Advanced Materials and Multifunctional Structures for Aerospace Vehicles

This paper presents a critical review of the work on Advanced Materials for Multi Functional Structures in Aerospace Vehicles. The advanced synthesis, processing and the characterization techniques that facilitate the design of multifunctional aerospace materials leading to their reliable and high performance in extreme environments will be reviewed. The focus areas of this paper will be materials for sensing, actuation and damping, damage tolerant and adaptive structures, anti-icing and multifunctional coatings. Other properties considered for design are electrical conductivity, thermal resistance, radiation shielding and resistance to impact loading. Multifunctional materials also offer numerous possibilities for the development of components and devices that are lighter, stronger, stiffer, and more resistant to extreme environments in aerospace applications. The nano-layered and nano-composite coatings developed in recent years are now not only able to sense corrosion and mechanical damage to the aircraft skins, but they are also able to sense chemical and physical damage, promote adhesion and fatigue resistance and also offer self -cleaning possibilities.