MUL2 (MULtilayered structures and MULtifield analyses)

The MUL2 group research activity focuses on various topics related to the structural analysis and design of aerospace and mechanical structures. Among the others, MUL2 has a long-standing experience on the multifield analysis of multilayered structures with the ai of providing modelling capabilities with superior accuracy and computational efficiency as compared to those available in commercial codes. 

The theoretical pillar of the research activity is the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF) and the development of an in-house finite element (FE) code based on CUF. The CUF dates back to two decades ago with applications related to plates and shells via strong- and weak-form solution schemes. The CUF proved to be particularly fit for detecting the 3D distributions of stress in multilayered structures with multifield capabilities. Furthermore, early works highlighted the versatility of the framework in dealing with advanced modelling schemes such as layer-wise and the RMVT.

CUF models are available for beams too. The 1D approach resulted in further computational efficiency with up to twofold saving in memory and time if compared to 3D FEM. The 1D CUF led to the introduction of the component-wise approach (CW) to model multi-component structures. e.g., aircraft wings and fuselage, launchers, fibre/matrix cells, via 1D models relying on the same family of FE arrays with direct and physically meaningful coupling. Further applications favoured by the 1D CUF are the rotordynamics, progressive failure analyses and the evaluation of free-edge effects.

The current research activity focuses on various applications, including Aeroelasticity, Aircraft and Spacecraft Design, Best Theory Diagrams, Biomechanics, Composites, Damage and Failure, Meshless Methods, Multifield Analysis, Rotor-Dynamics, Structure Mechanics and FEM.

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Leader Staff Research fellows, PhD students, adjunct professors

Publications