NL16 Course is characterized by a very high scientific profile guaranteed by the expertise of the professors involved and by the discussed topics ranging from classical basics to the most advanced state of the art of linear and nonlinear computational mechanics.

The course has a strong international character in terms of teaching body, which includes renown experts from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Stuttgart, along with those belonging to academic institutions in Pavia.

Palazzo Vistarino, Pavia
May 16-20, 2016

COURSE OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this course is to provide engineers who use computer codes, graduate students, and researchers with a review of numerical techniques and solution algorithms for nonlinear mechanics. It presents the current state-of-the-art in finite element modeling of nonlinear problems in solid and structural mechanics and illustrates difficulties (and possible solutions) which appear in a number of applications.

Different sources of nonlinear behavior are presented in a systematic manner. Special attention is paid to nonlinear constitutive behavior of materials, large deformations and rotations of structures, contact and instability problems with either material (localization) or geometric (buckling) nonlinearities, which are needed to fully grasp weaknesses of structural design.

The course will also provide insight both on advanced mathematical aspects as well as into the practical aspects of several computational techniques, such as the finite element method, isogeometric analysis, meshless techniques, mimetic differences.

The objective is thus to provide the participants with a solid basis for using computational tools and software in trying to achieve the optimal design, and/or to carry out a refined analysis of nonlinear behavior of structures.

The course finally provides a basis to account for multi-physics and multi-scale effects, which are likely to achieve a significant break-through in a number of industrial applications