Abstract
Innovative fabrication process and designing concept to realize smart/multifunctional and robust mechanical material systems are mainly introduced in this paper. The developed material systems can be classified into a couple of types. The Type I material systems can be obtained by embedding fragile functional materials in a metal matrix such as aluminum as a protective environment. In this study, an innovative fabrication method, that is, the interphase forming/bonding (1F/B) method invented by the author has enabled successful fabrication of optical fiber sensor/aluminum composites and piezoelectric ceramic fiber/aluminum composites. The Type II material systems can be obtained without using those fragile functional materials. An innovative designing concept to realize them has been developed in this study, that is, a couple of competitive structural materials because of their similar and high mechanical properties are combined together to maintain high mechanical properties and also generate functional properties due to their dissimilar secondary properties. Successful examples of this type are the CFRP/A1 active laminates and the Ti fiber/A1 multifunctional composites. These types of material systems are highly multifunctional as well as having high mechanical properties. Variety of applications has been proposed to replace a part of complicated mechanical systems in harsh environments.