components :
1. Sensing element/transduction element
2. Amplifier
3. Sample and hold
4. Analog multiplexer
5. Analog to digital converter (ADC)
6. Offset and temperature compensation
7. Digital to analog converter (DAC)
8. Memory
9. 8Serial communication and processor

ADVANTAGES
The

presence of controller in smart sensor has led to corrections for

different undesirable sensor characteristics which include span
variation , non linearity, cross-sensitivity.
REDUCE COST OF BULK CABLES & CONNECTORS
REMOTE DIAGNOSTICS - It is possible to have digital
communication via a standard bus & a built in self-test.
SYSTEM RELIABILITY - System reliability is significantly
improved due to the utilization of smart sensor.
BETTER SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO - The electrical output of
most sensors is very weak and it is transmitted through long wires lot
of noise get coupled by using smart sensor this problem is avoided .
HIGH PERFORMANCE WITH MINIMUM COST
EASY TO DESIGN, USE & MAINTAIN
SCALABLE Flexible System
SMALL RUGGED PACKAGING

APPLICATIONS

APPLICATIONS.
ACCELEROMETER

- It consists of sensing element and

electronics on Silicon.
OPTICAL SENSOR - It is used for measuring exposure in
cameras, optical angle encoders
INFRARED DETECTOR ARRAY IR sensing element is
made using poly-silicon.
INTEGRATED MULTI SENSOR - This chip was fabricated
using conventional Silicon planer processing, Silicon Micro
machining and thin deposition technique.

SMART SENSORS IN
BUILDINGS TODAY
Sensicasts Smart
Sensors automatically
introduce themselves to the
network and work reliably
for years. They monitor
multiple data types essential
for industrial, manufacturing
and laboratory processes,
including:
Pressure
Temperature
Current and Voltage
Motion
Light
Humidity, Moisture and
many more

References

See Akhras, G., Smart Structures and their Applications in Civil Engineering, Civil
Engineering Report, CE97-2, RMC, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 1997. See also
Culshaw, B., Smart Structures and Materials, Artech House Inc, 1996 and Bank, H.
T., Smith, R.C. and Wang, Y., Smart Material Structures, Modelling, Estimating and
Control, John Wiley and Sons, 1996.

Ralph Smith C., Smart Structures: Model development and Control applications
,Centre for research in Scientific Communication, North Carolina State University,
Rayleigh NC 27695-8205.

V.R. Singh , Smart sensors, physics and technology, Indian journal of pure and
applied physics, vol.5, January 2005, pp7-16.

Manali Chaudhary, Prof. Srinu dharavath, Study of smart sensors and application,
International journal of advanced research in computer and communication
engineering, vol. 3, issue 1, January 2014

THANK YOU