This project aims at contributing to the advancement in the field of composite materials modelling, from the theoretical and experimental point of view, using multiscale approaches to increase the capability to describe the behavior these materials exhibit at the macroscale. Characterization of the elastic properties of composites will be also dealt with. An increased ability to predict the material behaviour is crucial in view of the conception of materials with extreme and unusual properties and for condition monitoring of in-service composite structures to detect possible degradations. The research project entails computational and experimental activities are arranged in three workpackages:
WP1:ANALYSIS AND COMPUTATIONAL METHODS-MULTISCALE METHODS implementation of models able to capture the macroscale behavior of composite materials retaining memory of the response at the micro-scale of their components (inclusions, fibers, grains), like Second Gradient, Cosserat. WP2:DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION application of models derived in WP1 to the definition of internal arrangements of material components which enable to gain unusual and ultraperforming properties; resorting to 3D printing, high performance damping materials and solids with structural hierarchy and unusual properties will be investigated.
WP3:NODESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION AND MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION, EXPERIMENTS AND APPLICATIONS OF LSV The computational approach developed in WP1 is applied to acoustoelastic problems, to investigate the velocities of bulk and guided acoustic waves propagating along nonclassical continua. This will allow to investigate the inverse problem of material characterization.LSV experiments will be performed with laser scanning of waves in fabricated composite beams, plates and solids, in view of the identification of constitutive parameters. The research team reached significant experience in the field, and will also benefit from consolidated national and international collaborations.
