Smart Sensors

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for smart sensors, which are fabricated with piezoceramics, fibre Bragg grating (FBG), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), etc. Meanwhile, the conventional and widely used sensors, such as thermal couples, pressure transducers, magnetic sensors, etc., are becoming more intelligent by integrating a micro-control unit, which makes them autonomous sensors. Moreover, an increasing number of smart sensors that are enabled by various nanotechnologies, such as those based on shape-memory alloys or polymers, magnetostrictive materials, etc., could be used not only in military or space applications but also in various industrial and consumer applications.

Up to now, there are numerous new classes of smart sensors, which are often integrated with various measurement architectures, possessing the ability to sense and respond to structural or environmental changes in an autonomous way. With the development of sensor networks, it will be possible to utilize the smart sensors in more and more applications, such as structural health monitoring in aerospace engineering, geophysical engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, etc.

The objective of this Special Issue is to highlight recent new developments and methodologies in smart sensors, autonomous measurement architectures, and the corresponding applications, as well as the prospects and challenges of this field.

We welcome submissions on a wide range of topics that include, but are not limited to:

• Piezoceramic transducers and applications
• Fiber optic sensors, including fibre Bragg grating, and applications
• Polyvinylidene fluoride sensors and applications
• Magnetic sensors for weak magnetic detection
• Structural health monitoring: damage detection, localization, and quantification
• Smart techniques for non-destructive measurements
• Smart sensors and sensor network
• Shape-memory alloys and applications
• Shape-memory polymers and applications
• Smart composite materials and smart composite structures
• The exploitation of complexity in sensors, MEMS, and NEMS
• Computational methodologies and fusion algorithms for sensor applications

Dr. Zheng Liu
Dr. Vincenzo Paciello
Dr. Rosario Morello
Guest Editors

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