Smart materials - the 'IQ' of materials in systems

The term smart or even intelligent materials is used to designate multifunctional materials which undoubtedly are the keys to man-made systems with increasing levels of intelligence. However, care is recommended to distinguish between the intelligence of materials and of systems intelligence, also with regard to biologically optimized systems. The key approach is to integrate the control into the material itself. Functionality of materials for intelligent systems is systematized with respect to basic phenomena, which are phase transitions of various types with different order parameters. Tailoring of microstructures and design concepts are dealt within some detail for materials and material systems for adaptronic systems. The potential for employing multifunctional materials is demonstrated for the field of actuators as an example.