Smart Structures and Materials

Book excerpt: This work was compiled with expanded and reviewed contributions from the 7th ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Smart Structures and Materials, that was held from 3 to 6 June 2015 at Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal. The Conference provided a comprehensive forum for discussing the current state of the art in the field as well as generating inspiration for future ideas specifically on a multidisciplinary level. The scope of the Conference included topics related to the following areas: Fundamentals of smart materials and structures; Modeling/formulation and characterization of smart actuators, sensors and smart material systems; Trends and developments in diverse areas such as material science including composite materials, intelligent hydrogels, interfacial phenomena, phase boundaries and boundary layers of phase boundaries, control, micro- and nano-systems, electronics, etc. to be considered for smart systems; Comparative evaluation of different smart actuators and sensors; Analysis of structural concepts and designs in terms of their adaptability to smart technologies; Design and development of smart structures and systems; Biomimetic phenomena and their inspiration in engineering; Fabrication and testing of smart structures and systems; Applications of smart materials, structures and related technology; Smart robots; Morphing wings and smart aircrafts; Artificial muscles and biomedical applications; Smart structures in mechatronics; and Energy harvesting.