Mechanical Properties and Modeling of Structural Composites

Dear Colleagues,

Composite materials have revolutionized various engineering sectors over the past few decades. Let us delve into how these materials play a pivotal role across various domains.

In industrial and mechanical engineering, composite materials offer exceptional strength/weight ratios, making them ideal for structural components within several applications as follows:

• Automotive components: Lightweight composites enhance fuel efficiency and reduce emissions in vehicles.
• Sports equipment: From tennis rackets to bicycle frames, composites provide high performance.
• Wind turbine blades: Composites withstand dynamic loads and harsh environmental conditions.

In civil engineering, composites contribute to infrastructure durability and sustainability, generally being used in the following:

• Bridge decks: Composite materials enhance load-bearing capacity and corrosion resistance.
• Reinforced concrete: External reinforcement with fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) improves structural integrity.
• Seismic retrofitting: FRP composites strengthen existing structures against earthquakes.

The aerospace industry has been a pioneer in the realm of composite material adoption within the field of civil and military aviation, as well as space exploration.

Within this context, further studies regarding the mechanical properties of composites (including novel composite materials and structural batteries)  and their structural modeling are needed in order to achieve general and reliable predictions of their reliability in terms of short and long term behaviors, as well as fatigue strength.

Dr. Valentino Paolo Berardi
Dr. Francesco Di Caprio
Guest Editors

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• composites
• mechanical modelling, structural integrity
• fatigue
• reliability
• durability
• viscous effects