Smartfan Project

Smart by Design and Intelligent by Architecture for turbine blade fan and structural components systems.

Smartfan aims at the micro and Nano components, which will be used due to their special physico-chemical properties, in order to develop smart (bulk) materials for final application on intelligent structures. CFs for reinforcement and conductivity variance, CNTs and CNFs for sensing, Micro-containers for self-healing, Electro-Magnetic nanoparticles for fields detection and shielding, colouring agents for marking cracks and defects, piezoelectric materials can be the base for manufacturing new smart materials. In order to develop lightweight composite materials and transfer the properties of smart components into bulk materials polymer based matrices, such as Epoxy, PEEK, PVDF etc., will be used because of their compatibility with the above mentioned components, their low cost and their recyclability/reusability. During synthesis of composite bulk materials several processes should take place in order to preserve the special physico-chemical properties of composites and to achieve the best dispersion in the bulk.

SMARTFAN proposes the development of “smart” material and product architectures, with integrated functionalities, that will interact with their environment and react to stimuli by employing biomimetic, self-sensing, actuating and damage-repairing technologies. Their smartness is based on bio-inspired engineering and the use of:

1.low and high grade carbon fibres (CF),
2.CF reinforced polymers (CFRPs),
3.nano-/micro- composites with special physicochemical properties, in order to develop smart (bulk) materials, applied on intelligent structures.

Special functions of the smart materials involve:

1.CFs for reinforcement of the structure and creation of conductivity gradients,
2.Carbon Nano Tubes (CNTs) and Carbon Nano Fibres (CNFs) for sensing, micro-hollow particles for self-healing,
3.electro-magnetic nanoparticles that enable field detection and shielding,
4.coloring agents or marking cracks and defects,
5.intelligent communication through Internet of Things (IoT)

OSM is offering support in the field of exploitation, dissemination activities, market potential technology watch, data management and risk analysis.