Davide Bernardini has been working on different research fields: 

• Modeling of the effects of corrosion on Reinforced Concrete structures

Development of fiber-based modeling approaches for beam-column elements subject to arbitrarily complex spatial deterioration patterns. Python-based implementation.

• Modeling and applications of Smart Materials with emphasis on Shape Memory Alloys (SMA)

applications of SMA to the realization of devices for reduction and control of structural vibrations (with involvment in the European project MANSIDE carrying out extensive experimental activities for the thermomechanical characterization of NiTi wires as well as for shaking table tests of reduced-scale reinforced concrete frames), application of SMA to Energy Harvesting, applications of SMA to innovative actuators 

• Thermomechanics of materials

development of macroscopic constitutive models for SMA under the action of arbitrary thermomechanical loads, micromechanical constitutive models for SMA baed on the techniques used for composite materials, thermomechanical models of general hysteresis phenomena, constitutive modeling of materials and devices for which thermomechanical coupling is significant (e.g. friction-pendulum devices)

• Structural dynamics

nonlinear dynamical response of superelatic oscillators in both isothemal and non-isothermal conditions, numerical methods to detect chaos in dynamical sistems, signal analysis by means of  non-standard techniques (e.g.: 0-1 test, wandering trajectories, multiscale entropy, recurrence plots, wavelets),  mitigation of structural vibrations in buldings with moving façades

• Structural engineering applications

systems for diagnostic and monitororing of highway bridges, methods for the in-situ measurement of residual presetressing forces in post-tensioned bridges, seismic vulnerability techniques for bridges and buildings

In parallel with the above ones, Davide Bernardini is also working on research themes with mathematical and conceptual flavour that emerged during more than 10 years of scientific interaction with prof. F. W. Lawvere. Among them: the applications of category theory to the foundations of mechanics, synthetic differential geometry, applications of covex analysis to the study of dissipative phenomena.