Adaptronics – Smart Structures and Materials

Since the 1980s, scientists have been researching adaptive structures for materials, for multifunctional elements and even for complete systems. Adaptronics, which covers smart materials, smart structures and smart systems, is a distinctly interdisciplinary field. This book therefore takes an interdisciplinary view of adaptronic systems, materials and functional elements, and of their applications. It draws on many engineering disciplines, including electrical engineering, information technology, manufacturing and control engineering, materials engineering and structural mechanics.

The textbook begins with the basic principles and variants of adaptronic systems and functional materials, and explains the different ways of constructing functional elements. Building on that, readers learn to apply this knowledge to active shape control, active vibration control and active vibroacoustics. For each of these topics the author presents current research examples, discusses results and points to open research questions.

The book has nine chapters, and each one ends with references for further reading. An index of the mathematical symbols used and a keyword index help with study. It is aimed at Master's students in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, mechatronics, automotive engineering and related courses. It also gives industrial practitioners new to adaptronics a comprehensive overview and serves as a reference book.