MIT Program in Smart Composite Structures
A fundamental technology development program in smart structures is underway involving
multidisciplinary collaboration between the departments of Materials Science and Engineering,
Aeronautics and Astronautics (SERC), and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The
program, funded by the Army Research Office, attempts to achieve the goals of high authority/
high strength actuation and highly distributed integrated processing within the constraints of
manufacturability and strength. The program achieves this goal through the development of a smart
composite system composed of 1) an actuation layer incorporating both passive structural fibers
and active high strain electroceramic fibers embedded in a high dielectric epoxy matrix 2) etched
inter laminar electrodes which create in-plane electric field without compromising structural
integrity and act as a 3) flexible circuit board back plane for a distributed microelectronics control
system. The program encompasses Materials Research, Mechanics Research, and Electronics and
Controls Research.