Mechanics of complex network materials: A formulation based on phase field damage evolution on graphs
May 25 @ 16:30 - 17:30
On Monday, May 25, a seminar titled “Mechanics of complex network materials: A formulation based on phase field damage evolution on graphs” will be held in Grandori Room (Building 4) from 16:30 to 17:30 CET.
The seminar will be given by Prof. Marco Paggi, Scuola IMT Alti Studi Lucca.
Abstract
A theory for simulating nonlocal damage in 2D lattice structures discretized by Euler-Bernoulli beam finite elements is herein proposed. A phase field approach to damage, projected onto the discretized nodes via the graph Laplacian matrix, is formulated to simulate damage evolution by solving a Helmholtz differential equation on the graph. Damage is introduced in the constitutive equations under the assumption of a bilateral damage evolution in tension and in compression, or a monolateral damage only in tension. Both formulations have been enhanced by a threshold driving force to better capture the onset of damage in polymers due to crazing. The staggered coupling scheme alternates between solving mechanical equilibrium and phase field equations, and it has been validated in relation to experiments on unnotched beams made of ABS subject to three-point bending. The approach is then applied to preliminary investigate the response of a complex network material in the nonlinear regime, contributing to understanding how graph-based topologies influence the load-bearing capacity of the material. The method bridges the gap between statistical physics of complex networks and nonlinear mechanics of materials and is expected to have an impact on the design of robust random metamaterials featuring nodes with large connectivities.
Bio-sketch
Marco Paggi earned the Ph.D. in Structural Engineering in 2005 from Politecnico di Torino, Italy, where he served as Assistant Professor of Structural Mechanics (2007-2013). He has been appointed Associate Professor (November 2013-December 2017, direct appointment as an ERC principal investigator) and Full Professor (since December 2017) of Structural Mechanics at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Italy, where he is the Founding Director of the Research Unit MUSAM – Multi-Scale Analysis of Materials, and of the experimental laboratory MUSAM Lab. He is currently Deputy Rector at the IMT School.
He spent the year 2010 as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in the Institute of Continuum Mechanics of the Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany, and he has been appointed visiting professor at Tongji University (Shanghai, China, 2025), University of Girona (Girona, Spain, 2022), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (New Delhi, India, 2021), Université Paris-EST (Paris, France, 2014).
He spent the year 2010 as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in the Institute of Continuum Mechanics of the Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany, and he has been appointed visiting professor at Tongji University (Shanghai, China, 2025), University of Girona (Girona, Spain, 2022), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (New Delhi, India, 2021), Université Paris-EST (Paris, France, 2014).