Dynamics of Smart Systems and Structures: Concepts and Applications

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

Smart material systems and structures represent a new paradigm which is increasing the capabilities of engineering systems. Adaptability and versatility are some important aspects related to such systems. In brief, research on smart materials is characterized by synergistically combining different physical features, such as mechanical, electrical, chemical, and magnetic. As a result, smart material technologies have a huge potential to enhance the performance of engineering structures opening unlimited opportunities to innovation and economic benefits.

Prof Dr. Vicente Lopes Junior has more than 25 years of experience in teaching vibration and control in Mechanical Engineering courses. He has been working with smart structures for the last 15 years and has published over 200 technical articles, book chapters, journal and conference papers. He has given numerous short courses in smart structures, control design, and wave motion in elastic structures. He is full professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil.

Valder Steffen, Jr is Mechanical Engineer (UNICAMP, Brazil, 1976) and PhD in Mechanical Engineering (University of Franche-Comté, France, 1979). He did his Habilitation at the University of Franche-Comté in 1991. He worked as a visiting scientist at the INSA de Lyon, France, in 1986-87 and was a Fulbright Scholar at Virginia Tech, USA, in 1999-2000. He is the author of over 300 scientific papers published in international journals and proceedings. Hehas supervised 24 MSc students and 18 PhD students.  He is now Professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering at the Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil. He is also member of the National Academy of Engineering. His research interest is focused on dynamics of mechanical systems, optimization and inverse problems, rotordynamics, and smart structures. 

Marcelo A. Savi is Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Department of Mechanical Engineering, COPPE/Poli) where he develops research and teaching activities. He is the author of several scientific papers published in international journals, proceedings and books summing over 350 publications. He is involved with several research projects sponsored by Brazilian and international agencies, and also industrial partners. He has supervised graduate and undergraduate students, summing more than 100 works. He has administrative experience as head of department, graduate school coordinator, and university committee member. He is member of academic societies including ABCM, where he participates of the Committee of Dynamics; Smart Materials and Structures; and Nonlinear Phenomena and Chaos. His research interests are related to nonlinear mechanics and dynamics, chaos and control; biomechanics and environmental systems.