WORKSHOP ON SMART MATERIALS

Adrian Madaj presented his master deepening project, a Smart Material Kit. The kit is intended to make it easier for students to experiment with four specific smart materials. The first part of the kit presents these different smart materials. The second part contains various tools for working with the materials. Especially the shape memory alloys (FGL) inspired the students.

1_Magnetorheological Fluid (MRF)
A mixture of silicone oil and iron shavings allows this mixture to be moved intuitively and deformed by means of a magnet on the outer surface of the bottle.
The viscosity is changed by the strength of the magnet. The same principle is used, for example, for the damping of brake discs in cars.

2_ Piezoceramics
When a voltage is applied to the ceramic, the ceramic is deformed. In the same way a mechanical deformation evokes a voltage.

3_Artificial Muscle
Cording a nylon thread makes a muscle in a simplified way. Surprisingly, this artificial muscle offers many advantages over a conventional muscle: It is, for example, 100 times stronger.

4_Shape Memory Alloy (SMA)
These SMA are based on a nickel-titanium coating. This two-phase and independent structure is an antagonistic system. The power transformer connected to the circuit generates a temperature rise. The outer wire bends according to its ‘memory’.
The adjacent wire stretches on the same principle. The elastomer serves only to fix the wires. Applications of this technology are found, for example, in stants and mobile phone cameras. The short video demonstrates how the memorization works.

text: Konrad Schoch