Recent R&D of Smart Composites in Japan

Abstract

This paper describes recent studies on smart composites running in Japan. Many researches and developments on smart composites can be seen at Japanese conferences on composite materials. These studies can be categorized into sensing and actuating from the viewpoint of the smart functions. The sensing functions are applied to process monitoring and health monitoring. On the other hand, the actuation functions are available for vibration damping, noise reduction, high-deformable composites and repair. All of these applications of smart composites are studied in Japan. The functional elements mentioned in this paper are optical fiber sensors, dielectric sensors, piezoelectric materials, shape memory alloy (SMA) and electro-rheological (ER) fluid. Polymer matrix composites (PMC) are mainly used as host composite materials, while the smart composites using metal matrix composites (MMC) are also proposed. Researchers in Japanese institutes have focused on the basic researches of smart composites since the early 1990 s. In addition, practical studies in Japan have been increasing because it has been recognized that smart composites is a promising technology to reduce the cost, improve the reliability and upgrade the value for a few years. As well as the basic studies in laboratory, the practical studies are addressed here.