Shape Memory Foil-Sputtered Optical Fiber Sensor/Actuator Elements for Smart Composite Materials and Structures

Smart Materials promise new opportunities for the implementation of adaptive structures. Smart Materials are a new class of materials that incorporate sensor, actuator and adaptive signal processing functions. These structurally and functionally integrated capabilities give the material the ability to detect changes in its environment, change its structural, electromagnetic and/or chemical characteristics, and autonomously respond to specific external stimuli. Such adaptability is important to both DoD and dual-use civilian structures requiring accurate positioning or shaping, active vibration cancellation, automatic internal response to damage, and automatic external response to chemical, electromagnetic or optical phenomena. Fiber & Sensor Technologies (F&S) proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating low-cost, high yield shape memory foil (SMF)-coated optical fibers directly during fiber manufacturing. Such fibers would allow the co-location of actuation and sensing functions in a single integrated structural micro-element. Many such fibers could be integrated within a composite component to provide low frequency, high authority actuation, as well as direct measurement of local displacement and thermal effects. Associated benefits of this program would include the development of sputtering methods for low cost SMFs, and improvements in the use of optical fiber sensors in Smart Materials and Structures. Anticipated Benefits: The proposed integrated actuactor/sensor/ structural fiber offers potential use in Smart Materials and Structures for both DoD and civilian programs. The sputtering manufacturing method and devices developed could be directly applicable to a wide range of dual-use commercial applications, such as 1) the active acoustic control of consumer products such as automobiles and consumer appliances, 2) precision vibration control for high performance manufacturing, and 3) control of rotating buildings and machines.