Written by a team of experts that has been working together for several years in the context of a research network involving international institutions, this book brings several applications related to smart material systems such as vibration and noise control, structural health monitoring, energy harvesting and shape memory alloys. Furthermore, this book also provides basic knowledge on the fundamentals of smart material systems and structures. Consequently, the present title serves as an important resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, it serves as a guide for engineers and scientists working with smart structures and materials both with an application and basic research perspective. Smart material systems and structures represent a new paradigm which is increasing the capabilities of engineering systems. Adaptability and versatility are some important aspects related to such systems. In brief, research on smart materials is characterized by synergistically combining different physical features, such as mechanical, electrical, chemical, and magnetic. As a result, smart material technologies have a huge potential to enhance the performance of engineering structures opening unlimited opportunities to innovation and economic benefits.

This book is concerned with electrostructural systems, particularly the interaction between the control of the structural and electrical (electronic) components. Structronics is a new emerging area with many potential applications in the design of high-performance structures, adaptive structures, high-precision systems, and micro-systems. As structures are increasingly being controlled by electronics, the problems of structural engineering can be separated less and less from those of electronic engineering and control engineering. This graduate-level book fills a gap in the literature by considering these problems while giving an overview of the current state of analysis, modelling and control for structronic systems. It is a coherent compendium written by leading experts in this new research area and gives readers a sophisticated toolbox that will allow them to tackle the modelling and control of smart structures. The inclusion of an extensive, up-to-date bibliography and index makes this volume an invaluable standard for professional reference.Because of the large number of contributions to the present volume, it has been subdivided into two parts, of which this is Part I. This book will be of interest to engineers, materials scientists, physicists and applied mathematicians.The synergistic integration of active (smart) materials, structures, sensors, actuators, and control electronics has redefined the concept of structures from a conventional passive elastic system to an active (life-like) structronic (structure + electronic) system with inherent self-sensing, diagnosis, and control capabilities. Because of its multi-disciplinary nature, the development of structronic systems has attracted researchers and scientists from many disciplines, such as structures, materials, control, electronics, mathematics, manufacturing, electromechanics, and mechanics. In practical applications, this new structronic system can be used as a component of high-performance machines or structural systems, or be an integrated structure itself performing designated function(s).Most common active (smart) materials, such as piezoelectrics, shape-memory alloys, electro- and magneto-strictive materials, and polyelectrolyte gels have been reviewed in Part I. Application examples are also provided and research issues reported on. While the first part focuses primarily on materials and structures, Part II emphasizes control applications and intelligent systems. With the information provided in this two-volume book, scientists and researchers can easily grasp the state of the art of smart materials and structronic systems, and are ready to pursue their own research and development endeavors.

Presenting research papers contributed by experts in dynamics and control, Advances in Dynamics and Control examines new ideas, reviews the latest results, and investigates emerging directions in the rapidly-growing field of aviation and aerospace. Exploring a wide range of topics, key areas discussed include:* rotorcraft dynamics* stabilization of

Smart (intelligent) structures have been the focus of a great deal of recent research interest. In this book, leading researchers report the state of the art and discuss new ideas, results and trends in 43 contributions, covering fundamental research issues, the role of intelligent monitoring in structural identification and damage assessment, the potential of automatic control systems in achieving a desired structural behaviour, and a number of practical issues in the analysis and design of smart structures in mechanical and civil engineering applications. Audience: A multidisciplinary reference for materials scientists and engineers in such areas as mechanical, civil, aeronautical, electrical, control, and computer engineering.

Nonlinear dynamics and the associated areas of smart structures and control have recently seen an explosion of interest in response to a rich variety of new and interesting research breakthroughs. Although a book of this size cannot contain a detailed summary of all these engaging results, it does offer a sampling of exciting research areas in an assortment of fast-growing branches of mechanics and control. Smart Structures, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control involves a modicum of applied mathematics and will be of interest to researchers and graduate students in engineering and physics.

Significant changes have occurred in materials science, including increasing demands on life extensions, and the reliability and exploitability of components, materials, and structures. These changes provide smart technologies with excellent application opportunities in aerospace, civil and electrical engineering, transportation, manufacturing, com

In practice, actuators often undergo failures and various factors influence its effectiveness. Also due to the increasing complexity of large-scale systems, subsystems are often interconnected, whereas the interactions between any two subsystems are difficult to deal with. This book details a series of new methodologies of designing and analyzing adaptive backstepping control systems involving treatment on actuator failures, subsystem interactions and nonsmooth nonlinearities. Moreover, it discusses some interesting open issues in adaptive failure accommodation, decentralized adaptive control and distributed adaptive coordinated control.