Vicente Lopes Junior – författare

Taken from lectures given at the Pan American Advanced Studies Institute in Damage Prognosis sponsored by the US National Science Foundation in cooperation with Los Alamos National Laboratories, this book will be essential reading for anyone looking to get to grips with the fundamentals of damage prognosis. 

Written by a team of experts that has been working togetherfor several years in the context of a research network involving internationalinstitutions, this book brings several applications related to smart materialsystems such as vibration and noise control, structural health monitoring,energy harvesting and shape memory alloys. Furthermore, this book also providesbasic knowledge on the fundamentals of smart material systems and structures.Consequently, the present title serves as an important resource for advancedundergraduate and graduate students. In addition, it serves as a guide forengineers and scientists working with smart structures and materials both withan application and basic research perspective.

Smart material systems and structures represent a newparadigm which is increasing the capabilities of engineering systems.Adaptability and versatility are some important aspects related to suchsystems. In brief, research on smart materials is characterized by synergisticallycombining different physical features, such as mechanical, electrical,chemical, and magnetic. As a result, smart material technologies have a hugepotential to enhance the performance of engineering structures openingunlimited opportunities to innovation and economic benefits.