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, selfsensing, actuating and damage-repairing technologies. Their smartness is based on bio-inspired engineering and the use of:

• low and high grade carbon fibres (CF)
• CF reinforced polymers (CFRPs)
• 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:

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

Expected goals

• Development of “smart and green” chemical composites that will be recyclable and reusable
• Development of system design strategies that will use this feature by applying CFRP as a bulk material with selfsensing characteristics

SMARTFAN will approach intelligent structures through two different design concepts, the L concept and G concept. The L concept will be based on multilayer architectures of composite materials, while the G concept will focus on composite architectures including variable fibre grids.

1 January 2018 – 31 December 2021