SMARCOAT is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) project involving 4 academic institutions and 2 companies from 5 different countries.
Aim
Develop an innovative approach to impart sensing functionality and detect substrate degradation.
Target
The degradation processes targeted will be corrosion of metallic substrates and mechanical damage by impact on fibre reinforced plastics and composites, used as structural components in the vehicle industry worldwide.
How
The innovative sensing materials are based on controlled release of active species, encapsulated in polymeric and inorganic capsules with sizes ranging from several micrometres down to the nanometre range. These will be designed and prepared in a way that responds to specific triggers associated with the nature of the degradation process. The functional materials will be subsequently incorporated as additives in organic and hybrid organic-inorganic coating matrices, or directly impregnated in the substrate.
Main goal
Produce coatings capable of sensing substrate degradation at early stages, making maintenance operations cost-effective without jeopardizing safety.
Keywords
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Impact detection
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Modeling
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Metallic substrates