Course

NL26 – Nonlinear Computational Solid & Structural Mechanics

The NL26 course has a very high scientific profile due to the expertise of the professors and to the discussed topics, ranging from classical basics to the most advanced state-of-the-art of linear and nonlinear computational mechanics.
Moreover, the course has a strong international character in terms of teaching body, including renown experts from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Stuttgart, along with professors from academic institutions in Pavia.

Course Objective

To provide engineers, graduate students, researchers, and industrial users with a review of numerical techniques and solution algorithms for nonlinear mechanics. The course will introduce the current state-of-the-art and cover some scientific trends in finite element modeling of nonlinear problems in computational mechanics and will highlight the difficulties (and possible solutions) in a number of applications.

Different sources of nonlinear behavior will be examined in a systematic manner, with special attention to nonlinear constitutive behavior of materials, large deformations and rotations of structures, contact and instability problems with either material (localization) or geometric (buckling) nonlinearities, necessary to fully grasp structural design weaknesses.

The course will also provide insights on both advanced mathematical aspects and practical aspects of several computational techniques, such as the finite element method, isogeometric analysis, optimization, dynamics, and the virtual element method.

The objective of the course is to provide the participants with a solid basis for computational tools and software use to achieve the optimal design, and to carry out a refined analysis of nonlinear behavior of structures.

The course will further provide a basis to account for multi- physics and multi-scale effects, which are likely to achieve a significant break-through in many industrial applications, ranging from aeronautics to biomechanical applications.

The course schedule and lecture contents can be checked on the webpage: http://nlcourse.unipv.it/

Every day will end with an interactive session where sample problems will be addressed, solved on the spot, and used as a basis for discussion. Students are strongly encouraged to bring their own laptops to run examples and participate actively in the tutorials. Depending on the topic, tutorials will be based on use of different software and in-house codes written in Matlab or Maple.

To further guide areas of discussion in the tutorials, applicants are encouraged to describe their specific interests as part of their registration.

Electronic copies of lecture materials and survey papers, copies of in-house codes, and the complete volume of notes will be available to all participants.

Disclaimer: it is possible that changes in program (e.g. switching to some on-lines lectures) or in teaching body may occur. In case of such a change, if the course is going to be maintained and offered, no refunding is planned. Refunding is planned only to course cancelation.