Analisi strutturale per lo studio del danneggiamento in materiali e strutture complesse

The aim of the project is to investigate issues related to the study of structural resilience and damage processes in complex materials, with the goal of providing a significant contribution from both a scientific and an applied perspective. Following an extensive bibliographic review and an in-depth analysis of the scientific literature on resilience, defined as the ability of a system to restore its equilibrium condition after an external intervention or a reduction with respect to its load-bearing capacity, the need to quantify this property became evident, leading to the introduction of the concept of a resilience index. To this end, in order to facilitate the often highly complex computational procedures, dedicated codes and algorithms for the evaluation of structural resilience were developed. In addition to the use of mathematical calculations and formulations, two methods primarily employed in the solution of combinatorial optimization problems were adopted: the Branch and Bound method and the Genetic Algorithm. Furthermore, through the use of CAD software and 3D printing techniques, it was possible to fabricate and experimentally test in the laboratory a specific class of metamaterials, namely pantographic structures, with the purpose of conducting a systematic study and gaining deeper insight into their structural behavior.