MAE 262 - Mechanics of Intelligent Materials and Systems

Instructors: C.S. Lynch, G.P. Carman, Q.B. Pei

Prerequisites: Fundamental material behavior including knowledge of stress,
strain, and elastic constitutive behavior
Content: In-depth overview of three classes of multi-field coupled materials and
applications that will include electro-mechanical coupling (piezoelectricity and
electrostriction) and thermo-mechanical coupling (shape memory effects) as found
in crystals, ceramics, metals, and polymers. Discussion of material, actuator, and
sensor selection for applications that include energy harvesting, sensing, and
actuation. The approach will include a combination of mechanics and materials.
Details: Multifunctional materials, like muscle, change shape under an externally
applied field. That field can be thermal, electric, or magnetic. Electro-active
polymers (EAPs) are a class of materials often referred to as artificial muscle. They
are highly compliant and change shape when a voltage is applied. They have been
used to create small walking bots and as large stroke muscle type actuators. The
first third of the course addresses EAPs and their applications. Piezoelectric
ceramics are much stiffer than EAPs. They produce smaller strain and much larger
force in response to applied voltage. They are used in sonar, medical ultrasound,
energy harvesting, and actuation. The second third of the course will introduce
piezoelectricity and its application to sensors and actuators. Shape memory alloys,
the most common being NiTi, are metals that display superelastic behavior in
certain temperature ranges and shape memory behavior in other temperature
ranges. They are used to produce stents to open blocked arteries, and in a range of
actuator applications. The final third of the course will introduce shape memory
alloys and their applications.
Grade breakdown:
20% HW, 40% Midterm, 40% Final.

Electro-active Polymer Materials - Prof. Q. Pei

Week 1.
Lecture 1
Hour 1 Introduction to polymers relevant to electro-mechanical
transduction
Hour 2 Ionic polymer-metal composites
Lecture 2
Hour 1 Conducting polymers
Hour 2 Field-activated polymers
Week 2.
Lecture 3
Hour 1 Dielectric elastomer fundamentals (Maxwell, linear modeling,
basic materials) and effects of prestrain
Hour 2 Advanced DE materials
Lecture 4 Modeling dielectric elastomers
Hour 1 Hyperelasticity and electromechanical coupling (Maxwell
equation)
Hour 2 Electromechanical instability and prestrain
Week 3.
Lecture 5
Hour 1 Compliant electrodes
Hour 2 Soft actuator designs
Lecture 6
Hour 1 Applications, including artificial muscle based robots
Hour 2 Energy harvesting / review of electroactive polymers

Ferroelectric materials - Prof. C.S. Lynch

Week 4.
Lecture 7 Introduction to Piezoelectric Materials
Hour 1 Overview of ferroelectrics: Material behavior and applications
Hour 2 Review of Fundamentals (index notation, vectors, and tensors)
Lecture 8 - Material symmetry, piezoelectric constants, and open circuit vs.
short circuit elastic constants.
Week 5. Piezoelectric composites
Midterm on Electroactive Polymers and piezoelectric materials
Lecture 9 Piezoelectric beam actuators
Hour 1 Unimorphs, bimorphs, rainbows, and moonies
Hour 2 Beam equations with piezoelectric layers
Week 6
Lecture 10

Piezoelectric beam actuators continued

Hour 1 Moment, curvature, and displacement

Hour 2
Lecture 11

Example problems
Lamination theory

Week 7.
Lecture 12 Piezoelectric Composites

Shape Memory Alloys - Prof. G.P. Carman

Week 7.
Lecture 13
Hour 1 Shape memory alloy SMA history and applications
Hour 2

Crystallographic description of SMA

Week 8.
Lecture 14
Hour 1 Energy balance and transformation temperatures
Hour 2 Shape memory response
Lecture 15
Hour 1 Psuedoelastic response
Hour 2 Nitinol and compositional sensitivities
Week 9.
Lecture 16
Hour 1 Experimental curves and measurements
Hour 2 Constitutive relation development
Lecture 17
Hour 1 Reduction to 1-D problem
Hour 2 Shape memory example
Week 10.
Lecture 18
Hour 1 Psuedoelastic example
Hour 2 Review for exam
Final Exam on Ferroelectrics and Shape Memory Alloys