ON THE SHAPE CONTROL OF ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIVE COMPOSITE WITH EMBEDDED TI-NI ALLOY AS EFFECTORS

Responsive shape control of Environmentally Responsive Composites (ERC s) composed of Ti-Ni alloy effecters and CFRTP (Carbon Fiber Reinforce d Thermoplastic) was investigated. The responsive shape of the ERC was controlled by means of curvature control. When the material propertie s and initial curvature of the effecters are given and any curvatures of ERC specimen at low and high temperatures are designed, the initial curvature and flexural rigidity of the matrix could be calculated. Sp ecimens of ERC were made from effecters and a matrix in which the init ial curvature and flexural rigidity were the values calculated. Compar ison was made between the designed values and the experimental values of curvature of the ERC specimens at low and high temperatures. As the results, the experimental values agreed fairly well with the designed values. It was shown that responsive shape control, which is a practi cally important factor, was possible.