SMART Materials Advanced

Graphene has the potential to be a revolutionary material, given that its 200 times stronger than steel. As a designer, would you consider graphene a SMART material?

• Yes

• No

There have been significant developments in the field of additive manufacturing over the past decade. One of more recent and exciting developments is the ability to 3D print titanium. Is this a SMART material?

• Yes

• No

Elastomers are extremely flexible and when stretched, they will return to their original shape. Would you consider this as SMART material?

• Yes

• No

How would you define a SMART material?

• Materials that have properties that change permanently in response to an external stimulus.

• Materials that have properties that change in response to an external stimulus but the changes are fully reversible when the stimulus is removed.

• Materials that stay the same when an external stimulus is applied.

• Materials that are extremely lightweight.

A GCSE design student had the idea to coat baking trays in a SMART material so that when they come out of the oven, they are red in colour to signify that they are hot. What SMART material would you suggest?

• Photochromic

• Phosphorescent

• Titanium

• Thermochromic

Oakley have just released a new line of sunglasses with two versions. The base model use aluminium for the frames whereas the premium version uses a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA). What would be the benefit to the user when paying the higher price for the premium version?

• Glasses with SMA materials are often worn by Instagram influencers so they must be worth the premium.

• SMA materials are much lighter than aluminium alloys.

• If you were to accidently sit on your glasses and bent them, you could put them in warm water and they would spring back to their original shape.

• SMA materials will change colour in different lighting conditions so they will always look different, keeping the style interesting.

Dewalt want to develop a trigger for their new drill that replaces the mechanical mechanism and provides smooth and accurate control over the speed of the drill. What SMART material could they use?

• Nano Carbon

• Quantum Tunneling Composite

• Smart Memory Polymer

• Electrochromic Gel

As Space X prepare to devlelop the first human mission to Mars, they are concerned about the proximity to the sun and how much sunlight will enter the space capsule making it too bright. They are considering using a SMART material film to line the inside of the windows with that dims the cabin when the sunlight is strong. Which one would be a good choice?

• Quantum Tunneling Composite (QTC)

• Thermochromic

• Self Healing

• Photochromic

An exciting and innovative material out of the Netherlands is bio concrete that uses injected bacteria that activates if water leaks in through cracks. The bacteria repairs and seals up the cracks by turning into limestone, according to professor Henk Jonkers of Delft University of Technology, who pioneered the new material and plans to test it on road surfaces. What category of material would this fall into?

• Shape Memory Polymer (SMP)

• Composites

• Chromoactive

• Self Healing

Which of the following statements best describe Quantum Tunneling Composites (QTC).

• QTCs are bi products of nuclear reactions and contain extremely high concentrations of energy.

• QTCs are made from a singular material that when compressed together, conducts electricity.

• QTCs are made from a combination of liquid crystal pigment and an elastomer binder.

• QTCs are made from a combination of metal and an elastomeric binder that when compressed together, conducts electricity.