Smart Materials
A smart materials system is a system composed of materials that react to the environment they are in and adjust accordingly. A smart material senses a change in its environment and through the use of a feedback system, adapts to correct or eliminate such a change. Among the most common smart materials are piezoelectric materials, electroactive polymers, shape memory alloys, electrorheologycal fluids, etc. Each one of these materials has its advantages and disadvantages according to the application they would be used on. Their applications range from medical instrumentation, optics, computers, ultrasonics, artificial muscles, microsurgery, etc. Because of the variety of applications and the environments that these materials are used, studying their properties is critical.
Characterization of the structure-property is crucial for several reasons. First, investigations of the material properties provide a link between the manufacturing process and the material's performance to yield tailorability to a particular application. Second, the engineer can investigate prospective materials for applicability to a specific need. Material parameters obtained through characterization can be used to develop and validate analytical models. Insights gained through characterization have led to many new devices and uses.