Concept of and the recent research on intelligent materials
Toshinori Takagi · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 1996
Intelligent materials are the materials possessing the following function in themselves such as the sensing function which detect the environmental change or their inner anomaly, the processor function which can judge the situation to lead the conclusion, and actuating function that the materials themselves can take action or give instruction. The structural and functional materials simply utilize the native properties and functions of their own. On the other hand, the intelligent materials are based on a new concept where the information science will be united with their own properties and functions. The intelligent materials can be very important and useful in many fields and their interdisciplinary fields such as the medicine, pharmacy, bioengineering, polymer, metalugy, semiconductor, ceramics, electronics, machinery. It is also extremely important in the human engineering, safety engineering, environmental study and study on the resources. In this report, the category of the intelligent material and the recent activities of researches on the intelligent materials are discussed.