This paper reviews research within the Structural Materials Centre, DRA Farnborough into adding additional functionality to polymer composite materials in order to increase their usefulness in addition to the traditional role of structural materials.
Demand for greater value for money and cost effectiveness has driven materials scientists and engineers to look at ways of adding value to these materials by getting them to perform functions other that those originally envisaged, that is carrying load, being rigid and not buckling. This might simply be by combining materials together as hybrids to save weight or cost or perhaps to improve toughness without compromising the original properties. Alternatively, totally unrelated performance might be sought, such as the ability to sense and locate damage, these materials having been termed smart materials.
In this paper the behaviour of a number of polymer composite multifunctional materials is presented, with examples drawn mainly from work in the Structural Materials Centre at DRA Famborough. The review covers smart materials and structures, materials designed to absorb electromagnetic radiation and materials optimised for energy absorption.