Ricerc@Sapienza

The aim of the present work was to investigate the mechanical behavior of orthotropic
composites, such as masonry assemblies, subjected to localized loads described as micropolar
materials. Micropolar models are known to be effective in modeling the actual behavior of
microstructured solids in the presence of localized loads or geometrical discontinuities. This is
due to the introduction of an additional degree of freedom (the micro-rotation) in the kinematic

Multiscale procedures are often adopted for the continuum modeling of materials composed of a specific micro-structure. Generally, in mechanics of materials only two-scales are linked. In this work the original (fine) micro-scale description, thought as a composite material made of matrix and fibers/particles/crystals which can interact among them, and a scale-dependent continuum (coarse) macro-scale are linked via an energy equivalence criterion.

This work discusses the advantages of micropolar theory in modeling anisotropic composite materials with microstruc-ture. A homogenized constitutive model starting from a representative volume element is proposed in order to find an equivalent continuum. Classical (e.g., Cauchy of Grade 1) continua are not always suitable to accurately approximate the behavior of such composites because no size effects, nor lack of symmetries in strain and stress, can be taken into account.

Advanced modelling of electro-mechanical systems for energy harvesting (EH) and sensing is important to develop reliable self-powered autonomous electronic devices and for structural health monitoring (SHM). In this perspective, a novel computational approach is here proposed for both real-time and off-line parameter identification (PI). The system response is governed by a set of four partial differential equations (PDE) where the three displacement components and the electrical potential are the unknowns.

We consider a magnetostatic problem in a three-dimensional “cylindrical” domain of Koch type. We prove existence and uniqueness results for both the fractal and pre-fractal problems and we investigate the convergence of the pre-fractal solutions to the limit fractal one. We consider the numerical approximation of the pre-fractal problems via FEM and we give a priori error estimates. Some numerical simulations are also shown. Our long-term motivation includes studying problems that appear in quantum physics in fractal domains.

We study a nonlocal Venttsel' problem in a nonconvex bounded domain with
a Koch-type boundary. Regularity results of the strict solution are proved in
weighted Sobolev spaces. The numerical approximation of the problem is carried
out, and optimal a priori error estimates are obtained.

This paper presents a modified Jaya algorithm (MJaya) for optimizing the material costs and electricthermal performance of an Underground Power Cable System (UPCS). Three power cables arranged in flat formation are considered. Three XLPE high voltage cables are situated in the thermal backfill layer for ensuring the optimal thermal performance of the cable system. The cable backfill dimensions, cable backfill material, and cable conductor area are selected as design variables in the optimization problem. In the study, the Finite Element Method model is validated experimentally.

This paper deals with the application of the recently developed artificial material single layer method to efficiently model a thin conductive anisotropic material using commercial software tools based on the finite element method. In the present work the method is applied to the prediction of the magnetic field in an electric vehicle made with metal or carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) bodyshell and equipped with a stationary wireless power transfer system. Simple tests are presented to show the performance of the method.

Since the introduction of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), several computational approaches have been developed to examine the effect of the morphology and arrangement of blood vessels on the blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) signal in the brain. In the present work, we implemented the original Ogawa's model using a numerical simulation based on the finite element method (FEM) instead of the analytical models.

This paper critically examines the numerical predictions of the seismic site response of both ideal and real cases as obtained by means of mono- and multi-dimensional Finite Element (FE) approaches. Ideal case-studies are first considered, aiming at validating the adopted numerical approach against existing analytical or simple numerical solutions. Then a three dimensional model of the Bovino urban area, located in southern Italy, was generated taking into account the real site conditions.