WALTER LACARBONARA

Welcome to this webpage, a medium to share news, events, and ongoing projects with students, research collaborators, institutions, and all parties interested in our research and teaching activities. Broad focus areas are nonlinear structural dynamics, stability and vibration control. Current projects include nonlinear constitutive modeling and tailoring of carbon nanotube nanocomposites; passive hysteretic tuned mass dampers for ropeway systems; semi-active container crane control; nonlinear dynamics for design (resonances and energy transfers, MEMS pressure sensors); flutter control of long-span suspension and arched bridges; smart materials and devices (shape memory strands); structural health monitoring (modal curvature-based damage detection in bridges, ultracustic delamination detection in laminated structures); nonlinear reduced-order modeling and phenomena in structures; experimental nonlinear dynamics.

Thesis projects are currently available on the following topics: nonlinear shock absorbers (theory/experiments), shape memory/piroelectric energy harvesters (theory/experiments), hysteretic absorbers for wing flutter control, hysteretic vibration isolation for buildings, innovative hysteretic bracing systems for buildings.

SELECTED PROJECTS AT A GLANCE

- Highly dissipating carbon nanotube nanocomposites

- NiTiNOL/steel wire rope assembles for advanced structures

- Flutter control of suspension bridges by hysteretic mass dampers

- Ultracustic delamination detection for composite structures

From left to right: Walter Lacarbonara, Andrea Arena Michela Talò, Marek Cetraro, Biagio Carboni.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

W. Lacarbonara (2013) Nonlinear Structural Mechanics. Theory, Dynamical Phenomena and Modeling. Springer, New York.