| PRESENTS

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Copyright Poliscript 2015 - Politecnico di Milano
Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32 - 20133 Milano

Prima edizione: maggio 2015

ISBN 978 88 6493 024 4

 Aerospace Engineering 20 | Architectural
and Urban Design 46 | Architectural
Composition 64 | Architecture, Urban
Design, Conservation of Housing and
Landscape 84 | Bioengineering 100 | Building
Engineering 148 | Design 164 | Design and
technologies for cultural heritage 204
| Electrical Engineering 216 | Energy and
Nuclear Science and Technology 230 |
Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering 270 | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering 300 | Information
Technology 326 | Interior Architecture
and Exhibition Design 436 | Management,
Economics and Industrial Engineering 448
| Materials Engineering 494 | Mathematical
MODELS and METHODS IN Engineering 516
| Mechanical Engineering 546 | Physics
606 | Preservation of THE Architectural
Heritage 654 | Rotary-wing aircrafts 676 |
Spatial Planning and Urban Development
690 | Structural Seismic and Geotechnical
Engineering 706 | Technology and Design for
Environment and Building 730 | Territorial
Index Design and Government 750
A Baricci, Andrea 238
Bariselli, Steve 736
Afrasiabi, Erfan 552
Bari, Vlasta 108
Aghion, Stefano 610
Barrera, Noemi 524
Akhavan, Mina 696
Bartolini, Davide Basilio 338
Alexander, Daniel (Supervisor) 118
Baselli, Giuseppe (Supervisors) 118
Aliverti, Andrea (Chair) 102
Basso Peressut, Luca (Chair) 438
Ambrosi, Davide (Advisor) 534
Basso Peressut, Luca (Supervisor) 444, 446
Amigoni, Francesco (Supervisor) 410
Bazjanac, Vladimir (Supervisor) 748
Amiri, Sina 682
Beghi, Marco G. (Supervisor) 248
Amoruso, Giuseppe (Relatore) 176
Belloli, Damiano 340
Andreoni, Giuseppe (Supervisor) 190
Benanti, Michele 500
Antognazza, Maria Rosa (Relatore) 638
Beretta, Alessandra (Advisor) 324
Antognazza, Maria Rosa (Supervisor) 538, 630,
Beretta, Alessia 558
634
Beretta, Elisa 110
Antonelli, Manuela (PhD Supervisor) 298
Beretta, S. (Supervisor) 554
Antonietti, Paola F. (Advisor) 542
Beretta, Stefano (Supervisor) 592
Antonini, Alessio 332
Berizzi, Alberto (Chair) 218
Antonini, Anna 660
Bernasconi, Andrea (Supervisor) 574
Anzani, Anna (Reviewer) 88
Bernelli Zazzera, Franco (Supervisor) 34
Apak, Kerimcan 662
Bersini, Simone 112
Arafah, Diya Zohdi Ratib 554
Bertarelli, Chiara (Tutor) 514
Ardito, Raffaele (Supervisor) 720
Bertuccio, Giuseppe (Supervisor) 422
Arlati, Ezio (Supervisor) 748
Bestetti, Massimiliano (Tutor) 504
Astorino, Sonia 234
Bianchessi, Andrea Giovanni 342
Asurdzic, Nikola 454
Bianchi, Annamaria (Advisor) 128
Azzellino, Giovanni 334
Bianchi, Anna Maria (Advisor) 126, 142
Azzone, Giovanni (Supervisor) 468
Bianchi, Davide 344
Bianchini, Massimo 168
Bianco, Andrea (Supervisor) 514
B Biondini, Fabio (Supervisor) 716
Bagherinia, Mehrdad 710 Biscari, Paolo (Advisor) 524
Balandeh, Mehrdad 236 Biserni, Erika 240
Balandraud, Xavier (Advisor) 524 Bizzi, Alberto (Supervisor) 118
Balatti, Simone 336 Bocola, Fabio 24
Balducci, Alessandro 702 Boiardi, Silvia 346
Ballarin Francesco 522 Bolchini, Cristiana (Supervisor) 356
Ballarin, Martina 274, 500, 502, 504, 506, 508, Bolici, Roberto (Relatore) 214
510, 512, 514, 710, 712, 714, 716, 718, 720, 722, Bollani, Monica (Supervisor) 636
724, 726, 728 Bonacina, Carlo Filippo 154
Ballo, Federico Maria 556 Bonaretti, Pellegrino (Supervisor) 76
Barcellona, Simone 220 Bonarini, Andrea (Tutor) 372
Baretta, Alessia 106 Bordegoni, Monica (Supervisor) 182
Bordogna, Enrico (Relatore) 68
Boschini, Fabio 612
Bosoni, Giampiero (Advisor) 180
Bottani, Carlo (Chair) 232
Bottani, Carlo (Coordinator) 238
Bottani, Carlo E. (Tutor) 262
Bottani, C.E. (Tutor) 250
Bottasso, Carlo L. (Supervisor) 684
Bottasso, Carlo Luigi (Co-Advisor) 38
Bottelli, Stefano 348
Bovo, Cristian (Supervisor) 228
Braghin, Francesco (Supervisor) 552, 596
Brambilla, Arianna 156
Brandolese, Carlo (Supervisor) 420
Branzanti, Caterina 210
Breveglieri, Luca (Supervisor) 332
Briatico Vagosa, Francesco (Supervisor) 500
Brighenti, Tommaso 68
Britter, Rex (Co-supervisor) 760
Brivio, Pietro Alessandro (Supervisor) 294
Bronzi, Danilo 350
Brun, Giulia 664
Bruni, Stefano (Supervisor) 566, 594
Bruno, P. (Correlatore) 240
Buratti, Giorgio 170
Bybordi, Salar 352
C Ciancia, Mariana 174
Caglioti, Vincenzo (Supervisor) 386
Caiani, Enrico G. (Advisor) 114
Caldarice, Ombretta 698
Calvaresi, Claudio (Supervisor) 754
Cammi, Antonio (Advisor) 266
Campadelli, Nadia 172
Candiani, Gabriele (Supervisor) 508
Canziani, Roberto (Tutor and Supervisor) 290
Capello, Roberta (Relatore) 210
Capolongo, Stefano (Tutor) 742
Capone, Antonio (Research co-director) 380
Capone, Antonio (Supervisor) 346
Caporale, Danilo 354
Cappellini, Anna Maria Chiara 560
Capsoni, Carlo (Supervisor) 412
Cardinale, Maria Vittoria 70
Carminati, Maria Chiara 114
Carminati, Matteo 356
Carpeggiani, Paolo (Thesis supervisor) 674
Carpene, Ettore (Supervisor) 612, 626
Casari, Carlo S. (Supervisor) 252
Casati, Riccardo 562
Cascini, Gaetano (Supervisor) 564, 580, 590
Caspani, Alessandro 358
Castiglioni, Chiara (Chair) 496
Castiglioni, Chiara (Coordinator) 514
Catalano, Giuseppe (PHD Supervisor) 460
Catallo, Ilio 360
Celaschi, Flaviano (Relatore) 194
Celi, Manuela (Co-relatore) 194
Ceriani, Marco 362
Ceriani, Nicola Maria 364
Cerullo, Giulio (Supervisor) 648
Cerutti, Sergio (Advisor) 126, 128
Cerutti, Sergio (Supervisor) 122
Cerutti, Sergio (Supervisors) 108
Cerveri, Pietro (Tutor) 110
Cesaratto, Anna 614
Cheli, Federico (Supervisor) 570, 588, 604
Chen, Shan 456
Chesi, Claudio (Supervisor) 668, 670
Chivakidakarn, Yanin 700
Ciapparelli, Elena 72
Ciceri, Eleonora 366
Cigada, Alfredo (Supervisor) 560, 598
Cimin, Susanna 242
Ciocchini, Nicola 368
Citro, Marco 564
Ciuccarelli, Paolo (Supervisor) 186
Clerici, Daniele 222
C. Marani, Pietro (Supervisor) 666
Cocchiarella, Luigi (Supervisor) 758
Colaneri, Patrizio (Advisor) 354
Colasante, Giada 712
Colledani, Marcello (Supervisor) 572
Collina, Luisa (Supervisor) 178
Colombo, Claudio 306
Colombo, Emanuela (Supervisor) 254, 264
Colombo, Giorgia 714
Colombo, Silvia 666
Colorni Vitale, Alberto (Supervisor) 202
Colosimo, Bianca Maria (Supervisor) 568, 582
Colosimo, Bianca M. (Chair) 548
Consonni, Stefano (Supervisor) 246
Contin, Antonella (Supervisor) 52, 58, 62
Cooper-White, Justin J. (Supervisor) 140
Corbari, Chiara (Co-supervisor) 276
Corigliano, Alberto (Advisor) 710
Corigliano, Alberto (Supervisor) 718, 720
Cornolti, Luca 244
Coronelli, Dario (Co-supervisor) 728
Corrielli, Giacomo 616
Corso, Mariano (Chair) 450
Cossa, Linda 754
Credi, Caterina 502
Criante, Luigino (Supervisor) 632
Cristaldi, Loredana (Supervisor) 222
Cucci, Davide Antonio 370
D Garrone, Paola (Ph.D. supervisor) 472
DAlessandro, Laura 458
Dal Lago, Bruno Alberto 716
Dalla Mora, Alberto (Assistant supervisor) 618
Dallera, Claudia (Supervisor) 612, 626
Daniele, Ielmini (Supervisor) 336
Daniotti, Bruno (Supervisor - Tutor) 158
DAntona, Gabriele (Supervisor) 226
Dassi, Franco 526
Del Bo, Adalberto (Tutor) 70
De Luca, L.T. (Advisor) 26
De Luca, Luigi T. (Relatore) 40
De Luca, Luigi T. (Supervisor) 28, 42
De Momi, Elena (Relatore) 110
Dercole, Fabio (Supervisor) 388
De Rigo, Daniele 372
DErrico, Gianluca (Supervisor) 268
Derudi, Marco (Advisor) 322
Di Biase, Carolina (Chair) 656
Di Fonzo, Fabio (Supervisor) 236, 248
Di Fonzo, F. (Advisor) 250
Dinh, Quang 374
di Prisco, Claudio Giulio (Relatore) 726
di Prisco, Marco (Supervisor) 714
Di Sieno, Laura 618
Dordoni, Elena 116
Dossi, Martino 718
Dossi, Stefano 26
Dozio, Lorenzo (Supervisor) 32
Drufuca, Giuseppe (Supervisor) 376
Dubini, Gabriele (Advisors) 112
Ducruet, Csar (Co-Supervisor) 696
Du, Lamberto (Supervisor) 642
E Galbiati, Maria Luisa (Supervisor) 174, 184
ehitoglu, Huseyin S(Supervisor) 592
Erbacci, Angelo 460
Erba, Silvia 158
Ercolani, Giulia 276
Esfandiar, Jahromi Bahman 278
Etlin, Richard Allan (Supervisor) 80
F Gatti, Nicola (Supervisor) 416
Faggiano, Elena (Co-advisor) 522
Fan, Zhengyu 738
Faravelli, Tiziano (Adisor) 320
Faravelli, Tiziano (Chair) 302
Fassina, Marco 28
Ferragut, Rafael (Supervisor) 610
Ferrara, Liberato (Supervisor) 722
Ferrarini, Luca (Advisor) 390
Ferrigno, Giancarlo (Supervisor) 136
Ferro, Luisa (Supervisor) 72
Fichera, Sebastiano 30
Figini, Matteo 118
Fiore, Gianfranco B. (Advisor) 146
Fiorini, Carlo (Chair) 328
Fiorini, Carlo E. (Supervisor) 396
Fiorini, Carlo (Supervisor) 406
Fischer, Anath (Advisor) 586
Folli, Maria Grazia (Chair) 86
Folli, Maria Grazia (Supervisor) 96
Fontana, Danilo (Assistant supervisor) 280
Forino, Immacolata Concezione (Tutor) 442
Formaggia, Luca (Tutor) 526
Fornaciari, William (Advisor) 424
Forte, Federica 280
Fortini, Carlo 376
Fraternali, Piero (Advisor) 360
Fraternali, Piero (Supervisor) 366, 430
G Guadagnini, Alberto (Supervisor) 278, 292
Gafforelli, Giacomo 720
Galliani, Pierfranco (Chair) 48
Galli, Luca 378
Galloni, Laura 176
Galluzzo, Laura 178
Garca Ferr, Francisco 248
Garetti, Marco (Tutor) 466
Garzotto, Franca (Supervisor) 432
Gasparetto, Livio 566
Gentilini, Roberta 120
Geraci, Angelo (Tutor) 396
Geroldi, Chiara 702
Ghadirzadeh, Ali 250
Ghioni, Massimo (Advisor) 382
Gianoli, Luca Giovanni 380
Giberti, Hermes (Supervisor) 578
Giglio, Marco (Supervisor) 682
Gini, Rossana 282
Giorgino, Marco (Supervisor) 458, 462, 470,
488
Giuseppe Romanato, Matteo 758
Giustozzi, Filippo (Supervisor) 284
Gjakun, Maja 440
Gobbi, Massimiliano (co-Supervisor) 556
Gola, Massimo 308
Gondoni, Paolo 252
Gong, Sixia 382
Gonzalez Mosso, Sanson Roberto 462
Goudarzi, Hossein 620
Granato, Adriana 212
Grasso, Marco Luigi Giuseppe 568
Grecchi, Manuela (Chair) 150
Grillanda, Stefano 384
Grilli, Luca (Ph.D. supervisor) 472
Grillo, Gabriele (Supervisor) 530
Grimoldi, Alberto (Co-supervisor) 674
Grimoldi, Alberto (Supervisor) 660, 664, 672
Grosso, Mario (Supervisor) 280, 286
Guadagnini, Alberto (Chair) 272
Guagliano, Mario (Supervisor) 576
Gualdoni Federico 684
Guardone, A. (Advisor) 44
Guarisco, Margherita 88
Guariso, Giorgio (Supervisor) 372
Guarnera, Simone S. 622
Guerra, Francesco (Supervisor) 274
Guerrieri, Pilar Maria 74
Guerriero, Erica 624
H
Han, Dong 386
Hashempour Igderi, Mazdak 504
Hazarika, Arunjyoti 52
Heydari, Mohammadreza 464
Hinsley, Hugo (Relatore) 212
Holgado Granados, Maria 466
Ho Manh, Linh 224
Hossain, G.M.A. Balayet 90
I
Ielmini, Daniele (Supervisor) 368, 414
Imbres, Letizia 756
Imperadori, Marco (Supervisor) 156, 160 Lucchini, Tommaso (Supervisor) 244
Impera, Sara 54 Lupo, Eleonora (Supervisor) 188
Irace, Fulvio (Supervisor) 198 Luzzi, Lelio (Advisor) 266
Ivone, Davide 570 Luzzi, Lelio (Tutor) 266
J M
Jadidi, Ali 572
Macchi, Marco (Supervisor) 466
Macchi, Marco (Thesis Advisor) 454
Madia, M. (Supervisor) 554
K Maffei, Stefano (Supervisor) 168
Kan, Zhipeng 628 Maffioletti, Serena (Supervisor) 60
Keivanidis, Panagiotis E. (Supervisor) 620 Magagnin, Luca (Supervisor) 506
Kevanidis, Panagiotis E. (Supervisor) 628 Maggi, Filippo (Co-Advisor) 26
Khalil, Md Ibrahim 506 Maggioni, Eleonora 126
Kharshiduzzaman, Md 574 Mainardi, Luca T. (Advisor) 130
Komninos, Nicos (Relatore) 214 Malloggi, Chiara Diletta 508
Komossa, Susanne (Supervisor) 70 Malpezzi, Silvia 468
Krelani, Visar 722 Malucelli, Federico (Supervisor) 418
Mancini, Marco (Supervisor) 276
Mandelli, Stefano 254
Mangiaracina, Riccardo (Thesis Supervisor) 486
L Mangiarotti, Anna (Chair) 732
La Barbera, Luigi 124
Landi, Pietro 388
Mangiarotti, Anna (Supervisor) 748
Mansutti, Alessandro 182
Lang, Stefano 310 Mantero, Sara (Advisor) 134
Lanzani, Guglielmo (Supervisor) 538, 644 Mantero, Sara (Rulatore) 144
Lanzi, Pier Luca (Supervisor) 408 Mantero, Sara (Supervisor) 140
Laudato, Lucia 630 Mantovani, Giancarlo 390
Lavagna, Monica (Supervisor) 740 Manzoni, Andrea (Co-advisor) 522
Lee, Young Dal 76 Marangoni, Marco (Supervisor) 646
Leveratto, Jacopo 442 Marani, Pietro Cesare (Supervisor) 172
Li Bassi, A. (Advisor) 250 Marani, Pietro C. (Supervisor) 666
Li Bassi, A. (Relatore) 240 Marano, Claudia (Supervisor) 510
Li Bassi, A. (Supervisor) 252 Marchesi, Renzo (Supervisor) 238
Lietti, Luca (Advisor) 312 Mariani, Stefano (Advisor) 710
Longoni, Antonio Francesco (Supervisor) 358 Mariani, Stefano (Supervisor) 718
Lo Turco, Sara 632 Mariotti, Ilaria (Supervisor) 696
Lovera, Marco (Advisor) 38 Marra, Caterina 92
Lucarelli, Virginia 180 Martinelli, Carolina 444
Luccarini, Luca (Co-Supervisor) 290 Martinelli, Michela 312
Lucchetti, Roberto (Chair) 518 Martnez-Arguelles, Gilberto 284
Martino, Nicola 634
Marucci, Giovanni 392
Marzi, Antonella 78
Masarati, Pierangelo (Supervisor) 24, 688
Masella, Cristina (Supervisor) 484
Masera, Gabriele (Tutor) 154
Mastinu, Giampiero (Supervisor) 556
Mattana, Walter 184
Matteucci, Matteo (Supervisor) 370
Mauri, Michele 186
Mazzarella, Livio (Supervisor) 234, 256
Melacini, Marco (Thesis supervisor) 490
Melloni, Andrea (Supervisor) 384
Melzi, Stefano (Supervisor) 570
Menafoglio, Alessandra 528
Menoni, Scira (Supervisor) 700
Mensi, Giovanni 56
Merlo, Marco (Supervisor) 254
Meroni, Anna (Supervisor) 200
Miari, Luca 394
Migliore, Marco 740
Migliorini, Matteo 128
Mirabella Roberti, Giulio (Supervisor) 662
Mohammadi, Jamshid (Co-advisor) 668
Mohazzab, Amir Hossein 32
Monda, Barbara 470
Mondiali, Valeria 636
Montedoro, Laura 98
Monticelli, Carol (Relatore) 738
Montin, Eros 130
Monzani, Stefania 80
Mora, Luca 214
Morello, Eugenio (Supervisor) 760
Moretti, Matteo (Advisor) 112
Moridi, Atieh 576
Moroni, Givanni (Supervisor) 602
Moroni, Stefano (Supervisor) 698
Morselli, Alessandro 34
Moscatelli, Davide (Supervisor) 306
Moschetti, Roberta 256
Moschioni, Giovanni (Supervisor) 600
Mosconi, Maia 226
Motta, Mario (Supervisor) 260
Motta, Valentina 686
Mrkajic, Boris 472
Muratori, Matteo 530
Mussinelli, Elena (Chair) 206
Mussinelli, Elena (Tutor) 214
N
Nachiero, Dario 742
Nardone, Valentina 314
Nasri, Bayan 396
Nava, Michele 724
Navarrini, Walter (Supervisor) 308, 316
Nazaret, Bruno (Supervisor) 530
Negahbani, Navid 578
Nessi, Simone 286
Nikulin, Christopher 580
Niro, Alfonso (Supervisor) 242, 258
Nisoli, Mauro (Supervisor) 650
Noci, Giuliano (Supervisor) 456
Novati, Giorgio (Supervisor) 712
O
Occhetta, Paola 132
Ongini, Carlo 398
Onorati, Angelo (Tutor) 244
Opresnik, Stojan David 474
Osellame, Roberto (Supervisor) 616
P
Pagani, Luca 582
Paggi, Alessandro Angiolo 584
Pagliari, Diana 288
Palamara, Simone 532
Palermo, Gianluca (Supervisor) 362
Panigati, Emanuele 400
Paolini, Paolo (Supervisor) 434
Paolucci, Giovanni 402
Paolucci, Roberto (Chair) 708
Paone, Edoardo 404
Parisini, Emilio (Supervisor) 314
Parissenti, Guido 258
Parrino, Lucia 188
Passoni, Matteo (Advisor) 262
Passoni, M. (Tutor) 240
Patelli, Paolo 58
Patrucco, Andrea Stefano 476
Pedrocchi, Alessandra (Supervisor) 136
Pellegata, Alessandro Filippo 134
Pellegrinelli, Stefania 586
Pellegrini, Laura Annamaria (Supervisor) 310
Pennati, Giancarlo (Relatore) 106
Pennati, Giancarlo (Supervisor) 116
Perali, Irene 406
Perego, Alessandro (Thesis Supervisor) 486
Perego, Paolo 190
Perillo, Nadia 510
Pernici, Barbara (Director of School of Doctoral
Programmes) 19
Perotto, Simona (Co-supervisor) 278
Perotto, Simona (Supervisor) 526
Persico, Federico 316
Petrini, Paola (Advisor) 120
Petrozza, Annamaria (Supervisor) 622
Pettinati, Viola 534
Pierini, Orsina Simona (Relatore) 94
Pierini, Orsina Simona (Supervisor) 92
Piero, Fraternali (Advisor) 378
Pifferi, Antonio (Supervisor) 618
Pini, Alessia 536
Pinto, Livio (Supervisor) 288
Pirovano, Michele 408
Piscitello, Lucia (Thesis Advisor) 482
Pistocchini, Lorenzo 260
Pizzi, Emilio (Supervisor) 162
Poggi, Carlo (Supervisor) 728
Poggi, Claudia 744
Poletti, Angela (Tutor) 760
Poltronieri, Andrea (Tutor) 210
Porrazzo, Rossella 638
Porro, Matteo 538
Porta, Alberto (Supervisor) 108
Porta, Giovanni (Co-Supervisor) 292
Portioli Staudacher, Alberto (Thesis Discussant)
454
Pourabdollaahian, Borzoo 478
Premoli, Antonio 588
Prencipe, Irene 262
Prusicki, Marco (Chair) 66
Prusicki, Marco (Supervisor) 82
Pucillo, Francesco 590
Pulcini, Dalila 290
Punta, Carlo (Relatore) 318
Puscheddu, Cristina 160
Q Rodolfo Soncini-Sessa (Supervisor) 374
Quaranta, Giuseppe (Advisor) 686
Quarteroni, Alfio (Supervisor) 522, 532
Quattrini Li, Alberto 410
R coordinator) 758
Rabbolini, Silvio 592
Rabellotti, Roberta (Thesis Advisor) 482
Raimondi, Manuela T. (Supervisor) 724
Ranaee, Ehsan 292
Ranci, Costanzo (Chair) 692
Ranci, Costanzo (Relatore) 704
Ranci Ortigosa, Costanzo (Supervisor) 756
Rapp, Davide 192
Rakovic, Ivan (Supervisor) 82
Rasponi, Marco (Tutor) 132
Ravazzani, Paolo G. (Tutor) 130
Ravazzani, Paolo (Tutor) 142
Rebaglio, Agnese (Supervisor) 196
Rech, Ivan (Supervisor) 394
Redaelli, Alberto (Advisor) 146
Redaelli, Alberto (Tutor) 118, 132
Reduzzi, Maurizio 640
Regalia, Giulia 136
Reggiani, Luca (Supervisor) 352
Reni, Gianluigi (Advisor) 126
Repossi, Elisabetta 540
Resteghini, Laura 412
Rezvani, Kamal 36
Riccardi, Fabio 38
Ricci, Sergio (Advisor) 30
Ricci, Sergio (Supervisor) 36
Richard, Serrano 296
Riva, Michele 642
Riva, Monica (Co-Supervisor) 292
Rizzi, Maurizio 414
Rizzo, Giovanna (Advisor) 142
Rizzo, Giovanna (Supervisor) 122
Rocco, Marco 416
Rocco, Matteo Vincenzo 264
Rocco, Paolo (Supervisor) 364
Rogora, Alessandro (Supervisor) 744
Roiati, Vittoria 644
Rolek, Pawe 594
Ronchi , Stefano (Thesis Advisor) 476
Roodsari, Hamoon Hedayat Zadeh 626
Rossella, Salerno (GPT Phd program
Rossella, Salerno (Tutor) 758
Rossi, Bianca 318
Rossi, Michela (Supervisor) 170
Rossi, Monica 480
Rosso, Riccardo (Co-advisor) 540
Rostami, Borzou 418
Roveda, Loris 596
Roveri, Manuel (Supervisor) 428
Rozza, Gianluigi (Advisor) 266
Rozza, Gianluigi (Co-advisor) 522
Rucco, Luigi 420
Rudkin, Jennifer-Ellen 194
Ruffa, Francesco 196
S Silvano, Cristina (Supervisor) 404
Sabatino, Stefano 60
Sacco, Riccardo (Supervisor) 538
Saffari Siahkali, Raana 62
Saggese, Chiara 320
Saidiazar, Ramin 294
Sala, Tommaso 646
Salehi Mourkani, Golnaz 446
Salerno, Rossella (Chair) 752
Salerno, Rossella (Coordinator) 756
Salvetti, Manuele 94
Sambati, Simona 704
Samori, Carlo (Advisor) 392
Sampietro, Marco (Advisor) 344
Sampietro, Marco (Supervisor) 334
Sans, Brunilde (Co-supervisor) 346
Sans, Brunilde (Research director) 380
Sans, Fernando (Supervisor) 296
Sansone, Giuseppe (Supervisor) 640
Santambrogio, Marco D. (Supervisor) 338
Santi, Anna 198
Sarti, Marco 542
Sartori, Alberto 266
Savaresi, Sergio M. (Advisor) 340
Savaresi, Sergio M. (Supervisor) 348, 398, 426
Savaresi, Sergio (Supervisor) 342
Saviello, Daniela 512
Scaccabarozzi, Matteo 598
Scalera, Vittoria Giada 482
Schiaffonati, Fabrizio (Relatore) 212
Schiaffonati, Fabrizio (Tutor) 212
Sciuto, Donatella (Relatore) 214
Scrofani, Roberto (Supervisor) 522
Scullica, Francesco (Supervisor) 440
Secchi, Marialessandra (Supervisor) 90
Secchi, Piercesare (Advisor) 528
Segato, Federica 484
Selloni, Daniela 200
Semeraro, Quirico (Supervisor) 558
Seyis, Senem 162
Shahgholi Ghahfarokhi, Mohamad 138
Sheppard, Adrian (Supervisor) 78
Shi, Yongbiao 422
Singh, Vibhor Mukul 96
Soavi, Giancarlo 648
Solbiati, Stefano 600
Sona, Giovanna (Supervisor) 282
Soncini-Sessa, Rodolfo (Supervisor) 374
Song, Guang 486
Soori, Soroudeh 98
Sordan, Roman (Supervisor) 624
Sorrentino, Luigi (Co-advisor) 668
Sottocornola Spinelli, Alessandro (Supervisor)
402
Sozzi, Carlo (Supervisor) 226
Stahl, Bojan 488
Stangalino, Simone 544
Stanicic, Aleksandar 82
Stefani, Ilaria 140
Subasic, Milos 228
Sumini, Valentina 668
Suo, Hua 746
Superti Furga, Gabrio (Supervisor) 220
Syam, Wahyudin Permana 602
T Vahid Dastjerdi, Mohammad Javad 652
Tadini, Pietro 40
Tagliaferri, Alberto (Supervisor) 652
Taisch, Marco (Supervisor) 464, 478, 492
Taisch, Marco (Tutor and supervisor) 474
Talamo, Cinzia Maria Luisa (Tutor) 740
Tamer, Aykut 688
Tanca, Letizia (Co-supervisor) 434
Tanca, Letizia (Supervisor) 400
Tanzi, Maria Cristina (Advisor) 120
Tappia, Elena 490
Tarantino, Sergio 748
Taroni, Paola (Chair) 608
Tavelli, Silvia 322
Terraneo, Federico 424
Terzi, Sergio (Supervisor) 480
Todeschini, Fabio 426
Toledo Filho, Romildo D. (Co-supervisor) 722
Tolio, Tullio (Advisor) 586
Toniolo, Lucia (Supervisor) 512
Tonna, Sandra 670
Torelli, Roberto 268
Torricelli, Angelo (Supervisor) 72, 80
Toson, Elena 42
Trabattoni, Andrea 650
W
Wondwossen Bogale, Eremed 246
Trabucco, Francesco (Chair) 166
Tradigo, Fabio 726
Travaglio, Paola 672
Tresoldi, Daniele 142 Y
Treville, Aldo 760 Yan, Dongning 202
Tronconi, Oliviero (Supervisor) 736
Trov, Francesco 428
Turolla, Andrea 298
Turrisi, Caterina 144
Z
Zanelli, Alessandra (Relatore) 738
Turri, Stefano (Relatore) 502
Zanelli, Alessandra (Supervisor) 746
Zanelli, Alessandra (Tutor) 738
U Zanoni, Andrea 604
Zanutta, Alessio 514
Usberti, Nicola 324
Zappa, Franco (Supervisor) 350
Zebardast, Manoosh 492
Zhang, Hui (Supervisor) 118
V Zich , Riccardo E. (Supervisor and Tutor) 224
Vaca Ruiz, Carmen Karina 430
Valente, Ilaria (Supervisor) 54, 56
Valentini, Gianluca (Supervisor) 614
Valerio, Lorenzo 146
Valli, Lisa 674
Valoriani, Matteo 432
Vantini, Simone (Supervisor) 536
Vasic, Mira 728
Vedani, Maurizio (Relatore) 584
Vedani, Maurizio (Supervisor) 562
Vena, Pasquale (Supervisor) 138
Verani, Marco (Advisor) 540, 544
Verani, Marco (Co-advisor) 542
Vergara, Christian (Supervisor) 532
Vicenzo, Antonello (Supervisor) 504
Vigan, Federico (Supervisor)) 246
Vigevano, Luigi (Chair) 22, 678
Vignaroli, Luca 434
Vignati, Federica 44
Villa, Tomaso Maria Tobia (Relatore) 124
Vitale, Daniele (Supervisor) 74
Vogliazzo, Maurizio (Relatore) 192
Vogliazzo, Maurizio (Supervisor) 180
Politecnico di Milano is a state university established in 1863.

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Currently, it is organized into 12 departments, six Schools of
Engineering, Architecture, and Industrial Design,
and a School of Doctoral Programmes, coordinating
all doctoral programmes in the university. Politecnico di Milano
is the largest institution in Italy for Engineering, Architecture,
and Industrial Design with almost 40,000 students enrolled.
Politecnico di Milano is very active in basic and applied research 17
and it is widely recognized for excellence in several research

School of Doctoral Programmes of Politecnico di Milano

areas. The PhD Programmes play an important role in the
development of research and PhD candidates are actively
involved in the work of the research groups of the Departments.
Currently, there are more than 1,100 PhD candidates enrolled in the
School. In the current Academic Year 360 candidates are enrolled in PhD
programmes, one third of which are international candidates.

The Doctoral Programmes of Politecnico di Milano aim to

develop the candidates professional competence to carry out high level
research in manufacturing and service companies, public bodies,
and universities.
The School of Doctoral Programmes coordinates the activities
of the PhD Programmes, defining general rules on the
organization of PhD studies and the selection of candidates,
based on an annual call for positions for all programmes and specific calls for
international agreements and industrial doctorates.
The School promotes interdisciplinary initiatives
involving several PhD programmes, in particular interdisciplinary courses
and courses on emerging topics related to different training
paths. The School of Doctoral Programmes has a Director, a
professor from Politecnico di Milano, and a Council, composed
of the Coordinators of the active PhD Programmes and four
representatives of PhD candidates.
PhD studies at Politecnico require that candidates start the PhD programme at
the third level of education according to the Bologna Process,
so a solid background knowledge in the field of interest,
obtained within the first and second level degrees, is the basis
for the research work. Furthermore, at least an equivalent of a
semester of course work is required, to further develop specific
knowledge and to get a broader preparation in general subjects.
The School of Doctoral
Programmes
of Politecnico di Milano

In the present volume, the PhD programmes of the Politecnico Director of School
di Milano are presented, including a description of all PhD of Doctoral Programmes
programmes which have been running in recent years and the Prof. Barbara Pernici
summaries of theses defended in the second semester of 2014 and
in 2015.
In the YearBook, the Coordinator of each of the PhD Programmes
provides a short description of the objectives of the programme, of
its main activities, and of the research areas of the programme.
Each PhD Programme has a Coordinator, a Doctoral Programme
Board of Professors, managing the programme, and an external
Reference Committee, as well as several contacts with leading
institutions.
The main goal of doctoral education is to develop a PhD thesis,
which has to present original research work developed by the
candidate, relating it to the current state of the art. This work is
defended by the candidate in a final examination in which there
are at least two external professors in the evaluation committee.
A value that has been leading the activities of the School
since the beginning, is the support to the internationalization
culture. All PhD programmes are in English or have at least
an English track, with an increasing internationalization both
of the academic body and of the PhD candidates, where the
admission rate of international candidates has reached 33 per cent
of the PhD student population. Furthermore, most candidates are
encouraged to visit another research laboratory abroad during their
PhD, to widen their perspectives on their research topic, and also to
publish their work in international venues.
As a result, the Doctoral Programmes provide a selected number of
highly qualified graduates, endowed with a solid preparation, with
the opportunity of acquiring a high degree of professional expertise
in specific scientific, technological, social and economic fields.
Ph.D. graduates are not only capable of carrying out research
projects, but develop, during their period of study, new
knowledge on scientific frontiers that can be immediately
applied to professional activities.
For each thesis, the summary presented in the volume
has the aim of providing an overview of the research problems
studied in the thesis and of the original results of the research. As
a consequence, the collection of summaries contained in the
volume provides a good overview on research activities conducted
within the Doctoral Programmes of Politecnico di Milano in the past
few years.
Mechanical Engineering | Physics |
Preservation of THE Architectural Heritage
| Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial Planning
and Urban Development | Structural Seismic
and Geotechnical Engineering | Technology
and Design for Environment and Building
| Territorial Design and Government |
Aerospace Engineering | Architectural
Composition | Architectural and Urban
Design | Architecture, Urban Design,
Conservation of Housing and Landscape
| Bioengineering | Building Engineering
| Design | Design and technologies for
cultural heritage | Electrical Engineering |
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
| Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture
and Exhibition Design | Management,
Economics and Industrial Engineering
| Materials Engineering | Mathematical
MODELS and METHODS IN Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
22

DOCTORAL PROGRAM years. The related activities should be carried years of doctoral program are here reported:

PhD Yearbook | 2015

IN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
The aim of the course is the acquisition of the high level
out in well known and qualified scientific
institutions (universities, research centers, etc.),
and well contribute to the cultural and scientific
achievements of the research.
Due to the amplitude and interdisciplinarity of the
aerospace sector, the professional skills achievable
will span a wide area and not cover just a specific
topic. The educational goals will create high level
specialists in the domains of: helicopters and
rotary winged vehicles, fixed winged vehicles and
expert in computational and/or experimental
fluid mechanics, with capabilities to develop
methods and models for both aerospace
applications and generic vehicles;
expert in active and passive control of the
dynamics of aerospace structures, integrating
global and subsystem design;
expert in active and passive structural safety of
vehicles, both aerospace and non-aerospace; 23
expert in vibration and noise control, including

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
Chair: competence required to carry out innovative research and/or state space vehicles. modeling analysis, system design and
Prof. Luigi Vigevano of the art advanced applications in industries, public or private In this context, a more specific competence can implementation of specific subsystems;
research centers, Universities or public and service companies in the be gained either in a single or in the integration expert in the dynamics and control of aerospace
area of aerospace engineering, including all the fields associated of special subjects such as: dynamics and control, vehicles and related operational missions;
to it. The level of the course allows the graduates to compete in a fluid mechanics, systems and equipment, flight expert in integrated design of complex
European and international environment. mechanics, passive structural safety, intelligent aerospace systems.
The course is three years long, requiring 180 credit points (ECTS), and automated systems, structures and materials. Since its foundation, 24 years ago, the doctoral
including possible study-abroad periods and internships in private or In this respect, some examples of professional course on Aerospace Engineering graduated
public institutions. The program and credits are divided in three skills achieved in the course of the past 24 more than 70 PhDs.
main educational areas:
1. Main courses (30 credits), during the first year: courses examining
fundamental subjects (problems, theories and methods) of the
scientific research in the disciplinary areas involved; DOCTORAL PROGRAM BOARD
2. Elective courses and training on specific themes (30 credits),
gained in the second year: specific and personalized educational Prof Airoldi Alessandro Prof Dozio Lorenzo Prof Masarati Pierangelo
programs aimed at a more deep overall knowledge and to master Prof Anghileri Marco Prof Frezzotti Aldo Prof Morandini Marco
the techniques adequate for the subsequent development of the
Prof Astori Paolo Prof Galfetti Luciano Prof Quadrio Maurizio
doctoral thesis, plus seminars focused on specific and advanced
methods; Prof Bernelli Zazzera Franco Prof Ghiringhelli Gian Luca Prof Quaranta Giuseppe
3. Development of the Doctoral Thesis (120 credits): the thesis is Prof Bisagni Chiara Prof Gibertini Giuseppe Prof Quartapelle Procopio Luigi
developed within the Department or, in some cases, in other
Prof Bottasso Carlo Prof Guardone Alberto Prof Ricci Sergio
institutions, in close contact with the Department. The thesis is
started immediately (20 credits in the first year), and developed in Prof Consolati Giovanni Prof Lavagna Michle Prof Sala Giuseppe
the second (40 credits) and third year (60 credits) of the doctoral Prof Di Landro Luca Prof Mantegazza Paolo
program.
If the candidate has a background curriculum lacking some
introductory knowledge required for the Doctorate, the Faculty will
ADVISORY BOARD
ask to recover such knowledge, with the assistance of the tutor.
The same Faculty will verify afterward the overcoming of whatever Giorgio Brazzelli, AgustaWestland Marco Molina, SELEX Galileo
was lacking during the annual meeting of admission to the second & Distretto Aerospaziale Lombardo
year of the course.
The course program related to point 1 does not follow a rigid Matteo Casazza, Leitwind Fabio Nannoni, AgustaWestland
scheme. So, besides widening the basic scientific culture of the Massimo Lucchesini, AleniaAermacchi Franco Ongaro, Estec
candidate, it will take into consideration also the objectives and the
core topics of the candidates thesis. Again the program outlined
at points 2 and 3 will try to consider general cultural requirements SCHOLARSHIP SPONSORS
as well as what is deemed to be more specifically related to thesis
subject, as agreed between the candidate and the Faculty. For Agusta-Westland
the activities of type 2 and 3 a study period in a foreign country
ASI
is allowed, even strongly suggested perhaps. Its duration should
range from a few weeks up to one and a half Tecnospazio
 24
PILOT IN THE LOOP AEROSERVOELASTIC SIMULATION
IN SUPPORT TO THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A FLY
BY WIRE AIRPLANE
Fabio Bocola - Supervisor: Prof. Pierangelo Masarati
The objective of this thesis
is the development of an
interdisciplinary simulation
environment to support the
design and optimization of
new generation aircraft with
Fly-By-Wire (FBW) control
systems technology. This study
deals with the shift from
the Classic to the Integrated
design approach of aircraft
preliminary design, since the
increasing application of FBW
technology has introduced
new and possibly unforeseen
aeroservoelastic problems that
require a reassessment of the
traditional approach.
In this integrated design
process, to take advantages
from Fly-By-Wire Control System
performances, the following
involved disciplines
Flight Mechanics
Structural Dynamics and
Aeroelasticity
Control Theory
Certification Requirements
and Handling Qualities are
captured in a concurrent
design environment, in order to
explore and eventually exploit
their mutual interactions, thus
introducing structural elasticity
from the very beginning of FCS
control laws design.
An essential part of this process
is the development of an
Aeroservoelastic Static Flight
Simulator for pilot-in-the-loop
flight tests. This very useful tool
is aimed to provide the design
Team with early evaluation of
FCS control laws, predictions of
handling qualities and Aircraft-
Pilot Coupling behaviors, still at
the design stage. These valuable
information can then be fed
back in the conceptual design
loop, with the final target to
reduce time to market and
development costs of a new
aircraft.
The proposed concept is an
even simpler, desktop-level
tool, consisting of a personal
computer and a joystick, where
all the aspects of the mentioned
disciplines are combined,
providing the project engineer
with a preliminary global insight
of the airplanes dynamic
behavior.
Attention has been primarily
dedicated to minimizing the
cost of the tool, using off-
the-shelf desktop computers,
widely diffused commercial and
open-source software (Figure 1).
At the same time, the flexibility
and the versatility has been a
1. Visual Obstacles for pilot-in-the-loop maneuvers
main driver, to give the designer
the possibility to easily address
both airplane modeling and
flight simulation.
Two aircraft models have
been realized. They essentially
differ in the detail of the
flight dynamics module: the
Aeroservoelastic (ASE) model,
and the Rigid Body (RB) one.
Among other aspects of the
pilot-vehicle interaction, the
flight test campaign primarily
aimed at verifying the existence
of a Control Spillover or Pilot
Induced Oscillation (PIO),
and determining whether
the Aeroservoelastic model
influences the piloting
technique: both aspects have
been successfully investigated.
The flight simulation of the
aeroservoelastic (ASE) airplane
model with a Fly-By-Wire FCS,
has evidenced a Roll Spillover at
2.05 Hz, due to the interaction
between the rigid body roll
mode and the first structural
antisymmetric wing bending
2. Roll Control Spillover Notch Filter OFF
(AWB) mode (Figure 2).
At this stage of the project,
since the airplane is still totally
virtual, engineers can proceed
by either acting on the wing
structure or providing the FCS
with Notch Filter: because this
FE model was already the result
of an optimization process
(NeoCASS), the latter solution
has been adopted (Figure 3)
The aggressiveness of pilots
inputs on the inceptor
(Aggression) has been
introduced as a quantitative
parameter to evaluate the pilot
workload while performing
high gain tasks: this method
3. FBW Roll Control Law Architecture
has proven to be valid by the
comparison of the same task
performed by two pilots with a
significantly difference in flying
experience.
Pilot-in-the-loop flight tests
have evidenced that the
Aeroservoelastic airplane
(ASE), when compared to
the Rigid Body (RB) one, is
more responsive to pilots
inputs, due to the response
of higher frequency unsteady
aerodynamic modes triggered
by Roll FCS mode: this airplane
behavior affects the flying
technique, by addressing the
pilot to adapt roll inputs in order
4. PILOT 1 Roll & Pitch Aggression Average Ratings
to reduce the aggressiveness on
PhD Yearbook | 2015
roll control inceptor.
The effects of Turbulence
and Time Delay of the FCS
on aggressiveness has also
been evaluated, showing that
Time Delay does not have
a significant effect on ASE
Aggression due to the ability
of the pilot to compensate (it 25
only increases the workload),
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
but Turbulence do have some
effects. A specific task has been
designed, showing that Lateral
Turbulence produces an increase
of the roll ASE Aggression to
values even significantly greater
than the RB ones, because the
unsteady aerodynamic response
can also be triggered by the
Turbulence itself, forcing the
pilot to increase the inputs to
the inceptor to perform the
assigned task. This increased
sensibility of the ASE airplane to
lateral turbulence may suggest
the implementation of an active
gust alleviator device.
According to piloted flight
simulation results, Figure 4
reports the quantitative and
qualitative average ratings of
the adopted evaluation metrics.
 26
Mechanically Activated Al Fuels for High
Performance Solid Propellants
Stefano Dossi - Advisor: Prof. L.T. De Luca - Co-Advisor: Dr. Filippo Maggi
Metal fuels are widely used in
space propulsion to increase
solid rocket motor (SRM)
performance. The intrinsic
properties of micrometric
aluminum (Al), like stability,
low toxicity, low cost, and
high metal content (about
99.5%, depending on size),
make this powder one of the
favorite materials employed
for industrial production of
solid rocket propellants (SP).
During the combustion, the
low reactivity of Al causes
the formation of condensed
combustion products (CCPs)
lowering the theoretical
performance enhancement
granted by the metal. The
reduction of Al powder size
down to the nanometric scale
(nano-sized Aluminum, nAl)
allows a consistent reactivity
enhancement, confirmed by
the reduction of the ignition
temperature (Tign), by the
faster SP burning rate (rb) and
by the decrement of CCP
size. However, the low metal
content (around 90%), the
increment of SP slurry viscosity,
as well as direct and indirect
high cost (due to powder
production, and to handling
and health hazards), hinder
the large scale use of nAl. A
viable strategy to increase Al
reactivity, limiting problems
related to the use of nAl,
consists in treating the powder
by mechanical processes with
and without additives. In this
work, two techniques for the
mechanical activation (MA) of
Al (ball milling and mechanical
mixing) were investigated and
applied for the production
of mechanically activated Al
powders (ActAl). During the
preliminary step, a rationale
based on toxicity/generic
hazards, cost and potential
performance was carried out to
support the choice of activation
substances (Fe2O3, Co3O4,
and Cu2O). Similarly, the key
parameters influencing MA
were analyzed for the precise
definition of the activation
processes (3 ball milling and 1
mechanical mixing procedures).
Fifteen ActAl powders were
formulated and produced to
guarantee a low toxicity, a
good metal content, a good
stability, and a higher reactivity
than Al. Each manufactured
ingredient was analyzed as it
was and as ingredient in AP/
HTPB-based solid propellants.
Experimental data were then
crosschecked and compared to
those obtained using a standard
Al and two nAl powders.
All the ingredients treated by
ball milling exhibited strong
morphological variations
caused by the mechanical
action of the spheres.
Particles were characterized
by a flake shape with the
external surface crossed by
cracks (Fig. 1). The additive, if
used, was embedded inside
particles with an effectiveness
depending on the size and on
the specific treatment. The
particle shape of Al (spherical
or elongated with a regular
surface) was kept using the
mechanical mixing treatment.
SEM images underlined that
additives, when nanometric,
were homogeneously
dispersed on particle surface.
The powder behavior at
low and high heating rate
has been determined by
thermogravimetry and ignition
tests. Both the analyses
evidenced an enhanced
reactivity of ActAl, confirmed by
a reduction of Tign and by a total
mass gain up to 33% (6% was
the mass increment of the virgin
powder). ActAl metal content
was detected by a hydrolysis
technique and was comprised
between 93.5% and 97.5%,
then higher with respect to nAl
(86.6%-89.4% for the two
tested powders), but lower than
Al (99.2% for the considered
material).
Combustion tests were
performed in a strand burner
at 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 bar to
determine the effects of ActAl
on propellant rb and CCP size.
Solid propellants loaded with
ActAl exhibited an increment of
the burning rate with respect to
the baseline ranging from 17%
to 74% at 40 bar, depending
on both the treatment and the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
27
selected additive. Similarly SP
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
pressure sensitivity showed a
reduction up to 20% under
the investigated conditions.
With respect to ball milling
treatments, mechanical
mixing processes exhibited a
higher efficiency in increasing
propellant burning rate, but a
lower capability in decreasing
the pressure sensitivity. The
1. Particle morphology variation due to mechanical milling. ActAl particles
substitution of Al with assumed a typical flake conformation independently on the presence of an
ActAl brought to a consistent additive. SEM, magnification 2000X.
reduction of CCP mass
weighted mean diameter D43 key role played by the shape in safety characteristics similar to
(up to 70% at 10 bar and up to the reactivity enhancement of micrometric powders. When
60% at 40 bar), thus confirming ActAl. used as ingredients in SP, ActAl
a reactivity enhancement. The analyses of experimental shows a good capability in
As shown in Fig. 2, also D43 results evidence that MA is reducing the size of CCP and
variation exhibited a strong a good strategy to obtain offers the possibility to tailor
dependence on the additive and versatile and easily handling the propellant burning rate,
only a minor relation with the ingredients. ActAl exhibited by controlling the activation
specific activation procedure. a higher reactivity than Al, parameters.
An investigation of particle a good metal content and
morphology influence on Tign
of Al powder was performed
modelling the evolution of
a single isothermal particle
positioned in an ambient filled
with O2 and subjected to a slow
heating rate (up to 50 K/s).
The concept was based on an
energy balance and includes
both regular and irregular
particles. Three geometrical
families have been considered
for analyses: spheres, prolate
spheroids, and oblate spheroids. 2. CCP mass weighted mean diameter and burning rate at 40 bar for a series
Irregular particles, characterized of solid propellants loaded with Al, nAl and different ActAl. The activated
by a higher external surface, powders were processed by ball milling (BM) and by mechanical mixing (MM).
The figure shows the possibility to decrease propellant CCP size and to tailor
exhibited a lower Tign than the propellant burning rate, by using ActAl. Nanometric aluminum guaranteed
regular ones, confirming the a stronger CCP size reduction, but also a higher burning rate enhancement.
 28
EFFECT OF AL PARTICLE SHAPE ON SOLID ROCKET
PROPELLANTS
Marco Fassina - Supervisor: Prof. Luigi T. De Luca
Nowadays access to space is no
more a dream but a necessity.
Satellites orbit insertion is still
a tough issue, which presents
several technical and managerial
aspects to be optimized in the
mission project phase.
Solid propellant rocket motors
offer a good solution to some
questions concerning the
payload launch phase.
These propulsive systems
guarantee high performance,
readiness and reliability in
addition to relatively low costs;
on the other hand, liquid
propulsion systems, that are
their direct competitors, provide
higher performance and lower
environment impact at larger
cost and complexity.
This work is addressed
to the evaluation of Al
particle shape influence on
propellant properties, such
as viscosity, burning rate and
agglomeration, through the
analysis of the condensed
products. In order to obtain
more information about
ID D43 [m]
Al05a 42.70.5
Al06 66.40.7
Al05a-M 65.00.6
Al06-M 69.90.8
Al01i 0.1410.001
Table 1 - Al particle characterization results. Shape factors analyses were not applicable to Al01i.
this aspect that in the past
was never rigorously faced,
four different micrometric
powders have been tested
and compared. The powders
are the following: Al05a,
a typical Al powder used
for space applications, with
approximately spherical shape;
Al06, a commercial powder
with irregular flaky shape,
which does not find applications
in rocket propulsive systems;
Al05a-M and Al06-M, which
are the previous two powders
modified by a ball milling
process to enhance particle
irregularity. In addition to this
set of micrometric powders,
also a nanometric powder
(Al01i) has been introduced in
the comparison. This inclusion
was made to settle where the
increment of specific surface,
due to particle irregularity,
can be placedbetween a
micrometric and a nanometric
powder. To compare the
different powders, the
following characteristics have
FF AR
0.880.02 1.280.04 0.840.02
0.700.02 1.740.08 0.630.02
0.780.02 1.580.08 0.680.02
0.800.02 1.690.08 0.640.02
- - - -
been analyzed: granulometry,
performed with a laser
granulometer; active metal
content, by water bath, and
morphology, which required
the development of an ad hoc
technique based on optical
microscopy. To classify particle
morphology four dimensionless
parameters has been used: 1)
form factor (FF);2) aspect ratio
(AR);3) roundness (R); and 4)
compactness (C).
From the results obtained it is
possible to assert that Al05a
is the finest powder with the
highest metal content and
geometrically can be seen as
composed by particles similar to
spheres. For irregular powders,
also through SEM images, it can
be stated that particles which
compose Al06 powder can be
compared to prolate spheroids
while the milling process leads
to the formation of oblate
spheroids.
Since the interest of this work is
addressed to analyze the effect
of Al particle shape on solid
Metal
R C
content [%]
0.900.02 99.50.3 The analyses carried out
0.790.02 98.00.4 residuals were addressed to
0.820.02 97.60.8 determine their particle size
0.790.02 95.20.8 distributions and their chemical
88.70.2
rocket propellant features, the
corresponding propellants have
been manufactured.
The manufacture has been
done using a resonant acoustic
mixer, developing a dedicated
procedure for propellant
production. Resonant acoustic
mixers offer some advantages
with respect to mechanical
mixers, such as, for instance,
continuous vacuum mixing
and reduced contaminations.
The composition used for
propellant production is 68% of
Ammonium Perchlorate, 18%
of Al and 14% of binder.
The propellant characteristics
analyzed are: burning rate,
agglomeration process, through
the analyses of condensed
combustion products (CCPs),
and uncured propellant viscosity.
Burning rate has been
evaluated using the windowed
strand burner technique and
expressing results in the form of
the standard Vieilles law.
A significant improvement
to the technique used to
collect and analyze condensed
combustion products has been
done during the prosecution of
this work.
species identified in CCPs are
on condensed combustion
and the crystalline phases are
Al0, a-alumina, g-aluminaand
d*-alumina.
compositions.
Burning rate tests show that
the propellant P-Al05a has the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
29
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
1. CCPs mean volumetric diameters versus pressure. Particles have been
analyzed with a laser granulometer, adopting the Fraunhofer approximation.
lowest performance in terms propellants produced with
of burning rate and ballistic milled powders, while decreases
exponent, which expresses the with pressure for the propellant
pressure sensitivity to pressure loaded with nano-aluminum.
changes. Once the CCPs chemical
The most interesting results composition is known, it
have been shown by the is possible to estimate the
propellant P-Al06, which refractive index in order to
evidences the lowest ballistic obtain finer results from the
exponent. granulometric analyses.
Concerning the propellants Numerical simulations were
loaded with micrometric carried out to evaluate two-
Al powders, CCPs mean phase flow losses, which
volumetric diameters decrease represent the most important
with pressure, while for source of loss for solid rocket
the propellant loaded with motors.
nanometric powder CCPs mean The code developed at SPLab is
size shows pressure insensitivity able to track particle evolution
(over 10 bar), as can be seen inside the combustion chamber
from the results shown in Figure and the nozzle, simulating
1. different interaction between
Chemical analyses (XRD and gas and particles as well
EDX) showed that the principal as between particles. The
phenomena simulated include
aluminum, oxygen and carbon, combustion, fragmentation and
collision.
Combustion efficiency
grows with pressure and
is systematically higher for
30
Aeroservoelastic Modeling and Control in
Presence of Freeplay
Sebastiano Fichera - Advisor: Prof. Sergio Ricci
Freeplay is one of the most
important nonlinearities that
affect the control surfaces
of the aircrafts; it can induce
flutter phenomena and limit
the performances of the
same airplane. To investigate
the effect of control surface
freeplay, an aeroelastic wind
tunnel model of a T-tail was
developed. A variable amplitude
freeplay was introduced in the
control chain by a specifically
designed linkage. The numerical
models were built, according
to the modern aeroelastic
approach, describing the
dynamics of the tail by a state
space system with a lumped
nonlinearity.
Introduction
The research on nonlinear
aeroelasticity and, in
particular, on control surface
freeplay, is motivated by the
significant number of cases
known in the literature of
aircrafts that have experienced
Limit Cycle Oscillations (LCO)
caused by it. In fact, freeplay
in the control chains may
arise as consequence of many
factors, including wear of
the parts during the aircrafts
life. In order to perform
numerical and experimental
investigations, a wind tunnel
model of a T-tail equipped
with the rudder and the
control system was designed
and manufactured.
Experimental rig
The T-tail unit considered in this
work is the one of the X-DIA, an
aeroelastic model representative
of a nonconventional three
surfaces regional jet (called
Target Aircraft), intensively
investigated in the last few years
at the Department of Aerospace
Science and Technology of
Politecnico di Milano.
The model is composed by
dynamically scaled aluminium
alloy spars, which are inserted
in a series of aerodynamic
sectors made by styrofoam
covered with a carbon fiber
skins. In order to have a
variable amplitude freeplay, a
mechanism was introduced in
the control chain between the
actuator and the rudder; it is
composed by a rigid linkage
connected with the rudder and
that ends with a pin that is
slipped into a fork connected
with the gear of the electric
motor used to actuate the
movable surface.
1. T-tail aeroelastically scaled wind
tunnel model.
Numerical models
The T-tail State Space (SS)
matrices are built using the
structural Finite Element model
and the aerodynamic DLM, both
developed in MSC.Nastran.
The SS model is a Reduced
Order Model (ROM) with the
basis made by the free surface
rigid mode plus the significant
elastic modes. The frequency
domain aerodynamic matrix
is transformed into a finite
state space realization by using
Rogers algorithm.
The linear aeroelastic behaviour
of the model is shown in
the numerical V-g/V-f flutter
diagrams (see figure 2)
computed with the free surface.
The first (11.63 Hz) and the
second (23.22 Hz) fin bending
modes cross the zero damping
line respectively at 47 m/s and
78 m/s.
The direct integrated (time
marching) model was designed
by assembling the structural and
the aerodynamic state space
systems. The nonlinearity was
introduced as a lumped element
in the feedback loop by using a
penalty function approach.
The model is time-varying
velocity in order to be able
to reproduce the effect of an
increase (or decrease) of the
free stream speed during the
simulation.
A High Order Harmonic Balance
(HOHB) was developed as well.
The method approximates the
2. V-g V-f diagrams.
response of a given nonlinear
system, which is undergoing
LCOs, with a Fourier series
leading to a set of nonlinear
algebraic equations that can be
solved by an iterative method.
Once the numerical models were
validated, an alternative control
algorithm for vibration reduction
was developed.
Experimental tests
Wind tunnel tests were
conducted on the experimental
rig in order to tune the FE
model and to validate both
the numerical models. The
3. LCO amplitude, NI - Experimental - HOHB comparison
1.
acquisition and control of the
system was handled by a hard
real-time tool called RTAI.
Results
The experimental results, as
well as the numerical, show the
typical trends for a nonlinear
aeroelastic model.
Figure 3 shows the LCO
amplitude trend increasing the
airspeed. The HOHB, as the
numerical integrated model and
the experimental data, depicts
two regions: the first is the
consequence of the flutter of
the first bending mode, while
4. LCO portraits at 50 m/s, NI - Experimental - HOHB
comparison 1.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
31
the second is a combination of
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the first and the second mode
flutters.
The portraits comparisons are
shown in figure 4. It is possible
to see a good agreement of the
trends even if the HOHB is not
completely able to catch the
peaks due to the foldings of
freeplay stiffness.
Conclusion
This work presented different
methods for the study of
nonlinear systems. The results
of a numerical integrated model
and a HOHB procedure are
compared with experimental
data for a T-tail in presence
of freeplay nonlinearity in the
rudders control chain. The
methods shown to be able to
catch the correct solution for the
nonlinear system.
32
Vibration analysis of laminated composite
plates and shells using a spectral method
Amir Hossein Mohazzab - Supervisor: Lorenzo Dozio
Accurate yet efficient modeling
and solution of plate and shell
structures can be considered a
classical problem in structural
mechanics. Over the last fifty
years, researchers proposed
many different approaches to
face this problem, urged by
the increasing adoption of flat
and curved panels as structural
elements in a large variety
of engineering applications.
For example, rectangular,
skew, annular, cylindrical and
spherical panels are important
components of built-up aircraft
and spacecraft structures. Plate
and shell structures are also
widely applied in automotive,
marine and civil engineering
disciplines. In the last three
decades, the design of plate and
shell structures has known new
exciting opportunities by the
usage of composite materials.
Composite laminated plate and
shells offer higher stiffness/
strength to weight ratios than
most metallic constructions and
today they are fairly common
in advanced engineering
applications such as aerospace
systems.
In service, laminated panels are
typically subjected to various
dynamic loads, and it is crucial
that their dynamic response
is well predicted from the
design stage onwards in order
to assure their integrity and
stability. The accuracy of free
vibration analysis of laminated
plates and shells mainly relies
on two aspects. The first issue
is related to the assumptions
and simplifications adopted
in the mathematical model
of the structural component.
The second aspect involves the
method selected to solve the
governing equations of the
problem.
Models of flat and curved
panels based upon the three
dimensional (3-D) theory of
elasticity can be considered as
the most accurate, since no
overly simplified assumptions
are introduced in describing the
kinematics of deformations. As
such, 3-D models are suitable for
plates and shells of any thickness
ratio and any shallowness ratio,
ranging from thin and shallow to
thick and deep shells vibrating at
low to high frequency. However,
a full 3-D dynamic analysis,
especially for composite plates
and shells, is rather complicated
and time consuming. Therefore,
so-called plate theories aimed
at reducing the problem from
three to two dimensions have
been introduced by employing
appropriate assumptions on the
displacement behavior in the
thickness direction.
Many different displacement-
based two-dimensional (2-
D) theories for laminated
panels are available. Generally
speaking, we can distinguish
between equivalent single-
layer (ESL) and layerwise (LW)
theories, including or not shear
deformation, rotary inertia and
thickness stretching factors.
ESL approaches assume a
proper overall kinematic field
throughout the thickness of the
laminated structure, whereas
an independent displacement
field is postulated for each
layer in a LW framework
and appropriate continuity
conditions are imposed at each
layer interface. Typically, both
ESL and LW kinematic fields
are expressed as complete
polynomial series expansion
of the thickness coordinate
and the highest power of the
assumed polynomial set is
generally referred to as the
order of the theory. Owing to
their intrinsic simplifications,
2-D theories provide reliable
models for a limited range of
thickness ratios, frequency
values and through-the-
thickness variation of material
properties. The accuracy usually
degrades as the wavelength
of the vibration mode is of
the order of magnitude of
the panel thickness and as
the variation of mechanical
properties through the thickness
direction increases like the case
of sandwich panels. This loss
of accuracy can be successfully
compensated by using theories
of higher order and/or relying on
a LW approach, with the price
of increasing the complexity
and computational cost of the
resulting models. Frequently, the
knowledge in advance of the
correct shell theory balancing
the accuracy and computational
burden for the specific problem
under investigation can be a
hard task. A unified modeling
framework capable of tailoring
the order and typology of the
shell theory without the need of
a new modeling effort each time
would be highly desirable.
The other important aspect
related to the computation of
natural frequencies of laminated
panels is the method adopted to
solve the equations governing
the dynamic problem. Again,
many different approaches are
available in the literature. Exact
solutions satisfying both the
differential equations and the
boundary conditions are possible
only for a limited set of plate
and shell geometries, boundary
conditions and lamination
sequences. In most practical
situations, one must rely on
approximate methods. The
most common and traditional
approaches include the Ritz
method and the finite element
method (FEM). For simple
structures, the Ritz method
shows better convergence
and less computational need
than FEM. However, the FEM
overcomes the limitations of
the Ritz method in dealing
with complicated boundary
conditions and complex
shapes. More recently, new
emerging meshless methods
are increasingly applied to
the analysis of plate and shell
problems with the aim of
eliminating some difficulties
existing in FEM such as mesh
distortion and remeshing.
The scope of this thesis is to
present an advanced modeling
and solution framework for
the free vibration analysis of
both thin and thick, deep
and shallow laminated panels
with different combinations
of boundary conditions. The
range of applicability of the
resulting tool is similar to a
fully 3-D analysis, with also the
possibility of using economical
low-order theories when more
refined models are not required.
Therefore, the balance between
accuracy and computational
savings can be tailored on the
specific application under study.
The modeling aspect exploits
the power and versatility of the
Carreras unified formulation,
which provides a smart way of
handling arbitrary refinements
of classical plate theories. The
discretization of the problem to
obtain an approximate solution
of the natural frequencies is
performed by the spectral
collocation method, which is
capable of providing relatively
light discretized models to be
profitably used in extensive
optimization and parametric
studies.
The spectral collocation method
used here, also known as
Chebyshev collocation method
or pseudospectral method, can
be considered to be a global
spectral method that performs
a collocation process, i.e.,
weighting functions are delta
functions centered at special
grid points called collocation
points. Since the mathematical
formulation is simple and
powerful enough to produce
approximate solutions close
to exact values, this method
has been largely adopted
with success in solving partial
differential equations governing
many physical phenomena such
as fluid dynamics and wave
motion. It was also used in some
applications for the solution of
PhD Yearbook | 2015
structural mechanics problems.
The thesis discusses many
different plate and shell
structures, ranging from
rectangular to skew and
circular sector plates, including
cylindrical, spherical and
conical shells. For all cases,
the analysis is performed for 33
various combinations of free,
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simply-supported and clamped
boundary conditions. Some
studies are also provided for
structures involving elastically
restrained edges. Both single-
layer isotropic and multi-layered
orthotropic plates and shells are
considered. It is shown, through
a huge number of comparisons
with fully 3-D analyses and
other references based on 2-D
approaches, that the present
computational framework is
efficient, versatile and accurate.
In particular, it is observed that
stringent requirements on the
accuracy of the computed
frequency values can be satisfied
only by 2-D high-order layerwise
models, in particular when thick
and deep anisotropic curved
panels are considered. However,
the present approach can also
allow building less costly low-
order equivalent single-layer
models when a more refined
analysis is not required for the
specific case under investigation.
34
High Order Methods for Space Situational
Awareness
Alessandro Morselli - Supervisor: Franco Bernelli Zazzera
The era of space exploration
started in 1957 with the launch
of the first manmade object,
the soviet satellite Sputnik I.
Since then a large number of
manmade objects was launched
into space, and many of them
are still orbiting the Earth.
The large majority of objects
currently orbiting the Earth
is a result of fragmentations,
mostly caused by collisions and
explosions. These events can
have catastrophic effects on the
near-Earth environment: they
increase the number of objects
and, thus, the probability of
further collisions, potentially
leading to a collisional cascade.
This scenario is named Kesslers
syndrome after the name of the
scientist that first analysed the
effects of the increasing density
of resident space objects.
Mitigation guidelines have
been published by various
organisations such as the
Inter-Agency Space Debris
Coordination Committee
(IADC) and the United Nations
(UN). The general aim of space
debris mitigation is to reduce
the growth of space debris by
ensuring that space systems
are designed, operated, and
disposed of in a manner that
prevents them from generating
debris throughout their orbital
lifetime. In parallel specific
space programs were started to
build the expertise required to
manage the challenges posed
by the space traffic control
problem.
The thesis deals with the
development of new methods
for the Space Surveillance and
Tracking of the near-Earth
environment. All the relevant
aspects of the problem are
addressed: orbit propagation,
orbit determination, conjunction
identification, collision
probability estimation, and
collision avoidance manoeuvre
design. The main goal was to
implement innovative methods
to propagate uncertainties in
an efficient and accurate way,
which is a major problem when
dealing with a large amount of
data.
1. Research activity: workflow and
interconnections between developed
algorithms.
In this framework, differential
algebraic techniques are
used to perform nonlinear
propagation of uncertainties on
the orbital state and to speed-
up computational demanding
simulations, such as Monte
Carlo methods. An introduction
to Differential Algebra (DA) and
its tools, as well as a description
of the high-order DA-based
propagators developed, is given
in the first part of the work. In
particular, the first ever high-
accuracy DA-based numerical
propagator is developed, using
some of the most recent models
for Earth gravitational field and
atmosphere density.
Then, the problem of orbit
determination is addressed. A
novel algorithm based on batch
least square fit that can process
measurements from a bistatic
radar with a multibeaming
receiver is analysed. The
algorithm is capable of
estimating, with a single
measurement, the whole set
of six orbital parameters, with
a good accuracy on the orbital
position. By adding optical
measurements the estimate gets
closer to the reference state and
the ballistic coefficient can be
estimated as well.
Two algorithms for the
conjunction identification are
proposed: the first is based on
the DA-version of the analytical
propagator SGP4/SDP4 and
the rigorous global optimizer
COSY-GO. The choice of the
objective function is such that
all stationary points of the
relative distance between the
two objects can be computed
in the time window of interest
with a computational time that
ranges from a few to tens of
seconds. The second algorithm
uses the procedure for the
DA expansion of the time and
distance of closest approach.
The advantage of this approach
is that it provides the polynomial
approximation of the distance
of closest approach with respect
to the uncertain initial states of
both objects, that can be used
to efficiently compute collision
probabilities.
The three methods for the
collision probability computation
exploit the availability of the
DA expansion of the distance
of closest approach to perform
fast Monte Carlo simulations.
The numerical simulations to
compute the minimum relative
distance for each sample of
the simulation are replaced by
fast polynomial evaluations. A
DA-based standard Monte Carlo
method and two advanced
Monte Carlo techniques, Line
Sampling and Subset Simulation,
are used. These advanced
techniques limit the number of
samples required to compute
sufficiently accurate estimates of
the collision probability, which
is usually well below 10-3. Since
they are based on polynomial
evaluations, the methods allow
for large computational time
savings. As an example when
1000 samples are required the
computation time can be reduce
by two order of magnitude.
Besides enabling the collision
probability computation in a
Monte Carlo fashion, without
any assumption on relative
dynamics as in the classical
algorithms, the developed
methods can be used with
any statistics, such as uniform
distribution or Gaussian
mixtures.
The design of collision avoidance
manoeuvres is tackled as a multi-
objective optimization problem,
using a particle swarm optimizer.
Two approaches are analysed,
the first is based on SGP4/SDP4
and the corresponding method
for conjunction identification,
whereas the other uses the DA-
based numerical propagator and
the expansion of the distance of
closest approach with respect
to the execution time and the
manoeuvre velocity vector. The
optimization returns a set of
fuel-efficient manoeuvres that
2. Computational time of DAMC, DALS, and DASS vs. collision probability.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
35
can raise the miss-distance and
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decrease collision probability
besides being compliant with
mission constraints.
Overall, the proposed
algorithms can be combined
in comprehensive DA-based
Space Surveillance and Tracking
tool. The tool would be able to
manage the uncertainties by
considering the nonlinearities
arising from orbit determination
and orbit propagation and could
produce accurate estimations
of the collision probability to
rank close conjunctions. More
in general, the tool would
support in the management
of space traffic, re-entry, and
observation scheduling. In
the scope of the mitigation
guidelines, any improvement in
handling such operations will
have beneficial effects on space
debris population control and
the future exploitation of space.
36
Vibration-Based Damage Identification
Techniques
Kamal Rezvani - Supervisor: Prof. Sergio Ricci
Higher operational loads, greater
complexity of design and longer
lifetime periods imposed in
civil, mechanical and aerospace
structures, make it increasingly
important to monitor the health
of these structures.
A wide variety of highly
effective non-destructive
methods, such as acoustic or
ultrasonic methods, magnet
field methods, penetrating
liquids, eddy-current methods
or thermal field methods,
and so on, are currently
available for the detection of
defects. Unfortunately, they
are all localized techniques,
implying long and expensive
inspection time; often,
structural components are not
inspected just because of their
inaccessibility and damage
can propagate to critical levels
between the inspection intervals.
The drawbacks of current
inspection techniques have
led engineers to investigate
new methods for continuous
monitoring and global condition
assessment of structures. That is
the case for methods based on
vibration responses that allow
one to obtain meaningful time
and/or frequency domain data
and calculate changes in the
structural and modal properties,
such as resonance frequencies,
modal damping and mode
shapes, FRF based methods, and
use them with the objective of
developing reliable techniques
to detect, locate and quantify
damage.
The fundamental idea of
the vibration methods for
damage detection is that
modal parameters (natural
frequencies, mode shapes, and
modal damping) are functions
of the physical properties of the
structure (mass, damping, and
stiffness). Therefore, changes
in the physical properties will
cause detectable changes in
the modal properties. So, this
process involves the observation
of a structure/system over time
using periodical measurements.
In other words, most vibration-
based damage detection
methods can be considered
as some form of the pattern
recognition problem as they look
1. Experimental test setup of steel beam
for the discrimination between
two or more signal categories,
e.g. before and after a structure
is damaged or differences in the
damage levels or locations.
The work here presented
addresses the subjects of
damage detection, localization
and quantification in structures.
The reported examples show the
implementation and comparison
of a number of various damage
detection and localization
methods based on vibration
responses changes.
The objective of such a study
is to ascertain the possibility of
using various damage detection
and localization methods with
and without the need for modal
identification. In recent years,
the authors have developed
some simple methods and tools
based upon the use of mode
shapes and frequency response
functions (FRFs), which seem
promising and have given
good results in some practical
applications. The advantage
of using such methods, which
is based on mode shapes,
is that only measured mode
shapes are required in damage
identification, without having to
know the complete stiffness and
mass matrices of the structure.
To use of directly measured
FRFs data, which provide an
abundance of information,
is further beneficial as the
execution of experimental modal
analysis is not needed, thus
greatly reducing human induced
errors. Here, all methods are
first tested on data of a simple
steel beam structure (see Figure
1) to assess their feasibility and
performance. Then all proposed
methods are applied to a
more complicated structure, a
a) LMS Hammer Testing
2. Experimental test setups of typical aircraft aluminum stiffened panel.
typical aircraft stiffened panel,
for extension and validation
purposes.
All developed methodologies are
verified by numerical simulations
and laboratory testing for both
structure. As defects, notch type
damage of different severity
are investigated for the beam
structure.
For the panel structure four
different types of structural
change are studied. i.e. remove
some screw for disconnecting
the stiffener from the panel
and create a saw cut along the
all the depth of the height of
second stiffener. FRFs of panel
in each state are recorded by
two measurement systems
(see Figure 2, LMS Hammer
Testing and PSV-Laser Scanner
Vibrometer) and for each
scenarios the related mode
shapes are extracted by
PolyMAX algorithm of LMS
Testlab software.
In addition, numerical simulated
b) PSV-Laser Scanner Vibrometer
examples, after correlation
PhD Yearbook | 2015
with the real experimental one,
of both mentioned structures
will be used, as well as an
experimental test cases, where
damage is inflicted in a free-free
condition. To simulate noise
disturbances experienced during
the experimental testing, for
the numerical simulations of 37
example beam, measurement
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data generated by MSC/Nastran
are polluted with 3% of random
noise level.
The study shows the potential
of the proposed methods for
simple and rapid detection,
accurate and reliable localization
and monitoring of damage in
structures.
The reported examples also
show that some proposed
methods (i.e. PCA based,
Transmissibility based) are highly
capable for damage detection
and localization and structural
health monitoring even in the
noise polluted data.
38
MODEL IDENTIFICATION AND CONTROL OF
VARIABLE PITCH QUADROTOR UAVs
Fabio Riccardi - Advisor: Prof. Marco Lovera - Co-Advisor: Prof. Carlo Luigi Bottasso
The interest in quadrotors as
platforms for both research and
commercial Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle (UAV) applications is
steadily increasing. In particular,
some of the envisaged
applications for quadrotors
lead to tight performance
requirements on the attitude
control system, so wide
bandwidth controllers must
be designed. This, in turn,
calls for increasingly accurate
dynamics models of the vehicles
response to which advanced
controller synthesis approaches
can be applied. In view of these
considerations the main goal
of this thesis work was the
development of an integrated,
highly automated procedure,
and relative tool chain, aimed at
a fast and reliable deployment
of the attitude control system
for variable pitch quadrotors,
encompassing identification of
linear control-oriented model
for the attitude response and
optimization-based tuning for
the parameters of the on-board
controller structure. The research
activities were carried out
exploiting the collaboration with
AERMATICA SpA: a quadrotor
prototype, with relative ground
systems and laboratory bench
test have been made available
from company, together with all
necessary vehicle data.
Proper identification experiments
of the pitch attitude dynamics
in hovering were designed,
adopting a PRBS excitation
command, and conducted on
a quadrotor prototype, in both
on laboratory bench test and in
flight conditions. The gathered
data was used to feed a number
of different identification
methods, exploring both black-
box and grey-box approaches,
to obtain LTI control-oriented
models. From an exhaustive
comparison of the obtained
pitch attitude dynamics models
performance in replicating the
experimental data, the black-
box PBSID subspace method
appears to be the best candidate
for the identification part of the
procedure: it is able to dealing
with data generated in closed-
loop and it is computationally
efficient. Moreover PBSID
identified models demonstrate
that operating the quadrotor
constrained on single DoF
test-bed is representative of
the actual attitude hovering
dynamics in flight: the n-gap
analysis between the two
different conditions models
assures that the controller
synthesis using the on test-bed
model will guarantee acceptable
performance also when applied
on in flight one.
Concerning the control synthesis
part of the tool chain, it was
preferred to maintain the
preexisting attitude controller
scheme (cascade PID loops)
adopted on-board of considered
quadrotor, in order to work
in continuity and accelerating
the implementation process.
Therefore the robust control
design approach selected was
the structured H: optimal
tuning of the PIDs parameters
was determined assigning
desired closed-loop stability
and performance requirements,
aimed to improve the vehicle
wind gust rejection capability
compared to previous tuning,
obtained with a manual trial and
error process executed directly
on the vehicle, and replicate its
set point tracking performance
considered already adequate.
The structured H synthesis
was applied on both on test-
bed and in flight identified
PBSID models of attitude pitch
dynamics in hovering: the
results obtained in simulation
demonstrate the requirements
fulfillment and above all the
optimal tuning obtained with
the test-bed model in the
loop can be applied also in
flight with a non-significant
loss in control performance,
hence the attitude controller
tuning can be achieved using
models obtained in safe (and
more repeatable) identification
experiments executed indoor
on the test-bed, avoiding a risky
and time-consuming in flight
identification test campaign.
The performance in terms
of set point tracking, for the
optimal tuning obtained with on
test-bed model, was evaluated
experimentally on the quadrotor
in bench test condition: results
confirm the behavior expected
from simulations. Moreover
the robustness assessment of
obtained optimal tuning set
respect to identified models
uncertainties (evaluated through
a bootstrap based technique)
was achieved, performing
a Monte Carlo simulations
campaign.
In conclusion the entire control
design process, specifically
addressed to near hovering
condition (quadrotors mainly
operate in this flying regime
during typical missions), was
developed and successfully
applied to the real case of
considered quadrotor pitch
attitude DoF (with results
applicable also for roll
considering the geometrical
symmetry of the vehicle). In
order to obtain a final validation
of the procedure, optimal tuning
parameters (in both cases, using
on test-bed and in flight models)
will be applied on-board,
testing the considered vehicle
control performance in flight,
also in presence of wind gust.
To complete the tool chain the
work will be naturally extended
to the yaw DoF. The use of the
developed approach represents
a valid and faster alternative to
the manual empirical process
for attitude controller tuning
and would be included in
AERMATICA control design
and development process in
the near future. As future work
extension, a similar integrated
procedure may be developed for
the translational quadrotor DoFs,
clearly without the possibility
to perform identification
experiments on bench test.
The secondary topic addressed in
this thesis was the development
of an emergency maneuver
to safely recover a one rotor
fault occurrence for a variable
pitch quadrotor. The capability
of dealing with faults is crucial
for UAVs, especially when
the vehicle has to operate in
critical missions, e.g., flying
above populated areas or in
proximity of industrial plants
sensitive facilities, where the
ability to safely conclude the
flight without hurting people
or causing damages could be
mandatory. Moreover strict
safety requirements are expected
to be imposed by forthcoming
regulations about the use of
small-medium size UAV for
civil applications. The vehicle
dynamics modeling with three
working rotors was discussed:
a single DoF model for the yaw
was developed, characterizing
the vehicle spin dynamics
and validated through a test
campaign on a proper bench
test. Hence the vertical DoF
dynamics was added to yaw,
adopting a proper model for the
rotor inflow in descent operating
states where the momentum
theory in invalid (Vortex Ring
State and Turbulent Wake
State). The reliability of adopted
rotor aerodynamics model was
demonstrated through a wind
tunnel test campaign conducted
on isolated rotor. Concerning
the roll/pitch attitude control
strategy to perform the
proposed emergency maneuver,
the problem of maintaining
the pitch (or roll) angular set-
point when one of the two
opposite rotor of longitudinal
(or lateral) quadrotor axis
goes into fault (avoiding the
vehicle turn over at the thrust
loss instant) was tackled,
exploiting the capability to
generate negative rotor thrust,
peculiar feature of variable
PhD Yearbook | 2015
pitch architecture in comparison
with the most common
variable RPM implementation.
An experimental campaign
operating the vehicle on the
single pitch (or roll) DoF was
carried out, replicating a rotor
fault commanding a power-off:
the results demonstrate that the 39
implemented strategy is able to
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
avoid vehicle flip.
In order to complete the
validation of the proposed
one rotor fault recovery
automatic maneuver, with the
aim of implement the feature
on AERMATICA vehicles,
incremental complexity future
activities are planned before
the final test in flight. The next
step will be the testing of roll
and pitch control with a faulty
rotor when the spin about yaw
axis is present, safely operating
the quadrotor on a proper 3
DoFs test-bed constraining only
the vehicle translations and
freeing concurrently the three
rotations. A further work will be
the development of a complete
simulation environment, to
conduct a comprehensive
validation of the emergency
maneuver, considering also the
vertical and longitudinal/lateral
dynamics.
40
Hybrid Rocket Propulsion for Active
Removal of Large Abandoned Objects
Pietro Tadini - Relatore: Luigi. T. De Luca
During the last 40 years, the
mass of orbital artificial objects
increased quite steadily leading
to a total of about 6670 metric
tons. Most of the cross-sectional
area and mass (97% in low
Earth orbit, LEO) is concentrated
in about 4500 intact objects,
i.e. abandoned spacecraft (S/C)
and rocket bodies (R/Bs), plus a
further 1000 operational S/C.
According to NASA results,
the active yearly removal of 5
large abandoned intact objects
would be sufficient to stabilize
the debris growth in LEO,
together with the worldwide
application of mitigation
measures. However, besides
legal and political issues,
Active Debris Removal (ADR) is
strongly hampered by high costs
involved. In this research, hybrid
rocket propulsion is proposed
as a valuable option for ADR
missions. This technology has
advantageous features: non-
toxic propellants that, besides
their lower price, reduce
the complexity of handling,
storability and load operations,
decreasing the connected
costs and avoiding the need of
a special staff; throttleability
which could favor the
rendezvous phase and allows
for soft initial accelerations to
weak S/C targets; reignition
capability for multi-burns
operations. For an ADR
mission the propellant couple
HTPB+H2O2 might represent
an ideal solution. In fact, HTPB
boast of high mechanical and
aging properties and isotropic
combustion, whereas the hot
gases generated by the catalytic
decomposition of H2O2, at high
concentration (90%), can be
exploited for the HTPB ignition
and reignition, as well as for a
Reaction Control System (RCS),
spilling from the same main
tank. Moreover, this propellant
couple theoretically causes a
lower nozzle throat erosion
with respect to HTPB with
pure oxygen oxidizer. However,
hybrid propulsion has not been
tested in orbital environment
yet (low TRL). Concerning
the ADR mission two targets
are considered: Envisat (7.8t)
and Cosmos-3M 2nd stage
(1.4t). The first is characterized
by the highest removal
priority, the second is a good
candidate for multi-removal
and demonstrative missions,
due to its large number in LEO
(~300); the same developed
technology might be used to
remove larger abandoned R/
Bs, such as the Zenit 2nd stage
(8.9t). Controlled reentry is
the preferred solution for the
disposal of large objects; a single
boost maneuver is assumed
to lower the perigee below
60 km with a FPA< -1.5 at
an interface of 120 km. A V
of 200 m/s is required starting
from an orbit of about 770 km.
The mission is performed by a
de-orbiting kit (DeoKit) made
by a Hybrid Propulsion Module
(HPM) and an ADR platform,
which loads all the systems for
mission control, object capture
and RCS. In order to evaluate
hybrid propulsion for ADR, a
design tool for overall internal
ballistics analysis and preliminary
sizing was implemented,
based on the same approach
recently suggested by Funami
and Shimada (Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency). The code
uses moderately complex
models and allows to estimate
the fuel regression rate for
the couple HTPB+H2O2, for
which no data are presently
available in literature. The
flow field is described by
the Q1D compressible non
viscous Euler equations with
a conservation equation for
the mixture fraction. The
calculation domain consists of
the combustion chamber and
a nozzle. The solid fuel has a
single circular perforation. The
mass addition from the solid
fuel surface is considered as a
source term, in which the fuel
mass flux is evaluated with the
Marxman model, assuming
pure convective regime. The
code considers only the gaseous
phase for both the fuel and
oxidizer. Chemical equilibrium
is applied for the combustion
considering 9 chemical species
to simulate both HTPB+O2 and
HTPB+H2O2. The domain is
discretized by finite elements,
using MUSCL+Limiter method
for high order accuracy in space
solution. AUSMDV is used for
numerical flux evaluation. The
time integration is performed
by a two-stage Runge-Kutta
method. The time evolution
of the chamber conditions
is achieved by compiling the
convergence results, providing
a quasi-static description of
the regression rate during
combustion. For validation
purpose, the regression rate
rf estimated with Marxman
model was compared with
experimental results for
HTPB+O2, obtaining an
underestimates of about 16%
at high mass flux (Gox) and up
to 50% at low Gox. This lack
can lay at both the effects of
injection geometry, which,
in the real case, can produce
significant differences from
Marxmans theory, and the
use of a pure convective heat
transfer (soot particles cause an
important radiation contribute).
However, the computed rf range
is assumed acceptable for the
conservative preliminary design
and propellant mass budget
of a HPM. The ideal motor
performance evaluated for pure
H2O2 is reduced considering
the oxidizer dilution (90%), the
Bray approximation for nozzle
expansion, and the nozzle
multi-dimensional losses, by
means of a correction factors
PhD Yearbook | 2015
2 3
Mid-range Capture and
Disposal 4
1 rendezvous Mating
DeoKit released
by the Launcher 41
Upper Stage
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
1. ADR mission profile description. The DeoKit is assumed to be released by a
launcher upper stage on the same orbital plane of the selected target. Rocket
bodies, such as Cosmos-3M 2nd stage, reveal two possible connection points:
nozzle or payload adapter.
database estimated with to reduce the HPM mass and
NASA CEA. Throat erosion size, combustion times and
is introduced through the accelerations. In case of S/C, the
numerical simulation results of stresses to the structure must
Bianchi and Nasuti (La Sapienza, be limited to avoid the breaking
Rome). The motor design aims risk of external appendages
at minimizing the size and (i.e. solar panels, etc.). The
masses, keeping low combustion acceleration achieved are
times (<100 s) since HPM nozzle below 0.14g. Envisat might be
is not cooled to avoid the need removed by an HPM of 1260
of an expensive system. From kg (DeoKit 1771 kg). Soyuz
the design analysis, the highest can load two DeoKits. Hybrid
performance (Is) is achieved propulsion might represent a
with a length-to-diameter key choice for ADR applications.
ratios (L/D) of about 12 for the To overcome the lack of on-
solid grain, resulting in a long orbit demonstration, a possible
and thin motors, and relatively approach could be to equip
low oxidizer mass flow rates. new satellites with small hybrid
Single-burn maneuvers can be motors able to perform their
used for low V budgets, while post-mission disposal.
higher Vs require a multi-burn
strategy to satisfy the burn time
constraint. Finally, the HPMs for
the selected targets assumes a
V of 240 m/s. The Cosmos-3M
might be removed by an HPM
of 258 kg (DeoKit 566.8 kg),
with a single-boost maneuver.
Vega can load 2 DeoKits, while
the Soyuz Launcher up to 6,
allowing for multi-removal
scenario. For Envisat removal a
two-burns disposal is preferred
42
Paraffin-Based Solid Fuels: a Low Cost and
Green Solution for the Competitiveness of
Hybrid Rocket Propulsion Systems
Elena Toson - Supervisor: Prof. Luigi T. De Luca
Due to their potential for high
performance, inherent safety,
throttling and restart capability
and low development costs,
hybrid rocket engines are
believed to be good candidates
for launcher boosters, suborbital
launchers and landers and
in particular for in-space
propulsion applications. In
order to be competitive with
the other chemical rocket
propulsion systems, i.e. liquid
rocket engines and solid
rocket motors, hybrid rocket
engines should maintain high
performance while preserving
their features. Moreover even
if the environmental impact
is not directly affecting the
system performance, it is of
fundamental importance in
light of present regulatory
requirements and its effect on
society, so the possibility to
select low cost and non-toxic
fuels makes this technology even
more interesting.
In order to perform a
comprehensive analysis of hybrid
rocket engine design trends and
demonstrate their potential, a
design/optimization tool for in-
space, single stage hybrid rocket
propulsion system is developed.
Hydrogen peroxide/paraffin-
based propellant combination
and a lunar mission are selected
as the reference case. Spacecraft
gross mass (defined as the sum
of the payload mass - everything
except the propulsion system -,
the propulsion system structural
mass and the propellant
mass) to payload mass ratio is
minimized over key propulsion
variables such as the chamber
pressure, oxidizer to fuel ratio
O/F, nozzle area ratio and
burning time. Sensitivity analyses
on geometrical constraints, fuel
regression rate, O/F shift, nozzle
erosion rate, were performed.
Major findings show that:
the fuel regression rate has
the highest influence on the
engine size and gross mass, but
it should be underlined that
the minimum cost function
value is not reached for the
highest considered regression
rate; the nozzle erosion rate
also has a high influence on
the performance due to the
decreasing nozzle expansion
ratio during the engine burn,
resulting in a lower delivered
specific impulse; the O/F shift,
caused by the variability of
the fuel mass flow during
combustion, does not have a
strong effect on the system
performance. Calculations
were also carried out with the
hydrogen peroxide/hydroxyl
terminated polybutadiene
(HTPB) propellant combination.
For this slow burning fuel,
both single port and multiport
geometries were considered.
The comparison points out
that for this fuel, the single
port configuration results in
really high mass ratio based
cost function and too long
combustion chamber. The
multiport configuration can help
in terms of decreasing L/D of the
engine, but the cost function
still remains much higher if
compared to the fast burning
paraffin fuel baseline case.
Inevitably, the hybrid system in
a multiport design configuration
does not preserve its intrinsic
simplicity. The appealing design
is consequently identified with
a single circular port solution
with a fast burning fuel as
paraffin, which also preserves
the low cost and non-toxicity
requirements.
In order to be used as fuel, a
paraffin-based mixture should
fulfill a number of requirements,
as the ease of manufacturing,
good mechanical properties
while preserving high regression
rates and a good thermal
stability. These requirements are
related to thermal, rheological,
viscosimetric, ballistic and
physical properties of the
paraffin-based mixtures. Starting
from the selection of six different
paraffin waxes, both macro
and micro crystalline, combined
analyses were performed in their
pure form and related mixtures
that are likely to be used as
solid fuels in hybrid rocket
engines. Results obtained by
ballistic experiments performed
on a radial micro combustor at
SPLab in Politecnico di Milano,
demonstrate that the regression
rates of paraffin waxes mixed
with stearic acid and graphite
which shows liquid droplets
entrainment, are up to three
times higher with respect to the
baseline HTPB. Among these
paraffin-based fuels, the one
based on micro paraffin wax
shows a lower enhancement.
Experimentally it was shown
that the lower is the viscosity of
the paraffin-based mixture at
120 C, by tests performed at
the Space Propulsion Institute of
DLR, the higher is the measured
regression rate. The results are
well in agreement with the
current literature theoretical
combustion model for liquefying
fuels, for which, the less viscous
is the fuel liquid layer the higher
is the fuel regression rate.
If on one hand the micro
paraffin shows lower
regression rates, on the
other hand rheological
tests reveal its mechanical
resistance to higher external
temperatures. It was even
experimentally demonstrated
that improvements on the
softening point, up to 51 C,
are achievable by mixing a
microcrystalline wax with a
synthetic wax characterized
by a higher nominal melting
temperature even without
compromising the regression
rate. But uniaxial tensile tests
reveal that higher maximum
stresses and good elasticity
are reached with the macro
paraffin waxes. For example one
of them, showing really high
regression rates, reaches ductile
rupture at a maximum tensile
stress of 3 MPa.
Concerns in the use of paraffin-
based mixtures are also caused
by the repeatability of the
manufacturing process and
the good homogeneity of the
solid grain. To better control the
grain manufacturing process,
an experimental facility was set
up and a repeatable procedure
was implemented to measure
waxes density in softening and
melting intervals. To improve
the fuel grain homogeneity,
the substitution of graphite,
commonly used as additive to
give a black color for increase
the mixture absorptivity, with a
black dye results to be successful
and negligible mean regression
rate losses in the considered
oxidizer mass flux range were
observed.
To sum up, all collected data
establish a unique and useful
database for the identification
and measurement of the
fundamental properties for
liquefying fuels applicability in
hybrid rocket engines. Thanks
to this database, useful advices
were identified: generally the
micro paraffin based mixtures
should be preferred for
applications with large storage
and operations temperature
intervals, macro paraffin based
mixtures should be preferred
PhD Yearbook | 2015
43
when really high regression rates
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
are demanded and external
loads are severe. For the studied
application, one macro and one
microcrystalline paraffin waxes
were identified to be good
candidates.
Finally, the proposed hybrid
rocket design solution was
compared in terms of gross
mass with other existing
chemical rockets for in-space
applications having the
same total impulse. Another
comparison was performed in
terms of ideal thermochemistry
with different fuel/oxidizer
couples. The obtained results
and the preservation of all
the features that are making
these systems more and more
studied and tested among
the scientific community
underline and support their real
competitiveness.
44
DYNAMICS OF CYLINDRICAL CONVERGING SHOCK
WAVES INTERACTING WITH CIRCULAR-ARC
OBSTACLES
Federica Vignati - Advisor: Prof. A. Guardone
Cylindrical and spherical
converging shock waves can
be used to attain high energy
concentration at the focus
point, thus making them
interesting for applications
where high temperature and
pressure are required, e.g. in
Inertial Confinement Fusion.
Unfortunately, converging shock
waves suffer from corrugation
instabilities which hamper the
front regularity and reduce the
shock intensity with respect to
the axisymmetrical case.
The stabilization of the
converging shock wave may be
obtained by means of the so-
called shock reshaping i.e. by
changing the shock shape into
a more stable one. Literature
points to the use of suitable
shock-solid body interactions
to reshape the converging
cylindrical waves into stable
prismatic ones.
The dynamics of the interaction
between cylindrical shock waves
converging in air and circular-arc
obstacles is investigated here.
Diverse geometric configurations
(the obstacle number, thickness-
to-chord ratio and leading edge
radius), operating conditions
(the pressure ratio across the
discontinuity used to generate
the shock wave and the gas
conditions) and thermodynamic
models (ideal and van der
Waals gas thermal equations
and polytropic and harmonic
constant-volume specific
heat) are devised from the
reference configuration in which
symmetric lenticular obstacles
are introduced to reduce the
shock-obstacle losses.
Numerical simulations are
performed using the FlowMesh
code, a Finite-Volume solvers
for Euler equations. To reduce
the simulations computational
cost, a multi-domain approach
is developed. The global
domain is split into three, the
Far Field- , the Obstacle- and
the Focus-Region, dedicated
respectively to the simulation of
the cylindrical shock generation,
of the reshaping and of the
focusing. A technique which
exploits the symmetry of
the reshaping is developed
for reducing the azimuthal
extensions of the three regions
(from a 360-spanning domain
to a (360/N)-spanning one, that
is the elementary domain), and
for reconstructing a-posteriori
the solution outside of the
boundaries (fig. 1).
A novel method to trace the
shock position during the time
is also developed. It applies to
solutions computed by means
of numerical schemes which
describe the pressure across the
shock wave as a continuous
ramp, and it accounts for the
very complex shock-induced
flow field. This criterion applies
both to the evaluation of the
shock position at a given time
and to the determination of the
time associated to the shock
passage by a given radius.
The solution computed using
these two new tools provides
the same accuracy provided
by full two-dimensional
simulations and a reduction of
the computational time of more
than one order of magnitude.
Numerical results concern mainly
two phenomena: one is the
local shock-obstacle interaction,
and the other the one is
the complete reshaping and
focusing of the shock wave.
The first phenomenon, i.e. the
leading edge reflections, is
studied here for the first time
in the case of cylindrical shock
waves interacting with cylindrical
obstacles.
Diverse reflection types are
observed and classified in
accordance to pseudo-steady
reflections criteria, highlighting
the onset of similar patterns but
for different configurations (fig.
2).
An analytic model is proposed
for the description of the
Regular Reflection unsteady
evolution, which agrees fairly
well with the numerical results.
The conditions for the Regular-
Mach Reflection transition along
the obstacle are determined.
The influence of the obstacle
geometry is observed on the so-
called absolute wedge angle,
whereas it is absent on the
perceived wedge angle; for
both angles, M presents a null or
1. Numerical Schlieren of the 2D-2D domains overlapping
zone
negligible effect.
The trajectory of the Triple Point
is traced for genuine Mach
Reflections. The independence
on the shock intensity and a
pseudo-homothetic behavior
of the trajectories with
respect to the leading edge
radius are observed. Due to
theoretical considerations, a
second order fitting is derived
only on data sampled along
the first half-chord, showing
good accordance with data.
Considerations on the offset
of the trajectories from the
reflecting surface suggest
that the definition of Inverse
Mach Reflection in presence
of cylindrical converging shock
waves is more complex than for
planar shocks.
The second phenomenon is the
reshaping of the shock. N is
included among the investigated
factors. Contrary to the behavior
of leading edge patterns, which
do not exhibit any dependence
on M, the values of pressure
P and temperature T attained
at the focus point depend
mostly on it. N is found to be
rather influential, especially
2. Leading edge reflection types, depending on the
diverse values of M and N.
on P. The leading edge radius
produces a weaker effect than
other factors and, in addition,
does not exhibit a particular
trend. In all the configuration,
larger thickness-to-chord ratios
cause more relevant losses, and
therefore, lower values of P and
T. The configuration producing
the highest temperature peak
at the focus point consists of
16 obstacles with the lowest
thickness-to-chord ratio and
leading edge radius of 14cm,
associated to a shock produced
by an initial pressure ratio of 27.
Different shock patterns are
observed after the leading edge
reflection, including reflections
over the upper symmetry
boundary, post-trailing edge
patterns and the nozzle
effect. Depending on the
configuration and, therefore, on
the resulting patterns, polygonal
shock waves are observed with
a time-dependent number of
edges, switching among N, 2N,
3N and 4N configurations.
A general decreasing of the
focusing effectiveness is
highlighted by the study of
the effects of the adopted
PhD Yearbook | 2015
45
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
thermodynamic model, if
the van der Waals model is
considered.
The applicability of the self-
similarity assumption of the
shock propagation is empirically
tested in conditions for which
theoretical models are not
available. Pseudo-self-similarity
exponents are computed for
four diverse thermodynamic
models, highlighting a trend
between N and the self-similarity
exponent.
The unsteady shock wave
convergence is traced in the
pressure-specific volume
plane. One-dimensional results
show an excellent accordance
with Hugoniot adiabat. On
the contrary, a departure of
numerical data concerning
two-dimensional shock waves
from analytic curves is observed,
due to fast but intense transient
phenomena in correspondence
of the shock reflections.
Mechanical Engineering | Physics |
Preservation of THE Architectural Heritage
| Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial Planning
and Urban Development | Structural Seismic
and Geotechnical Engineering | Technology
and Design for Environment and Building
| Territorial Design and Government |
Aerospace Engineering | Architectural
and Urban Design | Architectural
Composition | Architecture, Urban Design,
Conservation of Housing and Landscape
| Bioengineering | Building Engineering
| Design | Design and technologies for
cultural heritage | Electrical Engineering |
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
| Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture
and Exhibition Design | Management,
Economics and Industrial Engineering
| Materials Engineering | Mathematical
MODELS and METHODS IN Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
48
DOCTORAL PROGRAMme IN
ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN
DESIGN
The Architectural and Urban Design PhD course started in 1992,
Chair: aiming at critically re-examining the theoretical, methodological and
Prof. Pierfranco Galliani applicative tools of the architecture design, towards an unavoidable
update in order to properly face the transformation and settlement
dynamics of the contemporary city. In fact, todays urban residential
areas, are affected by deformation phenomena accelerated by road,
transport and technology infrastructures proliferation, that, though
creating articulated interconnection forms, generate effects of
segregation, fragmentation and homologation of the architectural,
urban and environmental structures. Considering the complexity
of this scenario, architecture and city planning have to analyze in
detail the design objectives and the suitability of its theoretical,
interpretative and operational tools of the contexts.
During its 22-year activity, DrPAU carried out an investigation based
on the connection between theoretical practice and operational
practice of the architectural and urban design, namely by
combining: the investigation on the paradigms of architectural and
urban design, where the analysis of the specific disciplinary contents
dialectically faces the necessary connections with parallel scenarios
and skills which integration is more and more necessary to develop
the critical points in question; the applied design investigation,
considering the design as the engine and result of an investigation
programme, namely by turning into the elaboration of a critical
subject, the result of a cognitive process aimed at interpreting the
contextual reasons, the identification of a critical path, strongly
referring to theoretical concepts and to referential, thematic and
illustrative apparatuses.
Therefore, the common inheritance of the studies, research and
designs developed in the PhD is based on a rich and articulated
reflection on the design role and its theoretical and operational
instrumentation in the conscious and oriented interpretation and
transformation of contexts characterized by complex settlement
dynamics. This way of investigation is every year stronger, as it is a
common analysis ground that has to assess with critical attention
the results of the weakening of the specific architecture practice
and of the architects role, reflecting into a global uncertainty of the
context, which is composite but rich, of the critical analysis, of the
theoretical fragments and of the significant design examples; this
weakening affects the definition of the contents, methods and the
objectives of contemporary architectural research.
The educational and organizational approach, followed since
DrPAU foundation, has been an investigation structure, where the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
49
theoretical and methodological contribution offered by the Faculty
ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN
is combined with the applied design experimentation and the
theoretical analysis of the paradigms on architectural and urban
design developed by the PhD Students during the workshops and
the international stages.
The parallel with the research carried out at international level with
Architecture Schools is an essential element that is progressively
developing in the PhD programme: the architectural design stages
organized by DrPAU in foreign universities, started during the IXth
cycle at ETSAM in Madrid, and later at Lille and Paris Belleville
Universities, ETSAB in Barcelona, Segovia, and recently at New York
Institute of Technology, at Columbia University in New York and at
University of California in Berkeley, deal with the case study of the
host city, and are combined with individual and collective classes
and reviews.
From 2008 to 2011 DrPAU, in cooperation with the Bergamo
Municipality, organized an international design Summer School
programme open to candidates of doctoral courses in Italian and
foreign Architectural Schools. In this framework the aim is to open
a debate on the research problems, and on architectural and urban
design techniques as well as on theoretical and application tools,
stressing their central role in advanced university education with
respect to the changing conditions and design practices in current
urban and built-up contexts.
Since September 2013 DrPAU, in cooperation with the Unesco
Chair Architectural Preservation, Design and Planning in World
Heritage Cities and Landscape in Mantua Campus of Politecnico di
Milano, launched and organized a new International PhD Summer
School, named Heritage and Design. The new course was held in
Mantua with the collaboration of other PhD Programmes. Its content aims
to open a research line focused on the relationship between architectural
and landscape pre-existing conditions in historically stratified environments,
and interventions of conservation, adaptation, transformation in order to
enhance the built heritage. This articulated formative experiences are
the foundation to develop the individual research design resulting in
the final dissertation.
The drawn-up PhD dissertations combine the theoretical analysis
on a specific problem and the methods of architecture design with
the illustrative design experimentations, applied to specific contexts,
exemplifying the contemporary settlement dynamics and being
strategically selected, particularly in Lombardy territory, but also at
European and international level, namely referred to case studies
50

analyzed in the design stages and workshops attended in the

PhD Yearbook | 2015

European and North American universities.
The dissertations exposed in 2014 dealt with four main topics:
planning and design for the redevelopment of river flooded
territories and of rural abandoned areas; relationship between road
infrastructures and urban landscape; materiality and immateriality
in the contemporary city; unhistorical criteria of the contemporary
Chinese architecture.

51

ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN

Doctoral Program Board
Guya Bertelli Pier Franco Galliani Luigi Spinelli
Marco Biraghi Marco Lucchini Ilaria Valente
Paolo Caputo Luca Molinari Massimo Venturi Ferriolo
Antonella Contin Sara Protasoni Fabrizio Zanni
Giovanni Denti Raffaele Pugliese Cino Zucchi
Andrea Di Franco Roberto Ravegnani Morosini
Claudio Fazzini Roberto Spagnolo

Advisory Board
Matthew J.Bell, AIA, University of Maryland (USA)
Franoise Choay, Paris (F) (formerly at Universit de Paris VIII)
Jo Coenen, T.U. Delft MIT Institute TU Delft (NL)
Giangiacomo dArdia, Roma (I) (formerly at Universit di Chieti-Pescara)
Pierre-Michel Delpeuch, Atelier Villes & Paysages, Lyon (F)
Nicola Emery, USI, Accademia di Architettura, Mendrisio (CH)
Pedro Ortiz Castano, Urban Planning, World Bank, Washington DC (USA)
Ferran Sagarra Trias, UPC, ETSAB, Barcelona (E)
David Grahame Shane, Columbia University, New York (USA)
Michael Schwarting, New York Institute of Technology, New York (USA)
52
EDGES IN FLUX BETWEEN WATER, CITY, TERRITORY
Study on resilient methods and urban strategies to deal with
rising water level during flood seasons in river Brahmaputra
that affects habitation in Guwahati, India
Arunjyoti Hazarika - Supervisor: Antonella Contin
How can we define Urbanism in
relation with ecological science?
Can we use some metaphors
as a tool to bridge the gap
between urban design and
ecology? This research tries to
propose resilient methods and
urban strategies to deal with
rising water levels that affects
habitation in mainland and
islands during flood seasons
in Brahmaputra River in North
east of India. Rising water level
is a growing concern globally.
Environmentalist and scientist
around the world trying to
understand its impact for the
future. As earth atmosphere
tends to change for much
difficult outcomes, we need
to rethink our strategies on
architecture and urban design of
coastal cities and low-lying areas
that are prone to water related
hazards. By witnessing major
water related disasters in the
past, we can well understand
that our previous methods
and tactics by defending
natural forces only increase the
vulnerability. When we analyze
the impact of climate change in
the past decades, we realize that
there is an exponential growth in
natural disasters. It seems that it
is a one-way traffic and without
much control on it. Nowadays
Cities with growing population
are failing to remain in stable
state in various fronts may it be
economic, political or climatic.
Moreover, water has become
synonym for disaster. There have
been numerous exhibitions,
seminars, proposals are being
put forward in order to change
our ways of treating urban areas
in coastal cities and mainland.
Museum of modern art (MOMA,
NYC) in March 2010 hosted
an exhibition for Projects for
New Yorks waterfront named
Rising current, where various
designers, architects, planners
are invited to re-envision the
coastlines of New York and New
Jersey around New York Harbor
and to imagine new ways to
occupy the harbor itself with
adaptive soft infrastructures
that are sympathetic to the
needs of a sound ecology.
These creative solutions are
intended to dramatically change
our relationship to one of the
citys great open spaces. There
was another important joint
publication by building futures
(a RIBA think tank) and Institute
of civil engineers in the UK that
tries to mitigate problems of
climate change in a tactical way:
there title was facing up to rising
sea-levels Retreat? Defend? Or
attack?
The discourse of the thesis
focuses on resilient strategies
on cities affected by flooding
from the river -Brahmaputra.
Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary
river shared by china, India and
Bangladesh. There are various
major cities that reside on
the banks of this mighty river
including Guwahati (city under
study). It is an important river
for Irrigation and transportation.
Due to human encroachment,
deforestation, and climate
change impacts it has resulted
in increased siltation levels,
flash floods, soil erosion in
critical natural and man-made
habitats. Occasional monsoon
flooding (June October), are
common occurrence that causes
huge losses of crops, life and
property. Due to sheer size of
the territory it basically focuses
on two zones, namely, A and C
for developing neighborhoods,
with commercial, residential and
economic areas connected with
blue and green infrastructure,
called performance
infrastructure, that gives
space for water, and providing
irrigation channels to agricultural
land. It underlines some flood
mitigation tactics but it does not
pretend to give one standard
model of resilient city, but rather
opens a dialogue between
urban design and ecological
science and investigates what it
means for a city to be adaptive
and capable of functioning
while undergoing stress due to
catastrophic flood?
As we have seen from past
experiences that its better to
adapt to a disaster condition and
learn to live with it rather than
being resistant to it. As being
resistant will decrease tolerance
of socio economic disruption,
PhD Yearbook | 2015
53
and push the city towards
ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN
more unstable condition. When
disaster strikes buildings are
one of the citys components
that suffer the most, they are
destroyed, loses structural
integrity. Therefore, we need
to seek new structural and
architectural forms that can be
detached, transported to higher
grounds and reattached again.
Heterogeneous functional mix
of close knitted urban fabric is
1. The Conceptual image of the territory
more usable round the clock
and all the time. It has low
energy footprint than secluded cannot completely escape from
office block or housing at the it but we need to accept this
periphery of the city. The public change open-mindedly and learn
spaces are shared and pedestrian best ways to survive and adapt
walking is promoted. Avoiding to it with new planning and
flood prone area before urban design strategies.
constructing neighborhood is
the first resilient idea. Giving
space to water, making blue
green infrastructure within
the city so that water could be
integrated in every scales of the
community, and these retention
area can work as floodable
areas, channels, creeks, ponds
in the case of flood. Resiliency
needs in depth knowledge of
parameters that decides the
threshold before physical and
socio economic disruption
occurs. Whenever disaster
occurs, we need to see it as an
opportunity to learn to adapt
and re-organize for the next
ones. Its evident from various
studies that disaster scenarios
will increase over time, so we 2. Rich biodiversity created along with flood control system
 54
OTHER ISLANDS
An approach to the architectural project in the abandoned
territories
Sara Impera Supervisor: Ilaria Valente
This research starts from a
reflection on the rural space
of Sardinia. It has on the
background the theme of the
isolation - not the geographical
one, rather the internal one
-, taken not as problematic
by itself, but as a component
that strongly conditioned the
forms of settlement in different
periods.
The isolation in fact, strongly
returns as a genetic imprinting
in the historical layers, and it
also has an important role on
the present transformations of
inhabited spaces.
As it finds a direct correlation
between some specific forms
of isolation, and the dynamics
of change due to the rural
abandonments, the work
develops methodological tools
useful for the definition of a
modus operandi generalizable to
similar situations, which has the
architectural project as final aim.
For this historical moment, the
need to rise up the issue of the
abandonments of rural marginal
areas, is imperative for the
serious implications they have
in environmental, cultural and
economic terms.
The objective of the thesis is to
quantify their extent, precisely
identify their forms and effects
on the territory, admitting, in a
pre-figurative optic, scenarios
of transformation possible and
realistically achievable.
This implies the acceptance of
a series of compromises and
constraints: the agricultural
practice, as constructive practice
of spaces and territories, and for
that assimilable within the field
of architecture, sets the degrees
of freedom of the project,
establishing the basic orientation
to follow.
The work consists of four
sections: the first is an
introduction, the second and the
third one deepen a study on the
modification processes of rural
territories of Sardinia, the last
one arrives to an experimental
project of transformation; this
wants to be the open conclusion
of a general methodological
approach to the architectural
project in the abandoned
territories.
I. Islands is a short theoretical
and conceptual survey on the
theme of the island, which
refers to external disciplinary
contributions. An extension of
the meaning of island, going
beyond the simple physical-
environmental data with a
migration towards abstract
geographies, has been useful to
broaden the possibilities of its
use as interpretative category.
The attempt of reducing the
island to an encoded spatial
entity, has been rather difficult:
the presence of a series of
variables, describes in fact a
space hardly fixable within rigid
schemes, conceptually open and
subjected to free interpretations.
Contrary to its stereotyped
image of enclosed element,
finite and well defined by its
borders, the island is therefore
an unpredictably variable space.
II. Inhabited islands is a
retrospective path. Through
the construction of historical
outlines, fixes the high points of
the territorial transformations
of Sardinian rural space. There
is a divide between the slow
changes of the ancient history,
linked to the forms of land
management during different
political systems, and the rapid
upheavals introduced in modern
times by the mechanization and
by the capitalist processes of
production. These ones, with
the mutations introduced in the
space of only a half-century,
built new geographies and
territories in abandonment.
Digging back in time, has been
useful to discover continuities
and discontinuities between the
insular forms of the settlement.
The inhabited spaces in Sardinia,
diffused in a territory mostly
empty, despite to their inherent
weakness and instability seem
in fact to have partly preserved
through time, traces of the
original matrix.
The reorganization of the
wide variety of landscapes
within a taxonomy that
tries to be the synthesis
of this incessant historical
construction, contributed to the
understanding of the present
architecture of the territory.
Recognize in the phenomena
of abandonment the main
modificative component of
the contemporary rural space,
requested a special investigation
around trajectories of research
and consolidated studies, both
in Sardinia and in other contexts.
III. Rural Isolario is an atlas
of islands and territories in
abandonment. It collects a set
of surveys carried out on a
territorial sample in southern
Sardinia.
The complexity of the
abandonments, is broken up
through the development of a
codified method of analysis, that
makes a distinction between
generic abandonments and
differential abandonments.
In this way has been possible
to have two different degrees
of widening: a synthesis
for general categories,
highlighting territorial dynamics
of transformation at large
scale, and a description of the
particular case, without loosing
any intermediate situation to
have an outcome as much as
possible scientifically valid.
A long fieldwork explored and
recorded the heterogeneous
set of spatial modifications
introduced by the
abandonments: both the ones
occurred in the long term, and
PhD Yearbook | 2015
55
the ones that continue to shape
ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN
the spaces of slow everyday lives
in extinction. 1. Map with gradients of
The final product is a mapping abandonment in a rural settlement
(buildings and soils).
of the abandonments
accompanied by a description
through images. These become results, coming also from the
an indispensable instrument of collaboration with specialists
the project, because they give on agricultural disciplines, are
evidence to the availability of the specific response to the
soils and artefact to be used and particular case considered, given
re-used. the impossibility of applying
strategies generically extensible.
IV. Other islands is a design The project in fact, makes sense
experiment. It imagines possible only if locally specified; its value
scenarios, investigating in is to be searched inside the
search of abandoned and lost overall process as coordinated
spaces to give back to the set of analytical and pre-
collectivity. Wondering about figurative steps and not in the
the possibility of returning to single result. This is intended
the territories in abandonment only as an open combination,
implies deep reflections on the a new beginning for future
role of the architectural project transformations.
in this places, on its capability
to metabolize the opportunities
offered, often weak and
occasional, and to convert them
into concrete modifications of
the inhabited spaces.
The project, like a re-discovery,
roots itself on potential and
implicit lines of development,
already existing in the territory,
and recognizable for the
presence of residual survival
traces. The application of a
sum of actions and operations
to a real context, is the test of
a theoretical line that assumes
the agricultural practice as
tool for the redemption of 2. Weak modifications on abandoned
abandoned territories. The rural buildings.
 56

MONUMENTAL ABSENCES reasons. Doing research on the Globalization. This means that Why, in China, the notion of

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Chinese reality using western
Indifference to the context in Chinese contemporary concepts has its meaning if
these concepts, transported into
architecture the Chinese society through the
modernization process carried
out by the western powers
Giovanni Mensi - Supervisor: Ilaria Valente (and their ideology), has been
migrated to China melting
with a preexisting cultural
The aim of this thesis is to cultural and historical reasons. context? The double aim of tradition. As you will notice,
nowadays Chinese dynamics
do not have a result only on
Chinese culture and territory, but
they also influence, in different
ways, other dimensions. The
development of Chinese
society, for example, is not only
the result of 1980s Reform
and opening up launched
by Deng Xiaoping, but it
copy seems to be more
important than the notion of
authenticity? Which is the
value attached to the material
heritage? The answers to these
questions gave the opportunity
to understand how the material
monumentale assenza of
the past and the Chinese 57
indifference to the value of

ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN

compare and to let interact
some previous research about
the concept of context, its
meaning and role in the era of
Globalization with a direct and
concrete experience with an
unknown and alien dimension
which is totally different from
what we usually have to deal
with. Doing research about
the role and the condition
af a theoretical concept in a
specific and alien reality not
only can help understanding
new realities, but also clarifying
and giving new meanings to
the concept itself. This is exactly
what Foucault points out in
the preface of his Les mots et
les choses: the charm of an
exotic way of thinking we can
experience with something
different gives us a new light,
but also the awarness of our
limits and our incapability of
thinking different. This is the
reason why I chose to compare
the concept of context (with
its complex meanings and
prerequisites) with a culture
which is probably the most
far away from our way of
thinking and, for now, is using
what we call tabula rasa as the
starting point of its astonishing
development: China.
My research has its starting
point in something we usually
talk about with anecdotes and
stories, but we rarely analyze
deeply in its philosophical,
Everyone who goes to China
notices that it does have what
I call assenza monumentale
of historical cultural forms. The
fact that in its historical cities
it is quite impossible to find
something that dates back to
the ancient Chinese civilization
culture, leaves the foreign man
with a kind of disorientation.
Everything is called into
question, in primis the
traditional categories and the
most common concepts which
are often taken for granted and
as they were universal. Once
in China, the most obvious
question an European architect
can ask himself is: where all this
come from? The next question,
of an ontological nature, is:
considering this reality, who
am I? Now that the relation
between the object and the
subject is created, the research
can start: where does this total
indifference for the context
in the architectural and urban
planning come from? The
question is quite clear, but we
cannot forget that there is a
related issue: every question
we can think of, comes from
a western way of thinking
and, of course, it has been
developed in a culture which
has nothing to do with the
Chinese culture. Every question,
moreover, brings us to another
one which is probably the
most frightened: what is the
this thesis is right here: every
analysis implies a starting point
which, in turn, implies we use of China, but also in the effects
a notion (in this case the notion
of context) which is western;
we cannot get rid of this
notion and, at the same time,
this notion is very important
because it is the starting
point and the return point: It is to avoid the idea that in
in the era of Globalization,
which is the role of our concept
of context? The heart
and goal of the research is
the journey between two
points; the deconstruction and
reconstruction of the present
condition of many Chinese cities
and metropolis; the research
of the reasons why we have
this monumentale assenza
of the historical heritage: why
has China used the tabula rasa
strategy as its own and only
tool to transform the reality?
The winning strategy, from my
point of view, is to avoid to
isolate one of the two entities,
China or the western world,
going between, in suspension.
This is a deep journey which
goes beyond the prejudice and
the fallacies that reduce the
complexity of the real world. The
first thing to understand is the
meaning of cultural heritage
in China. This will allow us to
clarify the reasons of the rapid
Chinese development which
has corrupted a traditional
society with western capitalistic
many answers will find their
answers not only in the history
and their consequent western
created from the interaction
between China and the western
world, in the migration and
contamination of models
and ideologies that the clash
between cultures produces.
(considered as a particular
the contamination process of
ideologies and concepts carried
out by the western, China has
been a passive element: despite
the same structure and effects,
the story of capitalism in the last
150 years is multilinear, full of
paradox and contradiction. At
the end, it will also be possible
to clarify how another-culture,
like the Chinese one, reacts and
resists firstly to the capitalistic
and globalizing western
monologue and secondly to
the reductio ad unum carried
out by the Globalization. Till
when the infiltration of western
capitalism is responsible of the
phenomenon which brings
to the disappearance of the
cultural-material heritage?
Which has been the role of
the traditional Chinese way of
thinking in the transition from
the pre-modern city to the
global city?
The intention to understand
another culture in its way to
look at something derives from
the inter-relation between
cultures and countries created by
dates back to modern times, material architectural elements
starting from Opium wars have their own roots, first of all,
in the Chinese traditional way
penetration into China. Once of thinking and, secondly, in the
woken up, China became a Globalization brought to China
global problem. Despite the starting from Opium wars and
global interrelation, however, Chinese modernization. The
it is necessary to understand key-point is in the contamination
how the concepts of Capitalism between the chinese traditional
predisposition and the new
model for development models and ideology grafted in
and modernization) and China by the western powers.
Globalization (considered as This research is a kind of
fundamental tool used by experiment because it tries to
Capitalism for its own diffusion) prove that the Chinese way
enter into a new dimension of thinking is predisposed
not only de facto, but facing for the tabula rasa and, this
obstacles and resistance of the predisposition, at the same time,
local culture, and giving birth is turned into a degeneration
very often to reactions and driven by capitalism through
modifications. Strong cultures the isolation and unhooking of
which find themselves facing some traditional concepts of the
these two big phenomenon are Chinese culture.
not always unarmed elements
passively modified by them,
but they often give birth to
reactions of contamination or
modification, without giving
up their own cultural identities.
In order to understand the
indifference for context in
the contemporary Chinese
architecture, I started studying
the fundamental aspects of the
traditional Chinese culture and
way of thinking. In this way,
it is easier to understand how
the Chinese culture traditionally
thinks of some notions linked
to our research: which is the
role of the cultural heritage?
58
SPACE BETWEEN SYSTEMS
Poetics and politics within the network city
Paolo Patelli - Supervisor: Antonella Contin
The word network has
become the ubiquitous
designation for technical
infrastructures, social and
geopolitical relations, and for
lives online. The network is
the figure through which many
of the recent economic, social,
and spatial changes, determined
by the development and
application of information and
communication technologies,
are described and explained.
As a result of the spread of
information and communication
technologies in the urban
environment, places now
incorporates digital networks,
and a new type of urbanity has
emerged, where fluctuating
processes seem as important
as permanent spatial forms.
This phenomenon has affected
the relationships between
the categories of open space
and the geographies of public
life, reprogramming social
interactions across different
spaces and media. In this
context, the rhetoric informing
current debates on urban
ideals and models tend to
outsource the responsibility
and the task of determining
new relational configurations in
the urban realm, from design
to technology itself. At the
same time, the emergence
of an all-encompassing
network culture effectively
reestablishes urban publics in
the prolongations between the
urban informational landscape
and the physically built
environment.
This work aims to overcome the
dualistic distinction between
physical and immaterial space,
seeing the urban environment
as the territory resulting from
the composition of the two
conditions, a texture of different
and coexisting spatialities
and temporalities. Through
the analysis of deliberate
interventions and emerging
phenomena, related both to the
digitisation of urban systems and
infrastructures, and to practices
of pervasive communication
and representation, the
research documents a present
condition, while promoting
new possibilities and methods
for the critical exercise of the
project, emphasising its potential
role in the dynamics of the
contemporary urban public
sphere.
The title of this work references
the space between the systems
the space of possibilities
enclosed within the spider web
of the network city, a space
that is both phenomenological,
and political. If architecture can
still be intended as a practice
that structures the relationships
between space and civitas,
its territory now must include
a new conceptual space that
lies between a substrate of two lenses as an object, an
systems and the contemporary
urban experience. In order to
explore this space, the thesis
follows two tracks: aesthetic and
critical aspects are introduced
and developed through a
series of essays; a number of
prototypical devices examine
the potential range and the
affects of designed interactions
between the physical and the
immaterial dimensions of the
urban realm. Together, they
aim to define new possibilities
for generating hybrid spaces
and forms of relationship, that
can reconnect the material and
phenomenological dimensions
of urban public space with the
capabilities of a networked
public sphere. Following to a
thematic and methodological
introduction, the research is
presented in three parts. The
first considers the broader
cultural, technological and
political context in which the
issues highlighted emerge
and develop: the emergence
of a technological imperative,
in continuity with certain
determinist ideals of modernity;
the emergence of a network
culture, within the real space
of the contemporary city and
beyond the concept of digital;
the reformulation of the
urban public sphere, through
the concepts of porosity and
prolongations. Thence, the
network city is observed through
modes of intervention are then
actual construction, and as an
imaginary tracking in both
cases different conceptual and
interpretative genealogies.
Through the projects of
Haussmann and Cerd, the
succession of technologies of
control and measurement, the
drifts and the dtournement of
the Situationists and of media
artists, different modes of
urban experience and related
urban subjects are introduced.
Subsequently, two present
modelsrelated to current urban
and technological imaginaries
the smart city and the user-
generated city are analysed
within their limits, validity,
and possibilities. These critical
notes are the starting point for
a reconceptualisation, and for
the formulation of alternative
assemblages, framing the
complex relationship between
the project of the city and new
information technologies within
the critical tradition of urban
design. In particular, the concept
of legibility the perceptual
clarity of an urban environment,
or the ease with which its
parts can be recognised is
reconsidered in relation to the
network city, and its immaterial,
invisible, externalised dimension.
From a reference to urban
morphology, the notion of
urban legibility is extended to
include both intangible layers,
and material substrates. Critical
applied to enquire into the
relationship between legibility
PhD Yearbook | 2015
59
and agency, understood as
ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN
the ability to operationalise
the resulting mental map. A 1. Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam). Distribution
critical and civic role for the of geo-referenced media shared on
project is explored through an Foursquare during January 2012
involvement rather than a
settlement or rejection with
the techno-social environment.
This involvement takes the form
of an alteration in the conditions
of the urban experience,
through interventions on its
sensory materials. The aesthetic
and political relationships
between the city and the
technologies, the infrastructures,
the languages and the
practices of information and
communication are tested in
the phenomenological world.
The prototypes show how the
implementation of deliberate 2. Ard elLewa, Giza (Egypt). A
screenshot from the Web application
interventions can be inscribed Cairo Refracted.
in a design perspective,
and therefore benefit from
architectural theories and
approaches. In a city that has
re-established the invisible,
breaking the link between
what we see and how it works,
designing interactions with an
ecosystem of information can
provide a possible model for
new forms of aesthetic and
political involvement with the
built environment.
3. Mazama, WA (United States). A
field is to play. View of the interactive
installation.
60
RING INFRASTRUCTURAL LANDSCAPES
Rethinking the metropolitan surroundings
Stefano Sabatino - Supervisor: Serena Maffioletti
The present research focuses
on the spatial understanding
of a specific category of road
infrastructures, namely ring
roads. Ring and tangential
roads, compared to long-
distance highways, have
their own specific character
because the road layout, due
to its geometrical configuration
and proximity to urban areas,
assumes not only an important
role within the system of
mobility both at a urban and
territorial scale but within
the peripheral urbanisation
processes, as well. Since the
main interest of the present
study lies in the physical,
morphological and spatial
relationships between large
road infrastructures and the
built environment, ring roads
represent an emblematic case
study because the contact
between those road layouts
and the dynamics of urban and
suburban growth is unavoidable.
We think that studying this road
typology from an architectural
and urban perspective is relevant
since they have effectively
become part of the city after
the transformations occurred
along their road layouts in the
past decades. Moreover, the
ring morphology represents an
extremely widespread condition
characterising the primary
infrastructural framework of
many medium-large cities
and huge metropolitan areas
worldwide.
In spite of the strong influence
they have had and still have
in modifying the relationships
between the built areas and
the countryside and also
our habits and ways to move
through a wider territory ring
and tangential roads have
always been considered as a
mere technical matter involving
mainly traffic planners and
civil engineers. As a matter of
fact, the ring infrastructural
morphology has become a sort
of standardized pattern, which
was a-critically used in order
to face the problem of traffic
flows within and around urban
areas. In contrast with the
predominance of this technical
approach, ring and tangential
roads are analysed as complex
urban phenomena in the context
of the present research. Our
intention is not to assess ring
roads in terms of right or
wrong, neither to evaluate
their efficiency nor traffic
sustainability. Actually, without
any preconceived ideas, the
trend to enclose metropolitan
and urban areas with high-speed
roads is observed here like a part
of the evolutional process of a
city.
The thesis is structured in three
parts. The first part stresses
from an historical and critical
perspective the crucial role
that ring roads had in the past,
and still have today, in shaping
the modern city, for better
or for worse. This theoretical
part of the research consists
of a diachronic comparison
among a series of case studies
covering a period from the
second half of the 19th century
to nowadays. The goal was
not to make a recollection of a
series of precedents, but rather
to show another interesting
aspect, which was inferred
from a critical interpretation
of the case studies. The urban
transformations occurred in
the main European cities along
ring roads have proved to be
real prototypical models of
transformation and, therefore,
applicable in other places with
similar conditions, as well. That
is why, in this first chapter, we
talk about ring paradigms.
The second part presents a
proposal for an analytical
framework that allows to
evaluate in a qualitative way
the nature of the relationships
between ring roads and their
surrounding areas, and to
outline a tool that can support
at least in a preliminary stage
the design phase. The innovative
aspects of that analytical tool
consists mainly in the approach
to road infrastructures as
multi-scalar elements and in a
specific focus on the different
categories of urban and
suburban fabric that are involved
by the road artefact. Through
this methodology the aim was
PhD Yearbook | 2015
61
to understand how the scalar,
ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN
physical, morphological, spatial,
perceptive and functional
relationships between ring roads
and the nearby landscapes
vary, primarily, according
to the level of urbanisation
along the involved areas and,
subsequently, to the scale of the
adjacent urban settlements.
The final part of the thesis is
focused on the infrastructural
design. The case study is
the TEEM (Tangenziale Est
Esterna Milano), the new outer
tangential road of Milan, which
is still under construction. This 1. Street view of a stretch of the A86 in Paris between Rueil Malmaison and
Nanterre
new road infrastructure will
have an important role within
the reorganisation of the overall led the urbanisation processes the choices of urban policy
system of mobility around Milan along ring and tangential roads. toward a better morphological
and it forms the first stretch of a Since it is hard to think that and spatial coherence between
possible future outer tangential architects will have a more large road infrastructures and
system. Three sample areas incisive role in the design of the settlement systems.
were selected along the road infrastructural artefact in the
layout in order to develop design future, we have to put in the
proposals that strengthen the field our capability to think in
TEEM as a backbone serving the terms of relationships, and orient
Eastern metropolitan area of
Milan.
The concept permeating the
entire thesis is the need to
think ring roads as real urban
components and to integrate
infrastructural design with urban
planning, urban design and
architecture, by considering a
wider part of cross-landscape.
Such an approach represents
a possible way to contrast
the logic of an uncritical 2. Axonometric view of a stretch of the Tangenziale Est in Milan next to
juxtaposition, which has always Rubattino
62
META CITY: COMMUNICATION AND SPACE
The mechanism of relations in the material and immaterial
dimensions of the contemporary urban context
Raana Saffari Siahkali - Supervisor: Antonella Contin
I. Preface
Before the late 18th century, the
urban spaces and also the
urban contexts as container of
those spaces while forming
the spatial organization of
the city and its morphology,
were containers of the main
information and orientation of
within the city structure. For
instance the role of Meydan
in the oriental architecture or
Piazza in the occidental ones
along with the dimensions of
the streets which end to these
open spaces or start from
them were both formative and
informative elements regarding
the spatial experience and
movement. Accordingly the
spaio-temporal perception
(Ponty, 2005 ONeil, 2008)
of a pedestrian along the way
was related to the speed of his
movement and had an essential
role in experiencing the spaces
while passing through the
urban context. In this case, the
city fabric (Rossi, 1976) was
the most important provider
of the spatial information and
the monuments, according
to Aldo Rossi, were the
emblematic image of the whole
citys deconstruction - as
citys memories of the past-.
Throughout the time and by the
technological developments and
industrializations, followed by
increasing movement speed, the
informative role of the urban
context is reduced and left just
inside the short pedestrian paths
(Saffari, Ferorelli, 2013).
Accordingly, we might realize
two ranges of velocity in the
urban mutation process: The
cities physical contexts mute
with a slower speed measured
in Seconds/minutes- compared
to the non-physical layer
alteration - related to the
communicative devices and the
narration of information- which
is measured by megabytes/
gigabytes. The moment of
convergence between these two
systems, happens in randomly
resulted, anonymous temporary
spaces of the both physical
and communication contexts-
with the characteristics of
the two of them but without
a formative and informative
persistency. Therefore the
lack of compatibility between
these two speed ranges of
contemporary dynamics makes
the urban spaces more intricate
to comprehend when human
sense of time as Lynch cited
is gaining a new and different
biological rhythm; still what
time is this place?.
According to Lynch, the
possibility that every citizen
builds a mental map of a certain
context and reacts to it through
a corresponding operation to
the expressiveness of the space
is considered as a criterion of
spatial quality (Lynch, 1960). In
the contemporary circumstances,
to build this memorable
image, we need to deal with a
reforming discourse of indicators
capable of giving new meanings
and accentuate urban spaces
that are considered as neglected
(Contin, 2014). The accentuation
is a dynamic process, which
today is given by a slow, fast,
very fast scansion compared
to the just-in-time character
of the telecommunication that
have changed the theme of
the measure of urban context
by creating atopic proximities
(Contin, 2014). In this regard
the issue of the purely objective
measure of urban context is
changing and has to deal with
the mass mobility, with different
kinds of flux -related to the
dynamics of the contemporary
city- as one of the elements that
can build up the density of space
and also its memorability: urban
spaces are dense due to the
possibility of gathering people
who are aggregated by the new
dynamisms; where the density
of the material is also measured
according to the density of the
flow it absorbs.
Such condition, according to
Bunschoten, takes the urban
context to a second Skin
through which the dynamic
flow of people and information
converge in a form of Meta-
Space; an Urban Gallery a fluid
form of public space that evolves
in time [] Meta-space in the
second skin is a public space,
a public matrix (Bunschoten,
2003).
Meta City. Accordingly, the
term Meta-City in a wider
conspectus- can be assigned
to a state of co-existence and
co-performance of different
sometimes contradictive- spatial
and ultra-spatial systems of
orders of which, the ultimate
consequences manifest in a
complex configuration of multi-
characteristic forces that : on the
one hand, are coupling as they
enable the correlation between
these systems and, on the other
hand, are disruptive forces
by being capable of exerting
multi-dimensional values to
each system and altering their
initial shape of order. This can
explain the use of the term
Meta prior the City; since it
is a state rooted in the spatial
characteristics of the city that,
paradoxically, eludes to follow
the rational shape of its physical
orders.
II. Research objectives
This research aims to face in
a critical way the dilemmas
mentioned above through the
theoretical deepening as well as
experimental analysis. The main
challenges faced in this research
are briefly as follows:
Is the resulted material of
an architectural process, an
abstract purely formal space- studies to revealing the hidden
or a way of thinking and
critical comprehension?
How can we scale the
architectural critical
comprehension into adapted
spaces(Lynch, 1976)?
How does the Meta City
converge and interrelate with
the urban physical context and
how will be the architectural
and spatial qualities and values
of the resulting areas?
What is the scale morphology
of the spatial mutation of
PhD Yearbook | 2015
physical context in relation
to the communication
technologies and dynamics?
Which are suitable instruments
to comprehend and measure
such complexities within the
architectural and urban design
ambits?
How to think and define 63
The Context that capable
ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN
of embodying the layer of
information and respond to the
new modalities of space use?
III. Expected results
The crucial action in this regard
is to explore the mechanism of
relations between the physical
context and the communication
dynamics it contains: to explore
the state of the contained
semiotic and symbolic values
and the containers of such
values within each context;
to explore their network of
relations( Foucault,1975)
and the performance of their
dynamics through an analytical
disassembling action; to extract
the convergence points in a
temporal context; to reassemble
them based on a complex
entirety in order to enrich the
neglected yet effective areas.
The final results are meant to
act as new analytical indicators
that not only can help the urban
values of the urban context
towards the identification of
projectable areas and addressing
actions and spatial operations,
but also, prior the materiality
of the projects, it is a proposal
methodology for re-reading the
contemporary urban context
through its multi-dimensional
characteristics.
Mechanical Engineering | Physics |
Preservation of THE Architectural Heritage
| Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial Planning
and Urban Development | Structural Seismic
and Geotechnical Engineering | Technology
and Design for Environment and Building
| Territorial Design and Government |
Aerospace Engineering | Architectural
and Urban Design | Architectural
Composition | Architecture, Urban Design,
Conservation of Housing and Landscape
| Bioengineering | Building Engineering
| Design | Design and technologies for
cultural heritage | Electrical Engineering |
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
| Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture
and Exhibition Design | Management,
Economics and Industrial Engineering
| Materials Engineering | Mathematical
MODELS and METHODS IN Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
66

DOCTORAL PROGRAM and architectural expression. the first semester, with help from the supervisor.

PhD Yearbook | 2015

IN ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION
The PhD program is understood as advanced learning, rooted in the
The second and third phase involve training
experiences abroad, with participation in seminars
and research in the universities with which the
PhD candidate is establishing relationships.
PhD thesis
Maximum importance is given to the PhD thesis.
It constitutes the core and the conclusion of the
PhD candidates study and is attributed a very
large number of credits. The subject and the
During the following five semesters, the thesis is
developed as other studies are carried out, taking
on a progressively more important role.
The thesis is understood as research and must be
characterized by cultural and scientific originality.
It may or may not have a design aspect. The
PhD candidate is required to report regularly on
the progress of the thesis and to attend open
sessions, held in the presence of the teaching 67
staff and of the other PhD candidates, at which

ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION
Chair: history of the architects craft, of the profession and of the wealth formulation must be defined before the end of the thesis is discussed.
Prof. Marco Prusicki of architectural techniques. The objective is to educate professional
architects from a general point of view, in order to give them
solid historical/humanistic training and a strong theoretical base,
but also extensive knowledge of town planning and construction
techniques, so they may be able to carry out architectural design.
The training consists of the imparting of organized contents, the Doctoral Program Board
sharing of research, and participation in cultural debate. As is the
case in the other arts, composition is understood as an ensemble of Pellegrino Bonaretti Carolina Di Biase Marco Prusicki
conceptual and technical fundamentals which precede the design Enrico Bordogna Mario Fosso Angelo Torricelli
project and to which it refers. The faculty is composed of professors Siro Casolo Alberto Franchi Daniele Vitale
in the fields of architectural composition, history of architecture,
restoration and construction. Giovanni Cislaghi Jacques Gubler Stanislaus Von Moos
Adalberto Del Bo Jacques Lucan
Contents Marco Dezzi Bardeschi Attilio Pracchi
The program is based on exchange between members of the
teaching staff and external professionals from among those at the
forefront of international debate. This dialectic serves as a reference
and as a source for research. The course is divided into integrated
phases.
The first phase consists of a redefinition of positions and
responsibilities with respect to transformation of the territory and to Advisory Board
evolution in the profession, in which the PhD candidate
Klaus Theo Brenner, Potsdam School of Maria Patrizia Grieco, General manager of Italtel
is required to participate through research and contributions.
Architecture, Berlin
It consists, in addition to participation in optional Polytechnic
courses and in addition to a two-semester seminar in architectural Jean-Louis Cohen, Universit de Paris Rafael Moneo, Graduate School of Design,
design, of two specific courses given by several lecturers during two Harvard University
semesters (Architectural History and Design and Criticism and Elio Franzini, Universit degli Studi di Milano Carlo Olmo, 1st Faculty of Architecture of
architectural theories). Politecnico di Torino
The second phase consists of a more specific, in-depth undertaking
Paolo Gavazzi, councillor of Banco di Desio e Boris Podrecca, Fakultt fr Architektur, Stuttgart
and deals with the problems of composition in relationship to
della Brianza
architectural design, on one hand through two courses (Figures
of architecture and forms of construction and Conservation and Franz Graf, Accademia di Architettura di Bruno Reichlin, Accademia di Architettura di
design), and on the other hand by means of a second architectural Mendrisio Mendrisio
design seminar. These courses also involve several lecturers and are
divided into two semesters.
The third phase consists of increased involvement of the PhD
candidates in more specific research and themes, ranging from the
theoretical debate in Europe and in Italy to the issue of the old/new Scholarship Sponsors
relationship, to the topic of settlement- and founded-city structures,
to research into the cultural and figurative identities of landscapes EuroMilano S.p.A. via Eritrea, 48/8 20157 Milano
 68
The Teaching of Architectural Composition
Tommaso Brighenti - Relatore: Prof. Enrico Bordogna
Relatore esterno: Prof. Luciano Semerani
Considering that the objective of
architectural education, as Colin
Rowe stated, is not alone to
train a student for a professional
occupation, but is above all
to stimulate his spiritual and
intellectual growth, to develop
his intellectual faculties and to
enable him to grasp the nature
and meaning of architecture,
this research aims to perform a
comparative analysis of some of
the main schools of architecture
both in Italy and abroad, as well
as some of the leading players
who have characterized them,
starting from the peculiarities of
specific teaching methodologies
in the compositional procedure.
Guido Canella wrote in his
essay Dal laboratorio della
composizione: we all know
that the general linguistic travail
of architecture is matched by a
profound crisis in its theory and,
consequently, in its criticism and
teaching. I therefore believe
it is of great use to restore
unity to the critical moment
and the operative moment of
composition. The goal of the
research is to identify this unity
in conformity with a definite
idea of architecture, undertaking
a path that studies the figures
and schools of architecture who
have marked their teaching with
a strongly characterized, precise
and militant point of view. Aldo
Rossi, like other architects of
his generation, maintained that
a schools task is to direct and
guide students, even at the
cost of simplification requiring
a methodology that lets them
face the complexity and globality
of design problems, in order to
train knowledgeable architects
who can tackle any kind of
problem.
This work aims to demonstrate
how much a schools task
is not to develop personal
research programmes, but to
establish a common base, by
identifying a well definable
trend within an intellectual
panorama. The teachers goal
as regards students must be
to transmit a capacity to work,
a knowledge of how to direct
and influence, since the
specific nature of a school lies
in its own point of view, given
the impossibility of transmitting
teaching in a wholly objective
manner. What differentiates
a school and its value in any
determined moment of its
existence from all other schools
therefore comes from the
existence of a cultural project,
as well as the requisite qualities
of the persons involved.
Hence the goal of the research
is to analyse the training
methodologies and objectives
of a school of architecture with
the aim of verifying how much
the growth of knowledge in a
determined discipline can also
transpire thanks to internal
and external contributions,
and how the compositional
materials are inextricably and
operatively linked to humanistic,
historical and construction
ones, as well as by the
necessity to know the current
situation and therefore its
historical, structural and cultural
conformation, incorporating
this in the typological creation
and the compositional process.
Elements that these days
seem to have been neglected,
determining that linguistic and
theoretical travail that appears
to characterize a large part of
todays architecture, which is
experiencing a radical change in
its theory, criticism and teaching.
The five schools of architecture
investigated are the Cooper
Union of New York, the
Valparaso School, and the
Architectural Association of
London as well as two Italian
examples influenced by the
singular thinking of two
architects, Guido Canella and
Luciano Semerani. All of these
experiences can provide a clear
model to be examined, not
just because of the contents
of their teaching, but also
and above all because of their
attempt to construct a cultural
project, which, albeit arising
and becoming concrete in
different ways, finds its roots
in a humanistic sooner than
technical-scientific culture,
expanding architectures
experience to dimensions
similar to those of other artistic
PhD Yearbook | 2015
69
expressions, and focusing on identity, and frequently separate establishment of the sense of
ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION
form, space and architectural from contemporary academic an artistic enterprise constitutes
composition themes. It must tradition, assume a fundamental a goal rather than a trend,
be stressed that none of these cultural role for the development and how this trend appears
experiences has ever had of research and thinking, indivisible from the need for
the presumption of defining demonstrating how the re- theoretical construction.
theoretical systematics, but have
developed in line with theoretics
consisting of formulations that
have always been modified in
itinere by means of experimental
praxis. These forms of teaching
therefore become attempts
to set a fashion, where
unquestionably in all cases there
is the authoritativeness of a
master who, if operative inside
a school, can make architecture
teachable and transmissible in
the fullness of its problematic
nuclei, beyond the formulation
of a sterile body of precepts. 1. Poetic act of opening of the land in the Ciudad Abierta, 1971. Archivio
What happened at the Cooper Histrico Jos Vial Armstrong, PUCV, Valparaso.
with John Hejduk and his
co-workers between 1964
and 2000, at the Architectural
Association between 1971 and
1990 under the direction of
Alvin Boyarsky, at Valparaso for
more than sixty years, without
over-generalizing, may be
comparable to the experiences
of Milan and Venice. Figures
such as Ernesto Nathan Rogers,
Giuseppe Samon and their
students like Guido Canella
and Luciano Semerani, are
charismatic personalities who
have contributed to the building
of a School of Architecture idea. 2. Book cover of Education of an 3. Guido Canella, Didactic prototype
Architect: a point of view. The Cooper of the Theater system in Milan, 1966.
These experiences, each Union School of Art and Architecture,
founded on their own strong 1964-1971.
 70
THE DUTCH CITY: REALISM, CONTINUITY AND
EXPERIMENTATION
Maria Vittoria Cardinale - Supervisor: Prof. Susanne Komossa
Tutor: Prof. Adalberto Del Bo
The interest in understanding
the principles of building the
Dutch city, to which is dedicated
this study, arises from the
considerations on the ways and
principles at the base of the
interpretation and building of
the contemporary city. The study
of the Dutch city highlights the
need for a will to order at the
base of urban transformations,
the expression of a precise
idea of the city and of a clear
relationship between building
type and urban shape capable
of generating spaces and places
recognizable. The main reasons
for the exemplarity of the Dutch
experience, of the continuous
rigor and clarity of the urban
settlements, are all within its
foundational reasons: the Dutch
soil, geologically placed below
the sea level, is all artificial,
hard-won from the water,
drained and consolidated to
accommodate the row of houses
narrow and long (for structural
reasons and to optimize the
soil), arranged in the portions of
ground between the drainage
1. Evolution of the Dutch urban block (Reworking starting from a study of Max Risselada)
canals.
The shape of the house and
the shape of the city are so
inextricably linked. Technology,
structure and shape together
contribute to establish clear and
continuative principles to build
the Dutch city, in which the
urban plan is the very reason for
its existence, instrument of order
necessary to settle the land
rationally, that has led to put
the collective at the base of the
existence of the city itself.
The Dutch city is a city of
homes and the home is the
primary, perfect and repeated
element, which se ts out the
shape that, even in its evolution
over time, remains unchanged
in its constituent features. If
it is clear that the close and
consistent relationship between
the type of building and the
shape of the Dutch city is
inevitable for reasons inherent
to its construction, it is also
interesting to investigate the
logical process by which these
shapes and principles have faced
the test of time, the economic,
environmental, cultural
and social changes and to
understand how their continuity
and experimentation are shown
as two parts of the same act.
So, after the characters of
the traditional city, it became
important to analyze the
fundamental experience of
the Hendrik Petrus Berlage
Expansions Plan for Amsterdam
South, one of the leading
contributions to the planning
of the twentieth century. The
part dedicated to the study of
the plan and the way that led
Berlage to its project, is a key
point in my research because
understanding the principles
at its base is inextricably linked
to those of the whole story
of the Dutch urban planning
until the contemporary city and
therefore also to the general
considerations on the city in our
time.
In the third part of the thesis, I
analyzed the first experiences of
the 1910-1920 in opening the
urban block, represented by the
2. The geometry in the Berlages
Amsterdam Sud Expansion Plan.
Personal analysis.
realizations of J. Van der Pek
for Rochdale and M. Brinkman
for Spangen, that constituted
the antecedents of the main
architects experimentations
of the following decades,
such as those of J.J.P. Oud in
Tusschendijken, a prelude to
the evolution of his idea of the
city towards the opening of
the urban block expressed in
the admirable example of the
Kiefhoek settlement in 1926.
Here, a new concept of living
resulted in finding solutions
for perfect minimal affordable
housing, the archetype of the
modern living molded in the
concrete.
The ideas about the opening
of the block and building a city
according to the principles of
a rational order, represented
the main approach in urban
realizations thereafter in the
Netherlands, fervently supported
by the rising movement of
the Nieuwe Zakelijkheid (New
Objectivity), at least until the
economic general cultural crisis
of the Thirties and the outbreak
of the Second World War.
In the years following the war,
the increasing welfare and
the spread of the automobile
led a gradual departure
from the traditional urban
principles, following a desire
for widespread distribution of
space and greenery. The analysis
of these experiences, at the
end of the third part of the
research, was an important step
to highlight the changes made
by the Dutch planning in recent
decades, but also the continuity
of certain principles which
remained unchanged, due to the
strong Dutch urban tradition,
even in that historical moment.
The last part the research,
dedicated to the contemporary
city, investigates the direction
taken in recent years by the
Dutch planning, aided by the
current crisis that highlighted
the great pressure to which
our civilization is subjected,
from the economic, social, and
environmental point of view.
In Rotterdam, for example, in
recent years the policies are
intended to bring to the fore
issues related to the delicate
balance between the city and
the environment and their
relationship with the water
typical of the historic city,
PhD Yearbook | 2015
71
according to the traditional
ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION
realism of this civilization in
urban planning. Become so
again primary the continuity
with the principles of building
the Dutch city, the close
relationship between the water
and the design of the city, the
need to link the shape of the
house to technical reasons of the
soil, the search for a compact
city, not only to save the soil and
water for a defense strategy,
but also for a revaluation of
the value of domesticity and
variety of places of living proper
to the historic city. In this
sense, the type of the house,
its aggregation, its relationship
with the water and the public
spaces, is the privileged object of
interest of the research.
The examples in the last
paragraph of the thesis, chosen
by the criterion of the clarity
of the type-morphological
relationship and of the evoked
idea of the city, demonstrate,
despite their diversity, a clear
continuity with the principles of
construction of the historic city.
In this context, it is confirmed
the value of the prevailing
type of row house through its
experimentation, as variation in
the affirmed rules, and through
its permanence inside an urban
order that defines the stable
principles of the Dutch city.
 72

HENRI PROST, LES TRANSFORMATIONS the reasons which led to the according to which the project

PhD Yearbook | 2015

designation of Prost as the
DISTANBUL. architect of the new plan for the
city.
Architecture and archaeology in the project of the citys urban plan The Second Part, The project of
the Urban Plan, analyzes Prosts
plan for the city of Istanbul
Elena Ciapparelli - Supervisors: Luisa Ferro, Angelo Torricelli (1936-1951). Here are shown
objectives, tools and techniques
that the architect uses for the
The aim of the thesis is to show the Historical Peninsula, urban movement owes much to study and the drawing up of
is a form of knowledge of the
city and, at the same time, a
representation of the idea of city
of the architect.
The knowledge of the
transformations that have
characterized the city of Istanbul
is analyzed to the present time
to demonstrate the foundational 73
role of the ancient city in the

how the choices made by the
French architect Henri Prost for
the urban plan for the city of
Istanbul (1936-1951) find their
basis in the matrices of the
ancient city.
The research investigates
the relationship that exists
between architectural design
and archeology. Archaeology
intended as fragment, immanent
memory of a past that, in the
contemporary city, struggles to
find meaning. Archaeology as
a method, analytical study of
the city, of its layers, the parties
and the transformations that
determine the current status.
Archaeology as a choice, to
renew the relationship with
history through the project, at
the same time the creation of
a new story. In this way, the
urban plan for Istanbul proposed
by Prost not only satisfies the
needs of a modern city but also
entrusts the ancient the role of a
real engine of the project.
The research can be read on
a dual register. On one hand
it highlights method, tools
and analogies that form the
elements of the composition
of the town planning project;
on the other it investigates the
specific characters of the city of
Istanbul, the original matrices,
the archeology, and the urban
transformations with which the
project faced.
The areas involved are
corresponding to the ancient city
(Figure 1), the districts of Galata-
Pera, the Asian shores and the
coasts along the Bosphorus.
The project of the Archaeological
Park is present from the first
proposes for the urban plan of
Prost, who identifies different
zones of protection within the
historic city (Figure 2).
It is not really possible to
understand the reasons that
underlie the projects plan,
unless considering the travels
and researches carried out by
the architect in Greece and Asia
Minor, which are reflected in
the drawing of the hypothetical
reconstruction of Hagia Sophia
and the city of Byzantium in the
sixth century A.D., completed by
Prost in 1906 (Figure 3).
Between 1905 and 1906, as
pupil of the French Academy in
Rome, Prost went several times
to Constantinople, completing
the restauration of the ancient
basilica. In this occasion the
architect doesnt limit his
research on the building but he
also reconstructs the entire area
of the Circus and the district of
the Imperial Palace.
Due to the paucity of
archaeological discoveries at the
time, his idea of the ancient city
is a real project and it will be the
foundational matrix of his way
to compose the contemporary
city and the future one. Prost
is to say that the contemporary
the pensionnaires of the French
Academy in Rome.
The study of the city and its
historical layers is not an exercise
of erudition and has no purpose
of historical reconstruction.
Rather it is the city itself that is
the search field, the bearer of
a hidden order, which shows
through the project, which
has its merits in the ability to
interpret and give meaning to
the places.
Through this reading, the plan
of Prost for Istanbul can be seen
as the elaboration of a method
that shows its logical reason and
a transmissibility that exceed the
chosen case.
The thesis consists of four parts.
The first three parts concern the
development of the project of
Henri Prost for the urban plan
of Istanbul. The fourth part is
focused on the study of the
current city.
In the First Part, Identity and
Character of the City at the
Beginning of the new Republic
(1923-1950), is presented the
situation of the city as Prost
could see from the mid-Thirties
of the Twentieth Century,
outlining what was to be the
state of act before his project.
They are essential to the
understanding the characters of
the plan some insights on local
planning tools, on antecedents
urban projects and those that
were presented in variant, on
ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION
the plan. The project includes a future development processes
general reconfiguration of the and, therefore, the necessity
city, in many ways. Contrary of the studies of the layers and
to what he had planned in the formal determinants of the
the cities of North Africa, contemporary city.
for Istanbul the question is
no longer to create a new 2. Project of the Archaeological Park.
The area of protection is indicated
settlement, but rather to act with light color; the areas appointed
within the historical districts like for new excavations are in darker
a surgical operation, according color. (Authors drawing).
to the same Prost.
The Third Part, The Reinvention
of the Ancient, is the one
where more is put to test the
hypothesis of the research.
Through the study of the ancient
city and the reconstruction of
the discoveries of the missions of
the excavation, is made explicit
the relationship that the town
planning project for Istanbul
established with the discipline of
archeology.
The architect fills the gaps of
the archaeological discoveries
through the invention project,
which he had expressed also
in the ideal reconstruction of
Byzantium in the sixth century.
The interest in the areas of
Imperial Quarters is explained
though the comparison with
Antioch on the Orontes and
Milan.
The Fourth Part, Archaeological
Ares and Architectural Design.
The Role of the Ancient Center
in the Contemporary City, draws 3. Byzantium in the Sixth Century,
conclusions of the work, by as represented by Henri Prost in the
1. Henri Prosts projects for the drawing presented as fourth Envois
explaining the basic concepts Historical Peninsula. (Authors for the French Academy in Rome, in
and the starting assumption, drawing). 1906. (Authors drawing).
74
The City of Delhi 1912-1962. Conflicts of
Cultures, Quest for Destiny.
Pilar Maria Guerrieri - Supervisor: Daniele Vitale
Every megacity in the world in
some way or form encounters
the subject matter of cultural
exchanges. How each city
deals with such exchanges,
moreover confronts or accepts
them is altogether unique to
each. This thesis uses the city
of Delhi, one of the largest of
megacities, as a case study. It is
especially peculiar since it has
been influenced by a multitude
of cultures whilst being ruled by
different reigns and dynasties;
it was capital to the Delhi
Sultanate, the Mughal empire
and finally the British empire.
Delhi as of today is one of the
most densely populated cities
in India, influenced by multiple
forces of globalisation and
is subjected to the on-going
process of internationalization.
It therefore, proves to be fertile
ground to study the perennial
and recurring process of
hybridisation between cultures,
in this particular instance
through the perspective of its
local architecture and urbanism.
In this thesis, said process of
hybridisation, essentially the
negotiations and re-negotiations
between cultures, has been
examined from an historical
perspective. Using history
as marker and using past
occurrences as parameters,
effectively any matter of culture
or diversity can be assessed or
reviewed with less envelopment,
bias or value judgement. In
this case, a conscious effort
has been made to study the
transformation of the city
of Delhi, focusing on the
metamorphosis in architecture
and urban planning during the
period of 1912, when the British
Town Planning Committee
for New Delhi was formed, to
1962, when the first master
plan was in fact implemented.
This transition period, when
the megacity was born, is
particularly interesting because
it has often been neglected by
scholars and gives opportunity
to investigate the current
phenomenon of globalization
from a more detached and
cognisant perspective.
The research work involved,
originates directly from primary
material, predominantly
unpublished documents, which
have been collected from public
and private archives such as the
Delhi State Archive, National
Archives of India, Institute of
Town and Country Planning
Organization, Municipal
Corporation of Delhi, Central
Public Works Department,
The Royal Institute of British
Architects and The British
Library in London, and the Ford
Foundation Archive in New
York. This material was used to
understand how foreign models
and influences may have been
adopted in Delhi and to what
extent resistance to these was
encountered or how much
adaptation local conditions
demanded. From the documents
obtained, the research goes to
consider the transformations of
singular architectural elements
during the period in question;
these being: in what ways the
city plans, neighbourhoods,
types of residential or public
buildings and architectural styles
changed over time.
The first element to be
addressed was the plan
brought forth in 1912, during
the colonial period, which
was compared to the master
plan, approved in 1962 after
Independence, whereby both
bear distinct foreign influences,
firstly British, thereafter
American. The second element
of analysis goes to examine
the singular neighbourhoods,
effectively the colonies through
which the megacity grew, to
ascertain British, American,
for that matter, even Japanese
influences and the local
reinterpretations of these.
The third element to be studied
is resident typologies and their
variation from bungalow plots
to house plots, which clearly
demonstrate significant local
changes and adaptations of
foreign models. The fourth
element under scrutiny is the
sphere of public buildings,
where the quest for Indian-
ness together with the search
for modernity, recurrent pre-
and post independence, is a
common denominator in most
structures. The fifth and final
element assesses the plethora
of styles present in the capital.
In particular, the Palladian style
was imported and, through the
course of its journey from Italy
to Delhi, gradually changed
its meaning, its form and
has undergone noteworthy
compromises with the culture
and inclinations of the sub-
continent. Herewith, defining
yet another influence, the Italian
on this occasion, which has
been absorbed and become an
integral part of the city of Delhi.
In investigating Delhis
architecture and planning,
scholars usually tend to
consider the period before
1947 as subordinated and
attributable to Western-
British ideas and the period
after independence for the
development of purely Indian
nationalist ideas. However,
herein lies a fundamental flaw.
Cultural exchanges are often
mistakenly seen as a one-way
process, where this research
has established that Delhi
has played an active role in
the process of hybridization,
developing its own character as
opposed to merely accepting
what was brought from
abroad. Both periods have been
characterized by a resilient and
very interesting compromise
between indigenous and
foreign elements and thus
PhD Yearbook | 2015
75
the period after 1947 cannot however, remain imperative in
ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION
be construed as more order to develop a critical point
indigenous than the previous of view on contemporary urban
one. matters.
The research conducted raises
questions on broader aspects,
which do not only apply to
Delhi alone but also relate to
the Indian context as a whole,
such as the meaning of the
term Indian-ness, Tradition
or Identity. Often the concept
of Indian tradition has been
an ideological invention that
served political purposes; by
simplifying Indian culture the
Western Orientalizing current
has purported a static idea
of it, inadvertently sacrificing
its beauty. This thesis with 1. Delhi Guide Map. Surveyed 1939-
42, Delhi State Archive.
Delhi as a case study validates
that each city of India has
developed a distinct history
and distinguished tradition that
cannot be assimilated with any
other. Indian cities have to be
studied as autonomous entities,
where scholars usually try to
compare them. The identity
of each city exists, but varies
from place to place; it is the
result of the opposition and
resistance that the local culture
had towards external influence.
This approach of studying cities
and their architecture with
an appreciation for historical 2. Master Plan for Delhi prepared by
Delhi Development Authority, vol. i,
relevance and a keen sensibility Government of India, New Delhi 1962.
towards cultural exchanges has
not been developed effectively
in the academic world,
especially not in India; it does,
76
Idea and Design of New Town
Young Dal Lee - Supervisor: Pellegrino Bonaretti
The design of a new city, in
principle, should assume that
revolutionary nature of its
architecture defined by Guido
Canella as commemorative
project of a society that
guarantees rationality, justice
and equality. But currently,
the new city seems to ignore
these values to find in the
systemic model addressed
only to the economic and
technological environment,
where the procedural aspect
of the design is entrusted
to manuals or guides, who
presumptuously coding objective
have excluded the liability of
architects and planners. The
urban environment based on
cultural and traditional city has
been replaced by the value of
the market and entrepreneurial
capitalist society, producing an
urban model dictated by the
needs of individuals with the
consequent impoverishment of
the variety of types and spatial
segregation in the new cities.
This study helps to clarify the
general problem of architectural
space linked to the modern
new city, and mainly deals with
the current condition of the
design of the new city, in order
to reconcile urban quality and
utility maximization.
The approach to the study
starts from a descriptive phase
of the phenomenon of new
settlements, for quantitative
and for qualitative aspects,
which is entrusted with the
general definition of that model
(most common for the new
city ) circumscribed by the ratio
apparently interdisciplinary,
in which politics , sociology ,
the economy of the market
and design work together and
intertwine actively to ensure the
operation of the project.
Moreover, the thesis describes
the structural reasons for which
the design is in a state of
confusion between the design
approach tending in solemn
form of the great masters and
the attitude of surrender in
the face of a given cycle for
indispensable system which
business logic has replaced
the rational design ( which
constitutes a constructive logic
and formal diversified work
depending on the context ) with
the system characterized by a
formal technical .
This system is not interested
in the context where it should
be born from the idea of
the problem but part of the
intervention as an action that
defines the shape sorter and
universal civilizing things ( in part
the very idea of the
city new
push designers to ignore the
contest)
In the last century, the design
of the new city was a field of
studies and experiments for
many rationalists modern
architecture and urbanism. The
most popular models currently
remain technocratic models
that interpret the project as an
intellectual work replaced by
a series of different actors in
search of a feature-exasperated
project. Removal of the idea
of the
city from the project of
new settlements is not a matter
of trend or failure subjective
architectural , which
presupposes a choice already
possible.
But it is largely due to the
change of the project but
not procedural intervention
which assigned a priority not
to the idea of the whole or to
the unitary character of the
urban body but the aspect of
the case to the Executive that
competes developer , general
contractor or corporations
architecture qualified for
their entrepreneurial skills in
completing the work .
The case studies examined were
dictated by my choice to focus
on the period in which it occurs
the process of urbanization
of the modern city, that is
when the new cities arise in
relation to the industrialization
and urbanization phenomena
that prefigure total territory.
In this period, which covers
more than a century, countless
experiences have occurred on
the international scale, also
accompanied by numerous
imaginations of new cities,
especially after the war, fueled
by many ideologies of utopian
So I looked at the plans of the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
countries that have contributed,
in some way, to build culture
of the founding of new cities
that through their projects allow
us to reconstruct the general
characteristics for proposing the
problem and the conditions of
their realization.
The reference to mass 77
urbanization linked to the
ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION
phenomenon of the new city,
led the study on the experiences
1. Location of New Towns 1940-1979
of different countries to
work on a heterogeneous
material. The historical
conditions have produced an result and inability to propose
evolution that has developed new solutions. The project
in stages, and the existence of entrusted to objective criteria,
filiation between the various which consider only a limited
international experiences. number of elements on the
The few cases examined fact of settlement, removes
provide a partial reading of responsibility from the architects
the new phenomenon of the and planners from their role as
contemporary city, increasingly alternative search.
popular for a massive Affirm the necessity of
urbanization, increasingly architecture for the new city,
sensitive to new development does not mean you want to play
models, spatial and social, the characters of the ancient 2. Milton Keynes, UK (1970)
related to dynamic capitalist who city, but groped to define spatial
denies the common architecture relationships and lost values
and social. compatible with the practices of
During the evolution of the today.
new city, the planned unit, it is
stated in parallel entrepreneurial
ideology of urban development
and housing market, gradually
abandoning any reference to the
city, and becomes the object-
monument context independent
losing the ability to generate
and to impose meanings to the
place, identity.
It is a condition that stems from
the alleged objectivity (reality,
plurality) that replaces the
subjectivity (ideals, singularity) to
the project, to support playback
of new contemporary city and
to formulate answers to the
questions that arise from the
impossibility of knowing the 3. Comparison table of New Tows
 78
STRUCTURAL TYPES AND ARCHITECTURAL TYPES.
Reasoning the static through the form.
Antonella Marzi - Supervisor: Adrian Sheppard
The story of the ancient
settlements, the urban
transformations, the social
and economic conditions
that characterize the city,
and construct new identities
of landscape are all closely
related to the development
of historical memory and
cultural transformation of its
architecture. Architecture with
its morphological characters
and ideological influences
built the city. This leads to the
questions: how is a building able
to modify settlement patterns
and the social culture of a city?
How is it able to relate to or
disengage from the constructive
logic and find its own identity,
through which to express the
character of the composition in
a meaningful way?
Given the vastness of this topic,
the thesis focuses on the aspects
that are more specifically related
to the role of the building as a
fusion of static solutions and
architectural space. In previous
architecture, the division or
conflict in the relationship
between the point of view
of composition and point of
view of structure did not exist
as it does today. Divisions and
conflicts emerged in the middle
of nineteen century, with the
advent of new materials and
new construction techniques.
In the light of this rift it is useful
to reconsider the instances that
have always represented the
architecture in its most coherent
and conscious productions.
The relationship between
architectural form and the
structural component provides
an important reading key for
a better understanding of the
buildings architecture.
The ability to control the
structural components, to shape
them to have completeness
figurative and to establish
a connection between its
formal order and its static
principles, turns out to be a
dominant factor in the making
of architecture. The structure
can become a poetic language
that represents the closest
connection with Art. It manifests
itself in the boldness of the
masses, in the beauty of forms
and in reaching maximum
fulfilling mastery and building
experience.
This research project investigates
the relationship between
structure and architecture,
in an attempt to take the
structural changes and structural
components as a key for the
choice of composition and
contemporary typology.
Following the development
of the research, the proposed
analysis is divided into three
parts:
The first part seeks to analyze
different attitudes of engineers,
builders and architects, and
comparing multiple approaches
of structural composition.
A second part investigates the
role of concrete in architecture,
retracing its passages and
intellectual productions form
its birth to the development of
the material. This part of the
thesis examines technical and
design considerations that led
to its present development,
highlighting the coming of
todays challenges related to the
research aspects of innovation.
Finally, it analyses the production
cycles and reinforcement
efforts (during the building
site) as well as those specifically
concerned with the appearance
of durability of the material, the
recovery and rehabilitation of
structures.
The third part verifies, by
means of an experimental
design, the possibility of a
relationship between structure
and architecture (not as a
constraint but as a true resource)
resulting in opportunities for
use of innovative technologies
where the transformation of the
material often plays a role of
primary interest.
The thesis analyzes
developments, innovations and
applications of technologies and
the role of structural concrete
in the design of spaces and in
architectural forms to illustrate
an understanding of the
architectural project, taking in its
architectural form and structural
section the new solution and
new technological resources.
The attempt to explore the
structural types through
case study will provide an
explanatory analysis and a more
comprehensive search, where
the concepts expressed in the
theoretical part will be verified
and applied more directly. By
way of different methodologies
and analytical techniques the
thesis will propose an analysis
of compositional languages,
rebuilding social-cultural periods
and image of the architect-
builder.
The common ground on which
science and art have their
roots is the Renaissance. The
two disciplines had a strong
relationship, enough to read
them as a single inseparable
whole. In the recent history
the disciplines of architecture
and engineering collided. This
research proposes to reconstruct
the integration that has always
characterized the architecture of
the far past. The aim is to reach
the merger between structural
and formal ideas as a just
premise of architecture.
When one talks of structure,
one means a physical system
consisting of a set of elements
that make up a space. It is
important to think about these
elements in their unity although
during the calculation phases
they are often considered
individually.
Depending on how the elements
are placed, the structural system,
changes generate different
static actions. From a typological
point of view we tried to
bring these actions to three
structural models, in which,
through a rough classification,
we can identify the different
architectural types binding it to
a precise distribution of loads
inside the structural system.
The structural system performs a
precise function, and to properly
fulfill its tasks it must necessarily
be able to control the tensions
to which they are subjected.
Although it is clear that all
the structures working in
space are three-dimensional,
the classification (which is
carried out below) binds to
the dimensionality of the main
direction of action that prevails
in the specific architectural type
so that the static scheme proves
to be a key element for the
typological detection.
Using a conceptual analogy,
such as taking as a conceptual
scheme the Cartesian reference
system, the thesis attempts, with
the same organizations logic,
to identify the characteristics of
each classification. The choice
of the Cartesian model in order
to conceive the perception of
the physical space, generated
by measuring points, distances
and lengths allows one to
identify a number of references
such as: coordinates, directions,
orientations and measurement
units. Focusing ones attention
PhD Yearbook | 2015
79
on the term direction one
ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION
can see how it is modified
depending on the complexity of
the element. Trying to translate
this situation in the proposed
structural classification, it is
possible to establish a tri-partite
reference system as follows:
mono-dimensional systems,
two-dimensional and three-
dimensional systems. As such,
the type inserted in a simple
and wise classification of this
nature, can help to identify the
many examples of architecture
and engineering taking the
essential aspect of each case,
without precluding the study of
the meaning of each form and
seeking the project idea is not an
imitation but in the awareness
and knowledge of the structural
concept.
1. Place Victoria, P.L.Nervi e L. Moretti,
Montreal, Canada, 1960-65
80
FIGURATIVE INVENTIONS. THE CITIES BY ALDO
ANDREANI
Stefania Monzani - Supervisors: Angelo Torricelli, Richard Allan Etlin
The research starts from the
compositional study of some
works by Aldo Andreani
(Mantua, 1887-Milan, 1971) and
through a critical analogy it adds
a set of images and references
taken as interpretative categories
which allow the reader to
understand the meaning and the
goals of the project. This case
study highlights some themes,
which define the existing
relationship between the
single artifact, and the overall
architecture of the city as well as
the link between the monument
and the urban fabric, that are
fundamental matters for todays
architectural research.
Aldo Andreani was a shy and
reserved person who preferred
to stay out of the political
debate and the artistic trends
of those years because he
believed in the ideal of the
architect-artist, according to
which an artistic project comes
from the right balance between
poetics and building science.
He used to take materials for
his compositions directly from
the city and from his memory
so that he could create a new
order through the sublimation of
those materials in his projects.
His work features a set of
elements that reflect a strong
individuality and it mirrors the
modernity through a deep
reinterpretation of the historical
city in original shapes; the
pieces he took from the
ancient times are the linking
elements of the artifacts that
build his cittadella sognata
the real architectural expression
of his memory.
In his architecture, Andreani
keeps on dealing with two
key principles: rule and
transgression.
He combines a compositional
rigor which verifies the
opportunities of the typology
towards new configurations
with new figurative results,
in which the linguistic
experimentation is permeated by
juxtaposed figures coming from
the classical vocabulary.
The definition of the character
that is the specific quality of
a place and architecture is
the key element of Andreanis
design research. Through a
meticulous study, he integrates
the pieces of his imagined city
with the real urban texture,
adjusting and checking every
single piece of architecture with
a design plan; in this process,
the introduction of a new
architectural work generates
an innovative description of
architectural landscape, where
buildings stand as characters in
a narrative sequence, telling a
new story.
The aim of the research is to
highlight the continuity of a
compositional method according
to which the linguistic reflections
and the study of the organismo
architettonico are essential
PhD Yearbook | 2015
81
requirements to build new shapes leads to the creation of
ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION
architectures with identifiable pieces of architecture that are
character whose original both unique and identifiable in
shapes can reveal the tradition relation to the tradition of the
and the identity of a specific place they belong to.
environment. The study of these architectures
The research investigates the generates many ideas about the
workflow of the project by contemporary architecture and
applying a method that starts the progressive loss of identity of
from the compositional analysis our cities, where architectures are
1. Camera di Commercio e Loggia dei Mercanti, Mantua, 1911-1914. The
of the single architectures and mainly self descriptive rather than building and the public space inside. The plan of the square between the
the interpretation of images and being intended to tell their story. rooms.
references, and it ends with the
examination of the urban scale
and the relationships established
by single artifacts.
The development of the research
requires to split it into three
parts that correspond to Aldo
Andreanis masterpieces: Palazzo
della Camera di Commercio and
Loggia dei Mercanti in Mantua
(1911-1914), Palazzo Fidia
included in the Edificazione in
Terra Sola Busca plan in Milan
(1929-1932) and Palazzo Toro in
Milan (1934).
These works link the single
artifact to a larger study related
to the city. Though they are
different buildings as regards
their use and the target
audience, all of them can reveal
Andreanis idea of the project,
which is not limited to the
definition of the building itself,
but it expands to calibrate the
bonds with the surroundings,
blocks and monuments as far as
reopening the whole question
3. Palazzo Toro, Milan, 1934. The corner
about the pieces of the city. 2. Edificazione in Terra Sola Busca plan, Milan, 1929-1932. View of and the connection to the San Carlo
Andreanis work of molding the the scalar composition for Isola. neoclassical church.
 82
ARCHITECTURE BORN IN VIOLENCE:
Creative dilemma in post-urbicidal reconstructions.
Experiences of belgrade in the aftermath of 1999 war.
Aleksandar Stanicic - Supervisors: Marco Prusicki and Ivan Rakovic
Phenomenon of organized,
premeditated destruction of
architecture in order to transmit
political messages and achieve
long-term ideological goals
emerges as direct consequence
of development of high-
tech weaponry systems and
contemporary methods of
warfare. One could argue that
there is nothing new or unusual
in destruction of buildings in
wars, since those two concepts
mutually influenced each other
from the beginning of time.
However, it is undeniable that
every conflict produces its
own method and philosophy
of destruction of architecture,
which became particularly
evident in the most recent
wars on Balkans and Middle
East. New phenomena always
brings with itself innovative
terminology and formation
of new scientific disciplines;
the ones specially coined to
explain the infliction of violence
on built environment and its
consequences are urbicide,
warchitecture and architecture
of violence.
It is the calculated, highly
organized and politically
motivated nature of destruction
of buildings that makes it
urbicidal. Architecture became
a medium for transmitting,
while its destruction became a
way to create ethnic and spatial
divisions, claim a right to a
certain territory, modify historical
facts, extort political decision,
provoke violent reaction, etc. In
contemporary conflicts, buildings
are condemned not only as pure
casualties of violence, but as a
tool for infliction of violence,
used equally fierce as any other
weapon of choice.
The true danger of this
phenomenon lies in fact that
the craft of reshaping the
space slowly slides from the
hands of architects into the
hands of military experts. The
sophisticated art of creation
of spatial forms deviates and
mutates into its antithesis - the
art of creation by destruction.
The destructive event interferes
with good architecture, and
unmistakably, it overtakes
the primacy in our perception
of urban spaces. What can
architecture do to regain the
intrinsic right to be the primal
sculptor of our habitat from
destructive forces?
Historically speaking, post-war
reconstructions were always
used as an excellent opportunity
to redefine and improve
urban experience of damaged
cities. But more importantly,
reconstructions after violence
are a fertile ground to provide
cultural response to destruction.
The argument of this thesis
is that critical and ideological
stance is always demanded
of architecture, and especially
after urbicide. Symbolic
destruction demands symbolic
existence Belgrade successfully
reconstruction in order to
preserve memory and increase
the resilience of the cities, since
the omitted lesson from the past
is usually the most expensive
one. Hence, the scope of this
inquiry is to broaden and amplify
the discourse on destruction
of architecture by pointing out
the cultural implications of
architectural redesign of space
that was previously altered by
urbicidal violence. The post-
urbicidal reconstruction should
be understood as architects
mission to regain his true-born
right to be the sole sculptor of
built space, and the only way
to do that is by developing a
specific language of architecture
of violence. Close investigation
of current condition of some
notable buildings in Belgrade
that got damaged in 1999
War gave us an excellent
picture of understanding of
urbicidal destruction in Serbian
architectural practice, and in
some most successful examples,
it even provided a hint of what
language of architecture of
violence might actually look
like.
Belgrade as a case study was
chosen due to its rich history
of urban destruction, but
more importantly, because it
was a victim of urbicide only
sixteen years ago, during the
war between NATO and FR
of Yugoslavia. Even before
this conflict Serbian capital
suffered from chronic lack of
appropriate and thorough post
war urban reconstructions,
which combined with fierce
and multiple annihilations of
built tissue left irreparable
consequences. During its entire
response to it.
cherished the tradition of
discontinuity, where damaged
legacy of previous regimes
was harshly erased of left to
decay under influence of new
ideologies. In recent years,
however, many designs were
presented for reconstruction
of these sites. In some more
successful cases, reconstruction
of buildings damaged in 1999
War went through much faster
due to favorable circumstances,
but still, methods and approach
of their reconstruction varied
significantly from case to case.
The complex case of Generaltab
(Army General Staff Building)
was segregated to demonstrate
the full spectrum of influences
that are inhibiting the proper
post-war reconstruction of
buildings in Belgrade today.
Combustible mixture of intrinsic
semiotics, ideology, architectural
theories, architects political
background and symbolic of
destructive event, makes the
violated space almost impossible
to read unambiguously, and it
deprives future reconstruction of
its authentic sense. However,
this lack of adequate design
proposals was used to theorize
about possible development
of language of architecture of
violence using the damaged
edifice of Generaltab as
proving ground. On the basis of
previously exposed theoretical
frame, and using the experiences
of earlier reconstructions,
a series of different design
proposals was offered, and
for each of them was given
thorough description and further
theoretical implications. The
intended purpose of this inquiry
is to be a starting point for
further investigation on writing
of the disaster and architectures
first of them is usage of empty
Overall conclusion is that
there is evident lack of
awareness among architects
in Serbia about the actuality
of the subject, and lack basic
conversance with urbicidal
theories to begin with. Further
on, there is no attentiveness
about social responsibility that
understanding the mechanisms
in which violence is changing
our built environment bears.
Consequently, there is no proper
response of the architecture
as profession to the issues of
purposeful, politically motivated
annihilation of buildings.
Same happened after 1999
War: destroyed buildings were
seen rather as leftovers of
unwelcomed ideologies than
as valuable products of its own
(architectural) culture. It could
well explain the lack of scientific
inquiry on repercussions
that destruction enforces on
architecture and development
of cities in Serbia a sort of
cultural darkness that lasts still.
Rare are the designs that may
be characterized as positive
response to destruction, and
they came mostly as mere
coincidence and not as a result
of thoughtful, theoretically
based action. More often they
just happened by applying the
safest and the simplest possible
solution total erasure of traces
of violence and restoration as
it was.
Ultimately, by analyzing those
few successful examples, it was
possible to extrapolate some
directions in which architectural
PhD Yearbook | 2015
design after urbicide may
go. What all of them have
in common is that they re-
appropriate the language of
disaster and turn it into a critical
response to the violence. The
space as an equal component
in constructing the architectural 83
forms, followed by the similarly-
ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION
based preservation of damaged
building in ruinous state. Third
and the most controversial
approach would be the
succumbing to the urges of
visual extravagance, which may
well lead into decadence, and
later on even into a farce. On
the opposite end, introduction
of new forms next to the old
ones could carry more or less
appropriate symbolism, although
it inevitably changes the original
architectural composition.
Finally, emphasizing the contrast
between old and new on
reconstructed building, where
damaged and then repaired
section of the edifice is clearly
distinguishable from the old,
undamaged part, proved to be a
very successful method in post-
disaster renewals.
No doubt that despite
everlasting presence of violence
in everyday life, we are just
starting to understand the ways
it changes our built environment
and what should be our
response to it.
Mechanical Engineering | Physics |
Preservation of THE Architectural Heritage
| Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial Planning
and Urban Development | Structural Seismic
and Geotechnical Engineering | Technology
and Design for Environment and Building
| Territorial Design and Government |
Aerospace Engineering | Architectural
and Urban Design | Architectural
Composition | Architecture, Urban Design,
Conservation of Housing and Landscape
| Bioengineering | Building Engineering
| Design | Design and technologies for
cultural heritage | Electrical Engineering |
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
| Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture
and Exhibition Design | Management,
Economics and Industrial Engineering
| Materials Engineering | Mathematical
MODELS and METHODS IN Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
86

DOCTORAL PROGRAM will be discussed with other PhD colleagues and experimental sustainable models.

PhD Yearbook | 2015

with the teacher board during the permanent 2. The conservation and functional adaptation of

IN ARCHITECTURE, URBAN workshop activity.

At the end of the three years, the thesis will be the
DESIGN, CONSERVATION OF final dissertation subject and it will be judged by a
commission of external teachers, allowing to the PhD
HOUSING AND LANDSCAPE student to obtain the title of Doctor.
Contents of the Doctoral Program
The Doctoral Program holds the form of living
Chair: The purpose of the course is to train aware professionals and researchers, space as a mandatory and strategic issue for the
buildings belonging to historical and processing
context, with particular attention to diagnostic,
safeness material, historical, cultural and modeling
aspects.
3. Traditional and innovating living spaces in relation
to urban regeneration of suburbs and natural
landscape.
87
Each year these guidelines will be articulated in

ARCHITECTURE, URBAN DESIGN, CONSERVATION OF HOUSING AND LANDSCAPE

Prof. Maria Grazia Folli committed to the production of conceptual and operative instruments
for the design of contemporary housing in the respect of the historical
values. Taking responsibility towards liveableness of places, sustainability,
good practices, while considering historical values within the complex
and unstable reality, requires a critical revision and an update of the
disciplinary instrumentation and of the training and research methods:
to this goal, the Doctoral Program will profit from the contribution of
thoughts and knowledge necessary to built up effective conceptual
apparatus and design instruments.
The faculty board, where the different scientific areas of the Doctoral
Program are represented, coordinates and constantly follows the
students activity, which consists of an integrated activity of studies,
theoretical and project researches, managing of seminar and meetings,
organised in collaboration with Italian and foreign university, and
involving external experts from the cultural and professional environment.
contemporary age.
The contemporary theoretical and practical researches
are addressed through different disciplinary branches,
capable to cope with questions as the relationship
between the existing context and the new projects,
the scales and the problems of the living space, in
particular housing, public space and landscape.
The Doctoral Program is articulated into three
distinct but strongly interdependent research
itineraries which together contribute to the training
of the doctoral students, while retaining their specific
approach.
1. The new living architecture through definition of
settlement principles and construction types, rules
of building processes, with particular attention to
specific research projects to be defined according to
the scientific interests of teachers and to social and
economic events.
In this respect it is crucial the relationship with the
reference committee, with public institutions and
with regional, national and international partner
organizations.
While keeping their own scientific autonomy,
the three research itineraries have to be explored
and deepened by the doctoral students with a
interdisciplinary approach. The interdisciplinary
character is an important peculiarity of the Doctoral
Program, viewed as a working method which allows
to form researchers with a better understanding of
the close relationship between theoretical studies and
their practical applications.

The PhD programme is three year long and evolves around three different
Doctoral Program Board
phases, closely related each other and coherent with the research plans:
Maria Grazia Folli Mariacristina Giambruno Simona Chiodo
1. in the first period, the training proceeds along three interacting
Maurizio Boriani Lionella Scazzosi Laura Montedoro
levels: start up of the permanent (three years) workshop, based on
discussion and cross-disciplinary comparison between students and Massimo Fortis Lucia Toniolo Orsina Simona Pierini
teacher board, focused on the main topics of the Doctoral programme; Luigi Zanzi Giulio Barazzetta Maria Alessandra Secchi
a design research workshop, capable to handle the complexity of
Anna Anzani Cecilia Bolognesi
different scales and problems in the living project; a lecture tour aiming
to develop the questions dealt with during the workshop. The triple Elsa Garavaglia Alberta Cazzani
activity, feeding the fundamental attitude to interconnect different
knowledge, methods, codes and techniques, let each student to Experienced Members and Advisory Board
gain the critical and methodological awareness necessary to spot the
specific areas of interest and to start up, coherently with the central Matilde Baffa Giacinta Jean (SUPSI)
themes of the PhD programme, the research work aimed to the thesis. Luigia Binda Shao Yong (Tongji University)
2. in the second period, the PhD student, besides being involved in Vincenzo Petrini Xavier Monclus (Zaragoza University)
launching and organising the permanent workshop activities, will
develop his thesis research, taking advantage of the participation to Silvano Tintori Rosario Pavia (Pescara University)
congress, meetings, stage (it is mandatory to have at least one stage) Claudio De Albertis (Triennale di Milano, Francesco Purini (Rome La Sapienza University)
in Italy or abroad, by institution or research laboratories in convention Assimpredil)
with the PhD programme, or by other institutes approved by the Bruno de Meulder (Leuven University) Pere Roca (Barcelona University)
teacher board.
3. the third year will be devoted to the working out of the thesis: Carmen Diez (Zaragoza University) Elli Vintzileou (Athens University)
contents and methods, besides being constantly verified by the tutor, Elio Franzini (Milan University)
 88
Architectural Heritage Liberty
in the territory of Varese and Canton
Ticino: technique, form and preservation
Margherita Guarisco - Reviewer: Prof. Anna Anzani
The thesis deals with a study
of Liberty architectures in the
territory of the province of
Varese and in Canton Ticino,
an area where the floral style
expressed through exceptionally
spectacular works, that emerged
from the surrounding landscape
and were linked through service
infrastructure with the precise
collective will to take advantage
from local favorable climatic and
environmental conditions for
touristic purposes.
Detail of the panoramic window of
the restaurant at Campo dei Fiori,
Varese. G. Sommaruga, 1910-1911.
Photograph by Davide Niglia
The works designed by masters
such as Sommaruga, Gambini,
Moroni, in turn served as models
from which master builders
and craftsmen drew shapes
and compositions to achieve a
copious series of palaces and
villas that still characterize the
territory. In fact, besides the
most significant cases, simple or
rural buildings emerge that still
show signs of Liberty influence,
and form a dense network
in an inseparable, as well as
delicate, relationship between
buildings and landscape. New
cementitious materials, easily
malleable and which make
real an artificial nature, are
combined with local ones,
creating matches whenever
exclusive and emblematic of the
place where they are created.
Nature and anti-nature form a
harmonic unicum both in the
singularity of each building and
in the totality of the Varese and
Ticino area where architecture
and natural elements collaborate
to establishing new territorial
realities.
Detail of the the building in via
Matteotti 26, Cunardo (Va).
On the other hand, despite
the examples related to Liberty
represent a significant part
of the local architecture for
the considered areas, this
rich and diversified heritage
still struggles to really be
recognized as such. Since the
thirties of the twentieth century,
this valuable architectural
corpus has undergone a slow
abandonment, due to both
the development of new
contemporary architectural
trends and the speculation and
massive demolitions carried out
after the war. This trend has not
diminished in our days and many
architectures, especially minor
and not subjected to protection
laws, today are exposed to
heavy remodeling if not to
at a progressive decay and
demolition.
Detail of the building in Via A. Sacco
11, Bellinzona (CH). M. Conti, 1909.
Recognizing the value that
these fairly recent past
architectures have for the local
heritage, some municipalities
of the province of Varese are
promoting initiatives that return
to Liberty a representative role
for the territory. Also different
institutions, both national and
international, show interest in
the recovery of its knowledge
and in its protection. Once
surpassed the concept of a
monument avulsed from its
context, the architectural
works should be considered
as part of a system and of a
global wealth, according to the
aims of European policies for
the enhancement of cultural
heritage that aim at promoting
and strengthening a kind of
innovative and reflexive society,
that is aware of its inheritance
in terms of memory and identity.
Expanding the concept of
sustainability and adopting
a systemic approach, the
improvement of the quality of
life also gets through a renewal
of the built heritage that takes
into account the complexity
of the territory and is not
separated from an integration
of economic, environmental and
social aspects. Therefore, the
architectural conservation act
becomes a moment of reflection
on the relationship between
landscape and the traces that
time has left on it and its
inhabitants, and becomes a sort
of ecology of depth. The aim of
this thesis is to survey a relevant
architectural Liberty heritage
in the province of Varese and
in Canton Ticino in the belief
that a spread of knowledge to
as many users as possible can
PhD Yearbook | 2015
89
be the most efficient tool for also including Italian and Italian
ARCHITECTURE, URBAN DESIGN, CONSERVATION OF HOUSING AND LANDSCAPE
its preservation. A census is the Swiss laws. Finally, the fifth
first step not only to raise the chapter presents a survey of
people attention to this heritage Liberty architectures in the
and its local characteristics, but province of Varese and in low
also to allow the legislature to Ticino.
initiate a process that can lead
to protection and conservation
actions. The thesis is organized
into chapters that develop
different aspects of the studied
topic. The first chapter, by
analyzing the characteristics of
a short-lasting cultural utopia,
focuses on Varese and Ticino
Liberty excellences. In the
second chapter, by considering
publications and iconography
as a dissemination tool of the
Liberty aesthetics, the results of
a wide research are presented
that has been carried out
on the technical literature of
the considered period and
is presented through some
articulated comparative tables. In
the third chapter, some keys will
provided to understanding the
complexity that characterized
a period of great constructive
and stylistic experimentation,
through the works of great
masters and the analysis of the
characters and techniques of
Varese and Ticino Liberty style:
materials, shapes, construction,
ornament. The fourth chapter
presents the main tool that are
globally and locally available
for the protection, cataloging,
dissemination and use of the
tangible and intangible heritage,
 90

TRANSFORMATION OF URBAN SPACE AND WATER

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Investigating and revealing the spatial character of
hydrology in the contemporary built environment
G.M.A. Balayet Hossain - Supervisor - Marialessandra Secchi

91
Rapid urban growth and sixty kilometers of the city area the eco-system of the wetlands growing city that is framed with

ARCHITECTURE, URBAN DESIGN, CONSERVATION OF HOUSING AND LANDSCAPE

sustainability are becoming more occupied by wetland area that and its seasonal advantages- the spatial examination of water.
vital thinking for achieving the is not spatially integrated with this city now fall in a significant
biodiversity appeal in the city. the city structure and where challenge for surviving with its
In addition, both diameters its dwellers are not getting any dwellers. In addition, the impact
are needed for a balance advantages from it. With the of illegal lowland encroachment
intervention to understand their lack of proper meaning and and misuse of wetlands are
specific routines or attributes understanding of the wetlands, becoming the consequences
for the sound growth and good it is expended as a backyard of rapid urban flood with
physical shape of the city where of the city. Moreover, which hazardous living conditions. In
urban population is booming. is also using in the most case this deference, the paper will 2. Formal correlation between Global
In the contemporary period, the as household open drainage find out the spatial meaning of [HH]Rn and Local [HH]R5 integration.
extra pressure of the population system, filling up with sands water in the built environment.
growth of the city is still for formal and informal illegal The research reveals the existing
becoming a fiber for re-shaping growth of development by peripheral lowlands and its
it as a livable, sustainable city. interrupting its countless natural valuable impact on the future
According to un-habitat, almost ecosystem of the city. Ignore growth of the contemporary fast
half of the world population lives
in all scale of cities. In addition,
half of city dwellers are living in
a hazardous condition especially
in developing countries where
3. Informal correlation between
it identified as an informal Global [HH]Rn and Local [HH]R5
settlement. The lack of almost integration.
all urban facilities and their life
qualities raise a question of
-how the city could marriage
with its contemporary issues as
a sustainable way. Dhaka city is
now an overpopulated city, and
it is a home for more than 12.5
million residents. In addition,
half of its residents are living in
informal settlements where their
life is telescoped into a nature of
concrete without touching the
nature of life. Instead of high
density, the city is surrounded by
peripheral lowland area which
is meant in this study paper
as potential wetlands. Almost
fifty percent of three hundred 1. Existence of water and street network, DHK
92
A POINT OF VIEW ON HOUSING DESIGN:
THE VERTICAL SECTION
Caterina Marra - Supervisor: Prof. Arch. Orsina Simona Pierini
The aim of the research is to
investigate the possibilities
offered by the vertical section
tool to enhance the perception
of dynamic movement inside
and outside housing buildings,
in terms of relationship between
building and context, and
examining, at the same time, the
relationship between private and
public realm.
The methodological issue
underlies an approach to the
city, and to the housing design,
which allows us to observe in
particular, as well as in general,
the building in relation with
the private and public realms.
Vertical section is an excellent
investigation tool that can
simultaneously address issues
from a intimate perspective,
while offering a global vision
of the building with its
surroundings.
From the analysis of case
studies, some architectural
solutions interested in dealing
with the interaction between the
individual and collective aspects
of living itself emerge.
In the European context of
the last twenty years there is
a recurring attention to the
management of the delicate
relationship between the
residential building and the
physical and social existing
context.
It emerged that this interaction
between the individual and
the collective sphere can be
investigated with a closer look
to some specific situations of
the design process. Actually,
the research investigates
the tools with which to
observe and to design these
intermediate places, with the
aim of increasing the quality
of contemporary living places.
More precisely, the thesis
focuses on the drawing tool of
vertical section as an instrument
able to offer a specific look to
the housing project, which is
capable of representing a point
of view that allows the design of
the domestic and urban space
simultaneously.
The tool that the architect has
available to transform urban
reality is the architectural design
with its drawings. In particular,
every different drawing tool (as
plants or facades) offer different
approaches to the design
process.
Reading the phenomena from
an interdisciplinary point of
view allows to understand the
complexity of reality and the
reactions that a residential
building can generate in a
context. The sociologic theme
integrates, in a complementary
way, the architectural and
urban themes in order to offer
new possible answers to the
questions of contemporary
living. For example the
spaces of architectural and
social interaction, that are an
expression of new housing
needs, have to be designed
paying attention to different
aspects (sociological and spatial).
The first part of the thesis deal
with the relationship between
design and drawing, intending
the latter as a first means of
knowledge available to the
architect to operate on reality.
Vertical section is detected and
analysed as a possible surgical
tool (cutting and opening the
building) that can allow the
designer to investigate in depth
some aspects of the design
process itself. Indeed section
makes it possible to enter the
building and to have a view that
considers simultaneously (during
the design process) the man, the
building and its context.
The research tries to
demonstrate how section could
be more than just an essential
drawing, and become a design
tool available to the architect in
the housing field.
The research does not seek to
carry out a pure analysis of the
instrument of vertical section
itself, but it is focused on a
survey of the specific vertical
section potentialities that can
extract, and highlight, specific
themes of spatial and social
interaction in housing design.
The second part deal with the
identification of three specific
reading forms of vertical section.
These constitute three particular
themed and amplifying lenses
through which the building can
be investigated and designed.
The first reading form is
Continuity, as the ability to
observe the building through
a dynamic view of space; by
means of this reading form
vertical section will show the
mutual relations between
the spaces (according to the
principles of spatial continuity,
fluidity and practicability of the
dwelling). The second form of
reading is Permeability, defined
as the ability to investigate the
building and its capability to
establish relationships between
contexts of different nature
(spatial and social). The third
form of reading, finally, is the
Interscalarity, as the possibility
of vertical section to control
the design process on different
scales at the same time. In this
part of the thesis are highlighted
the most significant and
representative concepts of each
reading form through a graphic
analysis of the examples. In this
way, are clarified the possibilities
offered by the use of vertical
section in housing design.
This research would discreetly
suggest to the designer a more
refined use of the instrument
of vertical section in housing
design to increase the quality of
housing places.
Emphasizing aspects that tie
the building to the context in
which it is realised, the research
seeks to suggest a point of
view on housing design that
can investigate the building by
a behaviour that is internal and
simultaneously external. Even
through the constant references
to the heritage of Modern
Architecture, the research
shows many contemporary
projects have already used
this type of cross look. This
configures architectural solutions
addressed on the improvement
of the interaction between the
individual and the community,
as well as between the building
and its context.
In the third part, the research
tries to make clear the goal
reached and to define a new
open departure looking to
existing buildings as a field
where section can also be
applied. In particular, the
comparison between two
different Dutch case studies, that
seem similar in plans but work
different in section, shows how
GWL Site, KCAP, System of interaction between the individual and the
collective sphere
PhD Yearbook | 2015
93
several small differences can
ARCHITECTURE, URBAN DESIGN, CONSERVATION OF HOUSING AND LANDSCAPE
produce such different spatial
situations.
In the end, the research seeks to
reflect on the way to be useful
not only for the new housing
design, but also for the existing
buildings. Indeed, the action to
cut something with a section
can be done on any kind of
building, what is important is
the new way to draw and use
section as a design tool.
Finally the thesis reflects on
Vertical section not only as a
drawing tool with which the
architect can look inside the
building, but also as a real way
to approach and to manage
the design as a means of
investigation and knowledge.
The research provides an
interpretation of the tool of
vertical section as a privileged
point of view for contemporary
housing design.
94

The minimum complex unit of Bakema and

PhD Yearbook | 2015

van den Broek and his influence
in contemporary urban space.
Manuele Salvetti - Relatore: Orsina Simona Pierini

95
This research is focused on the the project as a total process. spaces represented in movies that have managed to generate need to design the territory and intervention in the

ARCHITECTURE, URBAN DESIGN, CONSERVATION OF HOUSING AND LANDSCAPE

investigation of the minimum The unit is an urban element like A Clockwork Orange and and especially to maintain a high with a drawing that takes care contemporary city.
complex unit, an urban element that is repeated and varied La Haine shows a formal and quality of urban space. of the multiple scales of living.
theorized after second world generating a residential district; typological homogeneity that The unit represents for Examples like Stadstuinen
war by the Dutch architect it is also defined by Bakema a outcome of an interpretation Bakema the act of design designed by KCAP, Messeistadt
Jaap Bakema. The goal of this visual group, a place from which of the house like a piece of that responds to the primary Munchen Riem by Ammann
thesis is to analyze a certain it possible to get in touch with a potentially infinite puzzle focus of making architecture: Albers, show how the
way of thinking the expansion different ways of living, with in which man is disoriented. involved on the formation of experience of the minimum and
of the city that responds to open space and with other In opposite, the scenario of the space, its meaning can only complex unit is still present. The
the different scales of living units. Interior and exterior are districts like THool and Klein be to help man to find a good special relationship between the
by creating qualitative urban designed together, creating a Driene by Bakema and van understanding (relationship) entrances of dwellings with the
spaces; for this reason the total space where each part den Broek shows equitable with infinite space (total) in scale of the neighbourhood and
minimum complex unit is a affects the other and vice versa. coexistence between the which they live. Transcending a the continuity of the building
possible tool for the design of One of the most present individual dimension and the matter of architectural language curtain and perception of urban
the contemporary city. issues in the contemporary collective one, achieved through the unit becomes like the interiors of the units are just
housing design is the presence the unit as a moment of block or the siedlung an urban some of the spaces and issues
Recent urban expansions - Zac of different forms of living. synthesis. This relationship can element that generates a certain generated by the unit that may
Massena in Paris, Sanchinarro in If the unit provides for the be traced in Dutch experiences idea of the city, but less rigid; become present even in smaller
Madrid - are the representation simultaneous presence of of the early 900, where the what follows is in fact a public programs.
of an urbanity sometimes terraced house on the ground population growth brings the space formed by a multiplicity The unit defines a measure and
compressed or dilated in which floor and apartments on the architectural culture to rethink of different places, some crops a limit that is present although
vary the relationship between top floors to allow people to the image of the city, either by and corresponding to the scale it is permeable, and therefore
built and open space, regardless choose where and how to live, small and large interventions: of the neighbourhood, and it can also constitute a modus
of the constancy of human this mixit today reveals itself from housing associations to other than that of the district. operandi for the regeneration of
scale. Making a parallel with the as a desire to build buildings or Berlage plan for Amsterdam The combination between parts portions of existing cities, where
space of house, where on the parts of cities to encourage the South. A fundamental is the result of repetition and the weakness of the urban
opposite the internal measures relationship between ways of life condition of development is variation, the design tools that form or the presence of a large
do not change within narrow and different social classes. also the neutrality of the Dutch make up the settlement pattern, scale leads to introduce a new
limits, those of the city appear For this reason the residential landscape, that not having expression of the relations gradualness of living spaces.
instead very unstable, generating districts of Bakema and van particular geographical limits between the units and a series
places sometimes destabilizing. den Broek built between the has allowed to understand the of spaces and architectural and Through the analysis of the
The minimum complex unit 50s and 70s do not make the plan design as a physical act urban issues, such as the street, minimum complex units this
is generated instead by using same mistakes of some their directed to the construction of commissioning act of complexity. research tries to identify a set of
human measure that constitutes contemporaries, that conceived new urban space, rather than a If the second world war urban choices, sizes and relationships,
a kind of modulor in the urban as mega-structures missing particular mediation to a set of expansions have responded to not with the aim of recovering
space. Since 1948 Jaap Bakema the human scale one of the constraints of the context. problems of population growth, predetermined images, but
began working with Johannes best known examples is to The projects structured with in the contemporary city old rather to have the operational
Hendrik van den Broek in the Bijlmermeer in Amsterdam units represent transversal industrial areas or infrastructural tools in order to build a more
office that over the years he will led to the formation of social case studies; since they are not sediments are now the new widespread urban quality. This
define architecture-urbanism. ghettos, problematic places episodes rooted in a culture and places of experimentation in thesis show that the minimum
This name, overcoming a simple of living and open wounds in in a specific geography, they are which, despite the different complex unit may be a design
disciplinary distinction, interprets the body of the city. Urban readable as spatial compositions assumptions, there remains a strategy for the construction
96
Identification, Calibration and Transmigration of
Sustainable Urban Public Spaces in Jaipur (India):
Emerging Urban and Architectural Frontiers for a
Sustainable City
Vibhor Mukul Singh - Supervisor: Prof. Maria Grazia Folli
Tutor: Prof. Giulio Barazzetta
How good a city is at facilitating
exchange determines its health
economic, social, cultural
and environmental. Public
space forms a vital conduit
in this exchange process,
providing platforms for everyday
interaction and information
flows the basis and content for
the public life of cities
The project intends to be a
chronological documentation
and analytical research on the
various types of public spaces
of Jaipur that have been a part
of the city both, then and now.
A recollection of their origin,
their purpose, their mutation
and their resilience or capacity
to cope with the growing
urban pressure, followed by
an in-depth review of their
standing against the scale
of sustainability. The main
objectives of the research are to:
Identify, study and optimally
redevelop the different type of
public spaces that already exist
in Jaipur
Propose new pockets in light of
the citys socio-cultural domain
of traditions, newly acquired
cosmopolitanism and future
sustainability.
Study their origins, purpose,
mutation and adaptation over
the centuries (in case of the
historical)
Study their fruitfulness &
success as an urban space and
their resilience towards the
demanding urban pressure (in
case of the new)
Evaluate how these (both
historical and the new)
spaces fare on Sustainability
Calibration
What challenges (social,
economic, political,
infrastructural and cultural) and
problems do they face?
How can they contribute
towards sustainable growth of
the city?
How can they themselves be
made sustainable?
The research looks forward
to provide the city of Jaipur
with a highly efficient and
optimum network of public
spaces that will not only do
their part in conventional
terms but contribute actively
and tremendously to a
sustainable growth of the
city. The research shall deal with
the issues of urban development
that lie in immediate vicinity
of these public spaces like
population density, urban and
architectural character of the
surrounding buildings and their
relationship with these spaces,
the streetscapes & landscapes,
etc. How the local culture
completely and totally
dominates and dictates the
character of these spaces in
India. How these spaces used
to behave differently in different
time periods and how they have
transformed themselves over
the years, some in order to keep
surviving and others in order to
give way to new functions and
spaces.
Methodology:
The research was carried out
against the backdrop of various
concepts of utility, functionality,
suitability, adaptability and
sustainability to establish the
current situation of public spaces
in the city. And then went
further to propose designs in
various cases in accordance with
the issues of sustainability.
The research consisted of
identification and documentation
of various types of public spaces
and their classification. A detailed
study was carried out on their
purpose of design, intent,
planning & design considerations
to understand how and why they
are as they are. The idea was to
study and listing various public
spaces on the city map together
with the city master plan, govt.
policies and schemes to upgrade
these public spaces and plant
new ones, in terms of scale,
character, functioning, location,
etc. Also, theres documentation
on the mutation/adaptation/
elimination of the traditional
public spaces. I picked up various
related researches to establish the
problems being faced by other
contemporary cities at similar
levels in terms of identity crisis,
lack or underutilization of public
spaces, isolation of pockets
of land, etc. Also I prepared a
separate section on the planning
and design principles adapted
PhD Yearbook | 2015
from the ancient literature and
scriptures like Vastu Shastra &
Shilpa Shastra and establish their
validity in present day scenario.
An inventory was made that
consists of parameters like
location & areas, climate, socio-
cultural patterns, functions,
urban and architectural character 97
of the area, sustainability and
ARCHITECTURE, URBAN DESIGN, CONSERVATION OF HOUSING AND LANDSCAPE
so on to establish various
benchmarks that can be used in
future to judge the performance
of these public spaces.
The idea was identify the
problems with the new
developments proposed,
critically analyze them and 1. Map of the Walled City of Jaipur in early 19th Century
suggest various corrective
measures at different levels to
urban form, streets, spaces and the conflicting approaches to
make them contribute actively
usage vis a vis the 21st century heritage fabric and its usage by
towards sustainability in the
Heritage Vision of Jaipur. the residents, NGOs and the
city. How and what all concepts
It evaluates the present local government departments.
ideas and tools of sustainable
circumstances, the socio It will be followed by seeking an
and eco-friendly design can be
economic situation, the answer to the question
implemented to arrive at the
residents aspirations, the Whether an integrated,
intended sustainable public
linkages to their pasts and holistic approach through the
spaces. And finally to propose
their expression, translation proposed Heritage Plan can
a corrective Public Space
and interpretation in the global again showcase Jaipur as the
Distribution Map and a Design
environment. It also presents 21st century Renaissance city?
Digest/Manual comprising
of proposals & suggestions
for optimum & sustainable
redevelopment of City.
The field research for this project
was undertaken in the cities of
Jaipur, Chandigarh & New Delhi
over the course of a year. The
research involved a good deal of
what we can call deep hanging
out spending time in the cities
and public spaces, observing how
they worked at different times of
the day and talking with a wide
range of people as they went
about their daily activities.
The research presents the
similarities and contrasts
between the 18th century vision
of the city, the perceptions of 2. Original Urban Fabric & Density Archipelago of the Walled City &Creation of
historic visitors to the city, the Multi-Functional Polarity Nodes
98
A Study on Tehrans Public Spaces
according to Inclusive Design Principles;
Tools and Experiences
Soroudeh Soori - Supervisor: Laura Montedoro
Introduction
Tehran, the capital city of
Iran has faced the changes of
globalization of the 20th century
and throughout its process of
transformation has lost many
valuable characteristics which
made its public spaces inclusive
in the past.
Unlike the traditional spaces in
Tehran many public spaces are
not accessible for all types of
users. Therefore people refuse
to use the spaces because
of the poor design of public
spaces. The case study area
poses barriers and limitations
to accessing suitable facilities,
public transport, public spaces
and urban environment.
In addition, it is essential to
understand characteristics
of Irans public spaces and
their historical values before
deciding to make changes and
propose new design guidelines.
Here are compulsory factors
recognized and studied about
Tehrans public spaces in order to
achieve the goals and purposes
such as the issues and threats
Tehran is facing currently in
terms of quality of its space,
the effect of modernization on
Tehran, unique qualities and
characteristics of traditional
Iranian cities, the lost
characteristics of traditional
public spaces in Tehran,
Analysing inclusiveness of
public spaces in the Tehran in
current era, review on Inclusive
design and its principles as a
tool to plan a city for all and
finally deducting new inclusive
design guidelines to enhance
the quality of the case study
area as a sample. The result of
studies shows that there is a
great gap between traditional
characteristics of public spaces in
Tehran and contemporary design
in the case study area such as:
Lack of physical use of space
according to change of social
network.
Lack of human contact and
social activities.
Segregating creation of spaces
from the main variables of
inclusive design.
Lack of responsive, inclusive
and accessible public spaces in
the case study area.
The quality of public spaces in
the case study area is low.
Lack of Free mobility and
access and lack of walkability
throughout the city.
Contemporary modern design
in Tehran has decreased the
walkability and use of the citys
public spaces. The automobile
oriented values of modernism
have been collected in the
transportation and street design
standards that we struggle
with today. The street patterns
of most public spaces areas
in the case study area built
after the Islamic revolution are
by demolishing old buildings
destroying city gardens and
constructing new high rise
apartments based only on
financial benefits.
Therefore the aim of this
research is to determine a link
between Tehrans modern
and traditional public spaces
in order to achieve the most
important tools and experiences
for designing inclusive open
spaces in Tehran and to deduct
new design guidelines for public
spaces in Tehran, in order to
achieve a more responsive and
inclusive spaces and reviving its
historical values by identifying
the main issues and threats in
the case study area.
Therefore compulsory factors
recognized and studied in this
thesis about Tehrans public
space in order to achieve the
goals and purposes of this
research are as followed:
The issues and threats the
case study area is facing in this
period in terms of quality of its
spaces.
The effect of Modernization on
the case study area.
Unique Qualities and
Characteristics of Traditional
Iranian cities
The lost characteristics of
traditional public spaces in
Tehran as case study area
Analysing inclusiveness of
public spaces in the case study
area today.
Review on Inclusive design and
its principles as a tool to have a
city for all.
Deducting new inclusive design
guidelines to enhance the
quality of the case study area
as a sample.
To achieve the objectives, the
inclusiveness of two important
public spaces in the historical
core of Tehran (Toop-Khane
Square and Laleh-Zar Street)
has been examined through
qualitative method, using
SWOT analysis and systematic
observation and photographs.
Methodology
This research is based on
explanatory and qualitative
methods which focus on the
historical core of Tehran within
Toop-Khane Square and Laleh-
zar Street as two important
historical and commercial joints
of the city. This area is functions
a North-South axis and its the
main joint between the new
development part of Tehran and
the traditional and historical part
of the city.
The mode of the research
is historical and it explores
Tehrans urban and architectural
transformation and growth
from the origins until today.
It explores the transformation
and developments of two most
important public spaces of the
city and explores the gaps and
problems the public spaces
are facing today in order to
identify the changes that they
need and to carry out new
design guidelines according to
principles of inclusive design.
The research was done using
Systematic observations, Vision
maps, Photographs and SWOT
Analysis. Spatial analysis of the
case study includes:
Land uses and functions of the
square, the street and their
surroundings
Maps of Solid and void
Analysing Inclusiveness of the
area
Type of access and the
articulation of the case study
Morphology, orientation and
the layout of the case study
Architectural prototypes and
physical-visual aspects of the
case study
Procedure
Through this research I
studied the process of urban
development and transformation
of Iranian cities through history
in order to understand the loss
and gains of the cities through
time and to determine the link
between traditional and modern
design of the cities in order
to find the issues and threats
and possibilities. Later the
procedure of the development
in open spaces of Iran was
analysed in order to understand
the relationship between the
traditional and contemporary
design within these spaces. It
helped to understand how to
apply a design procedure in the
case study area to revive the
lost characteristics and have a
compatible design which keeps
the identity of the space but
at the same time is fulfilling
contemporary architecture
and modern lifestyle of people
currently.
The research then focused
more on gathering information
about the case study project,
Tehran. The research focused on
analysing Tehrans development
through history by concentrating
on its maps, since late 18th
century until 2014. The analysis
of maps led to finding out about
Tehrans development according
to its infrastructure, function,
and its cultural values and urban
fabric. Public spaces were then
defined in the map of Tehran
and great information was are limitations with the new
collected through the survey. By
this means it has been necessary
to understand the user-friendly
and inclusive structure of Iranian
PhD Yearbook | 2015
traditional cities and the public
spaces before modernization
and to define the impact of
modernization on the quality of
these spaces.
Results
The results show that the public
spaces in this area are neither 99
inclusive nor responsive to
ARCHITECTURE, URBAN DESIGN, CONSERVATION OF HOUSING AND LANDSCAPE
peoples needs. Therefore by
considering design principles
and variables that we have
achieved from previous studies
a new design is proposed in the
research which enhances the
inclusiveness of the space:
1. Spatial cognition and quality
of restoration and Urban and
Architectural characteristics of
Tehrans public spaces and its
historical values
2. Illustrating the case studys
historical background and its
aspects while emphasising
on its historical values and
characteristics.
3. Presenting a structure
which defines the modern
construction with its new
functions compatible with
peoples culture and lifestyle.
4. Considering standard Inclusive
design elements and features
in the case study area.
The result of this study shows
that by conducting Inclusive
design principles and restoring
the good elements and
feature and reviving the lost
characteristics and traditional
values of the public spaces in
the case study area it is possible
to enhance the inclusiveness
and improve accessibility in
order to have inclusive public
spaces in Tehran. However there
proposed design because of
economic issues and financial
matters.
Mechanical Engineering | Physics |
Preservation of THE Architectural Heritage
| Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial Planning
and Urban Development | Structural Seismic
and Geotechnical Engineering | Technology
and Design for Environment and Building
| Territorial Design and Government |
Aerospace Engineering | Architectural and
Urban Design | Architectural Composition |
Architecture, Urban Design, Conservation
of Housing and Landscape | Bioengineering
| Building Engineering | Design | Design
and technologies for cultural heritage
| Electrical Engineering | Energy and
Nuclear Science and Technology |
Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture
and Exhibition Design | Management,
Economics and Industrial Engineering
| Materials Engineering | Mathematical
MODELS and METHODS IN Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
102
DOCTORAL PROGRAM
IN BIOENGINEERING
The main objective of the PhD Programme in Bioengineering is
Chair: to prepare the PhD candidates to the development of high level
Prof. Andrea Aliverti engineering problem-solving abilities in biomedical, healthcare and
life sciences, inside research groups or in private/public industrial
contexts, through a strong interdisciplinary training bridging
engineering and medical/biological knowledge.
During the PhD, the candidates develop a scientific research project
dealing with a complex problem (which can be at different scales,
from the molecular and the cellular levels to living organisms up to
biomedical systems) and investigate original methods, devices, and
systems with different purposes: increasing knowledge, proposing
innovative methods for diagnosis and therapy as well as improving
healthcare and daily life structures and services. At the end of the
PhD programme, the candidate are expected to be able to carry out
innovative projects in the Bioengineering field, by proposing new
methodological and technical solutions and properly evaluating the
technology impact in healthcare, life science and biomedical industry.
Research is performed through theoretical and experimental
activities in four major areas: biomimetic engineering and micro-
nano technologies; rehabilitation engineering and technology;
technologies for therapy; physiological modelling and non-invasive
diagnostics.
More specific areas include but are not limited to: molecular and
cellular engineering, biomaterials, tissue engineering, bio-artificial
interfaces and devices, neuro-prostheses, movement analysis,
cardiovascular and respiratory system bioengineering, central
nervous system signal and image processing for rehabilitation,
biomechanics, computational fluid-dynamics, computer assisted
surgery and radiotherapy, artificial organs, implantable devices,
biomedical signal and image processing, E-Health, bioinformatics,
functional genomics and molecular medicine.
Since 2013, the PhD Program in Bioengineering is organized with
an inter-departmental structure. Faculty members of the PhD
Advisory Board belong to two Departments of the Politecnico
di Milano: DEIB (Department of Electronics, Information and
Bioengineering) and CMIC (Department of Chemistry, Materials and
Chemical Engineering G. Natta).
PhD candidates (who are, in average, 15-20 per year) develop their
PhD research programs within experimental laboratories located at
PhD Yearbook | 2015
the Politecnico di Milano or outside it, typically biomedical research
centers and hospitals.
When the research is performed within the Politecnico, PhD
candidates are usually assigned to one of the following
laboratories belonging to the Department of Electronics,
Information and Bioengineering (DEIB) and Chemistry Materials
and Chemical Engineering Department (CMIC): Laboratory of
Biological Structure Mechanics (LaBS, CMIC), Laboratory of
movement analysis Luigi Divieti (DEIB), Medical Informatics 103
laboratory (DEIB), Neuroengineering and medical robotics
BIOENGINEERING
Laboratory (NearLab, DEIB), Biosignals, Bioimaging and
Bioinformatics Lab (B3 lab, DEIB), Biomaterials laboratory (CMIC),
Biomedical Technology Lab (TBMLab, DEIB), Experimental
Micro and Biofluid dynamics (BS Lab, DEIB), Computational
Biomechanics Lab (DEIB), Biocompatibility and Cell culture Lab
(BioCell, CMIC), Bioreactors Laboratory (CMIC). The Istituto di
Elettronica, Ingegneria dellInformazione e delle Telecomunicazioni
(IEIIT) of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), which is
located at DEIB, represents another possible option.
Stage periods in distinguished research institutes in Italy and
abroad are an essential feature of the PhD candidate training.
The candidates are encouraged to carry out part of their research
activities in contact with other research groups, preferably abroad
through periods of at least three months spent in laboratories
where the candidate can acquire further skills to develop his/her
research work and thesis.
Collaborations that may involve the PhD students are presently
active with several national and international research and academic
Institutions. Very often, the involvement of industrial and clinical
partners facilitates the technological transfer of applied research
into industry and clinical applications.
The educational offer includes ad hoc advanced courses specifically
designed for the PhD in Bioengineering. The offer includes also
the school of the National Bioengineering Group, which is held
yearly for one week in Bressanone (Bz). Every year, the School is
focused on different topics. As examples, the themes of the last
years have been: Neuroscience, robotics and intelligent machines
(2006), Computational Genomics and Proteomics (2007), Wearable
Intelligent Devices for Human Health (2008), Bioengineering
for Cognitive Neurosciences (2009), Synthetic biology (2010),
Neuroinformatics (2011), Biomedical devices from research to
market (2012), Rigenerative medicine (2013), From functional
recovery to artificial organs (2014).
The PhD Board of professors (PhD Board) is composed by highly
qualified and active researchers in Bioengineering, belonging to
DEIB and CMIC. The PhD Board is responsible of all the candidates
activities. The competencies of Faculty members cover a wide
spectrum of research fields. This allows a continuous updating of
the PhD program and ensures that the PhD candidates are involved
in innovative work.
104

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Composition of the PhD Board
Aliverti Andrea (Coordinator) DEIB
Baselli Giuseppe DEIB
Bianchi Anna Maria DEIB
Caiani Enrico DEIB
Candiani Gabriele CMIC
Cerveri Pietro DEIB
105
Chiesa Roberto CMIC

BIOENGINEERING
Costantino Maria Laura CMIC
Dubini Gabriele Angelo CMIC
Far Silvia CMIC
Frigo Carlo Albino DEIB
Galli Manuela DEIB
Guazzoni Chiara DEIB
Mainardi Luca DEIB
Mantero Sara CMIC
Migliavacca Francesco CMIC
Pedrocchi Alessandra DEIB
Pennati Giancarlo CMIC
Pozzi Giuseppe DEIB
Raimondi Manuela Teresa CMIC
Ravazzani Paolo DEIB
Redaelli Alberto DEIB
Signorini Maria Gabriella DEIB
Soncini Monica DEIB

The PhD Programme in Bioengineering relies also on an Advisory

Board Member, formed by distinguished experts coming from R&D
industries, research and clinical centers, in order to ensure that that
the goals of the PhD Program are in line also with the needs of non-
academic world.
Presently, the members of the Advisory Board are Emanuele Gatti
(CEO of Fresenius Medical Care, Homburg, Germany), Ferdinando
Grandori (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, IEIIT, Italy), Antonio
Malgaroli (Head of Molecular and Cellular Physiology Lab, IRCCS
San Raffaele, Milano, Italy), Ivan Martin (Head of the Tissue
Engineering Lab, at the University Hospital Basel, Switzerland)
 106
Patient-specific modeling of the
cardiovascular system for surgical
planning of single-ventricle defects
Alessia Baretta - Relatore: Prof. Giancarlo Pennati
Congenital heart diseases
are cardiac malformations
consisting of only one effective
or functional cardiac pumping
chamber (the single ventricle,
SV).
SV defects, such as hypoplastic
left heart syndrome and tricuspid
atresia, require a three-staged
surgical approach, called the
Fontan procedure, to separate
the systemic and pulmonary
circulations.
Since the early days of
the Fontan procedure, in
vitro, in vivo, analytical and
computational techniques
(including computational fluid-
dynamics [CFD] models) have
been developed to investigate
the complex hemodynamics of
the Fontan circulation.
In the present work, CFD
techniques are used for the
planning of staged surgical
treatment of SV malformations.
The present work is part of
the international Transatlantic
Networks of Excellence in
Cardiovascular Research
Program funded by the
Fondation Leducq (Paris),
entitled Multi-scale modeling of
single ventricle hearts for clinical
decision support.
First, pre-operative 0D models
for Stage 2 surgical planning are
built.
Two kinds of models are
considered: a closed-loop
pure 0D network of the whole
cardiocirculatory system, based
on the patient-specific main
hemodynamic features, and an
open-loop multi-domain (3D-0D)
model of the pulmonary system,
describing in detail the region of
Stage 2 surgery.
For each patient, clinical data
consisted in catheterization-
derived pressure tracings, MR
(magnetic resonance) flow
tracings and echocardiographic
Doppler velocity tracings.
The closed-loop 0D model of
Stage 1 circulation comprises
4 main peripheral blocks
describing the upper/lower body
and right/left lung circulation,
adopting a typical heart model
for Stage1 patients, tuned
manually basing on literature
works to fit all patients under
study. The aim of such patient-
specific 0D modeling is to
prescribe proper boundary
conditions to the 3D post-
operative geometries, integrated
in a multi-domain model, where
different surgical options will be
compared.
The pre-operative open-
loop multi-domain model of
the lungs, instead, is built
to calculate the impedance
downstream all pulmonary
branches included in the 3D
model, to be integrated in the
post-operative models used for
surgical planning.
A multi-step approach was
implemented to estimate the
parameter values of RCRCR
blocks downstream the outlet
branches of the 3D model, to be
integrated in the 3D-0D model
developed in Chapter 3. All
simulations were performed by
the partners of the Transatlantic
Project at INRIA.
0D models built for the whole
circulation, described above,
were coupled to two different
3D models of the surgical site.
The pre-operative anatomical
reconstruction was manipulated
in order to generate virtual post-
operative scenarios. Indeed, two
surgical options were virtually
performed for each patient:
bi-directional Glenn (bG) and
hemi-Fontan (hF). In the case of
the bG geometry, the SVC-RPA
anastomosis was recreated by
virtually resecting the SVC from
the atrium and adjoining it with
minimal movement to the RPA.
For the hF geometry, a portion
of the atrium was removed from
the 3D volume so to create
the bulging patch typical of
this surgical configuration, the
size of which was determined
in agreement with the surgical
team who performed the
operation.
This procedure was performed
by the research partners at
Great Ormond Street Hospital,
London, UK. Each outlet of
the 3D model was connected
to a RCRCR pulmonary block
obtained through the open-loop
model described previously; the
SVC line of the 0D model was
disconnected from the atrium
and connected to the SVC inlet
section of the 3D model; the
shunt block was removed.
First, patient models were tested
at rest conditions (using HR, SVR
and PVR recorded at the time of
the clinical measurements), then
at conditions with increased
blood flow and/or heart rate
(active state and removal of the
possible stenosis).
In Chapter 4, two specific
clinical cases of post-Stage
2 patients are presented. In
such configurations, Stage 2
circulatory network serves as
pre-operative condition to two
different kinds of treatments:
in the first clinical case, a
Stage 3 surgical planning
is performed, following a
workflow analogous to that
presented in Chapter 3 for
Stage 2 surgical planning,
and three different TCPC
geometries are compared.
Moreover, respiration effects
on the hemodynamics in the
different postoperative options
are studied. The effect of the
respiration is tested in presence
of exercise conditions, simulated
by increasing the heart rate,and
by reducing pulmonary and
lower limb vascular resistances.
the second clinical case consists
in a patient diagnosed with
veno-venous collateral vessels
4 month after Stage 2 surgery.
In this study, i) the patients
cardiovascular network at
4 months after Stage 2
surgery was modeled thanks
to the acquisition of clinical
measurements post-operatively
and taking into account the
body growth, and ii) the
closure of collateral vessels was
simulated. This study shows
the differences between pre
and post-operative acquired
data that may be explained
by adaptation phenomena
occurred after Stage 2.
In the final chapter, a preliminary
development of an identification
process based on clinical
available data is developed.
Simplified sub-models are
identified thanks to the available
clinical tracings that allow to
decouple the sub-model from
the rest of the circulation.
Then, the integration of the
sub-model in a more complex
model of the whole circulation is
accomplished only subsequently,
since a direct identification of all
model parameters would lead to
multiple possible solutions.
Since the heart parameter
tuning is the crucial part, this
Chapter is focused on the study
of suitable methods to identify
heart properties to embed in
the circulatory model. More
precisely, parameters identified
for a submodel of the single
ventricle or of the whole heart
may be used as step preliminary
to the identification of the
closed-loop circulatory network.
The study is divided into two
main parts: first, the feasibility
of parameter identification
based on PVL data is presented;
secondly, a sub-model of the
heart is built and parameters
are identified through a two-
step method and the obtained
parameters are integrated in a
model of the full circulation thus
limiting the range to span.
The model of the sole ventricle
is composed of six parameters,
while full time-varying tracings
of ventricular volume and
pressure are used, the former as
input of the model, the latter as
target quantity.
However, the high uncertainty
on clinical PVL tracings is a big
issue in handling such data. For
this reason, a method based
on more reliable clinical data is
PhD Yearbook | 2015
preferable.
The heart sub-model parameters
are identified through a
preliminary implementation of
a robust optimization approach
based on clinical data of
pressures, flows and volumes
measured on the patients and
relative uncertainty. 107
Clinical data available, consisting
BIOENGINEERING
in flow time tracings and mean
values, cycle-averaged pressures
and end-diastolic volumes,
were used in different ways in
the model, in particular as i)
boundary conditions prescribed
in the open-loop model, ii)
target quantities to match as
the goal of the optimization,
iii) constraints on certain
parameters values in order to
assure that they are physically
meaningful, and iv) prior
knowledge on measurements
available on certain variables.
Afterwards, the obtained heart
parameters are integrated in
a model of the full circulation,
giving a prior knowledge to the
heart behavior.
A two-step approach was
chosen to find the parameter
set that best matches clinical
data. First, Adaptive Markov
Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)
was employed to obtain the
distributions of the model
parameters. Then, Nelder-
Mead hill-climb optimization is
performed from the parameter
set that was found to maximize
the posterior distribution during
the previous MCMC iterations.
The identification process
was performed by means of
a MATLAB code written in
collaboration with experts at
UCSD (University of California
San Diego).
108
A multiscale and translational approach
for the characterization of long QT
syndrome type 1, 2 and 3
Vlasta Bari Supervisors: Prof. Sergio Cerutti, Prof. Alberto Porta
Background and aim
Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is
an inherited disease whose
main clinical manifestation is a
prolonged QT interval on ECG.
The reasons for the relevant
interest in this disease are its
dramatic clinical manifestations,
as syncopes, ventricular
fibrillation and sudden death,
but also the existence of
symptomatic subjects and
siblings almost never developing
symptoms. Among the 13
different mutations leading
to LQTS identified so far, all
affecting cardiac ion channels
and all threaten with beta-
blockers (BB), this work will
focus on the main three variants
of the pathology. LQT1(45%
of all LQTS patients) is due to
a mutation on the slow part
of delayed rectifier potassium
current channel, with symptoms
precipitating in case of increased
sympathetic activity as during
physical exercise, mainly during
daytime. LQT2 (35% of LQTS
patients) is due to a mutation
on the rapid part of delayed
potassium current, with
arrhythmias triggered in case
of sympathetic overactivation
due to sudden emotional
stress or auditory stimuli. LQT3
characterizes only the 10% of
patients but is the more lethal.
Due to a mutation on the gene
encoding the sodium current,
in this case events occur during
vagal hyperactivation, mostly
during rest and sleep.
It is well known that autonomic
nervous system (ANS) plays an
important role in triggering fatal
arrhythmias in LQTS, but its role
as a risk modifier in LQTS is less
clear.
The aim of this work was to
exploit different tools in time,
frequency and information
domain in order to characterize
the autonomic control of
LQTS subjects and improve
risk stratification accounting
for genotype and phenotype.
Findings obtained in LQT1,
LQT2 and LQT3 humans were
compared with the aim of
providing a complete framework
about autonomic control in
LQTS. A translational process
was performed thanks to
telemetric ECG recordings in a
KPQ-LQT3 transgenic murine
population, that were compared
with LQT3 results in men.
Methods of analysis
Time domain indices, such as
mean and variance of HP and
QT and corrected QT evaluated
according to the Bazetts
correction, were calculated.
An autoregressive model was
exploited to perform spectral
analysis. The model order was
optimized according to the
Akaike information criterion
and the power spectrum
was factorized in frequency
components according to the
residual method. A component
was be labeled as low (LF) or
high frequency (HF) if its central
frequency was respectively
included in the band 0.04-0.15
Hz or 0.15-0.5 Hz. Spectral
analysis was performed also
on mice HP variability series,
with HF in the range 1-5 Hz.
The power of mice and men HP
variability in HF band was taken
as an index of vagal modulation
directed to the sinus node while
the power of QT variability in LF
band was taken as an index of
sympathetic modulation directed
to the ventricles.
To assess the overall complexity
of sympathetic and vagal
control, a refined multiscale
entropy (RMSE) analysis was
performed on HP and QT
variability series, consisting in
three steps: i) elimination of the
fast temporal scale of the series
through a low-pass Butterworth
filter; ii) undersampling the
series with a factor t thus
reducing its length from N to N/t
at each scale factor t (for t=1
the time series is the original
one); iii) assessing complexity at
each t through Sample Entropy,
calculated with a tolerance r
equal to 0.15 times the standard
deviation of the series, with
embedding dimension L=3 and
time shift between samples
equal to 1.
RMSE was calculated with t
from 1 to 12, introducing a
scale pooling that divides the
scale factors in three classes
and then averaging the values
over the three classes: t=1,
accounting for all the time scales
characterizing the series; t=2-4
corresponding to medium time
scales, progressively filtering
HF band activity; t=5-12
corresponding to long time
scales, mainly accounting for
activity in LF band.
Empirical mode decomposition
(EMD) allows to decompose
a time series in its oscillatory
modes, the so-called intrinsic
mode functions (IMFs). In order
to improve short time scale
results, in this dissertation a new
EMD-based filtering approach
was proposed, constituting in
computing only the first IMF and
subtracting it from the original
HP and QT series, thus obtaining
a low-pass filtered version of the
series. Sample Entropy was then
computed over the low-pass
EMD filtered series and results
were compared with those
derived from RMSE.
Protocols and data analysis
The database was composed
by more than 100 24h
Holter recordings from: 34
LQT1 subjects, divided into
asymptomatics (ASYMP) and
symptomatics (SYMP) together
with 14 non mutation carriers
(NMC) from the same family
line, 16 LQT2 subjects divided
into ASYMP and SYMP and 12
ASYMP LQT3 subjects. Some of
the recordings were acquired
in absence and some others
in presence of BB therapy.
Analyses were performed during
daytime and nighttime. Several
experimental protocols were
implemented, accounting for
genotype and phenotype, ANS-
related circadian variations and
effect of BB therapy.
Ten KPQ-LQT3 mice were
instrumented and acquired in
telemetry together with 10 wild
type (WT) littermates. Two-way
protocols were implemented to
evaluate circadian variations and
the effect of pharmacological
challenges performed with
propranolol, atropine and
propranolol and atropine
together in LQT3 and WT
animals. A translational process
was completed comparing
circadian variations and the
effect of BB therapy in LQT3
men and mice.
Appropriate statistical analysis
was carried out in agreement to
the protocols.
HP was approximated as the
temporal distance between
two consecutive R peaks on the
ECG. QT was approximated as
the temporal distance between
the R peak and the T-wave
end. Missed or ectopic beats
were corrected through cubic
spline interpolation. Sequences
of 5000 consecutive beats
were chosen for each period
of analysis except during mice
pharmacological challenges
where 3000 beats epochs were
extracted. Time and frequency
domain analyses were carried
out iterating the analyses over
250 beats with 50% overlap
and taking the median of the
distribution of each parameter
as representative for the whole
series. Complexity analyses were
computed over the entire series.
Results
Results showed that ASYMP
LQT1 patients had a blunted
vagal control and active
sympathetic regulation, that
makes QT adaptable to sudden
HP changes. This feature is
thus protective. ASYMP LQT1
had also a lower complexity
of cardiac control at medium
and long time scale, suggesting
PhD Yearbook | 2015
another protective factor.
ASYMP LQT2 individuals were
characterized by a higher
vagal modulation, able to limit
sympathetic overactivation
that could lead to arrhythmias.
Complexity analysis revealed
that ASYMP LQT2 patients
exhibited a higher complexity of 109
cardiac control at medium and
BIOENGINEERING
long time scale, leading to an
opposite conclusion with respect
to LQT1 about the protective
role of complexity in the LQTS
variant. ASYMP LQT3 patients
were characterized by a high
vagal modulation, confirming
the increased risk for events
during night in this group. LQT3
mice was found to be a good
translational representation of
the mutation in men since mice
and men showed similar results
in terms of HP increase during
sleep/rest periods and in terms
of long time scale complexity
reduction under BB. Finally, BB
appeared to be protective in all
variants in different ways.
Conclusions
Spectral analysis typified the
ANS state, RMSE quantified
the complexity of cardiac
regulation as a function of
the temporal scales and the
EMD-based filtering procedure
reduced computational costs of
complexity analysis compared to
RMSE.
Although the main clinical
manifestation of the pathology
is similar in all the considered
variants, the proposed tools
suggested that patients affected
by LQT1, LQT2 and LQT3 are
characterized by different
ANS profiles and some ANS
profiles are more favorable than
others to reduce the risk of life
threatening events.
110
Advanced human-robot cooperation in
neurosurgery
Elisa Beretta Relatore: Elena De Momi - Tutor: Pietro Cerveri
Over the last decades,
neurosurgery has greatly
benefitted from the introduction
of image-guided techniques and
robotic devices. Thanks to their
superior resolution, geometric
accuracy and indefatigability,
robotic systems are mainly used
as an accurate and repeatable
alignment tool during keyhole
neurosurgery. Conversely,
open-skull procedures for
brain resection/disconnection
are traditionally performed
free-hand with intraoperative
physiological monitoring
techniques to identify the
functional (eloquent) cortical/
subcortical areas, which has
to be preserved during the
surgery. In particular, direct
electrical brain cortex stimulation
encompasses the repetitive
execution of target reaching
gestures on delicate tissue
(Figure 1). The conventional
approach can benefit from the
introduction of a cooperatively
controlled robotic assistant, to
provide increased positional
accuracy and reduce the
surgeons fatigue during the
holding phase, when the tool
is in contact with the brain
tissue. Moreover, it could allow
the acquisition of the target
positions and guide the surgeon
towards the recorded sites,
thus increasing the reliability of
the intraoperative monitoring
technique.
In this thesis, we investigated
and developed new
methodologies for human-robot
and robot-tissue interaction
control, specifically designed
to augment surgeons skills
during cooperatively assisted
targeting tasks on soft tissues.
Differently from the standard
force-to motion control schema,
the control approach proposed
exploited the high compliance
of a redundant flexible joints
industrial manipulator. The
validation was performed in
a realistic setup with brain-
mimicking phantoms (Figure
2), enrolling nave users as
well as novice and expert
neurosurgeons. The research
was focused on these particular
research topics:
(i) investigate the best control
1. Intraoperative brain mapping of the
motor cortex during glioma surgery.
The neurosurgeon is performing the
stimulation (up) while the electric
brain activity (down right) is recorded
from superficial electrodes placed
on the cortex (down left) in order to
detect the occurrence of unwanted
stimulation-induced seizures.
strategy for a comfortable and
effective cooperation during
patient targeting approaching.
Transparency quantifies the
ability of a robot to follow
human movements without
any human-perceptible resistive
forces. On the contrary, the
ability to approach a target
with high accuracy depends
on the robots ability to apply
resistance against environmental
disturbances. In order to
respect the clinical accuracy
requirements, while allowing a
comfortable cooperation, the
surgical robotic assistant should
be able to automatically adapt
its dynamics during the guidance
in the operating theatre. A novel
variable damping controller
is designed to enhance the
performance of the surgical
hands-on robotic assistant in
terms of ease of use, intuitive
guidance and effectiveness
during targeting tasks. The
experimental evaluation of this
and two well-known impedance
controllers with fixed dynamic
parameters was carried out
during predefined reaching tasks
towards registered targets on a
calibration board. The reaching
task was shown under laboratory
condition to result in reduced
targeting error, which guarantees
the respect of the position
accuracy requirement (1mm),
and user efforts, which ensure
that assisted tool trajectories feel
natural to the user.
(ii) investigate the best control
strategy for a safe and
stable placement of surgical
instruments on soft tissue
during the tool placement.
Touch interactions and physical
contacts are critical factors
during the manipulation of
tissue/objects. Impedance-
controlled manipulators allow
the natural transmission of
the interaction forces with the
environment to the user, but
robotic mechanical impedance
may mask any delicate force
arising from the interaction with
soft tissues. A non-linear force
feedback torque control was
designed in order to investigate
if augmented haptic perception
is a relevant factor during the
instruments placement on
the soft tissue with respect
to pure visual feedback. The
control parameters were
optimized on brain-mimicking
gelatin phantoms, which were
mechanically characterized
to quantitatively evaluate
the tissues damage due to
the contact with the tool
during indentation. The
performances of the robotic
assistance with and without
force feedback augmentation
were comparatively evaluated
with respect to freehand task
executions. The proposed
approach was shown to
improve the users skills in
performing a stable and safe
tool-tissue contact, allowing
for hand tremor rejection and
50% reduction of the tissues
indentation.
(iii) preliminarily study the
feasibility of the proposed
control approaches for brain
cortex stimulation procedures.
A group of novice and expert
neurosurgeons were enrolled to
quantitatively and qualitatively
evaluate the performances for the patient and the clinical
PhD Yearbook | 2015
of the proposed cooperative staff in the operating room, and
control schema (singularly and
in combination) in a realistic
at the same time that provide
the surgeon with interfaces
scenario with brain-mimicking as intuitive and familiar as
phantoms. The proposed control possible, in order to reduce the
criteria resulted in comparable training period and facilitate the
performances with respect to acceptance of the technology in
state-of-the-art admittance clinics.
schema with fixed parameters, in 111
terms of pointing accuracy and
BIOENGINEERING
tissues indentation overshooting
rejection, allowing for the
accurate, stable and safe contact
with the soft tissue. At the same
time, the user efforts during the
guidance were reduced by more
than 60%.
All the developed controllers
were tested in the scope of
the EU funded project for
brain surgery ACTIVE (FP7-
ICT-2009-6-270460). This work
support the feasibility of the use
of a cooperatively controlled
manipulator to assist targeting
tasks in open-skull neurosurgery
and is in line with the actual
research trend in medical
robotics, which propose devices
that are effective, safe, both
2. The experimental setup.
112
ENGINEERED MICRO AND MACROSCALE HUMAN 3D
VASCULARIZED BONE MODELS FOR THE STUDY OF
ORGANOTYPIC BREAST CANCER METASTASES
Simone Bersini - Advisors: Prof. Gabriele Dubini; Dr. Matteo Moretti
The World Health Organization
reports that 14.1 million new
cancer cases were diagnosed
in 2012 while 8.2 million
patients died in the same year.
Noteworthy, the spread of
primary tumors towards distant
organs and the subsequent
metastatic colonization is
responsible for 90% of cancer-
associated mortality. However,
despite great advances in
basic cancer molecular and
cell biology with the discovery
of oncogenes and tumor
suppressor mechanisms, much
remains to be learned about the
metastatic process. The cancer
biology seed-and-soil paradigm
recognizes the existence of
organ-specific patterns of
metastatization which drive
the spread of selected primary
tumors towards specific
secondary loci. However, despite
efforts to model organotypic
microenvironments, the organ-
specificity of cancer metastases
still needs to be elucidated.
Then, a deeper understanding
of the metastatic cascade and
particularly the extravasation
process could promote
the development of new
therapeutics, thus improving
cancer survival rates.
Particularly, breast cancer is the
most frequent cancer among
women and the second cause of
cancer death in women in more
developed regions after lung
cancer. Disseminated tumor cells
have been reported in the bone
of 30%-40% of early stage
breast cancer patients while
70% of advanced breast cancer
patients are affected by skeletal
metastases, leading to pain, due
to spinal cord compression and
fractures, and often death.
So far, in vivo and ex vivo
models have been developed
to study the extravasation
process of cancer cells in
mice and zebrafish embryos
through intravital microscopy.
However, they cannot model
all aspects of the interaction
and cross-talk between
human cancer cells, human
endothelial cells and human
tissue parenchyma. Moreover,
strictly regulated, reproducible
parametric studies are difficult
to perform. Microfluidics can
provide useful model systems to
investigate complex phenomena
under combination of multiple
controllable biochemical and
biophysical microenvironments
coupled with high resolution real
time imaging, thus overcoming
limitations of traditional assays,
e.g. Boyden chamber, which
are characterized by limited
imaging capabilities and do not
provide tight control over the
local environment. Up to now,
the application of microfluidic
techniques to model cancer
metastases and particularly
extravasation events has been
generally limited to the study
of chemotactic events, while
no organotypic model has been
developed to investigate this key
step of the metastatic cascade.
However, it is noteworthy to
highlight that despite the above
mentioned advantages brought
by microfluidic approaches,
the extremely limited number
of cells makes technically hard
to perform genetic analyses to
investigate the transcription level
of key regulatory genes.
The present doctoral thesis
is focused on the design and
optimization of micro and
macroscale models to study the
organ-specific breast cancer
cell metastatization towards
the bone. Particularly, a 3D
microfluidic model of a bone-
mimicking microenvironment
surrounded by an engineered
microvessel (Fig. 1) was
developed to quantify
human breast cancer cell
extravasation rate, migration
distance and micrometastasis
generation within the colonized
microenvironment, and to
highlight the involvement of
the CXCL5/CXCR2 pathway in
the organotypic extravasation
process. Furthermore, a
physiologically-like microfluidic
3D model was designed to
investigate human breast
cancer cell extravasation into
bone- and muscle-mimicking
microenvironments through
perfusable, functional human
microvascular networks
composed of endothelial and
supportive mural-like cells (Fig.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
2). This microfluidic model
reproduces the pro- and anti-
metastatic properties of the
microenvironments and provides
insights into the different features
of organotypic endothelia.
The relevance of the present
work lies in the application of
complex models to investigate 113
and subsequently influence a
BIOENGINEERING
specific step of the metastatic
cascade within different organ-
specific microenvironments
with critical implications for the
development of new drugs,
thus fostering a more effective
screening of tailored anti-
cancer therapies in the context
of personalized medicine. 1. Confocal microscopy of the bone-mimicking microenvironment generated
Furthermore, a relevant within a microfluidic device. A monolayer of red fluorescent protein (RFP)-
aspect of this doctoral thesis transfected human endothelial cells covers the top media channel and the
interface with the bone-mimicking channel embedding osteo-differentiated
is represented by the design human mesenchymal stem cells within a collagen gel. The dark square
and optimization of human represents a post separating two gel regions of the microfluidic device. Red:
3D macroscale models of endothelial cells. Green: F-actin. Blue: cell nuclei.
vascularized bone-mimicking our knowledge of cancer within physiologically-like
tissues through the identification mechanobiology and investigate environments, bridging the gap
of the optimal combination of key molecular pathways involved between traditional in vitro
experimental parameters leading in organotypic metastases assays and in vivo models.
to the generation of functional
vascularized environments,
which can be employed to
study breast cancer organ-
specific metastases by means
of post-genomic analyses.
Finally, an innovative approach
combining microfabrication
techniques and self-assembly of
vascular structures is discussed
in details. Particularly, the main
advantages of this approach
based on electrochemical cell
detachment are the possibility
to organize endothelial cells into
geometrically defined structures
and to produce vessels aligned
within micrometric distances in a
spatially controlled manner.
The unique combination of
2. Fluorescence microscopy of a physiologically-like microvascular network.
micro and macroscale 3D Microvessels connect each other into highly branched microvascular trees
models offers a new perspective generating a complex microvascular network spanning the entire gel channel.
through which to increase Endothelial cells are transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP).
114
A framework for intra-modality image fusion
applied to Cardiac Magnetic Resonance imaging
of the Left Ventricle and 3D Transesophageal
Echocardiography of the descending Aorta
Maria Chiara Carminati - Advisor: Prof. Enrico G. Caiani
Recent advances in imaging
technology have enabled
the non-invasive study of the
structure and the function of
the heart, the valves and the
vascular system.
Different techniques, such as
magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI), ultrasound (US),
computed tomography (CT),
positron emission tomography
(PET) and single-photon emission
computed tomography (SPECT)
are imaging modalities currently
used in cardiovascular medicine
and each of them provides
specific and complementary
diagnostic and prognostic
information.
Among these, cardiac MRI
and three-dimensional (3D)
echocardiography have gained
popularity in the clinical
scenario, because of their
advantages over ionizing or
invasive techniques, allowing
to assess both anatomy and
function of the cardiovascular
system. In particular, Cardiac
Magnetic Resonance (CMR)
imaging is the single modality
capable of noninvasively
defining cardiac anatomy and
function, myocardial perfusion,
myocardial viability, and coronary
artery anatomy, through
the application of different
acquisition protocols. From
the wide set of MR acquisition
techniques, cardiac dynamics
can be characterized by cine
and tagging CMR, allowing
to track myocardial material
points through the cardiac cycle,
while the employment contrast-
enhanced sequences provides
imaging the presence and
extent of nonviable tissue in the
myocardium, thus revealing its
structural impairment.
Three-dimensional
echocardiography currently
represents a major diagnostic
tool in clinical cardiology
allowing real-time imaging
of the cardiac dynamics.
In this scenario, real-
time 3D transesophageal
echocardiography (TEE) has
become one of the most
useful imaging modalities for
intraoperative management of
patients undergoing cardiac
surgery. Furthermore, 3D TEE
can be employed to acquire
images of the aorta, due to
its anatomical proximity when
introduced in the esophagus,
allowing to characterize and
quantify aortic lesions, which
are known risk factor for severe
complications such as stroke and
peripheral embolic events.
This PhD work represents
a contribution towards the
development of procedures
for the joint analysis of
cardiovascular images. The
aim of the project was focused
on the development of
comprehensive frameworks
for the combined analysis of
intra-modal information coming
from the main non-invasive
and widely used cardiovascular
imaging techniques, i.e. CMR
and 3D echocardiography.
Two specific contributions, each
focused singularly on CMR
or 3D echocardiography, are
presented. In the first, methods
for the 3D assessment of the
functionality and the anatomy
of the left ventricle are proposed
by analyzing and combining
the cine and late Gadolinium
enhancement (LGE) CMR
images, acquired in the clinical
routine.
Cine and LGE CMR images are
first processed individually to
extract relevant information.
Cine images were processed to
compensate for breath-related
inter-slice misalignments, due
to the non-exact repeatability of
the breath-hold position during
acquisition. Then, a 3D ASM
was adopted to segment the
endocardium by simultaneously
analyzing images belonging to
the short-axis image stack. To
this end, a shape model of the
left ventricle was constructed
from a large database of
semi-automatically segmented
3D echo images, constituted
by 205 patients with various
pathologies. Left-ventricular wall
motion was derived from the
3D endocardial segmentation
obtained as the displacement of
the endocardium from diastole
to systole.
Late-Gadolinium enhanced
CMR images were processed to
create a 3D anatomical model
of the scar and compute its local
transmurality. The information
derived from the two CMR
acquisition is finally combined
in the same reference system
by a dedicated registration
pipeline featuring affine and
deformable registration. The
described tool allows for the
joint three-dimensional analysis
of myocardial local function
from cine CMR and myocardial
viability from LGE CMR images,
in a common and patient-
specific reference system. This
combined information is of
established importance for the
diagnosis and treatment of
cardiomyopathies, allowing to
distinguish between reversible
and irreversible injured
myocardium. Surgical procedures
such as revascularization or
resynchronization strategies
potentially benefit from the
knowledge of the exact location
of these regions within the LV, as
they are significantly related to
the likelihood of improvement of
contractility after surgery.
In the second contribution of
the thesis, the employment of
real-time 3D transesophageal
echocardiography (TEE) is
investigated in its ability
to image the aorta.
The identification and
characterization of aortic lesions
is recognized to be clinically
relevant, as the presence of
aortic plaques is an independent
risk factor for stroke and
peripheral embolization, being
also associated with carotid,
coronary and renal artery
disease. TEE technology is
a suitable tool for assessing
aortic atherosclerosis, being
routinely performed on patients
to identify cardiac sources of
emboli and during cardiac
surgery to guide the introduction
of the cannula into the aorta to
prevent peri-procedural plaque
embolization.
In this scenario, a comprehensive
procedure for the reconstruction
of the descending thoracic aorta
from contiguous 3D TEE images
is proposed. First, an ad-hoc
image acquisition protocol was
designed to acquire spatially
ordered and partially overlapped
3D TEE datasets, followed by
dedicated image processing
to align and fuse all acquired
datasets. Alignment strategy
implemented pair-wise rigid
registration guided by a priori
knowledge and it was validated
using artificially misaligned
PhD Yearbook | 2015
115
images. Image fusion was
BIOENGINEERING
finally performed to enable
visualization and analysis of
extended field-of-view of the
acquired aorta. The application
of different fusion techniques
was investigated. The method
was applied to a population
of 17 consecutive patients.
Qualitative and quantitative
results demonstrated the
potential feasibility and accuracy
of the proposed approach. In a
clinical scenario, its application
could allow quantitative
assessment of aortic total plaque
burden from 3D TEE images.
In conclusion, the design and
the experimental application
of comprehensive frameworks
for cardiovascular image fusion
obtained with non-invasive
modalities have been studied.
The described methodologies
may have an effective clinical
impact to improve the clinical
diagnosis and the definition
therapeutic or surgical strategies,
as well as for patient-specific
modeling purpose.
 116
Fatigue analysis of Nitinol cardiovascular
devices
Elena Dordoni - Supervisor: Prof. Giancarlo Pennati
It is widely recognized that
the assessment of cyclic
fatigue resistance is of
primary importance during
the design process of medical
implantable devices made by
Nitinol. Focusing on peripheral
stents and transcatheter heart
valves, due to the presence
of cyclic loads imposed by leg
movements, as well as by the
blood pulsatility, the fatigue
resistance is a critical issue since
they can experience from 10
up to 40 million loading cycles
each year. Therefore, these
devices need to be designed
to survive at least 108 fatigue
cycles without failure over the
lifetime of the patient, since
their fracture could cause the
risk of the surrounding tissue
damage, as well as the loss in
the mechanical properties of the
stent-frame itself. This finding
highlights the importance of
developing a shared, robust
and efficient methodology
to face the assessment of
Nitinol cardiovascular devices
fatigue resistance. Therefore,
the purpose of this thesis is to
face this issue deepening the
several involved aspects, in
order to give proper guidelines
that can be useful both in
a design and development
phase of a new device and
during the assessment of its
proper functionality. The main
hypothesis is that the numerical
analyses or the experimental
tests alone, are useful but not
enough to properly assess the
Nitinol cardiovascular devices
fatigue behavior.
Several studies proved that
numerical models are a
valuable tool to assess the
fatigue performance of
cardiovascular devices, especially
for comparative purposes.
The common trend followed
by authors is to assign Nitinol
material properties taken from
literature and to compare the
obtained numerical results to
a general Nitinol fatigue limit,
found in literature. However,
the correctness of numerical
results strongly depends on
the reliability of the material
parameters implemented in
numerical constitutive models,
particularly when the aim
of numerical analyses is to
provide information about
specific stents risk of fracture
associated to a defined loading
condition. Moreover, the
strong dependence of Nitinol
fatigue behavior from all the
manufacturing steps, makes
mandatory the definition of the
material fatigue limit specific for
the device under study.
On the other side, fatigue
in vitro tests represent an
accepted way to demonstrate
a device durability, reproducing
as close as possible the actual
operating conditions. They are
often governed by international
standards. Despite the
immediate evidence of safety or
failure given by the experimental
tests, different disadvantages
must be noted: an high number
of specimens must be tested
to ensure statistical confidence
in the results, making the
experimental campaigns
expensive and time-consuming;
difficulty in reproducing the
real in vivo environment that
makes usually experimental
tests simplified; difficulty in
assessment of biomechanical
quantities, since fatigue tests
give only the final result (safety
of failure), providing in few cases
the number of cycles, without
any information about the state
of stress through the device.
In this thesis particular attention
is firstly paid to the material
properties knowledge, specific
for each device under study,
since the parameters describing
the stress/strain relationship
and the fatigue properties
are strongly depending on
the device dimensions as well
as on the whole treatments
(thermal and surface finishing)
subjected by the device during
the manufacturing process.
The proposed way to get
device-specific Nitinol material
parameters to be used as input
for material subroutines, as
well as to obtain the material
fatigue limit for a defined
number of cycles, is to perform
experimental static and cyclic
tensile tests on ad hoc material
specimens (e.g. with dog
bone shape), having cross-
section dimensions similar to the
device ones and subjected to the
same manufacturing treatments.
These method ensure the
equivalence between specimens
and real device mechanical
behavior, allowing therefore to
perform experimental material
characterization in an easy way.
In case ad hoc specimens are
not available, a methodology to
obtain Nitinol parameters from
experimental tests carried out
directly on the devices is also
proposed: the experimental
test is numerically reproduced
and material parameters are
tuned up to reach a good
fitting between numerical and
experimental testing results.
Then, numerical fatigue FEA
on peripheral stent models and
transcatheter aortic valve are
proposed, paying particular
attention in properly reproducing
boundary conditions: interaction
with a confining wall and
amount of cyclic load undergone
by the stent on one side;
pressure pulsatility and effect of
leaflet cyclic movement on the
valve stent-frame on the other
side. Thanks to their reduced
costs and high flexibility in
modifying geometrical features,
boundary conditions and
external loadings, FEA revealed
a useful tool to prove the main
factors influencing fatigue
resistance of the studied devices,
giving also important indications
about how to perform in vitro
cyclic tests. Numerical analyses
on peripheral stents suggest
that the oversizing due to the
presence of a confining wall
and its shape and stiffness has
to be taken into account during
experimental tests for fatigue
assessment, while the pulsatile
load can be neglected and the
specific cyclic loading condition
type (axial compression or
bending) due to leg movements
may have different influences
depending on the stent position
along the peripheral arteries.
Similarly, fatigue FEA on aortic
valve prove that inner pressure
and leaflet reaction forces acting
on the stent-frame during
diastole are the most severe
loading conditions and the size
and stiffness of the surrounding
wall has a strong influence on
the fatigue response.
Since the fatigue analysis is a
very time-consuming process,
an additional purpose of
the present thesis is to give
reliable indications about
a device fatigue behavior
within a reasonable time: a
simplified FE model focusing
the fatigue analysis not on
the whole stent but just on a
unit of interest, is set up and
coupled with an analytical
model representative of the
SFA, which allows to quantify
the actual load experienced
by the unit associated to
particular anatomical conditions.
The proposed simplified
methodology for fatigue
investigation, once applied
to a patient-specific case,
showed an agreement between
model predictions and clinical
evidence proved by 18-months
follow up data. Despite the
approximations introduced
into the proposed method, it
reveals able to assess the stents
fatigue behavior associated
to particular anatomical
conditions in a reduced period
of time, compatible with the
requirements of manufacturers
or clinicians.
In conclusion, numerical
analysis can be a useful tool to
investigate the fatigue behavior
PhD Yearbook | 2015
of Nitinol devices supporting
also the experimental activity,
since it can suggest conditions
to be tested, evaluating first
the devices fatigue response in
several possible configurations.
However, confidence in the
numerical models is only
possible after the validation of 117
their results against experimental
BIOENGINEERING
evidence. For that purpose,
experimental tests on real
devices are performed in order
to validate numerical models
predictions: tensile and crimping
tests on peripheral stents
proves the model capability
to reproduce the macroscopic
mechanical behavior of the real
devices. Similarly, numerical
results of crimping tests on
aortic valve and experimental
evidences are in agreement in
proving that crimping procedure
induces plasticization in different
points of the valves stent-frame.
Finally, an assessment of the
proposed fatigue criterion is
given by experimental cyclic tests
on real stents, which results are
found to be in agreement with
the proposed fatigue limit.
 118
Model-based Analysis of Diffusion Magnetic
Resonance:
Study of Microstructural Damage in White Matter and Gray
Matter Diseases
Matteo Figini - Supervisors: Prof. Giuseppe Baselli, Dr. Alberto Bizzi,
Prof. Daniel Alexander, Dr. Hui Zhang - Tutor: Prof. Alberto Redaelli
Diffusion MRI (dMRI), an
MRI technique sensitive
to the diffusive motions
of water molecules, has
demonstrated good sensitivity
to microstructural changes in
many diseases. An application
is tractography, the virtual
reconstruction of fiber
trajectories.
Conventional dMRI methods such
as Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
rely on the hypothesis of free
or hindered diffusion, which is
generally a good approximation
only at low diffusion weightings
(b-values). Many advanced dMRI
methods have been proposed;
in particular, multi-compartment
models of hindered and restricted
diffusion in compartments with
known geometry were developed
to allow a more specific
microstructural characterization
of tissues.
The aim of this thesis was to
assess the feasibility of model-
based dMRI techniques in clinical
research, and to investigate their
utility in the characterization of
brain microstructural alterations.
Model-based analysis of
dMRI signal in CJD patients
In the first application,
mathematical models were
developed and applied to study
the microstructural changes in
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD),
the most common human prion
disease.
The presence of asymmetric
hyperintense regions on dMRI
is a common marker for the
diagnosis of CJD, but its origin
is currently unknown. Two
isotropic bi-compartment models
of diffusion were developed
to test two neuropathological
hypotheses: 1) a biexponential
model to describe intra- and
extra-cellular hindered diffusion,
the latter expected to reduce
with protein deposition; 2) a
model with restricted diffusion
in a spherical compartment
modeling restriction in vacuoles.
dMRI data were acquired from
10 patients with CJD and
7 healthy and pathological
controls. The two proposed
models were fitted to the data
and regions of interest (ROIs)
were delineated in gray matter
areas. The fitting performance
of both the bi-compartment
models was significantly better
than the mono-exponential
model, especially in the affected
areas, but similar among them.
In hyperintense areas, the main
results were an increase of T2, a
decrease of all the diffusivities
and an increase of the volume
fraction of the restricted
compartment in the vacuole
model.
This study may represent
an important step towards
the characterization of
microstructural changes in
CJD. Even though the precise
pathological mechanism
responsible for dMRI
hyperintensity could not be
determined, biomarkers for
sensitive and specific CJD
diagnosis were proposed.
Microstructural features of
brain tumors by NODDI
In the second application,
dMRI data from 71 patients
with brain gliomas were
analyzed with NODDI, a model
with 3 compartments where
diffusion is free (CSF), hindered
(extracellular) and restricted in
sets of sticks (intracellular),
respectively.
A preliminary comparison with
an isotropic model showed that
NODDI intracellular fraction (fICV)
is a valuable index of diffusion
restriction, even though
overestimated in isotropic
conditions.
Grade II lesions displayed high
extracellular volume fractions
(fECV), grade III gliomas showed
also regions with an increased
fICV, and grade IV gliomas were
usually heterogeneous. Instead
DTI parameters, namely FA, were
non-specifically altered.
All the three NODDI volume
fractions allowed a statistically
significant discrimination
between grade IV and both
grade II and grade III lesions
(figure 1).
These preliminary results
show that non-invasive tumor
characterization and grading
by NODDI is feasible in a
clinical context. This could have
an important impact on the
preoperative evaluation of brain
tumors.
NODDI-based tractography in
peritumoral edema
In a last application, an
algorithm for tractography
based on NODDI parameters
(NODDIT) was developed and
applied in 10 patients with
glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)
to test the possibility of a better
reconstruction through areas of
vasogenic edema than allowed
by DTI-based tractography (DTT).
In the proposed NODDIT
algorithm the termination
criterion was based on upper
thresholds on both the
orientation dispersion index
(ODI) and on fISO. In a preliminary
phase, the ODI threshold was
calibrated by comparison with
DTT in healthy regions.
The mean streamline density
obtained by NODDIT and DTT
was evaluated in 3 ROIs per
patient: the tumor core, the
peritumoral edema and the
contralateral WM. Compared
to DTT, NODDIT streamline
densities were similarly high
in normally appearing WM,
similarly very low in the tumor
core, and significantly higher in
2. Example of tractographic reconstruction in a representative GBM patient.
The cortico-spinal tract was reconstructed from the same ROIs with DTT (A) and NODDIT (B).
1. Mean fECV, maximum fICV and fISO averaged among the patients with grade
II, grade III and grade IV gliomas. The significant differences are marked with
stars.
vasogenic edemas.
Lowering FA threshold to about
0.1 can provide similar results
to NODDIT in the edemas;
however, an unacceptable
specificity loss was highlighted,
with a high number of false
positives, as verified even in the
ventricles.
The visual inspection of the
tractographic reconstruction of
specific tracts showed that in all
the considered cases NODDIT
provided more streamlines
passing through the edemas,
or even allowed reconstructing
tracts completely missed by DTT
(figure 2).
Thus, NODDIT could find
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119
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important applications in
the preoperative mapping of
patients with brain gliomas.
Conclusions
In all the proposed applications,
the application of multi-
compartment models was
clinically feasible and
advantageous when compared
to traditional methods. This
involves a non-trivial work for
the choice of suitable models
and the interpretation of results,
but the obtained parameters
seem more specific to the
underlying tissue microstructure
and its pathological changes.
120
Pectin hydrogels for regenerative
medicine: injectable systems, cell delivery
and antimicrobial formulations
Roberta Gentilini - Advisors: Prof. Maria Cristina Tanzi, Dott. Paola Petrini
In the last years, novel hydrogel
formulations were developed
to obtain injectable products
for tissue regeneration . The
advantages of using injectable
hydrogels rely on their ability
to conform to the defect shape
and on the possibility of in vivo
delivery in a minimally invasive
way, thus reducing discomfort
and complications for the
patient. As the challenging
strategy implies that the cells
are loaded inside the gels. For
cell-loaded injectable gels,
cell entrapment is generally
achieved in the liquid (or highly
viscous liquid) form of the
gel precursors, with severe
limitations on the conditions
and reagents used in the sol-gel
transition often not compatible
with cell viability and bioactive
molecules immobilization.
Pectin, a natural polysaccharide
present in the cell wall of most
plants, is nowadays object
of increasing interest for
applications in the biomedical
field. Pectin is a biocompatible
anionic polysaccharide that
constitutes 30% of plants wall
[1], widely used as thickener,
gelling agent, stabilizer and
emulsifier in food products [2].
It is almost entirely composed of
three polysaccharidic domains:
homogalacturonan (HGA),
rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I) and
rhamnogalacturonan-II (RGII).
HGA is the major component
of pectic polysaccharides and
contains a-(14)-D-linked
galacturonic acids (1.4-a-D-
GalA) that are partially methyl-
esterified and sometimes
partially acetylesterified Due to
the peculiar gelling mechanism,
low methoxy pectins, which
have a degree of esterification
(DE) < 50, have been proposed
for the preparation of hydrogels
for biomedical applications,
namely drug delivery, gene
delivery and regenerative
medicine as implantable material
for minimally invasive surgery.
Pectin gels are proving wide
applicability as biomaterials with
recent advances in regenerative
medicine application, such
as microspheres. Bioactive
modifications, such as enzymatic
degradation, partial oxidation
and RGD functionalization of
this polysaccharide were able
to control degradation and
cell adhesion. Hairy regions of
branched pectin, separated by
enzyme degradation, are known
to promote proliferation and
differentiation of cells (such as
BMSCs to osteoblasts).
In view to obtain an ad hoc
pectin-based hydrogel for a
specific purpose, pectin can be
extracted from different sources
and its characteristics vary
according to the plant species
from which it is extracted. The
main characteristics of the
appropriate process of extraction
are the use of biocompatible
chemicals and the possibility to
preserve the peculiar structural
characteristics such as the
integrity of branched regions,
which show an important role in
cell interaction. A high molecular
weight and a low degree of
esterification need to be pursued
to form stable, ionotropic gels,
in compatible conditions with
cell viability or biomolecules
loading.
In view of developing pectin-
based injectable systems
for cell immobilization in
applications of regenerative
medicine, the results of this
work demonstrated that the
gelling kinetics and rheological
properties of pectin hydrogels
can be modulated according
to the specific way of
administration and to the tissue
to be treated. Particularly, by fine
tuning of sodium bicarbonate
and calcium carbonate content,
a tight control of the pH of the
hydrogel solutions was achieved,
thus controlling their gelling
kinetics. In this context, it was
possible to obtain hydrogels
with fast gelation that can be
used as in situ gelling systems,
or gels with a slower gelation
process that can be used as
cell carriers, where the gel
preparation is performed prior
to injection. Furthermore,
the control of the rheological
parameters allowed obtaining
thicker hydrogels to tailor the
mechanical stimuli of the matrix
and promote cell differentiation
for different tissues, providing
a three-dimensional structural
support for the host cells.
Cell immobilization within
a hydrogel represents an
innovative and successful
strategy to deliver cells in a
damaged tissue. It is well known
that cells remain viable into
injectable microspheres, where
the surface area to volume ratio
is higher and the exchange
of nutrients and oxygen is
promoted. In this thesis, the
process for adipose-derived stem
cell (hADSC) immobilization in
pectin-based bulk hydrogels
was investigated. hADSCs
retained viability up to 24 hours
after immobilization within
the 3D pectin matrices and
the presence of glucose and
glutamine as additives resulted
to play a key role in nutrient
and oxygen supply during the
first hours of immobilization,
which are known to be the
critical phase for entrapped cells.
After extrusion, the injectable
hydrogels showed an excellent
hADCS viability, indicating that
the presence of a 3D matrix
protects cells from the damaging
injection process. Immobilized
hADSCs maintained their
stemness capability after 7 days
of incubation, indicating that the
hydrogel did not affect the cell
phenotype.
To provide an ideal environment
for anchorage-dependent cells,
a peptide grafting of pectin is
PhD Yearbook | 2015
121
a strategy often investigated specific biomolecules or to be
BIOENGINEERING
in literature. In this thesis, a modified for facing a specific
peptide-grafting was successfully challenge. The antibacterial
tested on pectin backbone to injectable pectin hydrogels can
improve antibacterial activity. be used in multiple applications
Eventually, antimicrobial pectin where preventing bacterial
hydrogels will be useful tools adhesion is still an unmet need.
in several diseases, such as This research is aimed to the
osteomyelitis, in which the ultimate goal of combining these
optimal treatment raises from different aspects producing a
the dual approach of cell delivery contactactive material composed
associated to antibacterial effect, of different substances,
with the intention to induce both effective to dismantle
bactericidal effects and bone biofilms, and deliver cells in the
regeneration in a single step. To damaged tissue, disrupted by
these aims, we demonstrated the infection, for pathologies
that it is possible to produce a such as osteomyelitis and
pectin derivative endowed with periodontitis.
antimicrobial activity by grafting
antimicrobial peptides on the
pectin backbone.
Considering the specific final
aim, i.e. biomedical application,
ad hoc production of pectin
should be explored with
tailored extraction process,
able to preserve its peculiar
structural properties and with
the possibility to form ionotropic
gels. These hydrogels could be
evaluated as three-dimensional
(3D) cell culture systems, where
the cells can be entrapped
during gel formation in mild
conditions. The 3D systems can
be produced as injectable stem
cell-loaded hydrogel for tissue
regeneration, by controlling
the biochemical environment
within the gel. Injectable systems
are not limited to cell delivery,
and can be exploited to release
 122
PATIENT-SPECIFIC MULTI-PARAMETRIC MODEL OF THE
HEART FROM MDCT IMAGES TO GUIDE VENTRICULAR
Tachycardia ablation procedures
Sofia Goncalves Antu Supervisors: Giovanna Rizzo, Sergio Cerutti
In the pre-procedural
planning and guidance of
electroanatomic mapping (EAM)
and radiofrequency (RF) catheter
ablation (CA) procedures in
ventricular tachycardia (VT), the
knowledge of the exact location
and extent of myocardial scar
is important. Today, delayed
enhanced magnetic resonance
imaging (DE-MRI) is considered
the imaging gold standard
for the assessment of scar
tissue and it is being used,
integrated into the 3D EAM
system, to guide ablation
procedures. However, multi-
detector computed tomography
(MDCT) could be an interesting
alternative. The main reasons are
related to the reduced artefacts
caused by the implantable
cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD),
the higher spatial resolution
when compared to DE-MRI with
which we can have detailed
information about the anatomy
of the heart (e.g. trabeculae and
coronary arteries) as well as the
reliability in visualizing epicardial
fat distribution. The purpose
of this work was to construct
a 3D multi-parametric model
of the heart by segmenting
automatically ventricular cavities,
left myocardium, myocardial
scar, epicardial fat and
coronaries from MDCT images.
Further, this map was compared
with the findings of EAM,
created previously to the RF CA
procedure.
Cardiac Anatomy
Segmentation
Image-guidance allows the
navigation of the catheter tip
over the cardiac structures of
interest within a high resolution
anatomical map. For this intent,
the accurate segmentation
of the patient specific cardiac
anatomy of interest is a
fundamental effort. Of great
importance in any epicardial
intervention is epicardial fat
tissue, it may be confused
with myocardial scar causing
useless ablation. Moreover,
the anatomical course of the
main coronary vessels may
help in optimizing epicardial
interventions, reducing potential
damage of such structures.
For the anatomical segmentation
a 3D level set algorithm based
on a multi-scale directional
stopping function was
developed, implementing
the Geodesic active contour
(GAC) formulation. The
stopping function was
applied twiceupdated after
the convergence of the first
evolution, reducing the scale
space of the edge detector, until
the level set converged again.
We validated the proposed
method quantitatively on the
with the manual segmentations
done by expert radiologists.
Myocardial Scar
Segmentation
There are three different
approaches to detect non-
viable myocardium including
perfusion defects in MDCT; two
approaches are on the early
angiographic scan and one on
the delayed scan. On the early
scan compromised zones are
hypo-enhanced when compared
to the normal myocardium or
present myocardial wall thinning.
The approach to detect scar
on the delayed scan, contrary
to the first case, consists in
searching for hyper-enhanced
zones of the myocardium. We
took the advantage of having
the myocardium segmentation
from the early scan, where the
myocardium boundary is clearly
defined, to use as template
for the scar identification.
Since the heart cannot be
seen as rigid body, we model
the transformation as a sum
of global rigid transformation
and a local elastic deformation
(free-form deformations) for the
correction of the deformations
that may occur due to the
beating heart and other
anatomical motions.
The extraction of nonviable
myocardium was accomplished
as described in the following.
In the case of
hypoenhancement, we
calculated mean m and variance
s2 of the entire data and used
as higher threshold m 3s to
identify the low attenuation
values. In order to accurately
measure myocardial wall
thickness, the papillary muscles
within the LVendo structure
need to be excluded from
the structure. Due to the 3D
bending geometry of the LV
cavity, we used the alpha-
shape. Then, from each LVendo
triangle vertex, a ray was casted
outwards, and the distance
to the nearest point on the
LVepi surface was taken as the
myocardium wall thickness.
Points with distance less than
5 mm were considered scared
areas.
As the detection of myocardial
scar areas in the delayed scan
consist in detecting high density
values when compared to the
nor- mal myocardial tissue, we
studied different thresholds
to detect scar as similar as
physicians would do. We
made different assumptions
to determine the best way to
identify automatically areas
of scar; the first one was
that scar in DE MDCT has
similar attenuation values
than the blood pool. For
this reason, using the LVend
segmentation from the early
scan as template on the pre-
registered delayed scan, we
identified the parameters of
the Gaussian distribution of the
LV attenuation values (mv,sv).
In order to identify the best
parameters to identify scar, we
used as thresholds the following
values: mv , mv 1sv and mv
2sv .
Looking to the myocardium, on
the other hand, as it involves
(if scar is present) a mixture of
two tissue types (corresponding
to two different histogram
attenuation peaks), a Gaussian
mixture model with two
component densities was used
to identify two clusters on the
myocardial tissue. It consists
in a parametric probability
density function described as a
weighted sum of two Gaussian
densities g(x|i, i). We obtained
mean and variance values of
the two Gaussians. To identify
hyperenhanced areas other
thresholds were also p and
p + (vp)/2 experimented
(healthy myocardial tissue
mean value h and nonviable
myocardial tissue mean valuep).
The best threshold to detect DE
scar in our experiment was the
formulation: p + (v p)/2 ,
which best matched with the
experts identification of hyper
enhanced zones. Using this
threshold, it was possible to
extract scar most in agreement
with the opinion of the
physicians on the scar location,
with a satisfactory classification.
Myocardial Multi-Parametric
Map
Using information from the
automatically segmented cardiac
structures of interest, describing
scar location and extent, as
well as zones of thick fat layers
we face the myocardial map
construction. Additionally, the
created map was compared with
the findings of EAM, created
previously to the CA procedure.
The decision of an endocardial
or epicardial EAM and RF
ablation approach was taken
basing on the prevalent
distribution of scars at CE-MDCT
or during the failed endocardial
procedure. Values greater
than 1.5 mV defined normal
LVendo bipolar electrogram
amplitudes and values greater
than of 8 mV defined normal LV
endocardial unipolar electrogram
amplitudes.9 patients have an
ICD; 8 had only an endocardial
and one only an epicardial
intervention, and two patients
had both an endocardial and
PhD Yearbook | 2015
epicardial intervention (and
consequently a EAM).
To construct the mesh of
the myocardium, containing
information about the
myocardial wall thickness,
epicardial fat depth and
myocardial scar areas, we
extracted a triangulation (surface 123
mesh) for each segmented
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structure. Using the distances
from the LVepi to the LVendo
surface, zones where the
thickness was less than 5 mm
were considered scar vertices.
For each triangle vertex of
the LVepi mesh, the distance
from LVepi to the epicardial fat
surface was computed; points
above 3 mm were considered
myocardial scar.
In patients that underwent an
epicardial intervention, points
with epicardial fat thickness
greater than 3mm were added
to the myocardial mesh to be
considered as myocardial scar.
Bipolar and Unipolar voltages
were correlated with MDCT
based scar 35.3% of low bipolar
voltages of the EAM, and
64.72% of unipolar low voltages
points are within our defined
scar.
Conclusions
This work represent a step
forward not only to the
accomplishment of accurate
patient-specific segmentation
of cardiac structures, but also
to the introduction of MDCT
scar detection as a feasible and
effective approach to plan EAM,
aiming at improving CA RF and
reducing intervention time.
 124
PRECLINICAL EVALUATION OF POSTERIOR SPINAL
FIXATORS CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS AND SUGGESTIONS
FOR IMPROVEMENT
Luigi La Barbera - Relatore: Tomaso Maria Tobia Villa
Posterior spinal stabilization
by means of pedicle screw-rod
based implant is a gold standard
in the surgical treatment of
a great variety of diseases.
Clinical results demonstrate an
improved outcome with respect
to traditional techniques stand
alone. Significant improvements
have been made since the
introduction of pedicle screw
technology in 1980-90s,
however a high complication
rate is reported still today (from
12.0 to 54.0% after 2000).
Moreover, fatigue-related
failures, due to the high number
of loading cycles experimented
during everyday life activities
(e.g. walking), are continuously
reported especially at the screw
level (from 1.2 up to 35.0%
after 2000).
The present dissertation is
aimed to better understand and
possibly improve the current
standards published by the
American Society of Testing
and Materials (ASTM) and the
International Standardization
Society (ISO) for the in vitro
preclinical evaluation of the
mechanical behaviour of
posterior spinal stabilization
devices. In particular, the validity
of ASTM F1717 and ISO 12189
standards, representing a
vertebrectomy (worst case) and
a physiological instrumented
2-Functional Spine Units (FSUs)
scenarios respectively (Figure 1),
was investigated.
Anatomical (e.g. pedicle
inclination, interpedicular
distance), as well as
biomechanical parameters (e.g.
follower load distance, center of
rotation distance, unsupported
screw length), useful to catch
the most important features of
the thoracolumbar spine, were
collected as a function of the
spinal level both from a review
of the literature and using direct
measurements on physiologic
subjects. A parametric FE
(finite element) analysis was
performed on both standards
evaluating the contribution of
each parameter in increasing
the stress arising on the implant
(Figure 2). A few parameters
were found to be significant
(i.e. leading to a percentage
stress increase greater than
2%). Moreover, the geometrical
configuration implemented
in ASTM F1717 standard
reproduces quite well an average
instrumented thoracolumbar
spine segment; however the
anatomical worst case scenario
due to the combination of the
most important anatomical
parameters was found at L1,
leading to a maximum stress
increase of about 15% for
ASTM F1717 and about 10%
for ISO 12189 standards: these
scenarios were then proposed as
a basis for a revision proposal of
the standards. Other mechanical
parameters, such as the initial
precompression of the anterior
support as well as its stiffness
in ISO 12189 standard, were
found to be significant, leading
to a much higher stress increase
(even beyond 420%) than the
anatomical parameters alone: in
this light, care should be taken
when using ISO test method.
Since the above described results
were obtained on a simplified
design capable of catching only
the general features of a pedicle
screw-rod based implant, a
more realistic design was also
considered. A parametric FE
model of a commercial spinal
fixator was built and validated
using strain gauges technique. A
parallel preliminary experimental
mechanical characterization
revealed that the fatigue life of
constructs assembled according
to the proposed revised version
of ASTM standard may be
significantly lower than those
assembled according to the
current one: this was interpreted
as a confirmation that a
standard revision should be
taken into consideration.
A final numerical analysis
was led to better understand
whether the stress arising on
the posterior spinal stabilization
device in standard configurations
may be really representative of
some everyday life activities.
A previously validated L2-
L4 spine segment was then
instrumented according
different clinical scenarios:
vertebrectomy, bisegmental
stabilization, bisegmental
bridge stabilization and
vertebrectomy with an anterior
support (Figure 3). These models
were validated against in vitro/in
vivo literature data. The results
demonstrated that ISO 12189
procedure reproduces quite well
a physiological instrumented
scenario during flexion of the
upper body. Moreover, simple
considerations can help in
comparing and interpreting the
achieved results using different
testing procedures with respect
to the effective clinical use.
1. Sagittal view of a patient
instrumented with a spinal fixator
to stabilize the lumbosacral segment
(a). Simplified drawings of the
experimental approaches used to
evaluate the mechanical properties of
posterior spinal fixators according to a
vertebrectomy scenario implemented
by ASTM F1717 standard (b) or to a
physiological instrumented scenario
according to ISO 12189 standards (c).
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2. Parametric FE models according to
ASTM F1717 and ISO 12189 standards
(a, b respectively) and corresponding
meshed reference models (b, c
respectively).
3. Starting from a validated L2-L4 FE
model, different clinical scenarios
were simulated. The vertebrectomy
scenario was directly compared
with ASTM standard model, while
the bisegmental stabilization,
bisegmental bridge stabilization and
a vertebrectomy with an anterior
support were compared to ISO 12189
models were the spring stiffness was
also varied.
 126
Multimodal magnetic resonance imaging
at 3 T and challenges for application at
ultra-high field
Eleonora Maggioni - Advisors: Prof. Anna Maria Bianchi, Prof. Sergio Cerutti,
Ing. Gianluigi Reni
Multimodal neuroimaging
opens up a unique window of
opportunity for the investigation
of function and structure of the
brain. Each imaging method
probes specific physiological
processes with characteristic
resolutions, giving a filtered view
on one or more brain processes
of interest. The combination of
different imaging modalities can
overcome the limitations of the
single techniques, as it allows to
1) extend the coverage of the
spatiotemporal domain and 2)
get a more comprehensive view
of physical and physiological
properties of the brain.
The present PhD dissertation
gives a comprehensive
overview of the advantages
and possibilities provided by
brain magnetic resonance
imaging and its integration with
complementary neuroimaging
techniques, with special interest
towards simultaneous EEG-
fMRI. Indeed, the integration
of EEG and fMRI offers the
unique opportunity of providing
a non-invasive comprehensive
view of brain function with high
temporal and spatial resolution.
The primary objective of the PhD
thesis is to develop technical
instruments for pre-processing,
analysis, coregistration
and fusion of multimodal
information, to be used at
normal or high magnetic field
strengths. Multimodal imaging
at ultra-high field (UHF) offers
enormous opportunities that
are currently unfulfilled, due to
important technical challenges:
in this respect, the PhD thesis
focuses on the pre-processing
phase to set the ground for
future complex unimodal and
multimodal analysis at UHF.
The first section deals with the
pre-processing of EEG-fMRI
data and is dedicated to the
removal of cardiac-related
artefacts from EEG data
recorded in MR environment
at 3T and 9.4T. Using resting
state data, the performances of
different sophisticated correction
methods based on independent
component analysis (ICA) were
quantitatively compared, in
terms of their capability to 1)
reduce the artefact, 2) recover
the underlying physiological
information. Since the
discrimination of artefactual
components from physiological
ones is challenging, different
methods for the selection of
PA-related components were
considered.
In the 3T study, the selection
based on the components
wavelets transform, which is a
novelty of the thesis, resulted
the most accurate in preserving
the physiological alpha rhythm
in the occipital channels.
In the 9.4T study, the overall
EEG physiological information
was distorted by the UHF, from
amplitude and spectral content
to connectivity pattern of EEG
data. For the first time, using the
new selection method based on
wavelets, we have been able to
recover at the channel level the
physiological alpha rhythm in
the occipital channels. Although
the quality of removal can be
still largely improved, these
preliminary results pave the way
for future resting state EEG-fMRI
analysis at UHF.
In the second part of the
thesis, the interest is shifted
towards the processing
phase. Methods for complex
fMRI connectivity analysis
are described: in particular, a
novel whole-brain parcellation
scheme that integrates MRI
anatomical and functional
information is presented. The
new parcellation divides the
brain into non-overlapping
spatially connected clusters and
can be used to define nodes in
connectivity networks that are
homogeneous in both structure
and function. The test on two
synthetic datasets demonstrated
an overall capability of the
algorithm to correctly identify
the functional clusters, both in
resting state and in presence
of stimulations. The reliability
of the novel method was
further confirmed by real data
applications: the parcellation 1)
showed a good reproducibility
across healthy subjects, 2) led to
a reliable definition of epileptic
networks.
To set the stage for future
connectivity analysis at
UHF, the delicate issue of
anatomical segmentation at 7T
is introduced: besides higher
problems of inhomogeneity, the
tissue contrasts exploited at UHF
can be different from the most
common ones and may require
specific processing techniques.
The Tissue Border Enhancement
(TBE) technique allows an
immediate visualization of the
borders of brain tissues: a new
algorithm for the extraction
of borders in TBE images is
described, called Minimum
Intensity Snake Algorithm
(MISA). MISA follows iteratively
the path of minimum intensity
within the image using functions
of graph theory. When applied
to a TBE image acquired at 7T,
it led to a satisfactory detection
of tissue interfaces (Fig.1). The
combination of TBE and MISA
can overcome the limitations
related to traditional imaging
techniques at UHF, opening the
road to several applications.
In the last section of the thesis,
a set of methods for the analysis
and integration of EEG, fMRI
and NIRS data is shown. A
comprehensive overview of the
information of clinical utility
that can be extracted from
the EEG and fMRI techniques
is given, as applied to the
study of photosensitivity. The
effects of intermittent photic
stimulation (IPS) on one patient
were compared with a group
of healthy subjects. The fMRI
response to IPS was investigated,
then the EEG information was
used to study evoked potentials,
frequency content and
functional connectivity in the IPS
frequencies. An EEG-informed
fMRI analysis investigated the
hemodynamic correlates of the
EEG power changes in the IPS
frequencies. The quantitative
comparison between patient
and control group revealed
many peculiar characteristics
that contributed to delineate the
patients clinical picture. Finally,
in the patient, the fMRI epileptic
network was extracted and
the pattern of propagation of
the epileptic activity within the
network was inferred.
1. Borders between GM and WM
identified by MISA.
In a group of healthy subjects,
the negative BOLD responses
(NBRs) to IPS were investigated
by means of the NIRS technique,
able to give insight into the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
127
BOLD determinants. The
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results of the fMRI activation
analysis were compared to the
NIRS ones and the coupling
between BOLD and NIRS signals
was investigated in the NBR
regions. NBRs were found to
be characterized by an HbO
decrease and a concomitant
HHb increase w.r.t. baseline
condition (Fig.2): the NIRS study
provided new information
on the negative BOLD
phenomenon.
In summary, the present PhD
thesis has given insight into
some crucial analytic challenges
of the multimodal integration at
normal and high field, drawing
attention on the combination of
MRI with other neuroimaging
techniques, especially EEG. The
results are promising and open
the door to future complex
multimodal analysis at UHF.
2. Plot of BOLD and hemoglobin
responses to IPS in one example
channel (channel 3-4) of one exemplar
subject. The grey area corresponds to
the IPS interval.
128
MONITORING OF VITAL PARAMETERS FOR SLEEP
ASSESSMENT THROUGH WEARABLE AND SMART
DEVICES an application for mood state
classification in bipolar patients
Matteo Migliorini - Advisors: Profs. Annamaria Bianchi, Sergio Cerutti
Quality of sleep is then one of
the aspects that mostly influence
our everyday life. Literature
report that a high percentage of
serious car or work accidents are
caused by daytime somnolence
due poor sleep quality. It is
important to remark that the
difficulty in the identification
of symptoms and the costs
connected to an accurate clinical
evaluation can give rise to
underestimation or to the lack of
diagnosis of sleep disturbances.
In addition, generally, there is
a small number of specialized
centers. Further, a bad quality
of sleep was proven to have
an impact on blood pressure,
decreases the immunity
defenses and may increase
the insurgence probability of
metabolic disturbances such
as obesity and diabetes. In
addition, sleep disturbances,
for example, the ones related
to breathing, have a strong
association with cardiovascular
pathologies. For all these
reasons, an indication on the
sleep quality may constitute a
good parameter for prevention
of some pathologies and can
provide a tool for improving
quality of life. The introduction
of textile wearable devices, as
well as sensorized mattresses
constitutes a great advantage in
prevention and also in follow-
up. In fact, they can be used at
home without the intervention
of medical personnel. Thus,
a home monitoring system
could represent a cost-effective
solution for continuous
monitoring and, therefore, risk
prevention.
Sleep is also a sensitive
barometer of emotional status
and psychiatric conditions. Sleep
difficulties have been associated
with emotional states and
psychiatric diagnoses related to
anxiety, affective dysregulation
(depression, manic states
and bipolar disorders), post-
traumatic-stress disorder and
other more specific behavioral
disorders such as attention
deficit and hyper-activity
disorder (ADHD). The evaluation
of a sleep disorder is often
mixed with the assessment or
consideration of the psychiatric
condition. Hypersomnia may
be the main symptom in some
depressive disorders, as seasonal
depression, depression with
atypical features or depressive
episodes in bipolar disorder.
Psychological state assessment,
in particular bipolar disorder
management, is one of the
areas of great demand for
the need of continuous
monitoring, patient participation
and medical prediction. The
nature of bipolar disorder is
unpredictable and episodic.
Thus, it is necessary to take the
traditional standard procedures
of mood assessment through
the administration of rating
scales and questionnaires, and
to integrate this with tangible
data found in emerging research
on central and peripheral
changes in brain function that
may be associated to the clinical
status and response to treatment
throughout the course of mood
disorders. Disease management
for psychiatric patient, through
continuous, non-invasive
monitoring represents a novel
approach. Today, psychiatric
patients together with their
relatives face a great deal of
problems, resulting often in
a premature interruption of
treatment and of follow-up
by psychiatric services, due to
the deinstitutionalization of
mental health services and the
establishment of services in
primary care, community centers
and general hospitals. The use of
wearable devices can open the
possibility to provide continuous
and ubiquitous access to medical
excellence in a cost-effective
way.
Sleep is a complex state
physiologically characterized
by important changes in the
autonomic regulation of the
cardiovascular activity. HRV is
largely affected during sleep
by sleep-stage organization:
specifically, evidence suggests a
predominant vagal drive to the
heart and a reduced sympathetic
tone during non-rapid eye
movement (NREM) sleep and
an increased sympathetic
modulation, with fluctuations
between parasympathetic and
sympathetic influences, during
rapid eye movement (REM)
sleep.
The new generation of
technological tools, in
particular in the field of
telecommunication, material
science and digital signal
processing, gave rise to wide
application of wearable and
smart devices for monitoring
vital signs (in particular HRV
signal) in ambulatory subjects
during their daily activities.
These devices allow the remote
and continuous monitoring of
people in different circumstances
and situations, such as diagnosis
procedure, monitoring of
patients with cardio-respiratory
or mental diseases. This is
because the patient lives his/her
daily life and is not perturbed
psychologically by the hospital
environment. This also results
in economic savings by the
reduction in hospitalization
costs.
This PhD work aimed to give a
mathematical characterization
of sleep, both to provide a
clear and scientific quantitative
description of the underlying
physio-pathological phenomena,
and to allow the implementation
of an automatic classifier for
speeding up the study of sleep
macrostructure in regular clinical
practice. Moreover, it aimed
to characterize the regulatory
autonomic behaviors behind the
course of the bipolar disorder
in order to pave the way for the
creation of a supporting tool to
help clinicians in facing better
this disease.
It was demonstrated that the
HRV signals contain information
that can be connected to the
sleep modulations that can be
inferred from time-domain,
frequency-domain and long-
term regularity parameters.
Using the information present
in literature, four different
classifiers were trained obtaining
results that can be considered
comparable in terms of both
accuracy and value of K. What
it is interesting to notice is
the reliability in estimating a
parameter of clinical interesting
like the sleep efficiency (SEFF).
The dissertation aims to elevate
the attention on evaluating
sleep classification performance
by means of sleep-related
features (like SEFF, TWT, WASO,
etc) instead of the highly
used metrics, i.e. accuracy,
sensitive and specificity. These
sleep-related features find
application in clinical studies;
therefore, it seems more useful
to estimate them in a reliable
way than computing a precise
hypnogram. The HRV and the
sleep regulations influence
different pathologies including
mood disorders. Some changes
in modulation of the ANS was
demonstrated to be amenable
to bipolar disorder, while other
processes reflect physiological
mood changes in bipolar
patients.
The crucial point of such analysis
was represented by the choice
of monitoring the patients in a
naturalistic environment. The
study of a psychiatric disorder
during the real life, at patients
home gives results of relevant
clinical importance. On the
other hand, such uncontrolled
environment might be affecting
the recording quality. It was
shown a possible way to face
this issue through two steps.
First, by evaluating the minimal
requirements for a reliable
estimation of the considered
features. In particular, the
robustness of the estimation of
PhD Yearbook | 2015
the regularity parameters has
been studied as function of
the amount of data. Secondly,
implementing the requirements
in a series of rules to decide,
recording-by-recording, which
feature satisfy them. Following
this procedure, some features
can be calculated even if the 129
requirements for computing
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the others are not satisfied. For
example, if the ECG recording
is completely corrupted,
macrostructure-related sleep
parameters (TIB, SOL, WASO,
TWT, TST and SEFF) can still be
estimated through the analysis
of the body movement signal.
In this dissertation was
demonstrated the feasibility of
a home monitoring of bipolar
patients. The information that
can be gathered from the HRV
signals seemed to be useful for
the assessment of the different
stages of such pathology.
Moreover, they represent an
objective evaluation of the
disease providing instruments for
its study and interpretation. This
can be taken into consideration
from the clinicians and the
caregivers to better take care
and support the patients.
130
A NOvEL IMAGE REGIsTRATION sTRATEGy fOR
ONCOLOGICAL PEDIATRIC BRAIN IMAGEs fusION
Eros Montin - Advisor: Prof Luca T. Mainardi - Tutor: Prof Paolo G. Ravazzani
Image registration is one of
the fundamental procedures
of image processing in the
field of medical imaging.
Medical images are widely
used for diagnosis, treatment
planning, disease monitoring
and image guided surgery
and can be acquired using
different imaging modalities like
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(MRI), Computed Tomography
(CT), Xray, Positron Emission
Tomography (PET). Images
obtained using different
modalities, usually, need to
be compared to one another
and/or combined for analysis
and decision making. In this
scenario the aim of image
registration is to find the best
alignment between a fixed
(reference) image and a moving
one (source) by evaluating their
similarity. Image registration can
be visualized as an optimization
problem which maximizes the
matching between these images
by changing the parameters of
a geometrical transformation
which maps points in one image
to the corresponding points in
the other one.
An image registration procedure
is mainly composed by three
components: a geometric
transformation model, a
similarity measure and an
optimization algorithm. Due
to the diversity of images to
be registered and the diverse
types of degradations, it is
impossible to design a universal
method applicable to all the
fusion tasks. Hence, in order
to obtain an optimal solution,
a greater attention has to be
paid during the selection of the
above components which have
to be defined according to the
nature of the specific registration
problems. Among these three
components an important role
is played by the metric. Intensity
based fusion metrics assume
that some particular features
extracted by image voxels will
be most similar when the correct
registration transform is applied.
They can be sub-divided in
two macro groups in relation
to the kind of registration task
they solve: mono-modal and
multi-modal. The first one solve
registration task of images
acquired with similar parameter
settings, conversely, multi-modal
one solve all the others.
Therefore, one of the most
challenging problem in the
image fusion field arises from
multi-modal images registration.
Literature metrics based on
information theoretic techniques
had great experimental success
and are becoming widely used
in the multi-modality fusion
activity. Among them, Mutual
Information (MI) is considered
the elective state-of-the-art.
However, MI optimization is
still considered a hard task
both the classical registration
PhD yearbook | 2015
problems (such as patients
movement during the scans) and
the growth of the patient during
these evaluations which could
be also more the 9 years.
131
because of the several well- Fusion of radiotherapy and diffusional dataset (AM).
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known drawbacks e.g. the
non-convexity of the metric in
the parameter space. Therefore,
registration strategies based
on MI are usually constrained
in order to obtain smooth
Longitudinal image registration of pediatric MRI, by
deformation fields. This increasing the complexity of the transformation model
deformation smoothness is not using a pluri-metric approach. Namely translation,
always desirable in oncological rotation, scaling, and non-rigid based on b-spline.
field where the lesion presence
may induce huge localized
tissues changes. Therefore
in this thesis, an alternative
similarity measure has been
proposed and implemented.
The metric integrates MI with a
local descriptor of the images
to be matched in a pluri-metric
approach. Since two images are
considered fused when intensity
changes occur in the same MRI0 (bottom right corner) creation from the MRI1 (top
location in the two images to right corner) using a deformation field (bottom left
be registered, the elected local corner) which mimic a real patient growth pattern. MRI
0 can be compared with the real MRI0 (top left corner) of
descriptor was a gradient based The neuro-radiological atlas exploited in the atlas-based
the patient.
filter. The reliability of this metric segmentation, the colored area represent a part of the
regions considered in the segmentation. In red is also
was evaluated in comparison reported the dose of a patient as example.
to the literature ones and
finally utilized in a real clinical
oncological case.
The main aim of this study was
the reassessment of images
acquired in pediatric age in
comparison to the adolescent
one, by means of Diffusion
Tensor Imaging (DTI). The activity
concerned the late realignments
of images arising from different
scanners, modalities, patient
The seven anatomical areas used as focus point during
age and therapies. The main the registration performance assessment of the
challenges of this task arise from Fusion of radiotherapy and diffusional dataset (FA). registration between CT and MRI0.
 132
Advanced microfluidic platforms for
investigating the role of microenvironmental
signaling on stem cell fate
Paola Occhetta - Tutors: Prof. Alberto Redaelli - Ing. Marco Rasponi
In vivo, cells are surrounded
by a complex multi-factorial
environment characterized
by specific physicochemical
properties (temperature, pH,
oxygen tension), which provide
cells with exogenous stimuli
deriving from soluble factors,
cell-matrix interactions, and cell-
cell contacts. The orchestrated
and spatio-temporally dynamic
interplay of these biochemical
and physical extracellular
cues, referred to as cell
microenvironment, regulates
cells structure, function and
behavior, ultimately guiding
their fate. Considering the
complexity of the native cell
microenvironment, in vitro
models are required as tools
for better understanding the
key pathways regulating cells
behavior. In order to achieve
reliable and biologically relevant
results, such models should
feature the ability to in vitro
recapitulate the dynamic
combinatorial role of soluble
factors, matrix-bound cues,
cell-cell contacts and cell-matrix
adhesions on cell responses.
To date, much of the current
understanding in cell biology
relies on traditional bi-
dimensional (2D) in vitro cell
culture models, which mainly
consist in the static culture of
cells seeded on polystyrene
flat surface plates (mm to cm
in characteristic dimension).
Such substrates, however,
poorly mimic the native cellular
microenvironment, featuring
levels of stiffness that are
orders of magnitude higher
than those found in vivo and
lacking in presenting 3D cues
typical of the native cell physical
environment. In the past few
decades, several attempts have
been made to address these
issues proposing macroscale
3D culture models relying on
innovative biomaterials, often
combined with laboratory-
scale bioreactors. Although
providing a more reproducible
and controlled approach to
investigate mechanisms of
cell behavior within a 3D
environment and to engineer
functional constructs, these
approaches still have to deal
with size-scales that are orders
of magnitude bigger than the
native microenvironment.
Recently, microscale and
microfluidic technologies are
finding increasing applications
as innovative approaches in
cell biology studies, enabling
an unprecedented control over
the cellular microenvironment
while reducing the time and
the scale of experimental
platforms for better matching
the cellular level. Moreover,
they allow for automating and
parallelizing experimentations
and coupling cell cultures
directly with high-throughput
analysis systems, thus improving
simultaneously model accuracy
and experimental throughput.
Considering these premises,
microfluidic platforms represent
promising in vitro models,
increasingly exploited as
enabling tools in the field of
cell biology, from the screening
of drugs or molecules, to
the optimization of culture
conditions for inducing specific
cell fates.
In this scenario, this PhD project
envisions the exploitation of the
main principles of microfluidics
for the generation of innovative
technological solutions for
addressing specific questions in
the field of cell biology.
1. The main principles of microfluidics
were exploited for the generation of
innovative technological solutions for
addressing specific questions in the
field of cell biology.
The aim of this research is thus
the development of microfluidic
platforms and techniques
as tools for investigating
and modeling the effect of
different cues from the cellular
microenvironment in addressing
2. Four microscale platforms and/or techniques are presented. For each
platform, a specific microfluidic strategy has been applied to define a
technological solution for addressing a specific biological goal.
stem cell fate. In details, four
microscale platforms and/or
techniques, ad hoc conceived
in the context of national and
international collaborations,
are presented. Each chapter is
focused on a single platform
and underlines how a specific
microfluidic strategy has been
applied to the definition of
a technological solution for
addressing a specific biological
goal.
The first presented microfluidic
platform was designed with the
aim to (i) generate and culture
3D cellular microaggregates
under continuous flow perfusion
while (ii) conditioning them
with different combinations/
concentrations of soluble
factors. An exploitation of
the platform is proposed,
in collaboration with the
Tissue Engineering Laboratory
(University Hospital of Basel,
Switzerland), to perform studies
on limb bud development and
investigate processes involved
in mesenchymal progenitor
cells differentiation, towards a
developmental engineering
PhD Yearbook | 2015
133
on human mesenchymal stromal
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cell osteogenic commitment.
Finally, a forth microfluidic
platform is introduced for (i)
trapping and culturing single
cells into defined spatial
configurations, (ii) while
automatically delivering them
concentration patterns of non-
diffusive particles (i.e. gene
approach for skeletal tissue vectors). An exploitation of
regeneration. the platform is then proposed
A second microscale strategy is to perform on chip high-
introduced to spatially tailor the throughput screening and
3D microenvironment around optimization of transfection
cells, based on the combination strategies, in the context
of an innovative biocompatible of a collaboration with the
photopolymerizable hydrogel Biocompatibility and Cell culture
(VA-086-GelMA) and an Laboratory (BioCell, Politecnico
easy to handle photo-mold- di Milano, Italy).
patterning (PMP) technique.
The work presented in this
chapter is partially the result of a
collaboration with the Cell and
Tissue Engineering Laboratory
(IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopedic
Institute, Milano, Italy).
As third technique, a microfluidic
cell mixer is presented, as the
result of a collaboration with
the Tissue Engineering and
Microfluidics Laboratory (TEaM,
University of Queensland,
Australia). The integration of this
mixer as upstream functional
element within two different
microfluidic platforms is then
demonstrated for the automatic
establishment of 2D and 3D
osteogenic co-culture models,
aiming at investigating the
influence of pre-osteoblastic cells
134

Automatic Decellularization and properties. HE staining, DAPI no relevant differences, however endothelial cells seeded are lost

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Decellularized Scaffolds for Blood
Vessels Tissue Engineering
Alessandro Filippo Pellegata - Advisor: Prof.ssa Sara Mantero
Introduction
to the implantation or if the
a pressure drop that coupled
and DNA quantification
assessed the absence of cellular
or nuclear material while HE,
Movat Pentachrome and SEM
observation confirmed the
maintenance of ECM structure.
The mechanical characterization
revealed no statistically
significant differences. Vessels
implanted in the chimeric
it was observed an increasing
trend for silk and a decreasing
one for decellularized. ELISA
assay showed that macrophages
on decellularized scaffolds do
not produce Il-6 opposite to
those seeded on silk fibroin.
Discussion
The decellularization protocols
at 2 weeks and substituted by
host cells confirming the data
reported in the literature for
both small and large animals
models. On the contrary,
unseeded implants ranging from
6 to 14 weeks occluded due to
intimal hyperplasia and growth
of fibrous tissue in the lumen. 135
These results end in the still

Decellularization is the complete
removal of all cellular and
nuclear material from a tissue
preserving its extracellular
matrix. The results of the
process are scaffolds that have
biochemical properties able
to stimulate the cell adhesion,
proliferation and differentiation
beside to mechanical properties
similar to the native tissue and
a preserved tissue structure.
To date, the majority of
decellularization processes
are performed with manual
operation, limiting the safety,
reliability and reproducibility
of the process while these
are mandatory requisites in
the translation to the clinic.
To overcome this issue the
automation of the process
can fulfill the previously stated
requisites and some groups are
now performing decellularization
using devices.
Decellularized scaffolds have
been used also for blood vessels
tissue engineering trying to fill
the existing clinical gap for small
caliber arterial substitutions.
Decellularized vascular scaffolds
have been investigated in various
in-vivo model and reached also
two cases of clinical implantation
but for large vessels substitution.
However it is not yet clear in the
blood vessels tissue engineering
field, and also for decellularized
vascular scaffolds, if it is needed
an endothelialization previous
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host body could be used as both with a pulsatile pattern of the human swine model explanted presented in this thesis brought open question on the need of
cell source and bioreactor with pump exerts a circumferential at 2 weeks were patent with positive decellularization results an endothelialization previous
positive outcomes. Considering strain on the vessel. The system vWF+ cells covering the lumen as cell removal and preservation to grafting, indeed the literature
this complex scenarios, this can be programmed to drive and an ongoing migration of the ECM mechanical reports opposite data and there
thesis aimed at the development complex protocols that involve of a-SMA+ cells from the properties, moreover the is a contradiction between the
and characterization of a different decellularization adventitia to the media. The hypotonic-detergent-serum loss of seeded cells and the
decellularized arterial scaffold solutions repeatedly exchanged 10 weeks trial showed a more protocol allowed to limit timings better outcomes of seeded
and its characterization in-vitro according to user-defined spread and deep repopulation and costs. The cell removal and grafts. Our findings have the
and in-vivo. Beside this, in orderpatterns, the process parameters of the vessel wall by a-SMA+ the mechanical properties are peculiarity of the absence of
to overcome the limitations that can be specified are the cells. Interestingly at 2 weeks crucial for blood vessel tissue antiplatelet drugs administration
of manual operated processes number of solutions, the it was observed that no cell engineering because possible while this therapy is usually
this thesis aimed also at the timings, the recirculation positive for human CD31 was cellular remnants could elicit provided. Overall, a supposition
development of a device for pattern, the flow rates and present in the lumen while the high inflammatory response or can be made on a paracrine
the automatic decellularization the temperatures. Sterility and cells forming the tunica intima calcification, while a compliance role in the early phases for
of blood vessels that could reliability of the device were were positive for swine CD31 mismatch could elicit intimal endothelial cells that influences
autonomously drive the process validated. meaning that seeded cells were hyperplasia. Storage is an the late term resolution of the
while keeping sterility and while The swine arteries were lost and substituted by host unavoidable step in the whole implant. To give preliminary
being easy and versatile to use. decellularized using the cells. On the contrary, results of process of scaffold production insight on these phenomena
automatic device with the unseeded implants showed and it was also demonstrated we analyzed the macrophages
Results hypotonic-detergent-serum that except for the 6 weeks that the -80C storage do not response to decellularized
A device able to drive a whole protocol in order to validate explant, all the other time points affect the mechanical properties. scaffold and results showed
automated decellularization both protocol outcomes and resulted in occlusion because The device developed proved a lower and less persistent
process for blood vessels was device functionality. Results of the growth of amorphous to be functional and effective inflammatory response in
designed and developed. It showed no residual cells nor fibrous tissue inside the lumen for the decellularization of comparison to the response to
consists of an hydraulic system nuclear material. Mechanical and intimal hyperplasia as blood vessels, and it represents silk fibroin scaffolds.
able to perfuse and recirculate properties testing showed no reported by HE staining. The an approach aimed at the
up to three decellularization statistically significant differences occlusion was populated by automation of the whole process
solution, a thermal regulation in respect to native tissue for a-SMA+ cells, new vessels, rather than a tool to provide
system and an user interface. both compliance and burst lipids deposition and sparse a mean of decellularization,
The chamber was designed pressure. Moreover outcomes macrophages. The investigation like perfusion. Furthermore the
ad-hoc for the application, showed that the mechanical of macrophages interaction with device showed an enhancement
perfusion is provided by means stimulation enhances the decellularized scaffolds showed for the decellularization of very
of dedicate holders, the system decellularization in case of 3 mm that decellularized scaffolds elicit small caliber vessels thanks
can house vessels of different diameter vessels. a lower expression of genes to the innovative system of
lengths (up to 100 mm) The evaluation of the for Il-1b, Il-6, MMP9, TNF-a at perfusion that provides radial
and diameters (3-7 mm), an decellularization of swine 24h compared to silk scaffolds and longitudinal strains with
innovative feature of the device arteries using the hypotonic- while after 96h only IL1b and a simple setup. The chimeric
is the distal holder whose weight detergent-enzymatic protocols IL6 were lower. Arg I expression human swine in-vivo implants
generates a longitudinal strain resulted in a good degree of was instead higher at both 24 resulted in patent vessels both
on the vessel and, at the same cell removal and preserved ECM and 96h, CD206 was higher at at 2 and 10 weeks. Interestingly
time, the internal geometry gives structure with good mechanical 24h. VEGFA expression showed it was demonstrated that the
 136
In vitro electrophysiological studies of
neuronal networks: a novel device for
reliable, prolonged and high throughput
Microelectrode Array experiments
Giulia Regalia - Supervisors: Prof. Alessandra Pedrocchi and Prof. Giancarlo Ferrigno
In the field of modern
Neuroscience research, cultures
of primary central neuronal cells
coupled to substrate-integrated
Microelectrodes Arrays (MEA)
represent an unparalleled
methodology to study network-
level electrophysiological
properties of neuronal
ensembles in both physiological
and pathological conditions.
Nowadays, non-invasive and
multisite MEA recordings of
neuronal electrical activity are a
mainstay technique for studies
about neuronal networks
dynamics, neuronal plasticity
and drug and toxicology tests.
Due to the role that results from
these studies are expected to
play in Neuroscience research,
reliability and reproducibility
of the experimental outcome
are crucial for MEA-based
studies. To this aim, a first
requirement is the presence
of physiological conditions
during experiments. However,
the recurrent withdrawal of
cultures from the cell incubator
to perform MEA recordings
results in the deflection of
environmental parameters
(e.g. temperature and gaseous
atmosphere composition)
from canonical in vitro growth
conditions, in mechanical stress
to the cultures and in increased
infection risk. Such perturbations
trigger functional alteration and
changed cell viability, limiting the
duration of single experimental
sessions (i.e. up to 1 hour),
which prevents from performing
the uninterrupted tracing of
neuronal processes that develop
over extended periods of time
(e.g. several hours to several
days or weeks), such as network
development, long-term
plasticity or effects of chronic
pharmacological treatments. A
second key requirement is the
possibility to perform parallel
MEA recording of multiple
cultures, which enhances
culture-toculture comparability
and shortens the experimental
timescale, with an important
impact on pharmacological
tests. Third, compactness and
accessibility to the MEA setup
are essential features to allow
the integration of technological
tools needed to perform
experiments (e.g. microscopes,
pumps).
Notwithstanding previous
efforts to improve standard MEA
experimental setups, still an
experimental platform is missing
that integrates the capabilities
to properly meet all the three
abovementioned requirements.
This work is a technological
contribution towards the
development of a stand-alone
mini-incubator capable of
providing uninterrupted MEA
data in a high-throughput
format while keeping
permanently neuronal networks
in physiological conditions,
thus enhancing reliability and
reproducibility of MEA readouts.
Towards the establishment
of such a device (Fig. 1),
multiple activities have been
performed over the PhD
work. As a preliminary step,
the spontaneous activity of
hippocampal cultures (n=96,
three different cell densities)
was tracked with a standard
equipment (i.e. brief recordings
once every 48 h) over 1 month
in vitro, which allowed to obtain
statistically robust reference
data to validate the device to
be developed. Then, a portable
environmental chamber was
characterized and tested with
cell viability assays and it was
proven to grow neuronal
cultures on the lab bench in a
comparable fashion with respect
to standard cell incubators.
Starting from this proof-of-
concept, an advanced prototype
was designed, including: (i) a
closed and compact chamber
housing 4 cultures on MEA;
(ii) integrated environmental
sensors (relative humidity,
carbon dioxide, temperature)
coupled to a custom electronic
control unit and a real-time
data logging software, able to
assure incubator-like temporal
stability, accuracy and spatial
homogeneity; (iii) custom
electronic boards compatible
with the environmental
chamber and capable of reading
out neuronal spikes from 4
60-channel MEAs with a signal-
to-noise ratio comparable to
standard recording devices;
(iv) air-tight external access
to chemically manipulate the
cultures without withdrawing
them from the chamber; (v) a
versatile software tool for on-
line classification of neuronal
spikes detected by MEAs, able
to save time in data analysis of
prolonged MEA recordings.
The prototype was successfully
deployed to perform long
lasting (from some hours up to
10 days) electrophysiological
recordings of neuronal culture
spiking activity, demonstrating
the possibility to trace the
unperturbed evolution of
neuronal activity patterns
(Fig. 2). Moreover, the validity
of the system in performing
prolonged and parallel neuro-
pharmacological stimulations
has been demonstrated by
means of reproducible data
over prolonged pharmacological
dose-response experiments.
It can be concluded that the
work presented in this Thesis
constitutes a valid platform to
perform MEA experiments on
in vitro neuronal cultures under
physiological environmental
conditions. The design and
experimental verification of the
system have been thoroughly
reported in the Thesis. Overall,
the developed device has
advantageous capabilities
for electrophysiological and
pharmacological studies: (i) MEA
PhD Yearbook | 2015
137
recordings with observation and of mechanisms at the basis
BIOENGINEERING
continuity, (ii) standard of late-onset neurodegenerative
operating conditions of cell pathologies mimicked in vitro
culture practice, (iii) avoidance (e.g. Alzheimers disease).
of environmental fluctuations,
(iv) reduction of the operator
intervention, (v) reduction of
the number of replicates and
the time required to have
significant results, (vi) enhanced
culture comparability and data
reproducibility (vii) nullification
of stress to cells and infection
risk during cell culture chemical
manipulations (medium change
and pharmacological tests)
and (viii) easiness to integrate 1. Scheme of the developed
other devices in the system. experimental platform intended
The device lends itself to be for prolonged and parallel in vitro
neuronal recordings by means of
employed in studies of neuronal Microelectrode Arrays (MEA).
phenomena such as long-term
plasticity, pharmacological
dose-response experiments,
investigations of chronic effects
of pharmacological treatments
2. Example of a prolonged MEA recording (10 days) of a neuronal cell culture
inside the devised system, showing the time course of the spontaneous spiking
rate averaged across the electrodes (A) and 10-minute snapshots of spike
timing at each recording site extracted at different time points (B).
138
Experimental and numerical characterization
of native bone tissue and glass ceramic bone
scaffold at small scale
Mohamad Shahgholi Ghahfarokhi - Supervisor: Prof. Pasquale Vena
Its every human beings right
to live with dignity and the
absence of suffering during his/
her lifetime, but our lack of
knowledge on systemic, organ,
tissue and cell degeneration due
to senescence indicates that the
ageing process is often beyond
our control. Therefore, plenty
of studies are carried out in
different laboratories to expand
the related knowledge and
amend the treating methods.
Most models of aging at cellular
level are derived from simple in-
vitro experiments in addition to
animal models ranging from fish
to primates.
Changing in physiological
microenvironment and
alternations in signaling
between cells and even distant
tissues and organs leads to
systemic age related diseases
such as osteoporosis. This
project is an initial step towards
a long-term goal of generating
reliable biomimetic models of a
bone tissue. The tissue should
be applicable for studies of
pathological conditions and
development of pharmacological
strategies reducing animal and
clinical testing as well as time
and cost associated with them.
As a contribution to this wide
framework, this study aims
at studying the mechanical
properties of the bone tissue
and of glass-ceramic scaffold
at small length scale by making
use of the nanoindentation
technique. In particular, the
study of the bone tissue is
focused on the dependence of
the mechanical properties on
the applied load or characteristic
size of the experiment. The
study was aimed at identifying
and quantifying a damage
mechanism occurring in the
bone tissue upon loading. The
experimental characterization
was carried out on both the
cortical bone tissue as well as
on the trabeculae of spongy
bovine bone samples. The
damage mechanisms were
further investigated by means
of numerical simulation of the
nanoindentation experiments at
multiple characteristic lengths on
the cortical bone samples.
The chosen material for bone
scaffolds is a glass-ceramic
material derived from a highly
bioactive glass (called CEL2)
(Vitale-Brovarone et al. 2008).
It shows very promising bio-
chemical properties and it can
be produced with a controlled
multi-scale porosity, which
is significantly important
to improve the scaffold
characteristic. Hence, the goal
of this study is to perform a
mechanical characterization of
the glass-ceramic scaffold at
different scales, in particular
micro and macro scales. For
such a study, a bulk form of the
material, non-pores (without
any porosity), is examined as
well as a 3D Porous material,
in order to run a survey on
porosity dependency of the
mechanical characteristic of the
material. In addition, beside
the glass ceramic material, the
study went through mechanical
characterization of trabecular/
cortical bone of bovines at the
same scale.
The mechanical properties at the
micro scale are investigated by
means of the nanoindentation
experimental technique and
the mechanical properties at
the macro scale are obtained
by means of computational
tools only. The data found
through the experiments is
used to feed the computational
models for the macroscopic
characterization. The 3D
structure of the scaffold has
been scanned with a micro-CT
scanner for further investigation.
Based on the scanned images,
a binary volume is built
up, in which the value 1 is
indicating the material and the
value 0 is indicating porosity.
Subsequently, a finite element
model based on the binary
volume is developed in order to
model the structural geometry
of the sample and to estimate
the mechanical properties of the
scaffold at macro scale.
The results of the computational
model are checked by result
of an analytical model. The
model was adopted based on
an analytical approach proposed
by Zhu et al. (1997). This model
is using a simple unit cell to
set-up the geometry of the
scaffold walls in order to predict
the Youngs modulus of the
structure as a function of the
porosity. A good agreement
between the results is found
confirming that the prediction
from the computational model is
an effective approach for above-
mentioned purpose.
Moreover the computational
model results show the
anisotropy of the scaffold. This
feature is investigated utilizing
two different approaches.
First the structure anisotropy
is evaluated by the calculation
of the Mean Intercept Length
(Whitehouse 1974), that is a
standard method to check if
the structure is mainly aligned
in a specific direction. A degree
of anisotropy of 25-30% is
found in this way. On the other
hand, the effective volume
(Quinn 2003) is calculated in
order to quantify the unloaded
volume, due to inhomogeneity
of the stress distribution in the
structure during the simulations.
According to the results, the
structure anisotropy can be
explained properly by both
anisotropy of the scaffold
architecture and inhomogeneity
of stress distribution.
The interpretation of comparison
between the mechanical
response of the glass ceramic
material and that of the bone
tissue is that the glass ceramic
bulk material does not exhibit
the typical damage response
(decreasing indentation modulus
with increase of indentation
load). On the other hand, the
decreasing trend of indentation
modulus was observed by the
same indenting on the 3D
sintered ceramic scaffolds walls.
The decreasing trend found on
PhD Yearbook | 2015
139
BIOENGINEERING
1a. Gray level distribution of the nanoporosity across a layer obtained by
CT-scans, dark voxels related to high porosity, whereas white voxels relate to
low nanoporosity. The image is from an area indicating 9556m9940m by
696724 pixels, in which each pixel includes13.73m 13.73m area.
1b. A schematic view of a pixel size area illustrating both glass-ceramic
material and nanoporosity obtained by SEM.
the scaffold walls was owed an effective tool to the
to the intrinsic porosity of the prediction of the mechanical
sintered ceramic. Consistent properties of the scaffold as
values with other investigation a function of their physical
techniques carried out by the properties like macro and micro-
research group in the Polytechnic porosity and 3D architecture.
university of Turin validated the
results found in this study.
As a general conclusion, the 3D
glass-ceramic scaffolds which
are designed and manufactured
with the final aim to build
tissue models to be used in-
vitro testing of drugs simulating
healthy, diseased or aged bone
tissues have a good potential to
achieve their purpose.
The manufacturing process to
obtain the 3D scaffolds, which
should exhibit mechanical and
physical properties consistent
with those of the trabecular
bone in different aging or clinical
conditions, can be tuned so to
provide the scaffolds with the
desired elasticity and strength
properties. The experimental 2. Colorimetric maps of the reduced
and computational framework modulus and hardness related to
reported in this study provides areas (bulk glass-ceramic)
 140
Tubular structure tissue engineering:
design and validation of a novel
multifunctional rotating bioreactor
Ilaria Stefani - Supervisors: Prof. Sara Mantero, Prof. Justin J. Cooper-White
Injuries, genetic diseases, cancer,
ageing: all things that can
harm the complex functioning
of the human body. In 2012,
an estimated 56 million
people died worldwide, with
noncommunicable diseases
(NCDs) responsible for 68% of
all deaths globally, up from 60%
in 2000, registering an alarming
increase.
Cardiovascular disease alone
accounted worldwide for 17.5
million deaths in 2012, that
is three in every 10 deaths. In
terms of proportion of deaths
that are due to NCDs, high-
income countries have the
highest proportion (87%),
followed by upper-middle
income countries (81%).
Ischaemic heart disease, stroke,
lower respiratory infections and
chronic obstructive lung disease
have remained the top major
killers during the past decade.
End-stage organ failure or
tissue loss is also one of
the most costly problem in
medicine: over 8 million surgical
procedures are estimated to
be performed every year to
treat these disorders in the
United States alone, incurring
a tremendous health care cost
of more than $400 billion
annually. Over the last 50 years,
transplantation of an extensive
variety of tissues, reconstructive
surgical techniques, and
replacement with artificial
devices have significantly
improved patient follow-up and
life expectancy. Despite new
surgical techniques and drug
improvement, these solutions
present many limitations, such
as donor shortages, permanent
immunosuppressive regimens,
increased risk of infection,
unwanted side effects, and, in
case of artificial supports, finite
durability
This scenario let to an increasing
interest in the field of tissue
engineering, which merges
engineering and life sciences
knowledge with the final goal
to develop in vitro cellularized
functional substitutes able to
restore or improve tissue and
organ activities. The three most
important ingredients of tissue
engineering are biomaterials,
cells collected from a patient and
proper environmental culture
conditions (i.e., a bioreactor).
In summary, a porous delivery
system is needed that confines
the cells to the desired location,
after in vitro mechanical
stimulation. Significant progress
has already been made in the
field and examples of successful
clinical implants of tissue-
engineered products include
skin substitutes, nasal cartilage,
functioning bladder and trachea.
Whilst these are promising
results, much effort is still
required in vitro, to elucidate
basic mechanisms regulating
cell response, and the
behaviour of the engineered
construct during maturation,
and in preclinical models to
investigate the host response
(e.g., neovascularization, re-
modelling), and the behaviour
of the produced substitute once
grafted.
One area of particular interest is
in the replacement of damaged
hollow organ structures such
as those found throughout
the cardiovascular, respiratory,
urinary, and gastrointestinal
systems. Whilst the current
surgical procedures for
replacement of damaged tissue
commonly use autologous
grafts, this is hampered
by the poor availability of
suitable graft tissue, donor
site morbidity, and poor long
term stability of the substitute.
As such, there is a critical
demand for the production of
tissue engineered grafts that
are capable of meeting the
functional requirements of the
organ system without inducing
immune or inflammatory
responses, or losing function
over time.
The presented research project,
aimed to design, fabricate
and characterize an innovative
multifunctional bioreactor for
the regeneration of hollow
organs, able to overcome the
limits of the current available
devices.
A prototype was produced able
to perform rotation of a tubular
scaffold along its longitudinal
axis, to allow scaffold tensioning
and to connect with different
hydraulic circuit in a fast and
trustworthy way.
Bench test results
demonstrated that a reliable
and easily assembled device
was developed. The main
characteristics of the system
were: 1) ease of handling,
that makes the system user-
friendly, and reduces the risk
of contamination; 2) versatility
of the system; capable of
axial rotation, separate media
environments for inner and
outer layers, and the ability
to connect to different
hydraulic systems to produce
laminar and pulsatile flow
within physiologically relevant
pressures.3) compatibility with
the best standard of good
laboratory practice. With this
new system we were able to
combine different stimuli and
safely join rotation, perfusion
and gentle stretching of the
cultured patch, all functions
that until now were separately
considered in dynamic cultures.
The preliminary culture
experiments, carried out with
Biofelt, gave the proof of the
functionality of the bioreactor.
The obtained results revealed
that the application of rotation
stimuli favourite the penetration
of the cells into the scaffold
wall, enhancing the production
of extracellular matrix.
For the testing the bioreactor
potential to produce a tissue
engineered tubular grafts, an
innovative PCL/PLA-TMC based
electrospun tubular scaffold
was realized, and chemically
and mechanically characterized.
The three-dimensional matrix
demonstrated mechanical
properties comparable with
native blood vessel tissue,
presenting a promising
candidate for vascular tissue
regeneration.
PCL/PLA-TMC matrix and the
developed bioreactor recreated
a suitable 3D environment
for mesenchymal stem cells
growth and differentiation.
The results confirmed that 3D
dynamic culture allowed for a
better control over the cell fate
and behaviour by facilitating
mass transfer phenomena,
by facilitating the medium to
flow through the scaffold wall.
Moreover, the transmural flow
favoured cell migration trough
the thickness of the tubular
matrix, permitting extracellular
matrix formation and deposition
along all the structure.
Whilst the scaffold showed both
favourable mechanical properties
as well as an outer layer,
which facilitated mesenchymal
stem cell colonisation for
the eventual formation of a
tunica media, the ability of the
inner layer to support growth
of cells that would form a
tunica intima was not tested.
With further refinement of
PhD Yearbook | 2015
141
scaffold production, creating
BIOENGINEERING
a multi-layered structure with
a smooth continuous layer
facing the internal lumen, it
is expected that endothelial
colonisation of the inner layer
will be possible. This would then
permit more comprehensive
testing within the bioreactor,
and a demonstration of the
full versatility of the developed
system. With the dual chamber
organisation of the bioreactor,
growth conditions for the
development of smooth muscle
and endothelial tissue layers can
be independently optimised.
Furthermore, whilst rotation
and double phase culture were
demonstrated to be successful,
the use of hydraulic pumps to
provide pressure, load, and flow
stimulation on the tissue can be
tested; both in terms of directing
the cells to form a suitable
tissue for grafts, and in terms of
performing rigorous testing of
potential grafts.
We can state that this research
led to the production of
both an innovative device for
tubular organs regeneration,
and the characterisation of a
novel scaffold for potential use
in vascular grafts. With the
modularity of the bioreactor
along with a relative ease of use,
the device holds great potential
for future production of tissue
engineered tubular grafts.
 142
Image Processing of 4D Phase Contrast MRI
Data for Hemodynamic and Morphometric
Analysis of Thoracic Aorta
Daniele Tresoldi - Advisor: Ing. Giovanna Rizzo, Prof. Anna Maria Bianchi
Tutor: Prof. Paolo Ravazzani
Introduction
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs),
a group of disorders that affect
the heart and the vessels, are
the leading cause of death
worldwide. In order to assess
CVD initiation and progression,
blood flow characteristics are
known to play an important
role, since hemodynamic
alterations are closely related to
pathological condition and may
have a causative role in CVD
evolution. In order to better
understand the mechanism
of initiation and progression
of CVD as well as to assess
the presence of the pathology
condition, flow patterns study
should be integrated with the
morphometric characterization,
which consists in evaluating size
(diameter or radius, area) and
shape (curvature or tortuosity) of
vessels. In fact, a strictly relation
between alteration of blood
flow characteristics and changes
in morphology of the vessel has
been demonstrated in many
aortic diseases.
3D cine Phase Contrast MRI
(4D PCMRI) can extract a
quantitative depiction of spatial
distribution of blood flow
velocity as function of time
together with magnitude images
visualizing the subjects anatomy
This imaging technique, based
on the observation that spins
moving through magnetic field
have a phase shift proportional
to their velocity, is now
considered the gold standard
in research to study the blood
flow characteristics evolving in
thoracic aorta and it is also used
in clinical protocol to extend
traditional anatomic evaluation.
The aim of this project is
to study, to develop and to
evaluate advanced methods to
allow and to improve the use
of 4D PCMRI images of the
thoracic aorta for hemodynamic
and morphometric evaluations.
Two main purposes can be
distinguished: 1 - to propose
a new filtering approach able
to denoise and regularize 4D
velocity maps providing volumes
suitable for hemodynamic
applications and 2 - to develop
a new segmentation method to
extract the vessel lumen and to
create a 3D model which can
be directly used to calculate
patient-specific indices for a
comprehensive morphometric
and hemodynamic aorta
characterization.
Materials and Methods
The proposed noise reduction
strategy is the application of
an Anisotropic Diffusion Filter
(ADF), a well-known filtering
technique able to reduce
data noise preserving image
contours. ADF is based on the
anisotropic diffusion equation,
which controls the evolution of
a filtering smoothing function
through the characteristics of
the image, such as the proximity
of edge or constants areas. This
approach, after being properly
calibrated, was applied on
PCMRI images acquired with
different SENSE reduction factors
and its effects were evaluated
in terms of image quality (noise
in velocity images), regularity of
the velocity fields (divergence
of the velocity field, relative
error in velocity magnitude and
absolute error in flow direction),
aorta flow pattern visualization
(streamlines, and secondary
flow patterns) and flow rate
quantification.
To segment thoracic aorta
lumen from velocity data, a new
approach was developed, which
is based on Level Set algorithm
a computational technique
able to control the evolution of
a contour through an implicit
function, widely used for its
ability to follow the topology
change of the object. The vessel
of interest was first manually
identified by an operator and
then a two-step algorithm
was applied: an initial rough
surface was calculated using a
Fast Marching Level Set which
was then refined, smoothed
and adapted to the local
morphological characteristics
of the vessel using a Level Set
Geodesic Active Contour (GAC)
approach. This new method
was tested on subjects acquired
with and without SENSE parallel
imaging and it was validated in
terms of area overlap and mean
and maximum contour distance
between manual and automatic
segmentation.
Finally, a 3D triangular surface
mesh of thoracic aorta in the
peak of systole was created.
This 3D model, together with
the velocity data, was exploited
to provide a comprehensive
morphometric and
hemodynamic characterization
of the vessel of each subject. In
particular, we made quantitative
measurements of blood velocity
and flow, aorta area and
diameter considering different
planes.
Results and discussion
Qualitatively, after ADF
application on PCMRI data,
image noise was visibly reduced,
while gradients associated
to the image features were
preserved. In fact, the noise
characterizing the velocity
images decreased after filtering
and, in agreement with this,
the value of divergence was
reduced at least by 320%.
Improvements in visualization of
streamlines and secondary flow
were observed for all the SENSE
reduction factors applied in
PCMRI acquisitions; streamlines
are longer and more regular
than in the not filtered data, due
to the more regular 3D velocity
field. In fig.1_A the streamlines
calculated in systolic phase after
ADF application are shown. Two
main context of applications
can be found: clinics, where are
improved both the visualization
(streamlines and pathlines) and
the analysis of the flow, with
the possibility of speed up the
acquisition, and Computational
Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations
where the regularized velocity
field can allow a quantitative
direct analysis of complex
patient-specific 4D flow pattern.
The segmentation method had
proven to be able to properly
segment the thoracic aorta
in subjects acquired with and
without SENSE parallel imaging
with results comparable to the
manual contour delineated
by two experts. Quantitative
analysis has confirmed the good
behaviour of the method: the
mean distance between the
contours is comparable to half
of a pixel (mean distance = 1.07
mm) in the non SENSE dataset
and was equal to 1.36 mm
for the SENSE dataset. The 3D
mesh representing the thoracic
aorta, showed, in all subjects,
a realistic shape, characterized
by a degree of smooth
comparable to a physiological
vessel. Through the proposed
approach, it was possible
to easily and automatically
calculate both morphometric
and hemodynamic indices on
seven planes along the vessel. In
fig.1_B the 3D patient-specific
vessel model is shown. These
information automatically
calculated can be used not
PhD Yearbook | 2015
143
only to study the complex
BIOENGINEERING
relationships between the
geometry and hemodynamics
within the aorta in pathological
and in healthy subjects but
also to define new and simpler
indices that can be used to
describe and quantify the
presence and the progression
of CVD. Finally, the 3D mesh of
the thoracic aorta could be easily
assimilated into computational
fluid dynamics frameworks
to get even more realistic
computational hemodynamic
models using the velocity values
extracted in cross-sectional
planes as boundary condition.
1A. blood flow visualization using
streamlines of PCMRI dataset after
ADF application.
1B. Patient specific Thoracic Aortic
Model: 3D mesh, centerline and
its curvature and a vessel contour
calculated from one orthogonal plane.
144
Industrialization and pre-clinical testing
of an oscillating perfusion bioreactor
(OPB) for tissue engineering strategies
Caterina Turrisi - Relatore: Prof.ssa Sara Mantero
Advanced therapies and in
particular tissue engineering
strategies have encountered an
increasing interest and a rapid
evolution in the last couple of
decades, due to their potential
to significantly impact current
therapeutic modalities by
providing a virtually unlimited
supply of patient-specific
tissues and organs. Increasing
in the number of advanced
therapies undergoing both
early and late-stage clinical
trials as well as FDA-approved
commercial products that have
already entered the market
strongly indicates that these
therapies are emerging as a
distinct healthcare sector. The
translation of successful research
results into the clinic however
still suffers of important issues,
such as cost, time, lack of ease
of application and difficulty
in complying with regulation.
In this context the field of
automated cell cultivation
using highly specialized
bioreactor designs and stringent
bioprocess controls will be
crucial for the development of
biomanufacturing technologies
suitable for clinical-grade
production of advanced
therapies. Many types of
bioreactors have been designed
to provide different stimuli in
relation to the specific tissue
to be developed. Among
these, perfusion bioreactors
have proven to be particularly
promising in engineering
different type of tissues (bone,
cartilage, heart). They are
employed in tissue engineering
procedures to perform specific
and important functions such
as cell seeding on porous
scaffolds and confined medium
perfusion through porous
scaffolds seeded with cells.
Moreover they: a) allow to
overcome the typical drawbacks
of manual procedures and
improves efficiency of seeding
processes and uniformity of
cells distribution inside porous
scaffolds, promoting the
achievement of more uniform
engineered constructs; b)
improve efficiency of oxygen
and metabolites transfer and
catabolites removal c) allow
automation and monitoring
of culture medium exchange
procedures; d) allow physical
stimulation of cells seeded
into porous scaffolds, through
shear stress generation; e)
reducing the use of manual
actions, promote the transfer of
Tissue Engineering procedures
from research to clinical
application, improving the
traceability, reproducibility,
efficiency and safety of
processes (key requirements for
these procedures to compete
with traditional therapeutic
alternatives in terms of cost,
Quality Control and Good
Manufacturing Practice).
Despite a high number
of bioreactors already in
the marketplace, a device
accounting for all the
requirements needed to
be successfully used into a
streamlined bioreactor-based
advanced therapy strategy
is still a lack. In this context
the present study focuses
on the industrialization and
the pre-clinical testing of a
technological platform based
on a prototype bioreactor (OPB,
Oscillating Perfusion Bioreactor)
for tissue engineering
purposes. Aim of the project
was to develop a scalable and
robust bioreactor, enabling
flexible culture strategies and
monitoring and control of the
culture environment, taking into
account serial manufacturability
and quality assurance, for the
cost effective and automated
manufacturing of biological
tissues. The study comprised two
main phases: industrialization
and pre-clinical testing.
During the industrialization
phase the prototype version
of the bioreactor has been
re-designed in order to comply
with regulatory requirements
in term of GMP practice for cell
and tissue culture. In particular
a scalable and robust bioreactor,
enabling flexible culture
strategies and monitoring of the
culture environment, taking into
account serial manufacturability
and quality assurance, for the
cost effective and automated
manufacturing of biological
tissues, has been developed.
Thanks to the attention paid
during the design phase on the
industrial design concepts and
on GLP and GMP, the bioreactor
proved to be easy in setting
up and in managing all the
functionalities, being able to
receive patient-derived cells and
supporting scaffold, to seed and
culture them on the scaffold
under perfusion condition and to
deliver an engineered construct
suitable for implantation.
Furthermore the developed
bioreactor is compact and
therefore easy to be used inside
a standard cell culture incubator.
All parts have been designed to
facilitate the procedures and to
reduce the manual operations.
The implementation of a
sensing system able to monitor
the culture parameters allows
meeting traceability requirement,
which is a key aspect in quality
control management.
1. Industrialized OPB
A validation activity has also
been carried out in order to
demonstrate the correspondence
with the requirements and
the robustness and the safety
of the device. It comprised: a)
installation qualification (IQ); b)
operational qualification (OQ); c)
performance qualification (PQ),
with the execution of sterility,
LAL and media fill tests. implantation analysis on grafts
PhD Yearbook | 2015
Pre-clinical testing has been confirmed the effectiveness
carried out in order to validate
the bioreactor and comprised:
of the bioreactor in carrying
out automatic and safe
a. Experiments in order to
verify the performances of
tissue engineering processes,
delivering constructs with
the bioreactor in seeding an osteogenic leaning.
and culturing several cell The effect of the dynamic
types. A study aiming at culture conditions on the
optimizing seeding process cell differentiation was 145
through Design of Experiment investigated by studying the
BIOENGINEERING
statistical method has been expression of genes involved
carried out. Once optimized in osteogenic differentiation
seeding parameters using and characteristic of the
Ultrafoam scaffolds and MG63 extracellular matrix of
these parameters were then bone tissue. The RT-PCR
used in seeding other scaffold results showed that the
and cell types. Optimization perfusion is a valid stimulus
through DoE allowed in addressing cells toward
identifying which parameters the osteogenic lineage, in
influence the seeding results. presence of osteogenic culture
In particular we found that the medium. Both early and late
flow velocity and the seeding markers are more expressed
time influence the seeding in dynamically cultured
efficiency, while the seeding constructs than in statically
density influences the cell cultured ones for ENGIpore
viability. As to scaffold and scaffolds.
cell type main differences in
seeding efficiency were found
in relation to scaffold type and
in particular to its permeability.
In performing culture the
bioreactor proved to be
reliable and robust and was
able to deliver constructs
with higher cell content
and viability and with a
better distribution of cells
throughout the scaffold
thickness with respect to
statically cultured ones.
b. As final step of validation, in
vivo implant and evaluation
of bone grafts generated
by means of the developed
perfusion bioreactor have
been performed in order to
verify the performance of
the device in carrying on a
complete tissue engineering
process. Ovine animal model
has been chosen. Pre-
146
Multi-perspective investigation of the
effectiveness of anti-thrombotic treatments
in association with shear-mediated platelet
activation
Lorenzo Valerio - Advisors: Prof. Alberto Redaelli, Prof. Gianfranco B. Fiore,
Prof. Marvin J. Slepian
Ventricular assist devices
(VADs), the most prominent
solution for treatment of heart
failure (HF), are still burdened
with several post-implant
complications like pump failure,
infections or thrombotic events.
Increased shear stresses are a
hallmark of flow conditions
in blood recirculating devices,
and patients implanted with
such devices require lifelong
anti-thrombotic therapies to
counteract the high risk of
thromboembolism.
Although these agents have
proven their effectiveness as
biochemical inhibitors of platelet
activation, their behavior under
shear stress, i.e. in response
to physical forces encountered
when the blood passes thorough
VADs, has been only marginally
investigated.
In the present dissertation
a detailed investigation is
performed to assess the
ability of traditional and
unconventional antithrombotic
treatments to protect platelet
from shear-mediated activation.
In particular, both commonly
used antithrombotic drugs
and unconventional chemical
agents (DMSO) are tested
under constant and dynamic
shear stress conditions with
the aim of identifying the best
mechanism of action able to
inhibit shear-mediated platelet
activation, thus paving the road
towards a viable approach that
PhD Yearbook | 2015
147
will be useful in assessing and dynamic. For what concerns the Results obtained after exposure
BIOENGINEERING
developing new more effective constant conditions, platelets of DMSO-treated platelets to
anti-thrombotic pharmacologic were subjected to 30 and 70 different level of shear stress are
2. Mean % of platelet activation reduction provided by different antiplatelet
agents. dyne/cm2 for a total time of agents (A1-G1) tested after 10 min exposure to Dynamic_30 (A) and represented in Figure 3.
In the first part of the thesis, we 10 min via the HSD. On the Dynamic_50 (B). % reduction are intended compared to control group. (* p < Our studies indicate that a
aimed at investigating the effect other hand, the used dynamic 0.05) See Fig. 1 for details regarding antiplatelet agents tested. paradigm shift is required in the
of nowadays on the market anti- shearing profiles were extracted development of new antiplatelet
thrombotic therapies on shear- from the stress accumulation The antiplatelet agents effects of physical forces drugs for the treatment of shear
induced platelet activation after (SA) distribution (probability investigated were Aspirin, encountered by flowing through mediated platelet activation. In
shear stress exposure via the density function, PDF) calculated Dipyridamole, Cilostazol, cardiac assist devices. particular, the discovery of new
hemodynamic shearing device by mean of CFD simulations Pentoxifylline, Eptifibatide and New mechanisms of action agents able to affect platelet
(HSD), a computer controlled within the DeBakey VAD. The Ticagrelor. were also studied to overcome membrane fluidity may reduce
cone-plate viscometer able to profiles corresponding to the The percentage of platelet the limitations associated with the need of large antithrombotic
reproduce with high fidelity the 30th (Dynamic_30) and 50th activation reduction calculated current therapies. Dimethyl therapies, offering an effective
dynamic shear stress profiles (Dynamic_50) percentiles of for all kinds of samples treated sulfoxide (DMSO) was used to protection to platelets when
encountered by blood within the PDF were implemented in with drugs compared to control, modulate intactness and fluidity exposed to high shear stress
VADs. the HSD. Platelet activity state are represented in Figures 1 and of the platelet membranes with conditions as within VADs.
We subjected gel-filtered after exposure to shear stress 2. the final goal of reducing shear-
platelets (GFP) pre-treated with was monitored using a specific At 30 dyne/cm2 the majority mediated platelet activation.
drugs to different shear stress prothrombinase assay, the PAS of the tested agents showed a Membrane integrity and its
profiles, either constant or assay. protection effect, with a mean capacity to respond to external
reduction of 55% (Figure 1-A). stimuli plays a key role in the
The same trend was found mechanotransduction apparatus,
with platelets subjected to the which is responsible of shear-
Dynamic_30 condition (mean mediated platelet activation.
reduction of 50% compared
to control) (Figure 2-A). On
the other hand, at higher
shear stress (70 dyne/cm2 or
Dynamic_50) only Cilostazol
and Ticagrelor, respectively
corresponding to the drug
displayed as G1, C1 and C2,
seemed to protect platelets.
1. Mean % of platelet activation reduction provided by different antiplatelet Results obtained suggest that
agents (A1-G1) tested after 10 min exposure to 30 dyne/cm2 (A) and 70 dyne/ the most common antiplatelet
cm2 (B). % reduction are intended compared to control group (* p < 0.05).
Antiplatelet agents: A: aspirin alone (A1 - 25 M, A2 - 125 M); B:aspirin in agents, which are normally used
combination with other drugs (B1- ASA 25 M + dipyridamole 5 M, B2 - ASA in anticoagulation management
25 M + eptifibatide 0.25 g/ml, B3- ASA 25 M + pentoxifylline 100 M, B4- for patients treated with
ASA 25 M + eptifibatide 0.25 g/ml + pentoxifylline 100 M); C: ticagrelor (C1
- ticagrelor 10 M, C2 - ticagrelor 100 M); D: dipyridamole (D1 - dipyridamole
mechanical cardiac devices, are
3. Ability of DMSO to modulate shear-mediated human platelet activation.
5 M, D2 - dipyridamole 10 M, D3 - dipyridamole 25 M); E1: eptifibatide 0.25 only partially able to protect Pre-treatment with DMSO at specified concentrations (10 min., 37C). Data are
g/ml; F1: pentoxifylline 100 M; G1: cilostazol 50 M. platelets from the activation represented as mean SEM. (* p < 0.05).
Technology and Design for Environment
and Building | Territorial Design and
Government | Aerospace Engineering
| Architectural and Urban Design |
Architectural Composition | Architecture,
Urban Design, Conservation of Housing
and Landscape | Bioengineering |
Building Engineering | Design | Design
and technologies for cultural heritage
| Electrical Engineering | Energy and
Nuclear Science and Technology |
Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture and
Exhibition Design | Management, Economics
and Industrial Engineering | Materials
Engineering | Mathematical MODELS and
METHODS IN Engineering | Mechanical
Engineering | Physics | Preservation of
THE Architectural Heritage | Rotary-
wing aircrafts | Spatial Planning
and Urban Development | Structural
Seismic and Geotechnical Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
150
RESEARCH DOCTORATE
IN BUILDING ENGINEERING
Formation aims
Chair: The PhD Programme in Building Engineering provides the chance
Prof. Manuela Grecchi to research about innovation of design, technology and process
of buildings. The growing complexity of the construction sector,
and the challenges of sustainability and environmental impact,
require innovations ranging from the design and construction
process, to high-performance components and systems for new and
refurbished buildings, to advanced tools to predict performances
and manage the whole process.
The construction sector is characterised by a growing complexity,
due to evolving regulations (such as the nearly zero energy buildings
required in 2020), changing expectations of the users, and an ever
expanding market of materials, products and systems. Moreover,
the economic downturn requires a huge effort to face these new
challenges and drive the sector towards 2020 and beyond.
This is why the PhD programme in Building Engineering deals with
innovation in terms of technology, process and whole buildings. This
demand for innovation derives from the urgent need to reconsider
the environmental impact of buildings and their components,
and from the progressive industrialisation of the sector, requiring
the characterisation of the performances of new products and
components over their life cycle.
The new challenges of energy efficiency and environmental impact
reduction concern all the phases of the construction process
(planning, design, production, management and decommissioning),
requiring a truly multi-disciplinary approach.
Inside this complex sector, the engineering disciplines that support
the planning of building works has consolidated into research
lines about the science of materials, environmental issues,
energy efficiency and management, comfort, building services,
organizational aspects, construction and management, and
economy.
Synthetical indication of the phd profiles
The PhD programme in Building Engineering prepares high-profile
professionals and researchers that are able to strengthen the
technological transfer from research to the construction sector.
This figure operates inside the engineering processes in a context
that is becoming increasingly complex and multidisciplinary. The
doctor in Building Engineering can deal with building science and
technology on the versants of building physics, building material
engineering, service life of systems and components, building
production engineering and management, safety
engineering, applied economy.
Doctors in Building Engineering can become:
professionals with advanced and up-to-date
technical skills, who can work as consultants
and project managers in engineering
companies, architectural offices, construction
firms or manufacturing industries;
highly qualified professionals suitable for
roles of planning and development managers
in construction companies, components
manufacturing industries, and engineering
companies;
researchers for private and public research
institutions (including Universities).
The formative programme
The formative programme generally develops as
follows:
the first year is dedicated to the formulation
of the research problem, to the development
of the first knowledge of the field, to covering
possible formative debts and to the attendance
of basic and specialized courses;
the second year is dedicated to the
development of the research problem through
the extension of the knowledge concerning the
objectives of the thesis;
the third year constitutes the most intense
period of autonomous and original elaboration
of the thesis and its topic.
In the development of the thesis, the relations
with other researchers and the periods of study
and internship at Italian and foreign research
centres are fundamental. Such experiences are
highly appreciated and favoured by the doctoral
committee.
The thesis is carried out with the support of a
tutor and its whole course is monitored by the
teaching staff through semi-annual disputations.
At the end of the doctorate the committee
PhD Yearbook | 2015
151
admits (or not) the doctoral candidate to the final
BUILDING ENGINEERING
disputation, on the basis of the thesis scientific
validity and originality.
The doctorate activities are strengthened by the
systematic and operative contact with:
the most advanced manufacturers of the sector;
research centres and particularly ITC/CNR in
Italy, CSTB in France, CIB (International Council
for Research and Innovation in Building and
Construction) at an international level, the
doctorate is member of the CIB Students
Chapter;
the Italian (UNI) and International (ISO,
CEN, EOTA, IAI) Headquarters of normative
elaboration;
the public administrations system;
the industrial and professional associations that
operate in the sector.
In the last years, internships and study periods
have been carried out at these institutions:
Aalborg Universitet Denmark
Aalto University School of Chemical Technology
Espoo, Finland
BRE - Building Research Establishment London,
UK
CSTB Centre Scientifique et Technique du
Batiment Paris, France
Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP
Holzkirchen, Germany
Fraunhofer Institute fr Solar Energy Systems ISE
Freiburg, Germany
IIT,Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago,
Illinois, USA
Institute for Applied Sustainability to the
Built Environment ISAAC, SUPSI Lugano,
Switzerland
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory -
California USA
Newcastle University - School of Architecture,
Planning and Landscape
 152
The University of New South Wales Faculty of
the Built Environment, Sydney, Australia
TUM - Technische Universitt Mnchen United
Nation Habitat office in Nairobi Kenia
University of Bath, UK
University of Gvle (HIG), Sweden
University of London, UK
University of Salford Manchester, UK
UNSW -The University of New South Wales
Sydney - Australia
University of Sidney - Sydney - Australia
University of Hawaii Honolulu - USA
Main topics
Research topics are broadly organised as follows:
1. Technological and design innovation for
both new and refurbished buildings, driven
especially by environmental sustainability and
energy efficiency:
high efficiency, innovative building
components;
holistic approach to design and integration
of efficient services and renewable energy
sources;
reactivity of systems and components to
deterioration, with the goal to optimize their
life cycle.
2. Innovation of the productive and managerial
PhD Yearbook | 2015
processes of the industry, the companies and
the public administrations involved in the
building sector, for new buildings as well as
for management and refurbishment of existing
buildings:
operative, procedural and managing methods
and tools for the optimization, qualification
and validation of the building process, such
as project and construction management, 153
project financing, value engineering and
BUILDING ENGINEERING
interoperability.
SCOLARSHIP SPONSORS
Sponsors for the Building Engineering
programme include public bodies, companies
of the construction sector (builders, producers
of components and systems, etc.) and design /
engineering firms.
ADVISORY BOARD
The Faculty Committee of the PhD Course is
in constant contact with the architecture and
construction sector through an advisory board
composed of experts, designers and members of
public bodies and administrations.
154
INVESTMENT GRADE ENERGY AUDIT
ESCo as a means for the diffusion of energy efficiency in
the residential sector: technical and economic evaluations
Carlo Filippo Bonacina - Tutor: Prof. Gabriele Masera
Renovation of Italian Social-
Housing
The Italian building stock is
characterized by dwellings with
very poor energy performance:
about 80% of them were built
before the 80s when energy
issues were not considered
important; in addition, more
than half of these buildings have
never undergone any renovation
or maintenance.
Nowadays, however, energy
retrofit does not seem to be a
priority for homeowners: first,
because of insufficient economic
resources; second, because they
show distrust of investments in
the energy field.
In this context, the activity of
Energy Service Companies
can be an effective tool for
mobilizing investment in
the renovation of residential
buildings with a view to improve
the energy performance of the
building stock.
A method based on Energy
Performance Contracting
The goal of the methodology
developed in this thesis is
to assess the opportunity of
retrofitting residential buildings
by ESCo compared to a
traditional approach.
In particular, the following
actions have been implemented:
preliminary evaluations:
a theoretical model,
representative of a widely
diffuse type of building, has
been created by means of the
defined (; it makes indifferent year 2014 have been taken into plans.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
the choice for the owner account. In this context, the research has
between a traditional retrofit
and an ESCo;
In a global view of economic
growth the choice of an
produced a technical/economic
simulation model easily
Line 3: ESCo-side evaluation, average value between and adaptable depending on the
considering the maximum makes the approach particularly type of building. It can define
outlay by owner to ESCo (; interesting for stakeholders the action with higher added
Line 4: where the minimum because it creates profitable value in terms of: technological
outlay by owner to ESCo is margins for the owner and choices, performance efficiency,
defined (; it is the minimum for the ESCo. For the owner, investment costs, debt ratios and 155
collection of historical data to assess if the particular contribution that the ESCo can the NPV obtained in case of payback time, subsequent costs
BUILDING ENGINEERING
available for the building type, investment project creates receive by the owner so that awarding the work to the of operation and maintenance.
energy consumption and habits value for the company. the project creates value for ESCo is always higher than the It could also be a valuable tool
of the tenants: it represents At first the maximum APV the company. NPV obtained by a traditional to spread the energy efficiency
the real building and its for the owner has been In particular, ten-years EPC have redevelopment, considering the as an opportunity to increase
conditions of use. At this stage, defined; secondly the initial been considered according to same technological solution. the profitability of the property.
all design alternatives have outlay for the owner that models first out or shared Otherwise for the ESCo, the In particular, in the public
been proposed considering creates indifference between savings, firstly without any cash flow generated by the sector, it can stimulate market
their operational feasibility, the a traditional or by ESCo kind of incentives for the energy investment project creates transformation towards more
needs of the client or any other retrofit has been calculated retrofitting. positive returns with IRR efficient buildings and services,
constraints. by iterations; finally, for Table 1. Financial evaluations, significantly higher than any trigger behavioral changes in
calculation of consumption: ESCo, the APV has been without incentives, considering other form of investment on the energy consumption by citizens
the final thermal energy defined considering the ten-years EPC and first-out or market. and enterprises, as well as free
for each combination of initial outlay received by the shared saving models. up public resources for other
measures previously identified homeowner. Therefore, it is Focusing on shared savings Conclusions purposes.
has been calculated by possible to define if the design EPC (ESCo 80% - 20% owner), The renovation of the existing
dynamic simulation (TRNSYS combination creates value for the effects of Italian incentives building stock is a priority
Transient System Simulation all stakeholders. for energy retrofitting have been in Europe, but the lack of
Tool) and optimization/ evaluated. In particular, both economic resources makes its
automation (GENOPT Generic Case study and results the incentives provided by the implementation slower than
Optimization Program). The proposed method has been GSE and tax deductions for the required by climate protection
economic analysis: costs of tested on a typical building
construction, operation and representing a recurring
maintenance have been situation in Italy: it has allowed 1. Financial evaluations, without incentives, considering ten-years EPC and first-out or shared saving models.
defined by means of quotation the identification of the cost-
EPC Outlay Window Wall Ceiling Floor Systems HVAC PV EPh APV IRR
requests; possible incentives effective building envelope
[%] [Uf - Ug] [cm] [cm] [cm] [type] [yes-no] [kWp] [kWh/m2] [] [%]
have been also taken into combination in relation with
First-out 0.00% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 12.0 12.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 24.52 123,893 11.61%
account. heating systems.
100% - 0% 76.10% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 15.0 14.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 23.50 123,893 11.70%
financial evaluation: the In particular, Table 1 plot the
76.10% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 15.0 14.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 23.50 41,342 59.88%
financial ratios useful to define best technical solution under
64.09% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 15.0 14.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 23.50 0.00 8.00%
the most cost-effective solution a financial profile considering
Shared-saving 0.00% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 12.0 12.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 24.52 123,893 11.61%
have been calculated (APV 25300 combinations of
90% - 10% 79.15% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 15.0 14.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 23.50 123,893 11.15%
Adjusted Present Value; IRR technological alternatives.
79.15% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 15.0 14.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 23.50 45,264 111.9%
Internal Rate of Return; PBT For each group, the logic of
66.00% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 15.0 14.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 23.50 0.00 8.00%
Pay Back Time) by a financial representation is the following:
Shared-saving 0.00% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 12.0 12.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 24.52 123,893 11.61%
plan, developed for each Line 1: owner-side evaluations 80% - 20% 82.20% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 15.0 14.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 23.50 123,893 10.70%
technology package. Financial according to the traditional 82.20% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 15.0 14.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 23.50 49,186 --1*
assessments have been approach, considering the 67.91% 1.40 - 1.10 12.0 15.0 14.0 IMP.3 NAT 0 23.50 0.00 8.00%
conducted for the homeowner, initial contribution by third
in the case of retrofit by means parties equal to zero;
to a traditional approach or Line 2: where the maximum
using an ESCo, and for ESCo, outlay by owner to ESCo is *
IRR cannot be calculated because its cash flow does not have one and only one change of sign
156
Mediterranean Active House: analysis of climate and
users impact on energy and indoor comfort in the
new efficiency standard for sustainable buildings
Arianna Brambilla - Supervisor: Prof. Marco Imperadori
Active House is a new vision of
sustainability that aims to create
healthier buildings, capable
to assure indoor comfort
minimizing the environmental
impact. The research is part of
an International study about
this new target framework; as
partner of the Active House
Alliance, Politecnico di Milano is
the principal center of research
entrusted to analyze if the
principles are suitable for hot
climate and to edit practical
guidelines for designing a
Mediterranean Active House.
Mediterranean climate, in fact,
presents different and more
complex criticisms compared to
the north of Europe, because it
is more weather stratified and it
has a double direction thermal
flux. Winter is not rigid but it
requests an artificial heating,
meanwhile summer could have
high cooling loads, making
the conditioning context not
always with a single dominant
parameter. The aim of the
research is to determine if it
is possible to define a robust
solution for answering to
the climate needs, providing
users comfort and without
impacting negatively on the
environment. The Active House
Specification, in fact, has been
developed using an open-source
model. The development has
involved online debates and
contributions as well as offline
meetings and workshops with
broad participation across the
building industry globally. A
mixed method process was
used: considering the vision
as a starting point and then
implements it with the empiric
results of the cases study. In this
way the outcome is strongly
connected to the range of
buildings analyzed.
The research is based on a
two steps approach that can
integrate the results for a
better understanding of the
vision and the behavior of
the standard in hot climates.
The first part is focused on
understanding which could be
the solutions for an efficient
and sustainable design in
Mediterranean climate according
to the Specifications and, on
the other hands, to understand
how the Specifications should
be modified to better meet
the Mediterranean needs.
The second step, instead,
aims to define the users
influence on comfort and
energy consumption in a very
technological house driven by
an automated control system,
as suggested by the vision as
solutions for the energy saving
issue.
In order to understand how
the Specifications should be
modified for meeting the
Mediterranean requirements
the research focuses on two
different aspects: how to design
an Active House for the South
and how the calculation tools
reacts to very efficient buildings
already built in Italy. The first
step compare a model of Active
House already certified in the
Northern part of Europe: Bolig
for Livet, designed by AART
A/S and located in Lystrup
Denmark. This case study is
chosen from the Active House
database as the case that better
summarize all the features
and characteristics requested.
Moreover, the choice is led by
the possibility of compare the
dynamic results obtained during
the analysis with the software
TRNSYS to the real measured
values and the predicted one
made by the designers. The
model for the South, instead,
is built through a step by step
analysis of different features
and parameters that affect the
energy behavior, performed
thanks to an optimization
of the prototypes features
more sensitive to this issue,
highlighted by a sensitivity
analysis based on the Morris
method.
The two prototypes are then
performed in different climates
of Europe, according to different
orientation and technological
scenarios. In this way it is
possible to understand the
validitys boundaries of each
model and the most important
features for optimizing an
Active House in relation to
the context. This step allows
to create a definition of the
resilience of the model to
different inputs and situations;
this analysis investigates the
effects of a changing scenario
on energy consumption and
indoor comfort, calculated
following the AHS. The design
resilience is the ability of the
building to answer to different
design inputs preserving its
performances. The simulation
matrix considers six different
climates: Mediterranean very
hot (Palermo); Mediterranean
hot (Roma); pre-Mediterranean
warm (Milano); Continental
(Wien); Continental cold (Uccle);
very cold (Aalborg).
For each climate the main four
buildings orientations create
the building geometry, while
the automation scenarios create
the building intelligence.
Different demotic scenarios are
defined in order to understand
if a controlled systems capable
to answer itself to the heat
and radiation stress, changing
buildings configuration
(windows open/closed for
ventilation and shading device
active or not) in order to protect
the indoor environment, is
improving the performance
in a significant way or not.
In fact, in the Active House
Specifications, an important
qualitative parameter is the
automation system and the
easiness for users to read and
change its default settings. Since
that the research is finalized
to investigate the buildings
performance (according to
the vision) in hot climate, the
automation studied is related
to the control of shading and
natural ventilation systems.
The analysis reflect that, even
in Mediterranean area, some
cold mitigation technologies are
needed to reduce the heating
loads. Crossing the results
obtained on the energy analysis
and on the comfort levels for
each case it is possible to define
the best combination for each
climate:
Climate 1: improved ventilation
and shading system + high
efficient windows + north main
orientation
Climate 2: improved ventilation
and shading system + high
efficient windows + north main
orientation
Climate 3: improved ventilation 2, depending on his actions
system + high efficient
envelope + south main
orientation
Climate 4/5: improved
ventilation system + high
efficient envelope + south
main orientation
Climate 6: high efficient specific corrections factors and
envelope + high efficient
windows + south main
orientation
The configuration chosen for
each climate allows to minimize
the hours of overheating and
achieve a good results for
thermal indoor comfort on the
radar. The results show that, if
a specific dynamic simulation
software is used, it is possible
to optimize the building to
achieve the best Active House
rank in all Europe. Moreover, an
important aspect is represent
by the control system: the
warmer is the climate, the
more complete should be the
automation system. This features
highlights the importance of the
solar control in the hot climate,
where the instant answer to the
external input is vital to protect
the indoor environment from
overheating and the consequent
discomfort and increase of
energy consumption.
The second part of the research
aims, instead, to understand
PhD Yearbook | 2015
the effects of the users
interaction with this control
system on the point of view
of energy consumption and
indoor comfort provided. The
interaction scenarios between
occupants and domotic system
are set on the literature review
about the human behavior in 157
buildings. The most important
BUILDING ENGINEERING
result is that, in an innovative
home, users can change the
energy consumption from the
calculated one of a factor of
and interactions with the
buildings equipment. Therefore,
understanding the resilience
of the model to different use
of the automation system is a
step necessary to integrate the
performances calculation with
the practical guidelines with a
sort of usage manual for users.
The research is just a part of a
wider international framework
about how to create a system
that can be used to guide the
construction sector through a
more sustainable future. Thanks
to the analysis it is possible
to understand that, using
the ActiveH Specification and
validation tool, it is possible
to design an Active House
also in Mediterranean climate,
without changing the nature
of the validation system.
However, the research highlights
also the critical points of the
vision related to the lack of
information or guidelines on
how to design and how to use
an Active House in order to
guarantee the efficiency also in
time and not only in the design
stage.
 158
KNOWLEDGE AND DIAGNOSTICS FOR THE
DURABILITY OF EXTERNAL FINISHING SYSTEMS
Silvia Erba - Supervisor - Tutor: Prof. Bruno Daniotti
The presence of pathologies
such as detachments and
adhesion defects can threaten
the permanence, the durability
and the aesthetic aspect of
a faade external finishing in
plaster or tiles. In particular, the
durability can be subjected to a
visible endangerment when the
faade is exposed to excessive
rainwater infiltration or critical
moisture content. For existing
buildings and components
must be taken into account the
residual service life, defined
as the service life remaining
after a certain moment of
consideration. To assess residual
service life of an inspected
building or component is
important to know its history,
i.e. data on the original
performance values, information
on the installation, maintenance,
trend of deterioration, etc.,
which can involve several
difficulties to be obtained. The
research takes into account
both historical/listed and
contemporary buildings, and
illustrates the most appropriate
methodologies and the tools
to define conservation or
maintenance plans. There is a
substantial difference between
them: the conservation plan
is based on an organic series
of controls for managing the
transformation of buildings
while the maintenance plan
defines the interventions for
restoring the functional aspects.
In fact, in case of historic or
listed buildings, the primary
necessity is to maintain the
permanence of the element;
the authenticity is the key of its
historic value while in case of
new buildings, the durability of
the components represents the
requirement to be respected.
In both cases, the stage of
knowledge plays an essential
role. Any proper policy of
intervention, or maintenance,
management and valorization
has to start from the
comprehension of the evolution
over time of the building,
considering both formal and
functional aspects. In this sense
should find widespread diffusion
the surveying techniques,
diagnostics activities and
monitoring plans that the
current scientific research offers
and which should be used in
the most appropriate way to
avoid the risk of interventions
disrespectful of the existent.
A correct diagnosis, as a
pathologic observation of a
human body, it is essential not
only to resolve the damage, but
also to intervene on the causes
and the boundary conditions
that have generated the
degradation, or that could be an
obstacle to maintain the proper
conservation. The prescription
of actions or behaviors and
preventive addresses that can
remove or minimize the causes
of the deterioration derives
from a timely and appropriate
diagnostic plan. Diagnostics
should not be considered as
a static tool, but should be
used to check, test and monitor
the phenomena occurring in
building assets, underlying
the evolutional characteristics.
Through diagnostics, and in
particular IR Thermography, the
researchers have developed a
new GIS-based methodology
that allows a faster and precise
recognition of external finishing
degradations in terms of
adhesion problems. They carried
out the thermographic survey in
transient conditions, to allow the
evaluation of a thermal gradient
between adherent and detached
areas. They validated the results
also by numerical simulation
through WUFI. The investigative
procedure has been applied
within the project Citt Studi,
Sustainable Campus and for
the study case of Santa Maria
del Lavello Convent: preventive
and planned conservation, to
assess the state of conservation
of the facades, respectively
in ceramic tiles and plaster
finishing. The buildings analyzed
inside the project Citt Studi,
Sustainable Campus present
cladding systems with ceramic
tiles, popular practice in Italy
since the 50-60s, due to their
good wear resistance, high
temperatures stability, hardness,
tenacity and inertia. Nowadays,
after 50 years of usage, the
faades present degradations
problems on materials and
systems, such as detachments,
missing tiles and discoloration,
due to the action of atmospheric
agents, to the loss of adherence
between the support and the
tile or among the layers of the
support, to the absence of a
correct maintenance. The case
study of the Lavello Convent,
located in Calolziocorte (Eastern
Lario), is characterized by the
presence of a plaster finishing.
Few years after the conclusion
of restoration works, in the
convent cloisters appeared
degradation of the exterior
plasters due to some critical
factors: among them, the bad
durability of plasters applied
during the restoration and the
presence of water and moisture
in the masonry. The research and
the application in the two case
studies, show the improvements
in the field of diagnostic and
preliminary tests, in particular
non-destructive surveys
through IR Thermography,
based on the solution of the
mathematical model of heat
transfer in transient conditions.
The preliminary tests had their
validation by softly hammering
both the detached area and
the safe one: the different
sounds of hammering revealed
the detachment of the finishing.
The researchers analyzed the
results of the thermographic
surveys through alternative GIS-
PhD Yearbook | 2015
159
based methodologies, thanks to compatibility with the substrate,
BUILDING ENGINEERING
the identification of reference vapor permeability and colour
temperatures. This method stability. After, they validated
has optimized the phase of the laboratory results through
defects mapping and allowed computer-based simulations
underlining their geometric using WUFI and verified
localization on the faades, the efficacy of the siloxane
obtaining more accurate results protective treatment in terms of
avoiding manual and punctual reduction of water absorbed.
analysis of single areas. The results of the investigations
As a result of the surveys phase, have driven the conservation
the research has focused on the activities choice, identifying
evaluation of water absorption the best mixture for plaster,
and moisture transfer in which has been applied on
plastering and bedding mortars the northern faade of Lavello
for external finishing systems. Convent.
There are many factors which
can intervene in the decay
process of mortars: mistake
in mix-design, unsuitable
working technique, presence
of exceeding air humidity or
rains, extraneous chemical
substances. This research studied
the damages and alterations
caused by the absorption of
water and its movement inside
the building components: decay
patterns such as efflorescences,
detachments, exfoliations
and biological colonization
highlighted the loss of material
integrity and durability.
The researchers chose and tested
six different lime plaster mortars
and two cement mortars for
bedding and further applied
a siloxane water-repellent
treatment (SILO 111) on the
outer surface. They evaluated
the protective treatment in
terms of water-repellent efficacy,
 160
AIR SHELTER HOUSE: THE USE OF THERMAL
REFLECTIVE MULTI-LAYER SYSTEM IN SUPPORT
OF DISASTER RESILIENCE
Cristina Puscheddu - Supervisor: Prof. Marco Imperadori
Only on 2013, it is around 30
million the number of homeless
people, because of natural
and man disasters, in the
worldwide. To help these victims
different typologies of shelters
are designed, trying to find a
balance between easy transport,
assembly, energy efficiency and
low cost.
The research follows a
transversal overview between
the concept of Disaster
Resilience, sustainable
reconstruction and the available
materials. Aims of the study is
to demonstrate the possibility
to use building technology,
focus on TRMS (Thermal
Reflective Multi-layer System),
to achieve the best solution
concerning reconstruction after
disaster to support Disaster
Resilience during Response and
Recovery phase, inside Disaster
Management.
The methodology is performed
in four different task:
Task 1, State of art of shelters.
Task 2, TRMS studies. Literature
and laboratory test.
Task 3, Feasibility and
evaluation of Air Shelter House
(ASH) building prototype and
comparison between current
economic scenarios.
Task 4, ASH Pillow Application
studies to reconstruction and
new design buildings.
In the first task the state of art
of emergency architecture are
studying. It is divided between
emergency tents, shelters
of small dimensions (micro-
architecture), and shelters of
normal size, more similar to
permanent house. The result is a
scenario where it is fundamental
to find a balance between
economic issues, caused from
events, and adequate housing
for users. Contemporary, the
guideline and parameters
concerning shelters indicated
by international community are
examined. General investigation,
especially regarding emergency,
suggests the study of envelope
system, in equilibrium between
lightweight and thermal
performances.
In the second task, after
the individuation of TRMS
as possible answer for an
innovative design of the
envelope, laboratory test
concerning this technology are
performed to give useful data
for the design section. Thermal
Reflective Multi-layer selected
for the study is composed by
1. TRM layers composition.
19 different layers of aluminum
foils, wadding and foam, 2,5 cm
thick, as shown in Fig.1.
TRMS is an innovative
combination between TRM
and air gaps based on the use
of low-emissivity surface for
reducing heat radiation. It is an
insulation system developed
from space applications, where
heat reflection is particularly
important. Literature, in
fact, from the observation of
TRM, both theoretically and
experimentally, demonstrates
that the aluminum foils, always
present independently from
insulation general composition,
could reflect a high percentage
of heat energy.
Laboratory tests, during the
research, provide the data of
0,04 W/m2K for TRM and 0,038
W/mK for TRMS, with 1 cm of
air gaps, considering polyester
membranes too, used for the
tester.
This kind of insulation, moreover,
is non-toxic for user and building
owner, and environmentally safe
building material, considering
that it could be recycled too.
Moreover, cases studies of
the use of TRMS in the civil
architecture are analyzing to
better understand performance
in normal conditions.
Between the second and the
firth task is located the proposal,
which is the implementation
of housing technology based
on the use of TRMS. General
innovative concept is called Air
Shelter House (ASH).
ASH is a versatile housing
concept, especially focus in
building component, itself
called ASH Pillow, to use during
the response phases as first
aid. This building component
prototype is centered on the
use of simple and low cost
materials, replicable by the use
of 3D printer. Compare with tent
solutions, used in the refugees
camp, with a durability of 12
months, and prefabricated
solutions used in the response
phases, usually expensive,
the ASH could have a more
resistance with an amortized
price. Low cost is possible thanks
to the wide option of TRMS
technology applications from
the situation of first answer
after events, to the possibility
to be part of reconstruction
in the future. Resistance and
lifespan of 10 years of TRM
ensures the possibility to use
ASH as a temporary shelter
and /or permanent housing. In
addition, ASH Pillow is easy to
pack, with rolls dimensions of
0,21 m x 1,10 m x 0,26 m, and
with a weight around 700 g/m2,
and it could be easy transport
to different sites or countries.
It is also easy to assembly for
the modularity of the single
elements, and it could be tie
with the structure, as indicate
to ISDR, to prevent envelope
movement and damages,
especially in the case columns
systems.
In the third task, there is
an economic and technical
comparison between this
innovative answer and presently
solution, commonly used in the
response and reconstruction
phases.
The building component, based
in TRMS technology, is moreover
investigated to understand
feasibility of ASH prototype
panel in different solutions,
through software simulation.
In the last fourth phase is
investigated the application
of ASH in one case of
reconstruction, and in two new
design buildings. During this
application it will be possible
understand potential of material
application to different structure,
in support to the design process,
and considering the prototype
study of the two new shelters.
According with the result of
State of art, laboratory test and
economical features during
PhD Yearbook | 2015
161
emergency management, the
BUILDING ENGINEERING
conclusion of this research is
the design of ASH, especially
of building component,
which shown the possibility
to use technology in support
of response and mitigation
phases. Adaptation of ASH from
Response to Mitigation phases,
crossing the reconstruction
period, allows supporting
disaster resilience, contributing
to reduce vulnerability too.
Simulation of ASH Pillow as
Emergency tent system shown a
lowering of energy consumption
of 65 % respect to standard
model of UNHCR. Moreover,
achievements of good surface
temperatures with finite
element method demonstrate
ability of the panel to preserve
thermal performance of TRMS
counting plastic joints too. This
ability, in fact, could allow to
preserve internal temperature,
reducing thermal losses. Both
are in agreement with aims to
decrease Global Warming.
Possibility of patent is evaluated
in order to improve study of ASH
Pillow, through production of a
real panel prototype, to perform
more accurate laboratory test,
concerning thermal performance
and de-sign optimization.
162
A DECISION MAKING SUPPORT MODEL TO DETERMINE
APPROPRIATE CREDITS FOR GREEN BUILDING CERTIFICATION
BASED ON PROJECT DELIVERY ATTRIBUTES
Senem Seyis - Supervisor: Emilio Pizzi
Green Building (GB) projects are
cost-effective in the long term
due to lower operational and
maintenance costs; however,
stakeholders are still reluctant
to invest in GB projects due to
prolonged duration, high costs
and additional labor. These
challenges associate with lower
productivity and additional time
spent for reworks that lead to
hidden costs whose excess can
be attributed to time and cost-
related waste in the processes.
Waste or process waste and in details of green
is defined as non-value adding
activities (NVA) that absorb
resources/cost but do not create
any additional value for the
project.
Previous studies show that
time and cost-related waste
in GB project delivery process
are much higher than that of
non-green buildings (NGBs)
due to the collaborative and
interdisciplinary nature of GB
projects to respond to the needs
of interconnected green system
design and implementation. In
such complex situations, lack of
guidance reproduces the same
mistakes in each new project.
It not only causes higher waste
in GB project delivery process
compared to the NGBs, but also
creates certain types of waste
specific to GB projects. In fact,
the more complex processes
a project has the more waste
can generate. Although prior
studies identified some waste
types and related root causes for
GB projects, a comprehensive
identification and classification
of waste and related root
causes encountered in GB
project delivery process, which
is apparently a crucial necessity
of the GB industry and the GB
literature, does not exist.
To begin with, if the owner
intends to achieve GB
certification for his/her GB
project, increase in number of
tasks specific to GB certification
to examine waste and related
specifications automatically
necessitate more project
participants, hence leading
to much higher complexity in
GB processes. Moreover, if the
selected GB certification credits
are not suitable for the attributes
of the GB project delivery,
increased levels of time, money
and labor can be wasted while
responding to the additional
requirements of GB design,
construction and certification.
Considering GB project delivery
attributes is highly important in
the optimization of GB project
delivery and required for the
successful completion of GB
projects since project delivery
attributes affect the project
outcomes deeply. Despite of
a clear necessity for a study
which suggests a decision
making model as a guideline to
determine appropriate credits for
GB certification based on project
delivery attributes, such a model
is absent in the GB literature.
This Ph.D. study addresses these
needs by (1) examining waste
and related root causes for GB
project delivery, (2) analyzing
particular attributes of GB
project delivery and building
a hierarchical framework
based on these attributes,
and (3) developing a decision
making support model from
this hierarchical framework to
determine appropriate credits
for GB certification. In order
eleven GB experts through
root causes for GB projects,
this study classified waste types
and associated root causes,
investigated their cause-effect
relationship and ranked them
according to their negative
impacts on time and cost in
design and construction phases
of GB project delivery process
by conducting a case study
including three GB projects and
a two-rounded Delphi Method.
Drawing from the findings, this
study focused on two GB project
delivery attributes, i.e. timing
of project teams involvement
and qualifications of project
teams, which play a crucial
role in ensuring successful
outcomes from GB projects
while enduring minimal waste.
Based on these two attributes,
a hierarchical framework was
built to derive relative weights to
these attributes to be inserted
in the decision making support
model, and to constitute the
basis of this envisioned decision
making support model. This
hierarchical framework was
developed into a multi-attribute
decision making support model,
namely Green Building-Credit
Selection (GB-CS) Model, to
determine appropriate and
resource efficient GB certification
credits that suit the particular
attributes of GB project delivery
the most.
The GB-CS Model, developed
in this study, employs the
integrated approach of
Delphi Method based weight
assignment process and TOPSIS
(The Technique for Order of
Preference by Similarity to
Ideal Solution). The GB-CS
Model: (1) derives relative
weights to hierarchically
designed GB project delivery
attributes gathered from
decision making support model
Delphi Method based weight
assignment process, and (2)
determines appropriate credits
in accordance with GB project
delivery attributes via TOPSIS.
Delphi Method based weight
assignment approach ensures
to derive reliable and sensitive
relative weights for hierarchical
attributes that can be inserted
in multi-attribute decision
making models, while TOPSIS
guarantees to detect the best
alternative(s) among large
number of alternatives. Hence,
integration of Delphi Method
based weight assignment
approach with TOPSIS helps
researchers efficiently examine
a large number of attributes
and alternatives, among which
the best alternative is to be
selected.
The GB-CS Model was
developed based on LEED
2009 NC under BD+C Rating
System since it can be
implemented on various types
of buildings and LEED is widely
accepted around the world.
This integrated decision making
support model was tested and
verified by performing a case
study on an ongoing LEED
registered residential project
which is one of the three
GB projects examined in this
research.
This Ph.D. study endeavors
to give the GB industry and
literature the upper hand by:
(1) identifying, classifying and
ranking waste and related root
causes for GB projects and
presenting the cause-effect
relationship between them in an
Ishikawa Diagram, (2) building
a hierarchical framework based
on GB project delivery attributes
and assigning relative weights to
these attributes, (3) developing a
an adaptive guidance model
for determining GB certification
credits that suit the particular
attributes of GB project delivery
the most, and (4) constituting
an integrated approach of
Delphi Method-based weight
assignment process and
TOPSIS for detecting the best
alternative(s) among large
number of alternatives according
to multiple attributes.
This integrated study formalizes
the identification and
classification of waste with
their related root causes for GB
projects and reveals the cause-
effect relationship between
them which come together
as a multi-attribute decision
making support model that aid
the optimization of GB project
delivery and allows obtaining
better outcomes from GB
projects through minimizing the
root causes of elevated waste
and mitigating associated hidden
costs. This multi-attribute model
provides an interconnected
PhD Yearbook | 2015
decision making guideline which
assesses the particular conditions
of the project and project team
before deciding to follow a GB
rating system and determines
the appropriate GB certification
credits that are more likely to
be obtained in an efficient and
effective manner considering 163
the particular attributes of
BUILDING ENGINEERING
GB project delivery (project
and project team related). It is
expected that properly selected
GB certification credits will
optimize GB project delivery
by mitigating the excess levels
of waste generated to fulfill
the additional requirements of
GB design, construction and
certification. The GB-CS Model
proposes to give the GB industry
and literature the upper hand
by facilitating GB projects with
that quantifies the outcomes
of Green decisions and ensures
the successful completion of GB
projects.
Future research would extend
current knowledge about
developing multi-attribute
decision making models for
providing aid in the optimization
of GB project delivery while
enduring minimal waste.
Technology and Design for Environment
and Building | Territorial Design and
Government | Aerospace Engineering
| Architectural and Urban Design |
Architectural Composition | Architecture,
Urban Design, Conservation of Housing
and Landscape | Bioengineering |
Building Engineering | Design | Design
and technologies for cultural heritage
| Electrical Engineering | Energy and
Nuclear Science and Technology |
Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture and
Exhibition Design | Management, Economics
and Industrial Engineering | Materials
Engineering | Mathematical MODELS and
METHODS IN Engineering | Mechanical
Engineering | Physics | Preservation of
THE Architectural Heritage | Rotary-
wing aircrafts | Spatial Planning
and Urban Development | Structural
Seismic and Geotechnical Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
166

DOCTORAL PROGRAM - in areas such as communications, corporate ideas and concrete proposals.

PhD Yearbook | 2015

strategies, market dynamics, education, public
in Design institutions - so relevant for design action as
product design in its strict sense.
Professional qualifications
The Doctorate in Design aims to train a designer/
researcher with malleable qualifications. For the
professionals produced by this programme are
both designers who know how to do research
Field of study and researchers skilled in using design tools.
This skill set finds application in a variety of work
environments. It is particularly in demand in
organizations explicitly devoted to developing
design research, such as universities and research
centres, design agencies, and companies that are
attuned to social and technological innovation. It
is also sought out by public-sector organizations,
by service enterprises, and by local development
organizations, which are increasingly faced with 167
complex planning problems that the designer/

DESIGN
Chair: Held at Politecnico di Milano university, the Doctorate in Design At the same time they are experts in managing researcher can effectively deal with, analyze, and
Prof. Francesco Trabucco Research is created and managed by Design Department, awareness, in constructive interaction among find solutions for.
in cooperation with the Department of Mechanics and the various players, and in the communication of
Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering.
Politecnico di Milano research doctorate courses aim to build
the skills needed to perform highly qualified research jobs in
manufacturing and service enterprises, the public sector, and the
university.
The scientific field to which this course belongs is industrial design.
Its interdisciplinary relationships include the philosophy and Doctoral Program Board
theory of language, art history, design, science of materials and
technology, industrial engineering, decision making, and computer Francesco Trabucco (Chair) Luisa Collina Silvia Pizzocaro
science. Giovanni Baule Alberto Colorni Lucia Rampino
Industrial design, following the meaning adopted within this Paola Bertola Luciano Crespi Maurizio Rossi
doctorate, is intended as a discipline acting within the industrial Alessandro Biamonti Barbara Del Curto Michela Rossi
culture and accompanying its transformations. Among its main
Monica Bordegoni Marisa Galbiati Giuliano Simonelli
tasks is to deal with processes and products configuration. In this
sense, this school specific meaning goes to use, function, social and Giampiero Bosoni Luca Guerrini Raffaella Trocchianesi
individual consumption of the products (the functional, symbolical Valeria Bucchetti Fulvio Irace Carlo Vezzoli
and cultural factors) as to manufacturing (techno-economical,
Paolo Ciuccarelli Pietro Marani Paolo Volont
techno-systemically, techno-productive and techno-distributive
factors). All these themes are expected to be faced with the Alba Cappellieri Anna Meroni Francesco Zurlo
support of the conceptual tools of research in its theoretical, critical, Paolo Ciuccarelli Silvia Piardi
historical and methodological articulations.
The complex of the issues investing the theme of innovation will
represent the conceptual trajectory of the whole program.
The attention to innovation-related phenomena are due to
various factors, partly internal to the dynamics of the discipline of
Advisory Board
industrial design, partly motivated by the perception of the growing Enrico Morteo (Architetto - Membro Comitato di Riferimento della Scuola di Dottorato))
complexity of the innovative process, thus fostering in-depth
analysis and new approaches which can legitimately be faced within Luisa Bocchietto (Presidente ADI)
the doctoral programme. Whatever the motivations for the analysis Cees De Bont (Dean of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Coordinatore della Design Research Alliance)
of technological change and innovation, this trajectory of enquiry Carlo Guglielmi (Presidente Cosmit)
highlights the factors and fundamental ingredients of the process of
development, transition and transformation of industrial products, Michele Perini (Presidente Fiera Milano e AD di SAGSA)
services and systems. As a starting point a broad view of innovation Giovanna Castiglioni (Vicepresidente Fondazione Castiglioni)
is assumed, being a dynamic process involving the development or Claudio Luti (Presidente di Kartell)
improvement of new products, services, technologies, processes,
institutions, systems, strategies. Such an extended view of Giovanni Petrini (Socio fondatore di The Hub Milano e responsabile per Avanzi srl
innovation includes the range of economic and social activities del settore social&sustainable new business e dei rapporti con media e stakeholder locali)
168
Industrious design. The role of design in the
evolution of (micro)production models enabled by
the hybridization of individuals and organizations
Massimo Bianchini - Supervisor: Prof. Stefano Maffei
This research explores the
change in production models
from the design perspective. It
is an emerging socio-technical
paradigm characterized by new
forms of advanced, open and
distributed manufacturing.
Democratization of fabrication
devices linked to an increasing
abundance of low cost
(free) design resources,
the appearance of indie
online marketplaces and
new social forms of micro-
financing innovative projects
(crowdfunding) represent a set
of new opportunities to develop
independent and integrated
small and micro scale production
activities from idea to market,
directly.
Production phenomena such as
making and personal fabrication
related to some physical and
virtual places as Fab Labs and
other platforms for digital
manufacturing and the open
design certainly represent a
technology-based evolution of
the traditional world of self-
production or DIY.
Nowadays, a heterogeneous set
of productions developed by
individuals or groups, without
being designers or companies,
can materialize their ideas
independently, transforming
them into product-service
solutions, even technologically
complex, potentially marketable
on a global scale.
A small population of
individuals, who are not
designers or manufacturing
companies, can materialize
their ideas independently
transforming them into
product-service solutions, even
technologically complex, and
potentially marketable on a
global scale.
In a scenario as that described,
where the innovation processes
appear driven by new players
such as makers, two questions
are emerging: Whats the
(new) role of design? how do
designers change their skills and
capabilities?
The research starts from this
assumption: the new forms of
production without a defined
design intent and without the
support of adequate design skills
seem to be not (so) generative.
The proliferation of object-
gadgets on personal fabrication
web platforms is a clear
example.
On the other hand, the low
quality of many artefacts
materialized in the Fab Labs
demonstrates how new
manufacturing technologies,
while expressing great potential,
are not yet able to replace
industry and craftsmen (and it
is not clear whether will never
be able to do so). Instead, there
seems to be an interesting field
of action for individuals who are
able to hybridize (in an original
way) design and fabrication
skills in order to materialize new
artefacts through innovative
manufacturing processes based
on alternative technical and
technological configurations
of the production meanings
(intendevi dire significato?).
And the designers are among
them.
On this basis, the research
proposes a systematic study
about the change of production
models, especially those on small
and very small scale. The first
part of the study describes the
set of features and possibilities
of evolution of technologies
for advanced manufacturing
and distribution. This study
contextualizes the new models
of production compared to the
historical ones, from Taylorism
to flexible specialization
(lean manufacturing). This
exploration continues studying
the characteristics of the new
places that enable new forms of
production - from Fab Labs to
makerspaces, from TechShops to
DIYBioLabs - and mapping new
types of producers as makers,
who are the interpreters. These
places and subjects are then
observed within specific contexts
such as the city, identifying a
variety of forms of production
which interact with each others,
suggesting the existence of
a system called distributed
microproduction.
The second part of the research
focuses on the change of
designer skill and capabilities
in relation to the change of
production models, in particular
distributed microproduction.
Research has noted that
standardization of design
professions together
with outsourcing and
deindustrialization processes
are changing (in worse) the
traditional relationship between
designers and manufacturers. At
the same time new opportunities
offered by digitization of
production are gradually pushing
parts of designers population to
transform theirs own nature.
These designers (for necessity
and/or personal interests)
become new producers and
summarize in a personal
dimension all the functions
of a manufacturing company:
research and development,
design, prototyping, production,
promotion, distribution
and searching funds. They
also prototype and produce
microproduction processes
when design activity is expressed
not only focused on artefacts,
but also on the configuration
of the resources used to
produce them: from materials
to tools and machines, to
the places of production as
the microfactories. Research
has defined these subjects
through the conceptual model
of designer=enterprise,
drawing an initial taxonomy
of microproduction processes,
design approaches, and related
PhD Yearbook | 2015
169
business models.
DESIGN
The third part of the research
analyses and verifies the activity
of designers=enterprises
both internationally and in a
national context (Italy). More
than 100 projects developed by
designers-microproducers have
been observed, also arranging
interviews and visits to several
design studios.
An online survey conducted
on over 100 Italian makers,
designer-producers and
makerspace managers
has studied in details the
microproduction processes.
Basic data and information
about economic condition
of designer=enterprises,
production skills and distribution
strategies have been obtained
to understand the economic
sustainability of these activities
and their prospects of
development.
170
PROCEDURAL DESIGN AND ORDERED COMPLEXITY.
Code, pattern and digital fabrication
Giorgio Buratti - Supervisor: Prof. Michela Rossi
In the planning process design
has always preceded the
construction phase. The act
of designing is an opportunity
to organise ones ideas,
manage resources and predict
results, and is made possible
through the use of dedicated
instruments.
The introduction of the
computer as a design tool has
been epoch-making. Modelling
programmes gradually began
to have a greater influence on
the design process. Over the
years the level of involvement of
software grew, developing from
a representational role to having
a direct influence on the process
of generating forms, sometime
even characterising the structure
of the artifacts.
In recent years, economical,
social and cultural changes
have accelerated the advent of
a digital and globalised society.
In a world in which hardware
devices are omnipresent and
constantly interconnected,
software and the ability to
manage it becomes key.
Smartphones, tablets and
other electronic devices are
increasingly becoming terminals
rather than independent objects,
so much so that they cannot be
used if they arent connected to
the information infrastructure.
Hardware is becoming less
relevant, to the point that
it is possible to significantly
alter its performance and
behaviour simply by replacing
the operating system. The
material system is subordinate
to the definition of the code
and language that enables it to
function.
In the case of design, the
increased levels of computer
literacy have led designers
to analyse the processes that
underlie the functioning of
the digital instruments used
on a daily basis. This interest
has given rise to a new type
of modelling, based on the
elaborative logic of information,
which has determined a new
phase in computer assisted
design, in which the form
is generated by drawing up
algorithms.
An algorithm is a systematic
procedure based on a series
of unambiguous instructions
that explain how to achieve
a specific objective. Used in
design it promotes research
based on the importance of
the code-procedure concept:
if the solution to a problem
can be described in a finite
number of steps, in the same
way the identity of a form is
the consequence of a series
of discreet rules that define it.
The form is not defined a priori
but stems from a process of
the refinement of conceptual,
communicative, structural and
geometric instances that lead to
the result most in keeping with
the initial expectations.
The possibility of designing
structured geometries would
clearly be pointless if they
couldnt then be created. In
parallel to the development of
software, or perhaps because of
it, there has been a convergence
towards the digitalisation of
production processes thanks
to machines able to construct,
either in whole or in part, the
designed object, starting with
its digital model. This process
is known as Digital Fabrication
and does not require additional
interpretations to that of the
designer as the file is prepared
in real scale and fabricated
without the involvement of
intermediaries.
As is often the case when a
new technology is first adopted,
the exponential dissemination
of the tool in the professional
sphere does not correspond
with adequate theoretical
development that can integrate
the theory of the design with the
potential on offer. The excitement
over the new possibilities offered
by the new applications has seen
a move from conceptualisation
to mere jargon. With computer
assisted design accompanying
the designer from the generation
of the form through to its digital
fabrication, the integration
with theoretical analysis and
comprehension tools able to
maintain a high level of design
coherence is increasingly
necessary.
The aim of the thesis is to
explain the influence of
generative modelling software
on design and fabrication theory
and practice. More specifically,
the aim is to understand to
what degree, and according to
what logic, these tools can also
be configured as conceptual
devices able to define correct
methodological procedures for
assisted design.
As such, what is proposed is
a methodological approach,
until now barely developed,
that integrates computational
methods in the design process.
With this in mind, the research
analyses on one hand the
relationship between geometry
and the digital tool and, on the
other, how it is possible to use
abstraction for design purposes
through a single systemic
process able to manage the
increased level of complexity
admitted by new approach. The
term complex does not simply
mean complicated; rather, it
is a precise definition that refers
to the science of complexity, a
field of research that has not
yet been completely formalised
but which is equipped with
theoretical tools suitable for the
new context. In the systemic
vision the units are relationship
patterns, inserted within a
broader network of connections.
In Design, for example, form
may be considered the result
of the interaction of precise
formalisable and quantifiable
conditions (formal aspect,
materials, physical and temporal
constraints, pre-established
goal, interaction with the user,
economic and production
factors) and a creative instance
that must be implemented.
These determining factors
interact reciprocally to achieve a
common goal and so the design
process has all of the typical
characteristics of a complex
system.
Considering the design process
according to systems theories
does not just mean breaking
down the design into its
various component levels but
understanding the relations
created between these levels so
that they can be balanced.
The revolution inherent in
the new digital tools is the
way they have transformed
the discipline of design from
iconic representation to the
representation of relations and
processes. In this new dimension
the various design instances
can be organised in emerging
relational structures that
transfer typical characteristics
of living systems to the design
process, such as the ability to
adapt and transform, and self-
organisation. This behaviour
cannot be controlled according
to the classic linear method
(top-down), which seeks to
predict all possible situations
and subsequently prescribes the
solution for dealing with them.
Only by defining the behaviour
of entities on the basis of
the design (bottom-up) and
leaving the task of simulating
the collective effect of the
1. Procedural-Algorithmic design: a single complex geometry minimal surface
(a Gyroid minimal surface) is placed in a periodic system. Subsequently the
porous structure is used to create a protective helmet
interactions to the calculating
PhD Yearbook | 2015
power of the computer is it
possible to check the validity of
the design hypothesis.
Starting from the study of the
different denominations used
today to define the paradigm
this thesis proposes Procedural
Design as definition to clearly
identifies the character of the 171
new approach.
DESIGN
To the theoretical model follows
the analysis of the technologies
typical of digital fabrication. As
well as verifying new production
possibilities, this study also seeks
to understand the organisational
methods required for the
management of these and the
possible consequences on the
socio-economic context and the
role of the designer.
Finally are presented the
experiments carried out during
the PhD, the comparison of
which highlights the potential
of procedural programming,
opening the way to additional
experimentation and research.
 172

Grants from Banking Foundations and Trusts.

PhD Yearbook | 2015

A Model of Design for the Preservation and
Development of Libraries, Archives and Museums
Nadia Campadelli - Supervisor: Prof. Pietro Cesare Marani

173
This study attempts to trace design platform.

DESIGN
the role of banks, banking To conclude, this research
foundations and trusts in the addresses the importance of
territory of cultural heritage; in strategic design in shaping the
particular referring to a design actions of foundations and trusts
able to manage the activities to the development of cultural
of museums, libraries and institutions.
archives. This research analyses I propose a sustainable
the works of trusts and banking advanced design model that
foundations, exploring the could be replicated by different
underlying motivation for their organizations through this
intervention in public utility as research.
well as in private and public
projects relating to cultural
institutions and arts.
The research chooses four case
studies in order to investigate
their historical background and
understand the development
of different systems adopted by
banks and trusts. A literature
review has been conducted to
answer the central research
question: What is the best
design in the long-term funding
of cultural institutions?
I have identified a workable
model in the sustainable
advanced design for cultural
organizations able to
communicate with private actors
such as donors, sponsors, and
trusts. Data and interviews
have been analysed to test the
possibility of applying this design
network model to museums,
archives, and libraries. Further
investigation was conducted at
a regional level on the existing
networks among cultural
institutions to ensure the
application and originality of this
 174
TRANSMEDIA DESIGN FRAMEWORK
A Design-Oriented Approach to Transmedia Practice
Mariana Ciancia - Supervisor: Prof. Maria Luisa Galbiati
Due to the rising number of
multi-modal devices and the
higher number of messages
being conveyed across several
channels, designers now have
a key role as mediators. Indeed,
they must bring different social
contexts together in mutual
understanding. In a mediascape
designers play a dual role; as
story listeners they collect stories
from audience and repertoires
and as storytellers they organise
these stories into experiences.
Beginning with these
assumptions (and in accordance
with theories and projects
developed over a number of
years), this research aims to
determine a new form of literacy
that allows communication
projects to be developed that
rethink the participatory process
and merge different languages,
media, technologies.
The evolution of social
interconnections through digital
technologies has emerged
from a phenomenological
approach to contemporary
mediascape. Such that, multi-
channel structures have become
increasingly important and
completely changed the role of
the audience, this in turn has
allowed for the development of
widespread creativity through
collaborative creation and
the collective consumption of
narrative worlds.
With a focus on the domains
of media studies and design
research, the core topic of this
research is multi-channelled
structures. These structures
are able to foster the sharing
of meaning-making processes
between producers and
audiences and shape society
and influence media habits
through storytelling, story
listening and engagement.
The research also focuses on
transmedia, a phenomenon
concerned with the building of a
story universe through different
channels to enhance the role
of the audience. It is a socially
understandable paradigm, the
growth of which requires special
skills and teamwork.
It is hypothesised that
transmedia practice is a
procedure that could address
the issue of contemporary
complexity through a
phenomenological approach
to the coeval reality. A cultural
paradigm was focused on
to allow people to become
aware of the prominent role
played in the contemporary
mediascape and emphasis was
also placed on the storytellers
ability to support multiple
points-of-view. Transmedia is
a phenomenon that allows
audiences to participate in
the meaning-making process
and changes the relationship
between the mainstream media
and participatory culture.
Thus, this work starts from
the assumption that, because
of story-building processes
capable of fostering audience
engagement, activating
collaboration among peers and
social innovation, transmedia
can sustain local communities in
the development of on-line and
off-line interactions.
Transmedia can be described
as a practice made up of tacit
knowledge that people work
with in an intuitive manner
and that follows a learning by
doing approach (which hails
from a Renaissance studio
model recovered from the
design field). A literature review
revealed that there is a lack of
sharing practices in transmedia
project development. Thus, it
is clearly necessary to identify
interpretative models and
guidelines for its design.
This research aims to identify
the main features of transmedia
projects to build a glossary that
can be shared and that will
contribute to the development
of a useful tool for transmedia
practices. Such an instrument
could become a conceptual
and operational tool for the
designing story world, not only
for big Hollywood productions,
but also for everyday scenarios.
Based on a necessity to
understand how aesthetic and
economic issues work together
within the design of complex
story world, a conceptual and
operational tool (Transmedia
Design Framework) was
developed that combines two
layers: Conceptual Framework
and Transmedia Building Model.
The former, Conceptual
Framework, aims to sustain
the comprehension of complex
phenomena. It intertwines the
key features of transmedia
projects together with the
six elements of Aristotles
poetics. These qualitative
elements structure a drama
like an organic whole and
were translated for the Human
Computer Interaction by
Brenda Laurel in Computers
as Theatre (1991) as: action,
character, thought, language,
melody (pattern) and spectacle
(enactment). This research in
turn defines the five concepts
of the conceptual framework
as: story world, content, media,
engagement and context.
The latter, Transmedia Building
Model, suggests guidelines, tools
and an on-line platform for the
development of a transmedia
project within multidisciplinary
teams. Specifically, a model
constituted of four main sections
for the activation of an iterative
design process, each of which
requires specific skills. The
four sections are: story world,
narrative context, functional
specification and production
specification.
The building and the validation
of the Transmedia Design
Framework intertwined the
experimentation of transmedia
1. Conceptual and operational tool (Transmedia Design Framework) that
combines two layers: Conceptual Framework and Transmedia Building Model.
practice at a local level within
the Plug Social TV project (www.
facebook.com/plugsocialtv),
which was activated in a
peripheral urban area in Milan
(specifically, in the Bovisa and
Dergano districts). Since 2013,
final year students of the
Masters of Communication
Design programme (School of
Design, Politecnico di Milano)
were guided by my research
group (ImagisLab) in the
management of web-based
television and in the design of
transmedia television content.
This experience was essential to
fully understand the underlying
processes in the development
of multi-channel projects.
Indeed, observing, monitoring
and revising the students
work was fundamental to the
development and exploration
of insights and hypotheses
about the construction of the
Transmedia Design Framework.
In light of the feedback obtained
from students, this conceptual
and operational tool is in the
process of being refined, not
only for those who already
have experience in designing
transmedia experiences, but also
for those who are new to the
field.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
175
DESIGN
Plug Social TV is web television
that makes use of social media
to produce content that aims
to test and verify the ability
of stories of local interest to
activate self-representation
and self-narration and fosters
a dialogue in a neighbourhood
among its different inhabitants.
In fact, in these Milan districts
dual personalities exist. Formerly
industrial areas, these districts
are now populated by a mix of
older workers, artisans, foreign
citizens, and engineering,
architecture and design students
attending at Politecnico di
Milano. Approximately one
hundred students and thirty
members of the local community
have tested Plug Social TV and
the potential of transmedia
systems in a specific local area,
outside the entertainment
market and mainstream
productions.
 176
Design of illusory space. Quadratura as
perspective-based design.
Laura Galloni - Relatore: Prof. Giuseppe Amoruso
The design of illusory space is a
research topic that lends itself
to some reflections, as well
as from the practical point of
view, also from a theoretical
one. The research highlights
and represents the principles
of projective-geometric design
of illusory spaces and proposes
a detailed study about the
architectural perspective called
quadratura, which featured
the applications of science and
art to interior decoration and
architectural spaces during the
sixteenth and the seventeenth
century. The fundamental
content of each quadratura is
the three-dimensional ideation
space and the extension of
architectural surfaces, a veritable
figurative palimpsest. The aim of
the PhD research is to promote
a deeper understanding of the
quadratura as a tool for the
design of the illusory space.
Studying the case studies,
verifying how the use of
perspective has been the key to
correct the space, it is believed
that this instrument can be
reused and have a relapse in
the contemporary design. The
quadratura, in the contemporary
practice, can be a support to
design a place or enrich an
existing space, an interior setting
or a public environment.
Perspective is a still useful tool
in the design of exhibitions or
in scenography. Relationships
between perspective and its
design expressions are the
most practical and applicable
templates for the illusory space
design.
The thesis is a research of design
representation in the interior
design framework and this study
aims to pinpoint as architects
and artists of perspective
worked, disclosing the project
contents that are related to
quadratura and the description
of the different functions of the
perspective, building the space
also as a place of experience
and expression of the ways
of thinking, a process that
allow the built environments
transformation.
The thesis has analysed the
concept of a selection of
figurative space, going to
deepen the formation of the
concepts of perception and
illusion from antiquity to
Renaissance, and to Baroque.
During Renaissance was given
emphasis to projective methods,
of which were investigated the
principles of geometric and
optical ones in the proportions
and in the visualization of
architectural works, and
the use of perspective as a
projective system accelerator
or slowing the effects of the
natural perspective to modify
certain environmental aspects,
external and internal, to the
built volumes. The study about
perspective issues was therefore
due to verify its evolution from
the medieval meaning bound
by the laws of optics and light
to that of graphical method
for depicting spatial depth and
introducing the concept of
infinity.
For this reason the use of
perspective also to change and
transform the space, therefore
understanding it as a parametric
tool for design of the space
itself. Considering the cases
where the built space becomes
a set, ephemeral and therefore
illusory, perspective has been
analysed as the design of the
graphic form of perception.
The second part of the research
analyzes theory and technique of
quadratura design, highlighting
design methods and perspective
applications, and studying
the projective operations and
techniques of perspective
theorized by the numerous
treatises of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries in
the many documents. It was
considered appropriate to
highlight the case studies in
which the practice of perspective
seen from below upwards
was applied, ie the typological
solutions for the decoration of
vaults, ceilings and walls, and
their specificity.
The deepening of the manuals
and treatises written and
circulated in Italy, France and
Spain, has highlighted the
studies done on the project
applications and the ways in
which the perspective transforms
the space, highlighting the
interest of prospective treatise
to the system perspective and
to the manner of execution of
the construction of illusionary
space. Precisely the relationship
between the rule of perspective
and the necessary practical
realization constitutes the
most exciting theoretical and
practical universe for scientific
investigations.
It was therefore necessary to
examine the projective principles
underlying various works, to
investigate which spatial forms
were mostly adopted and,
according to the typological
design, pinpoints the perceptual
and narrative issues that are
the result of the vanishing
point position choice. This
research has proved particularly
interesting points, since very
often parallels and feedback
have emerged among works and
between what it has been found
in written documents and what
has actually been built.
Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola,
Sebastiano Serlio, Pietro Accolti,
Jean du Breuil, Abraham Bosse,
Giulio Troili, Andrea Pozzo,
Ferdinando Galli Bibiena and
Antonio Palomino are the
selected authors because
they are considered the most
interesting according to research
purposes.
Dealing with a research project
that identifies the quadratura
parameters in relation to the
use of perspective drawing and
its material reproduction, from
sketch-concept to perspective
tools to achieve pouncing on
flat surfaces and on vaults, we
can scientifically determine
methods from field practice
and subsequently verify their
reproducibility and variations,
and also the most appropriate
operational and conceptual
features.
Re-read treatises and extract
types of applications that can
still have a design interest, is
an important achievement
for scholars and therefore the
research has set out to highlight
the relationship between tool
and method in the construction
of illusory space. The research
has therefore initiated the
classification of the techniques
for the practice of quadratura,
identifying the experimental
methods then become
consolidated and universal.
The third chapter of the
research analysed the spread
of quadratura in Lombardy,
also validating the projective
and typological constants
of paintings, comparing
theoretical studies, manuscripts
and treatises to the solutions
of the Emilian school who
first influenced the birth of
quadratura in Milan and
Lombardy. It was created a
mapping of the artworks in
the city of Milan, highlighting
places in which quadraturisti
painters operated. The research
pointed its studies about two
case studies, Palazzo Crivelli in
via Pontaccio and Palazzo Litta
in Corso Magenta, which host
very significant and interesting
quadratura decorations.
Consider what are the tools and
methods to create an illusory
space is an issue currently
taken into account where
there is a need to create new
architectural scenarios: the
story of quadrature is the direct
reference, and there arises the
question whether it can still be
reactivated. Having analyzed
the theoretical evolutionary
route, and with regard to case
studies, having noted the works
PhD Yearbook | 2015
with both digital technologies
and traditional techniques, the
methods and ways of working
of authors and artists have
emerged. Indeed, precisely in
the face of this analysis, we
can certainly support their
reactivation and re-appropriation
to a modern and contemporary 177
use.
DESIGN
The classification of techniques
of quadratura have proved to be
operations aimed at highlighting
the design principles that still
can guide the design process of
the illusory space and where we
can highlight its methodological
value. The challenge is to make
the role of the representation
still useful and effective when
is describing the design of
an interior; this task is more
attractive if we pinpoint
knowledge and practical
solutions in an era ruled by
digital technology.
The research concludes its
dissertation showing how design
representation can intervene,
adding value, in the processes
of concept development in
the practice of interior design;
representation and graphic
approach consolidate their role,
identity and value even through
the study, documentation and
transmission of such design
methods.
178
LIVING THE EVENT
Temporary housing models for large events
Laura Galluzzo - Supervisor: Luisa Collina
The research investigates models
of temporary accommodation
and particularly temporary
housing solutions at mega-
events such as expos, Olympics,
major concerts, fairs, and
cultural, political and religious
events, with particular attention
paid not only to visitors
accommodation but also
to the staff working for the
organization of the event itself.
The disciplines of reference for
the study are mainly interior and
service designs.
The thesis also explores the
urban dimension and the
response of the city to the
growing demand for temporary
accommodation linked not only
to large but also to small and
medium-size events.
Specifically, the study is divided
into two parts: the first is
theoretical, offering the general
frame of reference and an
introduction to the theme of
contemporary housing, with a
special focus on temporary living
spaces (as a main character of
contemporary living). Within
this we will find a classification
of the different temporary
housing typologies in order to
then explain the dichotomy of
home vs. house in the terms of
occupation vs. adaptation. In
other words we will look at the
dialogue which is established
between the necessities and
needs of the inhabitants and
the answers given by the space
itself, through adaptations and
variations of the interiors, in
order to welcome and foster the
expression of the occupants
identity. In particular, within
the home as occupation
chapter, we will look at studies
in environmental psychology
to describe different strategies
employed in order to feel
at home and express ones
identity even within temporary
living spaces. In the house as
adaptation chapter we will
instead look at transformations
and alterations of interior
spaces in terms of design for
degrees of freedom, to
quote Ugo La Pietra, that allow
the occupants to express their
identity. Finally, in the conclusion
of the theoretical part, we
will introduce the concept of
interior legacy to describe
what interior spaces leave with
us after their use, in terms of
materials and remnants, but also
of memories.
In the second part we will look
at the practical implications of
the research, the description of
the design for the temporary
living spaces of the Expo
Village made available to the
delegations and the staff of
the event, Expo 2015, in the
city of Milan. The output of
the research is also made up
of a series of guidelines for a
hospitality system connected to
the context of events.
The methodology adopted relies
PhD Yearbook | 2015
179
on one hand on the analysis theme of the research is part
DESIGN
of selected case studies, which of a broader context that
include field observations includes temporary living,
(London 2012 Olympic Games) sociological, anthropological
and the study of texts and and environmental sociology
data collections, while on the researches on the relationship
other hand it is based on the between the house and its
evaluation of interviews and inhabitants, but also the design
questionnaires. The interviews of low cost hospitality and the
were conducted with people role of events as an opportunity
who had participated in major for the rebirth of the city,
events as staff and could focusing on large events but also
share their opinions on the on small and medium-size ones.
management of the hospitality
sector in that specific context,
while the questionnaires were
filled out by those who will
be taking part in the next
expo (Milan 2015) as staff
or delegates of the various
participating countries. The
views of beneficiaries and
workers of the hospitality sector
of a large-scale event will help to
understand the expectations and
desires of all users.
Another instrument of research
was workshops through small
forms of co-design, activities
aimed at non-specialist
audiences, the results of which
may help to investigate the
possible interpretations of the
more general issue of temporary
living and the characteristics
of the interior spaces for
the hospitality functions (for
example, the workshop Feel
Like Home, held during the
event Meet Me Tonight:
Researchers Night).
As mentioned before, the
 180
DESIGN WUNDERKAMMERN
The contemporary practice of collecting design
Virginia Lucarelli - Supervisor: Prof. Maurizio Vogliazzo
Advisor: Prof. Giampiero Bosoni
The practice of collecting
design can be considered as
a new phenomenon. For the
last two decades the demand
for historical rare objects and
for contemporary pieces that
transcend the boundaries
between design and art has
steadily increased. People have
been showing a new attitude
towards design objects and
as a consequence the design
market and the industrial
manufacturing system have
been changing their patterns.
The prices of the design works
have started to rise, together
with a new conceptual and
narrative approach in the design
processes. The global market
for historical and contemporary
limited-edition design pieces,
small and elitist though it is, has
developed as a consequence
of significant changes in the
practices of producing, selling
and buying design works.
Galleries started to present
design in the same way of art,
and because of that collectors
began to purchase pieces
manufactured by designers, as
they were artworks. Auction
houses started holding sales
dedicated to historical and
contemporary works by
designers and architects.
International and domestic
fairs dedicated to collectible
design have seen a significant
increase in sales and attendance
and a noticeable number of
industrial designers has shifted
to craftsmanship because unique
pieces are highly requested
by the market. Along with a
growing attention by collectors
toward the realm of collectible
design, what is happening today
is a progressive overlapping of
roles and responsibilities in the
research and experimentation
within the design field. The
key players of both the primary
and the secondary market are
shifting from being only involved
in the sale and exhibition of
collectible design to becoming
meaningful actors able to
encourage appreciation and
understanding of design culture.
Through curated exhibitions,
sales and online platforms they
influence the development of
the market and they address
critical issues related to historical
and contemporary design.
Although an academic interest
in the market of collectible
design is still in its infancy,
mostly because it is seen as a
commercial phenomenon not
worthy of being investigated
from a theoretical perspective,
this research study relies
upon the main hypothesis
that the cultural implications
connected to the distribution
and production of non-industrial
design could truthfully enrich
and develop the multifaceted
culture of design. The
phenomenon has indeed a
strong commercial core, that is
not deniable, but its implications
are also affecting the
consumption and the perception
of design in an extensive way.
Whilst the art market has
been widely studied by art
business, both a professional
and an academic discipline,
there are no conventional
markers for the market value
of design pieces. The amount
of literature dedicated to the
development and the dynamics
of the market for collectible
design is still minimum. Most
of the studies conducted
on the topic highlighted the
psychological, symbolic and
poetic values of the objects,
their meanings and the cross-
fertilization between design and
other disciplines. What remains
to be explored, however, is
how faithfully the market for
collectible design has followed
the art markets structure and
what cultural implications this
particular system may generate
in the future of design culture.
Nowadays it is not possible to
make a distinction between the
shift in public interest about
design and the shift in the
market for it.
The research moved from
the previous statements and
developed on the basis of one
main hypothesis: the limited
edition design production,
distribution and consumption
can be considered a cultural
phenomenon able to enrich the
contemporary culture of design.
Starting from this hypothesis
the research tried to answer the
following questions:
1. Which are the cultural and
narrative implications of
limited-edition design in the
contemporary design culture?
2. How to formalize the
theoretical and practical
framework in which the
practice of collecting design
takes place?
3. What kind of curatorial
and marketing strategies
do market players adopt in
order to address cultural and
historical perspectives about
design?
4. How collectible Italian design
is perceived and absorbed by
the market?
5. What could be a general
framework to facilitate the
sharing of collectible pieces
between private collectors and
institutions?
The investigation and the
analysis have been conducted
with the main purpose of
delineating the design market
infrastructure as basis for
understanding the collecting
praxes and the new relationships
that market players establish
with collectors and designers,
affecting the whole design
scenario. The research study
started from the world of design
culture and design history
and entered the domains of
collecting practices, art business
and museum studies, trying to
frame the contemporary way of
collecting design through the
investigation of the features
of limited-edition design
production and the new role of
design market players. Beside
the purely economic aspect of
the phenomenon, more efforts
had to be made to formalize
the roles and responsibilities of A specific scenario, the Triennale
PhD Yearbook | 2015
market players, to determine Design Museum in Milan, chose
what makes some of the
pieces presented on the market
for its peculiar collections
management, allowed to set
more valuable than others and guidelines for the development
what makes them denoted of a general design framework.
as collectible. The theoretical The final output of the research
framework built behind the is a meta-project tool aimed at
research is composed of many providing museums and cultural
disciplines and areas of interest. institutions with a new platform 181
They transformed and affected to identify and share historical
DESIGN
each others through direct and contemporary design
and indirect relationships that pieces transiting the market.
allowed a comprehensive and Design Wunderkammern could
integrated knowledge and be considered as a facilitator
understanding of the practice of processes, discourses and
under analysis. On this ground relationships between design
the research study is no longer collectors, practitioners active
about design itself but about in the market and cultural
the dynamics and practices institutions. The developed
that the market for collectible interconnected scenario could
design enables and how indeed increase and nurture the
these discourses could involve non-industrial design heritage
museums and institutions with and could also affect the
the purpose of enhancing and perception and understanding of
nurturing the design heritage. the multifaceted contemporary
Adopting a multiple case studies design culture.
methodology and a direct
observation viewpoint, this
research study intends to gain
greater understanding of market
players strategies and to define
the extended boundaries of the
discipline outside the industrials
processes. The main aim is thus
to underline how the market for
collectible design distinguishes
itself from the art market, of
which he inherited timing and
mechanisms, and how the
market players helped to shape
the theoretical framework
behind the expanding practice
of collecting design. Together
with the investigation of critical
issues related to the importance
of sharing collections, the
research presents the concept
of a shared database that allows
the mutual loan of collectible
design pieces between private
collectors, dealers and museums.
182
TACTiLe DisPLAy fOR viRTuAL 3D shAPe
RenDeRinG
Alessandro Mansutti - Supervisor: Prof. Monica Bordegoni
The product design process
is based on a sequence of
phases where the concept
of the shape of a product is
typically represented through
a digital 3D model of the
shape, and often also by means
of a corresponding physical
prototype. The digital model
allows designers to perform
the visual evaluation of the
shape, while the physical model
is used to better evaluate the
aesthetic characteristics of the
product, i.e. its dimension and
proportions, by touching and
interacting with it. If the new
shape, either in its digital or
physical form, does not satisfy
the designers, it has to be
modified. A modification of the
digital model requires a new
physical prototyping of the
shape for further evaluation.
Conversely, a modification of
the physical prototype requires
the consequent update of the
digital model, which can be
performed by remodelling the
shape, or using techniques as
reverse engineering. Design
and valuation activities are
typical cyclical, repeated many
times before reaching the
optimal and desired shape. This
reiteration leads to an increase
of the development time and,
consequently, of the overall
product development cost.
Indeed, it would be very efficient
and effective if the two kinds of
evaluations would be performed
at the same time, instead of in
two distinct moments and by
using different means. Today
computer-based tools do not
allow us to perform the visual
evaluation and the tactile
evaluation at the same time. The
aim of this research work is to
develop a novel system for the
simultaneous visual and tactile
rendering of product shapes,
thus allowing designers to both
touch and see new product
shapes already during the
product conceptual development
phase.
The proposed system for visual
and tactile shape rendering
consists of a Tactile Display
able to represent in the real
environment the shape of a
product, which can be explored
naturally through free hand
interaction. It allows designers
to explore the rendered
surface through a continuous
touch of curves lying on the
product shape. Ideally, the
1. Proposed Product Design Process
designer selects curves on the
shape surface, which can be
considered as style features
of the shape, and evaluate
the aesthetic quality of these
curves by manual exploration.
In order to physically represent
these selected curves, a flexible
surface is modelled by means
of servo-actuated modules
controlling a physical deforming
strip. The device is designed in
order to be portable, low cost,
modular and high performing
in terms of types of shapes
that can be represented. The
developed Tactile Display can
be effectively used if integrated
with an Augmented Reality
system, which allows rendering
the visual shape on top of the
tactile haptic strip. This allows a
simultaneous representation of
visual and tactile properties of a
shape.
The developed Tactile Display
has been compared with
similar devices, which are
PhD yearbook | 2015
183
currently available both on the
DesiGn
market and in research labs.
In addition, preliminary tests
have been performed with a
group of designers. Both the
comparison and the testing
session have achieved positive
and satisfactory results, which
have highlighted the high
innovative potential of the
system. Several are the benefits
of the Tactile Display used in
the initial conceptual phases of 2. Prototype of the Tactile Display
product design. The designers
will be able to change the shape
of a product according to the
tactile evaluation, before the
development of the physical
prototype. This feature will
allow decreasing the number
of physical prototypes needed
reducing, consequently, both
cost and overall time of the
product development process.
Moreover, designers may
improve their creativity during
the product shape conception,
since they will have the
chance to optimise the design-
evaluation process by evaluating
visual and tactile properties at
the same time. Future works
have been presented, so as to
indicate the future research
to pursue in order to further
improve the design process and
the creativity of designers. 3. Tactile Display integrated with Augmented Reality visualisation system
184
Audiovisual Storytelling for Design
Processes
Walter Mattana - Supervisor: Maria Luisa Galbiati
Today we are living in what
sociologists and mess-
mediologists described as the
narrative era, where the
attainment of the narrative turn
interprets and transforms every
object and every action in a
matter of narration. Telling the
world and doing it through
pictures - seems more easy and
natural as never before.
As a part of the communication
world, the various forms of
audiovisual narrative have
represented - and still represent
- one of the most fertile soil
in terms of research and
experimentation. Over the last
century moving images have
established themselves as one of
the most effective representation
form of contemporary
complexity. Audiovisual
managed to go beyond the
traditional barriers of written-
oral languages - sometimes
inaccessible - thanks to its nature
of language of images and
its intimistic narrative features,
offering itself as one of the
main keys to understand todays
society.
Nowadays, the strength of this
communication phenomenon
si fostered and boosted by
the wide range of repro-visual
instruments and devices and
by the increasing popularity of
digital distribution, sharing and
archiving of audiovisual artifacts,
especially for what concernes
the bottom-up distribution and
consumption. So audiovisual
presence has become pervasive,
occupying spaces and places
until recently inaccessible, and
narrative has spread among
varied and unexpected sectors,
both social and corporate,
entering rightfully in the
processes of marketing, of
corporate training, in politics
and institutional communication,
in clinical and psychological
therapy.
Also in the design world
the theme of narrative is
increansingly common and
it is used in many fields. In
the same way the audiovisual
communication focused on
artifacts, products and services
has become a customary
practice, especially for what
concernes the description of
complex phenomena, in the
construction of scenarios, in the
documentation of design and
manufacturing practices. In this
way the designer also holds the
role of a real communicator, able
to design and to test languages
and visual narratives in order
to represent actual and future
visions of a society in a constant
transformation.
Unfortunately, however, the use
of audiovisual storytelling in
this context is often limited to
an ancillary role or the synergic
application of narrative and
audiovisual strategies is not
entirely effective. In many vases
the cause of these problems
lies in a partial, simplicistic
and sometimes misleading
interpretation of the narrative
concept. Other times, the
enthusiasm for a cultural
fashion or the illusion of a
brand new discovery leads to
forget the existence of an well-
established linguistic tradition.
The enthusiasm with which
different forms of storytelling
are accepted, show how the
field is still fertile and open to
new experimentations, but
at the same time are likely
to turn into an ephemeral
cultural revival. To declare
indistinctly that Nowadays,
everything is storytelling, or
to call narrative any form
of communication - even if
it uses a a little part of the
discoursive techniques - means
to obscure, if not to ignore at
all, the theoretical and linguistic
narratology principles, that
manage the story mechanism.
This PhD research aims to
address the communication
landscape just discussed through
a theoretical reflection about
the role that the audiovisual
has, and can have, in the
design processes and on the
opportunities that the visual
narrative offers in terms of
representation, of knowledge
sharing and documentation.
In order to facing these
issues, this research seeks to
converge on a unique frame of
reference (what in the figure
is graphically represented as
the research cicle) three
distinctive disciplines: the
narratological theory, the media
studies and the Movie Design
(according with the definition
of Marisa Galbiati). Starting
from the studies of cognitivist
psychologist Jerome Seymour
Bruner and particularly from his
concept of narrative thought,
this thesis wants to point out
the fact that storytelling is not
merely identifiable with the
ability to tell stories more or
less interesting and credible, but
is a real system of organization
of thought and culture, a way of
knowledge transmission which
can involve both individuals and
whole communities.
The following step involved
the analysis of semiotics and
narratological studies (Greimas,
Todorov, Eco, Chatman,
Campbell) in order to define
what are the main elements
and mechanisms that constitute
any kind of story (fabula
and discourse, characters,
environments, time, conflicts)
and to describe their particular
characteristics as well as the
relationships that bind them
to each other. The subsequent
investigation involved the nature
of cinematographic language
and the praxis of the filmic
text analysis (Balsz, Metz,
Aumont, Marie, Elsaesser, Burch,
Morin, iek); the theoretical
milieu which contributed the
1. Scheme of the disciplines involved in this research
definition of the grammatical
statutes and the syntax of
audiovisual narrative. A moment
to assert, once again, the close
integration between the world
of narrative and the world of
moving pictures, a bond born
in the past - as we learn from
the history of cinema - that
helps to spread audiovisual
storytelling as a mean of
interpretation, dialogue and
cultural access. The last phase
is dedicated to the analysis of
a particular cinematographic
genre: the industrial film. In
the multifaceted world of
cinema products, this kind of
films has represented the real
ground of exchange among the
design processes, the industrial
manufacturing practices and
the filmic communication. An
area where it was possible
to experience visual narrative
solutions for make the
industrial tasks more clear and
PhD Yearbook | 2015
185
DESIGN
understandable. Discover and
analyze the filmic material that
is emerging today from the
company archives also means
to shed light on the practices
with which the different design
areas have tried to represent
themselves.
Located at the crossroads of
narrative, cinema and the
tradition of the utility films,
the audiovisual storytelling
could be turning in recent
times into a tool for sharing
projects and for facilitating
the design more aware. In this
way the audiovisual narrative
become the true mediator
capable of activating whar John
Grierson one of the fathers of
doocumentary films defined
as the creative treatment of
reality.
186
Design of the un-finished.
Information visualization in mapping social issues through
the web
Michele Mauri - Supervisor: Paolo Ciuccarelli
The web is progressively
becoming the place where we
are shaping the image of our
society: social interactions, news,
official and unofficial documents
are increasingly archived online.
Any public issue and concern
hits the web, leaving traces of
ongoing debates. The rising
questions are: how can we use
these traces to investigate social
issues, such as the adaptation
to climate change? Is it possible
to map these traces to gather a
big picture of the phenomenon?
While the web is a place where
multiple actors are engaging
in discussions about these
issues, several biases affect this
medium. Not all the worlds
population has equal access
to it, not all the debates are
public, and the loudness of
involved actors can be amplified
or weakened by the web as
medium. This makes the web an
unsuitable source to understand
a social issue, as our perception
can be influenced by those
biases. At the same time, the
web is the perfect place for
looking at the public discussion
about issues. On the web is
possible to see who are the most
active actors involved in the
debate, which are the factions
and the fractures among them,
how these relationships change
over time.
In the fields of social sciences
and new media studies it
is possible to see a rising
approach looking at at the
web as a space of discussion
that can be mapped. Adopting
a cartographic metaphor, the
social scientist is seen as a
cartographer, who explores and
describes the debate landscape.
Outputs of these studies are
therefore maps and atlases,
which can be shared with
involved actors to understand
their position in the debate.
Such approaches provide a
sound framework to repurpose
digital traces for social research.
There is a demand for new
visual languages able to
express the complexity of these
studies: communication design
expertise, in particular from the
information visualization field, is
needed. Diagrams are powerful
tools capable of expressing
different layers of the debate,
allowing a formalization of
results providing at the same
time a seamless exploration of
them, from the macro to the
micro view on debate. While
these approaches have been
already discussed in other fields,
few reflections have been done
on the role of design within
the creation of such artifacts.
A European project that joined
researchers from the social
sciences, new media studies
and design fields has made
possible to analyze the role of
diagrammatic tools in issues and
controversy mapping. Two issues
have been identified as case
studies: the ageing phenomenon
in Europe and the adaptation
to climate change. With a first
round of experimentations, it
has been possible to see that
design expertise is not only
related to public communication,
but influences the analysis
process too. Visual artifacts are
indeed used by researchers into
the analysis process, to validate
results and identify errors and
pitfalls.
This research is therefore framed
to explore the influence of visual
artifact within the analysis of
social issues from the web. The
aim is to identify needs and
criticalities whose solution is
supported by design expertize.
Developing visual and interactive
artifacts within the project, it
has been possible to analyze
how researchers and end-users
engage in the use of visual
artifacts. The project gave us
the ability to follow in vivo
the whole process of a social
cartography, observing the
analysis methods evolution, the
criticalities related to the data
collection and to their visual
translation. Furthermore the
project allowed testing different
design approaches and visual
languages, producing several
diagrams and a web-platform
for controversy explorations.
Beyond the achieved results, we
also had the ability to identify
design approaches able to
improve the analysis.
The first part of this research
grounds the mapping of debates
from the web into the literature,
identifying the main concepts
and relating them to the visual
analysis of social phenomena.
Those concepts are not relevant
as background information
but rather for the definition of
design directions. Analyzing
issue-mapping studies carried
out in the last years, emerges
that most of them are based on
the study of digital objects,
seen as the ontological object
provided by each platform (such
as website, social networks,
search engines) on the web. As
designers, we need to know the
features of materials well use
to produce artifacts. The process
of encoding digital objects into
data is therefore investigated.
First, an analysis of digital
object concept is carried
out, highlighting the authorial
choices that must be taken
for its translation into data.
Then, a classification of digital
sources is suggested, describing
the characteristics of digitized
objects, born-digital objects and
re-born digital objects. From the
analysis of already existing tools,
five approaches for repurposing
and translating digital objects
are identified, depending on
the access provided by different
platforms. For each one,
repercussions on design process
are analyzed. Furthermore the
research draws connections
with communication design and
information visualization.
Finally, an analysis of the project
experience is proposed, drawing
on failures and successes
achieved along the process.
The limits of the cartographic
metaphor are explained and
a new approach to analysis
is therefore proposed. The
metaphor has strong influences
PhD Yearbook | 2015
on the design process, as it
suggests that maps can be
drawn while exploring the
territory. From the practical
experience, a two-fold
movement emerges: first, an
exploration of the topic, in
which visual artifacts are used in
quick and frequent iterations by 187
researchers to validate results,
DESIGN
identify errors, and identify
new analysis direction. The
second movement is the way
back toward the end-user, in
which artifacts are repurposed,
redesigned and enriched in
order to make explicit all the
assumptions taken by the
researcher in the exploratory
phase. From this analysis two
main concepts are argued. The
first one is that visual artifacts
must be considered as semi-
finished products, or materials,
supporting the analysis.
Identifying researchers as main
users, artifacts core features
are the quickness of execution,
simplicity in re-executing them,
and the openness to new
analysis actions starting from
them. Semi-products become
outdated at the moment of
their reading, their use is purely
functional to identify new
research directions.
The second concept is closely
related to the previous one, as
the openness of an artifact is not
a by-product of visualizations
but it must be designed:
therefore design actions must be
mainly focused on developing
un-finished artifacts, which are
open to be repurposed and
edited. Finally these artifacts can
be used at the end of the study
to rebuild the analysis evolution,
and to identify key concepts
and findings that should be
communicated to the end user.
188
Museums for the Intercultural City.
Designing for/through local museums and
heritage in multicultural towns and cities
Lucia Parrino - Supervisor: Prof. Eleonora Lupo
Although diversity has
always been a fundamental
characteristic of human societies,
now more than ever, it is central
to the political and research
agenda. Contextually, the
socially active role of museums
and heritage has become
intertwined with cultural
diversity and intercultural
dialogue, and design research
and practice have become
increasingly interested in
addressing social and societal
issues.
In the light of this, my study
developed from a generic
interest in how museums and
design could have a role in
addressing local cultural diversity
issues, such as intercultural
relationships and tensions,
integration processes and so
forth.
With the first phase of the
researchthrough literature
review, contacts with experts,
exploration of case studies and
participatory action researchI
moved from this generic interest
to a more structured conceptual
framework and related aim:
providing local museums with
guidance on how to activate
bottom-up the elements of the
Intercultural City approach, even
in the absence of a local policy
framework that embraces this
strategy.
The concept of Intercultural
City refers to an approach for
the management of diversity in
urban contexts that conceives
diversity as a source of
dynamism, innovation, creativity
and growth, and stresses the
importance of interpersonal
and intercultural encounters.
In Europe, the development
of this approach went hand in
hand with the Intercultural Cities
Programme, a joint action of
the Council of Europe and the
European Commission.
My study is aimed at supporting
especially local museums,
which, because of their being
implicated in the territory,
are accounted as privileged
institutions for being relevant
locally. By virtue of its
aspirational dimension and its
acknowledgement by European
institutions and policy networks,
I have identified the Intercultural
City approach as a reference
for addressing the work of local
museums, which are regarded
as tools potentially able to
influence local dynamics.
In line with those design
approaches that acknowledge
peoples and organisations
creativity and empower them
in finding their own specific
solutions, the outcome of the
study is a metadesign framework
guiding museums in designing
their interventions. This is based
on the idea of the ten elements
of an intercultural strategy
suggested by the Council of
Europe. These suggestions
are mainly addressed to local
governments and policy-makers.
Therefore, in elaborating the
metadesign framework, I have
selected and reinterpreted
them in light of what local
museums can concretely do.
This translation was influenced
and addressed by the museum
practices and projects observed
during the first phase of the
research, all of them originally
conceived and designed without
any explicit reference to the
Intercultural City objectives.
Furthermore, the premise
for the kinds of suggestions
included in the framework lies
in the idea of design practice
as aimed at designing for and
through museums, seen as
transformative services for local
communities. This vision was
informed by the transformation
design practices observed and
developed during the research
process, such as Small
Works Hackney by Clear Village.
Lastly, based on the case of
MUST-Museo del Territorio
Vimercatese and on my active
involvement in the design
process of the exhibition Parole
per accogliere. Parole da
cogliere, I have reflected on how
the Intercultural City metadesign
framework can be used in the
specific context of MUST and its
territory.
With my study, from the point
of view of museums, I have
formalised a reference that
would guide the work of
PhD Yearbook | 2015
189
local museums in relation to
DESIGN
intercultural integration policies
and practices. This can be used
both to support museums and
their partners in designing
their interventions and to
evaluate the compliance with
intercultural integration policies
of their existing activities.
The formalisation of such
framework is in line with the
guiding approach embraced
by museum think tanks and
associations with reference
to cultural diversity and social
inclusion and impact. From the
perspective of design, the study
1. Marlborough Square Project exhibition within Small Works Hackney. Clear
has offered new viewpoints and Village.
experiences on the relationship
between transformation design
and design for cultural heritage
when designing in and for
multicultural places. In particular,
I have framed in the context of
design for cultural heritage the
idea of museums
2. Parole per accogliere. Parole da cogliere at MUST-Museo del Territorio
Vimercatese. COI.
 190
Theoretical/Practical study of an innovative
methodology for medical design: Application
to a wearable biomedical system
Paolo Perego - Supervisor: Prof. eng. Giuseppe Andreoni
In the last decade, the trends
in the development and
management of national
healthcare service are focused
on telemedicine with the aim of
cost reduction. Telemedicine can
be useful to reduce cost thanks
to early de-hospitalization and
diagnosis. These development
drivers can be achieved only
through the use of new
technology oriented to the
production of low cost products,
which can be integrated with
existing system in order to
improve monitoring quality and
possibility. The application of
these technologies on sensible
aspects has to face the main
issue of user acceptance and
usability.
Usability shows how a product
can be exploit by specified users
to achieve specified goals with
effectiveness, efficiency and
satisfaction in a specific context
of use (ISO 26800 Ergonomics.
General approach, principles
and concepts, ISO 9241-11
hardware usability and ISO/IEC
9126 software usability). The
acceptance is instead defined as
how the information technology
can be accepted or rejected by
people. In particular:
Perceived usefulness: The
degree to which a person
believes that using a particular
system would enhance his or
her job performance.
Perceived ease of use: the
degree to which a person
believes that using a particular
system would be free of effort.
Starting from these two
concepts, this doctoral thesis
study a new method for
the development of a new
biomedical device for tele-
medicine. The research has been
divided into five parts.
The first part concerns on users:
the research focuses on studying
market and epidemiology in
order to identify who are the
users that will use the products,
which are their main features
and how many different kinds of
users the product has to meet.
Once the users have been
selected, the research focuses
on these subjects in order to
extract the user NWDs (Needs,
Wants, Desires). These operation
has been done using some
qualitative analysis technique
(Interview, Focus groups,
Workshop). In this research,
the work with the users, and
particularly the qualitative
analysis, is accomplish both
in the early and final stage of
development. This method
allows for optimizing the design
of the product minimizing the
cost of development. Users are
also involved in the final tests
to verify two main aspects: the
usability (how the system is easy
to use) and the efficiency (how
the device is able to give correct
and reliable outputs to the
users). The second part explain
the technics (interviews, focus
PhD Yearbook | 2015
191
groups, workshops) used for have been used in order to
DESIGN
acquiring data from users in retrieve information form the
different stages of development. users which could be otherwise
The users NWDs are then gathered only in the final test
exploited as main inputs to phase. In this part the thesis
build the new biomedical shows all the techniques used
device. The third part consists for developing software mock-
in the development of the up and then the real software/
hardware; this work uses a apps necessary for signal
concrete system development acquisition, processing and
example to demonstrate the visualization.
proposed reliability and the The last chapters of the thesis
applied method. This method reports data form the final test
is specifically applied in the of the system with real users
development of a wearable as well as the problems, future
system, device and smart developments and conclusion.
garment, for weak people.
The system has the purpose
to continuously monitor the
cardiac state of the subjects
(weak users). The weak users
are defined in this case as babies
and elderlies. The process shows
different stage of development
with some subsequent version
of the hardware due to
the integration of data and
idea arising from the users
involvement and from the data
acquired through the qualitative
analysis.
The forth part is similar to
the third but concerns on the
software of the system. In this
part the research focuses on
the development of software
(particularly GUI - Graphical 1. Outline methodology for healthcare product/system development.
User Interface) starting from
the users NWDs highlighted in
the previous step. In this forth
part, different procedure for
Mock-up and Wizard of Oz
192
Faking Nature
Davide Rapp - Relatore: Maurizio Vogliazzo
The forms, the colours and the
mechanisms of Nature have
always been an influence on
the production of objects and
the design processes at different
scales, both indoor and outdoor.
This influence reveals itself in
an often unbalanced mix of
imitation and invention, simple
resemblance and understanding
of deeper mechanisms.
Today industrial design seems
to be progressively acquiring an
hybrid character that aims at
the creation of objects inspired
by natural processes, through
the integration of technology
and biology. As a result, an
ever-growing environmental
awareness gave the birth of a
design for sustainability or, in
its most simplistic and popular
reduction, to the so-called green
design.
The use of the word green,
adopted in lieu of the term
sustainable, coincides with
the attempt to reinstate the
image of design as natural
practice, symbolic and positive,
by referring to Natures
most evident and superficial
characteristic: its colour.
This exchange gives way to
contradictions and linguistic
ambiguities: on the one hand
green design promotes objects
that are environmentally aware;
on the other hand it allows for
the creation of designs that are
far removed from any ecological
value and that are hidden under
a green make-up, a camouflage
that can be either chromatic or
formal. It is the contradictory
and double-nature dimension of
objects of natural appearance,
products that create a fake
Nature within the domestic
walls.
This false environment -
populated by trees/clothes
hangers, grass fields/carpets
and cactus/toilet brushes - is
amplified by the technical
possibility to reproduce every
environmental condition in
a closed environment. Air
conditioned hangars guarantee
- 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, 365 days a year - snow
covered tracks in Dubai and
tropical beaches in Berlin.
And what happens outdoors?
Mobile phone towers disguised
as pine trees are hiding in the
woods, accompanied by the first
specimen of photovoltaic trees.
Do we still have the genuine
experience of nature? Where
is the boundary between
reproduction and imposture?
Are we setting up a fake
domestic nature in order to
replace the real one?
The research project aims at
ordering and interpreting design
practices that are inspired by
the forms and mechanisms
of nature, to determine the
characters of the fake Nature
that is made up of objects,
materials and environments
simply interpreted in a
naturalistic key.
The different contents of the
research are articulated in a
continuous stream of text,
images and graphic apparat,
using diversified linguistic
approaches.
In the first part the juxtaposition
of photographs, drawings
and diagrams collected and
selected over three years
represents a selection of design
experiences without the use
of words. A series of over 100
images creates a sequence of
case study couples in order to
try and determine ambiguities
and contradictions in the design
practices inspired by Nature
from the end of the 60s till
today. The images, edited
and hosted within the same
graphic frame are alternated,
revealing visual assonances and
dissonances. In the descriptive
texts the reiteration of the same
analytical structure description
of case a, description of case b,
confrontation between cases a
and b defines a systematic and
homogenous way of reading.
The sequence of texts and
images follows a reverse scale
order, going progressively from
landscape to object.
In the second part the
drawing becomes the decisive
instrument of enquiry. The
research proposes a taxonomy
system that is able to order
and interpret the languages,
functionalities and contradictions
of the peculiar category of
objects: the analysis of formal,
dimensional, chromatic, material
and descriptive characteristics
of over 200 objects is rendered
through 70 different graphic
boards, divided into 3 distinct
list. An herbarium, a bestiarium
and a lapidarium show the
collections of objects that
have a false vegetal, animal
and mineral appearances.
By changing graphics, words
and classification practices
inspired by the natural sciences,
the different specimen are
interpreted from a transversal
point of view, unbound from
functionality and aiming at
pinpointing the recurrent
characters of reproduction
and falsification of the natural
components.
The graphical rendition in
plan and elevation of the
200 selected examples, allows
for their systematic study and
defines the necessary database
homogenous which is the
base for the analytic phase.
The objects are re-read and
interpreted starting from
their appearance, form the
correspondence of their form
to a kingdom and specie,
coherently with the intentions
declared by the designers
and brands. By forgoing a
classification based solely on
function it is possible to notice
differences and analogies
between specimens that mimic
the same natural element, in
an enquiry that overturns the
ironic and analytic attitude of
Bruno Munari who, in Good
Design (1963) transfigures fruit,
vegetables and flowers into
objects.
The composition of the
taxonomical boards highlights
characteristics and details which
would be difficult to analyze
PhD Yearbook | 2015
through catalogue pictures.
The confrontation of the
boards made ad hoc and the
commercial description of the
objects provided by designer
and companies underlines
dissonances between design
intentions and outcomes.
Analytic statistics on materials 193
and prevailing colours take
DESIGN
the specimens back to that
concreteness that as functional 1. Fake Herbarium, leaves.
objects - they posses.
Photographs, drawings and
analytic texts take turn in
describing the object of the
enquiry - a fake Nature that
proliferates both indoor and
outdoor through a transversal
and multilayered gaze. In the
described design experiences,
the use of forms, colours and
words taken from the natural
world ideal and abstract is
intertwined with expectations
often disappointed of
environmental respect and
safeguard, uncovering a desire
2. Fake Bestiarium, birds.
for legitimation which is
dominantly aesthetic.
3. Fake Lapidarium, stones.
 194
Navigating through Trends and
Anticipation: An Advanced Design
perspective on Reframing practices
Jennifer-Ellen Rudkin - Relatore: Flaviano Celaschi - Co-relatore: Manuela Celi
This research results from the
observation of a constantly
changing design landscape,
repetitions, alterations,
and disruptions, a flow of
information that are as many
representations of innovation.
Paced by a continuous update
of its productions, Design
activity is driven by a goal - the
improvement of the quality of
life. However, innovation does
not always come out as novelty
nor as improvement. In the very
least, each design action reveals
itself differently depending on
the perspective we bring to bear
on it. As a result, it is difficult to
ascertain the designers political
and/or social commitment in
any new production. As per
this assessment, the following
questions are raised: What are
the driving forces that determine
the direction and outcome of a
design production? How much
control over change is in the
hands of the designer? How
does design take charge of the
future?
The methodology adopted to
answer these questions is mainly
qualitative, beginning from an
opportunity space rather than a
problem space and refining the
domain of inquiry along with the
acquisition of knowledge.
The study takes place, within
the context of an Advanced
Design framework, driven by
four characteristics: design
anticipation; design in absence
of market constraints, disruptive
design and design of meta-
tools - the components of a
process (Celaschi, 2014; Celi,
2014). In accordance, the
research positions itself at the
Fuzzy Front End of Innovation
recognized as a problematic
space for the Design activity due
to the strong implications of
insight and tacit knowledge. The
argument that a conscious and/
or unconscious implication of
trends at the early stages of the
design process, can direct the
project towards a meaningful
innovation has weaknesses.
These can be addressed by a
variant approach that seeks
to make better sense of the
contemporaneity of change.
The flux, as the backbone of
the research, connects all the
parts together as well as it
connects objects to meaning,
to people, to nature, to
space and time. And those
are the many connections to
integrate at the beginning
of the design process when
gleaning information, framing
the field of action, envisioning
the new, and reiterating the
process for the fine-tuning of
the imagined possibilities. All of
this contributes to building the
future. A future that, according
to the design literature,
encompasses three expectations:
critical, sustainable and creative.
Anticipation and Design are
intimately connected. The first
and most direct demonstration
that comes to mind, is reference
to the Italian derivative of the
word design, progettazione,
meaning to project, to set
forth, directly connecting
design and future. To Design
is to Project. From this vantage
point the study moved towards
the exploration of anticipation
as an approach embedded
in other disciplines. This lead
initially to a comparative analysis
of the many fields that use
anticipation. Then, to a focus
on the three fields that are most
implicated in the gathering of
qualitative information, mainly
socially situated trends; i.e.
Fashion, Foresight and Design.
Taking into account the
importance of trends within the
socially engaged practices of
Fashion, Foresight and Design,
raises the question, Should
we reconcile with trends?
Looking into trends is a difficult
task because of the many layers
of meaning that have been
given to them and the mystical
powers that come into play.
Nevertheless, the study finds its
way through the confusion of
appearances within the three
disputed fields, by kneading
the trends representation and
via experiments that reveal the
limits of its mechanism and
content. The experiments rely
on the field of food, given that
it seems safe to expect that
food is a constant human need.
Unlike other design productions
that can easily disappear, food
is therefore a stable basis that
contrasts with fleeting trends
and allows perception of
change. The findings underpin
the untamable quality of trends;
interconnected, open structures
that irradiate, multiply and
release contagious energies that
annul all distinction between
past, present and future. The
trend, in its living state, is of
interest to the design project in
search of pieces of information
that will make the difference in
social and cultural contexts and
in the future.
Keeping the frame of the
research fixed on the early
stages of the design process,
having made sense of the
perceivable representations of
change, the inquiry moves to
the analysis of the terrain where
change is most effervescent,
the present. The hypothesis
that emerged from the study
of trends is that people may
be the best informants of
meaningful change, placing
all their expectations in the
moment not yet formed - the
future. This analysis begins by
questioning the motivations
of participatory co-design
practices and rapidly moves into
a debate on creativity. This issue,
motivated by a will to change
becomes stifled because of
collective consensus and biases.
Design is not concerned only
PhD Yearbook | 2015
195
with the question of designing room to recognize change that
DESIGN
functions, but more so with will nurturing innovation, a
that of designing behaviors. designer meditator, trickster,
The conversations are necessary magnifier, and advanced
for the design process, but the designer.
way in which people participate
in creating a design vision is not
systematic and can happen at
different levels. This is confirmed
by the many possibilities of
interpreting the present. The
now is multifaceted, mixing
past, future and experienced
moments, its richness is
recognized by Future Studies
that do not predict the future
but look at the way in which the
present can inform the creation
of alternatives paths.
Finally, the findings suggests
the need to implement stand-
by tricks for developing
awareness of the many realities
that make up the thickness of
the present. Reframing, as a
practice that allows the offset
of preconceived ideas of what
the future should look like,
is illustrated with examples
taken from various disciplines
of anticipation. The underlying
idea is that reframing offers the
capacity to adapt to change
and to grasp the emerging
challenges of the present this,
as a consequence of open
meaningful conversations
driven by sincere creativity. The
Advanced intervention of design
is recognized by the potential
of the design practitioner to
continuously step aside, giving
196
Sensemaking in Furniture Design
Francesco Ruffa - Supervisor: Agnese Rebaglio
Contemporary home
environment comes from the
disintegration of traditional
symbolic structures. The
emancipation from bourgeois
moral tensions allows us a new
structuration of environment.
Dweller puts personally pieces
of furniture in his own home
environment and can wonder
about on the links furniture
maintains with its formal quality,
the production that generated it,
the actions it invites to perform
or the interactions it makes
possible. The new setting is no
more symbolic. The pieces of
furniture do not comply with
a predetermined order but
represent the worldview of the
person who combined them
together.
Home furniture is generally
considered low-tech and
requires research mainly in
the not technological area of
meaning. Furthermore, semantic
experience has generally a
perceptive origin and is linked
more to the manifest meanings
deriving from cultural context
then to the latent meanings
experienced in use and
appropriation of object.
We can consider a piece of
furniture as a sign, which
we sense, and it signifies the
connection between us and the
culture we belong to. Therefore,
semiotics is central in this work,
because it is the discipline
studying sign and in particular
the relationship between sign
and its other, its signified
concept.
According to a first general
classification, semiotics of last
century has lived a contrast
between two capital theoretical
lines. One is the linguistic theory,
which lets us replace a sign
with a meaning determined
by convention. The other one
is born from the contribution
of Charles Sanders Peirce
and is based on a logical-
cognitive system allowing the
interpretation of sign as an
inference.
This work refers to Peirces
Semiotics, involving
interpretation. If culture were a
simple system of conventional
symbols, experience would
be only recognition. But, if
culture is seen as a continuous
interactive process which we
cannot simplify, something new
may join experience through
the interpretation of intrinsic
features of object. In other
words, experience of project
and interpretation, on which
Peirces Semiotics focuses on, are
strongly linked.
The core of the strategic design
of furniture is an interpretative
activity mostly involving the
existing artifacts of reference
sector. This activity is essentially
an abductive process informed
by inference, and we can call it
sensemaking.
A methodology would allow
designers / art directors to
visualize and organize the
process of sensemaking. The
advantages would be various,
in addition to determining
effective innovation paths:
sharing interpretative process
with other members of
design team and with other
corporate areas; transferring
the interpretative criterion
within company, limiting the
importance of individuals;
facilitating the relationship
with clients or managers, who
would understand more easily
the influence of research work
on the result. Nevertheless, the
most designers do not follow
a systematic methodology,
but they instinctively interpret
objects by counting on their
experience, without a real
externalization.
Semiotics and methodology
are convergent issues: we can
mean design semiotics as a
methodology, study of methods
specifying where and how to
order and interpret the objects
of a system where we have to
act. We use this methodology
to define what is possible to do,
which is both understanding
links of meaning (sensemaking)
and being able to managing
them (sensegiving).
After a theoretical discussion,
the process of sensemaking
systematized in this thesis
considers each piece of furniture
as a design entity evoking one
principal concept in interpreters
mind. Each object can get
four kinds of relationship with
concept: similarity, effectuality,
causality and convention.
In a relationship of similarity,
a piece of furniture imitates
with qualitative differentiations
a concrete object. Similarity
tends to promote the expression
of designer in the imitation
of the physical thing directly
represented.
In a relationship of effectuality,
a piece of furniture is meant as
trace of a certain past activity a
technique of production, the use
of a material, a local decoration,
etc. The main goal of designer
lies in the selection of this social
practice.
In a condition of causality, a
piece of furniture facilitates
a determined future action.
Here the goal of designer is the
exhortation of a wished action
toward a passive subject.
The relationship of convention,
finally, is based on a piece
of furniture sharing with
user a code necessary to
understand its performing
properties. The central issue
of this representation is the
participation of person in
performance.
Domestic furniture, more
than other objects, represents
the links of man in respect
to himself or other people. It
links or divides individuals, and
takes on formal properties of
differentiation or integration.
Furniture shows unique
qualities to represent users
internally order, whereas it
shows collective practices to
emphasize social identity. If we
focus on the four identified
semantic areas, we can see
that two of them similarity
/ expression and causality /
exhortation tend to promote
a differentiation of both shape
and individual in respect of the
reference context. The other two
areas effectuality / selection
and convention / participation
emphasize the integration
of an external order. Well-
balanced furniture may have
different forms of relationship
with concept, including both
the presence of community
through effectuality or
convention and the personal
connection between designer
and consumer through
similarity or causality.
Finally, the thesis formulates
a guiding principle for the the
generation of a concept map.
This represents graphically
the mental model of creators
and guides understanding
of gathered material both
by the creation (implying
a value judgment) and by
the visualization (illustrating
connections). Design team
progressively places and
organizes according to
semantic areas pictures taken
from reference context and may
integrate the map with notes,
based on personal experiences.
The map may be a big physical
surface or a digital file, with
dynamic nature and the option
to be shared. The actions of
mapping come in a circular way:
1. Collecting and organizing
images in accordance with the
four mentioned areas;
2. Grouping images according
to homogeneous evoked
concepts;
3. Connecting groups of
images placed in all areas
in accordance to common
cultural macro-themes.
The creation and the use
of a concept map provide
semantically coherent groups of
furniture, able to evoke cultural
PhD Yearbook | 2015
issues which they are traces
of. These groups form design
patterns, from which sensegiving
starts. In the case of a market-
pull process, where pursued
innovation is incremental, design
decision can overlap to one
design pattern. If the goal is
formulating disrupting ideas, art 197
director can use a method called
DESIGN
insight combination: individual
insights of design issue are
linked one-to-one to single
design patterns, which later are
creatively combined to look for
new semantic keys.
The main value of this research
lies in considering the whole
conscious experience, by
evaluating it not only for what
is based on convention but also
for not symbolic meanings,
experienced and interpreted
directly. In furniture design like
in arts subject may suppose
senders purpose through an
interpretative approach, similar
to that one applied to natural
phenomena. This thesis sets up a
meaning theory more congruent
with design practice, dealing
with a not always codified
relationship between designer
and consumer.
 198
DESIGN PROCESSES FOR ONLINE KNOWLEDGE,
USE AND ENHANCEMENT OF ARCHIVES
AND THE MODERN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
Anna Santi - Supervisor: Prof. Fulvio Irace
Analog/Digital archives
The research starts with
a reconsideration of the
humanistic model of information
transmission, here represented
by the archives, highlighting
the new possibilities offered
by digital technologies.
Although specifically focusing
on architecture and design
archives, the thesis discusses the
changing patterns in information
communication in contemporary
society, which embodies strong
technological features, trying to
make connections between the
humanistic and scientific fields.
The conviction gained over the
years of theoretical research
and action in some of the most
important archive institutions
in this field -- such as the
Canadian Centre for architecture
in Montreal, the Royal Institute
or British Architects in London,
the Netherland Institute of
Architecture in Rotterdam, the
Museo delle Arti del XXI secolo
and the Museo di Arte Moderna
e Contemporanea di Trento
e Rovereto, among others, is
that digital technologies and
participative models amplify the
opportunities for the diffusion
of information of archives
materials.
Architecture and design digital
archives, with databases
and descriptive metadata,
reproductions, 3D models, audio
and video, displayed on portals
and websites and integrated
with new-generation content,
become media platforms and
new communication models
for a dynamic and open
diffusion. Internet is the logical
extension of free access to
archive institutions: intuitive
interfaces, efficient search
engines and attractive electronic
devices foster the attention and
engagement for new forms
of informal learning, potential
knowledge experiences, as well
as new curatorial and scientific
horizons, without physical or
temporal boundaries.
Digital archives of architecture
and design, although in their
niche discipline, contribute
to the spiraling growth of
digital heritage by circulating
representations of a rich
and extravagant repertoire:
drawings, sketches, notes,
models, photographs, audio,
video, etc., often activated via
typologies, thematic paths,
geo localizations, etc. They
preserve the testimonies of
architecture, objects and creative
thoughts on design of the
modern heritage that built the
today contemporary landscapes
forging contemporary aesthetics.
Great masters, such as Le
Corbusier, Gropius, Mies vad
der Rohe, Aalto, in Europe;
Whrigt and Buckinster Fuller
in the USA, in Italy, Terragni,
Figini, Pollini, Libera, Lingeri,
along with Ponti, Michelucci,
Pagano, Moretti, then the group
BBPR, Magistretti, Castiglioni,
Albini, Gardella, among others,
have become milestones in the
Architectural archive institutions_map
history of modern architecture
and references for entire
generations, for helping spread
a modern idea of living by the
principles of geometric rigor,
functionality, new technologies
and innovative materials.
As a witness of evolution in
progress, the research examines
how digitization and online
dissemination of archival content
entail a necessary redefinition of
the archives role and activities,
stimulating a radical rethinking
of the entire institutional
organization and representation
open for a wider audience.
The interactive, multimedia and
participatory digital models
present new opportunities for
the enhancement and fruition
in both the organization of
the exhibition (exhibitions in
situ) and dissemination in the
network (portals and websites):
exhibitions and cultural
programs in situ open up to
transversal variations of design
topics (planning, architecture,
design, territory, etc.), and
to issues of contemporaneity
(environment, climate,
urban development, health,
multimedia experience they
PhD Yearbook | 2015
exhibit the characteristics and
activities of each institution.
The innovative categories of
enhancement and
communication of the archives
contribute to the transformation
and updating of the archives
and to the definition of new
social and cultural practices, 199
while attempting to provide
DESIGN
answers to meaning of the role
of archives today, through the
promotion of their contents,
new curatorial processes, new
professionals and the public
engagement.
The research attempts
to demonstrate how the
migration, etc.). Furthermore, informative and interactive
they include the contribution principle of technologies,
and participation of visitors and coupled with favorable
open their collections cyclically social dynamics, presents an
putting all the materials from opportunity for the archives
the archives on display; to be transformed into many
web sites and portals as piazze del sapere, where
authentic publishing projects everyone can find, identify, and
are considered the new nurture their own interest, and
communication tools for memories can be relived through
online dissemination. They also free and creative forms of
provide fertile testing ground interpretation and elaboration;
for communication design. those infinite narratives able to
as platforms of multimedia weave the threads of the past
experience. As platforms of with those of the future.
Architectural archive institutions_timeline
 200
Design for public-interest services.
Citizen participation and collaborative infrastructures in
times of societal transformation
Daniela Selloni - Supervisor: Anna Meroni
This doctoral research originates
from observation of those
people who are most active in
our society: groups of citizens
who self-organize to solve their
own problems, by starting to
transform what is already there
without waiting for a bigger,
top-down change.
Creative communities, active
citizenship, social movements,
whatever you want to call them,
these forms of activism are
shaping our cities and they are
developing an alternative system
of services between amateur
and professional, public and
private, market and society,
profit and not for profit.
This starting point is a positive
phenomenon, even moving
from a context characterized
by wide social and economic
transformations that have
resulted in a long crisis. In fact,
the first part of this doctoral
dissertation is devoted to
framing the renewed activism
on the part of citizens, by
connecting it with the wider
concept of social innovation
and drawing a system of
relationships with new forms of
economy, such as collaborative
consumption or sharing
economy and new forms of
welfare, known as relational
welfare, second welfare etc.
All these movements basically
explore new ways of offering
services and this is the authors
specific interest as a researcher
in design for services, which
represents the main area
of study in this doctoral
dissertation. Hence, the author
attempted to develop these new
forms of service by creating the
definition of public-interest
services, which focuses on
its hybrid nature: the provider
of such services is a system
composed of different actors
sharing the same values and
acting in the public interest;
they are services that emerge
from the bottom-up and they
often show a high level of
disorganization and transience,
sometimes they are just
initiatives that are not able to
evolve.
The author questioned what
design can do for such activities,
not only design for services,
but also participatory design
and all forms of co-creation
that range from co-design to
co-production, precisely because
the protagonists of these
initiatives are users, citizens who
already practise collaboration
and sharing.
The research question
is therefore a series of
consequential questions: how
not to waste citizen activism?
How to strengthen the various
bottom-up initiatives? How
to transform these activities
into public-interest services
that are effective, efficient,
and sustainable both from
an environmental and social
point of view? What kind of
infrastructure could support
this transformation? How could
design contribute in creating this
infrastructure?
The term infrastructure and the
related verb infrastructuring of citizen activism that she had
are crucial for this doctoral
dissertation, because they are
the object and action, indeed project Feeding Milan Energy
the product and process of for changes, which is dedicated
the research. Therefore the
hypothesis is that the creation
of a dedicated infrastructure to
co-design with citizens building
upon their existing initiatives
may avoid their weakening and
ultimate failure, facilitating the
emergence of a new generation
of public-interest services and
the creation of a catalyst for
local change, hopefully fostering
the encounter between the
top-down (institutions) and the
bottom-up (active citizens).
To verify this hypothesis the
author adopted a methodology
that combines two major
strategies: case studies and
participatory action research. For
the former, she analysed existing
practices, and for the latter,
she carried out research testing
one possible infrastructure to
support specific initiatives in a
selected context.
In exploring case studies the
author analysed existing forms
of activism and collaboration,
from civic participation
networks, to social movements,
public art and collaborative
services in various fields of daily
life. Thus she attempted to
understand if there are existing
infrastructures dedicated to
support such activities and
this exploration produced a
taxonomy of places, entities and
organizations defined as Public
Innovation Places.
In her participatory action
research experimentation, the
author immersed herself in a
specific context: Zone 4 in the
city of Milan. She started with
this neighbourhood because
there was already a high level
related service model, the
encountered when working
with Polimi DESIS Lab on the
and co-produce public-interest
services.
to exploring new types of
food systems. And therefore
food became the key-subject
around which she established a
fundamental connection with
this community of citizens.
After one-years immersion
within the local context, the
author developed the project
Creative Citizens, a programme
of weekly co-design sessions
on four main topics: food
services, services for sharing
goods and skills, cultural
services, legal and bureaucratic
services. Creative Citizens is
at the centre of this doctoral
research because it researched
an actual infrastructuring
process in the existing initiatives,
by using design for services
and participatory design and
thus creating a meeting space
for citizens, designers, local
stakeholders and institutions,
if only for six months and on a
small scale.
Furthermore, the author was
able to extend her participatory
action research to a second
context: the Lower East Side
in New York City. Here she
researched another type of
infrastructure: the NYC Office
of Public Imagination, focused
essentially on the collaboration
between citizens and the
Municipality of New York and
thus exploring an innovative
connection between bottom-
up and top-down through
participatory design.
The results of this doctoral
dissertation can be divided into
two main parts: one focuses
on services generated during
Creative Citizens and the
other discusses a collaborative
infrastructure to co-design
to the more recent one as
activist with proposals, and
The first part considers the
services originated within
Creative Citizens as actual
results. This is perhaps an
element of originality: the
general purpose of a PhD is
to produce new knowledge
about a topic, and, in this
case, a methodology based
on action research also led to
the creation of effective field
results, six services (Objects
Library, Augmented Time Bank,
Citizens Help Desk, Facecook,
Local Distribution System, Zone
4 Ciceros) that are currently
evolving in different directions
and have produced an impact
on the neighbourhood. On
the basis of these results the
author attempted to extract a
service model, building upon
that of collaborative services and
outlining a set of characteristics.
The second part of the results
has a wider perspective: it offers
a model for infrastructuring
informal activities in public-
interest services, describing
a process that is potentially
replicable in other contexts,
starting from meeting a
PhD Yearbook | 2015
community and going through
the phases of co-design, co-
production and co-management.
This focuses more on
participatory design and social
innovation, and developing
several aspects. The first deals
with the idea of creating a
fab-lab of services, the second 201
reflects on a possible financial
DESIGN
model for these infrastructures,
building upon the notions of
corporate social responsibility
and shared value.
Finally, the author reflected on
the role of designer within these
processes: from the traditional
role as facilitator with tools
she introduced a possible role of
designer as advocate sustaining
citizens initiatives.
In this doctoral research the
author essentially reflected
on how to design new forms
of citizen participation within
society, aiming at supporting
public interest, which is also
connected to the design of new
forms of democracy and of the
re-distribution of power. Design
is entering unprecedented
stages: this is an open question
for further research, in which
the relationship of design,
democracy and politics will form
the starting point.
202
Interface Design for User Decision
Improvement in E-commerce
Dongning Yan - Supervisor: Alberto Colorni Vitale
Customer reviews in E-commerce
are playing an important and
unique role; a staggering 90
percent of people use and
monitor reviews in their online
purchasing process [10].
However, the overwhelming
number of reviews and
inconsistent writing style require
significant effort to read and tend
to let important information slip
by. Given that people examine
the attributes of a product to
evaluate whether the product fits
their desire, a number of systems
have summarized customer
reviews by extracting features
and associating sentiment
toward each feature. Liu et
al. (2005) [5] and Carenini et
al. (2009) [2] used bar charts
to show the sentiment of
summarized features. Carenini
et al. (2006) [1] summarized user
reviews in the form of a Tree
map by representing a feature
as a rectangle with nested
rectangles corresponding to the
descendants of the feature. In
addition to numerical ratings,
Yatani (2011) [9] used adjective-
noun word pairs to summarize
the sentiment (adjective) towards
each feature (noun) to help users
explore reviews in greater detail.
In most conditions of online
shopping, online purchasing can
be viewed as a decision-making
process from the perspective
of the customer [3]. In light of
human decision-making theory,
we learn that the same decision
maker appears to selectively
adopt information and use
a wide variety of strategies
contingent on decision properties
[7]. In general, an effective
information display depends
on two matches: on the one
hand, the match between the
importance of information for
the decision maker and the
salience of the information
display [6] and, on the other
hand, the congruence between
the information format and the
way information is processed
[8]. Hence, the foundation of
designing information displays
for user decision improvement is
gaining a deep understanding of
human decision-making behavior.
Some researchers investigated
how people use online rating
to make choices. For example,
Lelis S. and Howes A. (2011)
suggested that people gather
more information for the best
alternative and take more time
to inspect reviews of lower rating
[4]. However, no clear picture
exists to systematically describe
how consumers make purchase
decisions in E-commerce, in
particular, with respect to
customer reviews.
In this paper, we take online
hotel booking as an example
to empirically investigate
consumer decision-making
behavior in three stages of
online purchasing: (1) screening
out interesting alternative(s)
for further consideration, (2)
evaluating alternatives in detail,
and (3) comparing candidates to
make the final choice. Interfaces
that aggregate information from
customer reviews have been
developed to support the three
alternative stages. Through
analysis of the results, we identify
the decision strategies users
utilize to process information and
the information they are inclined
to seek at each stage. These
findings lay solid groundwork to
design E-commerce interfaces for
consumer decision improvement.
Concerning user decision-making
behavior in the stage of screening
out interesting alternatives,
we find that: (1) 94% of
participants began by eliminating
alternatives with values for an
attribute below a cut-off to
simplify the complexity of the
choice; (2) 55.3% of participants
eliminated alternatives by both
static features (i.e., product
specifications) and customer
reviews. Moreover, the number
of users who adopted opinion
attributes (i.e., attributes
extracted from customer
reviews) is significantly higher
than that using an overall
review score; and (3) the cut-
off values are determined by
the value distribution of an
attribute and correlation among
attributes, in addition to stable
preference. Grounded in these
user decision-making behaviors,
we framed two alternative
designs for an opinion-attribute-
embedded filter panel based on
checkboxes and sliders. In the
checkbox interface, the filter
for each attribute is represented
in the form of an array of N
checkboxes, which is utilized in
most E-commerce websites. In
the slider interface, the filter for
each numerical attribute (i.e.,
price and opinion attributes) is
represented by a modified slider,
which visualizes the distribution
of an attribute via bars and the
correlation among attributes
via simultaneous change. Then,
we performed a user study to
compare the two alternative
designs in the context of online
hotel booking. The results
show that people depended
highly on opinion attributes
to narrow down the range of
options in both interfaces, which
points to the effectiveness of
incorporating opinion attributes
in filters. And the slider interface
achieves significantly higher user
assessments in terms of perceived
decision accuracy, cognitive
effort, pleasantness to use and
intention to return.
After narrowing down options to
a smaller set, 40% of participants
adopted a more compensatory
strategy Weighted Additive
Difference, i.e., comparing
the remaining alternatives on
multiple attributes and selecting
the alternative with the best
overall value. More notably,
significantly more participants
compared alternatives by opinion
attributes in comparison with
those associated with an overall
review score. Therefore, we
developed a multi-attribute
sorting panel embedded with
opinion attributes. Furthermore,
the multi-attribute sorting
panel was expanded to three
alternative designs that mainly
differ in the way of eliciting
relative importance for attributes:
(1) direct assessment, asking
users to directly assign weights
to attributes; (2) indifference
method, modifying one of two
sets of stimuli until subjects
feel that there is no difference
between the two; and (3)
indirect measurement, giving
relative preference on a pair of
alternatives. Through analysis
of objective and subjective
measures, the multi-attribute
sorting was verified to be
beneficial to consumer online
purchasing. The direct way
outperforms the indifference
and indirect ways regarding
perceived decision accuracy,
cognitive effort, satisfaction and
intent to use in an E-commerce
environment.
Informed by the results of the
above user studies, we have
derived a set of guidelines on
how to design interfaces for
consumer purchase decision
improvement in E-commerce.
Reference
1. Carenini G., Ng R.T., and Pauls
A. Interactive multimedia
summaries of evaluative
Interfaces text. In Proceedings
of the 11th International
Conference on Intelligent
User interfaces (IUI 06), pp.
124131, 2006. ACM.
2. Carenini G. and Rizoli L. A
multimedia interface for
facilitating comparisons of
opinions. In Proceedings of the
14th International Conference
on Intelligent User Interfaces
(IUI 09), pp. 325334, 2009.
ACM.
3. Chen L. Towards Three-Stage
Recommender Support
for Online Consumers:
Implications from a User Study.
Web Information Systems
Engineering WISE 2010,
6488: 365-375, 2010.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
4. Lelis S. and Howes A.
Informing decisions: how
people use online rating
information to make choices.
In Proceedings of the SIGCHI
Conference on Human Factors
in Computing Systems CHI 11,
pp. 2285-2294. 2011. ACM.
5. Liu B., Hu M., and Cheng J. 203
Opinion observer: analyzing
DESIGN
and comparing opinions on
the Web. In Proceedings of the
14th International Conference
on World Wide Web, pp.
342351, 2005. ACM.
6. MacGregor D. and Slovic
P. Graphical representation
of judgmental information.
Journal of Human-Computer
Interaction, 2 (3): 179-200,
1986.
7. Payne J. W. Task complexity
and contingent processing
in decision making:
an information search
and protocol analysis.
Organizational Behavior and
Human Performance, 16 (2):
366-387, 1976.
8. Todd P. and Benbasat I. The
influence of decision aids
on choice strategies: An
experimental analysis of
the role of cognitive effort.
Organizational Behavior and
Human Decision Processes, 60
(1): 36-74, October 1994.
9. Yatani K., Novati M., Trusty
A., and Truong K.N. Review
spotlight: a user interface for
summarizing user-generated
reviews using adjective-noun
word pairs. In Proceedings
of the SIGCHI Conference on
Human Factors in Computing
Systems CHI 11, pp. 1541
1550, 2011. ACM.
10. https://moderncomment.com/
customer-feedback-stats
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206
DOCTORAL PROGRAM
Design and Technologies
for Cultural Heritage
One of the goals of the Maastricht Treaty is to promote the
Chair: harmonic, balanced and sustainable development of economic
Prof. Elena Mussinelli activities, and not-inflating economic growth.
To achieve this purpose, the European Community has adopted a
series of policies that, in addressing Culture, point out two main
themes:
cultural heritage as a tool to promote historic identities of lands;
cultural heritage as a tool to promote a new economic
development.
Following this direction, the PhD in Design and Technologies for
Cultural Heritage is crafted to train new specialists equipped
with an integrated skill set for the operation, management and
valorization of cultural heritage.
Building on a wide background, the program reaches to
interdisciplinary cultural areas and provides methodological and
applicative tools developed in cooperation with institutions, private
companies, governmental bodies and associations actively involved
with cultural heritage, tailoring specific approaches and paying
particular attention to the potential development of innovative
skills.
The three year educational curriculum is based on:
the history, critique and technologies for the restoration and
preservation of historic heritage;
strategies and methods for heritage dissemination;
design and technologies for the fruition of cultural, environmental
and landscape resources.
The distinctive competences of the program reside in the standards
of excellence fostered by field experts, and the tight links with a
privileged testing area: Mantova; the citt darte; the minor towns;
the Mincio river and its natural park; and the Po river basin - a
propitious setting for the development of valorization scenarios
driven by innovative technologies, design and communication.
The progressive and innovative results obtained so far have
streamlined the scientific curriculum of the PhD program towards:
the sustainability of interventions on cultural heritage, in
relationship with the characteristics of heritage and its context;
validation of design processes with regard to assets, tools,
institutional and private operators;
the economic importance of the interventions in
relation with productive and cultural processes.
These directions allow a deeper integration
of theoretical studies with practical
experimentations. The program specifically
explores the following issues:
1. Analysis, safeguard, and preservation of
the cultural heritage: tackling instruments
of analysis, classification and valorization
of historic and artistic heritage at various
scales; examining the concerns related to
the degradation, maintenance, conservation,
restoration and accessibility of heritage.
2. Policies, strategies and instruments for
cultural, territorial and landscape planning:
discussing the ethical approach to cultural
heritage valorization; funding methods; and
partnerships building for the management and
operation of cultural heritage in the context of
territorial planning.
3. Design interventions aimed at cultural and
natural heritage valorization: examining the
management of creative processes in contexts
of high operative complexity; the social and
environmental sustainability of interventions;
doctoral program Board
Roberto Bolici Emilio Faroldi
Adele Buratti Matteo Gambaro
Federico Butera Elisabetta Ginelli
Stefano Capolongo Carlo Monti
Giorgio Casoni Elena Mussinelli (Chair)
Daniele Fanzini Ingrid Paoletti
PhD Yearbook | 2015
207
and evaluation methods of the technical-
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR CULTURAL HERITAGES
economic feasibility of projects, for decision
making and conflict management.
4. Promotion and communication of
valorization results: investigating methods
for management and promotion ; Good
identity principles; graphics and corporate
image; communication; medium selection;
landscape and urban marketing and sociology.
The technological departments have developed
a wide range of methods to cope with such
complexities. New project methodologies have
evolved from linear processes to multi level
interventions and revised work methods have
evolved towards solutions that integrate a mix of
cumulated expertise. Such knowledge resources
can be innovatively applied to cultural heritage
projects of different aims and scales: interventions
on existing buildings, urban level projects,
environmental projects, territorial infrastructure,
or the cultural dimension of development.
These themes represent important development
directions in the activities of the doctoral
program in Design and Technologies for Cultural
Heritage.
Andrea Poltronieri
Valeria Pracchi
Fabrizio Schiaffonati
Andrea Tartaglia
Massimo Venturi Ferriolo
208

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Advisory Board
Vittorio Algarotti (Piano Intercomunale Milanese)
Maria Barbara Bertini (Archivio di Stato di Milano)
Tor Brostrom (Gotland University - Sweden)
Philippe Daverio (Universit di Palermo)
Luigi Maria Di Corato (Fondazione Musei Senesi)
Gianmatteo Martinelli (Novelis Europe) 209
Roberto Palumbo (Universit La Sapienza di Roma)

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR CULTURAL HERITAGES

Maria Rita Pinto (Universit di Napoli Federico II)
Jan Rosvall (GMV Centre of Environment and Sustainability Chalmers University of Technology and at
University of Gothenburg Sweden)
Gianfranco Sassi (Graniti Fiandre)
Cesare Stevan (Politecnico di Milano)

Scholarship Sponsors
Consorzio Oltrep Mantovano

Distretto Culturale Le Regge dei Gonzaga

Fondazione Universit di Mantova
 210
An ex-ante evaluation of regeneration
policies: the role of creative clusters
Caterina Branzanti - Relatore: Roberta Capello - Tutor: Andrea Poltronieri
The study was conceptualised
in 2011 and the definition
of the main subject, that is
creative clusters, was initially
inspired by two main factors.
On the one hand, the author
was particularly stimulated by
a real-life condition. Back then,
in fact, some areas of Lombardy
region, Italy, were starting
to capitalise on cultural and
creative resources as alternative
and effective propellants
to boost growth and local
development. Specifically, the
author focused on the Province
of Mantova, where, in the
past 5 years, a series of policy
actions were implemented to
support local regeneration and
the clustering phenomenon
of creative firms. On the other
hand, the author developed
a parallel literature review of
both the body of research on
creative clusters and the one
pertaining to industrial districts.
This latter w functional to
understand the conceptual roots
of any clustering phenomenon
and it allowed to grasp the
importance of the notion of
district economies, as theoretical
foundation to understand the
dynamics at the basis firms
agglomeration. As a matter of
fact, the two inspiring factors
came to a synthesis in the spring
of 2012, when, after a quite
long theoretical journey, the
author decided to focus on the
relationship between creative
clusters and district economies.
Something that clearly emerged
from the previously mentioned
parallel literature review, in fact,
was the scarce investigation of
the latter in the body of research
dealing with creative industries,
which led to define the need
for a more solid and empirical
empirical understanding of this
subject. The case of Mantova
was essential to identify one
of the two main foci the
study, namely the importance
of policy makers and local
institutions to support the
network-building process and
to stimulate the occurrence
of external economies. In
this sense, the early stage of
development of cluster policies
adopted in Mantova appeared
to be particularly suitable to
develop an ex-ante analysis of
a creative cluster and notably
useful to study the role of local
institutions. As extensively
described in the following
sections, in fact, in this phase
policy makers are the crucial
protagonists of the network-
building process. Once defined
the first step, however, a logical
issue arose: how to deal with
the role of policy makers in
supporting the occurrence of
district economies, without
knowing whether these latter
really affect creative industries?
To solve this issue, the author
decided to include another
fundamental actor of the
clustering phenomenon, namely
the firms that populate a cluster,
in the attempt to investigate
the quantity and quality of
interactions and, subsequently,
to verify the occurrence of
localisation economies. To do
so, the attention was directed
towards a more developed
cluster of creative firms, namely
the case of inner Rotterdam,
which, according to the
literature, shows a sufficient
level of interactions among
local firms to perform such an
analysis. Although at different
development stage, the two
clusters presents similar policy
initiatives, which allows to
include them in the same study,
possibly learning from each
other. In this sense, it seems
appropriate to remind that this
thesis does not aim to strictly
compare the two cases, but it
aspires to use them to explain
creative clusters under two
different perspectives: the extent
to which creative firms are
affected by district economies
and how can policy makers
facilitate this phenomenon.
1.1 Objective of the study and
research questions Following
this line of reasoning, the
present research is intended
to fill a specific gap in the
body of literature on creative
clusters. This latter, in fact,
seem to lack of a complete
understanding and exhaustive
empirical evidence to prove to
PhD Yearbook | 2015
211
what extent the agglomeration tricky matching?
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR CULTURAL HERITAGES
of creative firms is affected by Directing the attention towards
district economies and how to both firms and policy makers, at
support their occurrence, in different stages of development
order to stimulate a market- of the clustering phenomenon,
driven process of regeneration. means to provide an overview
Theoretically speaking, this of the functioning of the
represents the literature gap agglomeration process as a
that the present study aims to whole. Although the typology
fill. In order to do so, it aspires of analysis conducted prevents
to answer to the following from a complete generalisability
four main research questions, of conclusion drawn, it allows to
outlined in greater detail in infer reflections on the specific
methodology chapter. case studies and perhaps it
permits to transfer by analogy
The research questions are the two analysis developed to
presented and subdivided other similar scenarios.
according to the two main foci
of this research, namely firms
investigated in Rotterdam and
policy makers, analysed in
Mantova:
On the relationship between
firms and district economies:
RQ1: To what extent a creative
cluster is affected by district
economies?
RQ2: What are the effects of
district economies on creative
firms business performance?
On the role of policy makers
in supporting the clustering
phenomenon, ultimately
stimulating district economies:
RQ3: Which tools should policy
makers put into practice to steer
the network-building process
and to stimulate the occurrence
of district economies?
RQ4: Network-building
initiatives, local institutions and
firms needs: happy together or
212
Strategies for urban regeneration:
perspectives for the abandoned railway
yards in Milan
Adriana Granato - Relatori: Prof. Fabrizio Schiaffonati, Prof. Hugo Hinsley
Tutor: Prof. Fabrizio Schiaffonati
In the report Hot spots 2025.
Benchmarking the future
competitiveness of cities
the Economist Intelligence
Unit (2013) measured the
competitiveness of 120 cities on
the basis of economic strength,
physical capital, institutional
character, financial maturity,
global appeal, environmental
and natural hazards, social
and cultural character, human
capital. According to this report
Milan is ranked as the 58th
city, almost after all the main
European cities (Frankfurt,
Geneve, Amsterdam, Madrid,
etc), losing 11 positions
from the 2012 classification.
This rank shows a negative
trend in urban behaviours,
although the Milanese region
is identified as one of the most
dynamic and economically
fervid regions of Europe (OECD
2006 ). The OECD territorial
review underlined that as an
economic region that accounts
for around 20% of national
output, Milans capacity to meet
current challenges is likely to
have a significant impact on
national performance, therefore
improving the city performances
can positively affect the entire
Italian economic system. One
of the major factors that can
explain the divergences of
these two data is the weakness
of public institutions and the
presence of informal practices
in the government of urban
transformations. As a matter of
fact the quality of institutions
matters greatly for cities
economic competitiveness.
There is a strong correlation
between the quality of a citys
institutions and its overall
competitiveness. (Economist
Intelligence Unit, 2013). The
process of urban and regional
spatial development, that needs
to be guided and fostered
by the public administration
system, seems to be, in the
case of Milan, slowed down
by a fragmented and uncertain
institutional framework. The
activity of shaping the place
is an essential issue in the
administration of the city: in the
case of Milan, a series of urban
planning mistakes have affected
the liveability and, consequently,
the attractivity of the city itself.
In the past 15 years the city
government left the guide
of urban development to the
private sector, persuaded by
the idea that the presence
of investments flows on
the territory where positive,
irrespective of the nature of
the development proposed.
Large private investors took the
control of the main development
areas of the city. The projects
approved (Citylife, Le
Varesine, Santa Giulia, etc)
were based on the idea that
Milan had to enforce its identity
as the city of fashion and luxury
and were characterized by a
lack of functional and social
mix. The most important names
of international architecture
where called to build this new
image of the city, through
fancy skyscraper buildings and
thousand of sq meters of luxury
housing.
Today, it is evident how this kind
of planning has been disastrous
for the urban environment:
there are more than 3.000.000
sq meters of unsold office
spaces and a high number of
unsold residential spaces and the
demographic trends shows that
citizens are more likely to live
in the suburban metropolitan
region than in the city,
intensifying the phenomenon of
urban sprawl.
How place is interpreted and
managed is crucial to balancing
economic prosperity, social
cohesion and environmental
protection (D. Adams, S.
Tiesdell, 2013), the control of
urban spatial transformations is
fundamental for the evolution of
a city and its consequences are
mirrored in the wellbeing of the
entire society and in its potential
of attracting people.
In light of the fact that the
mistake made by the Milanese
city government in the urban
planning processes where
considerable, it is clear that,
in order to give a positive
impulse to the development,
it is necessary to provide
information within the
processes of decision making.
Urban developers and
leaders should be informed
in order to shape successful
urban processes. In the
book Planning, connection
and financing cities- Now
edited by the world bank
(2013) the authors identifies
5 main features of the urban
development that represent
challenges for city leaders:
improving living conditions,
managing citys physical form,
creating jobs, expanding the
coverage and quantity of
infrastructure services, bridging
the divided city and fostering
inclusion. These 5 issues are
strongly connected one to
another and are to be taken into
account in the decision-making
processes. But how these actions
can be structured and how they
can be guided to pursue the
goals of improving the physical
and social urban environment?
In this moment the city of Milan
has still a great chance for
correcting the bad tendency that
characterized the past years that
is represented by the presence of
a huge amount of empty land in
strategic places of the city: the
abandoned railway yards. The
promotion and development of
many European cities started (presence of low and high-tech
indeed from this post-industrial infrastructures, international
leftovers spaces that
represented important occasions
for the urban restructuring
process. In the case of Milan the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
213
bigness of the areas (1300000 scale the research will look into
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR CULTURAL HERITAGES
sq meters) and their location the idea of densification and
in radial positions around the urban compactness.
centre of the city constitutes At the area scale the themes
a latent potential for the city involved are the urban fabric
development. The main research continuity, the social relations,
questions driving the thesis the quality of the space, the
are: how the redevelopment functional and social mix.
of these sites can contribute The formulation of a
in giving a better positioning development strategy for the
in the international territorial areas will be shaped thanks to
competition to the city of Milan? the examination of international
What are the opportunities that case studies. The analysis of
the presence of 7 large unused different kinds of best practice
areas in the inner periphery will give elements both for
of the city can offer? How it the definition of a successful
is necessary to structure the decision making process and for
decision-making processes in the delineation of the possible
order to achieve the objectives design scenarios.
of competitiveness? The aim
of the research is to provide
to the decision makers a tool
that can be used for setting the
planning agenda for the areas.
In order to give an answer to
these questions the research
investigates the key elements
that should be considered in
planning large area projects and
the different scales involved:
the extra urban scale, the urban
scale, the area scale.
At a larger scale the research
will focus on the concept of
connectivity, considering the role
of physical territorial connection
corridors, velocity of the
connections) in the revitalization
process.
At the metropolitan and urban
 214
Becoming smart cities: how to support
ICT-based urban development in large
European cities
Luca Mora - Relatori: Prof. Roberto Bolici, Prof. Nicos Komninos,
Prof.ssa Donatella Sciuto - Tutor: Prof.ssa Elena Mussinelli
Cities are one of the humanitys
most important inventions. As
well as serving as the setting
for the daily lives of billions of
people and an ever-changing
monument to the history of
civilisation, cities are also the
drivers of socio-cultural change
and economic development. A
tool for providing wellbeing and
better living conditions, and an
environment in which a deep
sense of belonging is developed.
However, we are currently living
in 20th century cities, places that
need to be changed because
they are mainly associated
with the industrial age and
its unsustainable patterns of
growth.
The industrial revolution has
left a deep impact on urban
contexts, creating numerous
issues that are limiting individual
and collective wellbeing. Short-
term and long-term problems
such as: deindustrialization;
demographic and climate
changes; air pollution; reduced
employment opportunities;
racial or social tensions; the
deterioration and the progressive
loss of functionality of physical
infrastructures; the lack of
services; crime; and difficulties
of access to information and
education.
In this context, the belief that
information and communication
technologies can represent an
important tool to help urban
areas resolve their specific
issues has begun to spread
very rapidly. Local and national
governments, academic research
institutes, businesses and
many other organisations have
begun to observe and study
this perspective with great
interest. Over a brief period of
time, this exploration has led to
experimentation as numerous
cities around the world have
launched specific strategies
with the aim of becoming smart
cities: urban areas in which
ICTs are used to support urban
development in social, economic
and/or environmental terms.
Smart cities represent a
growing phenomenon in the
real world and a new but
confuse research territory that
has attracted the attention of
many scholars. An emergent
and interdisciplinary research
area within the field of urban
studies that has encouraged
further research concerning the
management of information and
communication technologies in
urban contexts. Unfortunately,
despite the growing interest
and the constant production of
scientific publications, the level
of knowledge concerning this
subject is yet underdeveloped,
with a fragmented knowledge
structure that is difficult to
grasp as a whole and tends to
be confusing. Several questions
remain open and numerous
aspects require a more detailed
examination.
The need to organise, clarify
and expand the framework
developed to date is the
underlying motivation of this
research, particularly in regard to
provide a possible answer to the
following main questions:what
are the essential steps to
consider in order to develop
successful smart city strategies?
How are they organised? This
is a topic relatively unexplored,
but of fundamental importance
given the growing and
continuous diffusion of the
number of cities that are trying
to become smart. The available
scientific knowledge concerning
the possible ways in which
the development of smart city
strategies can be faced is very
low indeed. In particular, there
is an evident lack of clarity and
common structured approaches
based on empirical knowledge
that can be used to guide the
different players involved in the
construction and management
of these strategies towards
successful results.
The objective pursued in this
study is to begin to fill this
gap, focusing the attention on
a target which is particularly
active in the field of smart
cities: large-sized European
cities. To be precise, urban areas
with a population between
500.000 and 1.500.000
inhabitants. A value aligned
with the classification system
of urban areas proposed by
PhD Yearbook | 2015
215
the Organisation for Economic a first and important step
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR CULTURAL HERITAGES
Co-operation and Development towards establishing a set
(OECD). This objective has been of common procedures for
achieved in stages, through the developing smart city strategies.
integration of multiple tools, An attempt to provide a suitable
methods and techniques, and response to an urgent need,
a range of complementary but at the same time, a tool to
research activities, including the stimulate a growth in the debate
indispensable systematisation of about this relevant research
the knowledge produced so far subject, that will require higher
in this new and confuse research consideration and additional in-
field. depth studies.
The main result that has been
achieved at the end of the
study is a possible step-by-step
roadmap in which all the phases
and activities to consider for
developing successful smart
city strategies in this type of
urban areas are organised
and explained. A tool that
has been defined through
the in-depth analysis of the
strategies developed in the cities
of Amsterdam and Barcelona.
Using these two unquestionably
successful European cases, it
has been possible to build a
new, testable and empirically
valid theory, and observe that,
despite differences of context,
a similar approach strongly
geared towards strategic urban
planning principles was used
for managing the complexity of
these strategies. An approach
in which success arises from the
capability to properly combine
technology with other factors of
a different nature but with an
equal importance.
This roadmap can be considered
Technology and Design for Environment
and Building | Territorial Design and
Government | Aerospace Engineering
| Architectural and URBAN Design |
Architectural Composition | Architecture,
Urban Design, Conservation of Housing
and Landscape | Bioengineering |
Building Engineering | Design | Design
and technologies for cultural heritage
| Electrical Engineering | Energy and
Nuclear Science and Technology |
Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture and
Exhibition Design | Management, Economics
and Industrial Engineering | Materials
Engineering | Mathematical MODELS and
METHODS IN Engineering | Mechanical
Engineering | Physics | Preservation of
THE Architectural Heritage | Rotary-
wing aircrafts | Spatial Planning
and Urban Development | Structural
Seismic and Geotechnical Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
218

DOCTORAL PROGRAM improved machine and converter performance, signal processing structures. Some of the main

PhD Yearbook | 2015

IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
The main objective of the PhD Program is to allow a direct,
in terms of low price, efficiency, robustness,
dynamic response and drive control. This need
leads to device optimization and better design
and testing criteria. Moreover, a system approach
is required for accurate integration of technical
and economic aspects for final application.
The main subjects in this field are: Use of
new materials; Novel magnetic structures;
Methodologies of model development for design
and operating analysis; Optimization procedures;
subjects of study are: measurement methodology
as it relates to power systems, including medium
and high voltage systems and components, as
well as both digital and analog signal processing.
Methodologies and measurement systems
associated with industrial automation and, in
particular, microelectronic sensor applications,
distributed structures and advanced methods and
algorithms for maintenance-oriented diagnosis of 219
complex systems are investigated in detail.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Chair: prompt and efficient involvement of PhDs in any research body Use of finite elements code, simulation programs
Prof. Alberto Berizzi such as an R&D department of a production or service company. and environments for device study; Control After graduation, PhD are typically employed at:
A PhD in Electrical Engineering has a solid basic knowledge of system definition both on the device and system Major research centres;
mathematics and physics. This is essential, particularly for handling side. R&D departments;
and understanding advanced tools and methods as well as for Power generation, transmission and distribution
proper modelling, analysis and design of electrical engineering D) Measurements: firms;
applications, with particular regard to power applications. A PhD in This research field concentrates on the Engineering consultant offices;
Electrical Engineering well knows methods and applications in the fundamentals of metrology, particularly Metrology reference institutes and certification
main disciplines of Basic Electric Circuits and Fields, Power Systems, with respect to characterization of modern laboratories;
Electrical and Electronic Measurements, Converters, Machines and measurement systems based on complex digital Process and transport automation areas.
Electrical Drives.
The most important part of the PhD program is the development of
the research that will be the core of the PhD dissertation.
The Steering Committee is made by:
The main research areas are:
A) Electric Circuits and Fields: Surname Name Firm Position
This area is intended to provide the basic knowledge of methods Canizares Claudio University of Waterloo, Waterloo Associate Director
in electrical engineering for power applications. PhD students Institute for Sustainable Energy,
are specifically trained to develop critical ability and innovative Canada
approaches. The training method encourages the development of Carlini Enrico Maria Terna Head of System and Transmission
discussion and debate skills in a team environment. Control & Operation Central
The main research and training subjects are: Nonlinear networks South Italy
and periodic time-variant networks; Analysis of three-phase and Ercoli Sergio Zeroemissioni Srl Presidente CDA
multiphase systems; Switching circuits; Electromagnetic field Fasciolo Enrico A2A Reti Elettriche Responsabile Impianti e Reti
equations; Electromagnetic field numerical analysis; Electromagnetic Primarie
compatibility; Design techniques devoted to electromagnetic
Godio Andrea Alstom Transport Manager
compatibility
Lo Schiavo Luca Autorit per lenergia elettrica e Manager
il gas
B) Power Systems:
A PhD in the field of Power Systems deals with the following Cherbaucich Claudio RSE - Ricerca sul Sistema Vice Responsabile Sviluppo e
subjects: electrical energy production (e.g., frequency and Energetico Pianificazione
voltage control, protections, renewable energy sources, Dispersed Mansoldo Andrea Eir Grid Senior Power System Analyst
Generation, Microgrids); electrical energy transmission (e.g., power Monti Antonello The Institute for Automation of Director
system analysis, real and reactive power optimization, security Complex Power Systems of E.ON
and stability, integration of renewables); electricity markets (e.g., Energy Research Center
models, ancillary services, regulations); power quality and Smart Zannella Sergio Edison Research, Development Scientific Network Manager
Grids (e.g., harmonic distortion, active filters, UPS, interruptions and and Innovation
voltage dips, DC distribution).
Companies currently providing scholarships:
C) Electric machines and drives: MCM Energy Lab
This research field is strictly related to the rising demand for A2A Reti Elettriche
220
Conservative Functions: An Approach in
Nonlinear and Switched Network Analysis
Simone Barcellona - Supervisor: Gabrio Superti Furga
Conservative functions or
generalized powers in the
electric network are those that
satisfy the balance Tellegens
theorem, and they are powerful
tools in different contests. The
attention for these functions
is still, at the present time,
very animated. The main
reason behind that is the wide
diffusion and usefulness of the
reactive power for practical
and theoretical point of view
for linear networks under
sinusoidal steady state. It is
significant to recognize two
formal properties of reactive
power under sinusoidal steady
state conditions: the balance
property and its invariance on
resistors. The balance property
states that the algebraic sum
of reactive power on the single
one-port elements in a network
is equal to the corresponding
term on the whole network.
The invariance means that the
reactive power is always nil on
resistors. However, important
changes have occurred in the
last 50 years. In the electric
networks, the presence of
power electronics equipment,
arc and induction furnaces, in
addition to clusters of personal
computers, represent major
nonlinear and parametric loads
proliferating among industrial
and commercial customers. The
main problems emerge from the
flow of nonactive power caused
by harmonic currents and
voltages. The efforts to extend
the concept of reactive power
also under distorted conditions
provided significant results for
the analysis and theoretical
comprehension of the distorted
steady state. The literature on
this subject is very large; in
the past many authors have
proposed different definitions
of nonactive power in distorted
steady state. In particular, when
power converters are present
in networks, as sources of
distortion or as active filters
to eliminate this distortion,
these networks are considered
as time-variant networks and
called switched networks. They
pose several challenges in the
construction of efficient time
domain simulators. Due to the
wide range of applications,
operating conditions, and
phenomena to be studied, many
different tools for computer
analysis and simulation of
switched networks have been
developed. The switch model
plays an important role within
the analysis and simulation of
switched networks. The ideal
switch model is the simplest
possible one and has several
advantages with respect to
others. In the presence of
switching, classical issues that
rise up are related to network
solution and inconsistent
initial conditions. Network
solution is fulfilled by several
methods. The main one is the
complementary approach, where
commutations are basically the
external constraints to a time
invariant multi-port. Meanwhile,
inconsistent initial conditions,
caused by switching, imply
discontinuities on state variables
and impulsive behavior on some
voltages and/or currents. In fact,
Diracs delta impulses of voltage
and/or current may occur at the
switching transitions. Impulses
redistribute charge and flux at
the switching instants when
capacitor voltages and inductor
currents, respectively, are
discontinuous. Nevertheless, as a
whole it appears to lack general
principles as well as applications
of generalized powers in the
field of switched networks.
In this work, according to the
concept of area on the v-i
plane, a new approach called
Swept Area Theory, under
both nonlinear continuous and
discontinuous conditions, is
developed. Novel conservative
functions, as Area Velocity and
Closed Area over Time, involved
in this theory, are proposed.
An analysis is carried out, by
means of these functions, over
nonlinear R, L, C elements
and over the ideal switch and
ideal diode. In addition, jump
discontinuities are discussed in
detail. The Closed Area over
Time is related to the harmonic
reactive powers and under
sinusoidal steady state becomes
proportional to the classical
reactive power. A balance rule
concerning harmonic reactive
powers over nonlinear resistor
under continuous conditions
is obtained and discussed
as a novel interesting result.
This aspect impacts on a
possible extended definition
of reactive power under
distorted conditions. Thanks to
the Switching Power, a novel
quantitative relation between
hard switching commutations
and Closed Area over Time is
obtained, with both theoretical
and applicative relevance.
More explanation is presented
through a demonstration that
shows how ideal switch and
power converters can become
sources of reactive power. Issues
of principle regarding the ideal
switch model with respect to the
real one is another important
result of this work. Moreover,
concepts of Ideal Switch Multi
Port and multilevel voltage/
current elements are proposed
as a unified theory of power
converters, whereby most of the
power converters existing can
be recognized in a general and
modular way. Furthermore, the
Swept Area Theory is extended
to the Ideal Switch Multi
Port in order to find relations
between Switching Power
and commutations of power
converters. In this way, the
possibility of a power converter
to generate or absorb reactive
power is proved. Hence, a
contribution will be available to
develop new control strategies
of power converters based
on the Swept Area Theory.
Another conservative function,
called Jump Power, is proposed
in order to address some
properties and issues of principle
regarding one-port elements,
in particular ideal diodes and
ideal switches, in the presence
of jump discontinuities. Some
theorems based on the Jump
Power are stated. In particular,
possible conditions in networks
are addressed whereby soft
switching, passive or active hard
switching commutations occur.
Other conservative functions,
called Inductive Impulsive
Power and Capacitive Impulsive
Power, are defined in order to
analyze the switched networks
in the presence of Diracs
delta impulses in the electric
quantities. These impulses
are due to inconsistent initial
conditions caused by switching.
Also in this case, some
properties and issues of principle
regarding one-port elements,
in particular ideal switches and
ideal diodes, are addressed.
Moreover, some theorems based
on Inductive Impulsive Power
and Capacitive Impulsive Power
are stated. These conservative
functions, despite having similar
properties to the Connection
Energy that was presented in
the past literature as a function
regarding the whole network,
PhD Yearbook | 2015
221
are still more powerful and
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
meaningful. In fact, through
Inductive Impulsive Power and
Capacitive Impulsive Power
functions, it is possible to
separate the effect of capacitors
from inductors. Furthermore,
an interesting result is found:
the ideal switch can absorb
or generate electric energy
when an impulse of current or
voltage occurs meanwhile the
ideal diode can only generate.
These facts are important
mathematical aspects regarding
the ideal model of switches and
diodes. In some cases these facts
cannot have a physical meaning
as it is shown in analytical
examples. However, the total
energy absorbed by switching
has a clear physical significance,
as it is related to the variation
of energy stored in the set of
reactive elements or generated
by electric sources. On the other
hand, in the presence of more
than one element, the partition
of this energy among the
different switching elements still
has no physical correspondence
with the loss of energy into the
single element.
222
Inspection methods and analysis of electric
power quality influence on production
processes: an application to EAF operations
Daniele Clerici - Supervisor: Prof. Loredana Cristaldi
Arc furnaces have seen a
widespread diffusion in melting
facilities in the last decades.
Key factors for this kind of
process are accurate melting
process control, less expensive
melting charge material (steel
scrap), small production batch
capabilities, and lower energy
requirements.
It is well known that the
melting process depends on the
presence and propagation of the
electric arc between electrodes
and scrap charge. The heat
produced by the arc current
melts the scrap to create the
molten steel.
The characteristics of the electric
arc depends mainly on two
factors: the quality of the
scrap charge and the quality
of the electrical supply.
The furnace process control is
automatically set to maintain
a specific energy delivery from
electrodes to scrap charge;
effectiveness of this action is
reduced if the feeding voltage
is unstable and/or the scrap
charge density is uneven or
too low (presence of holes
and spots inside the charge
or poorly conductive pieces of
scrap). Scrap charge density
is indirectly influenced by
charge composition, so melting
process performance is in a
way correlated to the type of
employed scrap mixture. How
strong is this correlation depends
on several other factors involved
in the melting process and scrap
selection.
Arc furnaces can be considered
electrical polluting devices from
the electrical point of view; the
uneven nature of the electric
arc, due to uneven density of
the media in which it takes
place (air and scrap), as well
as its tendency to be displaced
by electromagnetic forces,
result in a consistent harmonic
content both in arc currents
and voltages. Distortion of arc
electrical quantities influences
also the harmonic content at
primary side of the furnace
transformer and definitely
in the whole electric system
connected to it. Disturbances
are present in the connecting
point to the supply grid; they
are related to both furnace
activities and external sources.
These phenomena can alter
voltage and current profiles
significantly and can result,
beyond disturbance injection
from the steel plant to the grid,
in voltage profile non-uniformity
and variability.
The stability and uniformity of
voltage levels is essential for the
melting process because, in the
furnace control system, voltage
is not under closed loop control;
this means that, if voltage
profile at the primary side of the
furnace transformer isnt steady
during the process, electric arc
characteristics can be different
from the desired and scheduled
ones. As a result, electrode
regulation cannot be performed
in the correct way and energy
transmission from arc to scrap is
negatively influenced.
The main objective of this work
is to discover specific electric
supply conditions that could be
correlated with poor melting
performances of the EAF. For this
task, a case study was selected
and a distributed measuring
system has been developed in
order to monitor voltages and
currents in the points of interest
within the electrical system. A
steel plant has been chosen
as a case study: Acciaierie di
Calvisano steel plant is located
near the city of Brescia, in the
main steel manufacturing district
of northern Italy in the north-
east part of Lombardia region.
A scheme of steel plant electric
system and the measuring points
is represented in Fig.1.
From voltages and currents
measured values, other electrical
quantities of interest were
derived, in particular active and
reactive powers and harmonic
indexes.
Particular attention was given
to the electric asset at the
connecting point between the
plant electric system and the
supply grid, that is at the Point
of Common Coupling (PCC) as
usually referred to.
In order to directly compare
actual and preset secondary
voltage and current, the
1. Electrical scheme of Calvisano steel plant; measuring points are represented
in red
electrical quantities at the
secondary windings of the EAF
transformer have also been
estimated. In this way the
analysis is referred to the same
point in which the EAF control
system measures voltages and
currents for process control.
As a result, the deviation of the
actual voltage values from the
preset ones can be computed in
order to verify how the actual
conditions are far from the
desired ones (see Fig.2).
Data from production records
are employed in conjunction
with those obtained from
the analysis of the electrical
quantities in order to verify the
effective correlation between
electric supply conditions and
process performances for each
melting process.
Furnace activities were
monitored for several months
and a comprehensive set of
melting processes was built;
then a classification has been
made and influence of electrical
supply conditions on melting
performances was evaluated
through a statistical analysis.
This analysis shows that, in
the presence of variable and
non-uniform voltage profiles,
about 50% of the processes
melting performances are poor
and for the remaining ones
better results are obtained only
by means of a longer refining
process; this action leads toan
increase in energy consumption
The analysis of the voltage
profiles, both on the primary
side of the furnace and at PCC,
allowed detection of the main
factors which influence voltage
levels uniformity and stability:
voltage transients due to voltage
regulation performed in the grid,
and wrong voltage regulation
on the busbars of furnace supply
section.
One of the main problem
in voltage regulation is the
voltage drop in the circuit from
the busbar to the furnace
transformer; this is due to
harmonic content of furnace
PhD Yearbook | 2015
voltages and currents, which
are directly related with arc
characteristics. Furthermore,
the arc is heavily influenced
by the melting conditions
inside furnace and from scrap
characteristics.
Moreover, further developments
of this analysis will lead to a 223
classification of scrap charges
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
and process stages, based on the
analysis of the harmonic content
of the electrical quantities
, obtained by means of the
implemented monitoring system.
Starting from this classification
it can be possible to obtain a set
of suitable voltage set-points for
different operating conditions.
In addition, an improved
monitoring system, interfaced
with the furnace control system,
can be implemented in order to
automatically set both furnace
and voltage set-point regulation
parameters, thus attaining better
melting performances in every
operating conditions.
2. Actual voltage profile (in blue) and
preset voltage profile (green dotted
line) at the secondary side of the
furnace transformer
224
COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
PORELECTROMAGNETIC COMPONENTS
Linh Ho Manh - Supervisor and Tutor: Prof. Riccardo E. Zich
This thesis discusses a novel
approach to solve complex
electromagnetic problems by
computational intelligence
techniques. Chapter 1 provides
background materiai on
computational intelligence
techniques: from originai Particle
Swarm Optimization (PSO);
Genetic Algorithm (GA) to
their variations namely Genetic
Swarm Optimization (GSO)
and Meta-PSO. The theory of
Artificial Neural Network (ANN)
and its training algorithms are
also presented in Chapter 1.
Chapter 2 discusses a
traditional approach by applying
heuristic optimizations to EM
components. Various new
designs of EM structures from
multilayer microstrip antenna
and metamaterial inspired
antenna, to frequency selective
surface are optimized. The core
challenge is the identification of
an appropriate cost function and
it was done by properly modeled
electromagnetic objects by
commerciai full-wave analysis.
However, this traditional
approach is always expensive in
terms of computing time and
the dynamic memory required
for each assessment is relatively
big. Therefore, with the aim of
reducing computational efforts
and memory consumption,
an equivalent surrogate
model for antenna design
by Artificial Neural Network
(ANN) is intepreted in this
thesis. In this thesis, after being
sufficiently trained, an ANN is
used as a surrogate model to
substitute completely full-wave
characterization. Two different
optimization schemes, also the
different approaches in sampling
target data, are clearly explained
in detail in chapter 3, which also
marks the end of the first half
for this thesis.
A variety of structures in
Electromagnetism, representing
an indispensable part of
physics, sometimes cannot be
fully described by simulators.
This issue is more obvious
in scattering problem when
interpreting complex objects
and materials, the use of
mathematic tools is strongly
needed. The research carried out
in this context is a boundary-
value problem where the aim
is to determine radiation field
of primary sources illuminating
spheroidal structures. Primary
sources are Hertzian electric and
magnetic dipoles; spheroidal
structures are two confocal
prolate/oblate dielectric layers
(either made of isorefractive
or anti-isorefractive material)
coating a metallic prolate/
oblate spheroid. The problem of
one layer coating was already
solved by Dr. Askarpour and
Prof. Uslenghi in [98, 99], it
is relevant to investigate the
behavior of primary sources
in the case of doublycoated
spheroids. The modal expansion
PhD Yearbook | 2015
225
coefficients are determined by
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
imposing boundary conditions
at various interfaces of
spheroidal coordinate. With the
aim bringing a brief introduction
of spheroidal coordinates
and problem description,
radidal spheroidal and angular
spheroidal wave functions
are interpreted theoretically
in chapter 4. Chapter 5 and
chapter 6 provide all the exact
solutions of two cases prolate
and oblate respectively. All
the analytical formulations
are retrieved by separations
of variables, whereby the field
components are expressed as
infinite series of products of
radial and angular spheroidal
wave functions. Numerica!
results in these sections also
exhibit the profound influences
of thickness and material
properties of coating layers
on both far-field and near-
field regions. Conclusions and
discussions on the outcomes of
each problem can be found at
the end of each chapter. At the
end of chapter 5, the issues on
scattering of a magnetic dipole
on Prolate Spheroids is totally
covered, it is sufficient to create
a representative cost function
to optimize radiated far fields of
multiple dipoles on the structure.
 226
SIGNAL PROCESSING FOR DISRUPTION DETECTION
IN TOKAMAKS
Maia Mosconi - Supervisors: Gabriele DAntona, Carlo Sozzi
This PhD is part of research
on controlled thermonuclear
fusion, in particular regarding
the identification of a precursor
signal of disruption and the
development of a real-time
algorithm for predicting
disruptions in tokamaks.
Tokamak is an axisymmetric
configuration that, through
an appropriate combination
between a toroidal magnetic
field produced by external coils
and a poloidal magnetic field
generated by a current flowing
in the toroidal plasma, achieves
the Magneto Hydro Dynamic
(MHD) equilibrium condition.
In order to obtain controlled
fusion, the equilibrium condition
must be maintained stable
for a period greater than
an appropriate time, with
respect to any perturbation.
A major limitation to fusion
goals is made by the onset
of magnetohydrodynamic
instabilities in plasmas. A class of
instability, bounded to dissipative
magnetic perturbations, are
the tearing modes that occur
as an helical perturbations of
the current and temperature
of the plasma localized around
the rational surfaces (surfaces
on which the magnetic lines
of force of the field B have a
rational step) with its rotation
speed. Tearing modes instability
may take place around the
magnetic surfaces with low
rational values of the ratio m/n,
being m and n respectively the
number of toroidal and poloidal
revolutions of the force lines
of the magnetic field, limiting
the performance of a tokamak.
The plasma, despite being a
good conductor, has a small
but finite resistivity, the rational
surfaces with constant magnetic
flux and pressure tear, allowing
to the lines of force of the
magnetic field to reconnect in
magnetic islands. A tokamak
can also operate in the presence
of magnetic islands, but their
evolution, if not controlled,
can lead to disruption, i.e.
the sudden fall of plasma
current followed by the loss of
confinement. Disruption is very
dangerous for the integrity of
the reactor because the energy
stored in the plasma is abruptly
released to the wall machine.
The study and prediction
of disruption is therefore a
fundamental research topic in
this context.
While many techniques are
available today for disruption
avoidance and mitigation with
some degree of successes,
actually there is not any strategy
that consent to fully predict
and avoid all disruptions. The
definition of a precursor signal
of disruption is currently an
interesting argument of research
and in this PhD thesis an
original method to determine a
precursor signal is proposed.
In this work, the precursor
signal is determined through the
analysis of the results obtained
by applying an algorithm of
Singular Value Decomposition
(SVD) to magnetic signals. The
signals used in this analysis are
fluctuations of the magnetic
field caught by an array of small
multiturn coils, the so called
Mirnov coils. The signals have
been opportunely filtered and
resampled at the frequency of
interest for MHD activity.
The work was done in
collaboration with the Institute
of Plasma Physics of Milan (IFP)
and the analysis was applied to
the magnetic Mirnov signals of
the ENEA Tokamak FTU (Frascati
Tokamak Upgrade) Frascati,
Italy and after that the same
analysis has been adapted and
applied to the magnetic Mirnov
signal of the tokamak JET (Joint
European Torus) Culham, UK. A
set of Mirnov coils are circular
coils oriented to measure the
fluctuations of the poloidal
component of the magnetic
field.
Through the Singular Value
analysis is possible to extract
useful markers of the instabilities
presence, such as the Entropy
H and the marker P1. The
entropy H is proportional to
the square of the normalized
singular values and describes the
phase coherence in Mirnov coils
signals. The entropy can assume
values in the range between 0
and 1 and lower values of the
entropy H are indicative of the
presence of instability in the
plasma. The P1 marker is the
relative square magnitude of
first couple of principal axes, it
is bounded between 0 and 1.
P1 is related to the presence of
the first mode, i.e. the dominant
couple (m,n). The more P1 is
close to 1, the more unstable
the first mode is. The presence
of a mode indicates the growth
of MHD activity, if the mode
becomes unstable a disruption
can occur.
2046 plasma discharges
collected between 2008 and
2012 have been selected from
the FTU database. No threshold
parametrization related to
the plasma engineering
parameters such as toroidal
magnetic field, plasma current
and density has been used.
The signals considered have
been normalized, having the
advantage to be independent
from sensor calibration
and signal amplitude. We
distinguished 1665 regular
terminations and 381 disruptions
without taking any classification
on the causes that lead to a
disruptive current quench. From
the application of SVD analysis
to a set of FTU Mirnov coils
in previous works the entropy
has been resulted to be a good
marker for the presence of MHD
instabilities. The investigation of
the disruption precursor starts
with the study of entropy time
evolution during the plasma
discharge. The two ensembles
disruptive shots and regular
terminations have been selected
and considered separately,
evaluating the mean value of
entropy around its minimum.
This is a good candidate in
order to discriminate disruptive
shots from regular terminations.
The result of this analysis is the
identification of a first precursor
of disruption, based on entropy
mean value around its minimum,
able to recognize up to 69% of
the disruptions with 20 ms of
warning time before the plasma
current quench. A further and
deeper investigation of the
plane H-P1 has brought to the
individuation of a precursor
based on the square root of the
moving variance of the time
derivative of the ratio H/P1. This
last disruption precursor is able
to recognize up to 82% of the
disruptions, 79% at least 20
ms of warning time before the
plasma current quench.
The same analysis have been
adapted and repeated for
Mirnov coils signals coming
from JET machine, in order
to test the robustness of the
algorithm in different devices.
We have analyzed 2044
plasma discharges collected
between 2012 and 2013: 457
disruptive shots and 1587
regular terminations. Also in
this case we do not distinguish
disruption causes and no
threshold parametrization has
been established. The developed
algorithms based on the SVD
analysis of the MHD activity
signals from a set of JET Mirnov
coils provide a disruption
precursor based on the square
root of the moving variance of
the time derivative of H/P1 able
to recognize up to 63% of the
disruptions, 50 ms before the
plasma current quench. For JET
machine, an estimator based on
the entropy mean value around
minimum seems to be more
efficient, being able to recognize
up to 79% of the disruptions,
at least with 50 ms of warning
time before the plasma current
quench.
The results presented in this PhD
PhD Yearbook | 2015
thesis, based on the application
of SVD algorithm in the
research of a precursor signal
of disruption are encouraging,
but more detailed investigations
are however needed. An
interesting prosecution will be
therefore try to parametrize
the analysis contextualizing to 227
physical meaning introducing
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
for example thresholds related
to plasma parameters such as
magnetic field, plasma current
and density. The markers
identified in this analysis can
be used in order to classifying
disruption causes. For this
purpose it is mandatory:
analyzing in detail the plasma
discharge studying the
evolution of different plasma
and machine parameters,
distinguishing not intentional
from intentional disruptions and
taking in account experimental
conditions. Moreover, it should
be important to focusing on the
precursor phases preceding the
instability and on the plasma
development before the thermal
quench. The investigation on
a possible correlation between
time dependence of the markers
and the disruption evolution
should be done for improve our
analysis.
228
Advanced State Estimation in Distribution
Systems
Milos Subasic - Supervisor: Prof. Cristian Bovo
This research is composed
of two major topics; first,
the development of the
State Estimation function for
distribution systems and second,
on of Measurement Equipment
Placement for the sake of
improvement of observability of
distribution network.
The traditional vertically
integrated structure of the
electric utility has been
deregulated in recent years
particularly by adopting the
competitive market paradigm
in many countries around the
world. The market-governed
electrical business and the
Renewable Energy Sources (RES)
have changed significantly the
power flows in distribution
networks.
On the other side, the evolution
of the distribution systems
seen through the remarkable
expansion of dispersed
generation plants connected to
the medium and low voltage
network is one of the main
challenges. The growth of
the dispersed generation is
causing a profound change of
the distribution systems in the
technical, legal and regulatory
aspects; most likely the
Distribution System Operators
(DSOs) will more and more
take, on local dimensions, tasks
and responsibilities of the role
assigned on a national scale to
the operator of the electricity
transmission network. In other
words, the DSO will become
a sort of a local dispatcher
and will involve its real/passive
customers in activities related to
the network management and
optimization. This, obviously,
requires a deep review of the
regulatory framework.
In this sense, definition of
Smart Grid, now usually
in use, appears reduced as it
focuses only on the appearance
of the network, while it is more
appropriate to speak about
Smart Distribution System
(SDS), extending the involvement
also to network users. Among
the various initiatives that the
distributor must undertake in
order to adapt the methods
of planning, management
and analysis of operation of
the network, acquisition of
dedicated tools and the related
infrastructure plays a crucial role.
Some of the roles that need to
be taken into account are shown
below in Fig. 1.
Most distributed energy
resources (DER) can be disposed
in the distribution network
and to be accessible to provide
network support, DER must
co-ordinate with the rest of
the power system without
affecting other costumers. The
capability of DER to provision
ancillary services will depend on
factors such as DER location and
number of resources integrated
to the grid. Most of the benefits
relying on ancillary services will
be directly dependent upon
the location whereas as the
penetration of DER increases,
it will impact not only the
distribution system capacity
restraints but the voltage
and frequency stability of the
interconnected DER units.
From the infrastructural point
of view, there is a clear need
of enhancing the observability
of the network, now generally
limited to the HV/MV
substation and the preparation
of appropriate channels of
communication with the users.
Software tools evolution
includes the enhancements of
the SCADA side for managing
the new devices and information
coming from the network on
one side. In addition, a new
family of software applications
is being developed to support in
both real-time operation and the
planning phase.
At this point, the specific
software tools for both real-time
management and planning of
the distribution network need
to be developed. To implement
these, the developer has to have
in mind all the above stated
limitations and challenges of
modern systems. This thesis
provides tools for improvement
of the observability of the
distribution systems and optimal
planning of network for the
same cause.
The first motivation to develop
the Distribution System State
Estimation was triggered by
limited success in applying
transmission system state
estimation approach to
distribution environment; and
additionally, specific approaches
that have been developed for
distribution systems experienced
problems related to limitations
1. DSO interactions with markets & TSO at different time frames
of the distribution grids.
The second motivation is due
to the fact that the increased
penetration of dispersed
generation is one of the
main contributors to the new
management mechanisms that
are being developed. To improve
the hosting capacity of the DN
and to reduce the impact of DG
on the regulation requirements
of the bulk power system, the
DG has to provide ancillary
services (to solve local and global
issues frequency, reserve,
voltage regulation, congestion
management). Therefore the
distribution system will assume
the role of DSO. Premise of
this is the knowledge of the
network. For this reason, SE
applied to DN is a main tool
to improve the effects of DG
penetration.
On the other side, having
elaborated on the fact that
the knowledge of the network
state is crucial for its operation,
it is not hard to understand
PhD Yearbook | 2015
229
why the installation of the new
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
measurement equipment has a
central part in planning of the
new or improvement of the
existing DNs.
The proposed solution
for Optimization of the
Measurement Equipment
Placement strongly reckons
on genetic algorithms that
have proven to possess good
properties with large-scale
problems like this one. Many
different implementation
approaches have been
developed, tested and compared
on large number of realistic test
DNs for this dissertation and
the best approach is recorded.
Apart from the fact that the
OMEP algorithm provides (sub)
optimal solutions for all the
tested systems, it is also robust,
highly modular and easily
implementable in DMS solutions.
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Architecture, Urban Design, Conservation
of Housing and Landscape | Bioengineering
| Building Engineering | Design | Design
and technologies for cultural heritage
| Electrical Engineering | Energy and
Nuclear Science and Technology |
Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture and
Exhibition Design | Management, Economics
and Industrial Engineering | Materials
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METHODS IN Engineering | Mechanical
Engineering | Physics | Preservation of
THE Architectural Heritage | Rotary-wing
aircrafts | Spatial Planning and Urban
Development | Structural Seismic and
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| Territorial Design and Government PhD Yearbook | 2015
232

DOCTORAL PROGRAM IN

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Energy and Nuclear Science
and Technology

233
The thesis works that are presented in this Yearbook are very

Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology

Chair: representative of the multi-disciplinary research activity performed Development of a Fixed Bed Quasi-Isothermal Adsorption
within the context of the PhD educational and research program Pistocchini Lorenzo Dehumidifier: from Concept to Optimization, through Experimental
Prof. Carlo Bottani
in Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology (STEN). The latter is and Theoretical Investigation.
specifically designed to provide the student with the state-of-the-art Prencipe Irene Advanced materials for novel laser-driven ion acceleration schemes.
in a wide range of research fields related to:
Primary Exergy Cost of goods and services: an Input - Output
Rocco Matteo Vincenzo
production, conversion and transmission of energy approach.
rational use of energy Reduced order methods: applications to nuclear reactor core spatial
nuclear systems, nuclear fuel cycle, radioprotection Sartori Alberto
dynamics.
application of ionizing radiations
Torelli Roberto Novel Approaches for CFD Modeling of Diesel Engines.
methods for safety and reliability analysis
development of innovative materials for energy applications

Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology - 26 ciclo

Nanostructured Transparent Conducting Oxides for Advanced

The specific thesis discussed in this Yearbook are related to the PhD work of: Gondoni Paolo
Photovoltaic Applications
Sound absorption measurements with sound intensity method.
Astorino Sonia
Investigations at normal and oblique incidence.
Energetica - 24 ciclo
Hierarchical Quasi-1D Nanostructures for Photoelecrochemical
Balandeh Mehrdad
Hydrogen Production. Waste atomic separation and raw material recovery by application of
Parissenti Guido
A combined experimental and modelling approach for the improved plasma technology.
Baricci Andrea
characterization of high temperature pem fuel cells.
Biserni Erika Silicon Nanostructures for Energy Applications.
Their research and most significant results are presented in the following pages.
An experimental study on fluid dynamics in straight and bend rib-
Cimina Susanna
roughened channels STEN Advisory Board
CFD Modelling Of Turbulent Premixed Combustion In Spark-Ignition Family Name First Name Institution
Cornolti Luca
Engines.
Bruna Gianni IRSN
Eremed Wondwossen Bogale Increasing energy recovery of waste-to-energy plants.
Radiation tolerant nanoceramic coatings for lead fast reactor nuclear Lontano Maurizio Istituto di Fisica del Plasma - CNR
Garcia Ferre Francisco
fuel cladding. Romer Arturo Nuklearforum
Nanostructured Oxide Semiconductors for Direct Solar Energy
Ghadirzadeh Ali Lombardi Carlo EnergyLab Foundation
Conversion: Photovoltaics and Water Splitting.
Strategies for access to energy in developing countries: methods and Ortis Alessandro Autorit per lEnergia Elettrica e il Gas past president
Mandelli Stefano
models for off-grid power systems design.
Muzzio Adriano Unione Italiana Termofluidodinamica
Building sustainability assessment and rating: an Italian objective
Moschetti Roberta
system proposal. Pastorino Giorgio Peltech srl - Lecco
234
Sound Absorption Measurements with
Sound Intensity Method. Investigations at
Normal and Oblique Incidence
Sonia Astorino - Supervisor: Prof. Livio Mazzarella
Information on sound absorption
and sound reflection properties
of materials is of interest for
many practical applications both
in architectural and industrial
acoustics. The characterization
of the angle-dependent
absorption properties is required
for instance to carry out a priori
analyses of indoor acoustic
quality or noise reduction, with
the use of acoustic simulation
software. These practical
needs are the reasons behind
the development of several
techniques for the measurement
of sound absorption over the
years, for different kinds of
incidence (normal, oblique and
random).
This study focuses on the
techniques employed for analysis
at normal and oblique incidence,
with particular reference to
the sound intensity method.
Potentialities and limitations of
this procedure are examined
carrying out both experimental
and numerical investigations.
The first part of the thesis
illustrates the analyses
conducted at normal incidence.
Based on local plane wave
propagation assumption, the
sound intensity method is
characterized by a simple test
setup and an easy and practical
implementation. Experimental
tests for the determination of
the normal incidence sound
absorption coefficient have been
carried out with the traditional
sound intensity probe in a
semi-anechoic environment.
Measurements results in terms
of absorption coefficient have
been validated by means of
comparison with the outcomes
of both a macroscopic empirical
predictive model and the
standardized impedance tube
method. Some differences
have been observed at low
frequencies. The determination
of two specific sound field
indicators from the acquired
signals has also highlighted
that both these descriptors can
be helpful to perform initial
evaluations on measurements
carried out with the sound
intensity technique.
To complete normal incidence
investigations the thesis work
includes the development of
numerical simulations based
on the Finite Element Method.
The analyses are conducted
at low frequencies with the
commercial software COMSOL
Multiphysics. First, a virtual
impedance tube has been
realized to assess the accuracy
in the modeling of the sound
absorbing material by comparing
numerical values in terms of
absorption coefficient with
experimental results of the real
impedance tube. Successively,
we have performed preliminary
simulations on two different
models of the setup used for the
measurements with the sound
intensity technique, which have
then been numerically improved
realizing a third model of the
computational domain. For all
the simulations, it is chosen
to perform three-dimensional
acoustic analyses so that the
effects of the finite dimensions
of the rectangular sample can
be correctly modeled and taken
into account. Sound pressure
and particle velocity numerically
computed above the sample
have been post-processed with
different analytical sound field
models: the sound intensity
method, the Image Source
model and the Di and Gilbert
model. Differently from the
former, the two impedance-
based global models of the
sound field take into account
spherical wave propagation
from a point source. For the
analysed configuration, results
show that the differences
between the calculated
absorption coefficients are
pronounced especially at low
frequencies. However, it has
been also proven that the
observed divergences decrease
reducing the probe-sample
distance. As a matter of fact,
the developed simulations have
provided not only a tool for the
verification of the subsequent
experimental measurements at
oblique incidence, but also the
possibility to analyse the sound
field above the specimen in a
point nearer the sample surface
than that measurable in practice
with the sound intensity probe.
In this regard, results show that
with a decrease of the probe-
sample distance the absorption
coefficient estimated under
local plane wave assumption is
less affected by the sound field
characteristics.
The second part of the thesis
deals with experimental and
numerical investigations
conducted in order to estimate
the oblique incidence sound
absorption coefficient. It is worth
noting that, without involving
ratios of complex quantities, the
intensity-based method has the
advantage to be more robust
for performing angle-dependent
absorption measurements rather
than impedance-based methods.
The extension of the sound
intensity technique to oblique
incidence is presented reporting
both the general formulation
of the theory and the simplified
algorithms for specular reflection
assumption existing in literature.
The former entails the use of
a three-dimensional sound
intensity probe. Therefore,
a 3-D sound intensity probe
configured in a 6-microphone
array and a calibrator for
matching the microphones in
amplitude and phase have been
developed for the investigations
at oblique incidence. The thesis
reports a detailed description
of the two, together with a
qualitative evaluation of design
improvements of the 3-D probe
spacer. When a 6-microphone
arrangement is used, different
post-processing methods that
can be employed to estimate
sound intensity exist; the
associated formulations for the
application of interest have been
derived.
Various experimental activities
are performed using the
newly developed 3-D sound
intensity probe with the final
aim of estimating the sound
absorption properties of an
acoustic panel at oblique
incidence. These include
some initial investigations on
the performances of the 3-D
probe. In detail, measurement
campaigns to characterize the
radiance patterns of both the
three-dimensional and the
traditional mono-axial probes
have been performed in a totally
anechoic environment; the
analysis of the associated results
has allowed a comparative
evaluation between the probes.
Successively, considerations on
the comparison between the
two instruments have been
made in terms of experimental
procedures and outcomes of the
sound absorption measurements
at oblique incidence. To this
purpose, the specular reflection
assumption has been adopted. It
has been shown that scattering
and diffraction issues inherent to
the design of the developed 3-D
probe itself negatively affect its
outcomes. However, remarkable
advantages regarding the use
of the 6-microphone array
compared to the mono-axial
probe in the measurement of
sound absorption at oblique
incidence have been also
pointed out.
In view of these considerations,
some efforts have been made
in investigating possible
solutions aimed at improving
the performances of the three-
dimensional sound intensity
probe. In this regard, we
have carried out additional
analyses considering two
different approaches. The first
is a mechanical optimization
of the probe, entailing the
minimization of the interfering
objects near the sensors;
PhD Yearbook | 2015
predictable outcomes of
this procedure have been
qualitatively evaluated with a
trial test at normal incidence.
The second is related to the use
of signal treatment techniques
to improve the response of
the self-assembled 3-D probe
without changing its design. 235
The main idea is to numerically
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
compensate the interferences
between the microphones and
the effects of the presence of
the fixture holding the sensors:
a signal filtering procedure
developed in collaboration with
the Dipartimento di Elettronica,
Informazione e Bioingegneria of
Politecnico di Milano has been
proposed with this intent. The
application of the compensation
filter on a preliminary test case
has given globally satisfactory
results. This constitutes the basis
for some of the possible future
developments of the thesis
work.
Finally, following the same
procedure used at normal
incidence, FEM simulations have
been employed both to model
and verify the experimental
tests at oblique incidence, and
to carry out further analyses at
low frequencies. The effects of
different sound field models
and smaller probe height on
the numerical estimate of the
absorption coefficient have been
evaluated and discussed also for
the oblique incidence case.
236
Hierarchical Quasi-1D Nanostructures for
Photoelecrochemical Hydrogen Production
Mehrdad Balandeh - Supervisor: Dr. Fabio Di Fonzo
In the last decades there
has been an increase in the
solar energy efficiency and
its contribution to the global
energetic production. Although
today one third of the world
energetic demand is still
composed by fuels, that are
energy vectors which could
be easily stored and moved.
While there are no well-
established solutions to satisfy
the worlds energetic request,
the production of hydrogen via
solar energy stands as one of
the most promising solutions
for the problem. The process
of photoelectrochemical water
splitting consists of using a
solar-produced driving force
to decompose water into its
two constituents. This study
aims to improve and optimize
the efficiency of TiO2/CdS
and WO3 photoanodes for
water-splitting application. The
host-guest approach involves
decoupling of the optical path
and water oxidation center
and the electron transport to
the substrate by depositing
a thin layer of CdS onto a
mesoporous TiO2 host. A TiO2
hierarchical nanostructured
photoelectrode was sensitized
with a thin layer of a low
energy band gap material. Here
cadmium sulphide was chosen
due to its apt properties for
photoelectrochemical hydrogen
production application. The
amount of CdS deposited on the
TiO2 scaffold was taken as the
main parameter for the study
and optimization of the device.
The fabrication of the TiO2
scaffold was performed via PLD
technique to obtain hierarchical
structures with high roughness
factor and light-trapping
properties; morphological and
crystallographic studies on
the TiO2 substrates showed a
nanocrystalline structure with
enhanced transport properties
thanks to the low density of
defects and directional growth
of the TiO2 crystals. The SILAR
sensitization technique was
employed to deposit a uniform
layer of CdS on the TiO2
scaffold, in order to improve
the absorption of the whole
device in the visible range. The
whole photoelectrochemical
device is then completed with
a platinum wire as the counter
electrode and an electrolytic
solution as the supporting
electrolyte between the two
electrical contacts. The results
showed a maximum current
density of 6.6 mA/cm2 for
hierarchical TiO2/CdS which
was around 35% higher than
reference TiO2/CdS photoanode
made of TiO2 nanoparticles.
Moreover, fabrication and
optimization of quasi-1D WO3
nanostructures photoanode
was performed. WO3 was
chosen as a photoanode for
photoelectrochemical water
splitting process due to its high
PhD Yearbook | 2015
237
stability against photocorrosion
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
in acidic environment and
also its low energy band gap.
Hierarchical quasi-1D WO3 thin
film was deposited by using PLD
technique and by tuning the
deposition parameters, where
hyperbranching and long range
crystalline order was achieved.
The hierarchical quasi-1D WO3
photonodes showed efficient
light absorption and internal
scattering with improved charge
collection efficiency despite
the large thickness due to the
mesoporous structure of the
film. Hierarchical hyperbranched
WO3 nanostructures showed
current densities up to 1.8 mA/
cm2 with an onset potential
of 0.4 V vs RHE, which is
significantly lower than the
current state-of-the-art. These
results are achieved due to the
high electron recombination
resistance and low charge
transport resistance of the
hyperbranched morphology.
A deep analysis of the both
photoelectrodes (TiO2/CdS
and WO3) was performed
to assess their optical,
structural, morphological
and photoelectrochemical
characteristics by using
following techniques: SEM and
TEM images, Raman and PL
spectroscopy, XRD analysis, UV-
Vis spectrophotometry, Linear
Sweep Voltammometry (LSV),
EQE/IQE and Electrochemical
Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS).
 238
A COMBINED EXPERIMENTAL AND MODELLING
APPROACH FOR THE IMPROVED CHARACTERIZATION
OF HIGH TEMPERATURE PEM FUEL CELLS
Andrea Baricci - Supervisor: Prof. Renzo Marchesi - Coordinator: Prof. Carlo Bottani
Significant progress has been
recently achieved in the field
of polymer fuel cells (PEMFC)
that has resulted in increased
attention to this technology
for energy conversion
systems. Several automobile
manufacturers are currently
undergoing field testing of
fuel cell vehicles and few
of them have programmed
commercialization within 2015.
Not only automotive applications
have generated interest in
PEMFC research, but also
stationary residential applications
for combined production of
electricity and heat.
The interest received by PEMFC
technology for direct energy
conversion is due to their unique
features: high efficiency and
power density, low emissions,
fast start-up, fast response
to load changes, modularity.
Nevertheless, several issues have
to be addressed yet: the lack
of infrastructures for hydrogen
distribution, the high cost if
compared to competitors, the
durability.
A significant cost reduction
has been recently achieved
by decreasing the loading of
noble metals used as catalyst
and by increasing the number
of units produced. In this view,
PEMFC durability is an additional
tool to impact the cost: any
improvement in fuel cell stability
could mitigate the capital cost
by distributing it over a wider life
time. For this reason degradation
of PEMFC components has
received increasing attention
over the past years. Many
degradation mechanisms
have been observed to affect
the polymer membrane, e.g.
thinning, or the porous layers,
e.g. loss of hydrophobicity,
but most of the degradation
is generally attributed to the
catalyst layers, specifically
the cathode. Corrosion of
the catalyst, corrosion of the
support, loss of porosity or onset
of heterogeneity are few of
the effects of ageing that have
been reported by experiments.
Characterization of degradation
is the crucial step before the
proposal of improved materials
or mitigation strategies, but
unfortunately long term tests
are costly and time consuming.
In this sense, modelling and
theoretical work are expected to
assist experimental activity and
facilitate technological progress.
The work focuses on durability
of high temperature polymer
fuel cells (HT-PEMFC) based
on phosphoric acid doped
polybenzimidazole. Differently
from PEMFC that operate at
80C, HT-PEM fuel cells work
between 120 and 200C and
are interesting for stationary
applications because of
enhanced tolerance to fuel
impurities and simplified water
management. Unfortunately
HT-PEMFC suffer additional
problems that are related to the
cathode: lower performance
and lower durability than
PEMFC, therefore efforts in
research are motivated toward
the understanding of cathode
operation and ageing, in
analogy with low temperature
PEMFC.
The PhD thesis reports a detailed
analysis of cathode operation
in high temperature polymer
fuel cells, taking into account
both performance and durability
and adopting a combined
experimental and modelling
approach. A 6100 hours
degradation testing has been
carried out on a commercial
HT-PEMFC. It is reported that
cathode is the most critical
component for durability: the
catalyst electrochemical active
surface is observed to reduce
to half of the initial value at
the end of the test, causing a
significant voltage degradation
rate (10 V h-1). The evolution
of the impedance spectra during
ageing is analyzed by means
of a physics-based model.
The conclusion is that about
30% of the degradation rate
observed at 0.4 A cm-2 is not
directly ascribed to a loss of
electrochemical active surface,
but it is due to increased mass
transport.
Therefore the work analyzes
oxygen transport in HT-
PEMFC components. Ex situ
characterization of porous media
that constitute the Gas Diffusion
Media is discussed. The results
indicate that Knudsen diffusion
constitutes approximately 50%
of the mass transport resistance
in the catalyst layer without
phosphoric acid and 30% in
the MPL. In situ analysis of
mass transport in real operating
conditions is carried out by
electrochemical impedance
spectroscopy and reveals that
mass transport affects cathode
operation.
Combination of ex situ and in
situ experimental information
is carried out by means of an
advanced physics-based model
validated on experimental
data. The effect of phosphoric
acid on mass transport is
analyzed: simulations indicate
that phosphoric acid floods
the catalyst layer and causes
low catalyst utilization at high
current density. Since oxygen
is forced to diffuse into the
liquid electrolyte that floods the
catalyst layer micro structure,
the catalyst nanoparticles
that are hardly accessible to
oxygen (i.e. those in the inner
core of the agglomerate)
do not work at high current
density. It is concluded that
flooded agglomerate model is
a requirement for HT-PEMFC
models and average radius of
spherical agglomerates has been
estimated in 180 nm.
An innovative geometry for
flooded agglomerate model has
PhD Yearbook | 2015
239
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
1. Evolution of the Electrochemical Impedance Spectra recorded at 0.2 A
cm-2 during the degradation test: experiments (symbols) and simulations
(continuous line) considering the effect of heterogeneity of ageing.
been presented and discussed: predicts an improvement
the macro pore cylindrical in proton transport across
agglomerate geometry. From the catalyst layer that is not
ex situ observations, mass consistent with experiments.
transport in the catalyst layer is Heterogeneity of ageing has
reported to occur over macro been studied on two scales:
cylindrical-like pores and, in along the channel and across the
analogy, a 1D agglomerate catalyst layer. The results indicate
geometry that resembles this that non-uniform current
observation is developed. The distribution induced by ageing
flooded agglomerate region is detrimental for HT-PEMFC
is represented as a porous performance, because the
ring that encloses the macro reaction is restricted in a reduced
pore. Consequently from this active volume where mass
assumption, the geometry of transport becomes critical. As
the flooded agglomerate is a consequence, mass transport
measured ex situ and no model resistance in the active region
calibration is required. Flooded is responsible for additional
Agglomerate Model with increase of the degradation rate.
cylindrical macro pore geometry
is finally validated, in support
of the physical consistency of
flooded agglomerate model in
HT-PEMFC.
In a final step, the improved
model is applied to the
analysis of ageing data. A
literature review indicates two
characteristics of degradation
to be considered in the analysis:
catalyst layer thinning and
heterogeneity of ageing. Both
effects succeed in reproducing
the evolution of the impedance
spectra during ageing (Fig.
1), but catalyst layer thinning
 240

SILICON NANOSTRUCTURES FOR ENERGY being a key means to open new In a dedicated study conducted starting point and a strategy for

PhD Yearbook | 2015

opportunities in terms of energy
APPLICATIONS density, high rate of charge and
discharge, and better cyclability.
Graphite is commonly used as
the standard material for the
anodes of Lithium Ion Batteries
Erika Biserni - Relatore: Prof. A. Li Bassi - Correlatore: Dr. P. Bruno - Tutor: Dr. M. Passoni (LIB), because of its low price,
good performances and high
processability. Silicon is a
Being silicon the most widely The silicon nanostructured not only to study and engineer potential anode material for
at the Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology (KIT) in Karlsruhe,
Germany, silicon-graphite
anodes have been prepared
by slurry-based processes,
commonly in use in industrial
battery manufacturing. Despite
some technological issues
related to the nanometric size
of Si powders, Si-graphite
improvement.
Finally, nanoporous silicon can
find application in the field of
thermoelectric materials, since
controlling the porosity provides
a means to reduce the thermal
conductivity of the material,
which is one of the key figures
to evaluate a thermoelectric 241
material, while growing the

Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology

used material in the electronic
and photovoltaic industry,
thanks to its abundance, low
cost and non-toxicity, specific
technology has been developed
and deep knowledge has been
acquired on its properties,
especially at the bulk scale.
Only partially, however, have
its properties at the nanoscale
been investigated and exploited
accordingly.
This dissertations reports
the research activity done by
the author at the Center for
Nano Science and Technology
(CNST) of the Italian Institute
of Technology (IIT) and funded
by IIT through a dedicated
scholarship. Focus of the
work is the synthesis and
characterization of silicon
nanostructured thin films and
their engineering to make them
suitable for specific energy
applications in the fields of
energy production and storage.
1. a) Scanning Electron Microscope image (taken in cross section) of a porous silicon algae-like film, b) its Raman
signature, and c) an image of embedded nanocrystals evidenced by a Transmission Electron Microscope
films are prepared by Pulsed
Laser Deposition (PLD) and
characterized by suitable
microscopic and spectroscopic
techniques to understand
their properties and allow for
their tailoring by means of
a good control over the film
features namely, porosity at
the nanoscale and formation
of nanocrystals. The synthesis
heads for exploitation in
innovative devices with a
stronger relevance being given
to silicon anodes for lithium-
ion batteries. In addition,
good confidence with the
fabrication process opens the
way for explorative studies on
the properties of the material
and the possibilities to tune
them to make them suitable for
application in photovoltaics and
thermoelectrics.
Thanks also to a fruitful network
of national and international
collaborations, it was possible
the material properties, but also,
in the case of anodes for lithium
ion batteries, to realize proper
working devices.
Besides nanoporous silicon films,
PLD allows to grow hierarchically
nanostructured films composed
of Si nanocrystals embedded in
a columnar porous amorphous
matrix, that can be of
interest in various energetic
fields, with Quantum-Dot
photovoltaics being one of
the most challenging ones.
Nanoporous silicon, in turn, can
be successfully applied in the
development of nanostructured
porous silicon-based anodes
for Lithium-ion batteries,
which is the core activity of this
dissertation.
In order to address power and
energy demands of mobile
electronics and electric cars, Li-
ion technology is urgently being
optimized by using alternative
materials, with nanostructuring
high energy density LIB due to
its very high theoretical capacity
(~3579 mAh/g), which is an
order of magnitude beyond that
of a commercial graphite anode.
However, the wide spreading
of Si has to face two main
concerns, i.e. volume expansion
and the formation of a stable
Solid Electrolyte Intephase layer.
The work reported in this thesis
discusses the investigation of
innovative solutions to address
the two main concerns of
silicon anodes in lithium ion
microbatteries by means of
suitably designed anodes made
of amorphous nanoporous Si.
Such porous structures offer a
large surface area to volume
ratio, which can accommodate
the large volume expansion
associated with silicon lithiation.
Then, in order to promote the
formation of a stable SEI layer
and improve conductivity and
mechanical stability, Carbon has
been coupled to Si, either as
a separate capping layer or as
integrated in the Si film. In these
composite anode architecture,
the Si hierarchical nanostructure
was deposited by PLD and C
either by Chemical Vapour
Deposition (CVD) or by PLD.
Thanks to coupling of silicon
and carbon, all the proposed
anodes show very good stability
over cycling, even reaching up
to 1000 cycles with very low
capacity fade.
anodes were fabricated and film into an ordered columnar
electrochemical tests showed structure can in principle allow
good cyclability. Feasibility for good electronic transport.
of partial substitution of Si Following this direction,
for graphite with a drop-in the thermal conductivity of
approach in current productive silicon films grown by PLD is
processes has been proven, but characterized.
further optimization is surely
needed for what concerns slurry
composition and fabrication
process parameters.
In all cases, the approach to
fabrication is driven by the need
to minimize the processing
effort, both in terms of number
of steps required and of
temperatures involved, so as
to orient the work to possible
up-scaling.
Moving to larger scale
production, the dissertation
involves also the fabrication
of silicon-based anodes using
methods and techniques typical
of the industrial production.
On the way to large-scale
fabrication of silicon-carbon
anodes, this study can outline a
2. a) SEM picture of a Si-C composite anode and b) an example of discharge
capacity curve of a Si-C composite anode, reaching 1000 stable cycling
 242
An experimental study on fluid dynamics in
straight and bend rib-roughened channels
Susanna Cimin - Supervisor: Alfonso Niro
Forced convection heat transfer
inside rectangular channels is a
matter of interest for industry. Its
involvement varies from compact
heat exchangers to more critical
applications such as turbine
blade cooling.
During the design of compact
heat exchangers, a high value
of the surface-to-volume ratio is
pursued; however, the increasing
of this ratio beyond a certain
value causes a worsening of
the thermal performances. The
increase of heat transfer area
per unit volume causes the
narrowing of the area as well as
a lower gas velocity in order to
maintain an acceptable pressure
drop value. Both effects cause
a weak turbulent or laminar
flow, which is characterized by
a lower convective coefficient
which reduces the benefits
derived from the increased area.
To overcome this limit, designers
have enhanced heat transfer by
means of specially configured
surfaces which can properly
affect fluid-dynamics while
maintaining cost-effectiveness
and reliability. These configured
surfaces use many passive
enhancement mechanisms:
periodic deflection of
streamlines, interruption of the
growth of the boundary layer,
swirl, and flow destabilization.
Moreover the surfaces also
promote turbulence and
contribute to increasing of heat
transfer by several hundred
percent, since their characteristic
elements have sizes close to
those of the structures to be
stimulated.
In the present work, ribbed
surfaces have been used.
Enhancing heat transfer in these
situations would mean the
operating limits are increased
and thus a more efficient and
compact device is created.
In detail, concerning modern
Gas turbine blades, to improve
thermal efficiency and power
output it is necessary to operate
at high inlet temperatures or TIT
(1100 - 1350 C).
Nowadays the increasing of TIT
has a limitation due to metal
melting temperature, but recent
studies have demonstrated that
developments in achieving a
better cooling of the turbine
blade can allow the increasing
of the TIT. Therefore, the cooling
of the blades is becoming an
engineering challenge. The
blades are cooled with extracted
air from the compressor of the
engine. Since this extraction
incurs a penalty on the thermal
efficiency and power output
of the engine, it is important
to choose and optimize the
cooling technology for a
given turbine blade geometry
under specific thermodynamic
conditions. In detail, within
a blade, the leading edge is
cooled by jet impingement, the
trailing edge by pin fins and
the middle region is cooled by
rib-roughened coolant passages.
Moreover, due to the sharp
turn, the pressure loss in the
curvature section can be as high
as 25% of the pressure loss
in the entire cooling system.
The reason could be that the
flow field in a such area is very
complex. It is strongly three-
dimensional, unsteady, and
viscous, with several types
of secondary flows, vortices
and separation phenomena.
The better knowledge of the
overall phenomena could be
extraordinary important to
improve the design of the
device. Also, for all the above
reasons turbine blade cooling
mechanisms have been studied.
Therefore, the main concern of
the doctoral thesis has been to
experimentally and statistically
investigate the fluid dynamics
and heat transfer in straight
and bend channels enhanced
by different geometries of ribs,
which remotely recall rib-
roughened coolant passages for
industrial applications.
In particular, the first part of the
work has been focused on the
fluid dynamics and heat transfer
investigations of a straight
ribbed channel.
In this context, starting from
the huge data-base, belonging
to the ThermaLab Group,
relating to 49 different rib
configurations arranged on a
straight channel of Dh= 40mm
in 8 different Reynolds numbers
with 3 different non dimensional
pitches (PR10, PR20, PR40) with
2 different rib heights (2mm
and 4mm), the aim of this
study has been to find clusters
of configurations with almost
the same performances in term
of heat transfer coefficient
and friction factors, using a
special mathematical tool. Thus,
the statistical agglomerative
hierarchical clustering analysis
has been performed and it
has been, also analyzed, the
weight of the each parameters,
influencing the performance
of the different configurations.
Experimental tests, by using
PIV and CTA anemometry, have
been conducted in order to
confirm statistical results.
Fluid dynamic investigations of
the flow, show that different
configurations, but belonging
to the same cluster, have
almost the same performance
with different fluid dynamics
behaviors.
The present research include
also an experimental analysis
about pressure drop reduction
and heat transfer enhancement
in a U bend geometry, by
the employment of various
configurations of guide vanes
and two different shape of ribs
on the endwall. Eleven different
cases of guide vanes were
tested, including the baseline
one, without vanes. The working
Reynolds number have been
8000, 10000, 26000.
Definitively, the present doctoral
work has been addressed the
following conclusions.
Concerning the explorative
statistical analysis and the
experimental tests in fluid
dynamics on the straight
channels: starting from the huge
database described previously,
it has been achieved a unified
classification in three different
clusters of configurations
(dendogram) with almost the
some performances in term of
heat transfer and pressure drops.
Then, by means of
correspondence analysis tool
and focusing on the main
parameters influencing the
performances of the different
configurations: height of the
rib, pitch, arrangement and
design, it has been evaluated the
weight of each by the use of a
Fischers exact test. As a result,
from statistical point of view
the height of the rib represents
the most meaningful parameter,
it follows the pitch, then the
arrangement and design. In
order to confirm the statistical
results, it has been experimented
fluid dynamic investigations
by means PIV (uncertainty
10%) and CTA anemometry
(uncertainty 4%)on fluid flows in
different configurations.
Fluid dynamic investigations on
secondary flows, by using PIV
and CTA, in order to show as
configurations with different
shapes, but belonging to the
same cluster, have almost the
some performance but different
fluid dynamic behaviors.
As regards, the heat transfer and
pressure drop, experimentally,
measured in the outer region
of a U-bend channel with and
without the presence of guide
vanes and ribbed endwall, it
has possible to stress: the use
of particular devices, like guide
vanes, inside a bend geometry
can effectively reduce the
pressure drop but whit the cost
of lower heat transfer compared
to the baseline. Comparisons
of 10 different cases of
placement of guide vanes have
been performed. Concerning
this study, the application of
two different types of guide
PhD Yearbook | 2015
vanes inside the turn, reduces,
prominently, the overall pressure
penalty till a maximum of 31%.
The different position of guide
vanes has a big importance on
the pressure drop performance.
The combination of ribs and
guide vanes allows the thermal
performance to be significantly 243
increased. In fact, because of the
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
local heat transfer is dominated
by the jet impingement on the
endwall: guide vanes switch off
this effect, while ribs help it. On
the other hand the presence of
ribs on the outer wall causes
a meaningful pressure penalty
inside the bend geometry,
respect to the baseline case.
With particular type of guide
vanes and the presence of
ribs on the endwall, heat
transfer is enhanced till a
maximum of 35% but at the
penalty of higher pressure
drop respect to the baseline
case. The V 45 downstream
endwall ribs coupled with a
special configurations of guide
vanes, gives the best thermal
performance.
Definitively, the use of different
types of arrangements, strongly
depends on the need of the
turbine blade cooling system.
 244
CFD Modelling of Turbulent Premixed
Combustion in Spark-Ignition Engines
Luca Cornolti - Tutor: Prof. Angelo Onorati - Supervisor: Dr. Tommaso Lucchini
Introduction
The present work focuses
on the development of
computational tools to model
turbulent premixed combustion
for spark-ignition (SI) engine
applications in the context of
RANS simulations. Given the
prospect of easy improvements
in terms of efficiency, Diesel
engine has been developed a
lot in the last twenty years. Its
prevalence has increased over
the time, going from an almost
exclusive use for commercial
vehicles, like trucks, to cover half
of total vehicle fleet. Nowadays
SI engine is starting to regain
the attention of automotive
companies for various reasons:
the mature level of development
reached by Diesel engine, which
requires much more resources to
be further improved; the need
of balancing the vehicle fleet
with respect to the products
of the fractional distillation
of oil; the use of SI engine in
hybrid propulsion applications.
Considering the limits of
actually available experimental
techniques to study combustion,
theoretical and computational
fluid dynamics (CFD) studies
are becoming very important
support tools. Moreover,
because of the increasing
development costs of internal
combustion engines, the
concept of virtual development
supported by computational
fluid dynamics is becoming
more and more important. In
particular, in SI engines, the
pressure profile inside the
combustion chamber is strongly
influenced by the position of
the piston and timing is very
important. As a consequence,
the development of the flame
has to be modeled since the first
stage after ignition. Therefore,
in this work, a new premixed
combustion model which
describe in details also this phase
of combustion is proposed. The
model is implemented within the
OpenFOAM framework.
Characterization of turbulent
premixed flames
As turbulent premixed
combustion has been studied
over the past 60 years, the
amount of literature on this
topic is impressive, dispersive
and sometimes contradictory.
As a consequence, the first
part of the work is focused on
the description of the physical
mechanisms which characterize
the development of premixed
flames. These information and
the different modeling strategies
employed by various authors,
were used to define a sequence
of theoretical logical steps
which allows the reduction of
a turbulent reaction problem,
which is complex and numerical
demanding, into a simpler
hydrodynamic problem. This
is the theoretical base of most
of the employed turbulent
combustion models. Moreover
the definition of these steps also
helps to delineate strengths and
weaknesses of actually employed
models and the aspects which
require further investigations.
Comparison of RANS
turbulent combustion models
available in literature
In literature many models
describing turbulent premixed
combustion are available.
Currently, none of them is
clearly considered superior to
the others. As a consequence,
a comparison of the numerical
behavior of the most employed
models was carried out in order
to identify which of them is
more suitable for the purpose
of modeling combustion in SI
engines since the first stage. In
particular, these models are the
Flame Surface Density method
(FSD), the Flame Speed Closure
model (FSC) and the G-equation
approach. After this comparison,
the G-equation model was
selected as the most promising
approach, as its results show
a lower dependence on
initial conditions. Moreover it
decouples the main properties
of a turbulent flame (structure,
propagation speed and flame
brush thickness), allowing
their explicit modelling. This is
important in RANS approaches
especially when the transient
behaviour of the flame has to be
modelled.
A comprehensive combustion
model for spark-ignition
engines
The previous concepts were
used to develop an original
combustion model based on
G-equation approach. The
model takes into account spark
discharge process and early
flame propagation by means of
a Lagrangian description of the
spark channel, as the mesh size
is too big to allow an Eulerian
representation of the problem.
A set of particles is introduced
in the computational domain;
each of them represents the
geometrical centre of a flame
kernel. These particles expand
with a velocity computed
through various sub-models,
which take into account spark
energy deposition, stretch
effect and the turbulent
properties of the flow. The
previous set of flame kernels
is converted into the G-field.
This operation guarantees
the coupling between the
Lagrangian approach and
the Eulerian description of
turbulent combustion. To check
its predictive capabilities, the
model is tested against the
experimental data provided
by a laboratory engine with
optical access. This comparison
showed that the model is able
to represent many features of
the considered experimental
case. In particular it is able
to reproduce the interaction
PhD Yearbook | 2015
245
between the mean flow and
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
the spark channel, which is an
aspect usually neglected in other
models. Moreover, the effect of
discharged energy and mixture
composition were correctly
reproduced. In particular, for
stoichiometric mixture the results
were quantitatively good, while
for lean mixtures the predictions
were less accurate. Uncertainties
related to the adopted value
of the laminar flame speed are
probably the main reasons for
this lower accuracy.
Conclusions
In the present work a detailed
analysis regarding premixed
combustion modelling in spark-
ignition engines is proposed. As
a result of this analysis, a new
combustion solver was proposed
and implemented within the
OpenFOAM framework. This
model describes premixed
combustion in SI engines since
the very early stages of flame
development. The model was
tested against the experimental
data provided by a laboratory
engine with optical access. The
results obtained by the model
are promising, but further
validation is still required in order
to better evaluate the model
performances.
 246
INCREASING ENERGY RECOVERY OF WASTE-TO-
ENERGY PLANTS
Eremed Wondwossen Bogale - Supervisors: Prof. Stefano Consonni,
Prof. Federico Vigan
1. Introduction
When seeking sustainable
energy systems, Waste-to-
Energy plants play a great role.
However, bringing a long-
term solution in solid waste
management that are highly
efficient, environmentally
friendly, socially acceptable,
extremely reliable and cost
effective is a very challenging
task. Particularly, the energy
performance of these plants
is highly affected by the low
quality of the fuel and the
small scale adopted. Besides,
the unfavorable nature of the
waste fuel leads to relatively low
boiler efficiency, high auxiliary
consumptions and the presence
of highly corrosive species
in the combustion products
limits the maximum pressure
and temperature adopted
in the steam cycle. Hence,
the efficiency of these plants
decreases significantly and
their investment cost becomes
very high. Despite the large
efforts dedicated to better use
waste as a resource, there is a
technological gap that needs
to be filled by having a novel
and reliable plant configuration.
Thus, different innovative
plant configurations have
been proposed, modeled and
simulated.
2. Research objectives
The main objectives of this PhD
research are summarized below:
To investigate and propose a
possible and reliable Waste-
to-Energy plant configurations
that can increase the efficiency,
reduce the cost of electricity
production, avoid corrosion
problems of boiler tubes
and minimize environmental
impact.
To perform off-design analysis
of Waste-to-Energy plants.
To perform thermoeconomic
optimization so as to
find a cost optimal plant
configuration.
3. Methodology
All the evaluations proposed in
this research project have been
carried out by using a number
of commercial and in-house
computer programs. In order
to evaluate the on-design
performances of the various
technologies GS (Gas-Steam
cycles) code has been used. For
particular applications, like, off-
design and economic analysis
Thermoflow software packages
has been used.
4. Innovative Waste-to-
Energy plant configurations
The main simulation results and
the various methods adopted
to achieve the main objectives
have been presented below
by highlighting the original
contribution of the authors.
4.1 External superheating
and reheating
A literature survey on ways
to increase the efficiency of
these plants highlights that
increasing the steam parameters
of the steam turbine increase
efficiency of the plant. However,
these parameters are highly
subjected to chlorine induced
corrosion of boiler tubes. Thus,
to increase the efficiency and
to avoid corrosion problems,
a new configuration has been
proposed and a set of highly
innovative technologies has
been considered, modeled and
compared. Each of these plants
has been calibrated carefully
and a lot of sensitivity analysis
have been performed. The
proposed configuration, which is
based on internal superheating
and reheating, results in net
efficiency over 33 % on LHV
basis (30 % is the maximum
efficiency now achieved in
Waste-to-Energy plants).
4.2. Reheating with flue gas
quench concept
Due to shift of thermal load
from the radiative part to the
convective part of the boiler,
Waste-to-Energy plants with
steam reheat configuration is
highly affected by corrosion
problem of boiler tubes.
Thus, to avoid the problem of
corrosion, reduce the boiler
cost and take advantage of the
benefit of reheating, the authors
proposed a novel configuration
based on reheat with flue gas
quench concept. A moderate
amount of flue gas has been
recirculated inside the grate
combustor and the remaining
flue gas recirculation has been
mixed with the flue gas that
exits the radiative part to limit
the maximum temperature to
be 650 C. Thus, considering
200 MW thermal input and
operating parameters of
Peva =130 bar and Tsh = 450
C, 32.17 % net electric
efficiency has been achieved
i.e., that is 3.16 percentage
points increment compared
to conventional plant. The
economic analysis shows that
the extra electricity generated
brings a positive economic
return due to the selling of
electricity and green certificate
incentives. Besides, it avoids
higher amount of CO2 .Thus, the
new configuration will benefit
the plants by allowing them to
be efficient, economical, reliable
and environmental friendly.
4.3. Innovative cogeneration
as a means to increase the
efficiency and off design
analysis
The modified CHP configuration
with external superheating
further increases the overall
efficiency of the plant ultimately.
It is important to note that
a considerable amount of
latent heat is lost at the stack
depending on the moisture
content of the waste and the
heat can be recovered by using
flue gas condensation. Thus, a
combination of measures has
been used to further increase the
efficiency of the plant. However,
depending on the heat demand
from the users, the amount of
steam extracted is variable and
this affects the performance of
the steam turbine greatly. Hence,
a detailed off-design analysis of
cogeneration plants has been
performed.
4.4. Cost optimal
configuration based
on thermoeconomic
optimization analysis
In this part of the thesis,
thermoeconomic optimization
of Waste-to-Energy plant has
been performed by using Proper
Orthogonal Decomposition
and Radial Basis Function
approximation procedure.
By varying the evaporation
pressure and the amount of
flue gas recirculation, the
optimal configuration has
been obtained. Considering
the challenges posed to these
facilities, thermoeconomic
optimization analysis provides
crucial information to find cost
optimal plant configuration.
5. Conclusions
In this PhD thesis, innovative
configurations to increase the
energy recovery potential of
Waste-to-Energy plants have
been proposed. The main
findings are presented below:
The net electric efficiency of
these plants can be increased
by about 3 percentage points
compared with state of
the art and highly efficient
Waste-to-Energy plants by
using high steam parameters
of 135 bar/ 540 C without
facing corrosion problem.
However, to increase the
reliability and availability
of the plant, another new
reheating configuration with
a flue gas quench concept
has been proposed. Among
the configuration considered,
reheating with flue gas quench
concept appears to be the
most appealing and can be
considered as a potential
candidate for these facilities.
Especially, steam reheat
cycle with flue gas quench
configuration with evaporation
PhD Yearbook | 2015
pressure of 130 bar and Tmax of
steam 450C appears to be a
promising option to maximize
the efficiency and reduce the
cost of electricity production
depending on the gate fee.
At this operating parameters,
the net electric efficiency is
increased by 3.60 percentage 247
points, cost of electricity
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
production is minimized, larger
amount of CO2 is avoided
and corrosion of boiler tubes
is avoided compared with
the benchmark case. Hence,
the results of this PhD thesis
indicate the possible measures
that allow the plants to be
more efficient, economical,
reliable and environmentally
friendly.
The main findings of the off-
design analysis show that part
load analysis not only affects
the performance of the plant
but also the proper functioning
of the plant. Compared
to the plant that produce
only electricity, it appears
that cogeneration plant is
highly affected by part load
conditions.
Based on the results of the
thermoeconomic optimization,
it appears that combining
exergy analysis with economics
it is possible to find an optimal
configuration that increases
the efficiency and reduce the
cost of electricity production.
In summary, the overall results
show that there are still rooms
for significant improvements
of the energy performances
of these plants. Improving the
energy performance, not only
increases the economic return of
the plant but it also improves the
overall environmental outcome
since higher energy efficiency
means higher avoided emissions.
248
Radiation tolerant nanoceramic coatings
for lead fast reactor nuclear fuel
cladding
Francisco Garca Ferr - Supervisors: Marco G. Beghi and Fabio Di Fonzo
Over the past decade, several
advanced reactor concepts have
been explored as the potential
fleet of next-generation
nuclear systems -else known
as Generation IV (GIV). Among
these systems, lead fast
reactors (LFRs) are particularly
interesting owing to inherent
safety features and to possible
configurations as nuclear waste
incinerators or adiabatic reactors
that burn self-generated nuclear
waste. The major bottleneck
for the development of LFRs
regards the quest for suitable
structural materials. Some of the
most prominent issues in this
regard are common to nuclear
energy systems in general, and
are typically found in high-level
radiation damage GIV concepts.
Anyhow, the most important
problem is specifically related
to the use of lead as a coolant-
namely, corrosion degradation
of steels. The very feasibility
of LFRs ultimately depends
on the development of high-
performance materials that are
capable of withstanding high-
levels of radiation damage in an
extremely corrosive environment.
While self-passivation through
oxygen injection and control is
an effective corrosion protection
method up to roughly 500 C,
other strategies are required
for protecting components in
service at higher temperatures,
including fuel cladding. Most of
these options are incompatible
with or require the injection
of considerable amounts of
oxygen into the coolant. On the
contrary, some types of oxide
coatings are both independent
from and compatible with
oxygen injection, which might
be necessary anyhow for
protecting components in
service below 500 C. In this
case, the coatings would allow
decoupling the problem of
corrosion protection at low and
high temperatures. However,
ceramic coatings have always
been regarded as a taboo in
the nuclear field, mainly due
to the lack of self-healing
properties, among other intrinsic
drawbacks. The lack of self-
healing properties is a daunting
problem. On one hand, fuel
cladding is exposed to an
extremely harsh environment, in
which the combination of high
temperatures with an intense
neutron radiation field ultimately
results in ever growing stress
and dimensional instabilities. On
the other hand, the structural
integrity of the coating-substrate
system as a whole must be
guaranteed at all times, meaning
that a coating must be able to
withstand high-level radiation
damage, and to accommodate
the stresses and strain imposed
by fuel cladding.
In this framework, this Ph.D.
Thesis deals with the design, the
processing, the characterization
and the testing under LFR-
PhD Yearbook | 2015
249
relevant conditions of a performed by a wide variety are remarkable, and that the The analyses reveal that the
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
corrosion resistant and radiation of techniques, including SEM, latter is likely higher than the changes in the mechanical
tolerant nanoceramic coating TEM, XRD, and nanomechanical former. The effectiveness of properties of the coating are due
as an enabling technology. In and micromechanical methods. the coating is evaluated under to athermal radiation-induced
order to meet requirements, Overall, the coating attains an LFR-relevant conditions with crystallization, which drives the
a custom process -namely unusual ensemble of metal- specific concern for corrosion evolution of the initially bi-phase
room temperature Pulsed Laser like mechanical properties and high-level radiation damage. nanocomposite coating towards
Deposition (PLD)- is proposed which can be explained in As a general statement, PLD- a radiation tolerant nanoceramic
according to a bottom-up terms of structural features. grown Al2O3 performs effectively structure. This type of structure
approach. The main advantage Detailed analyses by TEM as a corrosion barrier under is able to accommodate
of PLD is that it allows tailoring reveal that the nanostructure the investigated conditions radiation-induced stresses
the structural features and of the coating consists of -namely, short tests at 550 C through grain boundary-driven
the mechanical properties of a homogeneous dispersion and 600 C in stagnant lead deformation modes. Importantly,
the coatings through nano- of randomly-oriented Al2O3 (see figure 1). The evolution the exposure to end-of-life
scale engineering. The process nanodomains in an amorphous of structural features and levels of radiation damage does
is first optimized for coating Al2O3 matrix. Importantly, this mechanical properties following not compromise the structural
plates of the steels of interest nanostructure is shown to be heavy ion irradiation up to 20, integrity of the coating-substrate
(1515Ti austenitic steel or stable upon annealing up to 40, 150, 250 and 450 dpa is system. In conclusion, PLD-
T91 martensitic steel), and is 800 C. The remaining analyses analyzed by SEM, TEM, XRD, grown Al2O3 is a suitable and
then upgraded to coat tubes show that the fracture strength and nanomechanical and promising coating material for
up to 10 cm long, proving and the adhesive strength micromechanical techniques. LFR nuclear fuel cladding.
that an industrial scale-up is
possible in principle with proper
process engineering. Recent
studies have highlighted the
outstanding radiation tolerance
and mechanical properties of
nanomaterials. Following these
results, the coating -namely, a
bi-phase Al2O3 nanocomposite-
is designed to evolve towards
a nanoceramic structure during
irradiation in-service. This
structure is meant to overcome
the major intrinsic problems
associated with the use of
Al2O3 as the coating material,
such as void swelling-induced
micro-cracking and low fracture
toughness, among others. The
characterization of the coating 1. Cross-sectional SEM micrograph of the coated surface of a T91 steel sample after exposure to stagnant molten lead
in the as-deposited state is at 550 C for 500 h (a). No signs of corrosion are found, as confirmed by the EDX maps for Fe, Cr, Al, O and Pb.
 250
Nanostructured Oxide Semiconductors
for Direct Solar Energy Conversion:
Photovoltaics and Water Splitting
Ali Ghadirzadeh - Tutor: Prof. C.E. Bottani - Advisors: A. Li Bassi, F. Di Fonzo
Objectives of thesis work
I performed my doctoral
research in Energy and Nuclear
Science and Technology at
the Center for Nano Science
and Technology (CNST)
of the Italian Institute of
Technology (IIT), with an IIT
scholarship on Nanostructured
Semiconductors for Direct
Solar Energy Conversion:
Photovoltaics and Water
Splitting, focusing on the
synthesis and characterization
of nanostructured metal oxides
mainly as photoelectrodes for
hybrid heterojunctions as solar
cell and water splitting devices.
Motivation and Originality
Low-cost semiconductor
materials and facile fabrication
routes for photovoltaic
(PV) junctions have been
longstanding goals for
photovoltaic materials research.
New materials or fabrication
procedures that could reduce
the cost of PV electricity
sustainability could help to
drive a rapid expansion in
implementation of photovoltaic
technology. In the field of solar
energy conversion, hybrid
organic/inorganic devices
represent emerging alternatives
to standard photovoltaic devices
in terms of exploiting the
specific features of both organic
nanomaterials and inorganic
semiconductors. In hybrid
devices, an organic material is
mixed with an inorganic material
to form a photoactive layer.
Utilization of intrinsic properties
of the inorganic materials
such as charge selectivity
behaviour and advantages of
nanostructuring such as increase
of interfacial area are the two
main objectives of current
research in this field.
In hybrid devices, including
hybrid organic/inorganic solar
cells and water splitting cells that
are the target of this project,
interface between the organic
and inorganic materials plays
an important role in the power
conversion efficiency (PCE) of
the device. In both photovoltaic
(PV) and water splitting (WS)
configurations, currently there
are two major issues that are
highly under investigation: first
is the proper choice of material
selection and the second is the
organic/inorganic mixture design
at nanoscale that greatly affects
the performance of the final
device.
In the framework of this project,
I am aimed to synthesize novel
nanostructured materials,
mainly transition metal oxides
(TMOs), as hybrid device
photoelectrodes, and perform
complementary optical,
electrical, compositional, and
morphological characterizations
in order to gain well
understanding of the material
and device behaviour and
features, which make us capable
of tuning properties by means
of better control over the
fabrication process.
Experimentally, I will focus on
developing and characterizing
different aspects (e.g.
morphology, structure, optical
properties) of nanostructured
thin films, mainly TiO2, MoO3,
and PdO as charge selective
contacts by means of pulsed
laser deposition, in order to
meet the most important
requirements for the desired
hybrid PV and WS applications.
Hyperbranched TiO2
nanostructure
In the field of PV, a quasi-1D
hyperbranched nanostructure
of titanium dioxide was
synthesized and characterized
and its application as
photoanode in hybrid organic-
inorganic solar cells was
explored. P3HT was used as
the hole conductive organic
couple. Hybrid solar cells were
made by evaporation of silver
and the cells were measured
by a solar simulator set up.
Performance of the cells was
optimized by focusing on the
film thickness, film porosity, and
the molecular weight of the
infiltrated polymer. In parallel
and as a reference, mesoporous
titania paste based cells were
fabricated and the photovoltaic
performances of both type of
devices in terms of open circuit
voltage (Voc), short circuit
current (Jsc), and fill factor (FF)
were compared. A maximum
power conversion efficiency
exceeding 1% for the champion
PLD-fabricated cells under air
mass (AM) 1.5 illumination
has been obtained for 800 nm
thick cell, deposited at 7 Pa of
oxygen. This result represents a
130% increase with respect to
an optimized device obtained
with a standard architecture
based on a mesoporous
titanium dioxide photoanode
(0.43%). The efficiency gain
arises mostly from a tremendous
increase in Jsc from of 1.55
mA/cm2 to 2.7 mA/cm2 for the
standard and the hierarchical
photoanode respectively. This
is mainly attributed to the
peculiar optical properties such
as light scattering of the novel
acceptor phase and to the close-
to-optimal interpenetrating
morphology obtained as
confirmed by quantitative
electron tomography, as well as
an increase in the crystallinity
of the infiltrated polymer
which was demonstrated by
XRD analysis and by transient
absorption measurements.
2D nanolamellar a-MoO3
structure
As mentioned before, in the
frame of PHOCS project,
nanostructured hole-selective
materials were the target of
the research. MoO3 and V2O5
have the highest values of
work function (6.9 and 7 eV
respectively) among the TMOs.
Since V2O5 is a highly soluble
material, MoO3 was chosen as
the starting material. MoO3 has
a hierarchical structure upon
deposition in a background
atmosphere and annealing
up to 350oC (b phase) and
it converts to a phase by
further annealing and forms a
nanolamellar structure due to
the 2D nature of the a-MoO3.
Physical, structural, electrical,
and optical properties of high
purity a-MoO3 nano-lamellar
structures produced by PLD
were investigated. Ultra-thin
lamellar structure was realized
for films annealed at 400 oC
where a mixed a/b phase is
present prior to complete crystal
growth in single a phase where
thick lamellas can be observed.
An innovative technique based
on the differential etching rate
of the two phases was used
to achieve pure a phase. The
films are being characterized
by means of Scanning
electron microscopy, Raman
spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction,
Kelvin probe force microscopy,
and UV/Vis spectrophotometer
to understand the morphology,
crystallinity and relative phases
ratio, surface energy and
optical behaviour variation
by phase transition. Ability
of intercalation between the
lamellas for tuning material
band gap is studied by
annealing in H2 atmosphere.
For hydrogen production, the
structure was coupled with
P3HT:PCBM blend and the
photoelectrochemical behaviour
was studied. A maximum
current of 50 A at the positive
potential of 0.35 V vs RHE
was extracted for this system.
However in spite of the good
photoelectrochemical activity of
the system, due to the reducing
tendency of the oxide by
negative swap, at which it tends
to get reduced to MoO2 at 0.24
V, and to the narrow range of
stability by pH (between 0 and
1), other materials, namely
Palladium oxide, became in the
focus of our attention.
Hierarchical PdO
PhD Yearbook | 2015
nanostructure
Palladium oxide has been
reported to be a p-type
semiconductor with high work
function which makes it a
suitable choice of selection as
a photocathode for a hybrid
device. In addition, PdO has
long been known for its high 251
insolubility, good thermal
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
stability, non-toxicity, as well
as ideal corrosion resistance in
wide range of pH values, acidic
to basic, and relatively cheaper
in comparison to the very few
other metal chalcogenides with
similar stability characters such
as IrO2 and PtO. Once being
nanostructured, high surface-to-
volume ratio could be obtained
which is a key parameter in
hybrid devices in order to
maximize the charge generation
in the organic molecules, and
its interfacial extraction to
the charge-selective inorganic
compound. Hierarchical
nanostructure of PdO was
synthesized by using a Pd target
and further annealing in air. An
example is depicted in Figure
2.a. Among all investigated
pristine and blended bulk-
heterojunctions, APFO-
3:PCBM attained the highest
photocathodic current. By
analysing photoelectrochemical
measurements, this systems
failed to produce hydrogen
due to the reaction of the
generated electron with oxygen
in the water Precise degasation
of electrolyte revealed that
the photogenerated current
decreases with the amount of
outgoing oxygen.
 252

Nanostructured Transparent Conducting background gas on morphology

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Oxides for Advanced Photovoltaic
Applications
Paolo Gondoni - Supervisors: Dr. Carlo S. Casari, Prof. A. Li Bassi
The attention of research in the
whose versatility allows control
images shown in figure 1.
and stoichiometry. The results in
terms of electrical properties are
promising: the electrical resistivity
of AZO layers grown at a total
pressure of 100 Pa, with oxygen
partial pressures ranging from
2% to 10%, are 5-6 orders of
magnitude lower than films with
similar morphology grown in 253
pure O2 atmosphere: this means

Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology

field of solar energy has been
lately focused on Hybrid and
Organic PhotoVoltaic (HOPV)
cells, as promising low-cost
and high efficiency flexible
energy harvesting devices. A
key component in any HOPV
cell is constituted by transparent
electrodes, whose main purpose
is to let the solar light enter the
device and the photogenerated
charges exit to an external
circuit. Such electrodes, in the
form of compact Transparent
Conducting Oxides (TCOs), have
been investigated for a long
time, leading to the development
of highly performing materials
among which Indium-Tin
Oxide (ITO) is the most widely
employed. However, a number
of major problems have emerged
which make compact TCOs -
and ITO in particular - unfit for
future HOPV devices. Novel
properties are required, including
effective light management,
low temperature synthesis,
large surface area and low
priced constituents. A promising
candidate which can meet all
these requirements is Aluminum-
doped Zinc Oxide (AZO). ZnO-
based materials are inexpensive
and easy to synthesize in
different forms with peculiar
structures at the nano- and micro
scale. One powerful deposition
technique to obtain AZO and
ZnO thin films is constituted by
Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD),
of morphology, structural and
functional properties down to the
nanoscale.
In this framework, this
project was first dedicated to
understanding and achieving
control of the relation between
structure and functional
properties of nanostructured
AZO layers grown by PLD at
room temperature. Subsequently,
this knowledge was employed
to develop novel nano-and
mesostructures combining all
the desired properties in one
low cost, large surface area,
transparent, conducting and light
scattering material, compatible
with flexible substrates.
The deposition of AZO layers by
PLD at room temperature was
performed in the presence of
oxygen as a background gas.
O2 pressure during deposition
proved to be a critical parameter,
whose variations cause dramatic
effects on morphology,
structure, stoichiometry, optical
and electrical properties. Two
main deposition regimes were
identified based on the O2
deposition pressure: compact
layers with low oxygen content
(from now on, compact films)
are obtained at low pressures,
whereas above 10 Pa O2 it is
possible to achieve mesoporous
forest-like structures (from now
on, porous films). Examples of
these structures are presented in
the Scanning Electron Microscope
At an optimal deposition pressure
value of 2 Pa O2, a compromise
between local structural order
and defects beneficial for
carrier concentration leads to
the state-of-the-art resistivity of
4.5x10-4 cm was found, with
a mean visible transmittance
of 85%. Unlike compact films,
porous AZO layers showed
an extremely significant light
scattering capability, with a haze
over 80%. Still, due to their
open morphology, and possibly
also to the saturation of oxygen
vacancies, porous films have
much higher resistivity (of the
order of M cm). The deposition
process of both porous and
compact films was calibrated
in order to permit adhesion
on flexible substrates, namely
Ethylene-TetraFluoroEthylene
(ETFE), which is of significant
interest for HOPV devices as
discussed above.
The identification of the
importance of oxygen content
in compact films, together with
the optimized light management
properties obtained in porous
films, allowed to devise two
approaches to obtain electrically
conducting nano-forests by PLD
at room temperature.
In order to achieve this result,
PLD was first performed in
a mixed Ar:O2 atmosphere
rather than in pure oxygen: in
these conditions it is possible
to uncouple the effects of the
that it is virtually possible to
synthesize a hierarchical AZO
layer with controlled resistivity,
optical transmittance and haze by
adjusting the O2 partial pressure
and the thickness.
The second approach involves
the spatial separation of
electrical conductivity and light
scattering, i.e. the realization
of a multifunctional, multilayer
architecture combining the
properties of compact and
porous AZO films. The versatility
of the PLD technique allows to
synthesize this kind of structure
in one single deposition step,
in which the transition from
compact to porous AZO (and vice
versa) occurs as a consequence
of a variation in the O2 pressure
during deposition.
The identification of multiple
trade-offs between conductivity,
transparency and light scattering
allowed to devise an optimal
deposition condition: mean
visible transparency of the order
of 80%, haze of 40% and
resistivity of the order of 3 m
cm. In terms of comparison, the
light scattering capability of the
nanoforests is combined with
an electrical resistivity which is 9
orders of magnitude lower.
The benefits deriving from light
scattering have been tested by
evaluating the enhancement of
absorption in a low bandgap
polymer (PCPDTBT) employed
in HOPV devices as an electron
1. Cross-sectional SEM images of a compact sample grown at 2 Pa O2 (left) and
of a mesoporous sample grown at 160 Pa O2 (right)
donor. A 40 nm PCPDTBT layer same spectral region is as high as
was spin-coated on an optimized 100%, both on glass substrates
graded AZO structure, and and on ETFE flexible substrates.
the absorption profile of the This project demonstrates the
polymer in these conditions room temperature synthesis
was compared with that of of a nanostructured, flexible
an identical PCPDTBT layer transparent conducting layer
deposited on compact AZO. based on low cost materials
The results are shown in figure for photovoltaic applications.
2, where the black curve shows Compact, transparent and highly
the PCPDTBT absorption on a conductive AZO layers combine
compact AZO layer (shown as the functionalities required for
a reference): the region of low conventional solar cells with
absorption is clearly visible in mechanical flexibility, whereas
the 450-550 nm spectral region. nanostructured forest-like layers
The red curve corresponds to can provide enhanced light
the absorption of an identical harvesting capability (up to
layer deposited on a graded AZO 100% for flexible polymer-based
architecture: the increase in the photovoltaic cells).
2. (left) A flexible transparent conducting scattering AZO layer on an ETFE
substrate. (center) Cross-sectional SEM image and corresponding scheme of
a graded AZO layer constituted by a compact conducting layer on a porous
scattering layer. (right) Increase in optical density of a 30 nm PCPDTBT: the
black curve shows the polymer absorption profile when it is deposited on
a compact AZO layer, the red curve reports the absorption of an identical
PCPDTBT layer grown on a graded AZO architecture.
 254
Strategies for access to energy in
developing countries: methods and models
for off-grid power systems design
Stefano Mandelli - Supervisors: Prof. Emanuela Colombo, Prof. Marco Merlo
This doctoral thesis copes with
methods and models for sizing,
analysis and evaluation of small-
scale power systems for off-grid
implementations. This theme
is specifically developed within
the frame of rural electrification
in Developing Countries with a
particular emphasis on Africa.
The thesis theme refers to the
field of research in Energy for
sustainable development in
Developing Countries.
Developing Countries are
affected by the lowest per capita 3. the research field of small-
values of energy supply as well
as electricity consumption. These
conditions are exacerbated in
rural areas where many scattered
villages are characterized by no
access to any kind of service.
Dealing with the problem of
access to energy means to study
the problems of electrification
and traditional biomass
dependence.
The thesis also considers
the concept of sustainable
development. This aspect is
quite important in Developing
Countries where the impact
on local development due to
enhancing access to energy is
more tangible.
Within this frame, three main
observations can be recognized
as general motivations of the
research activities:
1. off-grid small-scale power
systems based on Renewable
Energy sources are often the
most viable strategy for rural
electrification. Nevertheless
the design of these systems
is not straightforward
and several issues can be
investigated;
2. the development of methods
and models to tackle these
issues contributes to promote
electrification. Moreover,
achievements in Developing
Countries can have favourable
spin-off on applications in the
developed world;
scale power systems has
experienced a growing interest
in the past few years. This
theme addresses a number
of engineering disciplines
leading to the development
of several research areas.
This thesis revises the
literature and capitalizes its
main fundamentals in order
to provide scholars with a
reference framework.
By looking at the different
elements of a rural electrification
intervention based on small-
scale power systems from
the features of the intervention
context, to the aspects about
the development of the
technological solution seven
main issues have been identified:
1. when aiming at sustainable
energy development, it is
required to understand the
relationships between energy
issues and sustainability;
2. the energy framework where
the electrification action takes
place has to be analyzed. This
means, at country or macro-
region, to acquire a picture of
the energy situation and to
measure the progress towards
a sustainable energy system;
3. it is required to study the
features of rural areas,
i.e. to identify the typical
energy needs and to acquire
the state of the art of the
technology solutions for rural
electrification;
4. looking at the analysis of
the technological solutions,
energy resource availability
and electric consumption
patterns have to be evaluated
according to the intervention
context;
5. the technology solution has
to be selected and sized.
This involves the planning
of systems components
capacity according to local
consumption patterns and
energy resources. Moreover,
sizing may also embrace
economic features to assess
system feasibility;
6. the real interactions between
the identified system
components have to be
analyzed. This refers to the
optimization of dispatchment
strategies and stability
analyses;
7. finally, rural electrification
interventions require
monitoring and evaluation in
order to understand to which
extent local development has
been promoted.
The highlighted issues can be
arranged in two groups: those
which deal with the Framework
of Reference of the targeted
theme (i.e. issues 1, 2, 3), and
those which are the building
blocks of the System Design
Process (i.e. issues 4, 5, 6, 7).
This thesis addresses some of
these issues in accord with
these two groups. Fig. 1 shows
a schematic overview of this
framework and it highlights the
thesis contributions.
Chapter 2 introduces the
theme of access to sustainable
energy with particular reference
to Developing Countries. It
focuses on the issues of access
to electricity and traditional
biomass dependence as regards
the topic of sustainability.
Chapter 3 depicts the current
energy situation of Africa as far
as the concept of sustainable
development is concerned, and
it analyzes if and how local
energy policies fit with this
asset. In particular, emphasis is
given to the situation of rural
electrifications.
Chapter 4 deals with off-grid
small-scale power systems which
often are the most appropriate
energy solution to address rural
electrification. It deepens the
analysis of rural electrification
issue in Developing Countries
and it reviews the literature
about small-scale off-grid power
systems. The review is the basis
for the development of methods
and models which address
system design process and which
are introduced in the following
chapters.
Chapter 5 describes
the development and approach for electro-mechanical
PhD Yearbook | 2015
implementation of a stochastic modelling of off-grid systems
procedure to estimate electric
load profiles in rural areas. The
capable to analyze system
operation and dynamic behavior.
procedure allows developing
user load profiles which are
A model for a micro hydropower
plant in Tanzania has been
required as input data for the implemented and analyzed.
most advanced system sizing This doctoral thesis deeply
techniques. This procedure, as analyzes and revises the
well as the ones introduced framework of rural electrification 255
in the following have been in Developing Countries.
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
implemented in Matlab and Moreover it contributes in
Matlab SIMULINK. improving the design process of
Chapter 6 describes a novel off-grid power systems by means
mathematical procedure for of a number of new methods
system capacity planning of both and models.
on-grid and off-grid systems. It
identifies the best mix of energy
sources available in a targeted
context in order to meet user
load profiles. Moreover, it
computes the power sources
and storage system sizes
according to specific objective
functions.
Chapter 7 introduces an
appropriate techno-economic
system sizing approach for rural
areas. Indeed, in addition to
energy sources and user load
profiles, it embraces in the
system sizing process also local
costs of traditional and modern
energy systems. It has been
applied for PV system sizing in
Uganda.
Chapter 8 deals with a new
1. Schematic overview of the topics concerning rural electrification
interventions via off-grid small-scale power systems and thesis contributions
256
BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT
AND RATING: AN ITALIAN OBJECTIVE SYSTEM
PROPOSAL
Roberta Moschetti - Supervisor: Prof. Livio Mazzarella
The thesis fits in the broad
research topic of the
sustainability assessment and
rating systems for buildings.
The main result concerns an
innovative approach for the
development of a new protocol,
with a focus on Italian residential
buildings.
One of the main motivations of
the research work is related to
the absence of a uniform and
complete evaluation tool at
national level, whose parameters
are substantially founded on
the principles of objectivity and
measurability. Moreover, the
lack of a life cycle approach in
national sustainability evaluation
protocols is also pointed out,
meaning the almost total
absence of criteria referred to
all building life stages, with
a consequent lack of related
benchmarks.
In the first part of the thesis,
given the existence of many
evaluation tools in addition to
several standards on building
sustainability issue, a careful
study of the state of the art
was executed, leading to the
choice of few tools to take into
consideration for a further deep
analysis. Therefore, according
to the usual framework of
criteria-based tools, the new
rating system was supposed to
be characterized by the presence
of: evaluation areas, assessment
criteria, performance indicators
and related computation
methodologies. Hence, the
potential evaluation areas to
be included within the new
protocol were chosen as a
result of the investigation of
the areas contained within the
analyzed existing systems and
Standards. Furthermore, in order
to recognize interdependencies
among the different identified
areas a mathematical multi-
criteria method, the Decision
Making Trial and Evaluation
Laboratory (DEMATEL), was
applied. Thereafter, another
mathematical multi-criteria
technique, the Analytic
Hierarchy Process (ANP), was
implemented, in order to define
a scale of priority among the
analyzed areas. The final choice
of the evaluation areas resulted
from the calculation of the
Preference Index taking into
account the results of both
DEMATEL and AHP methods.
It is worth to notice that, in
order to face the complexity of
several heterogeneous scientific
areas, a panel of experts was
established. Its members
belonged to the university field
and represented a valuable
support for the application of
the multi-criteria methods used
within the research work.
The following step regarded
the definition of the assessment
criteria to be included in the
established evaluation areas.
This involved an extensive
comparative analysis of the
criteria included in the existing
sustainability protocols and
Standards, identifying similarities
and repetitions, detecting
possible gaps and proposing
adaptations or extensions. The
main selection principle was
the actual measurability and
objectivity of each criterion.
Afterwards, both evaluation
areas and criteria were weighted
in order to characterize their
importance within the protocol
structure. The weight of the
evaluation areas derived from
the combination of the results
got from DEMATEL and AHP,
by applying the Analytic
Network Process (ANP). Instead,
the criteria were weighted
through the AHP, with a new
consultation of the panel of
experts.
Subsequently, each criterion
was associated to performance
indicators, derived by a critical
analysis of the potential existing
ones, with the suggestion of
possible combinations, adaptions
or additions. Next, calculation
methodologies were defined for
each criterion, by the analysis of
the existing procedures and the
proposal of revisions, extensions
or new methods.
The quantitative information
obtained from the computation
of the performance indicators
needed to be referred to
predefined baseline values,
in order to rate the achieved
performance. Therefore, the
indicators were related to
scales of reachable values,
built on the basis of limit and
reference values. This led to
the second part of the thesis,
where the benchmark concept
was introduced, underlying its
importance for the setting of
the new protocol structure.
In particular, the absence of
reference or limit values for
some performance indicators
was emphasized and, to
compensate for this lack, specific
computation methodologies
were proposed. In particular,
reference values were calculated
for: Use phase energy, Life
Cycle Impacts (LCI), Life Cycle
Costs (LCC), and Indoor Quality
(IAQ). For this purpose, detailed
analyses on reference buildings
were performed, referring to
the European project TABULA
for the definition of 36 Italian
residential building archetypes.
The analyzed buildings were
chosen within the after-2005
construction age, so that
they all presented the typical
envelope components of the
most recent construction period.
Furthermore, the archetypes
were differentiated on the
basis of the combination of
three variables: the building
typology (single-family house,
terraced house, multi-family
building, and apartment block);
the climatic zone (Italian E
climatic zone, 2100-3000
degree-days; Italian D climatic
zone, 1400-2100 degree-days;
Italian C climatic zone, 900-
1400 degree-days); the building
systems (heating, cooling, and
domestic hot water (DHW)
plants). Three main analyses
were performed: (1) use phase
energy evaluations, through
dynamic energy simulations
by EnergyPlus software; (2)
LCI assessments, with the
application of LCA methodology,
through SimaPro 8 software; (3)
LCC assessments, by means of
economical evaluations based
on the global cost approach, as
suggested in EN 15459. First,
the analyses related to the use
phase energy were performed
and then the results were
integrated in the LCA and LCC
analyses, leading to the final
definition of the investigated
life cycle indicators. Thereafter,
another methodology was set
for the definition of benchmarks
concerning the IAQ criterion.
In particular, a reference single
family house, derived from
TABULA project, was subjected
to specific indoor airflow and
pollutant analyses, through
the multizone airflow and
contaminant transport analysis
software CONTAM. In particular,
the last drafts of UNI 10339 and
EN 15251 were examined for a
comparison on the suggested
supply and extraction airflows,
with regard to the minimum air
quality class.
The last part of the thesis
focused on the implementation
of the developed protocol on a
case study, in order to practically
test and validate its applicability.
Furthermore, to assess the
coherence of the developed
protocol with others actually
in use, a widespread Italian
system, ITACA protocol, was also
implemented on the same case
study. In conclusion, the results
obtained by both protocols
were critically discussed and
compared.
It is worth noticing that
the implementation of a
sustainability assessment and
rating system represents a
manifold process, requiring
a plenty of data on the
analyzed building, with
PhD Yearbook | 2015
reference to different life
phases. Nonetheless, this
phase was highly required
for the examination of the
consistency of the proposed
Protocol structure and of the
trustworthiness of the defined
evaluation methodology.
The thesis results are aimed 257
at providing a contribution to
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
the national and international
development of methods and
guidelines, supporting the
sustainability management
and optimization in the
building sector. Indeed, the
research provided an effective
methodological and operative
tool for decision makers in
the field of sustainability
assessment systems. In fact,
the study illustrated a detailed
methodology that could be
followed in the definition of new
assessment systems, showing
an objectification procedure
for the definition process, with
a parallel reduction of the
subjectivity margins in its inner
content. Finally, the developed
benchmark values, related to
several sustainability criteria,
could be used as a comparison
base for future similar studies, or
could be also employed in Italian
sustainability rating systems for
residential buildings, as soon as
the analyzed indicators will be
introduced in their structure.
258
Waste atomic separation and raw material
recovery by application of plasma
technology
Guido Parissenti - Supervisor: Alfonso Niro
Our societys economical model,
in terms of the western way of
living based on consumerism, is
presently no longer sustainable.
The present goods production
rate requires a constant supply
of raw materials, which results
in a continuous draining of the
Earths fossil and renewable
resources. Attempts are
being made to improve our
environmental responsibility.
Ecological lifestyles, improved
production processes and better
waste management are some
examples of policies introduced
to reduce our environmental
impact. Nevertheless wastes
are still one of the most
devastating results of human
activities because of its twofold
drawback: on one side they
represent a reduction of
available raw material for
goods production, and on
the other side they occupy
space and mass, polluting
natural resources, and creating
additional costs for proper
disposal. The obvious best
solution to get rid of the waste
problem is not to produce
wastes, improving reusability
and reducing packages.
Unfortunately this solution can
only be gradually implemented,
and the problem remains for
the already produced wastes,
which are mainly managed in
three ways: disposal in dumps,
destruction/incineration,
recycling.
Of the three methods the first
is the one with the largest
drawbacks. The second is an
attempt to recover at least the
energy contained in the waste
at the expense of destroying
any possibility to reuse the
material. The third is the more
environmentally friendly option,
because the energy required to
produce goods starting from
recycled material is many times
lower that starting from raw
materials.
Despite recycling, mixed wastes
which cannot be separated,
special wastes, and ashes from
incinerators still represent a
tremendous potential source
of raw material that cannot be
exploited but shall inevitably be
disposed in dumps.
In this frame, the present
research investigates the
possibility of obtaining raw
materials as pure elements
starting from multiple not
refined sources, such as
wastes, minerals and other
sort of low grade materials,
by using plasma means. The
concept has been proposed
in the past, for very specific
applications, in very different
fields ranging from nuclear
physics to space science. The
process implies the ionization
of the source materials and the
separation of its constituents
by electromagnetic means in
a single production step, with
the advantage of shortening
the overall production chain
respect to traditional production
processes, at the expenses
of a high quantity of electric
energy. In this work the problem
is analyzed in the special
case of silicon production
starting from silica, which
traditional production method
involves many production
steps and the usage of large
quantities of energy, water and
chemicals. The possibility to
directly separate silica into its
constituents in a single passage
would provide benefits in terms
of energy consumption, logistics
and environmental impact.
The problem is initially set
to evaluate synergies with
previous technologies, and the
preliminary configuration of a
demonstrator plant is proposed
with its main constituents. The
proposed idea relies on the
concept of mass spectrometry,
which is a chemical analysis
device that measures the mass-
to-charge ratio and abundance
of ions in the gas phase. It
works by ionizing chemical
compounds to generate
charged molecules or molecule
fragments and measuring
their mass-to-charge ratios.
The proposed demonstrator
plant resembles the main parts
of a mass spectrometer, but
with the consideration that
a much bigger throughput is
required for the separation
operation to be convenient
and able to be performed in a
reasonable amount of time. The
silica vaporization and plasma
generation is provided by a
particular self-feeding plasma
torch concept identified within
the study, which does not need
an external supply of working
gas.
A numerical multiphysics 2D
axisymmetric FEM model,
capable of simulating the
actual torch geometry and the
thermochemical processes in
each point of the domain, is
then developed to analyze the
process, allowing to perform
a more detailed design of the
overall device.
The model comprises a fluid-
dynamical model, a thermal
model and a plasma model
coupled one to each other.
Ions and neutrals are supposed
to have a single temperature,
different from the electrons
one. This implies that a single
fluid model is used, where the
plasma is seen as a unique
conducting fluid and globally
neutral, that reacts to external
inputs. The modeling of the
plasma decomposition of the
inbound gas mixture is the most
complex physics taken into
consideration. It comprises both
plasma reactions, which involve
electrons impact, and chemical
reactions, which are responsible
of the heating of the neutral
mixture.
A big effort was put in identifying
an exhaustive set of equations
capable of simulating silica
decomposition and thermal
behavior. Other than the physics
of oxygen, which reactions are
commonly available, the plasma
reactions involving silicon and its
oxygen compounds were very overall energy consumption
PhD Yearbook | 2015
difficult to gather. The majority unfortunately higher than
of the papers found in literature
focus on Plasma Enhanced
the traditional production
process. Nevertheless the
Chemical
(PECVD),
Vapor
which
Deposition
involves
overall environmental impact
is limited to the electric energy
hydrogen, or on the production demand, with no chemicals
on nanometric silica, in plasma involved in the process. Areas
torches where silica reaches of optimization are identified,
only fusion temperature. In which may lead to substantial 259
order to collect the fundamental improvements in the energy
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
equations to build the model, consumption.
reaction has to be found in
astrophysics and atmospheric
related papers.
It has to be underlined that
apparently no complete
kinetic models of silica plasma
decomposition are available in
literature, therefore this set of
reactions can be a useful source
of rate constants and references
for those involved in building
similar models.
After the numerical calculations
the power consumption of the 1. Multiphysics model logic
devices constituent parts is
estimated, with the preliminary
design of a particular section if
needed. The demonstrator plant
is then globally evaluated from
the energetic point of view, and
its sustainability is compared
with traditional production
processes.
Results show the feasibility
of the approach, but also an
2. Demonstrator concept simplified schematic
260

Development of a Fixed-Bed Quasi-Isothermal

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Adsorption Dehumidifier: from Concept to
Optimization, through Experimental and Theoretical
Investigation
Lorenzo Pistocchini - Supervisor: Prof. Mario Motta

261
Research goals drop in the air side. To carry out porosity - as already shown temperature of the cold (Tc) and in actual and ideal operation. negligible. Thus an isotropic

Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology

The research focuses on the such analysis, an experimental by Ergun equation - is directly hot (Th) water flow. Thanks to such approach the diffusion model is coupled to the
development of a heat driven apparatus is realized on purpose. proportional to the p/dav ratio. Test results show that the accuracy of the formulas results integral model, which applies
adsorption dehumidifier for First result is the development This means that pressure drop is energy performances strongly to be remarkable. the hypothesis of instantaneous
waste heat recovery and solar of a semi-empirical formula to minimized at lower values of p/ depend on the operating They are a suitable tool adsorption just to the external
air conditioning applications. It calculate the volume fraction dav than those which maximize conditions, which need to to optimize the control of layer of the grain.
is based on the batch operation of monodisperse packed beds the porosity. be optimized. Anyway the the dehumidifier, since a The numerical model is based
of two finned tube heat made by randomly pouring PvL = a*m1 eSv + 2p2e3 + prototype guarantees a dehumidification target can on empirical formulas, available
exchangers, where silica gel spheres between the fins as b*pdavnrfv1 eSv + 2pe3 significant dehumidification be achieved by different in literature, to compute the
grains are packed between the a function of the ratio of fin a, b and n are empirical in all the tests, despite the combinations of some operating convective heat and mass
fins. Quasi-isothermal adsorption distance (p) to spheres diameter coefficients; narrow thickness (108 mm) of variable, as m , Tc, Th, to which transfer coefficients and vapour
and desorption processes (d). This formula corrects, by Sv is the specific surface of solid the heat exchangers and the different energy performances diffusivity. Such coefficients
are achieved respectively by an empirical coefficient g, the particles in the bed [m-1]. low regeneration temperature. correspond. Suitable are calibrated on the basis
rejecting and supplying heat theoretical model of Pansu et Based on the results of packed As a reference: it provides an combinations can be computed of test results. Then model
within the fixed beds, thanks al. for the case of finite pressure bed analysis, a prototype of the average dehumidification rate by one formula and the resulting reliability is verified by means
to the alternative flow of cool exerted by the bed walls on the dehumidifier is realized. It is up to 5 g/kg with a cooling energy performances by the of further experimental results,
and hot water through the spheres. At p/d <= 1.707 the specifically designed to be tested water temperature Tc = 25C, a other one, so the best operating and exploited to quantify the
heat exchangers. The novel volume fraction is in different operating modes, regeneration temperature Th = conditions can be selected on performances of a revised design
dehumidifier has the purpose 1 e = 3g pd41 pd 12 1 in particular with regard to the 50C, an air flow rate V=1850 the basis of different control of the prototype: by increasing
to be a cheaper system than An optimal range of p/dav is direction of the air flow through m3/h and a parallel flow strategies. (up to twice) the thickness of the
existing desiccant systems for airidentified even for a polydisperse the adsorption heat exchangers regeneration, meaning that the Last step of the research heat exchanger and reducing
conditioning application, being packed bed of spheres, made during the different stages of airstream flows through the heat work is the optimization of the air flow rate, with the
made by standard components. by a distribution of diameters the operating cycle. exchangers in the same direction the dehumidifier design. condition of keeping the same
Moreover, it aims at providing in a range dmindmax, where dmin/ To carry out the testing during the dehumidification A numerical model of the flow regime, both the COP and
a suitable dehumidification dmax > 0.75. In such an optimal campaign of the prototype and regeneration stage. Proving prototype is developed to dehumidification are significantly
rate even at low regeneration range, identified by theoretical independently of the actual the effectiveness (in terms of simulate the operation of improved. It must be noted that
temperatures, thanks to the considerations and validated by climatic conditions, a new performances) of parallel flow revised configurations and in such an operating mode, the
quasi-isothermal operation. experimental results, porosity of laboratory and the related regeneration, which allows to assess the improvement of conditioned flow is mixed to an
the packed bed is maximized: monitoring and control systems simplify the prototype design the performances. It is based unconditioned flow to regain
Main results p/dmin = 1.51.63; p/dmax = are designed and realized. and control, is an important on integral models of the the overall air renewal rate.
First step of system development 1.131.23; p/dav = 1.291.40, if Experimental evaluation of result of the testing campaign. main physical phenomena The promising results of this
is the optimization of the packed dav = (dmin+dmax)/2. the prototype is aimed at Two semi-empirical formulas (not stationary heat and research push in the direction of
bed, mainly focused on the A new semi-empirical formula determining the main energy are then developed to calculate mass transfer, adsorption and an integration of the optimized
minimization of the pressure for pressure drop calculation performance indicators the energy performances desorption) in specific reference layout of the dehumidifier in a
drop, by means of a theoretical is developed, to adapt the dehumidification rate, the (dehumidification and COP) volumes, where average values conventional Air Handling
and experimental study of Ergun equation to the specific Coefficient of Performance as a function of the operating of the relevant quantities Unit. This is the rational, but not
its peculiar geometry. This is geometry of the packed bed (COP) and the Energy Efficiency conditions. Development of are considered rather than trivial, main future development
characterized by the little ratio between the fins. The new Ratio (EER) on varying these formulas is not only based the three-dimensional fluid of the work.
of fin pitch to silica gel grains formula provides very good the humidity by mass (xin), on the fitting of experimental dynamics. Due to the diameter
diameter, which affects the accuracy and indicates that temperature (Tin) and flow rate data, but on the assumption of silica gel grains, the effect
porosity e of the adsorption bed pressure drop, besides being (m ) of the air at the inlet of the of proportionality between the of vapour diffusion within
and consequently the pressure inversely proportional to heat exchangers, and the inlet performances of the prototype the grains is not considered
262
Advanced materials for novel laser-driven
ion acceleration schemes
Irene Prencipe - Advisor: Dr. Matteo Passoni - Tutor: Prof. Carlo E. Bottani
Since it was first observed in
2000, ion acceleration driven by
ultra-intense (>1018W/cm2) ultra-
short (10-100 fs) laser pulses
interacting with thin solid foils
has attracted increasing interest
as a unique tool to investigate
new laser-plasma interaction
regimes and because of a
number of possible application
fields. The potential of this
technique is related to the
possibility of producing multi-
MeV protons and ions with a
high degree of laminarity and
very low emittance. Accelerated
ion bunches are short (ps), have
a fs synchronization with the
driving laser pulse and contain
1011 to 1012 ions per bunch. The
experimental apparatus required
by this technique is relatively
compact and cheap compared
to common acceleration
systems. Laser-driven ion
sources have been successfully
employed for proton probing
and proton heating and the
possibility of employing them for
hadron therapy and for the fast
ignition of inertial confinement
fusion targets has been widely
investigated. However, these
foreseen applications require
energy up to several hundreds of
MeV per nucleon, much higher
than the maximum energy
of particle beams currently
produced by laser-driven
acceleration. Thus, great effort
is being devoted to enhance the
efficiency of the acceleration
process and different strategies
have been adopted to this aim.
A detailed insight of the laser-ion
acceleration physics in a variety
of experimental conditions
has been pursued through
both theoretical and numerical
studies. Moreover, advanced
laser systems have been
designed to achieve pulses with
super-high intensity (above 1020
W/cm2) and ultra-short duration
(30 fs) in order to explore new
laser-plasma interaction regimes
and acceleration mechanisms.
Finally, novel nano-engineered
targets have been studied
to properly control the laser-
matter interaction phase and
to enhance the efficiency of
the acceleration process. In
this frame, my PhD thesis was
devoted to the investigation
of novel and enhanced ion
acceleration mechanisms
through the design, production
and employment of engineered
nanostructured targets.
The emission of accelerated
protons and ions produced by
the interaction of ultra-intense
ultra-short laser pulses with
matter can be due to different
physical phenomena depending
on the experimental conditions,
i.e. the pulse parameters and
the target properties. Thus,
the design of nano-engineered
targets for laser-driven ion
acceleration should always take
into account both the properties
of the specific laser system and
the target requirements imposed
by the acceleration mechanism
under analysis. Target Normal
Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) is
currently the most investigated
and efficient acceleration
mechanism. The acceleration
process in the TNSA scheme is
due to the generation of fast
electrons in the interaction
between the incident laser
pulse and the plasma produced
on the surface of a thin solid
foil by the pulse itself. As fast
electrons propagate beyond the
non-illuminated surface of the
target, they produce a quasi-
static sheath field which in turn
accelerates light ions adsorbed
on the rear target surface. Thus,
the number and the maximum
energy of ions produced by
TNSA can be increased by
enhancing laser absorption and
fast electron production. Many
target configurations have been
recently considered to this aim
exploiting different physical
processes. During my doctorate,
in particular, Ive studied the
possibility of exploiting the
enhanced laser absorption
in ultra-low density materials
and the resonant excitation of
plasmonic surface waves for the
design of targets for ETNSA have
been investigated.
Multilayer targets composed by
a mm-thick Al foil with a low-
density C layer (foam) on the
directly illuminated surface were
considered in my PhD activities
to exploit the enhanced laser
absorption in ultra-low density
materials. According to recent
numerical studies, the ranges
of interest for the foam density
and thickness are 3-10 mg/cm3
and 5-15 mm, respectively. The
production and characterization
of extremely low density C
foams required the development
of advanced material science
methods. A general approach
based on Pulsed Laser
Deposition was developed to
produce C foams with controlled
density and thickness, with
satisfactory uniformity on large
surfaces and complete substrate
coverage. An innovative
density evaluation technique
based on Energy Dispersive
X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) was
experimentally developed and
validated exploiting compact
coatings and nanostructured
thin films with various
compositions, a large variety of
mesoscale morphologies and
density ranging from the density
of solid to a few mg/cm3. A
proof-of-concept laser-driven
ion acceleration experiment
was performed at the UHI100
laser system of the LIDyL facility
(France) to test foam-attached
target at moderate pulse
intensities (25 fs, 51016 W/
cm2-51019 W/cm2) while the
role of target properties and
pulse parameters was extensively
investigated at high intensity
(29 fs, 71019 W/cm2-51020 W/
cm2) at the PULSER I laser system
of the GIST institute (South
Korea). These experiments
showed the existence of optimal
foam properties for which a
significant enhancement of the
maximum energy of accelerated
ions (from 30% to 250%
depending on the experimental
setting) was systematically
observed with respect to bare
Al targets. Maximum H+ and
C6+ energies up to 26 MeV and
120 MeV, respectively, were
achieved and the possibility
of a further enhancement for
optimum target-laser coupling is
expected. However, these results
are interesting in view of some
of the foreseen applications
of laser-driven ion sources:
provided that a high repetition
rate configuration is adopted,
10s MeV protons can be
employed, for instance, for the
production of radioisotopes for
medical diagnostics, for material
irradiation or radiation detector
testing.
A secondary goal of my PhD
activities was the participation
to a laser-driven ion acceleration
experiment performed on
grating targets with the aim
of completing a previous
study by extending the range
of explored target properties
(different resonance angles and
different thickness values) and
by analyzing the angular and
spectral electron distribution to
achieve a deeper comprehension
PhD Yearbook | 2015
263
of high field plasmonics effects
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
(for which a relativistically correct
theory is not available yet). The
experiment was performed at
the above mentioned UHI100
laser system (25 fs, 51019
W/cm2, 1010 contrast ratio).
Preliminary results showed clear
indications of the production
of accelerated electrons along
the target irradiated surface,
consistent with the excitation of
plasmonic surface waves.
In conclusion, in this thesis the
possibility of exploiting novel
and enhanced ultra-intense
ultra-short laser driven ion
acceleration schemes through
the design, production and
employment of engineered
nanostructured targets was
investigated. This study draws
attention to the importance of
achieving a suitable coupling
between target properties and
laser parameters to enhance the
efficiency of energy conversion
from the incoming laser pulse
to accelerated ions, thus
exploiting to the highest degree
the development of advanced
ultra-intense laser facility.
Therefore, the development of
advanced target concepts, as
those described in this thesis,
will give a decisive contribute to
the worldwide efforts towards
the development of advanced
laser facilities for laser-driven ion
acceleration.
 264
Primary Exergy Cost of Goods and Services:
an Input Output approach
Matteo Vincenzo Rocco - Supervisor: Prof. Emanuela Colombo
Among the large multiplicity of
natural resources, the class of
non renewable primary energy
resources (i.e. fossil fuels) plays a
crucial role in sustaining human
economies and their production
activities. Indeed, the prosperity
and the stability of modern
societies is inextricably linked to
the extraction and consumption
of fossil fuels, and the most
authoritative projections clearly
shows that this trend will
hold for the future decades.
Political initiatives as well as
research efforts are thus facing
the issue of the increasingly
scarcity of fossil fuels acting
in two main directions: (1)
claiming a transition towards
alternative power sources and
(2) promoting a rational use
of primary fuels through the
so-called energy saving practice.
This thesis focuses on the latter
objective: it aims at providing
a comprehensive and novel
methodology to assess and
to reduce the total fossil fuels
requirements due to production
of goods and service.
Emerging needs in
Environmental Impact
Analysis
Today, the concept of energy-
resources consumption is
undergoing a radical re-
evaluation, in response to the
acknowledged interdependency
of the productive sectors with
both the environment and the
society at large. Indeed, all the
production processes of modern
economies are sustained, in a
both direct and indirect way, by
flows of fossil fuels extracted
from natural environment.
Therefore, all the goods and
services produced within a given
economy are characterized by a
primary energy-resources cost,
which is here defined as the
direct and indirect amount of
primary fossil fuels required to
deliver the considered products
and to sustain their Life Cycle
(LC). Many efforts are focused
on the definition of methods
to account for the overall fossil
fuels contribution to individual
products. From the analyst
perspective, two major issues
emerge from the literature:
Identification of a standardized
accounting method. Although
several methods have been
proposed, consensus about
the most appropriate resources
cost accounting scheme is
still nonexistent. Indeed, LC
methods are often based
on arbitrary assumptions
and are not unambiguously
defined, making results of
different analysis of a same
system hardly comparable.
Moreover, such methods relies
on extensive data collection
procedures, resulting very
expensive in terms of time and
data requirements;
Evaluation of real efficiency of
energy systems. Performances
evaluation of energy
conversion systems by means
of traditional First and Second
Law indicators neglect the
indirect effects linked to
the indirect consumptions
due to non-energy related
products and externalities.
Novel thermodynamic based
indicators are claimed in order
to obtain useful insight for the
optimization procedure.
In response to these limitations,
literature claims to (a) deepen
system analysis and resources
cost accounting methodologies
and to (b) define criteria for
primary energy-resources cost
assessment suited for analysis
and optimization of energy
conversion systems.
Objectives of the research
The general objective of the
research is to define and to
formalize the Exergy based Input
Output framework in order
to integrate cost accounting
methods and thermodynamic
analysis into one comprehensive
method for system analysis and
optimization. The main features
of the developed framework
are aimed at dealing with the
lacks and the emerging issues
highlighted by the literature
review, which become the
specific objectives of this
research:
1. Primary energy-resources cost
is defined as the total non-
renewable primary fossil fuels
requirements, expressed in
terms of exergy, caused by the
considered system or product
within a given economy;
2. The mathematical formulation
of the cost accounting
approach is based on Input
Output analysis, which
establishes standard time
and space boundaries for
any analyzed system or
products, encompassing the
whole LC. The approach
relies on standard and freely
available data sources,
avoiding extensive data
mining processes and
resulting in simpler and faster
application with respect to
traditional process based LCA.
Moreover, a specific model is
developed to evaluate the side
effects that working hours
requirements have on primary
exergy cost of products;
3. The developed approach
establishes specific indicators
in order to identify and to
optimize the primary exergy
efficiency of energy conversion
systems in a LC perspective.
The research lies in the broad
discipline of Industrial Ecology.
Specifically, it deepen the topics
of Thermoeconomic Analyses,
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and
Input-Output Analysis (IOA).
Structure of the thesis
In the first chapter, a brief
overview about the concept
of natural resources and
their role in the economic
process is provided. Moreover,
a focus on non-renewable
fossil fuels is made and,
finally, the following issues are
highlighted: (1) unambiguous
definition of primary resources
cost accounting technique
is required; (2) a unique
thermodynamic based metric
for the quantification of
energy-resources consumption
need to be established; (3)
the role of working hours
in the evaluation of primary
resource cost of products need
to be clarified. Second chapter
presents the state of the art of
the cost accounting techniques:
mathematical structure of
Input Output analysis (IOA)
and Process Analysis (PA)
are formalized for a generic
productive system, compared
and finally discussed. What
emerges from this chapter
is that any cost accounting
problem may be described in
a more efficient, simple and
standardized way through IOA
rather than using PA. Chapter
three performs a critical
literature review about the
Thermodynamic based methods
for system analysis. Energy,
Entropy and Exergy based Life
Cycle methods are comparatively
analyzed and one taxonomy
is proposed. Finally, the use
of such metrics for energy-
resources characterization
is discussed. What emerges
from this chapter is that: (1)
exergy is widely considered
as the most suited metric to
account for energy-resources
consumption; (2) exergy based
LC methods require further
methodological improvements.
Chapter four is the core of the
research activity: it merges the
cost accounting technique of
IOA with the concept of exergy,
formalizing the Exergy based
Input Output analysis (ExIO).
This method allows to evaluate
the primary exergy cost of
goods and services produced
within a specific national
economy. The method uses
Monetary Input Output Tables
(MIOTs) of national economies
PhD Yearbook | 2015
as standardized data source.
The main methodological
achievements of this chapter can
be summarized as follows:
Complete formalization of
ExIO method is proposed.
Specifically, three different
techniques are proposed to
account for imported products 265
in national MIOTs;
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
The Hybrid ExIO approach is
proposed and formalized in
order to increase the accuracy
of results obtained through
the use of standard ExIO
analysis and to perform Life
Cycle Assessment of detailed
products;
Hybrid ExIO approach is used
to perform Thermoeconomic
analysis and Design Evaluation
of energy conversion systems.
In the fifth chapter, the
Bioeconomic ExIO model is
proposed and formalized to
account for the effects that
working hours consumption has
on the primary exergy cost of
goods and services. In the last
chapter, the ExIO framework is
applied to different case studies:
(1) evaluation of primary exergy
cost of goods and services
produced by different national
economies; (2) application of
Hybrid ExIO approach for the
Thermoeconomic analysis and
Design Evaluation of an Italian
Waste to Energy power plant
in a Life Cycle perspective;
(3) comparison between
primary exergy costs of manual
dishwashing and dishwasher.
Finally, conclusions of the thesis
remark its main achievements
and also give a perspective
about the future possible
research paths.
 266
Reduced Order Methods: Applications to
Nuclear Reactor Core Spatial Dynamics
Alberto Sartori - Tutor: Prof. Lelio Luzzi - Advisors: Prof. Antonio Cammi,
Prof. Lelio Luzzi, Prof. Gianluigi Rozza
In the analysis of the nuclear
reactor dynamics, which is
governed by the neutronics,
the most spread approach is
constituted by the point-kinetics
equations. This description
of the neutronics is based on
a set of coupled non-linear
ordinary differential equations
that describe both the time-
dependence of the neutron
population in the reactor
and the decay of the delayed
neutron precursors, allowing
for the main feedback reactivity
effects. Among the several
assumptions entered in the
derivation of these equations,
the strongest approximation
concerns the shape of the
neutron flux, which is assumed
to be represented by a single,
time-independent spatial mode.
Nuclear reactors are generally
characterized by complex
geometries and may feature
asymmetric core configurations.
Therefore, more accurate
modelling approaches might
be needed to provide more
detailed insights concerning
the reactor behaviour during
operational transients. It is
worth mentioning that the
innovative reactor concepts, for
instance Generation IV reactors,
feature power density and
temperature ranges, experienced
by structural materials, such
that the corresponding spatial
dependence cannot be
neglected. Moreover, in order
to develop suitable control
strategies for such reactors, the
spatial effects induced by the
movement of the control rods
have to be taken into account
as well.
From the modelling viewpoint,
the highest fidelity approach is
the so called Multi-Physics (MP)
approach, where all the partial
differential equations, which
describe the involved physics,
are solved within the same
computational environment.
The main drawback of the MP is
that the computational burden
is quite high, and simulating
the entire core turns out to
be very demanding in terms
of computational costs and
times. In addition, it is quite
difficult to get the dynamics of
the governing system and then
set up a simulation tool that
may assess and represent the
dynamic response of the overall
system at different operating
conditions.
In this context, computational
reduced order techniques,
such as the Reduced Basis (RB)
method, can lead to a simulation
tool with real-time calculation,
still solving a set of partial
differential equations. The goal
of a computational reduction
technique is to capture the
essential features of the input/
output behaviour of a system
in a rapid and reliable way, i.e.:
(i) by improving computational
performance, and (ii) by
keeping the approximation error
between the reduced order
solution and the full-order one
under control. In particular,
the reduced order modelling
is aimed at approximating a
parametrized partial differential
equation (or a set of partial
differential equations) solution
with a handful of degrees of
freedom instead of thousands or
millions that would be needed
for a full-order approximation. In
this way, the full-order problem
has to be solved only for few
instances of the input parameter
(through a demanding Offline
computational step), in order
to be able to perform many
low-cost reduced order
simulations (inexpensive Online
computational step) for several
new instances of the input.
It is worth mentioning that
simplification or approximation
of an equation, or a system
of equations, describing a
phenomenon is indeed a
reduced order technique and
it can be phrased as: Reduce-
then-discretize. The herein
proposed reduced order
methods are complementary and
can be described as: Discretize-
then-reduce and they can
still benefit from the former
approach.
This PhD work is aimed at
tackling the need of nuclear
engineering field to have
accurate and reliable fast-
running simulation tools,
which can be tailored to
common control systems, able
to reproduce spatial effects,
in particular those induced by
the control rod movement. The
present contribution can be
considered as a first step toward
building a bridge between the
world of design and the
world of control. The goal is
to demonstrate that reduced
order modelling is suited to be
applied in more complex (and
coupled) industrial problems in
order to introduce competitive
computational performance
and allowing, at the same
time, a better investigation,
thanks to the parametrization
of involved phenomena. To
this aim, a methodological
approach for developing a
reduced order model for systems
with increasing complexity, up
to a preliminary multi-physics
analysis of a Lead Fast Reactor
(LFR) single channel, has been
proposed as proof of concept.
The main novel contribution is
the application of most recent
advances in computational
mathematics, namely the
reduced order methods, such
as the certified reduced basis
method, to nuclear engineering
field. According to the authors
knowledge and to the current
state of the art, this is the first
time that such techniques
have been employed in this
context. Therefore, the work
focused more on setting up
and assessing an innovative
methodology, rather than
reproduce a real reference
reactor.
The capabilities of reduced
order methods with respect
to the current and/or classical
approaches are firstly addressed.
In particular, two modelling
approaches based on a Modal
Method and on the Proper
Orthogonal Decomposition
technique, for developing a
control-oriented model of
nuclear reactor spatial kinetics,
are compared. The comparison
of the outcomes provided by
the two approaches focuses
on the capability of evaluating
the reactivity and the neutron
flux shape in different reactor
configurations, where different
type of perturbations (i.e.,
homogeneous or localized) are
applied.
Subsequently, the modelling
of control rods movement
is dealt, solving ad hoc
parametrized multi-group
neutron diffusion equations
both in the time-dependent
and stationary formulations.
Several accurate and reliable
reduced order models have
been developed, which are
able to take into account the
spatial effects induced by the
rods movement still featuring a
real-time computational time.
A different sampling technique,
within the Reduced Basis
framework, has been employed,
namely, the centroidal Voronoi
tessellation, which allows for
a hierarchical parameter space
exploration, without relying on
an a posteriori error estimation.
In this way, the Offline
computational time might be
sensibly reduced.
During the doctoral research,
attention has also been paid
to the multi-physics modelling
approach, where all the
involved physics are solved
within the same computational
environment. In fact, a Multi-
Physics and time-dependent
model for LFR single-channel
transient analysis has been
developed. The work focused
on the coupling among
the neutronic, the thermal-
PhD Yearbook | 2015
elastic and the fluid-dynamic
phenomena. A purpose-made
six-group neutron diffusion
model has been developed,
which allows taking into account
the local dependency of the
neutron macroscopic cross-
sections on the temperature
and density fields. It is worth 267
mentioning that the majority
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
of LFR analyses available
in literature, which employ
computational fluid dynamics
codes, do not allow for explicit
neutronic feedbacks. Relying
on this work, a reduced order
model of a parametrized multi-
physics model of a LFR single
channel has been proposed
as proof of concept. The
potentials of such approach
have been addressed by
choosing both geometrical and
physical parameters. Indeed,
the outcomes provided by
the developed reduced order
model have the same accuracy
of the full-order multi-physics
problem and a fast-running
computational time, allowing
estimation of a wide set of
output of interest in real-time. A
particular strategy for handling
the nonlinear coupling terms has
been proposed in order to allow
for an efficient Offline/Online
decoupling.
 268
NOVEL APPROACHES FOR CFD MODELING OF
DIESEL ENGINES
Roberto Torelli - Supervisor: Prof. Gianluca DErrico
The thesis focuses on the
development, implementation,
testing and validation of
computational tools for Diesel
Engines modeling. Different
aspects were investigated
with a special attention on the
Eulerian-Lagrangian description
of the injection process and on
the interaction of the injected
liquid fuel with Cartesian mesh
structures. Critical aspects were
pointed out, mainly concerning
the dependency of energy and
momentum exchange between
the phases on the spray-grid
mutual orientation.
The first half of the thesis deals
particularly with the effect that
the adoption of Cartesian grid
structures can have if evaluated
on varying the injector nozzle
position with respect to the
cell hosting it. To this end, an
implementation and evaluation
of a novel approach for
describing exchange of mass,
momentum and energy in Diesel
spray CFD simulations based on
the Discrete Droplet Modeling
(DDM) is presented. During
the calculation, each parcel in
the domain is surrounded by a
spherical volume of ambient gas
and interacts first with it instead
of interacting directly with the
cell volume hosting the parcel.
In this way, the interaction
volume is independent of the
mesh and can be located in
more than one cell. This model
was implemented using the
OpenFOAM CFD opensource
C++ library. It was developed
with the aim to reduce grid
dependencies related to spray-
grid mutual orientation and to
the choice of the injector nozzle
position with respect to the cell
hosting it.
All the sub-models constants
were set to match experimental
data of a chosen baseline case
in non-reactant vaporizing
conditions. Then the new
approach predictions were firstly
compared with standard DDM,
initially by moving the injector
position within the hosting cell
and later by varying ambient
density and injection pressure of
fuel. In addition, a study of the
dependency of the results on the
spray-grid mutual orientation
was carried out. High-speed
imaging and Rayleigh-scattering
measurements taken from the
Engine Combustion Network
(ECN) web database were used
to assess numerical results: a
good accuracy in the predictions
of liquid and vapor spray
penetration as well as axial and
radial mixture fraction profiles,
can be simultaneously achieved
on varying thermo-physical
and geometrical settings. If
applied to engine calculations,
the reduced dependency on
the nozzle position becomes
appreciable when injectors with
multiple nozzles are used.
The second part of the thesis
focuses on the development
of an automated procedure
for Cartesian grid generation.
The definition of a robust
methodology to perform a
full-cycle CFD simulation of IC
engines requires as first step
the availability of a reliable grid
generation tool, which does not
have to guarantee only a high
quality mesh but has to prove
also to be efficient in terms
of required time. In this part a
novel approach entirely based
on the OpenFOAM technology
is presented. The available 3D
grid generator was employed
to automatically create
meshes containing hexahedra
and split-hexahedra from
triangulated surface geometries
in Stereolithography format.
The possibility to introduce
local refinements and boundary
layers makes this tool suitable
for IC engine simulations. Grids
are sequentially generated at
target crank angles, which
are automatically determined
depending on user specified
settings such as maximum
mesh validity interval and
quality parameters like non-
orthogonality, skewness and
aspect ratio. This ensures high
quality grids for the entire cycle
and requires a reduced amount
of user time. Experimental
validation was carried out by
simulating the full cycle in the
so-called TCC (Transparent
Combustion Chamber) engine,
whose experimental data are
PhD Yearbook | 2015
269
available through the ECN Detailed chemistry modeling
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
database. In particular, a coupled with Multizone
detailed comparison between discretization and In Situ
computed and experimental Online Tabulation was adopted
in-cylinder pressure, turbulence to describe the combustion
intensity distribution and process.
velocity field was performed so Good agreement and limited
that it was possible to assess mesh dependency were found
the requirements in terms showing that this approach
of minimum mesh size and could be generally suitable for
numerical method accuracy to engine simulations and hence
be employed with the proposed for application to industrial
methodology. cases.
The final part shows the All the models, solvers and
extension of the automatic utilities used in this work
Cartesian mesh generation were implemented within the
process to sector grids for OpenFOAM framework, as a
simulating full-cycle simulations contribution to the library Lib-
involving injection of fuel and ICE, developed by the Internal
combustion. The choice to Combustion Engine group
use sector meshes implies the of the Energy Department at
hypothesis of axial symmetry, Politecnico di Milano.
which is commonly accepted
when the injector is located at
the center of the cylinder head
(typical of Diesel applications).
The adoption of sector meshes
requires the application of
cyclic boundary conditions
and consequently the perfect
correspondence between points
and faces on the two sides
of the sector. Many features
were added to the original
approach so that Cartesian
sector grids could be generated
in OpenFOAM. The grids were
generated starting from a real
heavy-duty engine geometry
and then tested and validated
qualitatively and quantitatively
on varying minimum mesh size.
Aerospace Engineering | Architectural
and Urban Design | Architectural
Composition | Architecture, Urban Design,
Conservation of Housing and Landscape
| Bioengineering | Building Engineering
| Design | Design and technologies for
cultural heritage | Electrical Engineering |
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
| Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture and
Exhibition Design | Management, Economics
and Industrial Engineering | Materials
Engineering | Mathematical MODELS and
METHODS IN Engineering | Mechanical
Engineering | Physics | Preservation of
THE Architectural Heritage | Rotary-wing
aircrafts | Spatial Planning and Urban
Development | Structural Seismic and
Geotechnical Engineering | Technology
and Design for Environment and Building
| Territorial Design and Government PhD Yearbook | 2015
272

DOCTORAL PROGRAM 5. Geomatics, with focus on: physical geodesy anthropogenic activities responding to the needs

PhD Yearbook | 2015

and satellite geodesy; positioning and of modern society.
IN Environmental navigation; surface surveying with optical or
other sensors, such as SAR, LIDAR; digital
Career perspectives include opportunities at
Universities, Research Centers, public bodies and
and Infrastructures photogrammetry and image analysis; remote
sensing; geographic information systems;
Authorities, as well as private companies / industry.
Small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) which
Engineering cultural heritage reconstruction and archiving.
The curriculum of PhD students has been tailored
cannot afford the development of an in-house
specific know-how program may also require such
to the general and specific research questions highly professional profiles to guarantee critical
associated with the multifaceted interactions innovation and competitiveness. 273
The Doctorate in Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering between the water sphere and the key evolving

Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering

Chair: has been operating since the academic year 2008/2009. The
Prof. Alberto Guadagnini program introduces doctoral students to the world of research on
key theoretical and technological elements associated with water,
environment, hydraulic and transportation infrastructures, geology,
as well as geomatics.
In this context, the program is grounded on environmental, civil, and
industrial applications where water is the primary unifying element. Doctoral Program Board
The doctorate program is characterized by a strong inter- and multi-
Alberto Guadagnini Carlo De Michele Monica Riva
disciplinary structure and is organized according to the following key
thematic areas. Francesco Ballio Michele Giugliano Maria Cristina Rulli
1. Hydraulic Engineering, where major research themes include: Riccardo Barzaghi Stefano Malavasi Sabrina Saponaro
fluid mechanics; fluid-structure interactions; hydraulic
Gianfranco Becciu Marco Mancini Laura Scesi
measurements; river hydraulics; sediment mechanics; hydraulic
risk assessment and management; flow and transport processes Barbara Betti Federica Migliaccio Giovanna Venuti
in porous systems; hydraulic networks, hydro-energy; oil and gas Roberto Canziani Luigi Mussio Renato Vismara
development and applications.
Maurizio Crispino Monica Papini
2. Hydrology, hydraulic structures, water resources and coastal
engineering, where the main research topics include: hydrology
and water resources, with emphasis on the main physical
processes of the hydrological cycle, water and energy budgets;
hydrogeological hazard and mitigation strategies, including Advisory Board
hydrological extremes, floods, droughts and precipitation, early
warning operative systems, snow avalanching and flood risk; Sanchez-Vila Xavier - Universitat Politcnica del Fanelli Roberto - Istituto Mario Negri, Milano
hydraulic networks engineering; and coastal engineering. Catalunya - Barcelonatech, Barcelona (Spain) (Italy)
3. Environmental technologies, with focus on: water supply Ruffo Paolo - ENI, Milano (Italy) Bernet Nicolas - LBE - INRA, Narbonne (France)
technology and treatment, (including disposal / reuse of
Burlando Paolo - ETH, Zurigo (Switzerland) Losa Massimo - Universit di Pisa
wastewater, sludge management and disposal, anaerobic
digestion processes); management and planning of environmental Sansalone John J. - Florida University (USA) Colomina Ismael - University of Barcelona,
resources (including water quality modelling, knowledge-based Barcelona (Spain)
decision support systems); solid wastes and sludge management; Marino Carlo - ARPA Lombardia Dermanis Athanasios - Aristoteles University,
phenomenology of the atmospheric environment and treatment Thessaloniki (Greece)
of gaseous emissions; contaminated soils and their remediation.
Bortone Giuseppe - Regione Emilia-Romagna Radicioni Fabio - Universit di Perugia, Perugia
4. Transport infrastructures and geology, with focus on: transport
(Italy)
networks, including functional interactions with regional, national
and international territory; sustainable development, in terms of
dynamics of development and its relations with the infrastructure
system; technological innovation, including methods and
indicators for performance characterization of infrastructure scholarship sponsors
construction and maintenance techniques; hydrogeological risk, Metropolitana Milanese CTG Italcementi Leica Geosystems
landslide hazard; water resources identification and management,
pollution problems. Pibiviesse Hera S.p.A.
274
Low cost aerial photogrammetry
in archaeology
Martina Ballarin - Supervisor: Prof. Francesco Guerra
The last few years have seen
an exponential growth in the
use of UAV photogrammetry.
This evolution has opened new
possibilities and new scenarios
for close range surveying, due
to the combination of aerial
and terrestrial techniques
and relatively low-costs
compared with traditional aerial
techniques.
The growing use of software
for extracting point clouds
from non-oriented images
has obtained great attention
not just from the geomatic
scientific community, but also
by users from other disciplines
including archaeologists. It
is easy to understand this
success: the various software
packages combine high quality
results, both in qualitative and
quantitative terms, with ease
of use. The spread of these
products also coexists with a
growth in the market of low
cost off-the-shelf cameras, able
to acquire high quality and high-
resolution images.
The research developed
during the three years of my
PhD focused on the use of
micro UAVs for close range
photogrammetry. Though
a number of case studies
carried out in the Laboratory
of Photogrammetry of IUAV
University, I used and analysed
many different configurations of
these systems, regarding both
the type of cameras used and
the type of vehicles on which
the cameras were mounted.
The techniques were used in
different fields and on objects
with different morphologies,
from the archaeological survey
to the survey of Cultural
Heritage more generally.
From the experiences gained
during these years, and after
the development of amateur
aerial vehicles on one side and
lighter cameras on the other,
the research began to focus on
the analysis of the potentials
of a system integrating those
two components in the
archaeological field. In this field
economic considerations are
often an issue and the metric
aspect of the data is frequently
subordinated to its interpretative
value.
The use of action cameras
for photogrammetric purposes
has had a slow development
because the images acquired
by the first sensors had a
quality and resolution that
were insufficient to obtain the
accuracies of a photogrammetric
survey. Nowadays, however,
compact cameras can acquire
high-resolution images even in
extreme activities, such as free
fall, underwater swimming and
diving.
This thesis is concerned with
testing these cameras and the
analysis of the results they
can achieve: in particular we
analysed the Go Pro Hero3 Black
Edition (fig. 1). This camera
allows the acquisition of images
up to a resolution of 12MP
(4000x3000) and its weight
and dimensions (76 g camera
with battery - 60x40x20 mm)
allow them to be mounted on
non-professional aerial vehicles,
such as the Parrot Ar.Drone 2.0
(fig 2). These vehicles are made
for recreational purposes and for
this reason are cheap and easy
to pilot as they can be controlled
via tablet or smartphone
through specific applications. In
this way, we are able to obtain
a low cost easy-to-use system,
suitable for archaeologists
and for archaeological
documentation.
1: Go Pro Hero 3 Black Edition.
The main limit of this system is
the fact that the photograms
acquired by these cameras have
a great level of distortion and
consequently raise problems in
the calibration process. During
2: Parrot Ar.Drone 2.0.
my research I performed a
number of tests using different
software products (free, low-cost bi-dimensional objects (the
and implemented ad hoc) and
different methodologies (test
field calibration; self calibration) the decumanus; the sanctuary
to calculate the interior
parameters of the camera. I also Ground Control Points were
performed a number of tests to
analyse the whole acquisition
system and test the accuracy of
the results we could reach on
different typologies of objects
and with different network
geometries.
After this first phase, this
system was used during an
intensive surveying campaign
in an archaeological site in
Molise, the ancient city of
Altilia. Here, we performed
a number of acquisitions on
different objects and following
different workflows. The
data obtained was compared
with that acquired through
more traditional close range
PhD Yearbook | 2015
275
photogrammetric systems comprehend the possibilities of
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
(calibration cameras on the methodology proposed here.
professional drones) and/or a
laser scanner.
In this phase, the system
proposed was used in different
modes: the vehicle was flown
manually, while another
operator controlled the
capturing on the GoPro App, or
with automatic flight, using the
GPS module Flight Recorder
and setting the GoPro in time
lapse.
In addition we chose different
morphologies of monuments:
3: One of the possible results
3D objects (Porta Benevento); obtained through this system. The
orthophoto of San Pietro di Cantoni.
forum of the city) and 2.5D
objects (the shops at the side of
of San Pietro di Cantoni). The
acquired through an RTK GPS
survey (centimetric precision),
using both natural points on
the architectures or specific
checkerboard targets.
The results obtained (fig 3)
were compared to those
acquired by well-established
techniques. I analysed all the
possible products achievable:
surface models; point clouds;
3D coordinates of some
checkpoints on the models and
2D coordinates of checkpoints
on the ortophotos.
A large variety of different
acquisition techniques were
compared through the different
case studies, in order to fully
276
Large-Eddy Simulation: A tool to study
land-atmosphere interactions
Giulia Ercolani - Supervisor: Prof. Marco Mancini - Co-supervisor: Dr. Chiara Corbari
Large-Eddy Simulation (LES)
has been recognized to be a
valuable tool for reproducing
Atmospheric Boundary Layer
(ABL) turbulence since the
1970s. The initial applications of
LES to ABL modelling considered
almost exclusively idealized
regimes, namely homogeneous
surfaces properties, prescribed
fluxes at the ground and
periodicity at the lateral
boundaries. In addition, these
initial applications were confined
into purely atmospheric or
fluid dynamics research. But
the continuous increase in
computational capabilities has
led to LES of more complex
ABL flows, that overcome
the above-said idealized
constraints. In particular grid
nesting techniques are used to
relate microscale turbulence
with the larger-scale flow,
and the coupling of LES with
a Land-Surface Model (LSM)
allows to dynamically compute
surface fluxes during the
simulation, and therefore to
reproduce the feedback existing
between the land surface
and the atmosphere. In this
context Numerical Weather
Prediction-Limited Area Models
(NWP-LAMs) appear to be
particularly attractive tools
to perform LES of the ABL,
because natively supplied with
the capability of nesting and
with the equations of motion
coupled with a LSM. Moreover,
in recent years computational
capabilities have reached the
level that makes affordable
the cost ABL LES even with
standard resources at disposal.
Consequently, LES of the ABL is
becoming a widespread tool of
investigation in several fields not
traditionally linked to Large-Eddy
Simulation, such as hydrology,
renewable energy production,
agrometeorology and others.
In particular, in the hydrological
context the interest in LES of
the ABL is mainly oriented to
land-atmosphere interactions,
and therefore to coupled
LES-LSM. In fact surface fluxes
of sensible and latent heat,
that are the expression of the
land-atmosphere interaction,
are two fundamental terms
of the hydrological balance.
Consequently their accurate
estimation is of great importance
in water resources management
at both the regional or basin
scale and the field scale. For
instance, coupled LES-LSM can
be employed to assess surface
heterogeneity impact on ABL
structure and evolution, and in
turn on surface turbulent fluxes,
to quantify the importance of
the land-atmosphere feedback
on the estimation of the fluxes
themselves, and also to support
the interpretation of turbulent
fluxes field measurements.
The thesis explores the
capabilities of the mesoscale
model RAMS in performing
LES of the ABL and then
employs it to quantify the
impact of meteorological
forcings spatial distribution on
a water and energy balance
model. In fact RAMS may be
considered a suitable instrument
for hydrologically-oriented
applications, since its equations
of motion are natively coupled
with a LSM.
But RAMS is originally designed
to simulate mesoscale flows,
and therefore an evaluation of
its performances in reproducing
microscale turbulence is needed
to obtain valuable results.
Moreover, the complexity of
the coupled modelling system,
combined with its diffusion to
fields not traditionally linked to
LES, reinforces the importance of
an extensive investigation of the
code capabilities under various
conditions and with different
setups.
The first part of the thesis
is dedicated to the analysis
of the code when employed
in idealized neutral and free
convection regimes. It is
proved that RAMS is actually
a suitable instrument to
perform LES of the ABL in
both the previous conditions.
Furthermore, an adequate
turbulence reconstruction
has been obtained with an
affordable computational load.
The analysis has focused on the
impact that the computational
grid has on the results, since
in this code grid spacing
implicitly determines the
filtering of the LES. Guidelines
have been obtained for grid
design in LES of the ABL under
both convective and neutral
regimes. A key role has been
identified for cell aspect
ratio (horizontal over vertical
resolution) in terms of quality
of turbulence reconstruction.
Namely the best results do not
correspond simply to the finest
affordable horizontal and vertical
resolutions, but an optimal
ratio between them must be
maintained. Different values
of the minimum horizontal
resolution and of the optimal cell
aspect ratio have been found for
convective and neutral regimes.
RAMS-LES has been also
tested in reproducing a real
diurnal cycle of the ABL over
a heterogeneous surface,
in this case coupled with its
land-surface model LEAF-3.
The coupled model predictions
have shown a good agreement
with observations. In particular,
excellent results have been
obtained for net radiation
and sensible heat flux, and
a general good match for
the other surface quantities
(latent and soil heat flux, air
temperature and humidity) has
been found. A qualitatively
correct time evolution of mean
vertical profiles has been
assessed. Therefore, it has been
demonstrated that the coupled
model can properly simulate a
diurnal cycle of the ABL and of
land-atmosphere interactions in
real conditions.
The analysis concerning
RAMS-LES capabilities and
the factors affecting them
has continued with the
evaluation of the impact that
surface heterogeneity level of
description has on the coupled
model results. It has been
found that the predictions
of surface quantities (e.g.
surface turbulent fluxes, land
temperature etc) significantly
differs from the reference as
the level of aggregation of the
heterogeneity approaches the
patches size. The differences
increase as the surface
parameters resolution coarsens.
Instead, ABL turbulence
has shown non-negligible
differences even at scales that
still reproduce almost correctly
the surface heterogeneity. At
the same time larger scales of
aggregation produce results that
are more similar to the reference
than those corresponding to a
more detailed description of the
heterogeneity. But, when the
scale exceeds the ABL height,
the impact of a more organized
turbulence appears.
After the extensive assessment
of RAMS-LES capabilities, the
results of a coupled LES-LSM
in real conditions have been
used to evaluate the role of
the meteorological forcings
PhD Yearbook | 2015
277
microscale spatial distribution
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
in a water and energy balance
model. Different responses have
been detected for turbulent
fluxes and for land surface
temperature, and it has been
found that soil moisture
regulates the impact on sensible
and latent heat fluxes. Moreover
the analysis seems to suggest
that the water and energy
balance model attenuates
the errors when passing from
forcings to results, but the spatial
pattern of the input distortions
is generally still recognizable
in the outputs. Therefore,
the spatial interpolation of
punctual measurements of
the meteorological data is
important if an accurate
simulation is desired. In this
context we have proposed and
tested an alternative method to
interpolates observations at the
microscale. It is based on surface
properties and not on physical
distances as the standard IDW
scheme, since at the microscale
the complexity of meteorological
fields is mainly related to
surface heterogeneity, since
large atmospheric conditions
are the same. The analysis has
shown that it actually performs
better than the IDW method
in presence of a fragmented
surface heterogeneity, i.e. with
a variability not organized into
homogeneous macro-areas.
278
The Impact of Space-time Adaptation
Technique on Solute Transport Modeling
in Porous Media
Bahman Esfandiar Jahromi - Supervisor: Prof. Alberto Guadagnini
Co-supervisors: Prof. Simona Perotto, Dr. Giovanni Porta
A wide set of physical processes
involves transport of solutes
in porous media. These
include contamination of
groundwater by inorganic and
organic chemicals, petroleum
generation and migration,
reactive processes which can
modify the properties of soil and
rock formation. Transport of
solute mass in the subsurface is
due to advection and diffusion
processes, taking place at the
pore level. Due to the practical
infeasibility to model pore-scale
transport at typical laboratory
and field scales, solute transport
in porous media is typically
described by means of effective
models. A standard choice
is to adopt a continuum-
based representation of the
process based on the standard
advection-dispersion equation
(ADE). The basic assumption
underlying the ADE is that the
dispersion coefficient can be
described by the sum of effective
diffusion and hydrodynamic
dispersion, according to the
so-called Fickian analogy. The
advective term results from a
velocity field, which is typically
assumed to obey Darcys law.
In practical applications,
numerical approximation
methodologies are demanded
to compute the evolution
of the concentration in the
space-time domain of interest.
Independently of the employed
methodology, the results of
numerical simulations are
unavoidably subject to an
approximation error, which
is related to the selected
discretization scheme. For
instance, the computational
error associated with Eulerian
discretization methods (e.g.,
finite elements, finite volumes
and finite differences) is a
function of the spatial grid
and of the time step size used
for the discretization. To this
end, the first aim of this thesis
is the development of a two
dimensional finite element
model combined with a space-
time grid adaptation procedure
to improve the accuracy of
solute transport modeling in
porous media. We employ
the ADE for the interpretation
of non-reactive transport
experiments in laboratory-scale
porous media. When compared
with a numerical approximation
based on a fixed space-time
discretization, the proposed
approach is grounded on a
joint automatic selection of the
spatial grid and at the time step
to capture the main space and
time system dynamics. The space
adaptive process is driven by a
suitable anisotropic recovery-
based error estimator which
enables us to properly select
the size, shape and orientation
of the mesh elements. The
adaptation of the time step is
PhD Yearbook | 2015
279
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
performed through an ad-hoc a test-case with analytical These assessments show that of a space-time adaptive
local reconstruction of the time solution. Then, we validate the space-time adaptation methodology has a considerable
derivative of the solution in the the space-time adaptive methodology is robust and impact on global analysis and
spirit of a recovery procedure as procedure by reproducing a set reliable. In particular, it allows uncertainty quantification
well. of experimental observations us to obtain a significant procedures. In particular, it
Macro-scale models, including associated with solute transport improvement of the simulation allows understanding the
the ADE, entail the definition of in a homogeneous and quality of the early solute influence of input uncertain
effective transport parameters, blockwise heterogeneous sand arrival times at the outlet parameter on the model output.
which are typically assumed pack. The impact of the space- of the medium. Moreover, Further extensions of this
to be linked to the porous time adaptation methodology the proposed adaptation work may involve solute
media geometry. In laboratory on the capability to estimate methodology leads to ML transport modeling in complex
and field scale applications the key parameters of an parameter estimates and model heterogeneous fields as well as
these parameters are generally ADE model is also assessed results of markedly improved field-scale data interpretation.
unknown, and need to be on the basis of experimental quality when compared to Investigation of the impact of
estimated by means of inverse solute breakthrough data classical inversion approaches space-time adaptation in the
modeling procedures. To this measurements for both based on a uniform space- presence of chemical reactions is
aim, multiple evaluations homogeneous and blockwise time discretization. Our results another possible and challenging
of the selected model are heterogeneous sand packs. suggest that the implementation application of interest.
typically needed. This can
be computationally costly.
Therefore, as second objective
of this work, we quantify the
impact of the implementation
of the space-time adaptive
procedure on parameter
estimation and uncertainty
quantification. The model
calibration is performed in
a Maximum Likelihood (ML)
framework upon relying on
the representation of the ADE
solution through a generalized
Polynomial Chaos Expansion
(gPCE).
The whole proposed
methodology is assessed
through two-dimensional
numerical tests. First a numerical
convergence analysis of the 1: Experimental flow cell; homogeneous sand pack: 2: Experimental flow cell; heterogeneous sand pack for t
solute concentration field a)-c); associated anisotropic = 5s (left), t = 7, 50s (center), t = 1, 900s (right): a)-c) solute
spatial mesh adaptivity is adapted mesh d)-f); details of the adapted mesh g)-i) for concentration field; d)-f) associated anisotropic adapted
performed by considering t = 100s (left), t = 1, 500s (center), t = 3, 000s (right) mesh; g)-h) details of low permeable block
 280
MATERIALS RECOVERY FROM WASTE LIQUID
CRYSTALS DISPLAYS: A FOCUS ON INDIUM
Federica Forte - Supervisor: Prof. Ing. Mario Grosso
Assistant supervisor: Dr. Danilo Fontana
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs)
are becoming more and more
widespread in electronic
applications and they are
definitely replacing the old
cathode ray tube devices in
TVs and monitors. Due to
the presence of hazardous
components, that require
adequate treatment and
disposal operations, and to
the relatively high content of
critical raw materials that can
be recovered, treatment of
waste LCDs has been gaining
increasing attention among
the scientific community in
recent years. In Europe waste
LCDs are fed into a separate
recycling process after collection.
Treatment process generally
consists in a disassembly
step aimed at removing the
hazardous components and
the valuable ones for further
treatment and recovery; whilst
for some components separated
after primary dismantling
(metallic fractions and metal
rich-components such as printed
circuit boards and cables) the
recovery paths are quite well
established, some others, such
as the LCD glass panel, require
further investigation. The LCD
panels are currently stocked
at the plant or incinerated,
since no recycling process is
available yet at the industrial
scale; this practice obviously
leads to a loss of resources
potentially recoverable, such
as the critical metal indium as
well as the glass fraction and
the polarizing films. Indium, in
particular, present in the LCD
panel as indium tin oxide layer
(ITO, i.e. indium tin oxide), has
been recently included in a list
of critical raw materials by the
European Commission and its
recovery from secondary sources
is gaining increasing attention
among the scientific community.
In the last decade a number of
works have been focusing on
indium recovery from end-of-
life LCDs. In most cases thermal
treatment at high temperature
was employed for the removal
of the polarizing film, which
implies energy consumption and
potentially harmful atmospheric
emissions. Indium recovery from
the glass substrate is generally
performed by hydrometallurgical
techniques, consisting in a
leaching step aimed at dissolving
the metals of interests, followed
by a separation step. The
leaching is often carried out by
employing acid mixtures with
inhomogeneous concentration
values, so that a comparison
among the lixiviants (in terms
of leaching efficiency) is
not always straightforward.
Moreover, a shredding step
is often performed before
the leaching; in same cases
it is carried out on the glass
substrate obtained after the
removal of the polarizing film
in other cases on the entire
LCD module. Indium recovery
from the aqueous phase is then
generally performed through
solvent extraction. Solvent
extraction (or liquid-liquid
extraction) has been widely used
in the past as a concentration
and separation technique due
to its characteristics of high
selectivity and high recovery
efficiency. However, organic
extractantssuch as D2EHPA,
TBP, Cyanex 272 and Cyanex
923 diluted in organic diluents
(such as kerosene, toluene etc.)
are often employed, which are
potentially hazardous for human
health and the environment
since they are responsible
for VOCs emissions into the
atmosphere.
The aim of this research
project is to develop a
hydrometallurgical technique
to recover valuable materials
from waste LCDs. The first step
of the recovery process here
proposed is aimed at removing
the polarizing film from the
glass substrate. Different
treatment options were tested,
such as thermal and chemical
ones. Thermal treatments
were performed both at high
(T=100-240C, 20C/h) and at
low temperature, the latter by
employing liquid nitrogen (T =
-196C). Chemical treatments
were carried out by soaking
the waste LCDs into a number
of organic solvents such as
acetone, limonene, ethyl
acetate and isopropyl alcohol;
the influence of the ultrasound
treatment was also investigated.
The best results were achieved
by liquid nitrogen, since
approximately 20 minutes
were sufficient to remove the
polarizing film completely;
moreover, the obtained product
did not show significant
degradation.
The second step of the recovery
process is the leaching (or solid/
liquid extraction), aimed at
dissolving the valuable metals
from the glass substrate. In order
to evaluate the best operative
conditions, a number of leaching
tests were performed on a pure
reagent (indium tin oxide, -325
mesh, 99.99% trace metals
basis, Sigma Aldrich) by varying
the leaching agent, the contact
time and the liquid/solid ratio
(L/S). The best results were
achieved by employing HCl 6N
as a lixiviant, since in a relatively
short time (6h) ~90% indium
was extracted. The operative
conditions thus defined (HCl 6N,
t=6h) were then employed for
the leaching of the LCD glass
substrate, i.e. the solid residue
obtained after the removal of
the polarizing film with liquid
nitrogen.
Indium recovery from the
aqueous phase was then
investigated through solvent
extraction with aqueous
biphasic systems (ABSs), which
are now gradually emerging
PhD Yearbook | 2015
281
as an environmentally-sound from the leaching of the glass
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
alternative to the classical oil- substrate with HCl 6N) in order
water extraction systems due to verify the selectivity of the
to their characteristics of low recovery technique compared to
cost, reduced flammability and other ions (mainly tin).
reduced toxicity.
Indium extraction tests in an
aqueous biphasic system PEG-
ammonium sulfate-water were
performed as a function of PEG
concentration, salt concentration
and molecular weight of PEG
(PEG 3,350 and PEG 10,000),
using 1,10 phenanthroline as
a ligand. Experimental data
showed that indium partitioning
between the bottom and the
top phase is quite independent
from the composition of the
system, since 80-90% indium is
extracted in the bottom phase
and 10-20% in the top phase.
By increasing PEG concentration,
the ratio between the bottom
and the top phase volume
decreases; since the percentage
of indium extracted in the
bottom phase is invariable, this
leads to a concentration of
the species of interest. Indium
extraction is quite similar by
employing PEG 3,350 as well
as PEG 10,000, however the
volume ratio decrease is more
significant if PEG 3,350 is
employed (in correspondence
of [PEG]=18% w/w, the ratio
between the bottom and the
top phase volume is ~1.1).
Further extraction tests should
be performed on the leachate
(i.e. the aqueous phase coming
282
DEVELOPMENT AND TEST
OF A MULTI-SENSOR Unmanned AIRCRAFT
system FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEYS
Rossana Gini - Supervisor: Dr. Giovanna Sona
In the past the Unmanned
Aircraft Systems (UAS)
development was driven only
by the military market, thanks
to their ability to perform the
so-called dull, dirty and/or
dangerous tasks. Nowadays,
the appellation of the three
D is going to be replaced by
a new one, namely the three
P of precision, proximity and
periodic: these adjectives refer
to the low-altitude and periodic
UAS flights which allow the
acquisition of hyperspatial,
precise and proximal data.
Furthermore, the low cost of
platforms and GNSS/INS systems
together with the variety of
available sensors make the UAS
suitable to be employed in all
the situations where a traditional
vehicle (i.e. airplane) would be
too expensive to justify its use.
In the last few years the
UAS have been successfully
introduced also in the
Photogrammetry and Remote
Sensing fields, but some
investigations are still needed
to establish specific processing
methodologies: indeed, a pure
photogrammetric approach has
often trouble with UAS blocks,
because of the presence of non-
nadir images, scale differences,
illumination changes, vehicle
attitude fluctuations within the
strip, etc. Hence, 3D modelling
software packages are emerging
from the Computer Vision
community: they enable an
almost fully automated data
processing but lacking in
intermediate quality control
checks.
UAS equipped with GNSS/INS
systems and digital cameras have
become an interesting subject
of research also in the Remote
Sensing community. Indeed,
their capability to generate
hyperspatial resolution imagery
at highly flexible temporal
scales makes the UAS suitable
to fill the gap between finer
scale field samples and coarser
scale satellite or aerial imagery.
Despite that, developing
vegetation maps from UAS
imagery presents certain
challenges: the spatial resolution
is very high but the spectral and
radiometric ones obtained from
the low-cost compact cameras
are relatively low, and the Red,
Green and Blue bands are highly
correlated.
Therefore, it is still necessary
to develop appropriate
Photogrammetry and Remote
Sensing methodologies, by
testing the potentialities of the
different systems and assessing
the accuracies of the final
products.
Embedded in this context, the
present dissertation focused
on the development and test
of a multi-sensor UAS system
for performing environmental
surveys. Before buying platform
and sensors, the Politecnico
di Milano group (Geomatics
and Geodesy section of DICA)
decided to exploit some
collaborations, in order to
acquire basic expertise in the
practical use of UAS as well as in
the processing of such imagery.
In the first investigation, a
quadrotor MicrodronesTM md4-
200 was equipped with two
compact cameras to collect
RGB and Near-Infrared (NIR)
images, which were analysed
from both photogrammetric
and photo-interpretation
points of view. This experience
proved that commercial
photogrammetric software
packages, like PhotoModeler
and LPS, were able to perform
the triangulation of non-
conventional imagery. Then,
classification of tree species was
accomplished on a multispectral
layer stack, generated thanks
to the co-registration of RGB
and NIR orthophotos through
the projection on a common
Digital Surface Model (DSM). In
addition, some synthetic bands
were produced to improve
the classification results, like
the Normalised Difference
Vegetation Index and the
Intensity, Hue, Saturation (IHS)
channels. Even though the
target species (a non-native
invasive plant) was only partly
recognised by the Maximum
Likelihood algorithm, this
pilot study demonstrated that
low-cost sensors mounted on
mini UAS have potentialities to
nable forestry and agriculture
monitoring and mapping.
The second experiment was
performed with a fixed-wing
Swinglet CAM equipped with
an integrated RGB camera:
this time, the purpose was
the comparison between the
pipelines of photogrammetric
and Computer Vision-based
software. Analyses on bundle
block adjustments and on
the final products (DSMs and
orthophotos) were carried out:
the Computer Vision-based
software Agisoft PhotoScan was
able to obtain good results by
means of a fast processing, with
few inputs from the user. On
the contrary, photogrammetric
software like PhotoModeler
and LPS obtained better results
in terms of Root Mean Square
Errors of Check Points residuals,
but with more user effort. In
addition, Agisoft PhotoScan
demonstrated to be able to
well model buildings, flat and
shadowed areas, and it created
orthophotos with a high quality
level.
After these first investigations,
a multi-sensor UAS was
developed by buying a low-cost
HexaKopter by MikroKopter and
two sensors: a compact digital
RGB camera Nikon 1 J1 and a
Colour Infrared (CIR) Tetracam
ADC Lite. Different applications
were carried out with this
UAS: in this dissertation, three
exemplifying case studies were
chosen and described.
In the first experiment, the UAS
acquired imagery of an ancient
farmstead: the good level of
detail of the RGB orthophoto
(Agisoft PhotoScan) allowed the
visual inspection of the roofs as
well as the structural integrity
analysis of the shingles.
In another survey, the
HexaKopter and the Nikon
1 J1 flew over a mineral
aggregate deposit with the aim
of assessing its volume. The
processing pipelines of Agisoft
PhotoScan, PhotoModeler and
some in-house photogrammetric
programs (developed by
University of Parma) were tested
and compared: once again, the
Agisoft PhotoScan performance
was satisfactory not only in the
bundle block adjustment but
also in the modelling phase,
producing a complete and
smooth DSM. Agisoft PhotoScan
results seem trustworthy but
a reference volume value of
the mineral deposit will be
acquired to enable more reliable
comparisons and estimates.
In the third case study,
both cameras were used to
acquire imagery of a nursery
and perform tree species
classification. A multi-temporal
analysis was accomplished
by flying in summer and in
autumn, and a bi-temporal band
ratio was computed in order
to exploit any phenological
differences of the eleven plants
selected as classes. Different
synthetic bands were derived,
like vegetation indices, IHS
channels and texture measures,
thanks to the employment of
the original RGB and CIR bands
of the orthophotos created in
Agisoft PhotoScan. At present,
only few studies have been
already made on incorporation
of texture to classify tree species
on hyperspatial UAS imagery,
but none has used at the same
time a pixel-based classification
approach and multi-temporal
bands. Hence, it was tried and
tested a new workflow which
relies on standard Remote
Sensing methods: for instance,
the texture analysis followed
an approach already performed
PhD Yearbook | 2015
on very high resolution satellite
imagery, by selecting the best
window sizes of the Grey
Level Co-occurrence Matrix
and the best texture features.
The concurrent use of texture
and multispectral channels
actually improved the Maximum
Likelihood classification overall 283
accuracy. The same result came
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
from the multi-temporal images,
whilst the IHS transformation
(carried out to reduce the
correlation between RGB bands)
did not lead to a classification
improvement.
In conclusion, this dissertation
showed that the developed
multi-sensor UAS demonstrated
great potentialities: indeed,
despite the limited payload and
power endurance, its flexibility
allowed the achievement
of good results in different
applications. Future outlooks
may be the improvement
of the on-board GNSS/INS
system accuracy to enable
direct photogrammetry, and
further analyses related to the
classification workflow: indeed,
some of its steps may be better
exploited for improving the tree
species classification.
Lastly, hypertemporal monitoring
may be possible (at least on
small areas) by means of micro
UAS, compact cameras and
Agisoft PhotoScan by achieving
good geometrical accuracies
in short time. Obviously, more
investigations are needed in
this direction before such a
workflow may be considered
well-established.
284
MULTISCALE INVESTIGATION ON COLD FOAMED
BITUMEN MIXES WITH RECLAIMED ASPHALT
PAVEMENT
Gilberto Martnez-Arguelles - Supervisor: Filippo Giustozzi
Keeping roads in good condition
requires regular maintenance
activities; such maintenance
requires a massive amount
of non-renewable resources,
mainly virgin aggregates, given
the large extent of the road
networks. Besides, standard
maintenance and rehabilitation
activities create delays for users,
traffic capacity deficiencies, and
safety issues for construction
site workers and drivers; on
the other hand, it demands a
large amount of virgin material
handling and equipment. The
economic crisis, increased costs
of materials, and a strong desire
to maintain a safe, efficient, and
sustainable roadway system have
fueled a resurgence of recycling
existing pavement as a primary
option.
The practice of limiting the
disposal of old pavement
materials is well known by
minimizing the use and transport
of virgin aggregates as well
as reducing land filling; it also
lowers environmental impact.
These benefits, combined with
the lower temperatures used
in asphalt recycling, might
lead to the belief that recycling
always represents an eco-
effective strategy. However,
producing asphalt mixes at
lower temperatures represents
a successful alternative only if
the final pavement is capable of
competing, in terms of durability
for instance, with standard hot-
mixes. Also, the environmental
effects of foaming agents or
additives, if used, have to be
as low as possible to achieve
good results in the Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) of the
product.
Different techniques are
currently being used to recycle
existing pavements. One of
the most adopted is based on
foamed bitumen mixes. Foamed
bitumen is produced when hot
bitumen, cold water, and air
are mixed under pressure in an
expansion chamber. Sometimes
a foam additive is added
to improve the quality and
stability of the foam. Spraying
simultaneously hot bitumen
(normally between 150C and
180C) and water (ambient
temperature) causes the mix to
expand several times its original
volume generating a fine mist
or foam. The physical properties
of this new binder are altered
temporarily (seconds), for
example, viscosity and surface
tension of the bitumen are
reduced significantly allowing
the binder to coat partially the
aggregates during the mixing
process. Foamed bitumen
mixes are mostly applied by
European countries as a cost-
effective replacement for base
and sub-base layers; full-depth
recycling and cold-in-place
methodologies are generally
considered hard to implement
on upper surface layers due
to high inhomogeneity of the
existing paved materials (e.g.,
different age of the sections
to be recycled, dimension and
shape of aggregates, binder
content, oxidation of binder,
etc.) even for relatively small
areas. Moreover, it is generally
agreed that cold-recycled mixes
end up being a cost-effective
method but with inferior long-
term performance with respect
to hot-mixes. Nevertheless,
despite significant advancements
in the last decade, the adoption
of foamed bitumen still relies
substantially on empirical trials
and lacks universally accepted
mix-design procedures. Several
aspects concerning the effect
of bitumen grade, source,
and chemical composition on
foaming properties are not yet
fully understood. Analogously,
the impact and influence of
these characteristics require
more research in order to truly
identify bitumen and foamed
bitumen characteristic governing
mechanical performance of
foamed bitumen mixes (FBM).
Road industry offers interesting
alternatives such as fiber
reinforcement, that have been
successfully tested on hot mix
asphalt, opening new windows
for enhancing mechanical
properties of FBM. Another key
issue is the analysis of full scale
performance of pavements with
foamed bitumen applications.
This doctoral study employed a
Multiscale approach analyzing
the foamed bitumen and
foamed bitumen mixes from
different performance scale
(micro-scale, macro-scale and
full-scale) by means of advanced
laboratory research technics and
assessing bitumen fundamental
properties; physical, rheological,
chemical, microscopic. The
mix design process, as well as,
the study of the mechanical
properties of foamed bitumen
mixes were also investigated.
In addition, the effect of
different bitumens sourced
on the foaming characteristic
was addressed as well as the
impact of a commercial foaming
additive on the fundamental
bitumen properties. The
influence of the bitumen
sourced, foaming additive and
foaming characteristic was then
investigated on the mechanical
behavior of foamed bitumen
mixes considering three foamed
bitumen contents. A number of
different foamed bitumen mixes
were manufactured involving
two types of synthetic fiber
reinforcements at three different
fiber contents. A select group of
mixes involved Portland cement
as active filler. A novel curing
process has been proposed.
The advantages of the novel
method involves the inclusion of
a vacuum system device during
the mixes curing process in
laboratory, which may reduce
the possible aging process on
PhD Yearbook | 2015
285
the samples by the extraction moduli and strength, although
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
of the oxygen and accelerate the greater benefits are observed
the water extraction on the in moisture resistance.
cylindrical specimens. The full scale investigation on
The full scale investigation trial sections in real-scale shown
involved the analysis of the the foamed bitumen mixes have
performance of several trial performed very well in highways
sections with foamed bitumen with high to medium traffic
mixes in the State of Virginia. level. Structural evaluation over
Performance data analyzed the first two years showed an
involved functional and increasing trend on the stiffness
structural parameters with of the section influenced
service time between 4 and 7 basically by the curing process.
years. Foamed bitumen stabilization
The approach of the shown better performance in
research together with the terms of surface distress that
experimental program allowed sections treated with Portland
holistic understanding on cement.
the performance and factor
affecting foamed bitumen and
foamed bitumen mixes. The
influence of the foaming process
on the bitumen fundamental
properties, as well as the effect
of bitumen source, bitumen
grade on the foaming properties
was identified. Fundamental
properties as viscosity and
chemical analysis (Differential
scanning calorimetry) revealed
better understanding and
correspondence with foaming
properties. The addition of
FA had very little effect on the
mechanical performance with
respect to mixes with the same
bitumen but without FA. The FR
inclusion resulted in increased
dynamic modulus at some
temperatures. Portland cement
used as active filler provided
significant increments in both
286
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF WASTE PREVENTION
ACTIVITIES: METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
AND CASE STUDIES FOCUSED ON PACKAGING
Simone Nessi - Supervisor: Mario Grosso
Waste prevention has become
one of the pillars of the
European waste management
policy in the last decade. To help
Europe to become a society
that seeks to avoid waste and
use them as resources, the
member states are now required
to develop national waste
prevention programmes, setting
quantitative objectives and
appropriate measures for their
achievement (Waste Framework
Directive 2008/98/EC). The
programmes should focus on
the key environmental impacts
associated with the whole life
cycle of the products and the
materials becoming waste, and
pursue the dissociation of these
impacts from the economic
growth. In Italy, each Region
is also required to prepare
a regional waste prevention
programme, defining further
objectives and tangible actions
to be implemented locally.
Both the European and the
Italian waste legislation require
that waste management and
prevention options are chosen
so that an overall positive
environmental outcome is
achieved, when the impacts
associated with the whole life
cycle of products are assessed.
Thus, selected waste prevention
measures and actions shall not
only allow for a reduction in
the quantity or hazardousness
of waste, but also in the overall
environmental impacts.
A comprehensive review of
viable actions for the prevention
of municipal waste was carried
out as a first research step. It
showed that most prevention
actions are based on four main
mechanisms, which generate
different environmental
consequences. Such mechanisms
include: (a) the reduction in the
consumption of products or
services; (b) the substitution of
products or services with less
waste-generating equivalent
ones; (c) the reuse of disposable
or durable goods; and (d)
the extension of the lifespan
of durable goods. While a
reduction in product or service
consumption is expected to
generate only environmental
and energy benefits (provided
that possible rebound effects
due to the increased income
available to the consumers are
not taking place), the other
types of mechanisms also involve
additional impacts (due, e.g., to
the consumption of alternative
products or services). The
balance between avoided and
additional impacts needs thus
to be carefully evaluated, in a
life cycle perspective, to properly
assess the environmental and
energy convenience of those
waste prevention activities that
are not based on the simple
reduction in product or service
consumption.
To support this claim, two life
cycle assessment (LCA) case
studies were then carried out,
to evaluate the environmental
and energy convenience of two
municipal waste prevention
activities based on product
substitution. The first activity
substitutes bottled water by
public network water withdrawn
from the tap or public fountains,
to reduce the amount of
waste generated from the
consumption of drinking water.
The second activity is instead
based on the substitution of
liquid detergents packaged in
single-use plastic containers,
by those distributed loose
through self-dispensing systems
and refillable containers, to
achieve a less waste-generating
distribution system. In both the
assessments, different baseline
scenarios using the substituted
product (e.g. bottled water)
were compared with two
waste prevention scenarios
using the alternative product
(e.g. tap water). Each baseline
scenario accounted for the
use of a particular type and/
or size of packaging for the
substituted product, while the
waste prevention scenarios
depicted different ways of
providing the citizens with
the alternative, less waste-
generating product. The results
of the two assessments revealed
that the ultimate environmental
and energy convenience of a
waste prevention activity based
on product substitution can
depend on different variables.
Frequently, these variable depict
the way the activity is actually
implemented by the involved
actors (citizens, institutions,
producers etc.), but can also
relate to the substituted
product. Examples of these
variables for the two examined
prevention activities are the
distance travelled by car to reach
public fountains, the overall
volume of water withdrawn at
the fountains, the conditions
in which the container used
to withdraw tap water at the
households is automatically
dishwashed, the distance along
which the replaced bottled
water is transported to retailers
or local distributors and the
number of uses of refillable
containers for loose detergents.
The need of adopting a life cycle
thinking approach to properly
assess the environmental and
energy convenience of waste
prevention activities based on
product substitution was thus
demonstrated.
As a further research step, two
alternative methodological
LCA approaches (conceptual
models) to incorporate waste
prevention activities into LCAs
of integrated municipal waste
management systems were
identified, presented and
discussed. The definition of the
approaches was based on both a
structured reorganisation of the
amendments already available
in the literature into a common
approach, and on further
elaborations and research. The
identified approaches were
conceived for the comparison of
waste management scenarios
implementing specific waste
prevention activities, with one
or more baseline scenarios
without waste prevention. They
were characterised in terms of
perspective on waste prevention
activities, functional unit, system
boundaries and of the resulting
procedure for the calculation of
the potential impacts. Both the
approaches provide the same
result in terms of difference
between the impacts of a waste
prevention scenario and a
baseline one. As this difference
represents the net impacts of
the considered waste prevention
activities and of any possible
change in the management of
the remaining waste, both the
approaches can indifferently be
used to evaluate the effects of
implementing specific waste
prevention activities in a real or
fictional waste management
system. Nevertheless, due to
the partially different upstream
system boundaries adopted
by the two approaches, the
results of single scenarios are
different when calculated with
one approach rather than the
other. The interpretation of
scenarios results needs thus to
be carried out differently. For
the same reason, the application
of the two approaches will be
more suitable in studies with
different specific purposes. By
defining a proper functional unit
and setting adequate system
boundaries, it is thus possible to
apply LCA to municipal waste
management systems which
include all the options of the
waste hierarchy and not only
those that can be applied after
the waste is generated.
Finally, to demonstrate the
applicability of the identified
methodology, the two waste
prevention activities examined
initially were implemented
in a real waste management
system, to evaluate the effects
on its overall environmental
and energy performance. The
PhD Yearbook | 2015
municipal waste management
system of the Lombardia Region,
Italy, was specifically selected
for the assessment, as this
region is based on an advanced
management scheme and has
set specific waste reduction
targets for 2020. A 2020
reference scenario was thus 287
compared with different waste
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
prevention scenarios, where the
two examined activities are both
separately and contemporarily
implemented, by assuming a
complete substitution of the
traditional product(s). The
results showed that, when the
overall life cycle impacts of the
alternative product are lower
than those of the substituted
traditional product, the overall
environmental performances
of the waste management
system are improved, due mainly
to the additional upstream
benefits of waste prevention
(avoided production and use
of the substituted product).
The observed percentage
improvements are generally
higher compared to the
percentage of waste prevented,
but are not always appreciable.
In fact, while for the bottled
water substitution such
improvements range mostly
between 5% and 158%, for
the liquid detergent substitution
they exceed 3% for just one
impact category.
288
OUTDOOR AND INDOOR NAVIGATION BASED ON
PHOTOGRAMMETRY WITH LOW-COST SYSTEMS
Diana Pagliari - Supervisor: Livio Pinto
Nowadays, the demand for
devices and applications that
need navigation solutions is
continuously growing. For
instance, consider the constant
and increasingly request of
3D mapping services or the
development of application
based on users location. In
some case is sufficient to know
approximately where the sensor
is located (i.e. at room level),
but in a large amount of cases
a more accurate solution is
required.
The navigation problem has
been solved for a long time
using GNSS (Global Navigation
Satellite System). However, the
satellite systems can be useless
in obstructed areas, such as
downtown or inside buildings.
An interesting low cost option is
represented by photogrammetry,
assisted by additional
information in order to scale the
photogrammetric problem and
obtain a solution also when the
situation is critical for imaging
based methods (i.e. poor texture
on the frame scene).
In this PhD thesis the problem of
recovering a navigation solution
in critical areas has been faced
developing low-cost systems for
both indoor and outdoor areas.
In urban areas a positioning
system based on
photogrammetry, using urban
map as constrain, has been
developed and tested. The
vehicle has been equipped with
one or more digital cameras
(pointing rightward to the
building faades) and a GPS
antenna (see Fig.1).
From the images acquired
during the survey, a number
of tie points is extracted using
automatic algorithms; then
these data are used as input
to solve the bundle block
adjustment problem, together
with some Ground Control
Points extracted from urban
maps. Furthermore, in case some
good quality satellite positions
are acquired (i.e. in areas where
the sky is more open, as in
correspondence of squares or
intersections) they are integrated
within the photogrammetric
solution.
The proposed method has
been studied in the frame of
UMALS project (High-speed 3D
Underground utilities Mapping
and Automatic electrical cable
1. A schematic representation of a typical survey situation with the vehicle,
equipped with two digital cameras and a GPS antenna, ready for the survey
Lying System), whose final
objective is to georeference
a GPR (Ground Penetrating
Radar) antenna in urban areas.
Because this instrument has
a very slow motion, a low-
cost solution based on IMU
(Inertial Measurement Unit) is
not feasible. The investigated
solution has been tested under
different scenarios, recovering
trajectory with a precision of
0.20 meters, or even better.
The obtained results show
how the accuracies of the
photogrammetric solution
significantly improves by adding
some GPS pseudo-observation
to the problem itself. In fact,
these points are known with few
centimeter of error, so they can
be very useful to better constrain
the solution and to correct
some systematic error that can
be present in urban maps too.
Better results, in the order of
few centimeter of error in all
directions, have been obtained
introducing also the relative
orientation constrain between
the two cameras installed on
the vehicle roof. A series of
simulations and preliminary
tests have been performed.
Finally, some kinematic tests
have been realized acquiring
a block composed by 600
images along a close trajectory,
but also considering a block
of 10 parallels strips, for a
total of 301 images, allowing
testing the proposed approach
in different conditions. The
second test represents a
challenging situation from a
strictly photogrammetric point
of view because of the peculiar
conformation of the block and
the presence of a single flat
building faade: the method
has been proven reliable also
under these circumstances.
Furthermore, matching methods
based on the trifocal test and
multi-images approached have
been widely tested.
Photogrammetry can represent
a useful tool in order to define
the followed trajectory indoor
too. It can be useful not only
for navigation purposes, but
also for reconstruct the building
itself. This last task is currently of
topic interest for BIM (Building
Information Model) creation. A
method based on the integrated
use of the data delivered by
Kinect for Xbox One has been
PhD Yearbook | 2015
289
developed. This sensor could are re-projected on the point
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
represent a very useful tool for clouds, generated from the
small budget project because depth maps. These points are
it allows combining together used to estimate the rotation
visual and depth data, which can matrix between subsequent
compensate reciprocally their point clouds and, consequently,
weaknesses. The Kinect sensor to estimate the followed
can be remotely controlled by a trajectory. The trajectory has
laptop and it is able to acquire been recovered with an accuracy
RGB, infrared and depth images of 0.05 meters.
almost simultaneously, with a
frame rate up to 15 fps. All the
device image sensors have been
calibrated, in order to define the
error committed by this game
controller when it is used as
a measuring system. Finally, a
kinematic test has been realized
in an office building, installing
the sensor on a cart (see Fig.2).
2. The cart equipped with the Kinect,
a laptop and a reflective prism used to
track the reference trajectory
The collected data are combined
together in order to reconstruct
the trajectory followed by the
sensor: the RGB images are
used to identify tie points that
290
Analysis of biological processes in WWTPS
for management, control and automation
Dalila Pulcini - Tutor and Supervisor: Prof. Roberto Canziani
Co-Supervisor: Ing. Luca Luccarini
Introduction
Wastewater treatment plants
are complex systems, where a
large amount of information
should be known to prevent
failures and keep the plant
running regularly. Some variables
and parameters in wastewater
treatment plants (WWTPs) may
be conveniently monitored to
gather information that helps
in monitoring and controlling
the bioprocess that occur in
the plant. Up to recent years,
automation has been considered
costly in WWTP design, and it
has been often neglected in the
initial design of these plants.
However, an adequate use
of ICA (Instruments, Control
and Automation) can make
a plant run consistently and
economically.
Although process control in SBR
plants has been widely studied
and implemented based on
simple and roust indirect signals
such as pH, ORP and DO, the
same does not apply for CAS
(Conventional Activated Sludge)
plants.
The aim of this research is to
study the indirect signals (pH
and ORP) and biological process
performance in continuous-flow
activated-sludge plants in order
to verify how these signals can
be used to monitor and control
the biological processes.
Materials and Methods
The experimentation was carried
out in a thermostated (20C)
pilot plant at ENEA (Bologna,
Italy), made of a reactor zone
(pre-denitrification and oxidation
tank), a pumping system (load,
internal and external recycle), an
aeration system and a secondary
settler. The pre denitrification
tank was continuously mixed
but not aerated, while the
nitrification one was kept
aerobic (DO = 1.5-2.5 mg/l)
through an on-off controller
actuating an air pump. The
sludge settled in a sedimentation
tank and was recycled to the
anoxic tank. The pilot plant was
fed with a synthetic wastewater
simulating a real municipal
wastewater. The pH of the
influent has been monitored
during all the experimentation
and was maintained at 7.5.
Results and Discussion
Three different operating
condition of denitrification
process have been recognized,
through the continuous
monitoring of pH and ORP
signals in anoxic tank. In
particular, we found that ORP
value identify the operational
state of the process in a
pre-denitrification system,
anoxic, oxic and anaerobic,
while pH trend detect when a
transition among these states is
happening. Results have been
classified according to three
cases, two of them defined
anomalous and the third one
normal.
Case 1 (anomalous): ORP >>
0mV (around 100mV); NOx- > 0
mg/l; meaning too low carbon/
Nitrogen ratio.
Case2 (anomalous): ORP <<
0mV (=~ -350 mV); NOx- = ~ 0
mg/l; meaning: Too high C/N
ratio.
Case 3 (normal): ORP~ 0 mV
(operative range =~-250mV
; -50mV), NOx- = ~ 0 mg/l;
Correct C/N ratio.
Operation strategy should be
able to detect Case 1 and 1
and to bring automatically the
system back to Case 3, which
is the only admissible operative
case that can ensure the correct
operating processes in a waste
water treatment plant.
Case 1
The aim of this strategy was
to decrease the recirculated
nitrate in order improve the
denitrification process operating
in condition different from
the normal condition. After
few hours ORP decreased to
below -150mV, and oxidized
nitrogen compounds reduced
to near zero. In the same
time, pH increased rapidly,
passing from 7.6 to 7.8. It is
noticeable that the first pH
knee occurs when ORP starts
decreasing. This fact means
that only after nitrates reduced
to near zero, ORP passed from
a highly positive value to a
highly negative value. On the
other hand, the decrease in pH
revealed the start of nitrification
activity. The maximum pH value
occurs when ORP becomes
constant at around -150mV (i.e.:
denitrification is completed).
Evaluating the correlation
coefficient its noteworthy that
the signals pH and ORP are
always correlated, but during
the transition from Case 1 to
Case 3 the correlation is always
negative.
Case 2
When ORP was around -350 mV
in the anoxic tank, this indicated
that denitrification process was
complete, but a considerable
residual soluble COD (> 20 mg/l)
was still present. The internal
recycle flow was gradually
increased to increase the nitrate
load to the denitrification tank.
Finally, when the internal recycle
was increased until the ORP
profile started to increase. Again
the correlation inverted its sign
and was effective in actuating
the corrective action.
All the information described are
reported in the following figure
(Fig.1): in red the ORP signal, in
purple the pH signal and dots
blue are Pearsons coefficient
values.
1. Signals profiles for anoxic tank, in RED the ORP, in purple pH signal and dots
blue are Pearsons coefficient. On the left is represented the Case 1 and on the
right the Case 2.
Conclusions
PhD Yearbook | 2015
The relationship between pH/
ORP profiles and biological
processes taking place in
each phase of an SBR cycle is
well-known. On the contrary,
this relationship has not been
sufficiently investigated, yet,
in continuous flow reactors.
This study indicates that there 291
is the possibility to achieve
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
important information about
the denitrification process by
monitoring pH and ORP in the
anoxic tank. In particular ORP
characterizes typical operational
conditions (e.g.: excess carbon
and lack of nitrate, or vice versa,
or, finally, a balanced ratio of the
two), while pH trend indicates
possible transitions between two
different conditions (e.g. due to
variable influent COD/N ratios)
and the Perarsons coefficient
shall be used to monitoring the
transition.
These results persuade that
continuous measurement of
pH and ORP allow an effective
monitoring of the denitrification
process in CAS plants, as a
consequence of the availability
of biodegradable organic carbon
for denitrification, which is
expressed as the COD/N ratio in
the influent wastewater.
292
Characterization of Multiphase Flow
in Porous Media under WAG Injection
Scenarios
Ehsan Ranaee - Supervisor: Prof. Alberto Guadagnini
Co-Supervisors: Prof. Monica Riva and Dr. Giovanni Porta
With the ongoing advancements
in enhanced oil recovery (EOR),
5 to 15 percent increase of
oil recovery is reported after
implementation of Water
Alternating Gas (WAG) injection
in reservoirs which have been
previously exploited for several
years under primary and/or
secondary recovery techniques.
It is expected that a fraction of
residual oil remobilizes due to
trapping of gas phase in the
regions previously exploited
through waterflooding. This
process can improve oil recovery
by combining increased mobility
(macroscopic sweep efficiency)
and enhanced pore-scale
displacement (microscopic
sweep efficiency) of the oil
phase.
Prediction of key features of
reservoir scale processes under
WAG injection scenarios is
typically performed through
numerical simulation tools
relying on a straightforward
extension of Darcys law to
multiphase flow dynamics.
Besides common uncertainties
in characteristics of fluids
properties (e.g., density and
viscosity) and heterogeneity
of the host rock matrix (e.g.,
porosity and permeability),
numerical simulation of flow
under WAG conditions requires
coping with the intricate
details of flow dynamics of
three-phase systems. In this
context, oil relative permeability
plays a crucial role and need
to be carefully characterized.
Tasks undertaken during this
research are associated with
development, implementation
and testing a new approach
for the estimation of oil relative
permeability, kro, under three-
phase environments.
It is well known that oil relative
permeability is generally affected
by characteristics of rock
properties, fluid properties and
the interaction between rock-
fluid and fluid-fluid properties.
Only a few complete sets of
laboratory experiments of
three-phase flow are available
to date. Empirical models
are typically implemented to
estimate oil relative permeability
to be employed in field scale
computations. These models
are generally grounded on an
interpolation of experimental
relative permeability data
observed under two-phase
core-flooding experiences
which then leads to estimates
of relative permeabilities under
three-phase flow conditions.
Results collected in this work
show that the ability of typically
used interpolation models to
interpret experimental data is
quite limited. The most severe
limitation of simple interpolation
models is their inability to
capture hysteresis effects, i.e.,
the dependence of oil relative
permeability on saturation path
history.
The aim of this research is to
(see Figure 1): (i) analyze the
set of existing relationship
between three-phase oil
relative permeability and
key input variables typically
considered, (ii) characterize
a novel methodology for the
prediction of three-phase oil
relative permeability, and (iii)
introduce a workflow for the
implementation of such model
in black oil reservoir simulators.
A first set of results relies on
the statistical study of a set
of core-flooding experiments
available from the literature. We
characterize the relationship that
links oil relative permeability to
the commonly considered state
variables (e.g., phase saturations
and saturation ending points).
Our results show that commonly
employed linear interpolation
strategies are not appropriate
to reproduce observed three-
phase oil relative permeability,
even as prior information
about saturation ending points
is available from three-phase
measurements. Results also
demonstrate that three-phase
oil relative permeability exhibits
a clear correlation with oil
saturation, initial and residual
oil saturation and two-phase oil
relative permeabilities observed
in an oil-gas system. A mild
negative correlation is also found
between oil relative permeability
and trapped gas saturation.
A key result is the development
1 Workflow of the research.
of a nonlinear sigmoid-
based model to incorporate
information of initial and
ending point conditions from
two-phase (e.g., water-oil and
oil-gas) oil saturation-relative
permeability datasets. This
modeling strategy enables one
to (a) obtain estimates of three-
phase kro, and (b) capture key
effects of the pore-scale phase
distributions which occur in a
three-phase environment and
are not included in currently
available models. The robustness
of the proposed methodology
is assessed and demonstrated
through comparison of model
parameters estimates obtained
by relying solely on two-phase
data against their counterparts
estimated within a Maximum
Likelihood (ML) framework
on the basis of three-phase
measurements. Results obtained
through this working hypothesis
are compared against two
sets of experimental data. The
comparisons reveal that most
experimental observations
are accurately reproduced by
the proposed model, which
can also include wettability
effects. Finally, the model is
implemented in the ECLIPSE
PhD Yearbook | 2015
293
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
black oil simulator to assess
the field scale performance of
this model in comparison with
commonly used three-phase
relative permeability/hysteresis
models. To this end, we consider
a simple synthetic homogeneous
reservoir (Figure 2) and compare 2 Synthetic reservoir developed for
the assessment of the Sigmoid-based
the performance of our model relative permeability model in field
against that of other existing scale applications.
models in predicting field oil
efficiency (FOE) and residual oil
saturation, Sor. We also perform
a preliminary global sensitivity
analysis (GSA) of the system
behavior, in view of future
applications of the model to
reservoir characterization (Figure
3).
It is expected that future
applications of this semi-
empirical model may comprise
diverse field-scale conditions
associated with WAG injection
protocols, including the analysis
of, e.g., history matching and
well placement, control and
optimization strategies.
3 Time evolution of field oil efficiency
(FOE) as rendered by the Sigmoid-
based model in comparison with
other commonly employed relative
permeability models. Symbols () and
() respectively represent the mean
and width of uncertainty bounds for
FOE.
294
INTEGRATION OF OPTICAL AND RADAR SATELLITE
DATA FOR NATURAL RESOURCES MONITORING
Ramin Saidiazar - Supervisor: Pietro Alessandro Brivio
Since the first satellite missions
in the early 70s, remote
sensing has been playing an
increasingly important role as a
source of data/information for
environmental studies. With the
launch of more sophisticated
satellites, the amount of
data and its availability to
the scientific community has
increased. Two classes of Earth
Observation (EO) satellite
sensors are nowadays available:
passive and active sensors.
The former, depends on the
Suns reflected and/or emitted
spectral radiation from the
target, the latter is able to send
a signal and to measure the
received radiation backscattered
from the Earth surface.
Focusing on land vegetation
monitoring, passive satellite
sensors operate in optical/
thermal wavelengths domain.
By measuring the radiation
reflected from the vegetated
canopies, in the visible and
near-infrared domain, satellite
sensors provide information
on the photosynthetic activity
of vegetation and leaf internal
structure; at the longer infrared
(thermal) wavelengths they
measure the amount of energy
emitted from the surface
and reaching the sensor as
an indicator of the thermal
conditions of the vegetated
surfaces (i.e. water stress). The
radiation emitted from SAR
(Synthetic Aperture Radar)
PhD Yearbook | 2015
295
sensors and backscattered by the single look complex (SLC) results with an overall accuracy imaging. The main idea is that
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
data were used to calculate
the surface, is instead sensitive for early crop mapping (at the for natural resources monitoring
to the geometry, texture and backscattering signal from end of July) of 87.7%. These we should be able to exploit
dielectric properties of the the burned surfaces. A fuzzy results are satisfactory for multi-sensors data by developing
vegetated surfaces. Moreover, burned area mapping algorithm, the use of the crop map in a new advanced and more
SAR sensors operating at longer an approach that relies on monitoring system that provides appropriate techniques for fully
multi-criteria of convergence 1. Burned area mapping and its information for public and
wavelengths, are least affected exploitation of the information
accuracy using optical and SAR data
by cloud cover and atmospheric of partial evidence of burning over Portugal for the year 2003. private decision-makers (Figure content of Earth Observation
conditions. Optical and provided by different spectral 2). satellite data. The analysis of
microwave sensors are therefore indices (SI) in order to derive specific interest in the reliability General conclusion upon the techniques for optical and
complementary for operational the layers of candidate seeds of a map delivered early during research carried out on both SAR data integration takes an
vegetation monitoring, although and candidate region growing the crop season. The study topics is that the integration of important role in the perspective
these two branches of remote boundaries, has been refined area is located in Northern Italy, SAR and optical data improved of future satellite missions such
sensing have operated for a longto integrate the information where independent information accuracies in both applications. as the ESA-Sentinels, which
time independently; it is now brought by both optical SIs were available for validation by SAR can play a unique role in will provide consistent and
and SAR imageries (pre- and
recognized that several fields of Regione Lombardia. Landsat-8 maintaining mapping accuracy continuous data for natural
application would benefit from post-fire temporal difference of Operational Land Imager (OLI) at a satisfactory level by resource monitoring.
their integration. the backscattering coefficient). and ASI (Agenzia Spaziale replacing and/or complementing
The thesis research has focusedThe difference image between Italiana) Cosmo SkyMed the optical information and
pre- and post-fire acquisitions
on the feasibility of synergistic images, optical and SAR data could fill the gaps where there
highlights burned areas as
exploitation of optical and radar respectively, were collected to are limitations to optical data
characterized by a backscatter
satellite data for natural resource build a multi-temporal dataset. such as cloud cover or nighttime
greater than the surrounding
monitoring and, specifically, for The Enhanced Vegetation Index,
monitoring natural vegetation unburned vegetation. This Red Green Ratio Index and the
disturbances (i.e. mapping the property was used in the Normalized Difference Flood
areas affected by fires) and region growing module of Index were used for optical data
agriculture (i.e. mapping crop the fuzzy algorithm to reduce and sigma naught value of the
extension and types). the likelihood of selecting backscattering for the SAR data.
false seeds. Burned area maps Three different classification
In case of burned area mapping, obtained (Figure 1) show that algorithms have been tested:
the study area was chosen to SAR data can bring substantial Maximum Likelihood, Minimum
be Portugal due to historical amount of information to Distance and Spectral Angle
records of fire happened in enhance mapping accuracy: by Mapper. Classification of crop
this area and burning of nearly decreasing commission errors, types was carried out at two
45% of the countrys surface in the overall accuracy increases. levels of detail: one with 15
30 years. Landsat-5 Thematic In the second application, classes and one with 7 classes.
Mapper (TM) data provided by the integration of SAR and Moreover, classification accuracy
NASA and ENVISAT Advanced optical data has the objective has been evaluated at different
Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) to classify different types of time steps in order to simulate
data provided by ESA were used. crops at the regional scale near-real time mapping during
After analyzing different types and to simulate near-real time the crop season. Maximum 2. Crop map from integration of optical and SAR data using Maximum
of data from ENVISAT ASAR, mapping of crop types with Likelihood provided the best Likelihood classification with 7 classes of detail.
296
THE DEFORMATION PATTERN
OF ECUADORIAN ANDES REGION FROM
PERMANENT GNSS NETWORK
Serrano Richard - Supervisor: Sans Fernando
The Global Navigation Satellite
System (GNSS) data is being
extensively used for various
purposes all around the world.
This Doctoral thesis presents the
development of deformation
pattern of Ecuadorian Andes
based on GNSS permanent
network. In the last years,
Geocentric Reference System for
the Americas (SIRGAS) consisting
of multiple GNNS networks has
been set and operating in South
America. In Ecuador, Red de
Monitoreo Continuo del Ecuador
(REGME) network consisting
of multiple GNNS permanent
stations has been operating
since 2009.
The aim of REGME is
maintaining an Ecuadorian
Geodetic Reference Framework
updated and compatible with
positioning techniques available
today and a reliable collection
of geographic data that can be
applied in cadaster, reference
for relevant government projects
and monitoring earthquakes and
tectonics activities.
In this research, we investigate
13459 days of positioning data
of 9 REGME stations located
in continental Ecuador. GNSS
observations recorded were
evaluated and the time series
analyses were conducted to
determine the station behavior.
As result of the trend analyses
of time series it was determined
that the stations moves to
north east direction (8.5 mm/
PhD Yearbook | 2015
297
year). This result agrees with
Environmental and Infrastructures Engineering
the regions tectonic plate
movements.
The algorithm can be used to
determine deformations in areas
where the people are in risk of
getting hurt and in areas with
unstable landslides. It could be
used to monitor the movements
of buildings, earthquake zones,
bridges, etc.
The development of a
deformation monitoring network
in Ecuador based on GNSS Rinex
observations is presented. A
stochastic mathematical analysis
is applied to time series in
order to determine the stations
behavior. The algorithm is
developed in Matlab. Results
from thesis show that it is
possible to detect deformations
in the order of a few millimeters.
This thesis are sponsored and
supported by the Ecuadorian
Government through Secretaria
Nacional de Educacin Superior,
Ciencia, Tecnologa e Innovacin
(SENESCYT).
298
hETEROGENEOus PhOTOCATALysIs AND
ELECTROPhOTOCATALysIs ON NANOsTRuCTuRED TITANIuM
DIOXIDE fOR wATER AND wAsTEwATER TREATMENT:
PROCEss AssEssMENT, MODELLING AND OPTIMIzATION
Andrea Turolla - PhD Supervisor: Ing. Manuela Antonelli
Titanium dioxide (TiO2)
photocatalysis is one of the
most investigated innovative
processes for water and
wastewater treatment since
TiO2 photoelectrochemical
properties make it an excellent
material for promoting advanced
oxidation. Current challenges in
the development of affordable
and sustainable technological
applications at full-scale
are mainly related to (i) the
photocatalyst heterogeneous
phase which enhance the
complexity of the chemical-
physical processes involved, and
(ii) the low process yield with
respect to other established
advanced oxidation processes,
such as ozone or hydrogen
peroxide combined to UV
radiation. Therefore, further
research is required, addressed
to a deeper understanding of
the fundamental mechanistic
phenomena involved in TiO2
photocatalysis, and to the
process optimization and scale-
up. These topics are faced in
the present PhD thesis, which
is structured in four sections,
as briefly described in the
following.
The first section is
focused on modelling the
optical behaviour of TiO2
suspensions. In detail, an
innovative methodology for
the characterization of the
optical properties is proposed:
experimental measurements
were performed by an
optical goniometer (figure
1a), followed by a modelling
phase, developed by means
of a multi-purpose CFD
code and reproducing
the radiative fields in the
experimental setup (figure
1b). The effectiveness of the
proposed methodology was
proved by integrating optics,
fluid dynamics and chemical
reactions in a CFD model,
simulating the degradation
of oxalic acid in a semi-batch
annular photoreactor.
In the second section the
implementation of two
experimental protocols for
the measurement of reactive
species is described, namely
photogenerated holes and
hydroxyl radicals, at the
laboratory scale. These
protocols were applied for
assessing the reactivity of
suspensions of commercial
TiO2 nanoparticles. A
1. Radiative field modelling: (a) goniometer for optical properties estimation,
(b) CFD simulation of the experimental setup.
model for reactive species
quenching has been
developed, accounting
for radiation transfer, TiO2
nanoparticle aggregation
and kinetic reactions, and it
was calibrated by means of
experimental data collected in
an experimental setup (UV1).
The model has been validated
by measurements carried out
in a different experimental
setup (UV2), being the
model capable of effectively
predicting experimental data,
as reported in figure 2.
The third section concerns the
assessment of the influence
of several inorganic anions -
namely carbonate, chloride,
nitrate, phosphate and
sulfate - on the photocatalytic
reactivity of commercial TiO2
nanoparticles in suspension
and immobilized self-
ordered nanotubular TiO2.
In detail, the production
of reactive species, namely
photogenerated holes and
hydroxyl radicals, has been
monitored over time in the
presence of dissolved species
in solution. In case of TiO2
suspensions, the influence
of inorganic anions on TiO2
aggregation, evaluated by
laser scattering techniques, is
described too. As for self-
ordered nanotubular TiO2,
this innovative engineered
nanomaterial was grown
by anodic oxidation and
characterized. Moreover,
special attention was
dedicated to the evaluation
of nanotubular TiO2 fouling
and to the definition of a
regeneration protocol for
the photocatalytic material.
For both photocatalysts the
detrimental effect of inorganic
anions has been discussed
and a modelling procedure
for the influence of inorganic
anions on photogenerated
holes based on competitive
adsorption has been
proposed, highlighting the
effectiveness of Langmuir-
Hinshelwood mechanism
and the importance of mass
transport phenomena for
nanotubular TiO2. Model
kinetic parameters were
estimated at various operating
conditions.
In the fourth section an
optimal design methodology
for an electrophotocatalytic
reactor using self-ordered
nanotubular TiO2 for water
PhD yearbook | 2015
299
ENvIRONMENTAL AND INfRAsTRuCTuREs ENGINEERING
2. Oxidized iodide concentration vs. time: experimental data obtained in UV1
(diamonds) and UV2 (circles) setup, simulated data obtained in UV1 (blue line)
and UV2 setup (orange line).
and wastewater treatment is CFD code in describing fluid
discussed. Such procedure is dynamics was proved and the
based on the use of generated mixing conditions were assessed.
photocurrent as an indicator CFD model was calibrated
of TiO2 photoactivation. In by radiometric measures and
detail, generated photocurrent radiation transfer was described,
was monitored as a function determining radiation intensity
of two operating conditions, and local volumetric rate of
namely reactor configuration photon adsorption in the
and solution transmittance. reactor.
Then, a modelling procedure
for maximizing the
generated photocurrent
in an electrophotocatalytic
reactor was developed, whose
effectiveness was validated in
several reactor configurations.
An optimization surface is
reported in figure 3.
Finally, the appendix is dedicated
to the CFD simulation of fluid
dynamics and radiation transfer 3. Optimization surface, as generated
in an unbaffled stirred tank photocurrent per supplied power
(PC/P), vs. cylinder radius (R) and
reactor for TiO2 nanoparticle
external irradiation distance (D) in
photocatalysis at the laboratory triangular base unit configuration at
scale. The effectiveness of 100% solution transmittance.
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302

DOCTORAL PROGRAM advisor is assigned to each student. The tutor has a supervisor

PhD Yearbook | 2015

function during the whole doctoral program, whereas the thesis
IN INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY advisor is responsible for the thesis work.

AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

303
The Doctoral Program in Industrial Chemistry and Chemical

INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Chair: Engineering (CII) is designed for students aiming to get a deep
Prof. Tiziano Faravelli expertise on chemical processes and on material processing either
as the inherent research or in the process design and development
activities.
The program is the ideal extension of the Laurea Magistrale degrees
in Chemical Engineering, Safety and Prevention Engineering,
Materials Science, Material Engineering, Industrial Chemistry and
Chemistry, but it is also open to graduated in other scientific
disciplines.
Hazardous gas dispersion simulation Contaminated soil remediation
from an industrial accident process
The PC defines a specific curriculum for each student, on the basis
of the tutor suggestions. The curriculum has to be designed in
order to both cover deficiencies in the student scientific formation
and to give a high-quality technical and scientific preparation.
Since 2001 (XVII cycle) the CII program graduates more than
100 students, being the 80% now working in industry and the
remaining in the university or government research centers. These
data demonstrate the great link existing between the performed
researches and the industry. In fact, more than 70% of the research
topics were directly supported by industrial companies, like ENEL,
LPE Epitaxial Technology, Bracco, Flamma, Mapei, Solvay Specialty
Polymers.

Structure simulation of Simulation of a chemical vapor deposition

Nitrogenase enzyme for N2 reaction for silicon films deposition
conversion to NH3

The general topic for the doctoral program in Industrial Chemistry

and Chemical Engineering is the application of the chemical and
physical knowledge to all the activities related to the synthesis,
design, production and transformation of chemical substances and
materials (like advanced inorganic, polymers and biomaterials).
These studies involve not only the synthesis processes but also the
related plants, here analyzed starting from the laboratory tests and Lab-scale air-lift gas-liquid reactor and simulation of flow field, gas hold up
and concentrations of main reactants (cyclohexane oxidation to adipic aci
the pilot plant experiments up to the industrial size ones, always
including the careful evaluation of the related energetic, safety and
environmental issues.
The final goal is to provide to the PhD student the tools and the
skills: (1) to design and manage industrial processes at any size
scales; (2) to develop new technical applications and (3) to create
and to characterize new products and services.
The CII program covers three years for an overall amounts of 180
credits. The responsibility of the organization and of the contents
of the doctoral program is attributed to the Professor Committee
(PC). At the beginning of the Doctoral program, a tutor and a thesis
304

PhD Yearbook | 2015

The Reference Committee
Dott. Margherita Albano (Solvay Specialty Polymers Italy SpA)
Ing. Stefano Canegallo (Pomini Rubber & Plastics)
Dott. Dario Lazzari (Miteni)
Ing. Renato Paludetto (Dow Italia)
Ing. Paolo Pollesel (Eni)
Ing. Gian Marco Polotti (Lamberti)
Ing. Vincenzo Guida (Procter & Gamble)

305
Professors Committee

INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Tiziano Faravelli Alessandra Beretta Giulia Bozzano
Elisabetta Brenna Carlo Cavallotti Attilio Citterio
Renato Del Rosso Pio Forzatti Alessio Frassoldati
Francesco Gatti Luca Lietti Davide Manca
Maurizio Masi Andrea Mele Pierangelo Metrangolo
Massimo Morbidelli Davide Moscatelli Walter Navarrini
Isabella Nova Roberto Piazza Carlo Punta
Giuseppe Resnati Giancarlo Terraneo Enrico Tronconi

Grants
Solvay Specialty Polymers Italy SpA, IIT, Pirelli, MTU Friedrichshafen (Motoren Turbinen Union)
 306
Polymer Nanoparticles for the Delivery of
Hydrophobic Drugs
Claudio Colombo - Supervisor: Davide Moscatelli
The term drug delivery
refers to a practice in which an
active compound is protected
and delivered by a carrier with
defined properties whose
dimension usually belongs to
the nanoscale. Several types of
carrier have been developed
for this purpose, among which
liposomes, micelles and polymer
nanoparticles (NPs). In particular,
latter carriers are considered
especially promising due to
their ability to convey a wide
range of active compounds and
good stability. Biodegradable
polyesters such as poly(lactic
acid) (PLA), poly(lactic-co-
glycolic acid) (PLGA) and
poly(caprolactone) (PCL) are
the materials of choice for
1. Synthesis of polyester-based NPs via emulsion free radical polymerization. In the first steps functionalized oligomers
are produced via ROP; these macromonomers are then polymerized in water to obtain polymer NPs.
the production of polymer
nanoparticles, due to the
nature of these compounds
NPs are produced through
physical methods such as
nanoprecipitation or solvent
evaporation.
From a clinical point of view,
NPs can be seen a revolutionary
way for the delivery of
pharmaceuticals, particularly in
anticancer therapy. In fact, they
can act as a way to solubilize
hydrophobic drugs without
the use of toxic excipients but
they can also lead to an higher
accumulation of the drug in
the target tissue, enhancing
the efficacy of a treatment
and reducing its side effects.
Consequently a great number
of publications focusing on
polymer nanoparticles for
biological applications has
been published since the 80s
but only very few formulations
reached clinical trials or the
market. This discrepancy
is due to the necessity of
characterizing the formulation
not only in terms of therapeutic
efficacy and safety but also in
terms of biocompatibility and
biodegradability of the polymer
nanoparticles themselves. For all
these reason the possibility to
tune the characteristics of the
nanoparticles is an important
feature in the design of these
carriers.
The aim of this thesis is the
development and biological
validation of a nanoparticles
library based on biodegradable
polyesters (PLA, PLGA, PCL)
with easily tunable proprieties in
terms of composition, dimension
and surface functionalization.
This result was obtained through
the use of functionalized
polyester-based macromonomers
obtained via Ring Opening
Polymerization (ROP) of cyclic
esters. These materials are then
polymerized in an emulsion
polymerization process to
obtain polymer NPs with
tunable proprieties in terms of
dimension, composition, surface
charge and degradation time.
If the macromonomers are
co-polymerized with suitable
PEGylated methacrylate
compounds it is possible to
obtain NPs with covalently
bound PEG chains. This result
is particularly significant
for biological applications
due to the protein-repellent
proprieties of PEG, which
ensure a long circulation
time in the bloodstream. A
library of PEGylated NPs was
synthesized with a dimension
range comprised between 80
nm to 150 nm, suitable for the
exploitation of the enhanced
permeability and retention (EPR)
effect in solid tumor. Several
tests were carried out both in
vitro and in vivo for the study of
the toxicity and biodistribution
of the produced NPs after
intravenous injection and no
PhD Yearbook | 2015
307
relevant toxicity was found.
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
The produced NPs have been
employed for the delivery
of Paclitaxel, an anticancer
compound which requires the
use of excipients to be injected
intravenously due to its poor
water solubility. In particular
the standard formulation of
Paclitaxel is based upon the use
of Cremophor, a steric surfactant
whose usage is correlated to
severe side effects, such as
allergic reactions, hepatotoxicity
and neurotoxicity. The efficacy
of Paclitaxel-loaded NPs was
compared to the standard
formulation in mice bearing a
xenograft breast cancer model,
showing a similar regression
of the tumor weight, thus
confirming the possibility to
use the produced NPs as drug
delivery carriers.
308
Reactivity of Perfluoropolyether Peroxides
on Carbon Based Materials and their Application in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel
Cells
Massimo Gola - Supervisor: Prof. Walter Navarrini
In the field of renewable energy,
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel
Cells (PEMFC) are the devices
which mostly have benefited
of the unique characteristics
of fluorinated materials. Many
fluorinated sulphonic membranes
have been developed for PEMFC
and, in addition, fluorinated
polymers are present in many
other parts of the cell, such as
the catalytic layer (CL) and the
gas diffusion layer (GDL). The
main function of the GDL is
to promote the distribution of
the gaseous reagents from the
bipolar plates to the catalyst
layer. However, GDL has other
important functions: it allows the
electric contact for conduction of
electrons, it works as mechanical
support for the catalytic layer
and the membrane, it helps to
remove the combustion heat,
and it plays a key role in the
water management. In fact, the
overall fuel cell performances
can be improved by a correct
water management; on the
contrary performances can
be dramatically limited by the
accumulation of liquid water
inside the cell. Therefore, a
correct water management is
needed to reach power and
current densities required for
commercial applications. Thus,
the conductive carbonaceous
materials composing the GDL
are usually coupled with a
hydrophobic fluorinated material,
usually polytetrafluoroethylene
(PTFE), in order to obtain a
performing water management.
Fluorinated materials are suitable
for this purpose because one of
their core characteristics is the
very low surface tension that
means low water polymeric
surface interaction and therefore
a very high hydrophobicity.
Actually, carbon-based materials
are the reference class of
materials used for GDL, because
they have high gas permeability,
good stability in acid environment
and good electric conductivity.
An innovative methodology to
confer a stable hydrophobicity
to carbonaceous materials is
the by the chemical linkage of
perfluoropolyether (PFPE) chains
through the chemical treatment
with PFPE peroxides. PFPE
peroxides are industrially available
perfluorinated polymers whose
structures are characterized by
the alternation of fluorinated
carbon-based units and oxygen
units. A thermal treatment at
150-200C can link PFPE chains
to carbonaceous materials by
a radical pathway . PFPE chains
have the typical properties of
perfluorinated polymers, like
chemical stability, thermal stability
and high hydrophobicity, and
also some peculiar characteristic
such as liquid physical form and
high gas permeability. These
modified carbonaceous materials
are super hydrophobic and show
surprisingly high conductivity
compare to carbons fluorinated
with F2.
During this work, the
reaction of functionalization
of highly graphitic carbon
black by perfluoropolyether
peroxide was studied and the
possible application of PFPE
functionalized carbonaceous
materials was investigated.
Carbon cloth (CC) and carbon
black (CB) were functionalized
by decomposition of PFPE
peroxide and the resulting
materials were chemically
and physically characterized.
The PFPE functionalization
of carbonaceous materials
was applied to Vulcan XC72R
CB and SEAL CC in order to
evaluate their wetting and
electrical properties for their
possible application in fuel
cells as materials for GDLs.
The chemical treatment of
CB with PFPE peroxide led
to high hydrophobicity and
contact angles over 150 were
measured. The determination
of the resistivity in function of
the applied pressure allowed
to characterize the electrical
properties of each sample.
Resistivity of treated CB samples
remained very close to the values
of the native CB (Figure A1),
even if a significant increment
due to the insulant properties
of fluorinated materials was
expected, as occurs with a PTFE
coating.
Similarly to CB, the
carbonaceous structure of
CC contains condensed
aromatic cycles, suitable for the
hydrolytically stable linkage of
perfluorinated chains due to
decomposition of PFPE peroxide.
Following this approach, a
polymeric PFPE layer was
chemically linked to CC structure
and not simply deposited like
the standard hydrophobization
by PTFE-coating. PFPE
chains on the CC surface
allowed to obtain a suitable
superhydrophobic effect even if
the amount of PFPE linked on a
CC was significantly lower than
the typical 10%wt of PTFE. PFPE
functionalization led to a 1%
linked PFPE with a water contact
angle of 172, while 10% PTFE
allows to obtains angles lower
than 150.
The single layer GDL is made
of a macroporous substrate
which is usually based on
a carbon cloth. Two CC
samples were functionalized
with PFPE peroxide and XPS
analysis confirmed that the
functionalization with PFPE
peroxide occurred mostly on
the CC surface. PFPE coating
resulted uniform along the
surface of CC fibers and
wrapped singularly each fiber
of CC without filling the matrix
porosity. On the contrary, the
commonly used PTFE-based
methodology forms a solid
insulant barrier that includes
many fibers, covers the empty
spaces between them and
decreases the porosity needed
for gas diffusion.
The steady state current
density-potential and current
density-power curves of the
cell assembled with PFPE-
hydrophobized GDLs were
registered and compared to
standard GDL treated with
10% PTFE. The presence of
PFPE improved the electrical
performance of the fuel cell at
each operating condition of
temperature and humidity. In
particular, the higher the content
of
PFPE, the better the performance
in terms of maximum power
density and slope of polarization
curve. The PFPE-functionalized
GDL is able to reduce the
ohmic resistance of the whole
system, increases the mass
transport and improve the ionic
conductivity of the membrane
at low relative humidity. PTFE
on the microporous layer of
a dual layer GDL works as
hydrophobizing agent, but even
as a binder to keep the CB on
the backing layer. A PFPE based
ink with similar characteristics
was developed and coupled with
PFPE functionalized CC to obtain
a dual layer GDL.
The PFPE-functionalized dual
layer GDL was tested and
compared with a PTFE standard,
resulting in better overall
performances and especially
largely improving the water
removal.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
309
The high resistance of PFPE to
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
oxidative environment was used
as new solution to the problem
of the electrochemical corrosion
of the carbon black that
supports Pt catalyst in PEMFCs.
This corrosion causes severe
losses of precious metal catalyst
and shorter cell lifetime. A
PFPE-functionalized carbon black
was used as a catalyst support
subjected to an accelerated
electrochemical corrosion.
While the performances of the
standard carbonaceous material
were largely decreased after the
accelerated degradation, the
catalyst layer made of PFPE-
functionalized carbon black
suffered only minor effects.
The introduction of PFPE
functionalized materials in
PEMFCs resulted to be a
great improvement of the key
parameters which characterize
these electrochemical devices.
Indeed PFPE-functionalized GDLs
allow to reach higher currents
as well as power density.
Furthermore the catalyst layer
based on PFPE-functionalized
CB minimize the electrochemical
degradation effects obtaining
a longer fuel cell lifetime.
The introduction of PFPE-
functionalized carbonaceous
materials improved the overall
PEMFC performances by
focusing on the requirements
for their upcoming widespread
commercial application.
310
Purification of Natural Gas by means of a
New Low Temperature Distillation Process
Stefano Lang - Supervisor: Laura Annamaria Pellegrini
Natural gas is a fossil fuel
containing mainly light
hydrocarbons and other
non-hydrocarbon compounds
considered as impurities. As
the other fossil fuels, its origin
comes from the bacterial
degradation of organic materials
going back to geologic eras
ago, under the effect of high
temperatures and pressures that
typically occur in subsurface
deposits of many geologic
formations.
Natural gas is a resource that
is widely used nowadays in
different industrial sectors. Its
main uses are related to the
production of energy (38 %)
and the industrial sector (60 %).
In recent years, natural gas has
started to be used also in the
transportation sector, even if it
just covers a small portion of the
uses of natural gas.
The discovery of new natural
gas reservoirs with high CO2
and/or H2S content and the
increasing energy demand
compel industries to design
new process solutions for the
profitable exploitation of these
kinds of gas reserves, to meet
the market demand while
satisfying the commercial grade
requirements. Recent studies
have shown that more than
40% of the remaining natural
gas reservoirs are sour and/or
with high CO2 contents. Low
temperature technologies have
been studied to this purpose.
These kinds of processes have
shown higher performances
and economic profitability
when compared to the more
traditional gas sweetening units
(such as amine scrubbing or
physical absorption) when the
CO2 content in the natural gas
feed stream is high. During low-
temperature operations, CO2
can freeze in the equipment and
precautions have to be adopted.
To face this issue, several
solutions have been adopted
in the low-temperature natural
gas purification processes
proposed in literature. The
Ryan-Holmes process consists in
an extractive distillation, where
a third compound (typically
n-butane) is used to shift at low
temperatures and pressures the
freezing points of the binary
CH4-CO2 mixtures. The CFZTM
process by Exxon Mobil allows
the solidification of CO2 in a
proper section of the distillation
column and the subsequent
re-melting of dry ice on a
designed melting tray. Total and
IFPEN have proposed the Sprex
process, coupling a pressurized
low-temperature distillation,
for the bulk removal of acid
gases, with a more traditional
alkanolamine unit to purify the
gas stream to commercial grade.
In this work a new low-
temperature distillation process
has been studied. The process
is based on a dual pressure
distillation operation to bypass
freezing points and to avoid the
formation of a solid phase in
all the parts of the process. The
solution has been studied and
optimized in terms of energy
savings. A commercial process
simulator (Aspen Hysys) has
been used for the study of
process performances. Different
gas compositions have been
considered as potential gas feeds
(CO2 from 5 up to 65 mol%
and H2S from 0 to 15 mol%)
to cover the largest possible
range of real gases streams.
Its performances have been
assessed basing on case-studies
and its profitability determined
against more traditional
MDEA units in terms of energy
operating costs, showing the
relative trade-off between the
two technologies depending
on the geographic area where
the gas reserve is located. The
proposed solution is able to
purify natural gas to commercial
grade, avoiding the formation
of dry ice in all the parts of the
process. For the cost analysis, a
proper function has been built
to quantify in a simple way the
ratio between the energy costs
required by a traditional MDEA
unit (low-pressure steam for
the solvent regeneration) and
the studied low-temperature
distillation process (electric
energy to drive the compressors
of the refrigeration cycle).
This function relates the ratio
between the two energy costs
to the ratio between the price of
fuel and the price of electricity.
Generally, it is more convenient
than a more traditional MDEA
unit when the CO2 content of
the natural gas feed is higher
than 20 mol% for most of the
considered geographic areas
(Europe, USA, Saudi Arabia),
while, for the case of Saudi
Arabia, the proposed solution
is more profitable starting from
a gas feed having 8 mol% of
carbon dioxide. The obtained
results have been used for the
design of the industrial unit and
the pilot plant for the further
test of the process on a lab-scale
facility.
To allow a good process design
and optimization, reliable
thermodynamic tools are
needed. Experimental data are
of paramount importance to
properly set up equations of
state for both phase behavior
and volumetric properties
calculations.
Since in low-temperature
processes for natural gas
upgrading a solid phase can
be formed, experimental data
are necessary to determine
pressure, temperature and
phase compositions when
phase equilibrium involves
the presence of a solid phase,
formed mainly by CO2. In this
way, it is possible to properly
set up a model to predict the
conditions for solid formation
and define the optimal process
operating conditions, depending
on the adopted technology.
Literature data for the CO2-CH4,
CO2-H2S and CH4-H2S binary
systems are available to define
the PT, the Tx or the Ty diagrams
for the SLE, SVE or SLVE loci. On
the contrary, experimental data
for phase equilibria involving
a solid phase in the CH4-CO2-
H2S ternary system are few and
almost only PT data.
A good number of TPxy
experimental data to describe
the SLV loci of the CH4-CO2-H2S
system has been provided. A
proper experimental procedure
has been designed to obtain
these measurements and data
have been compared with the
results obtained with a suitable
thermodynamic model. The
procedure consists in a synthetic,
non-visual technique to measure
triple points as pressure and
temperature conditions where
solid decomposition occurs.
Phase compositions at triple
point have been analyzed using
gas chromatographic analysis
and equilibrium conditions
have been checked in detail by
repeating measurements several
times during the day. Obtained
results have been applied for
the thermodynamic validation
of the process object of this
thesis, showing that, also in the
presence of hydrogen sulfide, no
solid phase can be formed in the
process.
For the thermodynamic
modeling both the classic
approach (SRK and PR equations
of state coupled with Gibbs
free energy of melting for the
calculation of the solid phase
fugacity) and the Yokozeki
analytic equation of state for the
direct calculation of both fluid
and solid phases fugacity have
been considered. The obtained
results and the experimental
data have been used to validate
the thermodynamic framework
used for process simulations in
Aspen Hysys (SRK equation of
state and the CO2 Freeze-Out
tool for the calculation of CO2
freezing points), in order to give
a good reliability to the obtained
results.
As future developments of this
PhD Yearbook | 2015
work, a detailed investment
costs analysis have to be done
to better define the profitability
indexes for the process. The
plan of the experiments for the
pilot plant has to be designed
and a better assessment of
its configuration is required.
Procedures for the start-up and 311
the shut-down of the process,
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
together with the dynamic
simulation of the plant layout,
are required to test possible
operating scenarios. A detailed
study about the downstream
separation processes for the
recovery of NGLs is needed
to assess the impact of C2+
on the profitability of the
process. Process optimization
and further energy savings
can be investigated for the
applications to LNG production.
The integration of the process
with EOR or CCS systems can be
studied.
Regarding the thermodynamic
part, new experimental
campaign can be performed
in order to better describe the
complex phase behavior of the
ternary system and to study the
effect of C2H6 and N2 on the
ternary system. For the modeling
part, the binary interaction
parameters for the CO2-H2S
system need to be improved
by mean of a more detailed
optimization, to reduce the error
in the representation of the
eutectic point of the SLV locus of
the system.
312
EXPLORING DIFFERENT CATALYTIC ROUTES FOR
CO2 VALORIZATION
Michela Martinelli - Advisor: Prof. Luca Lietti
Carbon dioxide is the primary
green-house gas (GHG) arising
from life and human activities.
In recent years, the growing
consciousness of the dramatic
impact of its atmospheric
concentration on the climate has
brought to the conclusion that
the reduction of CO2 emissions
from all anthropogenic processes
is mandatory. In addition to the
improvement of the efficiency
of energy conversion and
utilization processes, GHG
reduction strategies proposed
in the last decades include also
secondary measures such as
the carbon dioxide capture and
the storage (CCS) or carbon
capture utilization (CCU). In
CCU technologies, CO2 is no
more considered as a waste to
be dumped, but it is used as
feedstock (C1 building unit) to
produce highly added-value
products such as chemicals or
fuels. In this thesis, the routes
for CO2 hydrogenation to
hydrocarbons or light olefins
were investigated on Fischer-
Tropsch catalysts. The catalysts
were prepared, characterized
and then tested in a lab-scale
plant.
Cobalt and iron based are the
active phases during Fischer-
Tropsch synthesis. However,
the reactivity and reaction
mechanisms of these two
systems could be different
during the hydrogenation of
pure CO2 stream or mixture
CO/CO2. Therefore, a cross-
comparison between the
CO and CO2 hydrogenation
processes were carried
out on representative iron
(100Fe/10Zn/2Cu/4K on atomic
basis) and a cobalt based (15
wt.% Co/g-Al2O3) FT catalysts.
On cobalt based catalyst CO2
is easily hydrogenated with
a reactivity higher than CO,
however the selectivity of the
two processes is completely
different because during CO2
hydrogenation the main product
is methane, whose selectivity
higher than 90%, but the same
mechanism (H-assisted CO
hydrogenation) occurs and the
products are obtained by the
same intermediate. The different
selectivity of the mixture CO/
H2 and CO2/H2 is due to a
different adsorption ability of
CO and CO2, which strongly
affects the H/C atomic ratio
on the catalytic surface. The
higher H/C obtained during the
CO2 hydrogenation inhibits the
chain growth, hence favoring
the methanation reaction. In
presence of CO, CO2 is hardly
hydrogenated and behaves as
an inert species because of a
competition between CO and
CO2 for the adsorption.
On the contrary, on iron catalyst
CO2 hydrogenation rate is
slightly slower than that of CO,
but the product distribution does
not change dramatically when
switching from CO to CO2,
even though the chain growth
probability (aC3-C10) decreases
from 0.71 to 0.65, as well as
the fraction of unsaturated
hydrocarbons in the products.
This behavior can be explained
considering that in the presence
of CO2 some of the catalytic
sites active in the chain growth
process (iron carbides) are
transformed in sites active in the
hydrogenation reactions (iron
oxides / reduced iron centers).
Another explanation is the
different adsorption strengths of
CO and CO2, which would result
in H/C ratios in proximity of the
active sites very different for
CO and CO2 mixtures. During
CO2 hydrogenation, CO is
detected in the pool of products,
suggesting a first step of RWGS
on the catalyst and a second
step where CO is converted to
hydrocarbons through the FT
reaction with an H-assisted or
un-assisted CO hydrogenation.
In presence of CO, CO2 is not
hydrogenated, but the net CO2
production is zero, this suggests
that CO2 is adsorbed and that
this inhibits the un-assisted
route where the oxygen is
discharged as carbon dioxide,
this behavior improves the
atom efficiency of the process
as all the CO is converted to
hydrocarbons. To complete the
study, the effect of potassium
loading has been investigated
by testing catalysts with K/Fe
atomic ratios equal to 0.02, 0.04
and 0.1. Potassium has a minor
effect on the catalyst activity,
but it can dramatically change
the selectivity in the presence
of CO2. High K-loading were
found able to promote the
chain growth process and the
formation of primary olefins.
Observed results were explained
both in terms of K-effects on
the stability of the iron carbide
species and in terms of K role as
electron donor, able to modify
the adsorption strengths of H2,
CO and CO2.
The selectivity to desired
products on iron based catalyst
can be controlled by modifying
the process conditions and
the catalyst formulation. At
this purpose, iron based-
catalyst, prepared by thermal
decomposition of ammonium
glycolate complexes and
followed by impregnation with a
potassium, was investigated for
the production of light olefins.
The duration of the thermal
treatment has a dramatic
effect on the surface area and
crystal structure. In order to
obtain a catalyst with high
surface area (66 m2/g) and a
spinel structure (Fe3O4-related),
a calcination time of 15 min
has to be adopted, otherwise
the area decreases and the
spinel structure is progressively
transformed to a corundum-
type (a-Fe2O3 related) phase.
The obtained material was
found to be a good catalyst
in CO2 hydrogenation (CO2
conversion higher than 40%)
to light olefins (selectivity of
38%) at mild process conditions.
The analysis of the effect of
the process conditions pointed
out that by a fine tuning it
was possible to enhance both
the catalyst activity and C2-C4
selectivity. High temperatures (at
least 300C) were required to
increase the CO2 conversion and
to improve the Fischer-Tropsch
activity. Medium pressure (5
barg) was instead needed to
establish a Fischer-Tropsch
regime. The prepared catalyst
has higher CO2 conversion rate
and C2-C4 olefins selectivity than
those of reference materials
(Fe2O3 and Fe3O4), ascribed to its
higher surface area and spinel
structure that facilitate the
reducibility and the carburization
and therefore the catalytic
activity.
In the thesis work the water-
gas-shift reaction has also been
investigated as well. WGS is a
key reaction occurring in the
investigated reacting systems
since the CO/CO2 transformation
plays a role in the complex
chemistry of the CO2 or CO/CO2
mixture hydrogenation. Aiming
at a better understanding
of the reaction and in the
optimization of the catalyst in
the low temperature range,
new catalytic systems have been
prepared and investigated. These
systems consist of ZrO2 doped
with different levels of yttrium
(0.1-0.9) in order to increase in
the number of defects and so
the oxygen mobility.
Y-doped zirconium oxide
materials were characterized
by high surface areas (150-
200 m2/g). A combination of
XANES and EXAFS were used
to show that ZrO2 exhibited
the tetragonal phase, while the
Zr0.5Y0.5O1.75 support displayed
the cubic phase. A slight
increase in d-spacing observed
in HR-TEM for the Zr0.9Y0.1O1.95
support relative to undoped
ZrO2, along with a shift to lower
2q in XRD, provide evidence that
Y-doping caused macrostrain.
STEM imaging confirmed that
the Pt clusters ranged from 0.5
PhD Yearbook | 2015
to 2 nm over all three supports.
Catalyst reducibility was
explored by H2-TPR, XANES at
the Zr K-edge, and TPR-XANES
at the Pt LIII edge. A higher
concentration of surface defects
for the 0.5%Pt/Zr0.9Y0.1O1.95
catalyst relative to 0.5%Pt/ZrO2
was confirmed by DRIFTS of 313
adsorbed CO, while a greater
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
surface mobility of surface
formate was suggested based on
forward formate decomposition
experiments in steam. The
Y-doped Pt promoted catalysts
displayed higher water-gas-shift
activity relative to the 0.5%Pt/
ZrO2 catalyst when the Y content
was at or below 50%, with
the best catalyst being 0.5%Pt/
Zr0.9Y0.1O1.95. Indeed, at 300C
CO conversion for 0.5%Pt/ZrO2
was 44.8% and it increases from
50% to 74% by decreasing the
yttrium loading from 50% to
10%. So the increase of activity
for the yttrium doped zirconia is
strictly correlated to the higher
concentration of defects and
higher oxygen mobility. Indeed,
when Zr4+ cations are substituted
by Y3+ cations, oxygen vacancies
are formed to maintain charge
neutrality.
 314
Understanding cadherin mediated cell-
cell adhesion at the molecular level: a
structural approach
Valentina Nardone - Supervisor: Dr. Emilio Parisini
A key biological process in the
life of multicellular organisms
is the establishment of proper
adhesion between cells, to
form at first tissues and then
organs. Cell-cell adhesion is
provided by macromolecular
complexes localized in specific
region of the cellular membrane.
They comprise transmembrane
proteins capable of establishing
cell junctions via interactions
between their extracellular
domain while, at the same time,
they are intimately linked to a
series of cytoplasmatic proteins
that ultimately connect them
to the actin microfilaments and
microtubules. The connection
between the cell-cell junctions
and the cellular cytoskeleton
implies a reorganization
of the latter following the
formation of cellular adherens
junctions, without which tissue
morphogenesis and stability
would not be possible.
The intriguing mechanism of cell
adhesion is the result of several
protein-protein interactions
that take place either at the
cell-cell interface or at the
cell-matrix interface, with high
tissue variability and specificity.
The diverse set of molecules
that are involved in this process
belong to a number of different
protein superfamilies, of which
only some specific members
are expressed in the different
types of cells and tissues, to
properly confer selectivity to
cell-cell interactions and tissue
morphogenesis..
In this context, structural biology
is a potent tool to understand
the molecular bases of the
adhesion process. In general,
a high resolution structural
analysis provides details about
intra- and inter-molecular
contacts that drive the formation
of proteins assembling, often
elucidating the mechanistic
details of biological events. Our
current understanding of the
cell-cell adhesion mechanism
is mostly based on a wealth
of X-ray diffraction, NMR,
electron tomography and other
biophysical data, which have
so far provided a detailed, yet
incomplete, picture of this
process at the molecular level.
However, as in most fields, with
the progression of knowledge
always new and more
sophisticated questions arise.
Most of the work I did for my
Ph.D. thesis is focused on the
structural characterization
of members of the large
superfamily of Ca2+-dependent
cell adhesion proteins called
cadherins, and in particular
on the subfamily of classical
cadherins. These transmembrane
proteins interact with each
other through their extracellular
domains in a strictly homophilic
fashion, to ensure the contact
between two adjacent cells. At
the same time, in the cytoplasm
their intracellular portion forms
a number of interactions with
proteins called catenins, which
ultimately link the cadherins to
the actin microfilament. Despite
the good understanding of
cadherin structures, functions
and behaviour reached
nowadays, more detailed
studies are in progress in
order to further elucidate the
dynamics of the interactions, the
mechanical features, and the
heterophilic contacts of cadherin
ectodomains with other proteins
and small molecules acting as
adhesion modulators.
With the research projects
described in this thesis, we
attempted to approach a series
of unresolved issues in the
cadherin field, related to the
molecular events that guide
homodimerization, which is the
key mechanism in cadherin-
mediated cell-cell adhesion. To
do so, we used single crystal
X-ray diffraction analysis on
different sequences of the
extracellular domain, spanning
from short oligopeptides (three
amino acids) to almost the entire
ectodomains (400 amino acids).
The final, adhesive homodimer
forms as a consequence of the
swap of the N-terminal strand
of the first extracellular domain,
which has a well conserved
sequence: this strand is usually
called adhesion arm and
present a series of molecular
details essential for the dimer
formation (fig.1). Our analysis of
the crystal structures of tri- and
tetra peptides, fragments of
the adhesion arm, allows the
identification of short carbon-
carbon contacts, which can be
transient contacts important to
mediate the recognition of the
arms of two closed cadherins
in the intermediate stages
of the dimer formation. The
characterization of these contacts
is essential to indentify a proper
surface that can be target by
small molecules to inhibit the
dimerization, for drug design and
drug delivery purposes. In silico
studies from our collaborators
have identified small molecules
with a structure that mimes
the N-terminal residues of the
adhesion arm as possible hit
compounds; the affinity for type-I
cadherins has been evaluated by
in vivo and in vitro experiments.
The aim of my work, in this field,
has been the biotechnological
production of different sequences
of type-I cadherin ectodomain
and the crystallization alone
and in presence of the hit
compounds. These studies have
led to important results in the
cadherin field, such as the first
characterization of the closed
monomer of a type-I cadherin
(the human P-cadherin) and
the first co-crystal structure
of a cadherin in presence
of a inhibition compound,
which allows the identification
of a new target surface for
the development of specific
PhD Yearbook | 2015
315
cadherins ligands (fig.2). The
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
results obtained for the type-I
cadherins are also very useful for
the studies in type-II cadherins
(in particular cadherin-11), which
are less structural characterized
even representing an important
pharmacological target; our
structural studies have provided
the crystallization conditions for
2. on the right, the crystal structure
cadherin-11 ectodomain, to be of human P-cadherin in closed,
further optimized (fig.3). monomeric conformation: the two
The combination of these monomers in the packing are in an
antiparallel arrangement, primed
different analyses provides for adhesion; on the left, the
novel details and opens new structure of E-cadherin in the X-dimer
scenarios in the debated topic conformation in presence of the
inhibitor compound (in blue).
of cadherin dynamic, paving the
way to a better comprehension
of possible cadherin/small
molecule interactions, which is
an important issue in medicinal
and toxicological chemistry
due to the role of members
of the cadherin superfamily in
different pathological states
such as cancer metastasis and
rheumatoid arthritis.
3. cubic crystals of cadherin-11
domains 1-4
1. the high resolution crustal
structure of human E-cadherin shows
the strand-swap mechanism of
homodimer formation.
316
Perfluorinated Materials and Photocatalytic
Titanium Dioxide: Synergies and Chemical
Interactions in Environmental Applications
Federico Persico - Supervisor: Walter Navarrini
The main focus of this research
has been the study of the
interactions between TiO2
and fluorinated materials. The
stability of oxygen containing
perfluoropolymers on UV
activated anodized titanium,
the photodegradation of
perfluorocarboxylic acids, in
particular perfluorooctanoic acid
(PFOA), and the development
of a TiO2-embedded fluorinated
transparent coating for oxidation
of hydrosoluble pollutants in
turbid suspensions have been
the specific research areas of my
PhD study.
Protective Coating Evaluation
Three amorphous perfluorinated
polymers (Hyflon AD60,
Fluorolink S10 and Fluorolink
F10) were tested as protective
coatings for anodized titanium.
The effect of their application
on the photoactive surface
was studied by comparing
stearic acid photodegradation
rates promoted by coated
and uncoated TiO2. All three
coatings promoted a decrease
in the TiO2 surface wettability,
thus potentially reducing
greasy material deposition on
the substrate and preserving
its photocatalytic properties.
AD revealed a good adhesion
to the anodized titanium
substrate, conferring to it
both hydrophobicity and
oleophobicity. Differently
from S10 and F10, AD was
chemically stable towards
the photocatalytic couple UV
light/TiO2. Furthermore, all
the applied coatings did not
block photocatalytic reactions,
although a reduction in
photoefficiency was observed.
This undesired phenomenon was
less effective in the case of AD.
The evaluation of the optimal
protective coating for anodized
titanium led to hypothesize the
existence of a straightforward
methodology to decompose
perfluorinated carboxylic
acids into carbon dioxide and
hydrofluorocarbons in the
presence of photocatalytic TiO2.
PFOA Degradation
In order to verify the
presence of a straightforward
methodology to decompose
perfluoro carboxylic acids into
CO2 and hydrofluorocarbons in
the presence of photocatalytic
TiO2, degradation of PFOA
was studied by using TiO2-
slurry as a catalyst. In order to
evaluate the effects of oxygen
excess/defect in the reaction
environment different kinetic
tests were realized and the
results were compared. The
degradation intermediates
concentrations were monitored
by HPLC-MS analysis; the
observed trends appeared to be
in agreement with the presence
of two possible competitive
degradation pathways: the
photo-redox Cn Cn-1 chain
length decrease mechanism
and the b-scission pathway.
The mechanism based on
b-scission reactions appeared
to be dominant in O2-enriched
solutions; in these conditions,
especially during the first
hours of photoabatement, the
highest mineralization rate and
the fastest release of fluoride
ions were observed. On the
contrary, in O2-poor solution
conditions, the photo-redox Cn
Cn-1 chain length decrease
mechanism appeared to be
prevalent, as low F- release and
low concentrations of shorter
chain perfluorinated acids as
degradation intermediates were
observed. These hypotheses
were confirmed by 19F-NMR
analyses. In order to study the
effects promoted by fluoride
ions on the catalyst surface,
TiO2 samples collected before
and after the photodegradation
treatment were characterized.
XRD results revealed that the
bulk crystal structure of the
photocatalyst was preserved
during the photoabatement
of PFOA. Still, the formation
of highly fluorinated and
hydroxylated TiO(2-x/2-y/2)OHyFx
species on the catalyst surface
was revealed by XPS analysis.
The F--induced chemical
modification of the catalyst
surface could be the cause of
the observed lowering in the
photocatalytic performances of
TiO2 for PFOA degradation.
Photoactive Coating
Development
In order to avoid losses
in photocatalyst and to
enhance quantum yield and
quantum efficiency of the
photoabatement process, a
TiO2-containing perfluorinated
multilayered transparent
coating able to promote
photocatalytic degradation
of hydrosoluble organic
pollutants was developed.
The multilayered coating
composition and the catalyst
content were optimized to
promote the coating structural
stability during time and to
obtain the highest photoactivity.
The photoactive coating was
developed by applying a TiO2-
containing fluorinated ionomeric
dispersion and a perfluorinated
amorphous polymer in an
appropriate sequence directly
on the UV source. The
peculiar configuration of the
photoactive coating allowed
even the treatment of turbid
dispersions, thus broadening
its potential applicability.
Immobilized TiO2 particles, in
fact, were not deactivated by
slime interposition between the
UV source and the photoactive
coating and avoided onerous
separation of the catalyst
from the purified water. The
coating photoactivity towards
hydrosoluble organic pollutants
was evaluated by monitoring
the photoabatement rates of
two dyes (Rhodamine B-base
-RhB; Crystal Violet -CV)
and a persistent pollutant
(4-Chlorophenol -CP). The
comparison of photodegradation
and absorption trends of dyes
and CP highlighted a direct
relation between these two
phenomena; whenever the
hydrosoluble pollutant was
effectively absorbed into the
photoactive coating, rapid
photodegradation occurred,
causing the complete removal
of the organic compound
from the aqueous solution.
In these cases, in both clear
and turbid conditions, TiO2-
embedded transparent coating
revealed higher photocatalytic
activity than dispersed TiO2,
this behavior being particularly
evident at low pollutant
concentrations. On the
contrary, in the case of non
absorbed pollutants (CP), lower
photoabatement rates were
observed in the presence of the
photoactive coating. Hence, due
to the basic nature of RhB and
CRY, a synergic effect between
the ionomeric material and
the embedded TiO2 particles
was observed. RhB and CRY
photoabatement trends were
almost overlapping both in the
absence and in the presence
of inert dispersed particles
in the reaction environment.
Furthermore, similar absorption
trends were observed for the
two tested organic dyes. The
comparison of the apparent
kinetic parameters allowed
us to hypothesize that in the
case of basic pollutants, the
apparent kinetic constant
values were independent from
the molecular structure of
the organic pollutant. These
results could be interpreted by
theorizing that the observed
dye abatement rates were
controlled by pollutant phase
transfer phenomena. Thus, an
optimization of reactor mass-
transport parameters could
cause further increase in the
degradation efficiency of the
photoactive system. Photoactive
coating physical and chemical
stability were monitored by ATR
and TGA analyses on pristine
PhD Yearbook | 2015
and used (100 h) samples of
photoactive coating. As no
significant variations in the
ATR and in the TGA spectra
were observed, it appeared
that no chemical modification
of the perfluorinated matrix
occurred during the degradation
of pollutants. In view of a 317
possible industrialization of
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
the TiO2-containing coating its
mechanical characterization
would be useful. The actual and
potential characteristics of the
TiO2-containing photoactive
coating make it suitable for
industrial employment for
both sequential batch and
continuous water management.
The photoactive coating could
be also tested in the presence
of gaseous pollutants. The use
of short side chain ionomers
in the photoactive layer can
promote autohumidification of
the TiO2-containing coating in
the presence of air humidity. This
phenomenon could be sufficient
to guarantee the synergic
effect between the ionomeric
phase and the photocatalyst.
Furthermore, the application
to the photoactive coating of
studies on TiO2 doping could
make this project extremely
promising for green-chemistry
purposes. In fact, the use of a
visible light-activated catalyst
into the coating could allow its
direct in situ applications for
environmental remediation.
 318
One-Pot Multicomponent Free-Radical
Reactions Mediated By Titanium Salts
Bianca Rossi - Relatore: Prof. Carlo Punta
Multicomponent reactions
(MCRs) represent a green
approach towards the synthesis
of polyfunctionalized molecules
by promoting multiple bond-
forming mechanisms in a
one-pot synthesis. Likewise,
the development of radical-
mediated, CC bond-forming
transformations has also
attracted increasing interest.
These protocols usually afford
good selectivity, are highly
compatible with common
functional groups, and
often require mild operative
conditions.
The combination of this two
synthetic tools opens the way for
the cheap and simple synthesis
1. Radical addition to imines triggered by TiCl3 or TiCl4-Zn/ROOH systems
of poly-functional molecules and
for the grafting of polymers and
materials (Figure 1).
The main goal of this work
consisted into the optimization
and application of a
multicomponent protocol for
the nucleophilic free radical
addition to imines generated in
situ, using the new TiCl4-Zn/tert-
BuOOH catalytic system.
As shown in Figure 2, in a
proposed reaction mechanism
Titanium promotes the
formation of imine in situ and
activates its reactivity towards
nucleophilic addition.
The research activity followed
two consecutive steps.
At first, the application of the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
319
multicomponent free-radical selected moieties on the
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
approach was optimized and pristine backbone (Scheme 1).
extended to alcohols and Derivatives obtained by means
ethers as nucleophilic sources. of this one-pot free-radical
The new explored conditions approach were biologically
allowed to obtain a wide range tested in terms of cytotoxicity
of desired final products, with and transfection efficiency.
high conversion and selectivity,
inhibiting the competitive
domino side-reactions. In this
part of activity, three applications
were considered:
a) Synthesis of b-amino alcohols
via nucleophilic radical 2. Nucleophilic addition to ketimines promoted by the TiCl4-Zn/ROOH system
hydroxymethylation of
ketimines;
b) b-aminoalkylation of ethers;
c) Nucleophilic radical
hydroxyalkylation of ketimines
with ethanol.
On the bases of the good
results obtained by protocol
optimization, the new
methodology was applied for
the grafting and formulation
of noncytotoxic cationic
polymers. The efficiency of
the new materials as non-viral Scheme 1. Radical addition of formamide to ketimines generated in situ from primary amino groups of 25kDa bPEI and
vectors for gene delivery was ketones.
verified. In particular, I focused
on the grafting of branched
polyethyleneimine 25kDa (25kDa
bPEI), a cationic polymer bearing
primary amino groups, which
is one of the most widely used
among non-viral vectors in gene
delivery. Considering the positive
effect of hydrophobic groups
in increasing the efficiency of
transfection, different types
of modified 25kDa bPEI were
synthetized, by introducing
320
Detailed Kinetic Modeling of Soot Formation
in Combustion Processes
Chiara Saggese - Adisor: Prof. Tiziano Faravelli
Combustion is present in
many large-scale processes,
including internal combustion
engines, power stations, waste
incineration and residential
burning of wood and coal.
These, with field burning of
agricultural wastes and forest
and vegetation fires, are the
main sources of airborne
species, such as Polycyclic
Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH)
and Particulate Matter (PM or
soot).
As by-product of fuel
combustion, flame-generated
carbon nanoparticles not only
lower the efficiency of many
combustion devices but also
can adversely impact global
climate, air quality and human
health. In particular, smaller
the particles more dangerous
they are, because the exposure
to such particles can affect
both the lungs and the heart.
Therefore a strong reduction
of fine particulate matter
emissions from combustion
sources is needed and a
fundamental understanding
of soot formation process is
required for the development of
future clean combustion devices.
Studying soot morphology
and composition as well as its
formation process in flames
remains an intriguing problem in
combustion chemistry research
and significant progresses have
been made over the last few
years both experimentally and
numerically.
Soot formation occur at
high temperature and in rich
conditions and includes different
processes: particle nucleation
from the combustion of the
initial gas phase mixture,
surface growth by gas-surface
reactions with C2H2 and PAHs,
oxidation and dehydrogenation
reactions. Moreover, along with
chemical growth in a flame, soot
particles can also coalesce or
aggregate. The development of
a reliable soot kinetic model is
an ambitious task and involves
not only a proper description of
the gas phase kinetics and its
coupling with solid phase but
also a correct understanding
of the experimental setup
necessary for obtaining soot
data to validate the model.
The aim of this thesis work
is to have more insights on
particle inception and growth
through an improvement of a
soot kinetic model based on the
discrete sectional method and an
experimental activity has been
carried out at Stanford University
to measure soot produced under
controlled flame conditions and
investigate fuel dependency on
the soot formation process.
The modeling activity is mostly
focused on developing and
further refining the soot kinetic
model on the basis of recent
experimental and theoretical
evidences on aggregates
formation in flames. Specifically,
fractal aggregates are added
to the mechanism with their
proper reaction kinetics
and this allowed to better
describe the evolution of soot
morphology along the flame
axis. In fact, particle-particle
coalescence, particle coalescence
on aggregates and particle
aggregation are considered in
the kinetic model.
The model validation is
performed in terms of
comparisons with data obtained
by many groups in laminar
premixed ethylene flames.
Among them, the configuration
of the Burner-Stabilized
Stagnation (BSS) flame, shown
in Fig. 1, is considered as main
case study. Soot is generated
in a 16.3% ethylene23.7%
oxygenargon flame
(equivalence ratio F = 2.07) with
cold gas velocity of 8 cm/s (STP)
and stabilized on a water-cooled
flat flame burner at atmospheric
pressure. The soot is sampled
in situ along the centerline of
the flame at the stagnation
surface, which also defines the
downstream boundary condition
of the flame. First, a proper
one-dimensional method to
describe the stagnation-surface
configuration is defined through
a set of conservation equations
and boundary conditions. The
approach consists in simulating
it as a counterflow flame with
zero velocity on the oxidizer
side. It is very important to
define correctly the boundary
conditions, especially those for
the species. In particular, for
gaseous species, the sum of the
convective and diffusive terms
is zero on the air side, while
for particles it is equal to the
thermophoretic flux. This allows
to take into account the flux
of soot particles depositing on
the water-cooled surface and
to obtain a good agreement
between experimental data and
model predictions. Fig. 2 shows
an example of comparisons for
the measured and computed
temperature profile and particle
size distribution function (PSDF)
at a fixed distance between
the burner and the stagnation
surface, Hp = 1.0 cm. The
cooling effect of the stagnation
plane is evident; the temperature
cools down quickly to the value
measured on the water-cooled
plate. The temperature profile
has been computed taking into
account gas and soot radiation
and the computed profile is
within the experimental error.
The predicted PSDF shows
a tail on the small size side
along with a lognormal-like
PSDF on the large size site,
both are in close agreement
with the experimental data.
Model uncertainties are also
analyzed by means of sensitivity
analysis on the kinetics of the
various reaction classes inside
the mechanism. Mobility
measurements are interpreted
PhD Yearbook | 2015
321
through the development of rate of production analysis.
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
a new technique to measure A deeper knowledge of the
simultaneously soot mass and mechanisms underlying PAHs
size distributions. and soot formation would
The goal of the experimental allow for a better design of
activity is to investigate the combustion systems with
fuel dependency on the soot improved energy efficiency and
formation process. Soot has a simultaneous reduction of
been sampled and measured particulate emissions.
in BSS propylene flames using
a Scanning Mobility Particle
Sizer. Similar flame operating
and stoichiometric conditions
have been chosen to compare
soot volume fraction and size
distributions from propylene
with the one from ethylene. 1. Schematic representation of the
Afterwards, the model capability burner-stabilized stagnation flame
to predict soot formation configuration: flame layout and
illustration of the main characteristics
under different conditions is of the system. x and r are the axial
tested through comparisons and radial coordinates, respectively. u
with experimental data from is the axial velocity and v radial one.
these measurements in laminar
premixed propylene flames.
Finally, the model reliability
is tested also in benzene and
cyclohexane premixed flames
and discussed by means of the
2. Comparison of model prediction (solid line) and experimental data (symbols)
in the BSS ethylene flame at Hp = 1.0 cm. Panel A) Temperature profile along
the flame axis. Panel B) Soot particle size distribution function.
322
CFD MODELING OF ACCIDENTAL FIRES IN
CONGESTED SCENARIOS
Silvia Tavelli - Advisor: Marco Derudi
Tunnel fires play a relevant and
peculiar role in transportation
safety: historical records have
seen a number of accidents
and near misses in tunnels,
some of which characterized by
catastrophic magnitude of the
consequences and great public
resonance, such as the Mont
Blanc Tunnel fire (1999, 39
deaths). In the majority of cases
mechanical or electrical failure
in a vehicle or an accidental
collision between two or more
vehicles are at the origin of
tunnel fires.
Since vehicles have a role in the
initiation phase, they will always
be present close to the fire and
could influence the evolution
of the fire phenomenon.
However, the effect of the
presence of relevant obstacles
on the tunnel fires evolution
was not previously investigated.
Therefore, the focus of this
thesis has been the simulation
with a computational fluid
dynamics software - the Fire
Dynamics Simulator (FDS) - of
complex systems and congested
fire scenarios, with particular
attention to the study of tunnel
fires and the analysis of the
consequences of the evolution
of fire effluents in presence of
large obstacles.
After the simulation of empty
tunnel fire configurations,
a systematic study of the
effect of obstacles and
their location on the critical
ventilation velocity, a key design
parameter, was performed
using experimental data from
the literature to validate the
simulation procedure and to
highlight the best strategy for
the identification of the critical
velocity from simulation results.
Henceforth, several obstacles
configurations were analyzed
in order to identify meaningful
trends and strategies in order
to rationalize the congestion
modeling.
To account for the intrinsic
complexity of the fire
phenomenon, a thorough
analysis should take into
consideration the effect of
thermal loads on structures,
as well as of exposure to heat,
toxic and irritating gases on
the tunnel users capability
to reach a safe place. A
comprehensive methodology
providing a synthesis of the
information regarding various
threats to survival in a tunnel
fire scenario in a number of Key
Hazard Indicators (KHIs) and
in an overall Key Performance
Indicator (KPI) was then
proposed. Its application is not
limited to the consequence
analysis, as the methodology can
be useful to compare different
configurations and strategies of
fire prevention and protection,
therefore becoming a tool useful
for design purposes.
The effect of complex
geometrical features on real
PhD Yearbook | 2015
323
scenarios - such as bypasses
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
located in proximity to the fire
- could also be relevant and has
been addressed by analyzing and
simulating in the experimental
data obtained from full scale
experimental tests.
Finally, the performances
of the CFD code used for
the simulations, FDS, were
compared with the ones
obtained from a zone model, in
order to evaluate the potential
use of the more simplified
approach as a screening tool
for this kind of scenarios, as
well as those obtained using
a different CFD code, FLACS,
to highlight how the different
approximations of the codes
influence their applicability and
reliability.
In summary, the underlying
goal of the thesis has been
to provide tools for a rational
approach towards an effective
and safe design, which could
benefit from the results of
predictive and reliable numerical
simulations in order to shift
from generic guidelines and
prescriptive requirements
towards the implementation
of the conclusions obtained
from the analysis of specific
configurations and scenarios.
324
High efficiency SCR process for stationary
applications: an experimental and
modeling study
Nicola Usberti - Advisor: Prof. Alessandra Beretta
The objective of this work is to
improve the comprehension
of the chemical processes that
take place over traditional SCR
V2O5/WO3(MoO3)/TiO2 catalysts;
focus has been on one side on
the identification of the role of
NH3 oxidation within the NH3/
NO/O2 reacting system in the
case of High Efficiency SCR
configuration (NH3/NO inlet ratio
higher than 1), on the other
side on the kinetics of mercury
oxidation.
Both experimental and
modelling studies have been
addressed at this scope, in
cooperation with industrial
partners (ENEL, Johnson
Matthey). NH3-SCR, NH3-
oxidation and Hg0 oxidation
were tested over commercial
catalysts, exploring a very wide
range of scales and conditions.
Data were in fact collected
both at the laboratory scale
and in pilot scale facilities
both on powders and on
monoliths or plates, and were
then analyzed with dedicated
reactor models. The interplay
of chemical reactions and inter-
and intraporous mass transfer
limitations required in fact the
medium and methods of the
chemical engineering analysis
to extract intrinsic kinetic
information an derive guidelines
for the reactor design.
The NH3/NO/O2 reacting system
was studied under conditions
of NH3/NO1 and temperature
up to 400C, where some
ammonia oxidation is expected.
It was found that NO conversion
passed through a maximum
at increasing temperature, as
commonly observed in SCR
tests at the onset of ammonia
oxidation; however, since the
experiments were performed
under excess ammonia, the
high temperature decrease of
NO conversion could not be
attributed to a lack of surface
NH3. The experiments were thus
interpreted as the evidence of
an unselective NH3-oxidation
route, giving rise to some NO
production. NH3-oxidation
tests showed low selectivity
to NO (in line with the current
literature) which could be
interpreted as the evidence of
a selective ammonia oxidation
route; however, a quantitative
analysis of data showed that the
observed product distribution
was fully in line with an indirect-
consecutive reaction scheme
from NH3 to N2, wherein NO
is formed by NH3 oxidation
and is then rapidly converted
to N2 via NH3-SCR. Preliminary
evaluations suggest that the
impact of NH3-oxidation on the
integral performance of full scale
monolith reactors (operating at
NH3/NO ratios close to 1) is not
negligible, and that the correct
identification of the reaction
stoichiometry is crucial.
The extent of Hg0 oxidation
over V-W-Ti monoliths was
investigated performing lab-scale
and pilot-scale tests. A model of
the SCR reactor with honeycomb
monoliths was developed to
analyze the data, evaluate the
rate of the chemical process and
then comprehend the impact of
NH3 inhibition on Hg oxidation
by examining the concentration
and reaction rate profiles inside
the monolith wall. It was found
that, under typical operating
conditions, both the DeNOX and
the Hg oxidation processes are
affected by external and internal
mass transfer limitations; NH3
concentration drops very rapidly
across the radial direction,
but Hg0 profiles are similarly
concentrated in a thin superficial
layer. Thus, the main operating
parameter which affects the
extent of NH3 inhibition is the
Area Velocity, that is the sizing
of the full scale reactor.
The kinetics of Hg oxidation
was further deepened by
a dedicated experimental
study on a plate-type V-Mo/
Ti catalyst. Experiments at
varying HCl concentration
and varying temperature
seemed to suggest that the
activation of HCl is kinetically
limiting at concentrations
below 3 ppm; no temperature
dependence of Hg conversion
was infact observed under these
conditions. A positive, though
weak, T-dependence was instead
observed at 10 ppm HCl where
the process tends to become
PhD Yearbook | 2015
325
insensitive to HCl concentration, of the gas-phase within the
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
likely due to the reach of surface reactor.
saturation.
As a first stage towards the
comprehension of the complex
interaction between SCR-DeNOx
process and Hg oxidation,
experiments where performed
with NO co-feed. At low-
medium temperature, NO was
found to have a promoting
effect on mercury oxidation; this
was observed also at low down
to no HCl content. Instead, NO
exerted a negative effect at
temperatures above 350C and
such a negative effect worsened
at decreasing HCl concentration
and increasing temperature. This
could be explained by assuming
that NO interacted with the
V sites differently at varying
temperatures. Highly oxidizing
NO-related surface species could
be responsible for the promotion
of Hg oxidation at temperatures
below 350C. On the opposite,
the interaction of NO with the
active sites at high temperature
hindered the activation of HCl
and thus the formation of
chlorinated V-sites.
In general, these data showed
that the rate of Hg oxidation is
extremely sensitive to the surface
coverage of the chemical species
from the gas-phase, which likely
influences the activation of HCl.
This sensitivity produces very
different values of the apparent
activation energy, depending on
the composition and evolution
Building Engineering | Design | Design
and technologies for cultural heritage |
Electrical Engineering | Energy and Nuclear
Science and Technology | Environmental
and Infrastructures engineering |
Industrial Chemistry and Chemical
Engineering | Information Technology |
Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design
| Management, Economics and Industrial
Engineering | Materials Engineering |
Mathematical MODELS and METHODS IN
Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
Physics | Preservation of THE Architectural
Heritage | Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial
Planning and Urban Development |
Structural Seismic and Geotechnical
Engineering | Technology and Design for
Environment and Building | Territorial
Design and Government | Aerospace
Engineering | Architectural and Urban
Design | Architectural Composition |
Architecture, Urban Design, Conservation
of Housing and Landscape | Bioengineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
328
DOCTORAL PROGRAM
IN Information Technology
Introduction
Chair: The PhD program in Information Technology (IT) goes back to the
Prof. Carlo Fiorini year 2001, when the two traditional programs in Automation-
Computer Engineering and Electronics-Telecommunications were
merged. As such, the unified course covers the research interests
in four scientific areas, namely Computer Science and Engineering,
Electronics, Systems and Control, and Telecommunications. This
broad variety of research activities is completely focused in the
ICT area, and perfectly corresponds to the core mission of the
Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria (DEIB).
However, pursuant the history of the Department, and following the
new trends of the modern society, some cross-related research fields
are also encouraged, such as ecology, environmental modelling,
operations research, and transportation systems. The PhD program
in IT is the largest at the Politecnico in terms of number of students.
There are more than 60 first year students and about 210 in total.
The students are subject to an examination every year to evaluate
the progress achieved in their research and course work.
Topics
The research carried out in the Department in the field of
Information Technology (including 35 between computing or
experimental laboratories) can be subdivided into 4 main areas:
Computer Science and Engineering (Vice-Coordinator: Prof. Andrea
Bonarini): Information systems, Database management, Information
design for the web, Methods and applications for interactive
multimedia, Embedded systems design and design methodologies,
Dependable systems: performance, security and reliability,
Autonomous robotics, Artificial intelligence, Computer vision and
image analysis, Machine learning, Dependable Evolvable Pervasive
Software Engineering, Compiler Technology, Natural Language
Processing and Accessibility.
Electronics (Vice-Coordinator: Prof. Angelo Geraci): Circuits
and systems: theory and applications, Single-photon detectors
and applications, Radiation detectors and low noise electronics,
Electronic circuit design, Electron devices.
Systems and Control (Vice-Coordinator: Prof. Paolo Bolzern):
Control systems, Robotics and industrial automation, Optical
measurements and laser instrumentation, Dynamics of complex
system, Planning and management of environmental systems,
Operations research and discrete optimization.
Telecommunications (Vice-Coordinator: Andrea Virgilio
Monti Guarnieri): Networking, Applied
electromagnetics, Information transmission and
radio communications, Optical communications,
Wireless and space communications, Remote
sensing, Signal processing for multimedia and
telecommunications.
Industrial collaborations
Due to its intrinsic technological nature, the PhD
curriculum is corroborated by many industrial
collaborations. About 25% of the total number
of scholarships are funded by industry or by
international research projects involving industrial
partners. In the school vision, the collaboration
between university and industry is ideally
based on the challenge of turning invention
into technological innovation. This amounts to
shaping new technology frontiers and to building
a fertile atmosphere for a mixture of world-class
research at universities and in private companies.
This also amounts to creating a common terrain
of friendly culture, to size the risk and to believe
in strong basic research. The external referee
board is composed by members of public and
private companies, working in industry and
in applied research. The board is in charge of
monitoring the activities of the PhD program
and giving suggestions for its development. The
board meets once a year to point out the new
emerging research areas worth to be investigated
and to monitor the visibility of the course in the
industrial world.
Educational aspects
The teaching organization and subject of the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
329
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
courses reflect the scientific interests of DEIB
faculties. The curricula include a wide choice of
courses (about 30 per year), of different nature.
The challenge is to promote interdisciplinary
research while offering technical advanced courses
that spur innovative and cutting edge research.
Therefore, particular attention is devoted to help
each student to make the best choice according to
an internal regulation scheme.
Internationalization
Every year about 5 courses are delivered by
foreign professors. Moreover, the PhD program
encourages joint curricula through agreements
with foreign institutions. At present we count
joint agreements for a Double PhD Program with
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in the
electrical and computer engineering disciplines;
academic cooperation for a Double Doctoral
Degree with the Graduate School of Engineering
and Graduate School of Life and Medical Science,
Doshisha University, Japan; double PhD Program
with Queensland University of Technology,
Australia; between DEIB and the Drexel University,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Double PhD
Program with the University of Western Ontario,
Canada; Joint PhD Degree Program between DEIB
and Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta
USA; Agreement for co-supervison of a doctoral
Thesis with Ecole Polythechnique de Montreal
Canada.
The PhD program in Information Technology
participates in ICO-NEH (International
Curriculum Option of Doctoral, in Erasmus
mundus Programs: STRONG-TIES Strengthening
330

Training and Research Through Networking Every year at least 4 fellowships are assigned to

PhD Yearbook | 2015

and Globalisation of Teaching in Engineering
Studies and GREEN IT for the benefit of civil
Society (North Africa for incoming and
outgoing mobility) and a Cooperation agreement
with Escuela superior Politecnica del Litoral
(Ecuador) for admission of Doctoral candidates.
Some activities are organized within the Network
of Excellence EURO-NF (Network of the Future)
and of ACCM, Austrian Centre of Competence in
Mechatronics.
foreign students, selected on the basis of their CV
and research interest.
Conclusions
It is quite clear that the core mission is to
offer an excellent PhD curriculum, through
high quality courses, a truly interdisciplinary
advanced education, cutting-edge research, and
international and industrial collaborations. 331

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Board Committee
Livio Baldi (Micron Semiconductors Italia)
Claudio Bartolini (HP Labs - USA)
Riccardo De Gaudenzi (European Space Agency)
Giuseppe Fogliazza (MCM S.p.A.)
Renato Marchi (Gruppo PAM)
Fabrizio Renzi (IBM Italia S.p.A.)
Stefano Signani (Unicredit S.p.A.)
Maurizio Zuffada (STMicroelectronics S.r.l.)

Prizes and awards

In 2014 the following awards have been obtained by PhD students:

Chorafas Foundation Award: Silvio Del Giudice, Valerio Panzica La Manna

Best Ph.D. in Information Technology Award: Federico Pepe
IBM Ph.D. Fellowship Award: Daniele DellAglio
ICWE 2014 Best Paper Award: Andrea Mauri
IEEE WETICE 2014 Best Paper Award: Mahsa Teimourikia
332
Vulnerability Detection and
Countermeasures in Building Automation
Networks and Cyber-Physical Systems
Alessio Antonini - Supervisor: Luca Breveglieri
Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs)
are systems where software
and hardware entities monitor
and manage physical devices
using communication channels.
They have become ubiquitous
in many application domains,
including health monitoring,
smart vehicles and energy
efficiency, as in the power supply
provisioning and management
(e.g., smart buildings and smart
grid infrastructures), thanks
to the rapid growth of the
embedded system technologies.
On a more general perspective,
these systems bridge the
cyber-world of computing
and communication with the
physical world of the more
complex systems, which include
mechanical parts, sensors and
actuators of different kinds.
Examples of CPSs include the
smart electricity-grid systems,
the Supervisory Control And
Data Acquisition systems
(SCADA) for managing the
functioning of industrial plants,
and the distributed control
systems of Building Automation
Networks (BANs) designed to
monitor and control the security
and safety of the mechanical
systems in a building, as well as
their services.
All the aforementioned systems
were commonly designed
as stand-alone networks
in physically protected
locations, using proprietary
technologies. The extension
of their connectivity and
the improvement of their
management into more efficient
and effective CPSs, paved the
way also to new security and
safety threats. In particular, the
security of CPSs involves the
need to secure a set of systems
that were explicitly designed
assuming the existence of a
physical barrier to confine the
attackers, which has fallen
when the need to connect
them with the external world
has surged. This is particularly
problematic as CPSs have a
multitude of possible attack
vectors, by their own nature,
since a number of malicious
actions can be undertaken at
every level of their programming
and working stack, from the
low-level firmware residing
on the devices, to the
infrastructure coordinating their
functionality, which typically
resides on common general-
purpose computers. To this
end, it is crucial to approach
the securization of CPSs at
multiple levels. In particular, it
is fundamental both to tackle
the communication level
security of such systems, by
providing authentication to
the involved endpoints and
strong integrity guarantees on
both the transmitted data and
control signals, and to tackle the
system security, lest an attacker
can alter their functioning for
malicious purposes. The research
and industrial communities have
developed several solutions to
tackle with potential threats, but
these solutions lie far from being
unaffected by defects, as it is
shown in this thesis.
In this research work, the
attention has been focused
on the CPSs that operate in a
smart grid, considering that the
introduction of these so-called
smart devices has particularly
attracted the attention of the
cyber-security researchers, mainly
due to the large scale impact
that would occur in the case of
a cyber-attack. There are many
different CPSs that are worth
being investigated; nevertheless,
this research focuses on two of
them, which appear to have a
major role in the smart grid field:
the BANs, which can operate at
the peripheral level of the grid,
and the PLCs, which are widely
used to manage the generation
and distribution of energy.
This thesis pursues several
objectives, at different levels of
complexity.
First, different technologies
have been investigated for
both the BAS and SCADA
presented in the literature,
in order to understand what
kind of communication
protocols, operating systems,
and hardware are used. Each
technology may have specific
vulnerabilities that cannot be
generalized. About the BAS
architecture, the thesis focuses
on the analysis of network
protocols for BANs such as KNX,
LonWorks, BACnet and Modbus;
about the SCADA systems, it
focuses on the Programmable
Logic Controllers (PLCs)
architecture.
Second, the previous
technologies have been
summarized and a qualitative
comparison among them has
been carried out.
Third, relying on the previous
analysis, two case studies have
been defined in order to better
investigate the vulnerabilities
of such systems. A first testbed
has been realized using a KNX
system as most representative
because of the more stringent
constraints of computational
capacity, and a second one
for the SCADA systems, based
on Siemens PLCs as most
representative because of their
spread in the industrial market.
Fourth, after an extensive activity
of reverse engineering, a set
of viruses has been developed
to exploit the identified
vulnerabilities, trying to
generalize the attack scheme. A
first malware has been designed
to attack a KNX system and
to show the possibility of fully
reprogramming the network
devices, in order to obtain a
malfunction or a complete
Denial-of-Service. A second
malware has been designed to
attack the application program
of Siemens PLCs, in order to
show how it is possible to
change the specific industrial
process running on the PLCs.
In the worst case scenario the
malware can shut down the
entire process. Both malwares
have been tested on realistic
testbeds, proving the feasibility
of the attacks.
Fifth, some countermeasure
have been proposed for each
scenario. These countermeasures
must exploit the attack schemes
previously studied and must be
resistant to several classes of
attack schemes. In the case of
the BAN, a novel protocol, with
strong security guarantees, has
been proposed. The protocol is
based on a logical time slotting
and an ephemeral shared secret,
which is refreshed periodically
by means of a multiparty
key agreement scheme. The
computational complexity of the
novel multiparty key agreement
scheme has been shown to be
equivalent to a computational
Diffie-Hellman problem. This
solution provides support for
sending secure commands in
1.3 seconds, and performs
a key agreement, providing
forward secrecy, in roughly
one minute of computation
and transmission time on
the most constrained BAN
network infrastructure: KNX.
Furthermore, these performance
figures improve by more than
an order of magnitude on faster
BANs, thus providing a widely
applicable solution, proved to
be secure against the strongest
possible network bound
attacker model, with the same
mathematical strength of well
characterized crypto-systems.
In the case of SCADA, a novel
defensive approach has been
proposed, which is based on the
application of model checking
techniques at firmware level,
to verify the integrity of the
industrial process execution. It
has been shown how to apply
those techniques to a real
case based on the application
program of a water turbine.
A Safety Checker (SC) for the
system has been written, which
is able to intercept at firmware
level the wrong commands
PhD Yearbook | 2015
transmitted by an hypothetical
malware acting at application
program level. The SC performs
a real-time check between the
values that the firmware is
going to send to the physical
devices and the actual status of
the industrial process, in order
to determine the admissibility 333
of the future state. Using a
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
simulation, it has been shown
that the proposed solution
can run in realtime with the
firmware without affecting the
general performances of the
system.
In conclusion, this research
shows how it is possible for
a hacker to perform cyber-
attacks to CPSs with a discrete
knowledge of the physical
devices and industrial processes.
Thanks to the numerous
weaknesses of the CPSs, it
is possible to obtain the full
control of industrial processes
and to perform different
actions in order to accomplish
different goals, from a Denial-
of-Service to a more complex
manipulation of the physical
systems. This thesis also shows
that it is possible to use different
techniques to maintain the
safety and security of CPSs. The
results of this research have
advanced the state-of-art in
the security of CPSs and BANs,
and have been published in the
refereed proceedings of research
venues.
334
Inkjet printing of advanced functional
materials: toward patterned devices
for large area applications
Giovanni Azzellino - Supervisor: Prof. Marco Sampietro
Solution processible
semiconductor technology has
attracted considerable research
interest in the past few decades;
in particular, devices based
on conjugated polymers and
semiconducting nanocrystals,
both processible from solution,
can pave the way for the
development of low-cost, large
area and flexible electronics.
The key advantages of these
materials over crystalline
semiconductor technology are
mainly ascribable to their low-
temperature manufacturing
and compatibility with flexible
substrates, and their unique
and tunable optical capabilities.
The high absorption coeffcient
of conjugated polymers makes
them suitable for effcient light
harvesting devices. Further, the
quantum confinement effect in
semiconducting nanocrystals is
particularly useful for making
both devices with narrow and
pure emission and devices
harvesting light at a certain
wavelength.
In this work we focused,
primarily on the realization
of photosensors based on
conjugated semiconductors,
secondly on novel LEDs with
pure and narrow emission,
based on quantum dots. In
particular, we addressed the
need of patterning functional
materials, coming from solution,
to manufacture many devices
on the same substrate and
envision the realization of more
complex electronic devices (even
bendable) for imaging/lightening
purpose with a pixilated
structure.
Inkjet printing technology,
which allows ambient condition
and room temperature
manufacturing, meets all
requirements for patterning
solution-based semiconductors
and manufacturing our devices.
Furthermore, the additive nature
of this deposition technique
is virtually compatible with
whatever substrate, even
flexible.
In particular, we worked with
the piezoelectric inkjet printing:
functional solutions were loaded
into tiny nozzles that are able
to propel small amounts (tens
of pL) of the same solutions in
response to an electric voltage
pulse. Control over the jetted
solution is mandatory in order
to obtain well-defined structures
and high resolution features (~
10 m): that is mainly achieved
by properly tuning the voltage
waveform which drives the
piezoelectric nozzle.
Nonetheless, the major hurdle
in depositing films by inkjet
printing relies in the uniformity
and the continuity of the films
themselves. In fact, casted films
suffer from the coffee stain
effect which gives rise to non-
uniform thickness and hollowed
films. Noticeably, we addressed
that issue and manufactured
photosensitive devices: the
adoption of tailored solutions,
resulting from the mixture of
solvents with different physical
properties, contributed to
avoid the coffee stain, pile up
different layers, all of them
by inkjet printing, and make
optoelectronics devices with
remarkable performances.
Finally, we reported pinholes-
free, fully inkjet printed
photosensors, based on a
vertical inverted architecture
with the photoactive layer
sandwiched between two
electrodes, deposited on
flexible substrate, with EQE (at
1V reverse bias) in excess of
60% over most of the visible
spectral region, and a peak of
83% at 525nm. Noticeably,
EQE and specific detectivity of
our devices are comparable
with the literature reported
devices made by the more
standard coating techniques.
In other words, the novelty of
our approach, does not just
prevent the manufacturing
of high performance devices,
but demonstrates the inkjet
printing capability of patterning
and making efficient electronic
devices as well.
In-depth analysis of printed
photosensors has enlightened
the relationship between the
manufacturing recipe and the
device electrical properties; after
an optimization step we were
able to report devices with EQE
PhD Yearbook | 2015
335
independent on the incident
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
power density (over a power
density range larger than two
decades), which is high desirable
for photodetectors.
The same inkjet printing
technology was adopted to
pattern quantum dots for
making LEDs. In that case, the
piezoelectric inkjet is preferable
over other printing techniques,
like micro-contact or thermal,
for two main reasons: the non- 1. Cartoon (top) and optical 3. Top: EQE as function of the incident
contact additive approach avoids micrograph (bottom) of the inkjet power density (measured at 570nm,
material waste and mechanical printed photodetector with active at 1V reverse bias). Bottom: Device
area 100 x 100 m2. The dummy bandwidth measured at 570 nm under
contact between the dots strip of silver is needed to minimize incident power density of 0.1 mWcm-2
and the stamp, and finally the the resistive losses due to the at 1V reverse bias.
piezoelectric driving prevents transparent electrode based on
PEDOT:PSS.
the heating of the dots-based
ink that would be detrimental,
in terms of quantum yield,
for dots. We inkjet printed a
solution based on core-shell
dots PbS-CdS (emission peak at
1450 nm) in ambient condition
at room temperature and we
addressed the issues of coffee
stain and thickness uniformity
by tailoring the solution itself
and modifying the surface
energy of the underlying layer.
We manufactured arrays of dot
spots with 25m resolution
and finally demonstrated the
electroluminescent behavior of 2. EQE spectrum (red) measured at
1V reverse bias under incident power
devices incorporating arrays of density of 10 mWcm-2 and normalized
printed dots as emissive layer. active layer absorbance (black).
336
Variability, Endurance and Novel
Applications of Resistive Switching Devices
Simone Balatti - Supervisor: Ielmini Daniele
In recent years there has been
a huge increase in the storage
capacity of integrated memories,
still the technological solutions
remained almost the same. The
continuous demand of new
portable, low-cost, low-power
devices has forced a huge effort
in R&D pushing the limits of
the current technology. Flash
memory, representing the main
stream memory technology
and experienced an impressive
development, that has led this
technology to a 16 nm node
and to the implementation
of 3D architectures. As we
approach the scaling limit
imposed by physics to Flash
technology, the research is
making more and more efforts
towards the development of
new devices that are able to
combine the characteristics
of Flash technology with
the performances of faster
memories, overcoming the
scaling limits that will soon
afflict the floating gate devices.
At the same time, it is emerging
the need of a new family of
memory, called storage class
memory, that combines the
benefits of a solid-state memory,
like high speed and robustness
and the archival capabilities and
low cost of conventional HDD.
Among many competitors,
oxide based resistive switching
memories represent a strong
candidate for next generation
solid state non-volatile memory
technology. In particular, the
extreme ease of fabrication,
the low power and energy
consumption and the high write/
erase speed suggest that this
technology may became a valid
alternative to Flash memories
and an optimal choice for
storage class memory.
The RRAM memory cell has
an extremely simple structure,
basically it is a parallel plates
capacitor, where a metal oxide
is sandwiched between two
metal electrodes that act as
top and bottom contacts, as
shown in Fig. 1a. The application
of a positive voltage to the
top electrodes induces a ion
migration from the top electrode
toward the bottom electrode
that creates a conductive
filament that connects the two
electrodes, as shown in Fig. 1c.
This state is characterized by a
low resistance (it is called low
resistance state LRS) and it is
identified as the logic value of 0.
On the opposite, the application
of a negative voltage at the top
electrode leads to ion migration
toward the top electrode and
the formation of a new gap,
Fig. 1b. This final state shows a
high resistance (it is called high
resistance state HRS) and it is
identified as the logic state 1.
This thesis is focus on the
electrical characterization and
the modeling of several key
issues of the RRAM, namely
the switching mechanism,
the program variability, the
endurance failure and the
random telegraph noise.
Starting from the concept of
complementary switching, a
concept recently proposed to
solve the sneak-path in crossbar-
array, an innovative multilevel
scheme for oxide RRAM was
developed. The new scheme
relies on the storage of two
different states for any resistance
level, where the two states
differ by the orientation of the
CF. The defect concentration
and orientation can be
independently controlled by the
current compliance and voltage
polarity, respectively. Storage
and discrimination of 8 states
(i.e. 3 bits) is demonstrated
by experiments and numerical
simulations. These results
support the high functionality
of nanoionics in storing and
elaborating information in metal
oxides.
Switching variability of the
set state was studied and
two different models where
provided: (i) an analytical model,
for the Poisson fluctuation
of the defect number in the
conductive filament and (ii)
a Monte Carlo model, which
describes the discrete injection
of defects. Both models can
capture the dependence of
variability on the compliance
current. It is also evidenced a
new set-failure phenomenon
induced by complementary
switching. Set failure might be
suppressed by accurate choice of
the programming voltage, time
and pulse shape, as well as by a
careful RRAM stack engineering.
Pulsed operation of oxide RRAM
was studied, showing that
the reset pulse-amplitude Vstop
controls resistance window and
switching variability, the high
resistance state distribution
improves for increasing Vstop,
while low resistance state is
degraded due to capacitive
overshoot and incomplete
set. Endurance failure at high
Vstop is due to negative set, i.e.
a defects injection from the
bottom electrode in to the
depleted gap that induces a non
switching state with low high
resistance state and prevents
a set transition. Changing the
set/reset pulse-width causes a
negligible change of maximum
endurance, which is explained
by an Arrhenius model of failure.
Starting from a detailed
electrical characterization
random telegraph noise (RTN)
in RRAM devices was studied.
The random fluctuation between
two levels is explained by the
change of charge state in a
bistable defect close to the CF.
The model provides a physical
quantitative description of
both the electron transport
in presence of a fluctuating
defect and the temperature-
dependent switching kinetics.
The model accounts for the size
dependence of RTN amplitude,
which is due to the partial or full
depletion of carriers depending
on the CF diameter, and for bias
dependence of RTN switching.
The work on RTN, presented at
the IEEE conference IRPS, was
awarded with the Best Poster
Award.
Nonvolatile logic operation
in RRAM through conditional
switching in serially-connected
devices was developed in this
work. The RRAM state variable
can be 0 or 1. The state variable
is used both as input or output
of the logic operations. AND,
IMP, NOT and transfer can be
achieved in a single clock pulse,
while OR, XOR and all other
operations are achieved in
PhD Yearbook | 2015
337
multiple computation steps. The
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
new nonvolatile logic approach
allows to suppress the static
leakage power dissipation, while
reducing the area consumption
thanks to the scalable 2-terminal
structure of the RRAM switch.
The RRAM logic was studied
also from the circuit viewpoint,
discussing the implementation
architecture, the select/unselect
scheme to prevent disturb and
the implementation of a 1-bit
adder. Two architectures are
considered, namely a 1T1R
architecture, where RRAM in
both the top and the bottom
crossbar arrays are selected
by a transistor, and a hybrid
1T1R-1R1R architecture, where
only RRAM in the bottom
crossbar requires a select
transistor. Finally, a 1-bit adder
is designed and demonstrated
by experiments and simulations.
RRAM logic appears as a
promising alternative to CMOS
technology for area and energy
scaling thanks to the reduced
area and nonvolatile behavior of
RRAM devices.
 338
Techniques and Tools for Efficient, QoS-
Driven Warehouse-Scale Computing
Davide Basilio Bartolini - Supervisor: Prof. Marco D. Santambrogio
Warehouse-scale computing,
which is supported by
datacenters, emerged in the
last decade as a fundamental
enabling technology for
pervasive phenomena such
as the Web 2.0, big data,
and cloud computing.
Despite being assembled
from commodity components
(servers, interconnects, ...), these
datacenters opened the way to
a new paradigm for mainstream
computing; as researchers
work on understanding this
new paradigm, two important
themes emerge in a new way
compared to traditional systems.
A major concern for datacenter
operators is their efficiency
and cost-effectiveness, which
are crucial to supporting the
growth in the services and value
coming from big data and cloud
computing.
Additionally, public cloud
computing presents further
challenges for both datacenter
operators and users. A major
issue for users that want
to bring their workloads to
the cloud to take advantage
of utility computing is that
performance on virtualized
resources is hard to understand
and often unpredictable. For this
reason, using public clouds for
applications that need to provide
a required quality of service
(QoS) level is not straightforward
and often leads to increased
inefficiency due to conservative
resource allocations.
There is a tension between
these two issues (efficiency and
QoS), as techniques to improve
efficiency (e.g., virtualization,
power management, colocation,
...) impact performance, often
unpredictably.
This dissertation attacks both
sides of this tension and
proposes novel techniques and
tools to help solve it, towards
future efficient QoS-driven
warehouse-scale computing.
First, we analyze a well-known
model for the total cost of
ownership (TCO) of a datacenter load, but it is not enough to
and find that, as things
stand today, opportunities to
further reduce TCO, and allow
datacenters to scale further,
mostly lie in improvements in
the efficiency of IT equipment,
particularly the efficiency of
servers.
On this basis, there are three
main opportunities to improve
efficiency: increasing server
utilization, reducing static
power consumption, reduce
dynamic power consumption.
The challenge is being able
to target these opportunities
without hurting QoS. We show
that traditional mechanisms and is that traditional systems that
policies to pursue these goals are optimize for aggregated, low-
not well-suited for datacenters:
colocating applications causes
inefficiency and performance
degradation due to contention
on shared resources; deep sleep
states impose high transition
latencies and flush shared
state, impairing performance;
traditional controllers for
dynamic voltage and frequency
scaling (DVFS) reduce active
power, but can heavily impact
performance, because they are
oblivious to the peculiarities of
datacenter applications.
Then, we analyze metrics to
quantify the performance of
datacenter applications and
define their QoS.
Throughput is a general metric
to quantify rate of progress or
capture the performance of
latency-critical applications, such
as user-facing services, which
need to provide performance
guarantees on the end-to-
end latency of each request.
Latency-critical applications are
particularly interesting, because
they define an operating context
that is peculiar to datacenters;
we analyze the behavior of five
latency-critical applications,
studying how latency is
affected by different operating
conditions. One important
consequence of defining QoS
with application-level metrics
level metrics cannot provide this
type of QoS guarantees.
The main contribution of this
dissertation is proposing novel
approaches to the problem of
achieving QoS enforcement
in an efficient way in two
complementary scenarios.
We analyze these two scenarios
and propose two methodologies
and practical systems (AutoPro
and Rubik) that solve this
problem:
AutoPro tackles on the
problem of providing
predictable performance with
automated resource allocation
in public infrastructure-as-a-
service (IaaS) cloud computing.
AutoPro provides a practical
solution based on a control-
theoretical background for
systems running compute-
bound, throughput oriented
applications. With AutoPro,
we focus on current hardware
and propose a solution that is
directly deployable on modern
datacenters with no hardware
changes.
Rubik analyzes datacenters
running latency-critical
applications, along with other
batch work and tackles the
problem of reducing the
TCO while maintaining QoS
guarantees on the tail latency,
thus improving efficiency. Rubik
provides a solution based on
a runtime system and few key
hardware changes, mainly to
provide partitioning of the
memory hierarchy; this solution
could be implemented with
negligible overhead on next-
PhD Yearbook | 2015
339
generation servers. depending on the specific
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
context (application types, public
Both AutoPro and Rubik versus public clouds, criticality of
demonstrate the importance the QoS requirements, ...).
of three principles that we This dissertation analyzes these
suggest as guidelines for the problems and provides two
development of next-generation practical solutions for two
computer architecture somewhat complementary
and operating systems for scenarios.
datacenters:
Availability through the
hardware/software stack of
application-level information is
key for effective control.
Control systems used to tune
system-level knobs need to be
founded on solid theoretical
bases (e.g., AutoPro uses
control theory, Rubik uses
statistics and control theory);
ad-hoc empirical controllers
do not generalize well and
often fail due to unpredictable
pathological cases.
In order to support the
dynamic execution context of
datacenters, as opposed to the
static runtime of traditional
clusters, control systems need
to operate at a high frequency;
coarse-grained adaptation
cannot adapt to quick
changes and imposes overly
conservative guardbands,
leaving much on the table.
Completely solving the problems
of providing QoS and operating
datacenters efficiently remains
an open research problem,
and different techniques
and approaches are needed
340
Analysis and Control of Mechatronic
Actuation Systems in Industrial
Applications
Damiano Belloli - Advisor: Prof. Sergio M. Savaresi
The widespread of the actuation
systems in the industrial
applications leads to more and
more demanding requirements
in term of accuracy, dynamical
response and energetic
efficiency. Recently, the
technological performances
have been improved by the
introduction of the electronic
components, which allows the
implementation of innovative
control and estimation
strategies: this new generation
of devices, called mechatronic
actuators, is the topic of this
Thesis. In particular, three
aspects that influence the
mechatronic actuation systems
are faced in the present work:
Modeling problems: The
knowledge of the dynamical
behavior of the mechatronic
actuators is the primary
base for the improvement
of performance, because it
permits to deeply understand
the system functioning
and provide fundamental
information for the
development of the estimation
and control strategies.
Estimations problems: In
industrial environment is not
always possible to obtain
the information or the
measurements required for
an ideal control, because of
difficult operating conditions
or absence of proper
transducers: the estimation
algorithms allow to overcome
this limitation, providing
methodologies which, under
suitable conditions, guarantee
robustness and accuracy
Control problems: The
proper design and tuning of
the regulation systems are
directly responsible of the
performances. The knowledge
and development of recent and
innovate control strategies can
provide solutions to overcome
the actual limitations.
Since the mechatronic actuators
studied in this Thesis have a
practical impact on the industrial
applications, the proposed
methodologies and algorithms
are validated by experimental
tests. All the laboratory and
industrial tests have been
performed in collaboration with
industrial partners: Consorzio
Intellimech Kilometro Rosso,
Scaglia Indeva and most of all
Tenaris Dalmine R&D.
The Thesis is structured in
two parts: in the first section,
the development of suitable
models, estimation algorithms
and control strategies for
different technologies of
mechatronic actuators are
illustrated; in the other section,
the methodologies previously
analyzed are applied to specific
industrial environments, such as
self-balancing manipulators and
rolling mills for pipe production
The increasing number of
industrial applications which
involve the actuation systems
and the more and more
demanding requirements
needed to face these
technological challenges, lead
to the necessity of innovative
devices, such as the mechatronic
actuators. The large diffusion
of the electronic components
bring to an enhancement of the
performances, especially in the
estimation and control fields,
but there still is improvement
margin, particularly in the overall
system dynamic. For this reason,
the mechatronic actuation
systems are the main topic of
this Thesis, with particular focus
on the dynamical behavior
analysis and control strategy
design useful for industrial
applications. As overview of the
linear mechatronic actuators,
three different actuation
technologies are presented:
the Electro Hydraulic Actuator
(EHA), the Electro Mechanical
Actuator (EMA) and the most
recent and innovative Electro
HydroStatic Actuator (EHSA). For
each actuator typology, the main
components and the function
principle are detailed in addition
to the description of the
control strategy. Then, the main
advantages and drawbacks of
each technology are listed and
related to the most common
applications.
Then, the mathematical models
developed to study the dynamic
behavior of the mechatronic
actuators (EHA, EMA and EHSA)
are detailed. The gray-box
approach is adopted to model
all the different actuators: the
dynamic behavior of the single
components is described with
physical equations and then
joined to the overall models.
The parameters are obtained
in part from the datasheet
characteristics and in part
from suitable experimental
measurements by a proper
parameter identification
procedure. Then, the overall
models are validated comparing
the simulation results with
experimental data. The
developed models are also
adopted to develop suitable
strategy to estimate variables
that cannot be directly measured
or comes from low quality
sensor. In particular, the actuator
position estimation is explored
using the Kalman filtering
approach and compared to
the measurements provided
by transducer of different
technologies. Finally, the
speed estimation has been
also investigated with different
algorithms.
Two different the control
scenarios for linear actuators
are illustrated. First, the Virtual
Reference Feedback Tuning
methodology is customized for
the cascade control architecture
to face the actuator positioning
problem in the EHSA. Then, the
pole placement and root locus
criterion are used to design
the regulator of the actuator
force. Finally, on the base of the
models previously implemented
and tested, a global comparison
of the different actuators
is provided to highlight the
performance differences
between the EHAs, EMAs and
EHSAs.
After a detailed technological
analysis of the mechatronic
actuators, two different example
of industrial applications are
presented. The first application
case refers to a new regulation
strategy for self-balancing
manual manipulators. First,
a brief introduction of the
machinery and application
environment is provided. Then,
the experimental setup and
physical model of the apparel
used in this work are presented,
with particular focus on the
control architecture. The control
strategy of the Virtual Feedback
Reference Tuning, adopted
also in the EHSA control, is
applied to the selfbalancing
manual manipulators, with
the experimental validation
of the obtained results. Then,
the load mass estimation
problem is faced with two
different approaches and the
performance are validated with
proper experimental tests.
The second application case
considers the regulation of
the speed profile trigger for
electrical motors in rolling mills,
based on the load estimation.
After an introduction of the
hot rolling process for the
seamless pipe production,
illustrating the role and the
importance of the mechatronic
actuators in this industrial
environment, the problem of
the crop ends is discussed.
The control strategy usually
adopted to reduce the impact
of the crop end phenomenon
on the process productivity is
presented, highlighting the main
limitation. Then, an innovative
control strategy is proposed to
overcome the actual limitation:
on the base of two different
approaches for the motor load
estimation, the proper trigger
time is estimated and controlled
in closed-loop. Finally, the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
effectiveness of the proposed
regulation system is illustrated
by the application to the real
industrial plant.
Main Contributions
The main contributions of this
thesis can be summarized as
follows: 341
fine modeling and control
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
analysis
This Thesis proposes a detailed
description of the mechatronic
actuators of the main diffused
technologies, with particular
focus on the analysis of the
dynamical behavior and on
the design and tuning of
specific methodologies for the
estimation and the control of
such devices. All the proposed
algorithm are experimentally
validated.
innovative control and
estimation solutions applied to
industrial cases
A novel control strategy is
provided for the velocity
regulation of a self-balancing
industrial manipulator, including
load mass estimation: the results
it the possibility of a transducer
removal, obtaining the similar
or better performances. An
innovative methodology for
the control of the speed profile
trigger for electrical motors in
rolling mills is also proposed,
implemented and tested on
a real productive plant, with
notable benefit on the industrial
productivity.
 342
Analysis and design of advanced vehicle
sharing systems: on-board technologies,
control and optimization
Andrea Giovanni Bianchessi - Supervisor: Prof. Sergio Savaresi
Mobility has a huge impact in
terms of economic costs and
it accounts for one quarter of
the worlds greenhouse gas
emissions. Traffic congestion,
pollution and greenhouse gas
emissions are some of the most
prominent issues that modern
metropolitan areas currently
have to face. The goals set at
the political level in this regard
cannot be achieved without
a significant re-think of urban
mobility.
New models of sustainable
mobility call for the integration
of vehicles that differ in type
(e.g. cars, scooters and bicycles),
technology (e.g. electric, hybrid
or with classical combustion
engines) and ownership (they
can be publicly or privately
owned, fully or partially shared)
within the same system, and
they must offer end-users
common functions, services and
interfaces.
This Thesis deals with Vehicle
Sharing Systems. Vehicle Sharing
gained global popularity during
the first decade of the 21st
century as one of the possible
solutions to environmental and
increasing city traffic congestion
problems. A Vehicle Sharing
System is a 24/7 vehicle rental
service (the fleet vehicle is
heterogeneous) most dedicated
to drivers who make occasional
use of the car, typically for short
periods of time and within
city areas. Rates include both
insurance and fuel, and to
access the service users must be
registered.
Specifically, this Thesis presents
the Green Move project
which is an innovative, high-
technological and advanced
Vehicle Sharing System based
on an heterogeneous and
electric vehicle fleet. The main
components of such a wide and
complex system are depicted
in Figure 1. This Thesis focuses
on the fleet vehicles related
components, both at a very low
(on-board electronic box) and
high (control and optimization
algorithms) levels. To visually
inspect some of the Green
Move solutions refer to: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=
kI3yiB50RWw.
1. Components of a Vehicle Sharing System on which control and optimization
algorithms are hooked. This Thesis, among all the components, deals with the
design and development of both a vehicle on-board electronic box prototype
and control and optimization algorithms for fleet balancing and forecasting of
vehicles locations.
The services currently in place
often appear as a simple rental
service just for cars. However,
the GM service is green, flexible,
smartphone-based, free from
intermediaries and provided
with the most innovative fleet
management algorithms.
A detailed description of the
fleet vehicles is provided (e.g.
size, number of seats and
autonomy) along with technical
aspects (i.e. vehicle data and
buses, charging modes and
commands).
All the vehicles have to be
endowed with a Green-eBox
(GEB) to be inserted into the
GM fleet. The GEB is an Android
based electronic on-board
control unit; it implements
several abstraction mechanisms
that allow the seamless use of
technologically different vehicles,
and it provides a unique and
standardized mode of access
(the Vehicle Interface) for all
the system actors. The GEB has
been tested both on the fleet
vehicles and, for four months,
in a condominium- based VSS
demonstrating great reliability.
Then, two innovative
algorithms for managing and
controlling the vehicle fleet
were introduced. The Feedback
Dynamic Pricing (FDP) technique
models the VSS as a dynamical
system. This opens up new
control options for the fleet
balancing problem. In this
approach, a control strategy
can be derived using the theory
of feedback-regulated systems.
Thus, assuming that people are
sensitive to changes in the price
of the service this can be actively
and real-time con- trolled by
acting on the trip fee. A full-
fledged simulator has been
developed and experimental
data are encouraging and
demonstrate the feasibility of
the proposed approach.
The Nearest Available Vehicle
(NAV) algorithm for predicting
the user distance from the
nearest vehicle overcomes the
drawbacks of free-floating VSSs
due to the absence of booking
mechanisms. The idea is to use
the data from vehicles past
locations to make a prediction
of future vehicle locations by
providing users with the distance
from the nearest vehicle. This
technique has been successfully
tested by using real car-sharing
data from the Milano Car2go
service.
The main contributions of
this Thesis are summarized as
follows:
Development of an innovative
system for vehicle sharing
which eliminates all the
intermediaries between the
users and the system, Chapters
3 and 5. Green Move is the
first Vehicle Sharing service
which is entirely smartphone-
based. It doesnt require
neither a member-card to
lock/unlock vehicle doors nor
mechanisms to retrieve and
give back the vehicle key.
The key is simply sent by the
control center to the users
smartphone as an electronic
ticket.
The possibility of adding to a
Vehicle Sharing System vehicles
that are heterogeneous in their
types and owners, Chapter 5.
The lacking of heterogeneity of
the vehicle fleet is one of the
most important limits of today An innovative technique
Vehicle Sharing Systems. The
Green Move project overcomes
the most of the technological
problems leading to an easy
integration of different vehicle
models.
Development of an highly
dynamic platform for
managing the load- ing/
PhD Yearbook | 2015
343
unloading of application on the
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
vehicle on-board box, Chapter
5. None of the currently
available car-sharing kits offers
the possibility to add/remove
functions depending on the
user, location or period. On the
contrary, the Green e-Box is
based on a novel middleware,
which allows applications to be
dynamically loaded/unloaded
based on the current context.
The modeling of a Vehicle
Sharing System as a dynamical
system, provided in Chapter 7.
At the best of our knowledge,
a Vehicle Sharing System has
never been modeled as a
dynamical system. This opens
up new control options for the
fleet balancing problem. In this
approach a control strategy
can be derived using the theory
of feedback regulated systems.
A novel approach called
Feedback Dynamic Pricing
(FDP) is presented in Chapter
7. It is based on the modeling
of a VSS as a dynamical system
and it aims to control the fleet
balancing by varying the price
of the service in real-time.
(named Nearest Available
Vehicle, NAV) for solving
the problem of the lack of
booking mechanisms in free-
floating car-sharing services
is introduced in Chapter 8.
It provides users with the
prediction of their distance
from the nearest vehicle.
344

Integrated Instrumentation for High first time to reach a resolution

PhD Yearbook | 2015

as good as 0.4aF in the 100kHz
Sensitivity Impedance Measurements on 150MHz range. The second
work presented focuses instead
Nanosamples on the implementation of a
setup conceived for electrical
measurements with an Atomic
Davide Bianchi - Advisor: Prof. Marco Sampietro Force Microscope (AFM):
as sketched in Fig.2, in this
measurement system the AFM 345
The dramatic progress in setup must allow to actually amplified by amplifier A with a probe is used as input electrode,

miniaturization, made available
by the integrated circuit
technology, allows nowadays
to implement sophisticated
measurement systems on
chip that can perform in a
millimeter sized package most
of the functions available with
standard discrete components
instrumentation. Circuit
integration not only allows
to develop massively parallel
systems, otherwise too complex
and bulky to be managed,
but it is often also the key
for dramatically improving
the sensitivity of the readout
systems which are designed
for investigating the micro-
and nano- world. Sensitivity
is indeed strongly related to
the capacitance (electrodes
shorten the connection to
the device under test (DUT),
physically approaching it as
much as possible to the IC;
the integration of the readout
measurement system together
with the DUT implies the
development of embedded
custom systems, which must also
cope with special requirements
(for example biological, or
optical, mechanical, chemical) of
the DUT itself. The device itself
must be finally properly devised
to match as much as possible
the readout requirements:
maximize signal and signal-to-
noise ratio when connected
to the readout electronics,
minimize its input capacitance.
The work presented in this thesis
is focused on the development
gain GA independent of fs, low-
pass filtered by LPF(f) to prevent
2fs component and other
spurious harmonics to propagate
into the loop, and finally
demodulated back to the input
frequency by M2. For standard
operating conditions, when fmod
= fs, the circuit acquires the DUT
input current and provides an
output VHF at the measurement
frequency, whose phase and
amplitude are proportional to
the input DUT admittance. Since
the signal is translated into DC,
two paths in parallel are required
to process both the in-phase (I)
and quadrature (Q) input signal
components; the unity gain
SUM block adds them together
as they are translated back into
the measurement frequency.
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while the metal input pad of
an appositely optimized CMOS
1. Basic schematic of the impedance analyzer based on modulation/
amplifier is directly used as a demodulation architecture IC.
conductive substrate electrode.
This solution is determinant
for minimizing the input stray
capacitance and the capacitive
coupling with the tip holder,
and therefore the equivalent
input current noise. Although
more delicate than standard
passive electrodes, this active
substrate allows to explore the
ultimate detection limits of this
technique, without requiring any
modification to the commercial
AFM instrument, and leading
to a system sensitivity up to
14.4zF. The third and last work
presented focuses instead on
the design and production
of optimized devices which 2. Principle scheme of the new measurement system topology.

and instrumental) at the input
of the measuring system, CIN
which actually defines the noise
level of the instrument: an IC
bonded to a nanoelectrode
with an input capacitance of
few hundreds of femtoFarad
would allow to get about a x100
improvement in the sensitivity,
if compared to the setup
built with a bulky instrument,
with cable connections and
about 10pF input capacitance.
The miniaturization of the
preamplification chain is
not sufficient by itself, but
must be coupled by both
well-conceived setup and
device to be measured. The
of instrumentation for high
sensitivity measurements,
and therefore focuses on
the development of the IC
preamplification chain, but also
on the setup and on the device
development. The first work
presented is mainly focused
on the development of an
integrated transimpedance
amplifier, made of a very peculiar
two channel modulation/
amplification/demodulation
structure embedded into a
feedback loop. In this topology,
whose principle structure is
shown in Fig.1, the incoming
signal is firstly modulated to DC
frequency by multiplier M1, then
The translation into DC allows
to obtain into the loop two
DC outputs which behave
as an external lock-in system
connected to VHF . Despite the
increased loop complexity, the
DC translation has therefore the
benefit of avoiding an additional
lock-in system, as well as
advantages in terms of sensitivity
and compactness. Besides the
IC, a dedicated setup suitable
for embedded applications
has been also implemented,
allowing to realize a complete
instrument for impedance
spectroscopy. The new IC
topology, coupled with the
dedicated PCB, allows for the
are conceived to sense the
photoconductive effect caused
by light, when it is coupled into
conductive waveguides. This
technology is very promising
for the development of non-
invasive light detection into
microphotonic structures. The
device concept is schematically
shown in Fig.3, and consists of
two electrodes surrounding the
optical waveguide and spaced
from its core by an electrically
insulating layer: the core
conductivity, which is increasing
proportionally to the coupled
light, can be measured for
frequencies higher than fA =1/
(2CARWG). After theoretical study
of the physical mechanisms
involved and a first analysis of
the material platforms suitable
for this purpose, amorphous
Silicon devices have been
designed, produced and finally
tested, proving the validity of
their working principle on this
technological platform.
3. Illustration of the device structure,
consisting of two metal electrodes
deposited onto the electrically-
insulating upper cladding and
capacitively coupled (CA) to the
electrically-resistive (RWG) silicon
waveguide.
346
RADIO PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT OF ENERGY-
EFFICIENT WIRELESS ACCESS NETWORKS
Silvia Boiardi - Supervisor: Prof. Antonio Capone - Co-supervisor: Prof. Brunilde Sans
Legacy wireless access
networks (WANs) are typically
designed regardless of energy
efficiency considerations.
The planning objective is to
minimize the deployment
costs while insuring complete
area coverage and connection
quality in any load condition,
especially during peak traffic
periods. In recent years, the
growing demand for ubiquitous
mobile communication access
increased not only the amount
of customers to be served,
but also the awareness of the
environmental impact. If on
one hand the capacity of the
current networks has to be
upgraded to manage the extra
traffic, on the other hand new
energy-aware techniques should
to be introduced in the regular
network functioning.
Within this context, green
networking has emerged as
a new way of building and
operating communication
networks to improve their
energy efficiency. Besides
its obvious environmental
advantages, power consumption
reduction is beneficial to mobile
operators for economic reasons.
Two types of cost are incurred:
capital expenditures (CapEx),
related to the purchase and
installation of radio equipment,
and operation and management
expenses (OpEx), consisting in
energy, site rentals, marketing
and maintenance costs.
While energy-aware network
design models or operation
management solutions have
been largely treated in the
research world, the challenge
is to convey both CapEx and
OpEx costs as well as power
issues into a single modeling
framework.
The work carried on during this
doctorate program arose from
the belief that a fundamental
issue had been so far overlooked
by the research on green mobile
networking: an effective energy-
aware operation through a cell
sleeping technique is closely
dependent on the planning
decisions taken during the
network design phase. While
the design and operation
problems had always been
tackled separately, we developed
an optimization model that
jointly considers the planning
and management of a wireless
access network. The philosophy
at the basis of the approach is
summarized in Figure 1, where
a three-cells toy topology
is represented. Bold circles
stand for the area coverage of
turned-on access stations, thin
circles stand for switched-off
devices and black dots stand
for traffic aggregators (also
called test points). Figures 1(a)
and 1(b) report examples of a
topology deployed according to
the minimum installation cost
criterion, operated during high
and low traffic load respectively.
During off-peak periods, the
operation savings correspond
to the energy spared by turning
off the largest cell, while the
other two remain active to serve
the traffic demand. Would it
be possible to decrease further
the energy consumption of the
topology? Figure 1(c) answers
this question, illustrating the
main principle of the joint
optimization. Given a traffic
variation profile, the joint
framework is able to build a
flexible topology, specifically
designed to take advantage
of the demand variability. In
the example, by adding an
additional cell at the cost of a
modest CapEx increase, it would
be possible to switch off as
much as three access stations
instead of just one in low load
conditions.
1. Effect of joint optimization on
network operation management.
The joint planning and
energy management (JPEM)
optimization model, as we
named it, is an original integer
linear programming problem. Its
objective is to minimize the sum
of the capital investment and
the energy costs due to devices
deployment and operation and,
at the same time, to provide
an example of the possible
benefits derivable from a cell
sleeping mechanism applied to
the chosen topology. Tuning the
objective function by means of
a trade-off parameter, different
network topologies can be
produced to accommodate
the designers requirements. In
particular, the major selling point
of the JPEM is that, whether a
service area is blank or already
covered by legacy equipment, it
allows the network planner to
build the most energy-efficient
network from the energy
consumption point of view,
maintaining the CapEx under
control.
As main line of research, we
designed the JPEM framework
to optimize cellular access
networks. An instance generator
was developed using C++
programming language to
produce several test scenarios,
considering LTE technology
and three types of access
devices - macro, micro and pico
cells. Once again first in the
literature to tackle planning and
management at once, we also
developed a variation of the joint
formulation to suit wireless mesh
access technology. We designed
an all-new instance generator,
this time producing Wi-Fi mesh
test instances. In both cases, we
implemented the models using
AMPL, a programming language
specific for high-complexity
PhD Yearbook | 2015
347
mathematical computation,
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while CPLEX branch and bound
solver was used to optimize
them. Through remarkable
results, we demonstrated
that network planning and
energy efficiency are closely
related. To further confirm the
validity of the joint approach,
we compared the cellular and
wireless mesh joint model results
with those of a more traditional
procedure, where network
deployment and operation are
addressed separately.
Due to the high number of
optimization variables, the
JPEM framework is extremely
computationally expensive.
Therefore, the last part of the
doctorate program was devoted
to develop an ad-hoc heuristic
procedure in order to obtain
results in a shorter amount of
time and allow the investigation
of larger test examples. Through
the observation of the cells
activation pattern during the
daily peak and off-peak time
periods, a partial topology is
provided as input to the JPEM
and integrated to form a feasible
solution. The heuristic approach,
fully implemented using AMPL,
proved successful and solved a
large set of real size instances.
348
Multi-objective methodologies for vehicles
ride quality enhancing
Stefano Bottelli - Supervisor: Prof. Sergio M. Savaresi
This work was developed
under the supervision of Prof.
Sergio Matteo Savaresi, from
Politecnico di Milano. It is
this work goal to investigate
the potential of semi-active
suspensions and active
aerodynamic surfaces for
the purposes of developing
centralized control strategies,
which can improve several
aspects of ride experience
towards an ideal multi-objective
vehicle control. It is in fact
shown how these actuators
can be used with multiple
purposes, from comfort
enhancing, through road
holding and handling increasing,
to steering and braking
capabilities improvement. A
new control strategy (namely
the Multi-objective Chassis
Control, also referred to as
MCC) is also developed both
for semi-active suspension and
Active Aerodynamic Surfaces
(AAS), which makes use of
logical control rules and it
is independent from vehicle
models, similarly to the skyhook
algorithm. The MCC is therefore
characterised by an extreme
implementation simplicity, and it
can easily be employed on any
2-wheels or 4-wheels vehicle
without re-tuning, being not
modeldependent. In addition
to these qualities, it can provide
better performance with
respect to decentralized control
strategies (such as the skyhook),
due to the synergistic usage of
the actuators. It is also shown
how MCC allows to decouple
comfort objectives, namely
heave, pitch and roll oscillations
reduction, making it an
extremely versatile and powerful
algorithm.
In the beginning, a complete
study on the potential
effectiveness of active
aerodynamic surfaces is carried
out. In particular, two reasonable
configurations are presented for
AAS installation on each vehicle
corner, and decentralized control
techniques are developed with
the goal of enhancing comfort
and road holding respectively.
Two model-based controllers
are designed on the classical
quarter-car model. The proposed
design and the several trade-
offs involved in the tuning are
discussed considering several
parameters. In particular, the
effect of different tunings, the
aerodynamic surface size, the
road disturbance amplitude, the
vehicle mass and the vehicle
velocity are thoroughly discussed
and numerically analysed, from
the performance and power
requirements point of view.
Furthermore the AAS control
is tested with semi-active
suspension systems, showing
that the two approaches are
additive from the performance
point of view. The performance
improvement comes at the
cost of power requirements
and a complex mechatronic
design. If compared against
semi-active suspensions the
cost-benefit ratio does not
seem compelling, but in
terms of pure performance
improvement, the proposed
AAS system outperforms semi-
active suspensions. It yields
performance comparable to
that of fully active suspension
at a fraction of the power
requirements.
The most popular comfort-
oriented algorithms developed
for semi-active suspensions
are typically designed on the
quarter-car model. When it
comes to actual implementation
on real vehicles, four (or
two in the half-car model)
controllers usually take care
of the comfort enhancing of
each singular corner, neglecting
the interactions among them.
Thus, several simulations are
carried out in this work, where
a half-car and a full-car model
are endowed with semi-active
suspensions, each one controlled
with the same decentralized
strategy. Both frequency and
time domain evaluations are
performed in order to assess
comfort performance, showing
how classic control strategies
perform when employed in a
decentralized fashion.
After, a new centralised
methodology that can improve
comfort by means of the
synergistic use of all the semi-
active suspensions in a vehicle
is presented. The advantages
of the MCC technique lie in its
simplicity: similarly to the classic
logic rule based strategies for
semi-active suspensions control,
the MCC algorithm is extremely
simple and its implementation
on a real vehicle is trivial. The
sensors that are needed in order
to operate it are an inertial
unit on the chassis, which is
able to provide the controller
with heave speed, pitch speed
and roll speed, in addition to
potentiometers measuring
the suspensions deflection (so
that the suspension deflection
speed can be computed by
derivation). Moreover, since
the MCC methodology is not
model-based, it can be readily
employed on different vehicles
without any re-tuning. Another
great potential of the strategy
is that the control objectives
can be decoupled in order
to define which variable the
control system needs to focus
on more, among chassis heave,
pitch or roll reduction. The
parameters that need to be
modified in order to modulate
the algorithm action on each
objective are extremely concise
and trivial to tune. Several time
domain and frequency domain
tests are carried out, showing
that the classic semi-active
control strategies performance
can be outdone by the MCC
methodology. In addition, due
to the extreme simplicity of the
algorithm, it is showed how
MCC can be rearranged in order
to control active aerodynamic
surfaces. Several simulations
are conducted in order to
assess the new control system
performance, highlighting the
higher effectiveness of the
methodology in enhancing
vehicle comfort with respect to
decentralised control strategies.
Later, a preliminary concept of
multi-objective vehicle control
by means of active aerodynamic
surfaces is presented. It is in fact
shown how these actuators can
be used with multiple purposes,
switching among different
control modes, accordingly
to the driving scenario. A
ride mode map is presented,
together with the switching
conditions among the ride
modes, namely the driving
mode, the braking mode and
the steering mode. Per each
ride mode a control strategy is
developed, and the outcomes
are analysed by means of time
domain and frequency domain
performance assessment tests.
It is thus noted how AAS can
be successfully employed for
enhancing several aspects of the
ride quality, such as comfort,
braking efficacy and steering
capability.
Finally, since it is shown that the
knowledge of the actual vehicle
mass is vital for the development
of a model-based AAS controller,
PhD Yearbook | 2015
349
a load estimation algorithm
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is developed. The spectrum
analysis based method is shown
to be able to provide a reliable
estimation of a vehicle load and
of its distribution without the
need of measuring neither road
profile nor the wheel vertical
motion, but simply by processing
the vertical acceleration of the
chassis and the pitch speed,
the latter being required to
provide additional information
on the load distribution. The
method is shown to be effective
enough to discern among a
copious but finite set of loads
and distributions. Naturally,
the potential of the developed
estimation methodology goes
beyond AAS controller effective
tuning, since mass knowledge
is considered a vital information
to prevent the criticalities
that arise in several other
applications, when load can vary
during the vehicle usage. This
can happen for example with
public transportation, garbage
collectors, or private vehicles,
especially motorbikes, in which
the load variation with respect
to the vehicle mass is high.
 350
FRONT-SIDE AND BACK-SIDE ILLUMINATED SPAD
ARRAYS FOR 2D IMAGING AND 3D RANGING
Danilo Bronzi Supervisor: Prof. Franco Zappa
Over the last few years there
has been a growing request for
all-solid state smart imagers,
fostered by the needs of
a number of applications,
which demand complex and
advanced data collection
with high sensitivity (possibly
at the single-photon level)
and very high acquisition
speed (possibly thousands of
frames per second). Among
theses applications, we can
mention: molecular imaging,
fluorescence lifetime imaging,
micro-array based biological
analysis, confocal microscopy,
and adaptive optics; as well
as, Safety (e.g. automotive,
environmental surveillance,
traffic and workplace safety
monitoring, product safety
analysis, food and agriculture
quality and safety assessment)
and Security (access control,
biometrics, surveillance systems,
dangerous agents monitoring,
homeland security, fire hazards)
scenario, which simultaneously
require:
single-photon sensitivity in the
300 nm 900 nm wavelength
range;
integration times as short
as microseconds (for precise
time-tagging or videos of fast
optical transients);
instrumental response function
capable of measuring few
tens of picoseconds for the
estimation of the arrival time of
a single-photon (e.g. for time-
of-flight computation);
sufficient horizontal and
vertical pixel resolution to
image a broad field of view;
adequate image repetition
rate to allow real-time
image acquisition and image
processing;
low power consumption,
compactness, and low-weight
for reducing costs and for
ease of installation and
maintenance. Nowadays, the
imager market offers a broad
portfolio of either commercial-
or scientific-grade cameras,
ranging from consumer CMOS
active pixel sensor (APS)
cameras up to high-end CCD
imagers. However, none of
them simultaneously offer high
speed and ultra-high sensitivity:
CCDs reach sensitivity at close
to single-photon level but
necessarily require cooling
and long integration times
(i.e. very low frame rates); APS
imagers provide video-rates
but with relatively limited
detection efficiency, thus
requiring bright illumination
scenes. Special kind of CCDs,
like the intensified or electron-
multiplying CCDs, can reach
sensitivity at close to single-
photon level but are costly and
bulky and necessarily require
a cooling system; photo-
multiplier tubes and micro-
channel plates are well-known
single-photon detected but
they cannot be integrated with
complex CMOS electronics for
advanced imaging. The aim
of this doctoral work was to
design monolithic a Single-
Photon Avalanche Diode
(SPAD) array and read-out
electronics, able to provide
simultaneously both high
frame rates and single-photon
sensitivity. The array was
fabricated in an automotive-
grade CMOS technology to
ensure scalability, reliability,
and low cost. Moreover, with
the aim of enabling high
performance smart system-
on-a-chip implementations
the single-photon detectors
are paired with sophisticated
in-pixel intelligence able not
only to deliver two-dimensional
(2D) intensity information
through photon counting in
either free-running (down
to 10 s integration time) or
time-gated mode but also
to perform light demodulation
with in-pixel background
suppression. The provided
features allows different
operating modes, thus
enabling both time domain
applications such as flash
detection, fluorescence lifetime
imaging or fluorescence
correlation spectroscopy as
well as frequency-domain
lock-in depth measurement for
three-dimensional (3D) ranging
in automotive vision and lidar.
The development of the first
ever back-side illuminated
CMOS SPAD is reported. In the
future, this approach will allow
one to achieve a higher pixel
density (up to 100 %) and an
enhanced spectral sensitivity
in the near-infrared range. The
designed SPAD imager (Fig.
1) was used to assemble a
prototype 3D camera (Fig. 2)
for advanced driver assistance
and collision avoidance. The
system electronics includes a
FPGA module that processes
data coming from the chip; a
highspeed USB 2.0 interface was used in collaboration
for communication and a 32
MB SDRAM for data storage.
A second back-mounted
board accommodates the
power converters, digital
logics, and analog circuitry for
implementing a Direct Digital
Synthesizer, thus providing
arbitrary waveform modulation
for the light source. The
camera is housed in an
aluminium case supporting a
12 mm F/1.4 C-mount imaging
lens, whose field-of-view is
approximately 4020. The DNA multiplication through
whole system is very rugged
and compact and a perfect
solution for vehicles cockpit,
with dimensions of 80 mm
45 mm 70 mm, and less that
1 W dissipation. To provide the
required optical power and
allow fast modulation of the
optical signal, the illumination
source has a modular design
based on a power supply
board and five 808 nm laser
driver cards. The system was
operated at night and during
daytime, in both internal and
real traffic scenario, yielding
high dynamic-range (118 dB)
high-speed (over 200 fps)
depth measurement with high
precision (less than 50 cm at
45 m). The prototype was
tested at Centro Ricerche Fiat
and proved to be capable of the path towards important
PhD Yearbook | 2015
acquiring information about developments that can greatly
the surrounding objects on
the road in a both standing
influence several fields such
as biology, medical science,
or moving car and of imaging and security.
predicting the relative speed
and movements between
the obstacle and the car,
thus warning the driver and
avoiding the collision by 351
properly acting on the car.
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Taking advantage of the high
sensitivity and fast frame rate
capability, the SPAD camera 1. Designed Single-Photon Camera.
with the Karolinska Institue
and the Technical University
of Berlin to evaluate a novel
DNA sequencing method.
The technique relies on the
contemporary measurement
of Fluorescence Correlation
Spectroscopy (FCS) and
Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging
(FLIM) of 4 different dyes
labelling the 4 different
nucleotide. With respect to
other method, this one is so
sensitive that do not need
Polymerase Chain Reaction
(PCR) and thus would allow
one to detect the smallest
mutation in a DNA sequence.
This research project is still 2. Photograph of the bonded SPAD
going, but promising results imager.
were already obtained. A
second collaboration with the
Institute of Photonic Sciences
(ICFO) was also launched. The
measurements carried on at
ICFO were aimed at exploiting
and validating the high-
sensitivity of the SPAD camera
to overcome the typical low
frame rate of CCD in speckle
contrast spectroscopy (SCOS),
and let scientists image at high
speed the blood flow in living
tissues in few seconds. Overall,
the opportunities given by the
designed CMOS SPAD opened
352
Energy Efficient Localization Techniques
for WSN Communications
Salar Bybordi - Supervisor: Prof. Luca Reggiani
In this research, localization is
treated in a more general way
w.r.t. the existing denitions
in the literature since here the
concepts of static localization,
ngerprinting in a single
shot estimation of position
information and tracking of
position information over
different time instants are
integrated for achieving a
common goal, i.e. an enhanced
energy efficiency. Localization
scenarios, considered in
this research, cover active
localization, in which the target
participates in the estimation
process of inter-node ranging
information, and also passive
scenarios, in which the target
does not participate in the
estimation process. The general
trend in design of localization
algorithms is towards achieving
more accurate estimation
of position. Additionally,
considering the limited battery
life in wireless sensor networks
(WSN) nodes as a determining
factor in the performance of
WSNs, the algorithms should
respect energy efficiency
constraints. The contribution
of this research is mainly
focused on the investigation
and proposal of localization
algorithms which should
achieve these two crucial design
objectives:
accuracy improvement
energy efficiency
Considering the two above-
mentioned goals, this research
considers algorithms for both
active and passive localization
scenarios. The rst section of
the research deals with the
investigation of energy-efficient
localization algorithms for
passive localization. The rst part
developed for passive scenarios
is dedicated to the theoretical
analysis of a hybrid tracking
algorithm composed of active
and passive steps. The analysis
of this scheme, based on the
Posterior Cramer Rao Bound
(PCRB), conrms that mixing
active and passive cases can be
an effective tool towards energy
efficiency. The second part of the
investigation of passive scenarios
deals with the energy efficiency
under two perspectives. A
hybrid tracking algorithm
composed of Extended Kalman
Filter (EKF) based tracking
and Fingerprinting (FP) is
proposed in order to tackle
conventional problems related
to the implementation of either
tracking or ngerprinting
separately. One of the common
drawbacks of FP belongs to
large data size and consequent
large search space as a result of
either vastness of surveillance
area or ner grid resolution
in FP grid map which limits
the application of FP to small
environments or scenarios
with largely spaced grid points
leading to poor localization
performance. This hybrid
algorithm enables FP to be
applied in larger environments
or environments with ner space
grids. The second aspect of the
scheme deals with the critical
concern when tracking more
than one passive target, i.e. to
make the correct discrimination
among measures as a result of
occurred ambiguity in paths
clusters scattered by different
targets especially when targets
are moving close to each other.
The nal phase of this analysis
is dedicated to consideration
of applied TOA-based ranging
technique (so-called soft
ranging) and its potential
characteristics for providing
more accurate ranging measures
by means of feeding a kind of
a-priori information. This issue
provides EKF update steps with
more precise ranging measures
leading to a better localization
performance. Simulation results
validate a zero-energy tracking
algorithm in which the mobile
target does not consume energy.
The second section of the
research deals with energy
efficient algorithms for
active localization scenarios.
Accordingly, power allocation
among transmission power
of beacons is an effective tool
toward this objective. We
present a pervasive literature
review on existing power
allocation (PA) schemes and, in
particular, of the optimal ones,
based on the minimization of a
localization error bound (SPEB),
function of transmission power
from each beacon. Then, two
new sub-optimal algorithms are
investigated. The former is based
on the denition of a parameter
called uncertainty area which is a
convex function of transmission
power in the pair-wise selection
of beacons. Numerical results
conrms a notable performance
advantage of localization
with Power Allocation (PA)
schemes w.r.t to the case of
uniform power allocation
among beacons specially in
target locations in the vicinity
of beacons. The latter proposed
algorithm is based on the fact
that the optimal SPEB based PA
approach does not show any
advantage when performance
(i.e. Mean Square Error (MSE))
of the ranging estimator
achieves a oor corresponding
to a certain threshold in the
received Signal to Noise Ratio
(SNR). This corresponds to the
behavior of a practical, realistic
ranging estimator where the
achievement of higher ranging
accuracies becomes not possible
by increasing transmission power
over a certain threshold because
of phenomena like, for example,
the maximum sampling rate and
computational load available
in the sensors. Consequently,
this sub-optimal, simplied
PA algorithm is based on the
distribution of transmit power
of beacons with the SNR above
PhD Yearbook | 2015
353
the threshold to beacons with
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the SNR below the threshold,
realizing a type of simple
adaptive power allocation
(Adaptive Power Allocation
(APA)) directly based on the
measured SNRs.
Simulation results conrm that
such a simple strategy can
be effective in medium low
SNR regions, even w.r.t. more
sophisticated optimization
procedures.
MAIN RESULTS OBTAINED
I. Achievement of energy
efficiency via combination of
active and passive steps in
localization
II. Design of a power allocation
algorithm for active
localization scenario in order
to improve localization
performance
III. Investigation of impact of real
ranging estimator on existing
optimal power allocation
strategies for WSN localization
IV. Design of a hybrid
fingerprinting and EKF based
tracking for indoor passive
localization scenario
354

OPTIMAL/ROBUST CONTROL FOR ANTISLIP/SKID phenomena. Considering Chapter 6 - Nonlinear the single control units and to

PhD Yearbook | 2015

DEVICES IN RAILWAY APPLICATIONS
Danilo Caporale - Advisor: Prof. Patrizio Colaneri
Control systems for wheel axle
snowy regions or in urban areas
model capable of describing all
transmission dynamics allows
for performance evaluations
in presence of resonances
which often appear in practical
applications. The full train
model is used to propose a
highlevel strategy of braking
effort coordination whenever
communication allows for
a neighbortoneighbor
adaptive control
In this chapter we describe
a nonlinear adaptive control
technique for the control
of a single axle. The main
contribution of this chapter is
a new technique for anti-slip
control in railway vehicles.
This technique is based on a
new parametrization of the
reduce the stopping distance
as compared to standard
techniques based on limited (or
lacking in) communication.
Extensive simulations have been
performed to test and compare
our algorithm with standard
techniques. The numerical
experiments confirmed the 355
soundness of the preview

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control of railway vehicles are where the autumnal mixture of possible operating conditions communication. The electrical unknown adherence force. control based strategy and
the main focus of this work. foliage and water challenge even with a relatively simple nonlinear model clarifies the context of The control philosophy aims at showed that it outperforms
We analyze the problem from the most recent WSP devices. parametrization. operation of the present work. enhancing vehicle performances the other techniques. Special
two points of view: the single It is remarkable how Then an innovative adaptive by estimating the maximum attention is devoted to
axle speed control and the technological improvements controller based on such Chapter 4 - Adherence available adhesion force with understanding the part played
whole train coordinated control. have not been able to solve parametrization is presented characteristic a nonlinear filtering, which is by the various parameters
In both of them we propose this problem: an emblematic and its performances analyzed The main source of disturbance then exploited via a nonlinear in the problem, such as the
innovative control algorithms example is what happens in via simulation. Also a discrete when designing a control controller. The effects of the distance between the actuated
to enhance the performance of braking maneuvers, where controller based on optimal system for the wheel speed is implemented control scheme coaches and the convergence
current wheelslip protection initially poor performances filtering and control theory is the friction force between the are the use of the maximum rate of the control units. Focus
devices exploiting advantages where ascribable to the difficulty presented and its performances wheel and the rail, often called available deceleration in case of has been placed on the role of
offered from modern control of controlling mechanical brakes assessed via simulation on a adherence force. This force is poor adhesion conditions and, communication and preview for
theory. Results are theoretically with air pressure circuits and detailed Simulink diagram kindly also the mean by which a torque consequently, a reduction in the performance improvements. As
validated and simulation the use of electrical motors as provided by Alstom Transport applied to the wheel axle is wear rate of the rolling stock. such, the dependence of the
experiments are given. brakes, with its faster response Italy. It has also been possible to transmitted to the rail, hence The results are illustrated via adherence curve on the train
times, has not been a complete test part of this algorithm on a providing traction or braking simulation. state is expressed only by its
Chapters 1 and 2. answer to the problem. real time Hardware In the Loop force to the vehicle. dependence on the position and
Introduction, motivations and In the spirit of overcoming such simulator, always provided by In the following sections Chapter 7 - Distributed the traveling speed.
background difficulties, in this work we Alstom TransportItaly. different existing models of the Control with Preview The communication protocols
The operation of railway vehicles devoted our attention to the use Other than the single axle wheelrail con- tact force are In this chapter, we propose a used in railway applications
requires the ability to control the of modern control techniques control, we will devote our presented, which are based method to take advantage of are introduced, to show how
rotational speed of the wheels in to push the performances attention to the whole train on the theory elastic contact information exchanges between the proposed algorithms can
every environmental condition. over the current industrial and braking performance with between solids. Peculiarities of preceding and following coaches be implemented and spot the
To this purpose, a wheel slip scientific limits, paying attention an innovative distributed each model is summarized, and in order to improve the braking possible problems that might
protection device (WSP) is to what, in our opinion, was not preview control approach and from these model we propose performance and to reduce arise.
necessary to prevent the wheels yet investigated and proposing we will show how a simple two simple controloriented the stopping distance of the
from slipping on contaminated innovative ideas to overcome communication between models which are capable train. Different braking control Chapter 8 - Simulation and
rails. This is done by comparing current limitations. neighboring coaches is capable of describing all operating approaches are considered tests
the axles peripheral velocity of improving stopping distance conditions. depending on the level of We provide some simulation
with the train velocity and by Chapter 3 - Modeling performances. communication between the results conducted in different
controlling the speed to prevent approach The illustrated models range Chapter 5 - Discrete time control units. In particular, scenario to assess the validity
the two from being too different. The dynamics of the mechanical from a single wheel model adaptive controller a novel distributed braking of the algorithm proposed in
Despite the progresses control system involved in wheel speed without transmission dynamics An algorithm for optimal wheel control algorithm is proposed Chapter 5, where only a result
theory has experienced in the last control is studied. Different to a simplified full train model. slip control to be readily used in that, thanks to the preview of has been shown which has
decades we still face, especially models are used for different Each of these has different the implementation of a discrete the future condition of the rail been obtained on a real time
in adverse meteorological design strategies, and each of purposes. The single wheel time controller is presented. offered by the coaches at the simulator available in the Sesto
conditions, inadequate railway these is thoroughly presented. model is the most useful Theoretical justification is front of the train, is capable of San Giovanni Alstoms plant.
traffic response due to difficulty Particular attention is devoted to study traction and given as well as simulation better tracking the maximum Here more extensive simulations
of controlling the speed of the to the understanding of braking algorithm as it is results obtained on a detailed adherence condition. In so have been conducted on a
wheels on slippery rails. This the wheelrail adherence the simplest model capable metropolitan train model doing, it is possible to enhance Simulink model of the train.
problem is particularly evident in characteristics and propose a of describing all relevant provided by Alstom Transport. the performance offered by
356
Towards the Definition of a Methodology
for the Design of Tunable Dependable
Systems
Matteo Carminati - Supervisor: Prof. Cristiana Bolchini
The problem of guaranteeing
the correct behavior in digital
systems even when faults
occur has been investigated
for several years. However, the
researchers efforts have been
mainly devoted to safety- and
mission-critical systems, where
the occurrence of faults (both
transient and permanent) can be
extremely hazardous. Nowadays,
the need to provide reliability
also for non-critical application
environments is gaining a lot
of momentum, due to the
pervasiveness of embedded
systems and their increasing
susceptibility due to technology
scaling. While in critical
applications the budget devoted
to reliability is almost unlimited
and it is not to be compromised,
in non-critical scenarios the
limited available budget used to
guarantee the best performance
and energy consumption is to
be shared for providing reliability
as well.
In the past, great effort has
been devoted to provide strict
reliability management. This
led to the shared belief that
reliability is to be considered
from the early stages of the
embedded systems design
process. In fact, as this process
is becoming more and more
complex, approaches that do not
consider reliability throughout
all the design steps may lead
to expensive or not-optimized
solutions. Moreover, considering
reliability in a holistic way allows
to drive the several decisions
by exploiting the synergy of
both the most classical aspects
and reliability-oriented ones.
Postponing the reliability
assessment to the later phases
of the design flow on a system
prototype is not appealing,
because failure in achieving the
desired level of reliability would
be detected too late. However,
the complexity of managing
reliability, performance and
power/energy consumption
all at the same time grows
exponentially, especially when
several decision variables are
available in the considered
system. For this reason it is not
possible to envision a system
able to properly react to any
possible scenario on the basis of
decisions precomputed at design
time; a new paradigm based
on self-adaptability is to be
designed. Self-adaptive systems
are becoming quite common
when dealing with such complex
systems: relevant examples
are available in literature if
performance management is
considered.
Given these motivations,
we argue that the self-
adaptive paradigm is to be
implemented when designing
embedded systems with the
aim of considering reliability
as a driving dimension. In
particular, in this thesis we
propose a comprehensive
management framework for
dealing with reliability in multi/
manycore embedded systems.
Reliability represents the main
optimization dimension and is
considered both for permanent/
transient faults management
and components aging
mitigation. Energy consumption
minimization has been
introduced because it is directly
and considerably affected
by the knobs the framework
exploits. Perfomance is taken
into account as a constraint to
be satisfied according to the soft
real-time paradigm. The result is
a cross-layer self-adaptive system
for the combined optimization
of reliability and energy under
performance constraints.
The proposed framework
autonomously takes care of the
resource management problem,
hiding its complexity. The overall
work is organized in several
layers as shown in Figure 1.
This framework implements a
well-known control loop where
the status of the system and
the environment are sensed
(observe), adaptation is defined
through decisions made at
runtime to meet the specified
goals and constraints (decide),
and the values of the system
parameters are modified
accordingly (act). The designed
framework is integrated in a
two-layer heterogeneous multi/
manycore architecture, which
is considered as the reference
PhD Yearbook | 2015
357
hardware platform. At the
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multi-node level, the designed
framework employs a hybrid
approach to minimize aging
while optimizing communication
and computation energy. A
runtime orchestrator has been
designed to smartly map tasks
on the available nodes starting
from pre-computed optimal
mappings. Tasks are then re-
mapped, at runtime by means
of heuristics, to cope with the
evolving conditions. Transient
faults management is considered
at the multicore level only,
since creating, scheduling, and
gathering results of redundant
threads and voters/checkers
benefit from a shared-memory
bus-based architecture such as
the intra-node one. A rule-
1. A graphical overview of the proposed system composition.
based system has been designed
to guide the orchestrator in
selecting, at each instant of in a simulation environment lifetime motivated the
time, the best redundancy- by executing application traces development of a lightweight
based reliable technique to collected from execution on real framework for estimating the
satisfy the users reliability architectures. reliability function and the MTTF
requirements and minimize The envisioned framework and for architectures able to tolerate
the perfomance overhead. This the design of the presented multiple failures, considering
layer is located, in each node, adaptation layers represent the varying workloads. This
on top of another adaptation main innovative contribution framework is based on Monte
layer that takes care of aging of this research work. The Carlo simulations and random
mitigation and computation preliminary investigation on walks.
energy optimization. This is self-adaptive systems led to the The obtained results proved
achieved by acting on different formalization of a model for the effectiveness of the
knobs (tasks mapping and describing and organizing this proposed approach, obtaining
scheduling, resource switch- kind of systems in a structured remarkable improvements in
on/off, DVFS) through the and systematic way, as well terms of lifetime extension and
synergic orchestration on ad-hoc as for preliminary validating energy consumption reduction,
designed controllers. Each them. Moreover, the need for while meeting performance
adaptive layer has been validated estimating complex architectures constraints.
 358
MICROMAChINeD uLTRAsOuND TRANsDuCeRs:
fROM TheOReTICAL MODeLs TO OBjeCT
LOCALIzATION IN AIR
Alessandro Caspani - Supervisor: Antonio Francesco Longoni
In this PhD work, MEMS
technologies for modern
ultrasonic transducers have
been studied. As part of
a collaboration between
Politecnico di Milano and VTT
- Technical Research Centre of
Finland, the aim of this work is
to obtain extensive knowledge
on the prospects and limiting
factors for these technologies to
both replace current ultrasonic
transducers, fabricated with
piezoelectric crystals, and to
explore the possibility to further
extend their field of application.
The theoretical analysis and the
supporting experiments reported
in this work show a promising
future for Micromachined
Ultrasonic Transducers, based
both on capacitive (CMUT)
and piezoelectric (PMUT)
transduction, as represented in
Figure 1. The main features that
stand out in these devices are:
low-power operations, cheap
cost of production, ease of
interfacing with electronics, high
density arrays capabilities.
The mechanical structure
has a mass-spring-damper
behavior and therefore can
1. Principle scheme of a CMUT (on the left) and of a PMUT (on the right).
be represented with an RLC coefficient and m the effective
electrical circuit. Further mass.
expanding the scheme, three All the parameters of the model
different physical domains that are subject to process
can be separated by means of variation and whose precise
ideal transformer: electrical, knowledge is of paramount
mechanical and acoustical. importance for the coupling to
Analyzing the transfer function the electronics are obtained by
thus obtained from the electrical means of an electromechanical
to the acoustical ports and vice characterization.
versa two Figures of Merit are A wide selection of devices
related to physical parameters have been at disposal, with
of the device: the first is the different dimensions, materials
emissivity, defined as the ratio and working principles; as
of the emitted acoustic pressure a consequence to optimize
and the applied AC voltage, the ultrasonic testing system
towards a specific application
the most reliable and promising
devices have been used in the
and the second is the sensitivity, transmission experiment. The
defined as the ratio of the experimentation system consists
produced current and the in a set-up for emission and
pressure impinging on the detection of ultrasonic waves
membrane, from two separated transducers
placed in front of each other,
. with the possibility to change
their relative positions with high
Where w is the pulsation, accuracy. A preliminary study of
h the electromechanical signal shapes suggests to use a
coupling factor, Za the acoustic burst signal of few tens of cycles
impedance of air, Am the area of at the resonance frequency of
the membrane, k the stiffness of the transducers for the voltage
the membrane, b the damping driving the emitter.
As a first result the emission
efficiency and the detection
sensitivity were measured at
resonance to be E = 48 Pa/V and
S = 389 nA/Pa, in accordance
with the predictions.
The low-noise electronics
designed has proven to have
a lower noise floor than the
transducer, allowing to measure
the mechanical Brownian noise
that sets the ultimate limit to
the maximum distance for the
ultrasound to be detected. This
limit together with the minimum
distance, which is related to
the saturation of the sensing
electronics, sets the operative
range of the devices (~ 5 cm).
Another limit is imposed by the
high directionality of the multi-
membrane transducers, that,
due to interference between
each elements signal, has been
measured to be 14 for the
selected devices. The emission
profile of the CMUTs is shown in
Figure 2.
2. Emission profile of a CMUT
transducer, where the color is the
intensity of the emitted pressure from
the source, placed in the position
(0,0).
Lower frequencies PMUTs are
foreseen to overcome these
limitation and to work at longer
distances, but at the moment
of the writing the production
PhD yearbook | 2015
359
technology has yet to reach
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the reliability and repeatability
required.
Two proof of concepts of the
envisioned applications have
been provided with the same
acoustic characterization
set-up, exploiting an array of
receivers, aligned side by side:
(1) an ultrasonic source were
correctly detected, with relative
errors below 9 % in a range
between 1 cm and 4.5 cm; the
reduced range with respect to
the one achievable by the single
transducer is due to the angle
between the position of the
source and the normal to the
surface membrane; and (2) a
sound image (like in a sonar),
were reproduced detecting
the presence of a source and
reproducing its shape; the
limited contrast that these
second example has shown is
a consequence of the simple
custom algorithm (as this was
not the aim of the work), which
is poor compared to industrial
patented imaging algorithm.
The results discussed have
been object of two works, one
regarding the effect of different
materials and radii and other
demonstrating the localization
performances in air, presented at
IUS 2013 and Eurosensors 2014
respectively.
360
Achieving quality in crowdsourcing
through task design and assignment
Ilio Catallo - Advisor: Piero Fraternali
Crowdsourcing, i.e., the
assembling of strangers to
accomplish a task, has the
potential to revolutionize the
way people work on the web.
The promotion of crowdsourcing
initiatives allow companies to
easily collect and compound
contributions in a distributed
fashion, while letting individuals
work and earn without the need
for a physical working place
or pre-existing employment
contracts. Thanks to its high
flexibility, crowdsourcing is
gaining a more prominent role in
both the industry and academia,
and it has been estimated that
companies have the potential
to crowdsource more than 300
billion USD of work worldwide.
As the number of organizations
embracing crowdsourcing is
increasing, crowd workers
are likely to become a limited
resource. An important issue is
therefore to understand how
to obtain, retain and persuade
a crowd to contribute. In
this work, we are especially
interested in understanding
which mechanisms are effective
for eliciting high quality
contributions from the crowd.
Our approach is twofold. On
the one hand, we focus on how
a careful task design can help
improve quality of contributions.
We present a characterization
of the design space of
crowdsourcing tasks, and we
then contrast the capabilities
PhD Yearbook | 2015
361
offered by the commercially-
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available platforms against
the proposed characterization.
On the other hand, we turn
our attention to the problem
of assigning tasks to crowd
workers. In this respect, carefully
considering workers accuracy
has already proved to be the
key enabler for increasing task
quality. We therefore propose
a task assignment policy to
support the assignment of tasks
in relation to crowd workers
abilities, under the assumption
that workers may exhibit varying
accuracy depending on their
workload. We validate our
findings through an extensive
experimental phase. Specifically,
we conduct experiments with
the aim of verifying which
task design dimensions affect
the quality of the outcome.
Moreover, we offer empirical
evidence of the existence of a
fatigue/learning phenomenon
among workers, and we
extensively validate the proposed
task assignment procedure
against both synthetic and real
data.
362
Exploring Architectural Support for
Applications with Irregular Memory
Patterns on Distributed Manycore Systems
Marco Ceriani - Supervisor: Gianluca Palermo
The interest on large scale
knowledge discovery
applications is rapidly increasing
in both industry and scientific
research. Example of such
applications are found in
the fields of social network
analysis, data mining, protein
sequences analysis and in
the study of interactions in
biological and other complex
systems. The data analyzed by
these applications are naturally
represented by dynamic and
irregular data structures such as
graphs or unbalanced trees. The
algorithms used, therefore, show
an irregular behaviour in both
control and data patterns, which
have a degrading impact on the
performance. One of the most
limiting factors is the very poor
spatial and temporal locality
of memory accesses caused by
the unordered traversals of the
data structure. Many analysis
algorithms require a partially
ordered visit of the entire graph,
for example in breadth first
order, or random visits to the
neighbourhood of each node.
This kind of visits generates
irregular patterns which cannot
be predicted by a memory
prefetcher, and because of the
low temporally locality of the
data most of memory accesses
hits the main memory, making
complex cache hierarchies
essentially useless.
In addition, because of the
small world phenomenon,
data obtained from measuring
social and economic activities
often produces scale-free
graphs, that is graphs
whose degree distribution
approximates a power law.
These graphs have an ultra
small diameter, which means
that the maximum number
of steps required to reach the
furthest node is extremely small
with respect to the number
of nodes in the graph. This
high interconnectivity of the
structures makes it difficult to
optimize the partitioning of large
data sets on distributed memory
machines. Therefore this class
of algorithms do not perform
well on current architectures for
High Performance Computing
(HPC), which are designed to
exploit locality of accesses and
regularities in the control flow.
The only family of system
architectures specifically
designed for efficient execution
of graph-based applications
has been proposed by Cray
with the MTA and XMT
supercomputers. But they are
highly expensive because they
are composed of mostly custom
components, which prevents
exploiting economies of scale.
Also, because of the necessary
trade-offs, they achieve reduced
performance on more regular
workloads based on linear
algebra and matrix operations,
which are used in most of
the engineering and scientific
programs that require HPC
technologies.
The objective of the research
has been to study how to
extend commodity distributed
architectures with the
double aim of improving the
performance of applications with
irregular memory patterns, and
simplifying the programming
model.
The approach followed is
the design of an architecture
template based on many-core
processors, which extends
commodity many core
architectures introducing a small
number of custom components.
The new components enrich
the processor functionality by
providing features useful for
running large-scale graph-based
applications, but they do not
require a modification of the
core internal architecture or
the memory hierarchy. Hence,
the resulting architecture
can perform equally well
with regular and irregular
applications, by enabling
or disabling the additional
components.
A set of four features are
the keys of the architecture
design. The first is a global
and distributed address space,
which allows the use of the
Shared-Memory (SM) Single
Program Multiple Data (SIMD)
programming model. The
second is the probabilistic
reduction of dynamic hotspots,
through a non-linear scrambled
mapping of global memory
addresses to the nodes of
the distributed system. The
third feature is the automatic
exploitation of lightweight
multi-threading to transparently
tolerate the long latency of
remote memory requests. Finally,
the support for fine-grained
synchronization, thanks to a
hardware implementation of
locking routines that allows the
threads to lock single words of
the global address space.
The feasibility and effectiveness
of the approach has been
evaluated with a prototype
composed of 4 FPGA devices
connected by an ad-hoc
network. The prototype
includes the custom-designed
components, which are added to
an architecture based on off-the-
shelf cores and communication
subsystem. These components
offer the four fore-mentioned
features with a minimal impact
on the chip architecture. In
spite of the small size of the
prototype, the performance
scaling of typical irregular
kernels proved the effectiveness
of the approach. In addition,
the FPGA prototype allowed
to evaluate the technical issues
related to the implementation
of the proposed architecture,
suggesting the technical details
required for supporting other
commodity processors.
The performance data obtained
PhD Yearbook | 2015
363
from the prototype have also be space. The use of remote atomic
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used to formulate an analytical operations, in place of lock
model, which identify the system routines, allowed to significantly
bottlenecks and can be used reduce the synchronization
for dimensioning a large scale overhead and exposed larger
distributed system. amounts of parallelism
The development of FPGA enhancing the effectiveness of
prototypes allows to reduce the many-core system.
the design and evaluation
cycle of hardware architecture
with respect to full ASIC
designs. However, they still
require a considerable effort
and amount of time, which
repeats and increases for each
incremental update. Therefore
the research has moved on with
the creation of a lightweight
system simulator, in order to
evaluate additional features
using high level performance
models instead of a full HDL
implementation. The simulator
neglects modeling the details
of cache and memory hierarchy,
which are irrelevant for
applications which lack data
locality, thus improving the
simulation speed. On the other
hand, it models the extended
memory behavior introduced
by the custom hardware
components: the automatic
identification of remote accesses
that triggers a context switch,
the scrambled address space
and the fine-grained locking
routines. The simulator allowed
to evaluate the impact of
additional architectural features,
such as the support for atomic
operations on the global address
 364
A TASK-CONSISTENT SAFETY SYSTEM FOR CLOSE
COOPERATION BETWEEN HUMAN WORKERS AND
DUAL ARM ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS
Nicola Maria Ceriani - Supervisor: Prof. Paolo Rocco
Industrial manipulators
represent a significant element
for the automation of some
industry sectors, such as cars
manufacturing, or for machines
tending and parts movement.
However, their diffusion in
productive settings such as
consumer electronics industry
is hampered by an insufficient
flexibility, or by an excessive
cost. Human robot interaction
is a promising solution to such
a problem, as cooperation
between robots and workers
could greatly increase robots
flexibility, and, at the same time,
the adoption of manipulators
that are safe for human robot
interaction would reduce the
costs related to environment
structuring.
The deployment of industrial
robots in human robot
collaboration scenarios poses
new challenges for robot
manufacturers: guaranteeing
safety for human operators
cooperating with robots,
while achieving productivity
in unstructured environments.
Robots should appear friendly
to workers, avoid collisions and
reduce the risk of consequent
injuries. At the same time,
the pursue of safety must not
diminish robots productivity, nor
should it disrupt the possibility
of task completion or generate
a risk of damages for the
manipulator or the production
setup.
Industrial robots specifically
designed for human robot
interaction are becoming
available in the market.
However, industrial robot
controllers currently lack the
features needed to ensure safe
and productive human robot
interaction.
This thesis aims at extending
an industrial controller
functionalities with a collision
avoidance system, in order to
allow the robot operation in
unstructured environments
and in close cooperation
with humans. This research
therefore contributes to the
use of industrial robots in
new production scenarios and
proposes a safety system which
can be implemented adopting
existing technologies, shortening
the gap between research and
application.
As a first step a classification
for constraints composing a
1. A manipulation task is divided in elementary operations in order to classify
its constraints.
preplanned task, is proposed,
which defines the relevance for
task execution of constraints,
and consequently identifies
the possibilities for their
relaxation. Once relevance of
constraints has been identified,
a preplanned trajectory can
be modified and adapted to
the current conditions of the
environment, still preserving
the possibility of its successful
completion.
Then, a strategy for task
consistent collision avoidance
is proposed, which is based
on the previously presented
classification and executes
evasive motions exploiting
relaxed constraints. For this
purpose, an assessment of
danger generated by the
robot on obstacles is adopted:
constraints of higher relevance
are relaxed as the level of danger
increases. Then, exploiting
the above mentioned danger
assessment, evasive velocities
are computed, that are used to
avoid the detected obstacles.
Finally, a state machine
that allows to automatically
design the collision avoidance
strategy from the constraints
classification is proposed.
In order to integrate the collision
avoidance system with an
industrial controller, a system
for the communication between
them is proposed. Such a system
allows the robot programmer
to exploit the added collision
avoidance functionalities using
the standard robot programming
interface. The communication
system demonstrates the
possibility of extending a
standard industrial controller
with capabilities for the
adaptation to unforeseen events.
Two different implementations
of the collision avoidance
strategy are then proposed.
First, null space projection is
used in order to execute evasive
actions consistently with task
constraints. Such an application
of the collision avoidance
strategy is experimentally
validated on a dual arm force
controlled assembly task. For this
purpose, a distributed distance
sensor prototype is designed
and created, to endow a dual
arm ABB FRIDA robot with
obstacle sensing. The collision
avoidance strategy effectiveness
is demonstrated by the capability
of evading from a human
PhD Yearbook | 2015
365
entering the robot workspace
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through the modification of the
preplanned robot task.
Then, collision avoidance is
formulated as an optimization
problem. Kinematic limitations
of the robot and unilateral
operational space constraints
can be effectively taken into
account with such an approach,
increasing the robustness
and the effectiveness of the
overall system. Two versions 2. The FRIDA dual arm robot with the
of the system are proposed, distributed distance sensor, adopted
with an increasingly accurate with the first collision avoidance
strategy.
management of kinematic
limitations of the robot, and a
deeper exploitation of the robot
capabilities for evasion. The
first version is experimentally
validated on a dual arm pick
and place task, while the second
one is validated only through
simulation.
3. The second collision avoidance strategy is applied on a dual arm task.
366
Humans in the loop Optimization of active
and passive crowdsourcing
Eleonora Ciceri - Supervisor: Piero Fraternali
In the last years, social media
have attracted millions of users
and have been integrated in
peoples daily practices. They
enable users to create and share
content or to participate in social
networking.
User-generated content, i.e., the
various forms of media assets
publicly available and created
by end-users, is published every
day on the Web and mostly in
social media at a massive scale,
either in the form of textual
documents (e.g., blog articles,
posts on social networks,
comments and discussion) or in
the form of multimedia items
(e.g., images and videos). Most
user-generated content is about
personal lives and facts about
users. However, users often
publish more structured and
complex information.
Crowdsourcing has gained
increasing importance in
the last years. The term
crowdsourcing generally refers
to the outsourcing of a non-
automatable task to people.
The growth of the time spent
online has led to a growth of
interest in crowdsourcing.
Several works have been
developed, either making
users actively participate in the
resolution of tasks or exploiting
data they generate and publish
over the Web. We refer to these
approaches as, respectively,
active crowdsourcing (i.e., active
participation of motivated users
in task execution) and passive
crowdsourcing (i.e., exploitation
of user-generated content to
extract useful information).
On the one hand, active
crowdsourcing is the process
of outsourcing tasks to a
large group of people, called
workers. In this scenario, human
workers are asked to perform
very specific tasks (called crowd
tasks), which usually are easy to
be solved by humans but hard to
be solved by machines.
In the context of active
crowdsourcing, only tasks
difficult to be performed by
a machine are submitted as
crowd tasks. They are often
based on uncertain data,
since these data can hardly be
processed by computers, due
to their unstructured nature.
Unfortunately, an appropriate
modeling of the impact of a
crowd task answer on uncertain
data is yet to be defined.
Moreover, similarly to the use
of machine resources, which
cost, also human computational
resources are not freely available
in any amount, and may
provide erroneous answers.
Consequently, an approach
for the selection of the best
candidate set of tasks to submit
to the crowd under some fixed
constraints (e.g., costs and
time) needs to be devised,
together with quality assurance
procedures that guarantee an
appropriate result quality level.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
367
On the other hand, passive
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
crowdsourcing denotes an
alternative approach for
leveraging the online activity
of users for task resolution,
which amounts to analyzing
a huge amount of publicly
available contents, to extract
information about behaviors,
interests and activities of
the social media population.
Researchers from different fields
(e.g., social science, economy
and marketing) analyze a variety
of user-generated datasets to
understand human behaviors,
find new trends in society and
possibly formulate adequate
policies in response.
However, due to the
uncontrolled nature of users
participation on the Web, the
huge mass of available data
contains replicated information,
as well as low quality or
irrelevant content. Moreover,
content is often replicated
maliciously: users copy content
created by others (and often
subject to copyright laws),
rename it and pretend they are
the authors of the corresponding
original content.
In this Thesis, we propose
methods to overcome these
problems, both in the active
and passive crowdsourcing field,
with the objective of maximizing
the quality of results, under the
assumption of budget and time
constraints.
368
Switching, reliability and novel
functionalities in phase change devices
Nicola Ciocchini - Supervisor: Daniele Ielmini
The information revolution has
totally changed our human life
and society. The widespread
diffusion of internet and mobile
technologies had an impact on
the world that is probably more
dramatic than the invention
of steam engines and cars at
the begin of XX century. This
revolution has been possible
thanks to the big efforts put
by electronic companies on
the development of integrated
circuits, according to Moores
law. The MOSFET transistor,
at the basis of computation
in electronic processors, was
shrunk from the 20m channel
of 1975 to the 14 nm channel
of 2014: There is no other
technology in history that
was able to accomplish such
a dramatic improvement in
such a short time. In the Turing
machine approach, the ability
to store information (memory
function) is as important as the
ability to process the information
(logic function). For this reason,
the development of logic devices
(transistors) came along with the
development of memory devices.
Modern PCs and mobile devices
make use of several types of
memory, which differ in terms of
speed, cost and data retention
time. Among these, the non-
volatile memory must retain data
for years also when the power
supply is switched off. The
dominant non-volatile memory
technology in the past decades
up to the present day has been
the Flash memory, in which the
bit of information is stored as
an electric charge in the floating
gate of a MOSFET device.
Nowadays, the Flash technology
is facing several issue related to
scaling, among which the most
important are random telegraph
noise, electrostatic control of
floating gate and variability. For
this reason, memory companies
are trying to find alternative
solutions to Flash memory.
One of the most promising
technology, which has already
reached the industrial maturity,
is the phase change memory
(PCM). The PCM is a particular
type of resistive memory, where
the reversible phase transition of
the active chalcogenide material,
usually Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST), is
used to store the logic bit of
information. The two stable
states in the memory correspond
to the high-resistance
amorphous phase (reset state)
and the low resistance crystalline
phase (set state). PCM devices
have been scaled to the 20nm
size, while low-power and
nanosecond-switching operation
has been demonstrated. On the
other hand, the ultimate scaling
of the PCM is still unclear,
due to the impact of random
telegraph noise, crystallization,
and resistance drift. Nowadays,
a deeper knowledge of the PCM
physics is strongly requested to
drive the development of the
PCM technology in the years to
come. This motivates the need
for research activities, such
as the ones described in this
doctoral dissertation.
The introductory chapter of this
thesis provides an overview of
the current non-volatile memory
(NVM) scenario, subdividing the
possible technology evolutions
within an evolutionary scenario
and a paradigm shift. The
phase-change technology
is then introduced, dealing
with its history, the basic
operation and the elementary
physical description. This
chapter reviews the current
state-of-the-art in the physical
comprehension of sub-threshold
conduction, threshold switching,
crystallization and structural
relaxation, providing the basic
elements needed for the
comprehension of the following
four chapters. Finally, the
current perspectives of the PCM
technology are discussed, with
a quick glance on the so-called
PCMS architecture, which is
expected to solve the current
PCM limitations in terms of size
scaling by stacking the memory
element and a cell selector
made of another chalcogenide
material.
The second chapter is devoted
to the study of structural
relaxation-related phenomena in
the amorphous phase of phase
change memory devices. The
chapter is particularly focused
on the characterization and
modeling of threshold voltage
drift induced by structural
relaxation in amorphous
Ge2Sb2Te5. This effect leads to
threshold voltage increase with
time after program operation,
which must be carefully
controlled to avoid program/read
failure in the memory device,
especially in PCMS, where both
the selector and the memory
devices are affected by drift.
Then, we show how it is possible
to accelerate threshold voltage
drift by mean of electrical
pulses in the subthreshold
region, which could represent
an important tool from the
application point view to limit
the drift effect in the memory
device. Finally, the study is
extended to the modeling of
resistance drift in the crystalline
state of Ge-rich Ge-Sb-Te alloys
for embedded non-volatile
memory applications (ePCM).
We show evidence of resistance
drift and decay, which are
attributed in our model to
structural relaxation at the grain
boundaries of the poly-crystalline
state, and to grain boundaries
coalescence respectively.
The third chapter of this thesis
deals with a detailed study
of the retention capability in
PCM on a large statistical scale.
Such studies are fundamental
in order to allow large arrays
to properly satisfy the data
retention requirements. A wide
experimental characterization
is then provided in the
temperature range below
180C, presenting a detailed
study of the cell-to-cell and
cycle-to-cycle variability. The
overall variability is interpreted
through a compact Monte-
Carlo model, able to explain
both the cell-to-cell and
the cycle-to-cycle variability
contributions in terms of a pure
gaussian spread in the activation
energy for crystallization.
Finally, the cycle-to-cycle
variability is analyzed more in
depth, allowing to subdivide
the retention characteristics
into three separate families
namely: i) analog variability,
ii) digital (binary) variability
and iii) pseudo-repeatable
characteristics.
The fourth chapter is dedicated
to the study of crystallization
kinetics in PCM. Our work shows
evidence of non-Arrhenius
crystallization in GST directly in
PCM devices, by comparing the
thermally induced crystallization
(thermal regime) with the
electrically induced crystallization
(pulsed regime). The non-
Arrhenius crystallization,
leading to different activation
energies in the Arrhenius plot
of crystallization time in the two
regimes, is attributed to the
fragile nature of GST glass and
to the broke of Stoke-Einstein
relation above glass transition.
We propose a new experimental
technique to study electrically
induced crystallization down
to the holding current. In this
way, we were able to extend
our study of crystallization
kinetics, and to characterize set
transition in a wide time range
from 50 ns to 10 s. Then, we
model crystallization in PCM
by a finite element approach,
which is based on filamentary
crystallization after threshold
switching and on non-Arrhenius
crystallization kinetics. Finally,
we show evidence of electrically
induced crystallization in
the subthreshold regime, by
performing continuous current
stress experiments at low current
1 A and for relatively long
times, in the range of 103 s.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
The fifth chapter deals with a
possible alternative application
of PCM devices. We exploit the
storage ability of PCM, together
with additive crystallization and
threshold switching, to perform
boolean logic operation. In
our approach, the PCM device
is used as a state machine 369
(memristor), where the state
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
of the device can be changed
by mean of electrical pulses
applied to the cell. In our work
we are able to accomplish a
complete set of boolean logic
operations, namely the NOT, the
NAND and the NOR operation.
When compared to standard
CMOS logic, the PCM logic
offers the advantages of logic-
in-memory, of reconfigurable
logic and zero static power
dissipation, while is shows
worse performance in terms of
dynamic power consumption,
switching time and endurance.
This work paves the way for
a new field of application for
PCM, which together with
neuromorphic computation
makes this technology attractive
for alternative way to compute
information in the big data era
of the present days.
370

A General Sensor-fusion and Parameters For instance, on a mobile and typical solutions require architecture. A comprehensive

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Self-calibration Framework with
Applications in Mobile Robotics
Davide Antonio Cucci - Supervisor: Matteo Matteucci
Robots are mechanical or virtual
for the robot is always chosen
which are used for autonomous
robot with a single camera, it
is impossible to estimate the
robot velocity from successive
frames unless we know the
orientation of the camera with
respect to the robot base. Other
examples are gains and biases
in inertial measurement units,
ferromagnetic properties of the
robot affecting magnetometer
the robot state space to be
augmented to include estimates
for calibration parameters.
Few work has been done on the
self-calibration of an arbitrary set
of sensor, i.e., the problem of
determining sensor calibration
parameters employing only the
information produced by the
sensors themselves, possibly,
logical sensors library allows
to abstract from the actual
hardware and processing while
preserving model accuracy
thanks to a rich set of calibration
parameters (e.g., biases,
gains, distortion matrices
and geometric placement
characterization). 371

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
artificial agents able to perform depending on the operating hazard avoidance and safe readings, intrinsic matrices during normal robot operation. A modular formulation of the
given tasks with a certain degree environment and on the positioning of the robot arm, and depth distortion pattern information fusion problem has
of autonomy. These tasks always required degree of autonomy. for a total of twelve cameras of a RGB-D cameras, to name As robotic systems face new and been obtained based on state-
involve interaction with the In general, as the assigned employed in navigation, plus an a few. To ensure that sound more advanced tasks, system of-the-art factor-graph inference
environment, whatever it is our tasks grow in complexity, the inertial measurement unit. and consistent state estimation developers and researchers techniques; it allows to handle
familiar physical world or some set of variables that have to can be achieved, it is often are required to handle very arbitrary number of multi-rate
virtual scenario. be observed increases and As new, noisy, possibly required to determine these complex sensor-fusion and sensors and to adapt to virtually
multiple sensors are required. As contradictory, evidence comes parameters with a high degree parameter calibration problems. any kind of mobile robot
In principle, most of these tasks heterogeneous sensors observe from multiple, heterogeneous, of accuracy. However, it is often Despite the wide variety of platforms, such as Ackerman
could be performed relatively different aspects of the reality, sensors, processing has to be difficult to to determine these solutions available in the steering vehicles, quadrotor
easily if only the robot knew redundancy in perception results applied in order to fuse the by directly inspecting the robot literature, platform dependent unmanned aerial vehicles, omni-
certain quantities such as its own in an increased fault tolerance available information and (think about the case of 3-DoF specifications make them not directional mobile robots.
position, the position of its goal, and robustness with respect to update the robot internal orientations), while others are directly applicable, or require Different solvers are available
the current distance from walls, unforeseen situations. model of the world. This is simply not directly observable, adaptations, enhancement, or to target both high-rate online
if the planned path towards the model is often called belief, and e.g., the matrices of intrinsic substantial extensions. The lack pose tracking tasks and offline
goal is free from obstacles, and As an example, let us consider modern robots also include an camera parameters. of off-the-shelf, flexible solutions accurate trajectory smoothing
where possible obstacles are the case of robotic systems explicit characterization of the which are deployable with minor and parameter self-calibration.
located. Unfortunately, these for space exploration, such as uncertainty regarding variables A number of ad-hoc solutions effort undermine the availability
variables are seldom directly the Curiosity rover, and part of which are critical with respect has been proposed in the of baseline solutions to compare An extensive evaluation of the
observable in practice. the Mars Science Laboratory to their tasks. The problem of literature to handle accurate new approaches against and resulting framework has been
Moreover, even in scenarios mission. Because of the delay how these internal believes can calibration of very specific sensor often requires researchers to performed on different mobile
where the operating conditions, in communication between be consistently updated as new configurations (and they are still develop from scratch even very robots. ROAMFREE has already
such as the light conditions, or Earth and Mars, the robot observations become available subject of active investigation). simple sensor-fusion algorithms, proved its flexibility and out-of-
the site map, can be controlled can not be teleoperated, and has been subject of active These techniques often rely on reinventing the wheel and the-box deployment in several,
or jointly designed with the waiting for human instructions research in the last fifty years, artificial environment structures, scarifying reusability. real-world, information fusion
robotic system, there will always in each unforeseen situation and it is still ongoing. Many such as checkerboards in and sensor self-calibration
be inescapable degrees of is clearly impractical. Thus, techniques have been proposed camera calibration, or on In this work we introduce problems.
uncertainty in the robot and the robot needs a high degree and effectively employed in the availability of external ROAMFREE, a general,
environment state. of autonomy, at least for several applications. Notable information, not produced open-source, framework
elementary tasks such as examples are the Extended by the set of sensors being for multi-sensor fusion and
In order to bound the heading towards given positions Kalman Filters, or, in general, calibrated, such as position parameter self-calibration
uncertainty in their knowledge, and obstacle avoidance. To recursive Bayes filters, and, ground truth. Unfortunately, in mobile robotics. In its
most of the modern robots this end, several sensors are more recently, graph-based relevant parameters might development, we employ
employ sensors and maintain an employed; leaving apart the optimization techniques. change over time, such as and extend mathematical
internal model of the state of scientific experiments and biases in gyroscope sensors, and software engineering
the world; this model is updated general purpose elements such However, hardware sensors, or which depend on environment techniques to ensure that the
according to observation as the mastcam, a multi-spectra, pre-processing to be applied temperature, motion, and on a resulting framework can be
evidence and it is then employed high definition camera, the rover on raw data, often involve number of other factors. In this easily specialized to handle
to make decisions about how to has two pairs of navcams, to calibration or tuning parameters cases, offline, ad-hoc, calibration specific cases, and some of its
accomplish the assigned tasks. acquire stereoscopic 3-D images, that turn out to be critical to procedures, and environment component replaced without
The set of sensors available plus four pairs of hazcams, build internal robot believes. structures, can not be employed any change to the overall system
372
Study of a collaborative repository of semantic
metadata and models for regional environmental
datasets multivariate transformations
Daniele De Rigo - Supervisor: Giorgio Guariso - Tutor: Andrea Bonarini
This work introduces a semantic
modelling procedure to ease
array-based multivariate
transformations of public
environmental data, along
with the architecture of a
collaborative repository of
modelling meta-information
based on the procedure. The
procedure, Semantic Array
Programming (SemAP), is
intended as a lightweight
paradigm to support integrated
natural resources modelling
and management (INRMM),
in the context of wide-scale
transdisciplinary modelling for
environment (WSTMe, here
tested from catchment up to
regional and continental scale).
It is a common experience
among computational scientists,
to codify even short algorithms
if no out-of-the-box solutions
are available with remarkably
longer implementations.
Computational science
algorithms not rarely deal with
large amounts of data with
a precise (despite sometime
nontrivial) semantic structure.
If so, data may be organised
in multiple groups with
homogeneous semantic content.
Examples of such groups are
matrices, time series, tuples,
graphs or more generic multi-
dimensional arrays. Geospatial
problems may often associate
geographic information to
particular arrays: for example,
spatial regular grids of data
are frequently represented by
georeferenced matrices.
Domain specific frameworks
may offer a convenient option
for dealing with standard
problems within a given sectoral
domain. Object oriented
approaches might enable
information to be represented
and transformed in sophisticate
flexible ways. The objects of a
monolithic model are typically
straightforward to propagate
and effective in transferring
structured information with
default behaviours/assumptions.
However, this communication
is more difficult to achieve for
non-monolithic models using
several programming languages
and tools, with multiple teams
involved and possibly no single
expert able to cope with the
overall integration complexity.
Within a particular discipline,
a particular research team, or
specialised modelling approach,
a significant part of the overall
information on the semantics of
data and data-transformation
models (D-TM) may be taken for
granted. This means that a core
base of knowledge might safely
remain unexpressed among
experts in the same domain.
Unfortunately, this is not the
case whenever that particular
domain of knowledge has to
interact with other domains,
perhaps quite far from it.
Namely, when a set of practices
and knowledge shared by
a certain research community
has to be relativized from
universal set of the research
activities up to become a simple
specialized module within a
transdisciplinary context, the
common sense evaporates. As
a consequence, it should be
communicated in a simple but
also compact and unambiguous
cross-disciplinary way.
Array Programming (AP)
might support part of this
task. AP originated for
reducing the gap between
mathematical formulation
and code implementation
by introducing very concise
operators and coding patterns
to deal with variables potentially
composed by billions of
elements and considered as
atomic (with correspondingly
terse manipulation). AP data
structures can offer a support
already widespread (given the
extensive use of AP languages,
e.g. MATLAB/GNU Octave,
GNU R, Python with Numpy/
Scipy, IDL), and
noticeably less arbitrary/
restrictive than a particular
choice (within a virtually
infinite set of possibilities)
of objects to be shared
among multiple and highly
heterogeneous modules.
However, this support is still
poorly exploited.
The AP data structures are very
general: multi-dimensional
arrays where the value of
some elements may be infinite
or not-a-number (IEEE 754
standard) or even complex-
valued (e.g. two-dimensional
vectors the velocity of wind or
other fluids, the spatial gradient
of several quantities). From
this potentially overwhelming
generality it follows the
basic idea of Semantic Array
Programming: limiting this
generality with array-based
semantic constraints. The
second key idea of SemAP is to
encourage modularisation of
data-transformations so as to
easily propagate the semantic
support to lower-level sub-D-
TMs which might prove helpful
even to better explore software
uncertainty. Modularisation
may be seen as an abstract
semantic constraint in order for
the array of components of a
given algorithm (i.e. their sub-D-
TMs) to be made explicit in the
algorithm implementation.
SemAP has been formalised
and expanded to address
geospatial problems by
means of a problem-driven
approach focused on the broad
heterogeneity in the European
continent. Real world case
studies illustrate collaborative
applications to WSTMe problems
in Europe. The case studies are
essential to build the reference
repertoire to serve as a guidance
for supporting the community
of scientists involved in applying
the modelling procedure,
which is meant to drive a
collaborative, peer-reviewed
repository of metadata and
data-transformation models
related to web-available
environmental datasets. The
transdisciplinary collaborations
in developing the case studies
consolidated the growing
research community interested
in complementing existing
approaches with the SemAP
paradigm, especially considering
geospatial applications
(Geospatial Semantic Array
Programming, GeoSemAP).
The case studies constitute the
premise for the future real world
presentation and exploitation of
the repository.
First, a pan-European application
is introduced for estimating
soil erosion by water. SemAP
is applied to extend a well-
established environmental
model (RUSLE), both to its
general multiplicative structure
(whose factors are extended
exploiting the array semantics
of the problem at model-scale)
and to a specific critical module
(where array-based multiplicity
is introduced for mitigating
extrapolation errors at module-
scale with a robust ensemble
approach).
The second case study deals
with the temporal dynamics
of a complex modelling and
management problem under
deep uncertainty. A SemAP-
enhanced modelling architecture
is introduced for large wildfire
behaviour prediction, assessment
and control, focusing on the
multiple heterogeneous sources
of uncertainty. A data-driven
robust modelling explores the
array of multiple fuel models,
meteorological disturbances and
fire control strategies.
Despite the local spatial scale
of wildfires, their impacts may
far exceed this scale (off site
impacts): the architecture is
explicitly designed in order for
large events in the European
continent to become susceptible
of real-time rapid (i.e.
approximated) assessment.
The third application
characterises landscape patterns
to support biodiversity policy-
PhD Yearbook | 2015
making with a multiplicity
of approaches (indices).
An integrated multicriteria
characterisation of connectivity
and fragmentation is
demonstrated for the forest
focal habitat. An array of
known connectivity indices is
generalised in a new SemAP- 373
implemented family to
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
emphasize their implicit common
structure while also suggesting
new indices. Other index families
are analysed with the help of a
GeoSemAP workflow. A SemAP-
based nonlinear statistical
analysis (brownian distance
correlation) shows the least
correlated indices.
The first three case-studies
deal with self-standing topics.
The fourth one highlights
the flexible reusability of
specific SemAP techniques as
specialised modules. Relative
Distance Similarity illustrates the
application of robust ensemble
methods.
Finally, statistics are presented
on the number of unique
authors who contributed to
SemAP-supported publications
along with unique authors
citing these works. Despite
the intrinsic variability, these
initial data show how the
proposed paradigm is currently
under active expansion within
the community of potentially
interested researchers.
374
Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm, dynamic
and non-dynamic emulators in the design of optimal
policies for water resources management
Quang Dinh - Supervisor: Rodolfo Soncini-Sessa
Dams and reservoirs are essential
to satisfy human demand
of water for a plurality of
uses: irrigation, industrial and
domestic supply, hydropower
production, flood mitigation and
recreation. The management of
these multi-purposes systems
is difficult since it has to deal
with the relevant conflicts
between those interests. The
definition of a satisfactory and
stable compromise requires the
design of regulation policies
of the reservoirs, which every
day objectively establish the
release to be operated from
each reservoir, taking care of
all the interests. The design of
such policies requires to set
up and solve a complex Multi-
Objectives Control Problem, in
which the interest of the Parties
are quantified by indicators, the
values of which are estimated
with large, physically-based
models that describe the
effects of the water distribution
in the downstream user
systems (canals, hydropower
plants, irrigation districts and
municipalities).
However, even more difficult
and challenging problems are
posed by dam management.
The construction of large dams
has a strong impacts on the
hydrological regime of and the
movement of sediments in the
regulated river. Dams affect the
hydrological regime primarily
through changes in timing,
PhD Yearbook | 2015
375
magnitude and frequency possibility of substituting the
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
of high and low flows; the high-dimensional physically-
peak discharge is generally based, distributed-parameters
and intentionally significantly models with low-dimensional
reduced. The trapping of lumped-parameter ones. These
sediment in the reservoirs causes techniques have been proposed
sediment deficit downstream, in the Technological Sectors
which in turn triggers not only (like Aerospace Industry) and
erosion on the river banks but have up to now found just a
also incision in the river bed. series of applicationin the water
This process can extend over world. The goal of this thesis
hundreds of kilometers and last is to explore the application
for decades. of Dynamic and Non-dynamic
Starting from the pioneering Emulation Modeling techniques
Harvard Water Project in 1962, to design optimal policies of
the research community has set water management, considering
a large effort on building more the most important objectives of
and more complex models to the considered case study.
estimate the effects of different Keywords: Reservoir operation,
planning and management Multi-objective optimization,
decisions. A vast amount of Response Surface, Dynamic
studies have been carried out Emulation, hydro-morphological
on these effects and nowadays model
complex physically-based models
are available to forecast and
quantize them. Nowadays, very
detailed and precise models can
be easily set up, with which the
evaluation of the effects, even
subtle as the geomorphological
ones, is possible. At the same
time the art of defining and
solving complex Mathematical
or control Problems for policy
design has reached an adult
stage. However how to merge
large physically-based models
within a Design Problem is still
an open issue.In the last years a
possible solution approach was
offered: the Emulation Modeling
techniques, which gives the
376
SEISMIC PROCESSING AND IMAGING OF MULTIPLE
REFLECTIONS
Carlo Fortini - Supervisor: Giuseppe Drufuca
Conventional seismic imaging
algorithms are based on
single-scattering hypothesis.
The reverberations that
generate during wavefield
propagation in the subsurface
(multiple reflections) are usually
considered as unwanted noise.
Even though the most energetic
reverberations are the so called
surface-related multiples,
in areas of high structural
complexity we usually record
also strong internal and intra-salt
multiples. The most common
approach to handle with the
presence of multiple reflections
in the acquired seismic data is to
try to eliminate them. However,
the multiply scattered recorded
events had interacted with the
subsurface discontinuities, thus
carrying useful information
about it. When properly
imaged, they can enhance
the seismic image and may
provide additional illumination
in those areas poorly imaged
by conventional approaches.
Recently, researches on multiples
have shifted their focus on the
exploitation on what has been
often considered only as noise.
Instead of considering the
reverberations only as noise, it is
possible to use them as a source
of valuable information. Both
the most common migration
algorithms, Wave Equation
Migration (WEM) and Reverse
Time Migration (RTM), can be
modified in order to include
multiple events in the migration
procedure; the image obtained
from multiples can be used to
complement the primary image.
In the first chapter of my
thesis, I show the mathematical
derivation on which the
migration of multiples is based.
I show with examples on both
synthetic and field dataset, the
main benefits and drawbacks of
the proposed methodology. The
main issue in using the multiple
reflections is the cross-talk noise:
the migration procedure returns
the correct image plus some
artifacts related to the cross-talk
of primaries of one reflector
and multiples belonging to
1. Comparison between the image obtained with primaries and with multiples.
The red arrows point to some of the locations where the multiples migration is
inferior to the conventional one. The areas highlighted with the yellow boxes,
are those where the migration of multiples provide the better results with
respect to the image of the primaries.
some other interface. In chapter
three and four I present two
techniques that can be used
to identify and construct the
model of the cross-talk events.
One method is based on the
distinctive features that primary
and cross-talk events show in
the pre-stack domains, and relies
on an advanced interpolation
methodology. With second
methodology presented, I
show that the cross-talk terms
can be eliminated during the
migration process by modifying
the imaging condition. The new
imaging condition operates in
an higher dimensional space
with respect to the conventional
cross-correlation imaging
condition: the source and
receiver wavefields are cross-
correlated not only in time
but also based on their local
coherency in the time-space
domain.
The last two chapter of my
thesis deal with the internal
multiples. In the first chapter
I used the Born scattering
theory to show how to exploit
the information contained in
the surface-related multiples
when performing the seismic
imaging. In doing so, however,
I didnt take into account
the internal multiple events.
In areas of high structural
complexity, though, for instance
in presence of salt bodies,
strong internal and intra-salt
multiples are usually recorded.
When properly imaged, these
events can enhance the seismic
image and provide additional
illumination in those areas
poorly imaged by conventional
approaches. I propose a
technique based on non-linear
seismic interferometry, that
allows to separately exploit the
information coming from the
internal multiples recorded by a
conventional seismic acquisition.
The original wavefield is used
as input to reconstruct a new
virtual seismic experiment with
sources and receivers placed
underneath the formations
mainly responsible of the
multiply scattered events. This
new dataset is constructed using
both the linear and non-linear
components of the Greens
function, thus accounting for
the internal multiple reflections.
Although multiples have been
proven to be useful signal, their
prediction and attenuation are
still fundamental tasks. The
migration of surface-related
multiples can, in fact, benefit
from a separation between
primaries and multiples.
Moreover the identification of
the reflector mainly responsible
for the generation of the
reverberations, is very useful.
In the last chapter, I propose
a method for estimating both
surface-related and interbed
multiple artifacts, using as
input the migrated section and
the subsurface velocity model.
The technique relies on the
use of seismic demigration, it
2. The internal multiples are exploit to reconstruct primaries that provide
additional illumination of the subsurface. The events of interest are indicated
with the yellow arrows.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
377
is faster than the conventional
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multiples prediction methods,
independent from the original
acquisition geometry and
it returns an image of the
unwanted artifacts that can
be compared directly with the
subsurface image obtained
through the migration of the
recorded data. The method
is suitable for the multiple
artifacts estimation and also as
an interpretation tool for the
identification of the horizons
responsible of the internal
multiples generation.
378
Methodologies and Tools for Games with a
Purpose design and Gamified Applications
Luca Galli - Advisor: Fraternali Piero
Human computation is a
research area that focuses on
exploiting human intelligence to
solve computational problems
that are beyond the capacity
of existing Artificial Intelligence
(AI) algorithms. The growth of
the Web and Social Networks
provides a massive amount of
persons that can be leveraged
to perform complex tasks, but a
fundamental issue in exploiting
the contribution of crowds is
how to engage the potential
users for the specified purposes
and how to ensure the quality of
their contribution. To overcome
the problem, a set of approaches
have been developed; Games
with a Purpose (GWAPs) are
digital games in which the
players actions in the game
contribute to a real-world
purpose outside of the game,
whether it be predicting protein
structures or providing labels
for images. The standard way
to accomplish the same type
of work is to crowdsource
the work directly using a
service like Mechanical Turk in
which contributors are paid as
workers. To address the lack of
extrinsic motivation that plagues
traditional human computation
platforms, GWAP provide
intrinsic motivation in the form
of entertainment. Many GWAP
have been developed since the
release of the first instance, the
ESP Game in 2003. But not all
GWAP seem to have lived up to
the initial hype of transforming
millions of hours typically poured
into traditional games into
useful and productive work.
The problem that GWAP have
faced since their inception is
related to the fact that the very
fundamental mechanisms on
which they rely on, to guarantee
the quality of the submitted
results, have been considered
as Game Mechanics while in
reality they are simply validation
mechanisms. For this reason,
even the most famous GWAP
were centered on experiences
that aimed at maximizing the
throughput of high quality
submitted content instead of
focusing on the entertainment
dimension typical of other
digital games, producing
applications that were perceived
as non games by their users.
As it happened with GWAP,
gamification, the process of
using game design techniques
and game mechanics to
enhance traditional applications,
has been able to accomplish
significative results but also
catastrophic failures. Once
again, this phenomenon has to
be attributed to poor design due
to the lack of guidelines and
best practices to support the
development.
The main reason is the inherent
difficulty of the design of
both GWAP and gamified
applications, which resides
in the tradeoff between
PhD Yearbook | 2015
379
purposiveness and playfulness: are limiting the capabilities
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in a traditional application, the that these systems may offer.
improper insertion of gaming The proposed framework
elements may result artificial and investigates the design of game
thus not produce the desired mechanics and motivation
engagement effects, while on techniques in games in order
the contrary spoiling the users to solve human computation
productivity, symmetrically in tasks by providing a set of tools
a GWAP the task to be solved that will be used to ease the
may mismatch with the game development of interactive
mechanics, thus decreasing the media applications that have
playability of the game and to be integrated within media
failing to attract people and refinement tasks fulfilled
engage them in the execution of by players. The work has
the task. also, dually, investigated the
Another common challenge of methodologies and approaches
human computation systems for gamification, that is the
is data reliability. Humans are injection of game-like features
expected to be unreliable, in traditional applications (e.g.
especially in ludic environments software development, customer
where a playful interaction relationship management)
with the system to test its to improve key performance
borders is expected. Therefore, indicators.
players may generate false data
either on purpose or for other
reasons. Different strategies
have evolved to deal with this
issue but they are typically
tailored just to the particular
task they have been applied to.
As human computation tasks
are by definition not efficiently
solvable by an algorithm, it is
necessary to find new means to
handle this challenge. The lack
of established GWAP design
paradigms, the difficulties
of player engagement and
retention and the issues of
choosing or defining the right
validation techniques in order
to obtain meaningful results
380
Energy-Aware Traffic Engineering for
wired IP Networks
Luca Giovanni Gianoli - Research director: Prof. Brunilde Sans
Research co-director: Prof. Antonio Capone
In the last decade, the global
widespread of ICT and
telecommunication networks
was sped up by the necessity of
improving the efficiency of other
sectors of the economy, while,
at the same time, reducing their
energy footprint. However, the
massive development of ICT
infrastructures and services has
produced a significant increase
of the energy foot-print of the
ICT sector itself. To give an idea
of the order of magnitude that
we are talking about, in 2010,
the yearly energy consumption
of the world most important
Internet Service Providers, e.g.,
AT&T and China Mobile, was
over 11 TWh per year. Note that
this is equivalent to the annual
electricity production of a mid-
sized nuclear power plant, or
to almost half of the amount
of electricity sold abroad by
Hydro-Qubec in 2011. Making
telecommunications networks
greener, in addition to reducing
greenhouse gas emissions,
may have significant economic
impacts: for instance, for large
companies like AT&T or Google,
a modest 3% reduction of
the electricity bill would result
in several millions dollars of
savings.
In our Ph.D. research project
we addressed the problem of
improving the energy efficiency
of wired IP networks. The choice
of wired IP networks among
all the other possible domains,
e.g., wireless networks, cloud
or data center networks,
sensor networks and so on,
was motivated by two joint
considerations which made us
think that there were both need
and room for novel significant
contributions in this specific
field:
(i) In 2011, while energy-
awareness applied to other types
of networks such as wireless had
been already quite thoroughly
explored, a very limited
literature was available on
how making wired IP networks
energy efficient. This was quite
surprising, since it was clear that
wired IP networks too had a non
negligible impact on the overall
energy efficiency of ISPs.
(ii) Due to both hardware and
management limitations, wired
IP networks were identified as
highly energy inefficient. Their
consumption is always at the
maximum level independently
of network utilization. It was
estimated that consumption
reductions in the order of 50%
would have been potentially
achievable by optimizing the
way wired IP networks are
managed.
We addressed the problem of
energy-awareness in IP networks
in a very comprehensive way,
aiming at dealing with all the
important aspects related to
both network management
and energy-efficiency. We
first identified the main
strategy to pursue to make the
consumption of IP networks
proportional to the incoming
traffic load, i.e., by putting to
sleep the redundant network
devices while guaranteeing
that the active resources were
able, thanks to an optimized
configuration of the network
routing, to guarantee the
correct functioning of the
network. The set of methods
we developed can be identified
as techniques for sleep-
based energy-aware network
management (SEANM). The
sleeping-strategy was then
applied and adapted to different
network contexts with the aim
of providing a comprehensive set
of management tools to be used
in any IP network according
to the considered network
configuration.
The strength of our research
work lays in four main aspects:
(i) The depth and scope of our
work, which, differently from
what can be found in literature,
covered the whole set of issues
and topics which were relevant
to energy-aware network
management. We considered
networks operated with
different configuration settings
and protocols, we studied the
trade-off between network
resilience and energy-awareness,
we handled the problem of
coping with network traffic
uncertainty by implementing
robust optimization techniques.
(ii) We filled a major gap in
the literature by providing an
accurate mathematical modeling
for all the relevant SEANM
problems.
(iii) We were the only one in
literature to develop a real
network management platform
to implement and test the
proposed approaches in realistic
network environments.
(iv) We outperformed the results
obtained by our competitors in
those fields where state-of-the-
art work were available. In all
the addressed scenarios we were
able to achieve energy savings
from 20% to 60% according
to the problem data and
constraints. We were the first
to formalize a way to model the
allocation of network bandwidth
in presence of elastic (TCP)
traffic, providing thus the tools
to correctly perform energy-
aware network management in
presence of TCP flows too.
Here follow a more detailed
summary of the work done
and of the the main results and
produced along the whole Ph.D.
project:
i) We developed a novel
centralized off-line optimization
algorithm (MILP-EWO) to
save up to 60% of energy
consumption in IP networks
operated with the most
popular shortest-path routing
protocol, i.e., OSPF. The idea
was to efficiently adjust the
administrative link weights
used to define the shortest
paths among sources and
destinations so as to exploit only
the necessary network elements
and consequently put to sleep
the redundant ones. Proper
constraints were respected to
keep network congestion under
control.
ii) We integrated MILP-
EWO into a novel dynamic
and centralized network
management framework aiming
at exploiting both off-line
and online optimization to
automatically adjust the link
weight configuration. Tests
carried on by means of emulated
network environments proved
the applicability and stability
of the approach. To practically
implement this extension of
MILP-EWO, we developed a
new open-source network
management framework, i.e.,
JNetMan, offering a set of
APIs to be used by network
administrators to easily
implement management policies
based on SNMP commands.
iii) We developed both exact and
heuristic methods for centralized
SEANM in IP networks operated
with flow-based routing
protocols such as MPLS. We
considered a multi-period
scenario according to which
a single day was split among
six different macro periods
characterized by a quite constant
level of traffic. Limitations on
the routing variability across
consecutive time-periods and
constraints to both guarantee
quality of service and preserve
device life-time were included.
The proposed methods, which
were applied to perform both
off-line and on-line optimization,
allowed to reduce the daily
network energy consumption
from 40% up to 60%.
iv) We extended the SEANM
approaches for MPLS based
network to explicitly guarantee
resilience to single link failures
and robustness to unpredictable
traffic variations. Our goal
was to study the trade-off
between energy consumption
and network survivability, while
explicitly quantifying the energy
cost of the latter. Tests showed
PhD Yearbook | 2015
that daily savings around 30%
can be still achieved despite
of the additional limitations
on resiliency and robustness.
We were able to affirm that
the activation of redundant
resources to cope with
unexpected events costs up
to 25% in terms of network 381
consumption. To manage
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uncertain traffic demands we
applied well known Robust
Optimization techniques, such
as cardinality constrained budget
uncertainty.
v) We proposed a novel bi-level
optimization model to correctly
manage the allocation of elastic
traffic demands, such as those
carried by TCP. Our modeling
framework exploited the
concept of max-min-fairness and
proportional fairness to correctly
approximate the amount of
bandwidth allocated by the
network to each specific flow
according to the capacity of the
crossed link and the presence
of other concurrent flows. We
developed a SEANM application
to show that, in presence of
elastic demands, the new
modeling framework allows
to reduce power consumption
when traffic conditions made
typical SEANM approaches
ineffective.
vi) Finally, we considered
metro and backbone networks
operated with Carrier Grade
Ethernet and proposed a novel
SEANM method to balance
energy consumption and
network congestion.
382
Development of Multi-Channel FPGA Based
Correlators for Parallel Fluorescence
Correlation Spectroscopy
Sixia Gong - Advisor: Massimo Ghioni
Fluorescence correlation
spectroscopy (FCS) is a well-
established technique to study
binding interactions or the
diffusion of fluorescently labeled
biomolecules in-vitro and in-vivo.
FCS is commonly implemented
by using a confocal microscope
to detect the fluctuations
of fluorescence intensity
arising from changes in the
number of molecules diffusing
through a small (~femtoliter)
observation volume. The
autocorrelation function
(ACF) of fluorescence intensity
fluctuations can yield physical
as well as photochemical
information (molecule size
and concentration, blinking
or binding/unbinding rates)
about the diffusing molecules.
To monitor the fluorescence
fluctuations, FCS measurements
need to be performed at
nanomolar concentrations
with typical acquisition times
on the order of a few seconds
to several minutes. However,
faster acquisitions of FCS data
are desirable in two cases:
in high-content screening
approaches, many molecules
on reaction at different
locations require simultaneous
interrogation; also when
observing fast evolving dynamic
systems, diffusion parameters
change as a function of time.
It is thus important to develop
FCS methods that enable
simultaneous measurements at
different locations within a living
cell. Parallel FCS acquisition is
then developed, with the help
of multi-pixel detectors and
multi-spot excitation generation
technique, which maps each
excitation spot onto every
target pixel of the detector.
Furthermore, simultaneous data
acquisition and processing is
needed, demanding for multi-
input high efficiency correlators.
Thereby this thesis describes
design of multi-channel
correlators for high throughput
FCS experiments.
Various correlators have
been developed, some are
commercially available. The
hardware correlators have
been traditionally employed
for real-time calculation of
correlation functions over a
certain dynamic range. Since
in typical FCS measurements
the correlation function spans
over several decades of lag
times, linear channel spacing
is impractical and the multi-
tau algorithm is used. Real-
time, multi-tau correlators
were formerly implemented
on custom high-speed digital
signal-processing hardware,
either application-specific
integrated circuits (ASICs) or,
lately, field-programmable gate
arrays (FPGAs). Nowadays,
FPGAs can be manufactured
in 28 nm CMOS processes
and have reached integration
densities that allow cost efficient
implementation of even complex
and resource intensive DSP
algorithms. They offer lower
non-recurring engineering costs
and faster time to market than
more customized approaches
such as full-custom VLSI or
ASIC design. On the other
hand, software correlators are
also available; they have fast
design cycle, flexible structure
and can provide offline
operations. However for online
computations, they could lack
efficiency due to the high CPU
utilization rate which prevents
their application in high-
throughput FCS experiments. As
a result, FPGA based correlators
providing multiple channels,
high dynamic lag time range
and online operations, are very
promising for highly paralleled
FCS experiments.
A single-channel FPGA based
correlator was firstly designed
employing the multi-tau
algorithm. It features a
maximum lag time of 150 ms
while minimum time bin being
10 ns. This correlator is adopted
to characterize afterpulsing
effect of Single Photon
Avalanche Diodes (SPADs),
whose results are verified by a
commercial correlator. So as to
meet state-of-art standards, lag
time range of the FPGA based
correlator was then extended
upwards to 80 s with minimum
1. (a) Photon detection module integrated with FPGA based correlator; (b) PC interface for intercommunication with the
module and real time display of correlograms.
time bin being 5 ns. This long
lag time correlator is divided
into two parts to maintain
real time display. Apart from
the FPGA based correlators, a
PC based software correlator
exploiting an improved multi-
tau scheme was designed for
offline analysis. The signal trace
for the software correlator
is recorded in photon mode
which counts the time interval
between two pulses. Combining
the FPGA based correlator for
online correlation computation,
with photon mode recording
of the signal traces in FPGA,
and PC interface integrated
with software correlator for
intercommunication and
offline analysis, a complete
single-channel correlator was
developed.
Based on the successful design
of single channel correlators, a
32-channel correlator is then
implemented which is intended
to be directly contained in
a photon detection module
mounted with a 32 1 SPAD
array. The module has a same
FPGA as the one used for
the single-channel design. In
order to fully utilize the limited
FPGA resources, the replication
PhD Yearbook | 2015
383
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scheme for the 32-channel based correlation computation
correlator is redesigned. The with real time display of all the
photon detection module correlograms. The signal track
together with the multi-channel from each SPAD pixel can be
correlator as a compact module stored in PC for offline analysis.
(see Fig. 1) can be applied in According both to literature and
FCS experiments providing commercial products, few of
direct signal detection and them are able to accommodate
analysis path. However, some high number of input channels
inherent features of SPAD arrays, while maintaining large lag
namely afterpulsing and optical time range with low minimum
crosstalk effects, may introduce time bin. Thus this correlator
distortions in the measurement module would be of great
of correlation functions. These interest for high-throughput FCS
limitations are investigated experiments.
to assess their impact on the
module and evaluate possible
workarounds.
In order to further upgrade
the 32-channel correlator and
enable correlation computation
between modules, a standalone
cross-correlator module has
been developed. It employs
larger FPGA, faster data
transfer interface, able to
hold 64-channel FPGA based
cross-correlator with maximum
lag time around 1 min. The
module can connect with two
external photon detection
modules, receiving up to 128
channels of photon counting
signals. The correlator system
can execute instant signal-trace
recording and fast online FPGA 2. 64-channel cross-correlator module
 384
Devices and technologies for large scale
integrated photonics control
Stefano Grillanda - Supervisor: Andrea Melloni
Thanks to its ability in the
generation, manipulation,
and detection of light on-
chip integrated photonics has
been imposing as an enabling
technology in a broad variety
of fields of application, such as
telecom, optical interconnection,
bio-sensing, and quantum
photonics. However, it is widely
believed that the applications
that will really benefit from
the exploitation of integrated
photonic technologies are those
that require the aggregation of
many components into complex
systems-on-chip for the delivery
of advanced functionalities.
Indeed, much technological
effort has been dedicated
to scaling device dimensions
down to the ultimate physical
limit, so that now photonic
platforms like silicon are mature
enough to squeeze thousands
of components into small chips.
Yet, the realization of large-scale
integration circuits performing
complex tasks is still a challenge,
and the result is that the
perspective is still on the device
rather than on the system.
In photonics, as in the
case of electronics, device
miniaturization is not a
direct synonymous of device
integration. In fact, integrated
circuits cannot function properly
without adequate tools to
dynamically steer and hold each
embedded device to the desired
working point, counteracting
functional drifts due to
fluctuations in the environment,
aging effects, mutual crosstalk,
and fault events. Indeed, as the
scale of integration increases the
aforementioned effects become
critical, and consequently
monitoring, control and
stabilization of components is
mandatory. At the same time,
while aggregating several
devices, the power consumption
required by tuning and control
operations should not increase
as well.
This thesis aims to develop
devices and technologies to fill
the existing gaps that prevent
photonic integrated circuits
to move from a single-device
level to a new system-on-chip
paradigm. In this work the
1. Silicon photonics chip hosting several photonic devices and circuits whose
operation is non-invasively monitored and controlled by means of CLIPP
monitors and CMOS electronics.
first non-invasive light detector
was demonstrated in silicon
photonics waveguides. This
transparent light monitor, that
is the ContactLess Integrated
Photonic Probe (CLIPP), exploits
natural absorption effects of
silicon waveguides to monitor
the status of a circuit without
affecting its operation and
without wasting any additional
photon with respect to those
naturally lost by the waveguide.
Thanks to its non-invasive
nature and inherent CMOS
compatibility, many CLIPPs
can be placed in a photonic
circuit, thus enabling multipoint
monitoring of complex devices
and circuits aggregating several
components.
Furthermore, low-power
PhD Yearbook | 2015
385
transparent actuators,
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based on the integration of
photosensitive chalcogenide
glasses with the silicon platform,
were realized to provide
post-fabrication permanent
trimming functionalities,
both for compensation of
fabrication tolerances and circuit
reconfiguration. Athermal and
trimmable silicon waveguides
were developed, in order to
enable simultaneously passive
thermal stabilization and post-
fabrication trimming of silicon
circuits. Also, resiliency of these
devices to high-power induced
thermal effects is shown.
Active stabilization and
feedback control of thermally
actuated silicon resonators was
demonstrated by exploiting
an error signal provided by
the CLIPP monitor integrated
inside the microrings. Advanced
control functionalities such as
wavelength tuning, locking and
swapping were demonstrated.
Finally, advanced functionalities
and concepts, such as
transfer function recovery,
reconfigurability, adaptability
were addressed in high-order
filters and delay lines composed
of several coupled ring
resonators, and by even more
complex integrated circuits,
such as variable symbol-rate
differential phase-shift keying
receivers.
 386
Calibrating a Varying Camera from
Silhouettes and Background
Dong Han - Supervisor: Vincenzo Caglioti
The visual modeling of a
smooth textureless object
is an interesting Computer
Vision research problem
whose applications rang from
prosthetics to custom cloth,
shoe manufacturing and film
industry. The smoothness of
the object makes it difficult to
identify image correspondences,
due to the continuously
varying contour generator as
the camera viewpoint moves.
In addition, using consumer
cameras (e.g., those provided
with tablets or smart phones),
often the auto-focus property
of the device is active letting the
intrinsic camera parameters vary
between acquisitions. Therefore,
traditional camera calibration
methods cannot be applied.
In this thesis, we consider the
scenario (Fig. 1) where a smooth
3D object of unknown shape is
1. camera calibration scenario
observed, against a background by camera motion, camera type
plane with unknown patterns, or the object shape: a plane
by an uncalibrated, moving can provide up to 2 constraints
camera with varying intrinsic on the camera parameters,
parameters. Starting from the therefore only-plane based
acquired images, we address calibration methods cannot
the problem of recovering i) the deal with more than 1 varying
value of the camera intrinsic parameter; only-silhouette based
parameters for each image, calibration requires, in each view
ii) the camera motion and, iii) pair, at least 7 frontier points
the 3D reconstruction of some to exist, which is unrealistic for
points on the object surface. ordinary surfaces. Our algorithm
is based on both silhouette and
We propose a new framework plane and it can be applied to
that could calibrate a fully calibrate a fully varying camera
varying camera from background from ordinary surfaces without
and silhouettes of smooth restricting either the camera
objects, not requiring more motion or type.
than two frontier points per
view-pair. Although it is possible The proposed algorithm is
to calibrate a camera from divided into 3 main steps.
only plane or silhouette, these The epipole positions in each
methods suffers from limited image pair are first estimated
usable information and thus by finding two epipolar lines
their calibration are restricted that are tangent to the object
silhouette with the help of the
plane induced homography.
Consider a smooth object being
observed against a background
plane by two cameras(Fig.2).
The apparent contour (edge of
the silhouette) of the object is
the projection of the contour
generator, which is a 3D curve
consisted of points whose
tangent plane goes through
the camera center. The frontier
point is the intersection between
the two contour generators,
where the tangent plane passes
through both camera centers
(the tangent plane is an epipolar
end to improve stability and
PhD Yearbook | 2015
calibration accuracy.
The proposed algorithm is
tested using both synthetic and
real images. For the synthetic
images, a scene is generated
as shown in the figure,
including a color foreground
object, a moving camera and a 387
background plane with gray-
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level unknown texture. The
moving camera with varying
intrinsic parameters is simulated
using a set of spatially separated
2. Geometric solution for recovering the epipolar geometry
cameras distributed around the
foreground object. To estimate
plane). The tangent plane are the fundamental matrices. the plane induced homography,
intersects background plane A minimal representation of we randomly generate a
at a line and the trace of this the camera matrices in a view sufficient number of 3D points
line on the image planes of triangle is used, where only on the background plane and
the two cameras are a pair of inter-image homographies their images are corrupted
corresponding epipolar tangents, and the epipoles are involved. with various level of Gaussian
the two of which are related by The multiple view projective noise. The average relative error
the plane induced homography. reconstruction is built up on focal length and principal
If we find two frontiers and incrementally using view point with respect to standard
respectively their associated two triangles as the building block. deviation (std. dev.) of Gaussian
pairs of corresponding epipolar Each time a new view is to be noise are obtained as the proof
tangents, the epipoles are added to the set of calibrated for the accuracy and robustness
determined as the intersections views, an optimal view triangle of the proposed algorithm. We
of the two pairs. The process of is built and solved that has the show good calibration accuracy
searching the frontier points is smallest Sampson error. The has been achieved with both
formulated as an optimization calibrated set is then updated relative errors are about 5%
problem where we minimize by adding the new node. when the std. dev. of Gaussian
the distance between the Projective bundle adjustment is noise is around 1 pixel.
tangent line in the second image also performed to prevent error For real image experiments,
mapped by the plane induced accumulation. The above process the images are taken with a
homography and the convex hull is repeated until all the views are mobile phone camera with
of the apparent contour. Two added to the reconstruction. autofocus effect. Two categories
global minima of the objective of experiments are carried out:
function correspond to the two Finally, a flexible self-calibration 1. the intrinsic parameters of
outermost frontier points. algorithm using the absolute the camera are varying due to
dual quadric is employed to auto-focus effect; 2. the focal
The projective reconstruction determine the camera intrinsic length is manually adjusted
of the image sequence is then parameters and to upgrade by zooming in and out. For
robustly computed from the the projective reconstruction both cases, good calibration
estimated epipolar geometry. to metric. Unit aspect ratio accuracies are obtained in terms
A view triangle is the graph and zero skew are used as of re-projection error.
representation of the geometries constraints in self-calibration
in a camera triplet where the and no other constraints are
nodes represent the cameras adopted. Euclidean bundle
and the links between them adjustment is performed at the
388
The Emergence of Diversity in the Adaptive
Dynamics Framework: Theory and Applications
Pietro Landi - Supervisor: Fabio Dercole
Innovation and competition
processes are often identifiable
in science. They are responsible
for evolutionary dynamics
driven by innovative changes
in the characteristics of
individual agents and by
competitive interactions that
promote better performing
ones. Genetic mutations and
natural selection play this role
in biology, but the potential
applicability of the evolution
paradigm can be extended to
social, economic, information
sciences and engineering.
Quantitative approaches to
evolutionary dynamics were
born from genetics and
economic game theory. While
biologists traditionally consider
evolutionary change separated
from the demography of the
interacting populations, game
theorists study the relative
diffusion of a given set of
alternative strategies and the
robustness of the corresponding
equilibria with respect to
invasion from potential dissident.
By contrast, the more recent
approach of Adaptive Dynamics
(AD) takes explicitly into
account both the evolutionary
and the demographic change
and characterizes both the
evolutionary equilibria and
transients and non-stationary
regimes. AD represents a
flexible framework, based on
the hypothesis of rare and
small mutations, for the formal
description of evolution of the
characteristics of the system in
terms of ordinary differential
equations. Diversity increases
in the system each time
competition between innovative
and resident strategies gives
rise to their coexistence
(evolutionary branching),
and reduces when evolution
brings groups of agents
to extinction. Evolutionary
branching is particularly
interesting: in appropriate
conditions, innovative agents
can coexist with resident ones
and their strategies, initially
very similar, can then diverge
generating two resident forms
with different characteristics.
The evolution of this enlarged
system can still bring to the
situation in which evolutionary
branching is possible for
one or both forms of agents
present in the system. Thus,
this succession of evolutionary
branchings brings simple
systems (with few resident
forms) toward more complex
and diversified configurations.
The study of the possible
branching scenarios is then very
interesting in biology (where it
gives an interpretation of the
diversification of species from
a common ancestor), but also
in social sciences, economics,
technology, engineering,
etcetera. Moreover, some
theoretical aspects of branching
are still unstudied. For example,
mathematical conditions under
which branching occurs are
expressed as sign conditions on
appropriate second derivatives
of the competition model, but
theoretical results in critical
cases in which such derivatives
annihilate are not yet available.
Although mathematically non
generic, these situations are
quite common in applications, in
which particular symmetries of
the model bring some derivatives
to annihilate systematically. In
conclusion, the main goal of the
thesis is to focus both on the
analysis of theoretical aspects
of evolutionary branching in
the framework of AD and on
the development of models
to interpret diversification
phenomena in the above
mentioned fields of science.
The thesis is organized as
follows. Chapter 1 is an
introduction on the theory
of evolution, starting from its
history, passing through its
basic elements (mutation and
selection), and closing with the
mathematical approaches to
the study of the evolutionary
dynamics. The concept of
evolutionary diversification
and evolutionary extinction
are also intuitively introduced.
Chapter 2 is dedicated to the
Adaptive Dynamics approach,
the resident-mutant competition
model, the computation of
the invasion fitness, and the
AD canonical equation, that
models the expected long-term
evolution of the phenotypic
traits of the coevolving
community. In chapter 3 we
focus on the emergence of
diversity in the AD framework,
that is, evolutionary branching.
We classify the evolutionary
equilibria with respect to their
convergence and evolutionary
stability, recovering the classical
branching conditions, i.e., the
two mathematical conditions
in terms of second derivatives
of the invasion fitness under
which the system becomes
dimorphic and experience
disruptive selection, thus
increasing its diversity. Chapter
4 is devoted to the study of the
branching bifurcation, namely,
the transition from evolutionary
stability to evolutionary
instability along with the
change in a model parameter.
This bifurcation occurs when
the branching condition ruling
evolutionary stability changes
sign. To study such critical
case, a particular third order
approximation of the invasion
fitness must be computed, and
a novel property of the resident-
mutant competition model
must be exploited in order
to obtain simple and general
results. The case in which the
other branching condition is
critical is more complicated
and is left for future research,
but our theoretical approach
is general and remains valid,
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389
also for further degenerate
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cases (e.g., when both the
branching conditions are
critical). In chapter 5 we develop
a general methodology to study
the evolution of biodiversity
in eco-evolutionary two-
species communities, with an
application to prey-predator
interactions. We then use such
methodology in two fields of
science different from biology.
In chapter 6 we analyze the
possibility that the interplay of
natural and artificial selection
due to fishing could lead to
disruptive selection on exploited
fish stocks. Finally, in chapter
7 we study the evolution of
fashion purely driven by social
interactions, with particular
focus on the emergence of
style diversity, and find out that
different styles can successively
emerge starting from a
single style society. Chapter
8 discusses and summarizes
the achievements of the work
and close up the thesis with
suggestions on extensions and
future research.
390
Model Predictive Control Of Energy
Efficient Buildings In Smart Microgrids
Giancarlo Mantovani - Advisor: Prof. Luca Ferrarini
Summary of the work
This dissertation addresses the
problem of thermal energy
control in the context of large-
sized commercial buildings
characterized by wide open
spaces and containing several
thermal zones i.e. shopping
centers and malls, convention
and congress centers, theatres,
airports, train stations, large
office buildings and so on. With
respect to the residential sector,
buildings in this category present
specific features that make
them particularly suitable for the
achievement of energy reduction
through the implementation
of active efficiency strategies.
In fact, they make an extensive
use of Building Automation
and Control Systems (BACS)
technologies, whose potential
is however largely unexploited
in practice. Second, they have
assets suitable for demand-
response (namely comfort
reduction consequent to
a temporary energy price
reduction), like thermal inertia,
which decouples thermal and
electrical consumption. Finally,
adjacent thermal zones located
in open spaces with high
ceilings are widely coupled
and often affected by a large
amount of internal gains due
to lighting systems, appliances
and occupancy. This often leads
to (1) vertical temperature
stratification, which is one of
the main sources of discomfort
in large commercial buildings,
and to (2) thermal zones
overheating, especially during
winter where the cooling power
is limited. From a control-
oriented perspective, this
means that HVAC actuators are
operated nearby the saturation
boundaries, making the
regulation problem very critical.
In this context, this research
work focuses on the
application of control and
optimization techniques voted
at the reduction of both energy
consumptions and vertical
temperature stratification
employing a model-based
approach. Suitable grey-box
class of models can be tuned
using building physical and use
information (white-box), while
uncertain parameters are tuned
from available measurement
data (black-box). The structure
obtained for the multizone
model is detailed enough to
catch all the relevant dynamics
affecting energy and indoor
comfort performances, and
simple enough to be employed
to tune temperature regulators.
The modeling technique
discussed is applied to an
existing commercial building.
Real data collected by the on-
site BACS is used for tuning
model parameters and validating
the obtained model over a long
period of time (winter season).
The building multizone model
is then used to design and
both classic and advanced
thermal energy controllers,
whose aim is to achieve comfort
improvements in term of
vertical stratification reduction
and energy saving. On the
classic side, PI temperature
decentralized control for each
zone is designed. Then, the
dissertation focuses on advanced
building energy control based on
Model Predictive Control (MPC).
The implemented MPC regulator
addresses notable steps forward
with respect to the state-of-
the-art, such as mathematical
formalisms which allow to deal
with the non-linear behavior of
thermal actuators in common
Heating, Ventilation and Air
Conditioning plants (HVAC),
to achieve a suitable degree of
robustness for operating under
real and uncertain conditions
and to be able to shape and
curtail the load according the
specific context of operation. In
addition, particular emphasis is
put on model robustness with
respect to disturbance inputs
(such as internal gains, solar
radiation, non-manipulable
HVAC loads, occupancy), whose
value in the future is hardly
predictable. For this reason the
building MPC is equipped with
a Kalman filter which improves
system robustness with respect
to unknown disturbances and
model errors.
The implementation of advanced
control strategies for thermal
energy control shows the
potential to make a further
step forward, which targets the
integration of smart buildings
in a more complex scheme that
involves many other actors. For
this reason, the second part
of this work aims at studying
the management and control
of microgrids which include
a large smart commercial
building, generation from
Renewable Energy Sources
(RES) and a battery as electrical
Energy Storage System (ESS).
The microgrid system analysis,
modeling, design and simulation
is addressed in detail still paying
attention to real world operating
conditions, system non-linearities
and the possibility to pursue
different control objectives using
the same control architecture.
Specifically, the solution here
proposed for the control of the
smart microgrid above described
is the adoption of a distributed
control framework, where the
previously presented building
MPC operates the HVAC plants
in a flexible way (to better
follow RES production or to deal
with transmission problems)
and interacts with a second
MPC which controls the ESS
power flow, so as to minimize
the overall operating costs,
to maximize the exploitation
of RES and to serve building
needs in terms of thermal
comfort, ensuring sustainability
with minimum side effects.
An intense insight in real
system and components and
also a significant experimental
testing on a real microgrid have
been carried out in order to
evaluate the capabilities of this
architecture in a reliable manner,
pointing out advantages and
limitations of an actual on-field
implementation.
Main results obtained
1. Along with all relevant
phenomena, the building
thermal modeling framework
presented takes into account
the vertical temperature
stratification among adjacent
thermal zones. Model validity
is enforced by tuning and
validation phases carried
out over real measurement
data of an existing shopping
center. The final results
show an accuracy of about
0.5C in simulating the zone
temperatures and a monthly
energy consumption error
below 1%.
2. The thermal model is simple
enough to be used for the
design of both classic and
advanced controllers for the
control of vertical temperature
stratification. Novelty is
provided in the mathematical
formulation of the MPC
controller, which separates
positive and negative values
of thermal power in order
to account for different
operating costs of heating
and cooling. Simulation results
show that the MPC decreases
monthly energy consumptions
of 4.5%, without any change
to the HVAC plants and a
reduction of more than 60%
in stratification with cooling
actuators in place.
3. The developed controllers is
able to deal with real world
limitations of HVAC plants.
Particular emphasis is put on
strategies for the consistent
compensation of actuators
non-linearities directly into
the MPC, employing variable
hard constraints specific of the
current operating conditions
and updated at each time
step. The result is an increase
of the heating and cooling
capacity of HVAC actuators
PhD Yearbook | 2015
up to 25%, with respect
to the case with fixed hard
constraints.
4. The distributed energy control
paradigm here proposed is
an innovative strategy to deal
with the control of smart
microgrids composed by
smart buildings, wind or PV 391
RES and a battery as ESS. Two
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separated controllers interact
in order to minimize the
overall energy expenditure,
taking into account different
pricing schemas for buying
and selling electrical energy,
penalties due to load
imbalance, battery non-
linear efficiency, load limited
flexibility and non-perfect
renewable power prediction.
The final results show that
over a period of one month
the presented architecture
saves costs up to 63% with
respect to the same scenario
managed without an ESS.
5. The system is extensively
tested both in simulation
and on an appropriate
experimental setting,
controlling a microgrid with
a real vanadium battery as
energy storage system, an
existing 10kW wind turbine
and a resistive load to simulate
the building consumption
(Syslab microgrid at RIS
DTU, Denmark). The control
architecture proves to be
flexible enough to prosecute
very different tasks, while
keeping a standard and
scalable mathematical
formalism.
 392
Techniques for High-Efficiency Digital
Frequency Synthesis
Giovanni Marucci - Advisor: Prof. Carlo Samori
The evolution of modern
wireless standards poses
stringent noise specifications
to the design of frequency
synthesizers for high-data-rate
communication systems, limiting
tolerable jitter and spurs level.
Moreover, such performance
must be provided at low power
consumption and small area, in
order to meet the requirements
for mobile applications and
battery powered systems at low
cost and high integration level.
Therefore, the key challenge
in frequency generation is
the design of high-efficiency
synthesizers (i.e. with low jitter
at low power), and it is generally
tackled relying on fractional-N
phase-locked loops (PLLs) with
LC oscillators, due to their
better noise/power compromise
with respect to ring oscillators.
However, the analog content of
LC-based PLLs do not benefit
from technology scaling and
prevents their design from
easily fitting into a typical digital
design flow. In this framework,
we present a high-efficiency
frequency synthesizer based
on a fractional-N digital PLL
with a ring oscillator. Minimum
jitter is obtained developing
a comprehensive analysis of
noise in digital PLLs, specifically
focusing on architectures with
single-bit phase detector, which
are the most promising in terms
of efficiency. However, the
coarse quantization of phase
PhD Yearbook | 2015
393
error makes these systems prone
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to the generation of limit cycles
appearing as unwanted spurs in
the spectrum. The random noise
contributed by building blocks
can eliminate those spurs acting
as dithering signal, without
the addition of extra noise. A
closed-form expression of the
total output jitter as a function
of loop parameters and noise
sources is developed, which
suggests a design strategy for
noise minimization. Yet the
lowest achievable value for the
jitter ultimately depends on the
noise of the oscillator, which is
considerably high in the case
for ring oscillators. An effective
way to significantly reduce it,
without increasing appreciably
power consumption, is to rely on
the concept of injection locking,
but unfortunately its application
has been so far bounded to
integer-N synthesis, preventing
the introduction of inductorless
frequency synthesizers into
standardized wireless systems.
With this aim, we propose
a technique to enable fine
fractional-N resolution in
injection-locked PLLs that
allowed us to reach the best
power/noise trade-off among
published fractional-N digital
frequency synthesizers without
integrated inductors.
394
Development of high performance
multichannel systems for Time-Correlated
Single-Photon Counting applications
Luca Miari - Supervisor: Ivan Rech
In recent years, the interest of
many research fields in non-
invasive optical analysis has
rapidly grown. In particular,
studies performed in biology
and chemistry have found
increasing benefits from the
development of systems able
to perform single-photon
measurements, since they push
the sensitivity of the analysis to
ultra-low intensity levels and
to ultra-fast evolving signals.
These sensitivities are achieved
thanks to the employment of
single-photon detectors and
timing acquisition chains. The
Time-Correlated Single-Photon
Counting is one of the leading
techniques on which many
others rely on: Fluorescence
Lifetime Imaging Microscopy
(FLIM), Frster Resonance Energy
Transfer (FRET), and Fluorescence
Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS)
are just a non-exhaustive list of
them.
The TCSPC technique consists in
the repetitive laser stimulation
of a sample, recording each
time the delay between the
stimulating laser pulse and the
pulse coming from the photon
emitted by the sample and
captured by the detector. After
several photons it is possible to
build a histogram that represents
the original waveform of the
light signal, since the probability
distribution of the photon delays
corresponds to the intensity of
the light signal.
The necessity of a repetitive
measurement inherently asks for
a high count rate instrument:
the higher, the shorter the total
measurement time. Besides,
other specifications concern the
linearity, which is a fundamental
feature to define the shape of
the signal without distortions,
and the time resolution, that
characterizes the ability of
the system to resolve very fast
signals. However, applications
are pushing the instruments
to expand their number of
channels, since this will reduce
the total measurement time,
opening also the way to
many new kind of analysis.
Time-resolved imaging and
simultaneous spectrally resolved
analysis are just examples of
these new possibilties.
Regretfully, a strong trade-off
exists between performance and
number of channels in TCSPC
systems: applications are forced
to choose between instruments
with many channels but poor
performance or single channel
instruments with state-of-the-
art performance. Aim of the
researchers is the development
of high performance
multichannel TCSPC instruments
that will break this trade-off.
In particular, this thesis work is
devoted to find solutions to the
system part of the instrument:
the management of the
incoming data, their on-board
storage, and their transfer
towards a remote computer.
Initially, the work has focused
on the application of a
48-channel Detection System
to a setup design to perform
single-molecule FRET analysis.
The system, already designed,
was featuring a 124 matrix
of Single Photon Avalanche
Diodes (SPADs) and a Field
Programmable Gate Array
(FPGA) as its logic core. Its
firmware, instead, has been
designed to perform a time-
stamping measurement on the
incoming photons, in order to
provide to the software raw data
to compute the FRET efficiency.
A 100MHz clock has been used
to stamp the incoming data, and
forty-eight parallel First-In First-
Out memories (FIFO) have been
implemented as buffers between
incoming data and downloaded
ones. By optimizing the transfer
process, a download rate of
20MBps has been achieved,
which means an average count
rate of 100kcps on every SPAD,
enough to perform the analysis.
This work has been useful
to evaluate on the field the
necessity of multichannel
instruments, thus a
1024-channel high performance
system has been ideated in the
research group. The increase of
the number of channels carries
many problems: the detector
matrix and the acquisition logic
are just some of them, as well
as the dimensions of the system
and its power consumption.
Nevertheless, the technological
limit today present is the data
rate that can be managed
on-board and transferred
towards the computer. Fast
protocols available for compact
instruments do not provide a
transfer rate far greater than
10Gbps, which means that
the number of acquisition
channels that can be properly
handled is a few tens. A
64-channel acquisition system
has been chosen as the target;
a router will multiplex all the
detection channels on these
acquisition chains. To further
reduce on-board complexity,
but also dimensions and power
dissipation, two twin 32-channel
Acquisition Boards have been
designed. They will exploit the
TAC-ADC structure (acronym for
Time-to-Amplitude Converter
and Analog-to-Digital Converter)
since it is the one that provides
the best performance, especially
in terms of linearity. The FPGA
that receives the ADC data
is in charge for creating the
histograms, but an external
on-board memory is necessary
to store all of them. Provided the
complexity of the system and its
novelty in the research group, a
Demoboard has been designed
to test the performance of the
full structure.
Once the data have to be
sent out from the system, a
section that gathers the two
PhD Yearbook | 2015
395
streams and implements a fast employed architecture, as well as
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communication channel towards the whole instrument.
the computer is necessary.
After the study of the different
protocols available on the
market, two of them have been
chosen to be implemented,
in particular the SuperSpeed
USB 3.0 and the 10-Gigabit
Ethernet over optical fiber. They
have been successfully tested
on evaluation boards and then
implemented on a specific
Data Management Board, that
mounts another FPGA to handle
the logic operations. 1. Rendering of the 1024-channel
To validate the performance system, final purpose of the work
of these new kind of systems, where this project has been inserted
specific multichannel
instruments are required. A
multichannel pulse generator
is necessary to provide the
input signal to all the TCSPC
chains, but none of the today
commercially available one
satisfies all the specifications.
Thus, an 8-channel Pulse
Generator has been designed
as a test instrument for these
systems. A 2-channel Module is
the base block of the generator:
after choosing the input signal
between an on-board reference
and an external trigger, a delayer
loop delays the reference edge
and a fast output transistor
stage generates the output.
This structure reaches a time
resolution of 6ps when no delay
is added, worsening to 20ps
for a 1s delay. Both results are
remarkable and this validates the
396
Study of A Day-0 Front-end solution For The
DSSC Detector of The European X-Ray Free
Electron Laser
Bayan Nasri - Supervisor: Prof. Carlo E. Fiorini - Tutor: Prof. Angelo Geraci
In this Doctoral dissertation, the
design, realization and testing
of a new front-end for the DSSC
project has been discussed. The
Day-0 solution as an alternative
approach to DEPFET sensor
scheme has been demonstrated
through both analytical
evaluation and experimental
characterization. The proposed
front-end takes advantage of the
simple implementation inside
the same ASIC chip and produce
the compression behavior by
using a resistor (fixed value in
the first approach and variable
one in the improved version)
in series with the transistor. In
this thesis, new Day-0 solution
was discussed in a way to keep
the same filter as it is in DEPFET
sensor scheme.
For the European XFEL, there
are several imagers under
development for the X-ray
photon detections, including
single-point, 1-D and 2-D
detectors. As one of the 2-D
imagers, the DSSC project aims
to provide wide energy coverage
with single photon detection
capability thanks to its very low
noise. To achieve this result a
novel detector structure with
a compressive characteristic
based on the DEPFET concept is
under development by the DSSC
consortium. The high gain for
small collected charge and the
compression for large signals will
provide both desired features
of single photon detection
capability and wide dynamic
range.
In spite of its capability in
high dynamic range and
low noise performance, the
manufacturing of the DEPFET
sensor needs a sophisticated
processing technology which
requires relatively long
manufacturing time. According
to the mentioned complexity,
it was evaluated to have an
alternative sensor matrix, with
its corresponding front-end, as
Day-0 solution. A Day-0 solution
is here intended as a solution
characterized not by the best
performance of the DEPFET,
but available in a shorter time
to allow first beam tests and
experiments. The alternative
sensor is made of mini Silicon
Drift Detector (mini-SDD) and
the compression behavior is
obtained from the front-end on
the readout ASIC and not by the
silicon sensor, as in the DEPFET.
In the Day-0 solution, the
DEPFET is removed and replaced
still by a PMOSFET transistor,
but now belonging to the ASIC
chip and realized with the
same IBM technology of the
following stages of the ASIC.
The PMOSFET is designed in a
way to provide low noise and
a compression characteristic
close to the one of the DEPFET-
based solution. In fact, this
alternative front-end input
stage should still provide a
non-linear amplification of the
detected signal. Accordingly, the
replacement of the DEPFET with
this stage should keep as much
as possible equal the following
architecture adopted for the
processing electronics.
The proof-of-principle of the
Day-0 solution has been verified
in a first prototype. Using
the prototype with a Silicon
Drift Detector (SDD), X-ray
measurements have been carried
out to assess the electronics noise
performances which are in line
with the theoretical expectations.
After the confirmation of the
performance, a conservative
design of the Day-0 solution
has been implemented in the F1
chip as the first full size matrix
chip. The F1 chip comprises two
different front-ends suitable
for two different sensor types:
it can be mated to either a
DEPFET sensor matrix which itself
compresses the input signal or
to an SDD sensor as the Day-0
solution.
An improved version of the Day-
0 front-end was investigated
to improve the dynamic range
of the front-end and its noise
performance. In this design,
the nonlinear transconductance
of the amplifying PMOS has
been enhanced by statically
switchable parallel devices and
a non-linear capacitor has been
added. Moreover, the resistor
in the first version of the Day-
0 front-end is replaced by a
NMOSFET as a variable resistor.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
397
In the improved version of the
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Day-0 front-end, more than
2800 photons at 1keV can be
allocated within the dynamic
range of the ADC based on the
compression behavior of the
front-end.
In conclusion, the Day-0 solution
as an alternative approach to
DEPFET sensor in the DSSC
project has been demonstrated
through both analytical
evaluation and experimental
characterization. Although the
DEPFET approach has a very
good noise performance, but
in the improved version of the
Day-0 front-end, the noise
performance has been improved
as close as possible to the
DEPFET approach. In the frame
rate of 4.5MHz, the total noise
of the DEPFET approach is about
42 el r.m.s while it is about 66 el
r.m.s in the Day-0 solution, and
in the 0.9MHz frame rate the
electronics noise is about 12 el
r.m.s for the DEPFET approach
and 23 el r.m.s for the Day-0
solution. The dynamic range
of the improved version of the
Day-0 front-end can be matched
with the dynamic range of the
ADC in 1keV photons energy as
the target photon energy one.
Also in other photon energy
ranges, the dynamic range
of the Day-0 front-end can
be tuned due to its flexibility
of compression behavior
introduced by extra parallel
branches.
398
Analysis and Design of Energy-Oriented
Driving Assistance Systems
Carlo Ongini - Supervisor: Prof. Sergio M. Savaresi
The growth of oil price, the
congestion of urban areas and
the increased sensibility for
environmental problems brought
scientists and companies to
invest significant resources
on improving the energy
efficiency of the transport
sector. Nowadays, one of the
major environmental problems
is air pollution deriving from
the transport sector, and road
transport alone is expected to
be the largest contributor to
anthropogenic climate forcing
in 2020.
The devising of more efficient
vehicles (e.g., improved
control systems, aerodynamics,
powertrain and engine design),
the usage of alternative energy
sources and fuels (e.g., electric
and hybrid vehicles), and the
deployment of Intelligent
Transportation Systems (ITS)
applications are solutions for the
decarbonization of the sector.
Intelligent technologies are
therefore playing an increasingly
important role in the drive for
green innovation. Especially, the
development of energy-oriented
Driving Assistance Systems
opens the perspective towards a
new model of ITS, which can be
referred as Green ITS, and aims
at conceiving applications and
services specifically designed to
reduce energy consumption and
polluting emissions.
Vehicles energy consumption
depends upon different
influential factors, as vehicle
characteristics (e.g., weight,
engine power, aerodynamic
drag), network condition (e.g.,
traffic flow, congestion), road
characteristics (e.g., slope and
topology), external conditions
(e.g., weather and temperature)
and driver behavior which
impacts on vehicle dynamics
(e.g., speed, acceleration, gear
choice). In particular, the driving
style has a huge impact on
vehicles energy consumption.
Various research results showed
that improvements in the driving
style provide direct savings
from 5% up to 40% of the
total energy expenses as well as
reductions in air pollution.
Within this interesting and
evolving context, this Thesis
proposes a couple of green ITS
applications with the aim of
proposing innovative solutions
tailored to fuel-consumption
optimization through the
improvement of the driver
behavior. In particular, the main
objective is to design energy-
oriented, vehicle-independent
and passive systems aimed at
influencing the driver behavior
and promoting a fuel-efficient
driving.
First, we present a system
able to assess in real-time the
driving style. The system is fully
integrated in a smartphone
application that acquires the
signals related to the vehicle
dynamics (e.g., velocity and
acceleration) and computes
three power-related indexes. The
smartphone application provides
feedback to the driver in order
to induce a change in her driving
style, which in turns should
enable the energy savings. The
interaction between driver and
system is achieved through
different Human-Machine-
Interfaces (HMIs). Differently
from existing studies, we design
a vehicle-independent system
that requires just few parameters
without any connection to
the vehicle CAN-bus or OBD-
interface.
Furthermore, the driving style
application has been integrated
in a real scenario. We developed
a vehicle-to-infrastructure
(V2I) architecture as a part
of the Green Move project,
an innovative Electric-Vehicle
Sharing System. Thanks to
this platform, the driving style
application can be dynamically
loaded and unloaded on vehicles
of the vehicle-sharing service.
The application computes
a quantitative estimation of
the driving style of a vehicle-
sharing user, communicates this
information to a control center,
and displays it to the driver. Thus,
feedback is provided to the user
to nudge her to adopt a more
economical driving style, whereas
the control center can use this
information to make appropriate
enhancements to its service or to
provide additional features.
Finally, in this Thesis we propose
a method and the related road
infrastructure aiming at reducing
the energy consumption of
vehicles driving along roads
controlled by traffic lights. An
algorithm has been conceived
for computing energy-optimal
speed profiles to drive along
a road taking into account a
set of constraints (e.g., speed
limits, traffic light rules). A
road-marking infrastructure
continuously suggests the
optimal velocity the driver should
adopt in order to minimize fuel
consumption.
Main Contributions
The main contributions of this
Thesis can be summarized as
follows:
A novel method for the
energy-oriented, quantitative
estimation of the driving style
is presented. An important
innovative contribution is
given by the definition of three
power-related indexes for
evaluating the instantaneous
driver performances. To the
best of authors knowledge,
existing systems foremost focus
on the qualitative classification
of the driver behavior, usually
limited to a finite set of
discrete labels. Moreover, they
are vehicle-dependent, in
that they were developed for
specific vehicle models. Thus,
the approaches are hardly
reusable and require dedicated
electronic equipment.
Differently from existing
studies, we design a vehicle-
independent system that
requires just few parameters
without any connection to
the vehicle communication
interfaces.
An experimental validation
of the driving-style systems
is given. The effectiveness of
the approach, and the savings
enabled by the interaction with
the driver are assessed with an
experimental campaign carried
out on urban and extra-urban
routes by different drivers.
Experimental results prove
that the proposed driving style
system reduce the vehicle
consumption up to 30%.
A questionnaire proposed
to the volunteers evaluates
the different user interfaces
designed for the driving style
application.
The driving style system
has been applied in a real
scenario. We introduce a
V2I/I2V system, in which the
driving style application has
been integrated. The V2I/
I2V framework is the main
component of the electric
vehicle-sharing project named
Green Move, a three-years
project co-financed by Regione
Lombardia and developed
in the city of Milan. Within
the Green Move project,
we developed a prototype
platform that:
PhD Yearbook | 2015
399
provides an electronic device
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
and its hardware/software
interface, which allows
the system to interact with
a heterogeneous fleet of
electric vehicles in a uniform
way;
relies on mobile devices to
let users access and interact
with the system (e.g. take
possession/release a reserved
vehicle, open/close its doors,
enable/disable the drive);
offers an infrastructure to
customize the software
configuration of vehicles
by pushing new services,
thus realizing a platform
which allows services and
user-defined applications to
be dynamically loaded and
unloaded on vehicles.
An energy-oriented roadside
assistance system for signalized
intersections is presented. We
propose a novel algorithm
that determines the energy-
optimal speed to pass a road
with signalized intersections.
Based on the knowledge
of Signal Phase and Timing
(SPAT) and road information,
an off-line velocity planning
algorithm determines the
optimal trajectory in terms
of energy consumption. The
method explicitly considers the
consumed energy as figure
of merit to be minimized and
solves a specific optimal control
problem that considers the
traffic lights as constraints.
400

SUNDROPS: SEMANTIC AND DYNAMIC DATA IN A derivation of context-aware data extensions of the system. analysis,only the most frequent

PhD Yearbook | 2015

and preferences.
PERVASIVE SYSTEM While the original Context-
ADDICT platform deals only
with static data stored in data
sources, its new revisitation
and extension has to manage
Emanuele Panigati - Supervisor: Letizia Tanca dynamic data coming from
pervasive sources (sensors
and sensor networks, social
Nowadays people are MREClaT, a Map-Reduce current context. Context- networks), considering also
The system execution flows can
be split into two main sub-flows:
A pull-based flow in which
the system answers the users
specific requests
A push-based flow in
which the system provides
information to the user only
evaluating the context, without
having received any specific
operations that a user performs
in a context in order keep track
of hers habits are considered.
This frequent itemset mining
task is eased by MR-miner that,
applying the MREClaT algorithm
that allows to analyze in parallel
(adopting the MapReduce
paradigm) the large amount 401
of data flowing to the system,

surrounded by a high quantity
of data, coming in different
and heterogeneus formats.
However, humans cannot exploit
the whole power of this data
without appropriate aid of
digital means. The SuNDroPS
system (Semantic and dyNamic
Data in a Pervasive System) aims
at supporting (mobile) users
with a context-aware approach,
allowing them to consider only a
small set of data, automatically
selected by the system itself
according to their current
context and interests. Part of
this data (e.g. user data, service
data) is stored in traditional
information systems e.g.
supported by RDBMSs while
a large part of them dynamic
data that come e.g. from
sensors or system logs need to
be treated as data streams and
dealt with in the appropriate
way with while integrating
them with the other data.
This problem requires research
beyond the current state-of-the-
art.
The SuNDroPS system stems
from the Context-ADDICT
(Context-Aware Data Design,
Integration, Customization and
Tailoring) system and adds new
features to manage high loads
of dynamic, sensor-coming data,
seamlessly combining them with
the more traditional information.
Moreover, SuNDroPS includes
the new data mining algorithm
variant of the EClaT algorithm
allowing the system to reduce
the processing time required to
perform the frequent itemset
mining task. This feature adds
a useful functionality allowing
the extraction of previously
unknown knowledge from the
data flowing in the system.
Context-ADDICT Revisited
The main goal of Context-
ADDICT and SuNDroPS is
to create a middleware
infrastructure to support the
design and development of
context-aware data-intensive
applications. The focus is on
mobile, possibly peer-to-peer
applications, where the notion
of context can be exploited
to provide the user with a
filtered view over the data,
retrieving only the information
relevant to the users in their
ADDICT was conceived almost
a decade ago, and was based
on a methodology for context-
aware system design where
the context must be explicitly
declared. With SuNDroPS,
the injection of context is
transparent to the user and to
the application: the current user
context can be inferred from
sensor readings and the data
corresponding to each context
can be automatically assigned by
mining historical data by means
of the designed, efficient data
mining algorithm.
SunDRoPS has several
components, some of which
inherited from the Context-
ADDICT system: the core of the
system is still built upon the core
modules of Context-ADDICT; in
addition, SuNDroPS interfaces
two more components that
allow to handle sensor data
and WSNs (Wireless Sensors
Networks): TRex and PerLa.
These new modules enrich the
set of datasources that can
be managed by the system,
allowing it to manage events
streams, datastreams and WSNs.
For all the data mining activities
SunDRoPS provides the new
data mining component,
MR-Miner, that implements
MREClaT. The output of MR-
Miner is then used as input
by the Run-Time Context and
Preference Manager, allowing
it to speed up the automatic
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
that these data carry intrinsic request or query. once stored in order to allow its
temporal information that In the first case, the system historical analysis.
might be helpful in context simply acts as the original
management. Context-ADDICT system does This work aims at building a
The main difference between answering incoming requests real-life system based on the
Context-ADDICT and SunDRoPS , while in the second case the above technologies, plunging
lies in the sensor data handling: system continously uses and more deeply into some aspects
while the first is based on a analyzes the information flowing which remain to be investigated
static and predefined sets of through the sensors and checks like semantic data stream
context and each transition must if it is necessary to send new processing and cloud-based data
be notified by the user herself information to the user. mining algorithms. Prototypes of
(or by an application running All the modules operate using (parts of) the system have been
on the user device), SunDRoPS a push paradigm (there is no produced, within the application
instead can (at least partially) module pulling information from domains of car-sharing services
automatically determine which other ones, every module listens and support for citizens mobility
is the running context of the for new data or commands); this in the Green Move project for
user and/or of the system, on requires a bit more bandwith electrical car sharing,
the basis of the environmental consumption but this ensures
gathered data. a more reactive behavior of the
The problem of seamlessy system.
switch context is quite on the
cutting edge of the technology MR-Miner
nowadays. Lots of different Another problem is how to
services provides context- manage all the historical
oriented components (primarily data about user preferences
location-based context). The and past contexts in order to
SunDRoPS system empowers extract information to be used
this contextualization allowing in the future for refining the
to use more data other than information to be sent to the
the location ones, providing a user. The Run-Time Context and
framework that can be adopted Preference Manager module
in very different scenarios, aims at performing this task.
both in indoor (e.g. museums) The module operate an
or outdoor (e.g. emergency advanced personalization of the
situation management) user current context choosing
applications. which are the information that
best fit the user needs, analyzing
PerLa and TRex the whole user transaction
PerLa and TRex modules run log. Since the log can be take
both as standard query wrappers very long time to be processed
and as environmental sensing in order to speed up its
 402
Impact of few-electron phenomena on the
operation and reliability of nanoscale
Flash memories
Giovanni Paolucci - Supervisor: Alessandro Sottocornola Spinelli
1. Cross section of a state-of-
the-art NAND array (IMFT 20 nm
technology) along the word-line
direction.
The research work is focused
on the emerging constraints
to NAND Flash operation
and reliability dictated by the
granularity of electric charge
in the gate stack. Progressive
cell miniaturization entails that
cell electrostatics and, in turn,
cell threshold voltage (VT), is
ruled by an extremely reduced
number of electrons, therefore
pushing the Flash cell to work
in a few-electron regime. This
has two main consequences.
First, the VT displacement (VT)
caused by the emission or the
injection of a single charge in
the gate stack (either the tunnel-
oxide, the floating-gate or the
interpoly dielectric) became so
relevant that it can be clearly
detected by using adequate
experimental procedures.
Second, the stochastic nature
of the charging/discharging
phenomena is way more evident
than in the past: statistical
fluctuations in the number
of charges, in fact, play a
significant role when such
number reduces due to cell
shrinking (Figure 1 provides an
example of an extremely scaled
Flash NAND technology). Also,
when charges are trapped in
the tunnel-oxide or in the IPD,
additional quantities subject to
statistical dispersion are the time
constants of the the capture/
release events and the VT
following each of the events.
The Ph.D. thesis extensively
analyzes both of the previous
points for two of the main
phenomena ruling the behavior
of modern Flash cells, i.e.
charge detrapping and electron
injection into the floating-
gate via Fowler-Nordheim
tunneling. In both cases the
analysis started from a careful
experimental characterization,
which, thanks to the use of
clever methodologies, allowed
to determine for the first time
the discrete, statistical nature
of the phenomena. After that,
starting from relatively simple
assumptions on cell physics,
new semi-analytic stochastic
models were developed, based
on a small number of free
parameters. The aim of the
models is to provide a useful
tool to investigate how few-
electron phenomena affect cell
VT and evaluate their role along
the lifetime of a modern Flash
device.
The impact of the research
activity was recognized both
by the semiconductor industry
and the scientific community, as
the main results achieved in this
field were awarded at the IEEE
International Physics Reliability
Symposium (IRPS) both in 2013
and 2014.
The use of clever experimental
procedures enabled the first
direct observation of single-
electron detrapping in NAND
Flash arrays. Results revealed a
significant statistical dispersion
of the number of trapped
charges, of the detrapping
time and of the single-electron
VT. Starting from these
observations, the phenomenon
was then re-examined from
a discrete, statistical point of
view, showing that in the most
interesting case where the
number of trapped electrons
feeding the detrapping process
is Poisson distributed among the
cells, detrapping events are the
result of a nonhomogeneous
Poisson process and a simple
and powerful formula allows
the calculation of the full VT
statistics without the need to
resort to lengthy Monte Carlo
simulations. Also, the important
assumption was done that the
detrapping time constant takes
on a wide distribution on the
logarithmic time axis, leading
to the definition of an average
spectral density of trapped
electrons. The interaction
of detrapping with random
telegraph noise (RTN) was also
highlighted, showing that the
VT instabilities resulting from the
latter process cannot be ignored
for a meaningful comparison
with data, and that they
can easily be included in the
simulations.
The results, which can be
applied also to different
reliability phenomena involving
charge trapping/detrapping
in MOS devices, paved the
way to the development of a
comprehensive statistical model
able to deal with VT instabilities
under whatever on-field usage
of the memory array. To this
aim, not only retention/bake
conditions, but also the cycling
conditions, i.e. the number of
P/E cycles, together with the
duration and the temperature
of the idle periods in-between,
were considered, exploiting the
idea that the average spectral
density of trapped electrons
can be calculated according to
the cycling pattern. The model
can accurately reproduce the
experimental data (an example
is shown in Figure 2) and was
used to discuss the accuracy
of some testing schemes
commonly adopted for the
assessment of NAND device
reliability.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
403
injected electrons constitutes a
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
relevant source of program noise
(PN), setting the ultimate limit to
the accuracy of the VT placement
of decananometer Flash cells.
In conclusion, the research
activity provided the physical
understanding, the modeling
tools and the characterization
2. Measured and calculated VT techniques required to
distributions of a cycled Flash NAND investigate the programming
array during a high temperature accuracy and the reliability of
bake emulating a data retention time
stretch. extremely scaled Flash memory
technologies, highlighting the
dominance of few-electron
Single-electron charging of the phenomena on cell operation.
floating-gate during Fowler- In this sense, the work provides
Nordheim programming of a a valid reference for further
mainstream Flash memory cell developing the Flash concept,
could be detected for the first pushing it towards the single-
time by using simple averaging electron limit.
techniques on a state-of-the-
art NAND Flash array. The VT
corresponding to an injection
event is fixed and depends
only on the capacitance of cell
IPD, differently from the case
of single-electron detrapping
where the VT shift is statistically
distributed. Nevertheless, the
injection process is of statistical
nature, and the number of
electrons injected during a
programming pulse of amplitude
Vs is approximately Poisson
distributed for small values
of Vs, while it it takes on a
sub-Poissonian distribution at
higher Vs, as shown by extensive
experimental characterization.
In either case, the spread
associated to the number of
 404
Design Space Exploration of OpenCL
Applications on Heterogeneous Parallel
Platforms
Edoardo Paone - Supervisor: Cristina Silvano
Multi-core processors are
widely used in modern
computing platforms, both
in the embedded and High-
Performance Computing
(HPC) domains. Recently, also
GPUs have been used for
general purpose computing, to
accelerate compute-intensive
kernels of throughput-oriented
applications. However, these
platforms expose different
programmability complexities:
while general purpose multi-
core CPUs provide good
code portability on a small
number of compute units, GPU
architectures achieve much
higher throughput but require
more specialized application
code (see Fig. 1). In between,
there is a wide range of
platforms with different trade-
offs between programmability
and computational parallelism,
as well as GFLOPS/Watt
1. Trade-off between programmability and computational parallelism for multi-
core platforms.
efficiency.
This thesis targets the multi- and
many-core platform domain,
ranging from HPC to embedded
systems. While these two
worlds are still quite different in
terms of computational power,
recent years have witnessed
a convergence of parallel
architectures and programming
paradigms. Today platform
vendors are adopting OpenCL,
a cross-platform API, to exploit
the computational parallelism
of modern accelerators while
enabling functional portability of
applications. For the application
domain (see Fig. 2), we target
stream processing applications,
such as applications for smart
cameras and augmented reality.
The main contribution is about
customization and optimization
of OpenCL applications. It
addresses one limitation of
the OpenCL programming
paradigm, namely the tight
dependence of application
performance on platform
architectural details. Although
the OpenCL API is cross-platform
and generic enough to enable
programming of different types
of accelerators, customization of
software parameters is necessary
to achieve good performance
when porting applications
to the target platform. This
problem is exacerbated by
the intrinsic heterogeneity of
modern computing platforms,
which usually include several
accelerators of different type.
At this aim, an optimization
methodology is proposed, based
on customization of a parametric
OpenCL application design. The
methodology exploits Design
Space Exploration (DSE) to
identify the optimal solutions,
with respect to multiple design
objectives such as throughput
or Quality of Service (QoS). The
integration with the Multi-
Objective System Tuner (MOST)
framework allows to automate
the DSE process and to
implement advanced exploration
strategies. On the one hand, the
proposed techniques reduce the
exploration time on simulation
platforms while providing
close-to-optimal solutions; on
the other hand, they exploit
platform-specific constraints to
prune out unfeasible solutions
from the design space.
to optimize the overall average
system performance. By
applying techniques of software
approximate computing, an
application can be designed to
expose tunable parameters that
trade off the output quality with
throughput. In our approach,
DSE is used to identify the
parameter configurations
called operating points that
provide the optimal trade-offs
2. Application and platform domain of with respect to throughput,
the proposed methodology. output quality and resource
usage. In turn, this knowledge
Another contribution of this base allows implementing
thesis deals with resource performance-aware scheduling
sharing in multi-application and effective application auto-
scenarios. This type of tuning, by reducing the decision
parallelism referred to as space at run-time.
request-level parallelism is As shown in Fig. 3, each
enabled by the increasing application is linked to a library
number of cores integrated in that provides an Application-
the same chip. The proposed Specific Run-Time Manager
run-time management technique (AS-RTM). The main purpose
allows accounting for dynamic of the AS-RTM is to manage
application requirements and application adaptivity by
workload variations, in order monitoring the performance
3. Application adaptivity through the Application-Specific Run-Time Manager
(AS-RTM).
PhD Yearbook | 2015
405
metrics and by tuning the
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application parameters at run-
time. The AS-RTM is generic, but
its behavior can be customized
for each application by passing a
different list of operating points.
It also allows defining one or
more application goals, which
represent soft constraints on the
performance metrics (e.g. the
frame-rate or QoS). Experimental
results show a better average
performance with respect to a
plain Linux configuration and,
at the same time, a significant
improvement of performance
predictability.
The proposed design
methodology and runtime
software layer have been
implemented and demonstrated
on a real case study an
OpenCL stereo-matching
application targeting different
industrial platforms. Some of
the outcomes of this thesis
have been used within the
2PARMA FP7 European project
and implemented in official
prototypes delivered to the
project consortium.
406

A prompt gamma camera for real-time tests of a reduced-size prototype and showed good agreement. compact superconducting

PhD Yearbook | 2015

range control in proton therapy
Irene Perali - Supervisor: Carlo Fiorini
Proton therapy is a form of
rate capability of tens of MHz
through calculations the
to assess the design choices
for the full-size camera.
Measurements confirmed that
the slab configuration gives
sufficient spatial and energy
resolution, provided that the
crystal surfaces are polished.
The full-size prototype was then
characterized in terms of energy
resolution at the energy peaks
We noticed that simulations
overestimate the correlated
contribution.
We also observed the effect of
a cavity in the target delivering
a 2D map of pencil beams
to a heterogeneous target.
We observed that profiles
corresponding to points of the
map within the cavity are shifted
synchrocyclotron, were
performed to quantify the
event rate of prompt gammas
with the beam time structure
specific for this accelerator.
Results confirmed that the rate
for a single slab is now 100
MHz and the current detector
cannot sustain it. We should so 407
consider several modifications

radiation therapy that uses
high-energy proton beams for
cancer treatment. Differently
from conventional radiation
therapy, proton beams deliver
their maximum energy within a
defined range, thereby reducing
adverse effects to adjacent
healthy tissues. Proton beams
open up new perspectives
for the treatment of tumors
in proximity to organs at
risk, supposed the range of
therapy particles is well under
control. In clinical practice,
range calculations are affected
by uncertainties and safety
margins are taken, preventing
proton therapy from exploiting
its maximum potential. Range
assessment in vivo and in real-
time is considered by clinical
professionals a key for improving
proton therapy. However,
appropriate technical solutions
are not yet available for the use
in clinical routine.
Among different techniques
for real-time range control, the
thesis is focused on prompt
gamma imaging, which is based
on the fact the prompt gamma
rays emitted by the target nuclei,
after the interaction of the beam
with tissue, are correlated to the
beam penetration depth.
Imaging prompt gammas is
challenging because they are
emitted along a continuous
energy spectrum up to 10 MeV
and a detector with a count
is necessary. The objective of
the thesis is to design a novel
gamma detector, which satisfies
these needs. The detector
must be compatible to the
introduction in a slit-camera
system, where a knife-edge
slit collimator selects prompt
gammas emitted along the
beam axis of the target, in
order to produce a reverse 1D
projection of the beam path on
a scintillator crystal. The design
of the camera system was first
optimized with Monte Carlo
simulations.
Preliminary measurements with
the HiCAM camera, an Anger
camera originally developed
for SPECT applications, were
performed operating the beam
with currents lower than the
ones adopted in clinical practice,
demonstrating the feasibility
of the slit-camera concept
to reach millimeter accuracy
in range determination. The
measurements served the
purpose of establishing the
specifications for the new
detector, compatible to the use
at clinical beam currents. Several
modifications were needed
concerning the scintillator
geometry, the photo-detectors,
the electronics and the data
acquisition.
Based on the knowledge on
gamma ray detectors, we
identified several technical
options and investigated
feasibility of the different
alternatives to find the best
compromise in terms of
performance, cost and simplicity.
A pixelated crystal configuration
was preferred to a monolithic
scintillator to reduce the count
rate on a single channel. The
crystal is segmented into 40
slabs with 4 mm pixel pitch,
30 mm thickness and 100 mm
height. LYSO was chosen as best
candidate due to its high density,
fast decay constant an high light
yield.
Silicon PhotoMultipliers (SiPMs)
were selected for scintillation
light collection because they
offer compactness, good photon
detection efficiency and fast
response. We designed an
optimized architecture of the
systems, integrating all the
components into a compact and
practical instrument, easy to
be introduced in the treatment
room.
Due to the novelty of the
adopted solution, the detector
required a dedicated electronics.
Custom electronics boards
were designed to perform
both spectra acquisition for a
precise energy calibration and
high efficiency photon counting
for profiles reconstruction.
The best trade-off between
energy resolution and counting
efficiency was found during the
design of the electronics boards.
We performed characterization
of 137Cs and 60Co (662, 1173
and 1335 keV, respectively). At
these low energies we obtained
an energy resolution of about 13
%, 9 % and 8 %.
The camera was tested in the
West German Proton Therapy
Center in Essen and in the
Proton Therapy Center of
Prague in order to evaluate
its performance during
beam irradiation, in different
measurements conditions and
with different targets. Both
centers use the IBA C230
cyclotron, a isochronous
cyclotron with a constant energy
of 230 MeV. We first acquired
profiles, by selecting the energy
events in the 3-6 MeV energy
range, during the irradiation of a
homogeneous cylindrical PMMA
target with therapeutic proton
energies from 100 to 230 MeV
and calculated that the number
of protons needed to reach a
2s precision of 4 mm in range
retrieval is between 0.45 x 108
and 1.5 x 108 for the lowest and
highest energies, respectively.
As observed from Monte Carlo
simulations, the higher the
beam energy, the higher the
uncorrelated background, mostly
due to neutrons. We verified the
ability of the camera to detect
millimeter shifts for high doses,
by moving the target at steps
of 1 mm to emulate a range
shift. Profiles were compared
to Monte Carlo simulations
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
with respect to the points in the in a novel design, such as a
full target. further pixelation of the crystal
Measurements at the WPE were and the choice of a fully digital
useful to verify that the camera acquisition chain for pulse
fulfills the requirements that we processing.
identified at the beginning of As stated in the first chapter,
the project. Satisfactory accuracy real-time range control in proton
in range retrieval was reached at therapy would represent a major
clinical beam current for pencil improvement in the delivery of
beams with therapeutic doses. this radiotherapy technique,
At the Proton Therapy Center which is already a valid method
of Prague we were able to to defeat cancer. However,
perform the first tests toward finding a technical solution that
the clinical application of the goes beyond scientific research
instrument. We first compared and that can be clinically applied
profiles for targets with densities has represented the main
corresponding to bone and challenge in this field. We hope
fat to profiles acquired with that our efforts in this direction
PMMA and water targets. After represent a milestone toward
that, we applied for the first the reaching of this objective.
time a realistic treatment on
an anthropomorphic phantom.
Results are very encouraging
because they demonstrate
that the camera is able to
monitor prompt gamma signal
during a realistic PBS (Pencil
Beam Scanning) delivery. Data
processing and comparison with
the simulations is ongoing. For
the clinical use of the camera,
there will be a set of simulated
profiles for each spot of the
treatment map and acquired
profiles will be compared to
simulated profiles in order to
verify is a shift happened during
the delivery of the treatment.
Finally, the very first
measurements with
the S2C2 accelerator, a
408
The Design of Exergaming Systems for
Autonomous Rehabilitation
Michele Pirovano - Supervisor: Pier Luca Lanzi
While the incidence of stroke
rises worldwide, so do the costs
of the subsequent intensive
rehabilitation, setting off alarm
bells that call for solutions to
lower figures while preserving
therapy efficacy. At-home
autonomous rehabilitation
appears as a promising solution,
reducing costs for health
providers and patients alike.
The trend of exergaming,
i.e. exercising through video
games, may represent the key
to the success of autonomous
rehabilitation. However,
rehabilitation at home demands
careful consideration, as all
the requirements of a correct
rehabilitation therapy must be
addressed even in the absence
of a therapist.
The aim of this research is to
study the feasibility of at-home
autonomous rehabilitation
through exergaming. To do
so, we explore the state-of-
the-art of the exergaming
field and devise guidelines to
design effective and motivating
exergames. We provide a novel
definition of exergaming and we
explore the design of its double
nature, as exercise, and as game,
and we provide guidelines for
both. We create a methodology
for the structured design and
development of exergames for
rehabilitation that leverages our
new definition. We start from
a given exercise, as defined by
therapists, and we structure
and detail it to produce a virtual
rendition of the exercise that
can be inserted imto a virtual
environment. We then add these
elements that partain to gaming
that do not interfere with the
underlying exercise mechanics
to create an exergame through
iterative prototyping, and we
add the modules that allow
automatic on-line supervision
to obtain the final autonomous
therapeutic exergame.
We design and develop a
complete game engine for
rehabilitation, built upon
the Panda3D open source
game engine, that integrates
exergames and high-usability
interfaces with autonomous
supervision enabled by
computational intelligence. The
engine includes an abstraction
of exergames that enables easy
creation of new exergames for
our system, knowledge-based
on-line automatic monitoring
through fuzzy systems,
automatic on-line adaptation
through Bayesian techniques,
a layer that performs input
abstraction and supports several
different devices such as the
Microsoft Kinect sensor and the
Nintendo Wii Balance Board, and
clear and meaningful feedback
through high-accessibility and
consistent interfaces and a
Virtual Therapist Avatar. We
also support asynchronous
configuration and assessment
by a remote therapist through
PhD Yearbook | 2015
409
recording and configuration
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functionalities.
We discuss extrinsic game
elements that can be leveraged
to increase the motivational
factor of a rehabilitation
exergame without undermining
the benefits of the therapy, and
we thus introduce and detail
ad-hoc scoring mechanisms,
algorithms to provide variations
in content, and we detail long-
term motivation mechanisms
that leverage procedural content
generation and interactive
evolution methods.
We follow our guidelines to
develop a set of nine games
for posture and balance
rehabilitation of post-stroke
elderly patients. We conclude
with results from several studies
performed using our games,
including a three-month pilot
test with the complete system,
proving the benefits of our
solution.
410
Study, Design, and Evaluation of
Exploration Strategies for Autonomous
Mobile Robots
Alberto Quattrini Li - Supervisor: Prof. Francesco Amigoni
Autonomous mobile robotics has
seen a wide spread development
in recent years, especially
for tasks that are difficult,
dangerous, or simply boring
for humans. Relevant examples
include planetary exploration
and search and rescue. There are
several challenges that designers
face during the development
of systems of autonomous
mobile robots, from low level
issues, i.e., sensors, actuators,
etc., to high level issues, i.e.,
control, navigation, etc. One
of the most important aspects
that affects autonomous mobile
robots performance is the set
of techniques that allow them
to decide the next location to
reach (navigation strategies) by
possibly coordinating among
themselves (coordination
method), according to their
current knowledge about the
world they operate in, in order
to autonomously carry out the
assigned tasks.
To introduce the idea of
navigation strategies it is useful
to start from considering the
(huge) literature about path
planning, which shows that the
core for most of the currently
employed methods has been
developed in mid-1990s.
In these approaches, a user
specifies the goal and the robots
can decide by itself how to go
there. However, in several cases
the goal might not be known
a priori or the user cannot
interact in real-time with the
robots, and so these methods
cannot be plainly used. What is
needed is the development of
navigation strategies that allow
mobile robots to autonomously
decide their next target
locations, besides how to go to
a specific target. Furthermore,
the use of multiple robots can
make the execution of the task
more efficient, if they smartly
coordinate among themselves.
This dissertation focuses on
exploration, in which one
or more robots execute the
following steps in order to
discover and map the features
of an unknown environment:
(a) perceive the surrounding
environment, (b) integrate
perceived data in a map
representing environment
known so far, (c) decide
where to go next and who
goes where, (d) go to the
destination locations chosen.
Specifically, step (c) is the focus
of the dissertation, namely the
selection of interesting locations
(exploration strategies) and
their assignment to robots
(coordination methods).
In spite of the importance of the
exploration problem, general
techniques that allow mobile
robots to be fully autonomous
are not mature yet.
First of all, exploration
strategies are usually defined
following two rather different
approaches. On the one hand,
they are defined in practical
contexts of real (or realistically
simulated) robots and are
empirically assessed by testing
them in some environments.
On the other hand, exploration
strategies are defined in
theoretical settings. In these
approaches, proposed methods
are assessed using theoretical
tools like worst-case bounds and
competitive ratio in some classes
of environments. However,
sometimes assumptions are not
fully realistic (e.g., infinite line-
of-sight visibility).
Further, most of the exploration
strategies and coordination
methods proposed in literature
base their decisions only on
the current metric map, which
represents the spatial features
of the environment, like the
position of obstacles. In the last
years, several methods have
been proposed to build semantic
maps that associate semantic
labels (e.g., corridor or room) represented as a grid. I analyze
to portion of the underlying
metric map. Despite the great
effort in constructing semantic
maps, the study of their use for
exploration is still rather limited.
Finally, a lively debate on good
experimental methodologies
is currently ongoing in
the autonomous robotics
community, as they have
not reached yet a maturity
level comparable to that of
other disciplines. The relative
comparison currently made
between different methods
without an optimal reference
makes it difficult to assess how
much room for improvement an
exploration system has. A more
complete evaluation should
involve an absolute comparison
between the performance of
(online) exploration strategies
and the optimal (offline)
performance in the test
environments, based on the
competitive ratio. Another issue
is the difficulty in reproducing
experiments as parameters
are usually not reported in the
descriptions of experiments, and
thus it is not clear what factors
impact the performance of
exploration.
Given this background, in
the general context of the
multirobot exploration problem,
the objective of this dissertation
is threefold:
To contribute to bridge the
gap between theory and
practice for exploration
strategies.
I contribute to define the
problem of calculating the
optimal off-line exploration
paths under some realistic
assumptions i.e., robot with
time-discrete and limited
perception and environment
as rooms are typically attached
the relation between such
discretization and its continuous
counterpart and formulate the
discrete problem as a search
problem. Thus, I develop
the first algorithm to find
the (approximated) optimal
exploration path. Simulation
results show the viability of
our approach for realistic
environments.
Moreover, I contribute to
strengthen the experimental
results obtained with real (and
realistically simulated) exploring
robots, by theoretically analyzing
in environments modeled as
graphs worst and average cases.
Specifically, I derive bounds on
traveled distance by a robot
employing some exploration
strategies that consider distance
and information gain as criteria
to evaluate frontiers. The
obtained theoretical results show
that, in the worst case, taking
into account also information
gain in selecting the next
destination location does not
provide any advantage over
considering only distance, while
it does in the average case on
graphs modeling realistic indoor
environments.
To improve exploration
strategies and coordination
methods.
I define exploration strategies
and coordination methods that
embed information coming from
semantic maps. This allows to
privilege some specific areas of
the environment. For example,
if robots know that an area of
an environment is labeled as
corridor, then that area should
be privileged and more than
one robot should be allocated
to it, so that the exploration of
the environment is speeded up,
and practical definition and
to corridors. I experimentally
show that there is a significant
improvement about the
exploration of relevant and total
areas of indoor environments
within a given time interval,
when a priori information
about the relevant areas of the
environment is available.
To improve the experimental
assessment of multirobot
exploration systems.
The method I propose for
computing the optimal
PhD Yearbook | 2015
exploration path could serve as
a tool for complementing the
evaluation of on-line exploration
strategies for autonomous
mobile robots by having an
optimal reference with which
is possible to compute the
competitive ratio of a given
exploration strategy in a given 411
environment.
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Further, I experimentally evaluate
(in simulation) the impact of
some controllable factors on
exploration (different perception/
decision timings, and exploration
strategies vs. coordination
methods), providing some
insights that could be useful for
a roboticist that has to set these
parameters.
In addition, I show how some
of the artificial intelligence
techniques used in this
dissertation can be used for
exploring a belief state space
in the context of pursuit-
evasion games, in which a
pursuer attempts to capture an
adversarial evader that tries, in
turn, to actively escape, when
they both have a line-of-sight
sensor model.
The contributions provided in
this dissertation could foster the
achievement of the long-term
goal towards the theoretical
the evaluation of exploration
strategies and coordination
methods for increasing
autonomy of mobile robots.
 412
A time series synthesizer of tropospheric
impairments affecting satellite links developed
in the framework of the Alphasat experiment
Laura Resteghini - Supervisor: Carlo Capsoni
The increasing diffusion of
broadband internet connection
and the development of Ultra
High Definition TV (UHTV)
requires the use of satellite
communication systems able
to provide large frequency
bandwidth by making use
of radio frequency carriers
(Extremely High Frequency -
EHF) up to Q/V Band. Some
satellite-based service providers,
such as EUTELSAT Company,
start using satellite operating
in Ka Band despite, at such
these frequencies, the system
has to cope with very strong
attenuation introduced by
the tropospheric constituents.
Indeed, the physic of the
channel is mostly influenced by
the working frequency of the
transmitting system, and the
gathered attenuation, which
affects the signal, is increasing
with frequency. In this respect,
satellite system can exploit the
use of Propagation Impairment
Mitigation Techniques (PIMT)
to reduce the negative effects
of fading due to atmosphere.
The development and design
of these systems must be
supported by the use of
tropospheric channel models
and synthesizers able to
characterize the time varying
channel not only in statistical
terms. For satellite systems
operating at these frequencies
the main source of signal
degradation is represented by
the rainfall events. However,
even if rain strongly affects the
signal power, it is quite limited
in space and time. Moving
towards the use of frequencies
from 50 to 70 GHz even the
so-called clear-sky attenuation
due to atmospheric component
such as gases, water vapor and
oxygen as well as clouds become
relevant, especially for systems
with low power margin.
In this work we focused on
the study and development of
a time series synthesizer for
main tropospheric components
(water vapor, clouds oxygen
and rain) that mainly affect the
transmission of signals in free
space condition. In particular,
the aim of this study is the
development of a generator
of time series of attenuation
to simulate the variability
in time of the tropospheric
components separately and
their combination in total
attenuation. The basic idea is to
start from real measurements
collected during propagation
campaigns to generate
time series of attenuation
for each atmospheric
component reproducing
the statistic of attenuation
at a selected location for
defined Satcom parameters
(frequency, elevation angle).
The measurement database
taken into consideration is the
one provided by the ITALSAT
experiment over 7 years of
measurements. The input
database is accurately modified
and scaled to better adapt to
the site-specific climatology of
the location. The data collected
by different instruments
(radiometer, beacon receiver
and raingauge) are used to
generate a database of time
series for water vapor, clouds
and rain events. The synthesizer
generates, for each atmospheric
component separately, a
time series of attenuation of
measured data and finally a
time series total attenuation
obtained by the combination of
all atmospheric effects (water
vapor, oxygen, clouds and
rain). In the first part of my
work, we considered the non
rainy attenuation components
focusing in particular on the
modelling of Integrated Liquid
Water Content (ILWC) and
Integrated Water Vapor Content
(IWVC). One critical step of this
retrieval is represented by the
identification, discrimination
and interpolation of the rainy
periods in order to avoid the
error in the estimate of ILWC
and IWVC. The rainy periods
identification is obtained
considering three databases
of measurements (raingauge,
beacon receiver and radiometer)
properly combined. We assumed
24 hours as the basic time
frame for the time series of
ILWC and IWVC. Daily time
series are properly catalogued
PhD Yearbook | 2015
413
into a set of classes according properties of clouds. The
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to ILWC and IWVC maximum validation of the model has been
values. The site-specific statistics carried out on both first and
of ILWC and IWVC to be second order statistics, showing
reproduced, provided either the ability of the synthesizer in
by measured data or by ITU-R generating appropriate time
models, are taken as input by series able to reproduce the
two separated optimization input site-specific statistics. The
procedures that return the model is valid for every link for
number of daily time series to site located in temperate regions
be selected from each ILWC and with a range of frequencies is
IWVC class. For the time series between 5 and 70 GHz and
selection, we identify the daily elevation angle between 5 and
time series of ILWC and IWVC 90.
that jointly satisfy the solution
of the two optimizations. In
the second part of the work
we focused on the synthesis
of rain attenuation events. The
rain events collected in the
database are catalogued in 10
classes according to the peak
of attenuation they experience.
A dedicated optimization takes
as input the long term statistic
of rain attenuation, provided
either by measured data or by
ITU-R models, and return the
total amount of rainy time to be
selected from each class. Then,
the events of rain attenuation
are randomly selected according
to optimization result. Finally, the
composition of all tropospheric
components is achieved through
a new algorithm based on the
identification and classification
of cloud types (Cloud Type
Algorithm CTA). This new
procedure guarantees an
accurate superimposition of all
events according to the physical
414
Characterization and modeling of
conduction and crystallization statistics in
phase change memories
Maurizio Rizzi - Supervisor: Daniele Ielmini
The information revolution
has driven a substantial
transformation in both our
personal lifestyle and in the
work organization within the
companies.
Such impressive changes have
so far been possible thanks
to continuous performance
enhancements in the
semiconductor field. A key
enabling factor has been
the availability of memory
technologies able to store data
of larger and larger size in a
faster and faster way.
The leading actor of such a
success story has been the
Flash technology, which is
based on the ability to change
the threshold voltage (and
accordingly the read current) of
a MOS transistor by injecting
charge in a dedicated floating
gate layer.
Given the requests from the
memory market of even higher
performances, Flash memories
are currently facing severe
challenges. The size scaling, so
far well predicted by the Moores
law, is expected to be harder
and harder below the 20 nm
technology node. For this reason
the semiconductor companies
are strongly looking for novel
concepts able to sustain the
improvements seen so far.
Among the novel technologies
proposed as next generation
memories, a privileged position
is currently hold by the Phase
Change Memory (PCM).
PCM has the memory capability
thanks to the property of
particular materials (e.g.
chalcogenide alloys) to reversibly
switch between an amorphous
and a crystalline phase with
markedly different electrical
resistivity. Such principle
allows obtaining non volatile
memories with interesting read/
program speed, good scalability
perspectives and a remarkable
cycling capability.
Nowadays, a deeper knowledge
of the PCM physics is strongly
requested to drive the
development of the PCM
technology in the years to come.
This motivates the need for
research activities, such as the
ones described in this doctoral
work.
The introductory chapter of this
work provides an overview of
the current non-volatile memory
(NVM) scenario, subdividing the
possible technology evolutions
within an evolutionary scenario
and a paradigm shift. The
phase-change technology is
then introduced, dealing with
its history, the basic operation
and the elementary physical
description.
The first chapter reviews the
current state-of-the-art in the
physical comprehension of sub-
threshold conduction, threshold
switching and crystallization,
providing the basic elements
needed for the comprehension
of the following three chapters.
Finally, the current perspectives
of the PCM technology
are discussed, with a quick
glance on the so-called PCMS
architecture, which is expected
to solve the current PCM
limitations in terms of size
scaling by stacking the memory
element and a cell selector
made of another chalcogenide
material.
The second chapter is devoted
to the study of the electrical
conduction in the amorphous
phase. Such studies are of
particular importance, given
that PCM is a resistance-based
memory. For this reason, a
deeper knowledge of the
conduction properties allows to
optimize the resistance window
between the two programmed
states and to carefully optimize
the cell geometry.
Amorphous materials present
the peculiar property of a non-
homogeneous conduction,
because of the disordered
nature of such materials. This
poses some critical issues, since
the prediction of the resistance
value as a function of the cell
geometry (e.g. for the cell down-
scaling) is non-trivial. To deal
with such problem, this chapter
introduces a novel model for
conduction, based on the so-
called energy landscape. Such
an approach allows taking into
account the disordered nature
of chalcogenide materials,
providing some insights into
the filamentary conduction. The
model is then able to better
describe some cell properties,
such as the programming
characteristics (resistance as a
function of the programming
current) and to better estimate
the amorphous thickness from
the I-V curves.
The energy landscape model
is lastly extended to consider
the carrier heating, at the basis
of threshold switching. This
phenomenon is crucial, since
it enables the phase transition
(by allowing a larger current to
flow into the cell) and it limits
the maximum read voltage. The
proposed switching model is
then validated as a function of
the ambient temperature and of
the amorphous size.
The present study, conducted
as a function of the amorphous
cap size for two nano-scaled
technology nodes, is particularly
relevant for the prediction of
the conduction properties as a
function of the cell geometry,
possibly allowing to address
the cell design in future PCM
technologies.
One of the key properties of
the PCM technology is its non
volatility, which is guaranteed
by the relatively long time
needed for the relaxation of the
(metastable) amorphous state
into the (stable) crystalline one.
The third chapter of this work
deals with a detailed study of
the retention capability in PCM
on a large statistical scale. Such
studies are fundamental in order
to allow large arrays to properly
satisfy the data retention
requirements.
A wide experimental
characterization is then provided crystallization times compared to
PhD Yearbook | 2015
in the temperature range below the retention case.
180C, presenting a detailed
study of the cell-to-cell and
The experimental
characterization of the set
cycle-to-cycle variability. The
overall variability is interpreted
operation as a function of the
reset voltage (or the amorphous
through a compact Monte- size) provides some useful
Carlo model, able to explain indications for the choice of the
both the cell-to-cell and ideal reset conditions and allows
the cycle-to-cycle variability predicting the set dependence 415
contributions in terms of a pure on the cell down-scaling.
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gaussian spread in the activation Finally, the work compares
energy for crystallization. two set techniques, namely: i)
Finally, the cycle-to-cycle square pulses with amplitude
variability is analyzed more in lower than the melt level and
depth, allowing to subdivide ii) triangular pulses with slow
the retention characteristics quench from the melt. Resulting
into three separate families resistance distributions are
namely: i) analog variability, analyzed and compared as a
ii) digital (binary) variability function of the pulse energy,
and iii) pseudo-repeatable concluding that the triangular
characteristics. pulses allow to obtain tighter
R distributions at a given pulse
The fourth chapter is dedicated energy.
to the statistical study of the The studies of the array-level
program operation in PCM, or statistics in PCM are rarely
phase switching. The study is reported in literature; for this
focused on the analysis of the reason the statistical studies
programming characteristics at presented in chapter III and
statistical level. chapter IV of this doctoral work
First of all the work describes the are particularly interesting for
dependence of both the set (or the array-level optimization of
crystallization) and the reset (or future PCM products.
amorphization) operations on
the initial reset state, determined
by the reset voltage. The
dependence of the melt current
and of the obtained resistance
distributions on the amorphous
size are then presented and
discussed.
The collected data allow to
compare the high-temperature,
set region with the low-
temperature, retention regime
providing the following
observations: i) the previously
observed non-Arrhenius
behavior of crystallization is
confirmed at statistical level and
ii) the set operation is shown to
have a tighter distribution of the
416
Economic mechanism for online pay-per-
click advertising: complexity, algorithms
and learning by Marco Rocco
Marco Rocco - Supervisor: Prof. Nicola Gatti
Sponsored search auctions
(SSAs) constitute one of the
most successful applications of
microeconomic mechanisms,
producing a revenue of about
$42.8 billions in the U.S. alone
in 2014, dominating display
ads, the second largest revenue
source. In a SSA, a number of
advertisers bid to have their
sponsored links (from here on
ads) displayed in some slot
alongside the search results of a
keyword. SSAs currently adopt
a payperclick scheme, which
requires positive payments from
an advertiser only when its ad
is clicked. Given an allocation
of ads over the available slots,
each ad is associated with
a clickthrough rate (CTR)
corresponding to the probability
that such ad will be clicked by
the user. CTRs are estimated
by the auctioneer and play a
crucial role in the definition of
the auction, since they are used
by the auctioneer to compute
the optimal allocation (in
expectation) and to compute the
payments for each ad.
In microeconomic literature,
SSAs have been formalized as
a mechanism design problem,
where the objective is to design
an auction mechanism that
incentivizes advertisers to bid
their truthful valuations (needed
for economic stability) and that
assures both the advertisers and
the auctioneer to have a non
negative utility.
A crucial issue in SSAs is the
study of effective models of
the user attention and their
exploitation in the auction
mechanism. A number of works
showed that externalities play
an important role in the user
behaviour. On the other hand,
externalities may make the
problem of finding the optimal
allocation intractable, even
when approximated. The most
widely adopted user model is
the Cascade Model, in which
a user is assumed to scan the
ads sequentially from the top
slot to the bottom slot with
a probability to observe the
subsequent slot that depends
on the last observed ad (ad
dependent externality) and on
its position (positiondependent
externality) and with the
remaining probability the user
stops to observe the ads. The
computational complexity of the
SSA problem when the Cascade
Model is adopted is unknown,
but it is supposed to be NP-
hard. Moreover, the Cascade
Model presents limitations
in the way the externalities
are represented w.r.t. the real
world. I worked to overcome
some of them introducing
three new models. I provided
a detailed characterization of
the computational complexity
of two of the three models.
Afterwards, for the models
that are NP-hard, I proposed
approximation algorithms.
In literature it is known that
there could be a gap in the
guarantee of the approximation
algorithm between the optimal
approximation algorithm that
can be designed and the optimal
one under the constraint of
truthfulness. For this reason,
I studied both the situations,
the first in order to give a
computational complexity
characterization of the problem
and the second in order to
provide a mechanism design
result.
Studying the third model,
I also enlarged the set of
applications considering also
the environment of Mobile geo
location advertising. Specifically,
this is an environment where
mobile ads are targeted based
on a users location (e.g., streets
or squares within a city or a
district). This field has been
identified as a key growth factor
for the mobile market and has
not been widely studied, in
particular not from a mechanism
design point of view, a crucial
ingredient for its success. In my
final dissertation, I proposed
exact algorithms and then I
identified subclasses of instances
where the problem can be
easily solved in polynomial time.
Finally, I proposed polynomial
time approximation algorithms
that can be implemented in
truthful mechanisms.
The final part of my work is
devoted to situations where
mechanism design and online
learning mash up. Specifically,
in practical applications, it is
not true that all the parameters
of the model designed for
the SSAs are known. This fact
opens the problem of studying
stable mechanisms while
estimating parameters during
the repetitions of the auction.
The problem is challenging
since it represents one of the
first examples where online
learning theory and mechanism
design are paired to obtain
effective methods to learn under
equilibrium constraints (notably
the truthfulness property).
In literature there are papers
that study this problem when
a single slot is available and
a specific parameter called
quality is unknown. I extended
the study to the case of multi-
slot instances considering also
situations where parameters
different to the quality are
unknown. In order to obtain
truthful mechanisms, it is
necessary to adopt Multi-
Armed Bandit (MAB) algorithms
that separate the exploration
and the exploitation phases.
In the final dissertation, I
provided bounds over the loss
of these mechanisms w.r.t.
to the one adopted when all
the information is available,
considering two different
measures of loss (regret): regret
in the revenue of the auctioneer,
i.e., how much the auctioneer
loses, and regret in the Social
Welfare, i.e., how much the
community loses in terms of
values of the allocation.
In conclusion, from a more
general point of view, I can
summarise my work in the
following way. I studied online
payperclick/visit auctions (e.g.
SSAs and Mobile geolocation
advertising) along the four main
perspectives that are crucial
for the success of an economic
mechanism:
1) computational complexity
of finding the best allocation:
studying the computational
complexity of a problem is
important to deeply understand
the hardness of the problem.
Specifically, this aspect could
be crucial in the choice of the
model to adopt for a specific
application;
2) truthfulness: an economic
mechanism often is composed
of agents that interact. Agents
that are usually rational (selfish).
Rules are required in order to
handle the interaction and to
guide it to a stable outcome.
Otherwise, the market
could become unstable and
unpredictable. For this reason, in
order to guarantee the stability
it necessary to design truthful
mechanisms;
3) exact and theoretically
bounded approximation
algorithms: once the hardness
of a problem is known, the
problem has to be solved.
This requires the design of
algorithms. In the case the
finding the optimal allocation
is not an easy problem, a study
of approximation algorithms
is required, otherwise the
problem cannot be solved in
practical situations. The study of
the computational complexity
could guide the choice of which
approximation algorithm has to
be studied. At the same time
the truthfulness requirement
influences the design of the
algorithm too;
4) online learning: in real world
environments, often, we face
situations of lack of information,
i.e. we do not have all the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
information required to make
the best decision. Thus, in
order to apply, in practice, our
algorithms and mechanisms it
is also important to study ways
to handle this uncertainty, e.g.
adopting online learning tools.
Of particular interest is the study
of worstcase bounds over the 417
loss (regret) due to the lack of
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information w.r.t. the ideal case
in which all the information
is known. The truthfulness
requirement influences these
bounds.
The ideal goal is the design of
very expressive user models
admitting very efficient
allocation algorithms that can
be used in truthful mechanisms
with the minimum online
learning regret. In the work,
I showed that this is never
the case in practice. Indeed,
each user model provides a
different tradeoff in terms
of expressiveness, economic
stability, approximation bounds,
and online regret bounds and
therefore there is not the best
user model for each scenario,
but each scenario potentially
requires a different model.
418

Decomposition Methods for Quadratic Zero- problem and then dedicate classical Traveling Salesman from the MSTP reduced cost

PhD Yearbook | 2015

One Programming
Borzou Rostami - Supervisor: Prof. Federico Malucelli
The Quadratic 0-1 program
estimated bound. In fact this
programming as a different
our efforts to analysis and the
interpretation of lower bounds.
The Reformulation Linearization
Technique (RLT) applied to
the Quadratic Assignment
Problem yields mixed 01
programming problems whose
linear relaxations provide a
strong bound on the objective
value. Nevertheless, in the high
Problem (TSP) whose costs
are associated with each two
edge that are traversed in
succession. We first present
the problem statement and
propose some linearized integer
formulations for both symmetric
and asymmetric version of the
problem. In order to obtain
a tight lower bound to the
computation. We compare
the new bounds with the
other bounding procedures in
terms of both overall strength
and computational effort.
Computational experiments
indicate that the dual-ascent
procedure applied to the new
RLT formulation provides the 419
best bounds at the price of

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with linear constraints is a very approach behaves well only if approach which can be used level RLT representations the problem we provide a Linear increased computational effort,
general class of optimization one gets tight lower bounds either for generate a strong computation requires much Programming formulation for while the bound obtained using
problems and has a wide range for the objective function. In relaxation of the or to provide effort. We propose a new the general QTSP that has a the reformulation scheme seems
of applications. This problem has general, the solution methods a convex reformulation of the compact reformulation for each variable for each cycle in the to tradeoff between the bound
the following form: of finding a lower bound for problem. Then we describe level of the RLT representation given graph. Since the number tightness and computational
the can be divided into two different reformulations of exploiting the structure of the of cycles is exponential in the effort.
QP: min xTQx + cTx main groups: Reformulation- the based on an equivalent problem. Computational results graph size, we propose a column Finding the shortest path in a
s.t. Ax = b Relaxation approaches, and convex or non-convex quadratic on some benchmark instances generation approach. We directed graph is one of the
x {0,1} Reformulation-Decomposition 0-1 programming. After indicate the potential of the new compare the bounds resulting most important combinatorial
approaches. Since in general introducing the different -based RLT representations as the level from this new formulation optimization problems, having
where A Rm n, Q Rn n, the is a non-linear non reformulation strategies, we of the RLT increases. Moreover, with those obtained by some applications in a wide range
b Rm, and c Rn. convex problem, most of the use various decomposition we study two special cases of linearization techniques. of fields. In its basic version,
proposed approaches try to techniques (including Lagrangian the QAP including the Adjacent Computational results on some however, the problem fails to
Many combinatorial optimization reformulate the problem either decomposition) to obtain a QAP and QAP on reducible set of benchmarks used in the represent situations in which the
problems admit natural as an equivalent Mixed Integer strong lower bound. Part 2 is graphs. The Adjacent Quadratic literature show that the column value of the objective function
formulations as quadratic 0-1 Linear Program (MILP) or as concerned with the some special Assignment Problem (AQAP) generation approach is very is determined not only by the
programming problems. The an equivalent quadratic 0-1 cases of the related to quadratic is a variant of the QAP where promising. choice of each single arc, but
Quadratic Assignment Problem program and solve the resulting version of some well-known the cost coefficient matrix has a The Minimum Spanning Tree also by the combined presence
(QAP), Quadratic Traveling program by effective algorithms combinatorial optimization particular structure. Motivated Problem (MSTP) is one of the of pairs of arcs in the solution.
Salesman Problem (QTSP), Graph that take the problem structure problems. Among the most by strong lower bounds most known combinatorial We model these situations
Partitioning, Quadratic Knapsack into account. Based on the important classical combinatorial obtained by applying RLT to optimization problems. It as a Quadratic Shortest Path
Problem (QKP), and Quadratic structure of the resulting optimization problems, we the classical QAP, we propose concerns the determination of Problem, which calls for the
Minimum Spanning Tree problem different relaxation and/ study the quadratic assignment two special RLT representations a minimum edge-cost subgraph minimization of a quadratic
Problem (QMSTP) are among the or decomposition methods may problem (QAP), quadratic for the problem. The first is spanning all the vertices of a objective function subject to
well-known particular cases of be applied to provide a lower minimum spanning tree problem based on a ``flow formulation given connected graph. The shortest-path constraints. We
the QP which arise in a variety bound. (QMSTP), quadratic traveling whose linear relaxation can be Quadratic Minimum Spanning prove strong NP-hardness
of real-world applications. All of This thesis consists of two parts: salesman problem (QTSP) and solved very efficiently for large Tree Problem (QMSTP) is a of the problem and analyze
these problems are known to be Part 1 deals with the solution finally, quadratic shortest path instances while the second one variant of the MST whose cost polynomially solvable special
NP-hard in general and therefore methods for the general case problem (QSP). has significantly more variables considers also the interaction cases, obtained by restricting
the is also NP-hard. of the QP. We study different The Quadratic assignment and constraints, but possesses between every pair of edges of the distance of arc pairs in the
Branch-and-bound algorithms reformulations and relaxation problem (QAP) is one of the some desirable properties the tree. We review different graph that appear jointly in
are the most successful strategies based on linear and classical difficult combinatorial relative to the constraint set. For strategies found in the literature a quadratic monomial of the
procedure for solving the. The semidefinite programming. More optimization. Due to its wide the QAP on reducible graph we to compute a lower bound objective function. Based on
branch-and-bound algorithm precisely we start with classic verity of applications and its give a Lagrangian decomposition for the QMSTP and develop this special case and problem
is based on decomposition of linearization methods to obtain resistance to solution strategies, based on splitting the variables new bounds based on a structure, we devise fast lower
the original problem into a a lower bound, and then try to numerous researchers have and then dualizing the copy reformulation scheme and bounding procedures for the
series of smaller subproblems, improve the reformulation so studied the QAP and proposed constraint so that the resulting some new mixed 0-1 linear general problem and show
and then recursively solves that its LP relaxation provides both heuristic and exact solution problem can be decompose to formulations that result from computationally that they clearly
each subproblem, and discards a stronger lower bound in a methods. We review different two quadratic semi-assignment a RLT. The new bounds take outperform other approaches
the non-optimal solutions by reasonable time. Moreover, reformulations and lower problems. advantage of an efficient way proposed in the literature in
using the best obtained lower we propose the Semidefinite bounding procedure for the The QTSP is as a variant of the to retrieve dual information terms of its strength.
420
WSN POWER-PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION IN
MULTI-APPLICATION SCENARIOS
Luigi Rucco - Supervisor: Carlo Brandolese
Our work presents a multilayer
approach to support
independent heterogeneous
applications from multiple
diverse users in wireless sensor
networks. The aim is to provide
significant performance,
resources availability and
abstraction from low-level
details, while reducing energy
consumption to a level
comparable to that of ultra-low
power and resource-constrained
platforms. The following
fundamental goals are at the
basis of our research.
Support to heterogeneous
applications. The support to
heterogeneous applications
must be firstly provided in the
allocation phase, to ensure
that the functional goals of the
users are satisfied, preserving
the efficient operation of the
network. Secondarily, at node
level, the hardware and software
platform must provide sufficient
resources and isolation to allow
the concurrent execution of
software coming from diverse
sources.
Standardization of
applications development.
The application development
should be as close as possible to
standard programming models
and environments, so that clients
can avoid taking into account
low-level platform details and
develop their applications as
they do for general-purpose
programs. This requires, for
instance, the use of standard
programming languages,
libraries and system calls, a
file system and linking/loading
mechanisms, as well as POSIX-
like threads and processes.
Network lifetime. The first
two goals ask for a level support
that ultra-low power and
resource-constrained devices
may not offer. This entails
the need for more powerful
platforms and a higher level
of abstraction that lead to
increased energy consumption.
Since the lifetime of the network
plays a primary role both for
the clients and for the service
provider, guaranteeing that the
superior resources do not lead
to a fast energy depletion is a
fundamental goal for the whole
framework.
Guaranteeing quality of
service. The need for energy-
efficiency should not degrade
the performance in terms of
quality of service, as specified
by the clients. One possible
metric can be, for example, the
respect of the deadlines and
the adherence of the execution
to the specified sampling and
processing periods. A co-
optimization of energy and
quality aspects is therefore
needed to avoid an unbalanced
behavior toward only one of
these two critical aspects.
To fulfill the goals above
described, we propose a
top-down approach, which
traverses all the hierarchical
layers of a WSN: from the
network level, where opportune
software allocation models are
addressed, through the node
level, which provides support
to the execution of multiple
heterogeneous applications, till
the non-functional optimization
layer that sustains the lifetime of
the nodes.
As regards the network level,
starting from the encouraging
results obtained in previous
works, our effort has been
devoted to overtake some of
the limitations characterizing
the initial centralized software
allocation model. As an
evolution of our previous work,
we aimed at defining an ILP
modelwhich eliminates some
restrictive hypotheses and sets
the golden reference for the
allocation problemalong with
a very fast heuristic, lightweight
and accurate enough to be
embedded in cluster-heads and
more powerful gateway-nodes.
In perspective, the heuristic
would possibly allow an in-
network distributed allocation of
clients applications.
Continuing our top-down
analysis, after having defined
a suitable allocation model,
we moved at node level with
the aim of providing more
computational and memory
resources, as well as a higher
degree of abstraction and
standardization. In particular, the
creation of an easy and user-
friendly development model for
the applications has been a main
contribution in this direction.
This has been achieved by
bringing some of the features
of general-purpose systems,
such as standard processes and
threads, static and dynamic
linking and loading, standard
programming languages and
APIs, into our framework.
Special attention has been
paid to allow the execution of
more complex tasks and the
reduction of radio transmissions
by leveraging local processing,
as well as the memory isolation
of multiple processes running
on the same node. With the
same effort, we have moved
toward the simplification of
code development, through the
adoption of standard libraries
and system calls and the support
to code mobility for dynamically
reconfiguring nodes. These
objectives have required a
combined hardware/software
co-design to guarantee suitable
performance of the platform.
The next step in our top-down
flow has been devoted to
address the non-functional
optimization level. The first
issue that we have tackled is
related to the heterogeneity of
the sources that deploy their
applications on the network,
which may lead to very
inhomogeneous periods and
tolerable slacks. This can cause
a fragmented duty-cycle on the
nodes, eventually leading to fast
energy depletion and operation
inefficiency. At first, thus, we
investigated the possibility of
merging as much as possible
the execution moments of
the periodic tasks, in order to
reduce the energy overheads
of frequent awakenings of
system and devices. To do so, we
determined how to break up the
periodic evolution of the system
in small self-contained sub-
problems, on which determining
the minimal sequences of system
awakenings and choosing the
sequences with best quality can
be computed with reasonable
effort and without loss of global
optimality. In this direction, we
have devised an optimization
approach capable of significantly
enhancing the energy efficiency
of the nodes while minimizing
quality-of-service loss.
After the rationalization of the
duty-cycle, the subsequent
step within the non-functional
optimization layer has regarded
the adaptation of the node
operation profile to the actual
computational needs, to ensure
that in no case the energy
consumption exceeds the bare
necessities of the applications.
In particular, we started from a
careful analysis on the specific
characteristics of the sensing
and the processing stages in
wireless sensor networks. In
classical approaches to WSNs
programming, in fact, the
phases related to data sensing
and data processing are strictly
mingled in the application layer:
programs are usually developed
as cycling loops in which
measurements are performed
on the considered physical
parameter and, soon after, the
retrieved data are sent toward
the sink via the radio channel.
From this paradigm ensues a
general behavior of the network
which can be very energy
consuming. We have designed
the operation of our framework
starting from the assumption
that locally analyzing data on
the end device can strongly
reduce the energy consumption
of the network, because of the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
higher costs associated to data
transmission over the radio
channel with respect to local
processing. From this standpoint,
the isolation of the sensing
phase from data processing and
both from data transmission,
introduces a higher level of
flexibility in optimizing the three 421
phases separately. By decoupling
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sensing from processing,
extending idle periods at the
deepest possible power states
is also possible. This, however,
may cause loosing the memory
status when the microcontroller
is powered-off or put in stand-
by. This new problem mainly
concerns the preservation of the
status (registers, stack, heap)
of the applications between
two subsequent active periods
and requires a power-efficient
hibernation mechanism.
Consequently, a formal
hibernation model has been
carefully defined to ensure that
the best choice is always made
between a complete system
hibernation and a low-power
sleep state.
We extensively validated
our models by developing a
prototype hardware/software
platform and, where needed,
suitable simulation frameworks
that stress the models at their
limits. Results confirmed a
behavior that fully complies with
the general objectives of the
work.
422

Study on Silicon Carbide Radiation

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Detectors for Laser-Plasma Radiation
Applications
Yongbiao Shi - Supervisor: Giuseppe Bertuccio

423
The topic of my thesis Under this framework, several with 2 MeV protons. A study

is devoted to the study,
design, characterization and
application of Silicon Carbide
(SiC) detectors for photons
and charged particles, like
alphas, protons, ions, especially
SiC detectors have been
characterized during my thesis
work acquiring interesting
data on their properties and
performance in terms of
response speed, time resolution
devoted to the optimization
of SiC detectors operating in
time-of-flight configuration
has been done by means of
the designed simulator. The
effect of the doping of the SiC
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a b
1. (a) Simulator developed on the physical model of SiC detectors. (b) Simplified physical model of SiC detector
performance.
2

for laser-generated plasma
radiation experiments. High
purity and thick SiC epitaxial
layers have been used to
realize radiation detectors. The
application of SiC detectors in
laser-generated plasma physics
has been done: in particular,
the effects of the ultra-high
intense radiation levels on the
detector will be studied both
theoretically and experimentally.
The charge carrier transport
in SiC has been studied and
the timing performance of the
device has been theoretically
determined and experimentally
demonstrated.
Laser-generated plasma
experiments related to ion
acceleration and nuclear
reactions are worldwide carried
out and many great results
have been achieved in the last
decades. Traditional radiation
detectors used in laser-generated
plasma experiments are showing
their limits and new detectors
with better performances
are required. In the last few
years, SiC radiation detectors
have been so proposed to be
employed in these experiments
due to their great physical and
electrical properties.
and tolerance to plasma
radiation. Time response of SiC
detectors has been studied by
means of both simulations as
experiments.
A simulator based on Matlab
and Simulink has been realized
for this study. Figure 1 shows
the block schematics of the
simulator: parameters such
like temperature, photon or
ion/particle energies, detector
geometry and bias conditions,
doping of the SiC layer can be
set.
The Simulations of the
response of SiC detectors to
photons have been carried
out obtaining very fast signals
with rise time and width of
few hundreds of picoseconds,
which are in a well agreement
with the experimental data.
The response of SiC detectors
to alphas and protons with
different energies have been
studied as well, considering the
deposited energy distribution
given by the available simulator
SRIM 2013. Minimum rise
time and pulse width of 0.3
ns and 0.7 ns, respectively,
have been predicted for 5.5
MeV alpha particles. Similar
results have been obtained
epitaxial layer, of the detector nuclear radiation detectors to mm detector, 8 well resolved of particles from the signals
geometry and bias conditions analyze the radiation emitted peaks have been detected delivered by time of flight
have been studied to establish from the plasma. Great results within only 20 ns, and 2 semiconductor detectors has
the criteria for designing ultra- have been achieved from our peaks within less than 2.2 ns been developed, in the figure,
fast SiC devices for time of flight SiC detector from this project: have been detected in this a1 and a2 are identified by the
detectors. nuclear fusion was firstly fund experiment. It has been proved CR-39 nuclear track detectors
The laser-plasma experiments with so low density of laser that Interdigitated SiC detectors and our SiC detector allowed
were conducted in Prague boron interaction, high yield are more sensitive to slow ions to determine their energy
Asterix Laser System (PALS) production of alpha particles than more conventional pad distribution with very high
under the project of High was demonstrated using SiC SiC detectors. By achieving precision.
detector by triggering the high signal to noise ratio and 1. A. Picciotto et al Boron
energy proton acceleration
by thin hydrogenated-doped proton (p)-boron (11B) nuclear nanosecond time resolution, proton nuclear fusion
silicon dielectric targets using a reaction (1)current signal pulse the advantages of SiC detectors enhancement induced in
sub-nanosecond laser (HEPA) amplitude as high as 1.8 A have been demonstrated over silicon targets by low-contrast
organized in collaboration with has been
2 acquired with our the traditional detectors used in pulsed laser, Physical Review
Dr. A. Picciotto from FBK-IRST, 5 mm SiC detector, 0.8 ns laser experiments, like Faraday X, 2014
Italy. The project was aimed to risetime and 1 ns pulse width Cup. In addition, a method
maximize the proton/ion energy has been measured with our 1 for calculating the number
yield at target interaction of
a sub-nanosecond laser PALS
with hydrogen targets. The
project also planned to compare
the ion/proton energy with
those achieved with advanced
silicon, metallic and polymeric
targets, keeping the target
thickness constant. The goal
of the project was to propose
new semiconductor materials
as possible new targets to
be employed in laser-driven
particle acceleration experiments
a b
instead of the standard metals
or polymers. Our SiC detectors Figure 2. (a) Signals form shot 44023 acquired with circular pad SiC detector, the alpha signals start from 50 ns and end
were used together with other at 97 ns. (b) Calculated alpha number of Figure 2 (a), the total number is 38880
424
THERMAL AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT
TECHNIQUES FOR MULTI-CORE AND MANY-CORE
SYSTEMS
Federico Terraneo - Advisor: Prof. William Fornaciari
Introduction and description
of the objectives
Today the semiconductor
industry is facing increasing
problems to continue delivering
performance improvements at a
pace that is now expected by its
user base, as well as the general
public. This is not yet caused by
problems in achieving feature
size reductions, but by the side
effects and nonidealities caused
by said scaling.
The failure of Dennard scaling
in deep nanometer architectures
results in an ever worsening
power density increase,
eventually leading to the dark
silicon problem, where power
and thermal constraints limit
the number of transistors in a
chip that can be switched at
the maximum clock speed to an
ever decreasing fraction. This
problem, if not solved, could
be a major roadblock in the
evolutionary path from multi-
core to many-core architectures.
Power efficiency alone is not
enough to mitigate the dark
silicon issue, as one of the
major problems caused the
power density increase is the
need to effectively dissipate the
generated heat away from the
silicon die to prevent immediate
failures as well as reliability
issues caused by high operating
temperatures. This problem
will also be worsened in the
future with the introduction of
advanced chip technologies,
such as 3D die-stacking.
Another important consideration
is the high variability in the load
experienced by multi-cores,
caused by the potentially very
different activities performed by
the cores. In this perspective,
effective dynamic thermal
management solutions that can
push the cores to their maximum
performance subject to the
constraint imposed by the need
to remain within safe operating
temperatures is a key aspect to
achieve the best utilization of
the computational capabilities
of current, and especially future
multi-cores.
Methodology
The thermal dynamics of both
conventional 2D multi-cores
as well as 3D die-stacked ones
show two separate time scales:
a slow one, in the order of
seconds to a few minutes, and
a fast one, in the millisecond
range.
The fast dynamic is that of the
silicon layer, that has a small
thermal capacity, and owing
to the non-negligible thermal
resistance of the silicon bulk,
can swing very rapidly with
respect to the temperature of
the heat sink. The slow thermal
dynamic, is conversely that of
the heat sink. To effectively
control the temperature of
future generation multi-cores,
controlling the fast thermal
dynamic becomes necessary.
However, traditional thermal
policies would need to be
operated at too fast rate,
and interrupting the cores so
frequently to run the policy
would result in an unacceptable
overhead.
The proposed policy relies on
event-based control theory to
couple the fast reaction time
needed to counteract abrupt
temperature changes with a
low overhead. A hardware-
software split is proposed
where a hardware state
machine generates events
when the temperature of a core
changes by a given threshold
or a programmable timeout
occurs, while a software
policy implements the control
algorithm. Since the policy is
no longer executed periodically,
the intervention rate is adaptive,
depending on the variability
of the core temperature.
This solution couples the
performance benefits of a
policy implemented entirely in
hardware with the flexibility of a
software policy.
A simulation flow has been
developed in order to validate
the proposed policies, composed
of a cycle-accurate multi-core
instruction-set simulator, a
power model and a thermal
model. The instruction-set
simulator is based on GEM5,
extended to support multiple
voltage and frequency islands
on the chip, down to a per
core granularity. The simulator
PhD Yearbook | 2015
includes a dynamic model of
a PLL and voltage regulator
to account for the overhead
of DVFS transitions. A model
of the resynchronization
logic for signals that cross
frequency domains has also
been implemented to account
for the resynchronization 425
overhead. The McPAT and
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Orion power models are used
to produce power traces from
the execution data produced
by the GEM5 simulator. A
flexible thermal model has been
developed using the Modelica
language, also supporting 3D
die-stacked chips. The model is
component-oriented meaning
that each individual component 1. The developed simulation flow
is modeled separately with its
own differential equations,
maximizing flexibility. tuning. controller, was thus shown to
Moving to the technological achieve a level of performance
Discussion of the results side of the matter, the devised comparable to a fully hardware
obtained control solution is particularly solution while retaining
An innovative thermal control suitable to be implemented in the flexibility of a software
strategy was proposed, based real multi-core architectures, implementation.
on event-based control theory. thanks to its flexibility and
This control scheme was tested negligible overhead. In fact, the
using the developed simulator, implementation of the controller
by running standard benchmarks was proven to take a few tens of
on a simulated 24 core 3D clock cycles.
die stacked testbed chip, in The proposed event-based
order to assess its suitability for
novel architectures exploiting
3D stacking. The selected set
of benchmarks exercised the
ability of the policy to withstand
diverse workload requirements,
such as both CPU bound and
I/O bound applications. The
proposed scheme outperforms
state of the art fixed rate
control strategies, evidencing
the inherent advantages of
a solution that dynamically
and autonomously adapts the
controller intervention rate to
the application needs, without
the need for application-specific 2. The simulated 3D multi-core processor
426
Control of a Brake By Wire Actuator for
Racing Motorbikes
Fabio Todeschini - Supervisor: Sergio M. Savaresi
During the last years in the
automotive field - both from
industrial and academic side - a
significant effort has been done
for the evolution of active safety
and/or performance vehicle
dynamic control strategies, as
well as for the development
of autonomous vehicles. The
practical application of these
systems is naturally subdued
to the availability of on-board
actuators that allow to regulate
the desired control variable
independently - or with certain
degrees of freedom - from
drivers willing. This need has
led to the so called drive-by-wire
paradigm, where the standard
mechanical connection between
driver and actuators is replaced
by an electronic system, devoted
to the regulation of the actuator
according to driver or vehicle
control logic requests.
Among others, the brake-
by-wire (BBW) technology
focuses on the design of an
actuator capable of applying
the desired braking torque to
the vehicles wheel. During
the years, different technical
solutions have been explored.
The most successful ones are
the electro-mechanical (EMB)
and the electro-hydraulic (EHB)
architectures. In the former, an
electric motor directly exerts
the requested torque on the
wheel. A promising variant of
such architecture is the Electric
Wedge Brake (EWB), which
exploits the DC motor torque
to move a wedge where the
braking pads are installed,
rather than exerting a clamping
force directly on the braking
disk. The EHB - directly derived
from the most spread vehicle
brake architecture - employs a
hydraulic system, activated by
an electronically commanded
motor/pump, to generate the
requested braking force.
In this thesis a hybrid EMB/
EHB solution is considered: a
traditional hydraulic brake is
employed and, using an electric
motor mechanically connected
to the master cylinder, the
desired pressure on the braking
pads is generated. With respect
to the well known EMB and EHB
solutions, the considered one
has the advantage of keeping
the usual vehicle hydraulic brake
layout, adding just the electro-
mechanical actuator, thus
saving space, weight and cost.
Furthermore, it gives flexibility
about where to locate the BBW
actuator and it does not increase
the sprung mass of the vehicle.
This actuator is specifically
designed by Brembo for high
performance motorbikes.
The BBW actuator main goal is
to provide the desired braking
torque at the wheel; for this,
the straightforward control
variable should be the braking
torque. However, due to the
sensor reliability, cost and
encumbrance, the system is
equipped with a pressure sensor.
Therefore, the actuator control
problem consists in the tracking
of a reference pressure that
comes from the driver-vehicle
interface (i.e. the braking pedal)
or from other dynamic control
strategies.
For such a BBW technology, the
control problem, however, turns
out to be quite challenging:
firstly because of the typical
non-linearities of the traditional
hydraulic layout - e.g. presence
of brake fluid reservoir, oil
compressibility - along with
those related to friction
and temperature variations.
Moreover, the required control
performances are highly
demanding, both in terms of
bandwidth, both in terms of
absence of overshoot.
The starting point of the
control design is the system
model: writing each actuator
component equations, a
physical based complete
model is derived. This model
represents very well the system
experimental response and it is
useful to adopt it as a simulator;
however it is too complex to
be employed for control design
purposes. For this reason,
besides the complete model, a
control oriented one is derived.
This model provides a sufficient
system description for control
purpose; its analysis gives
important guidelines for the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
427
design of the control algorithm. in the BBW actuator. In this in doing this we focused on a
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context the classical dithering particular task that it could be
Once the system to be controlled compensation is compared with necessary when designing the
is modeled, the control problem a more sophisticated model control algorithm: the design
can be faced; in this thesis based compensation approach. of a position controller. In this
it is solved following two In particular, the model based particular case of study we
approaches. approach approximates the compared a canonical model
A first one is focused on non-linear friction model with based PID tuning with the
exploring innovative and an innovative linear-in-the- VRFT approach, showing that
advanced control techniques; parameters (LP) approximation, the VRFT algorithm provides
these control techniques are this is updated through an satisfactory performance. This
studied and then adapted to the adaptation mechanism. approach makes the control
particular system, finally they In parallel to the adaptive design faster and avoids critical
are validated on a test bench. friction compensation technique, phases such as the identification
Pursuing this approach simplifies a sliding mode based controller one and the controller designed
the testing phase: in fact, guarantees the pressure one.
validating the control algorithms tracking.
on a test bench allows us to Following the conventional
discard the safety requirements, Then, anti-windup compensation control techniques and
which are really strict and technique is employed in order exploiting the peculiarities that
severe in this application. This to build a compensator able the control oriented model
is not possible when testing to linearize the system intrinsic highlights, we propose two
the control algorithms on a non-linearity. At this point, different control strategies:
real system, i.e. on a racing considering that in real systems an adaptive position-pressure
motorbike. control action has an upper switching control and an
The second approach is focused physical saturation due to adaptive cascade position-
on solving the control problem hardware limitation, an anti- pressure. These control
adopting conventional control windup compensation is derived. strategies are simple, robust and
techniques; in this case the The employment of these two easy to tune. Their design phase
control algorithm are studied compensators permit to design is performed on the test bench,
and designed based on the a pressure control on a linear then they are implemented and
system model, then they are system, without considering the tested on a real motorbike,
implemented and tested on a intrinsic system non-linearities. showing satisfactory
real motorbike. For this reason, Moreover, this control algorithm performances. Moreover, due to
in parallel with the control does not discard the control the safety critical application, a
design, the fault detection action saturation in the design fault detection algorithm suited
algorithm design performs an phase. for the particular case of study is
important role. presented.
Finally, the Virtual Reference
In pursuing the first approach, Feedback Tuning (VRFT)
firstly we deal with the friction, paradigm is experimentally
which has a dominant role validated on the test bench;
 428
A COGNITIVE FAULT DIAGNOSIS SYSTEM FOR
SENSOR NETWORKS
Francesco Trov - Supervisor: Prof. Manuel Roveri
Sensor networks represent a
valuable technological solution
to monitor and acquire data
from an environment, a critical
infrastructure or a cyber-physical
system. These data are generally
used as input for an application,
which is able to react to changes
occurring to the inspected
system. Examples of these
applications based on sensor
networks, are those inspecting
an environmental phenomenon
(e.g., a river or a rock wall)
protecting critical infrastructures
or those monitoring the
behaviour of a water distribution
network. These monitoring
systems are composed by a set
of sensors, processing boards
and a data transfer apparatus.
During the operational life of
this infrastructure, the sensor
network continuously inspects
the system status, by sending
measurements to the central
processing station, where the
application runs. In fact, based
on measurements coming
from the sensor network,
applications can be designed
to take decisions (e.g., in the
case a deviation from the usual
working conditions is registered,
an alarm is raised) and
contextually react to the change
(e.g., for critical infrastructures,
alert the population about the
threat). In this scenario, a model
for the inspected phenomenon
is usually unknown and
the assumption of process
stationarity may not hold, even
though these assumptions
would generally improve
the decision abilities of the
aforementioned applications.
Thus, information coming from
the sensor network is critical to
monitor the underlying process,
to check the status of the
system and react according to its
behaviour.
Sensor networks usually work
in harsh conditions, which may
induce faults, thermal drifts or
ageing affects affecting both
the embedded electronic boards
and the sensors. In fact, they are
affected by physical degradation
(due to e.g., humidity, dust,
chemicals and electromagnetic
radiations), which may induce
a gradual deviation of the
measured value from the real
one. Thus, it is of paramount
importance to promptly detect
and diagnose faults occurring
in a specific unit, since they
could affect the application
layer, which operates based on
the assumption that provided
information is not corrupted. If
the application does not take
into account the possibility of
a fault, it may take an incorrect
decision, e.g., not alert the
population when a threat is
present or vice versa. Moreover,
in the sensor network scenario
the unexpected deviation
from nominal conditions
may be caused either by a
fault or by a change in the
inspected process. It is crucial
to distinguish between these
two situations: in the former
case, direct maintenance
should be performed, while the
latter one requires a reaction
to an environmental change,
specifically chosen based on the
considered application scenario.
Traditional Fault Detection and
Diagnosis Systems (FDDS) are
systems specifically designed
to detect and diagnose faults
possibly occurring in complex
systems. More specifically,
the tasks of a FDDS are:
detection of the fault, i.e., to
promptly understand whether
a deviation from the nominal
state has occurred; isolation,
i.e., to determine which unit is
providing faulty measurements;
identification, i.e., to capture the
main characteristics (e.g., type,
intensity) associated to the fault.
One of the main drawbacks of
traditional approaches for FDDS
is that they generally require a
priori information on either the
system in nominal conditions or
the possible faults. Thus, their
direct application to the sensor
network scenario is far from
being trivial, since, as pointed
out before, we do not have
information about the model of
the system generating the data,
or the possibly occurring faults.
In recent years, a novel and
promising cognitive approach
has been proposed to design
FDDS. This novel generation of
Cognitive Fault Detection and
Diagnosis Systems (CFDDS) is
able to automatically learn the
nominal and the faulty states
in an on-line manner, and is
generally characterized by the
ability to exploit temporal and
spatial relationships present
among the acquired data. Most
of existing cognitive FDDS apply
the cognitive approach only to
a single aspect of the system,
thus they still require at least to
know partial information about
the analysed process, or they are
addressing the design of CFDDS
for specific applications.
In this dissertation we propose
a new CFDDS meant to
operate on sensor networks.
The proposed system is able
to characterize the nominal
conditions of the system, by
relying on fault-free data coming
from the sensor network. At
first, the proposed system
learns the dependency graph
existing among datastreams, to
select only relevant functional
relationships. Based on them,
the proposed CFDDS is able to
perform fault detection, isolation
and identification, without
requiring a priori information on
either the inspected process or
the faulty states.
More specifically, to model the
relationships constituting the
causal dependency graph of the
sensor network we rely on the
concept of Granger causality,
which allows to consider only
those relationships providing
meaningful information for
fault detection and diagnosis.
After learning the network
dependency structure, fault
detection and diagnosis is
carried out in the space of
estimated parameter vectors
of linear time invariant models
approximating the functional
relationships included in the
dependency graph. Deviations
from the learned nominal
concept are detected by
means of a decrease of the
log likelihood provided by
the Hidden Markov Model
modeling of the parameter
vectors sequences. Following
the detection phase, an
isolation mechanism based
on the logic partition of the
dependency graph is able to
distinguish between faults and
change in the environment.
Finally, if a fault has occurred,
an identification procedure
is executed to characterize
different faults by relying on
a newly developed evolving
clustering-labeling technique
in the space of the parameter
vectors, which learns the fault
dictionary in an on-line manner.
The innovative aspects of this
cognitive framework for fault
detection and diagnosis are:
the design of a CFDDS
completely based on the
cognitive approach, which is
able to cover all the phases of
fault detection and diagnosis in
PhD Yearbook | 2015
429
the sensor network scenario;
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the development of a set of
integrated techniques, coming
from statistics and machine
learning fields, which rely on a
theoretically sound framework
developed by the system
identification field;
the ability to characterize
the temporal and spatial
relationship existing among
data with the dependency
graph, learned with the use of
a statistical framework;
the ability to characterize the
nominal state of the system
inspected by the sensor
network through learning
mechanisms based on the
cognitive approach;
the ability to learn the
fault dictionary during the
operational life of the system,
without requiring a priori
information about the possible
faults.
 430
Spatial analysis of online data to track
cities socio economic indicators and urban
land use
Carmen Karina Vaca Ruiz - Supervisor: Piero Fraternali
Online geolocalized data is being
massively produced as a result of
both, the interactions on online
social networks, and the content
shared on the Internet that is
annotated with geographical
locations. This constitutes a
rich source of information
to characterize geographical
places where either the people
interacting reside or where the
geo-tagged content is produced.
Urban resources are allocated
according to socio-economic
indicators, and rapid
urbanization in developing
countries calls for updating
those indicators in a timely
fashion. The prohibitive costs
of census data collection
make that very difficult. To
avoid allocating resources
1. City graph depicting online attention exchange
upon outdated indicators,
one could partly update or
complement them using digital
data. In this dissertation we
propose methods to estimate
urban indicators as well as
an unsupervised learning
framework to discover dynamic
areas of the city using the
geotagged content published by
either residents or visitors.
First we conduct and analysis
of online attention patterns
evolution in a content sharing
platform. Evolution of online
social networks is driven by the
need of their members to share
and consume content, resulting
in a complex interplay between
individual activity and attention
received from others. To shed
light on the matter, we look
into the patterns of activity and
popularity of users in the Yahoo
Meme microblogging service.
We observe that a combination
of different type of social and
content-producing activity is
necessary to attract attention
and the efficiency of users,
namely the average attention
received per piece of content
published, for many users has
a defined trend in its temporal
footprint. The analysis of the
user time series of efficiency
shows different classes of users
whose activity patterns give
insights on the type of behavior
that pays off best in terms of
attention gathering.
Second, we analyze a random
sample of interactions in the
same service but focusing on
PhD Yearbook | 2015
431
content generated in Brazil and area and to those in the areas segmentation of areas upon
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accurately predict the GDP and neighborhood without being Flickr data. The results generated
the social capital of 45 Brazilian too general (e.g., the label by our framework can benefit a
cities. To make these predictions, clothing stores is preferable variety of applications, including
we exploit the sociological to professional places). We geo-marketing, urban planning,
concept of glocality, which says evaluate the framework with a and social recommendations.
that economically successful hierarchical clustering algorithm
cities tend to be involved in upon Foursquare data in the
interactions that are both local cities of Barcelona, Milan, and
and global at the same time. London. We find that it is more
We indeed show that a citys effective than baseline methods
glocality, measured with social in discovering functional areas.
media data, effectively signals We complement that evaluation
the citys economic well-being. with a user study involving 111
To this end, we aggregate participants in the three cities,
the attention that the citys and with an additional temporal
residents are able to attract on
the platform at the level of the
city and quantify it using a set
of metrics that are put together
in a linear model that accurately
predict the GDP.
Finally, we propose an
unsupervised learning
framework to capture the
composition of cities. To
discover functional areas in a
city, spatial discovery algorithms
have been recently applied to
social media (e.g., Foursquare)
data: functional areas are often
identified based on semantic
annotations of places and
human mobility patterns.
We propose a framework based
on an objective function to
maximize. By being integrated
into any clustering algorithm,
this function aims at finding
and labeling areas such that
an areas label is semantically
related to the points in the 2. Functional clusters identified in Barcelona
432
Exploring motion-based touchless
interaction for autistic childrens
learning
Matteo Valoriani - Supervisor: Prof.ssa Franca Garzotto
Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
and autism are both general
terms for a group of complex
disorders of brain development,
characterized by a triad of
symptoms related to lack of
social interaction, decits in the
acquisition and expression of
language, and repetitive patterns
of behavior often accompanied
by sensorimotor impairments.
For years, different techniques
have been used to improve the
quality of life of people who
have various developmental
dis- abilities. However, the use of
technology continues to receive
limited attention, despite the
fact that it tends to be a high
interest area for many of these
children.
This work tries to present a
solution in this broad and
varied panorama developing
innovative interactive
technologies for autism that can
be integrated with therapeutic
and school activities and can be
autonomously used by therapists
and teachers to promote,
through engagement: social
interaction, communication
capabilities and motor skills.
Despite a general lack of interest
in this eld, in the last years
we have seen an increasing
number of technologies in the
research literature and on the
market focused on helping
and educating children with
autism. Existing products and
prototypes support a variety
of interaction modes and have
been designed for different
platforms and input devices,
from conventional mouse
or joysticks to (multi)touch
gestures, speech-recognition
devices, physical manipulation
of digitally augmented objects,
robots, head-mounted devices
for autistic children. Still, very
few studies have explored the
potential of full-body interaction,
and in particular of motion-
based touchless interaction.
In the research arena, motion-
based touchless interaction
has started to be explored
for learning and therapeutic
purposes. Still, most existing
works consider the domain
of regular children, while
very little is known about
how motion-based touchless
interaction works for autistic
children and if this paradigm can
be successfully applied to these
subjects.
This work wants to provide
three different contributes to the
current research on the subject:
a theoretical one, i.e. a set of
guidelines for the development
of applications for children
with cognitive and motor
disabilities; a technological
one, a exible architecture to
support the development of
applications according to such
guidelines and three examples
of games for autistic children
with low-moderate cognitive
decit, low-medium sensory-
motor dysfunction, and motor
autonomy, developed and tested
on the eld; a demonstration
of the initial hypothesis that
the touchless paradigm can
be successfully applied in the
treatment of autistic children.
In the rst part, this work will
provide an overview of the
current state of art in the eld
of nonconventional interaction
paradigms for the treatment
of autistic children, including
virtual reality, tangibles, robots,
mobile devices, discussing in
particular touchless motion-
based interaction with respect to
autism.
In the second part, I will
display through an empirical
experimentation and using play
therapy, the actual effectiveness
of this type of interaction with
children with autism spectrum
disorder. The experiments
show positive results, but a
further analysis of the usability
highlights that children ran into
a number of problems in using
commercial games currently
on the market. On the basis of
such observations, and thank
to the collaboration with three
therapeutic and educational
centers which participated in the
phases of development, design
and evaluation, a structured
set of generic and specic
guidelines has been distilled, as
presented in the second part of
this work.
These guidelines informed
1. empirical experimentation
the design of three touchless
games, based on Kinect, aimed
at improving childrens motor,
cognitive and social skills, whose
development informs the third
part of this work. Considering
every childs uniqueness, the
games are strongly customized
and user friendly, in order to
allow for therapeutic purposes,
both at the centers and in
remote mode.
2. example of game developed using
guidelines
As described in the fourth part
of this thesis, the games have
been evaluated in a controlled
study remarking improvements
for the areas of interest. The
PhD Yearbook | 2015
433
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results of these empirical studies
have conrmed and extended
the outcomes of prior research,
providing additional empirical
evidence that touchless gaming
does have a strong potential
to improve autistic childrens
attention and motor- visual
skills. Overall, the research sheds
a light on the opportunities
offered by full body touchless
games for therapy and
education of these special users.
This thesis ends with the
proposal of a research agenda
in this eld and an outline of
future work
434
The second life of television content
Luca Vignaroli - Supervisor: Prof. Paolo Paolini - Co-supervisor: Prof. Letizia Tanca
In recent years the way users
watch television has radically
changed. Also the home
environment is changing
since many smart users watch
television while using a portable
PC or a tablet as secondary
screen more or less related to
the broadcast programmes.
At the same time, social
networks allow the final user to
be immersed in a collaborative
environment and to talk
about television. TV users
social activities implicitly make
connections between concepts
by means of videos, news,
comments, and posts. The
strength of such connections
may change as the perception
of users on the Web changes
over time. Moreover user-
generated contents (UGC) are
revolutionizing all phases of the
content production value chain
, in particular it can be observed
that a very large number
of UGCs include significant
portions of content already
broadcast by the TV networks.
In this context a number of
Social TV applications are
emerging, providing to the final
user tools for social interaction
while watching television
or media content related to
a particular TV program. If
properly leveraged, these
collaborative social environments
can be seen as rich information
data sources, indirectly returning
to broadcasters and content
producers some form of implicit
feedback from the final users.
In this thesis I define a
Framework for the integration
of the heterogeneous and
dynamic data coming from
different knowledge sources
(broadcasters archives, online
newspapers, blogs, web
encyclopaedias, social media
platforms, social networks,
etc.). The framework uses a
knowledge graph to model all
the heterogeneous aspects of
the information in homogeneous
way. I instantiate it in the
context of the investigations:
the integration of the cultures
of TV and Web defining a
model for the integration of the
heterogeneous data coming
from the knowledge sources
(broadcasters archives, EPGs,
collected audience data, social
networks, etc.) which play a role
in what I call the second life
of TV content, starting from
its production phase, going
through the on-air phase, and
continuing with the on-line
phase, during this phase the
television content turns to be
a magnet for users in the
network attracting users, and it
becomes a Social Object.
Through a prototype called
MeSoOnTV, the Media and
Social-driven Ontology-based TV
knowledge management system,
that enables the integration of
the heterogeneous data coming
from multiple knowledge
sources. Finally, a demonstrator
has been developed in order to
show some possible features
offered by the described
framework based on a
meaningful dataset.
Figure 1 presents an overview
of the integration framework.
It consists of three main layers:
a source processing layer, a
knowledge graph layer and a
knowledge query and analysis
layer. The source processing
layer has the role of collecting all
the data which will be conveyed
in the model. It accesses number
of predefined web/social/
media sources and processes
them in order to extract those
information units which will
be represented as nodes in the
knowledge graph, as well as
those information that support
the existence of relationships
(modelled as edges in the graph)
among them.
The knowledge graph layer
manages the knowledge
graph, which is the core of the
proposal. The graph contains
essentially three types of
nodes: social objects, subjects
and concepts, and all social,
representation and structural
interactions among them.
The knowledge query and
analysis layer consists in a set
of components for querying,
browsing and analyzing the
knowledge graph. A query
module extracts subgraphs
from the knowledge graph
based on users requirements
and constraints. Each extracted
subgraph can be seen as a
view over the complete
knowledge graph, only
containing nodes and edges
potentially relevant to the user
query. An analysis module,
provides a set of analysis and
data mining tool to obtain
models and patterns from
the knowledge graph. It can
act directly on the knowledge
graph, or it can handle the
subgraphs extracted from the
query module also in terms of
matrices or tensors.
The core of the framework is
the knowledge network. In
particular, Im interested in
capturing the dynamic evolution
in time of the graph by using
temporal nodes associated to
social objects and describing
their lifecycle.
In order to summarize the final
definition of the graph (figure 2)
a brief description of main node
types is given, the knowledge
graph represents the result of
public actions of users in social
environments. Nodes represents
Items. Edges represents
relationships among Items. The
knowledge graph has three main
entities (node types): Subjects of concept called time concept.
represent Users that act in some
way, Social Objects that are
the result of public acts and
Concepts that are physical
and ideal objects referred by
2. the knowledge graph definition
set of entities to consider.
1. overview of the integration
framework
subjects via their public actions.
The possible relationships
between differed items could
be: a group of subjects that
recognize a social value of an
act supports the resulting social
object, a social object represents
a social instance of some
concepts on a precise context
and structural relationships
express part of links between
entities of the same type.
Social objects can evolve in
time. I consider temporal
representation of a social
object towards a special type
Each edge of the knowledge
graph can be weighted, the
weight expresses the strength of
the relationship, together with
the structure of the graph, they
are used in the analysis phase to
PhD Yearbook | 2015
calculate various metrics, such as
similarity between entities, the
Finally I introduce the
demonstrator built to show
some possible features of
the framework and some
possible wais to exploit
the model on which the 435
framework is based (figure
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3). It enables the integration
of the heterogeneous
data coming from multiple
knowledge sources. The system
captures multiple aspects
of the domain, from the
semantic characterization of
the TV content, to the social
characterization and the social
perception of a TV event, to the
temporal evolution of the social
perception. The demo scenario
relies on real data gathered from
YouTube and Twitter, related to
several Italian TV talk shows on
politics, broadcasted by RAI and
other Italian operators.
3. a screen shoot of the demonstrator
Building Engineering | Design | Design
and technologies for cultural heritage
| Electrical Engineering | Energy and
Nuclear Science and Technology |
Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture and
Exhibition Design | Management, Economics
and Industrial Engineering | Materials
Engineering | Mathematical MODELS and
METHODS IN Engineering | Mechanical
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THE Architectural Heritage | Rotary-wing
aircrafts | Spatial Planning and Urban
Development | Structural Seismic and
Geotechnical Engineering | Technology
and Design for Environment and Building
| Territorial Design and Government |
Aerospace Engineering | Architectural AND
Urban Design | Architectural Composition |
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of Housing and Landscape | Bioengineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
438
DOCTORAL PROGRAM
IN Interior Architecture
and Exhibition Design
The School of Architecture of the Politecnico di Milano, whose
Chair: past lecturers include Gi Ponti, Franco Albini, Carlo De Carli and
Prof. Luca Basso Peressut Vittoriano Vigan, has always stood out, at both national and
international level, for its studies on living space, underpinned by
a careful evaluation of interiors and by an awareness of the key
role played by furniture within the complex system of relationships
established with those who inhabit their spaces. The research focus
is both on private and public space, with particular attention being
paid, in recent times, to the organisation of space for social, cultural
and communication purposes: museums, exhibitions, theatres,
urban interior spaces etc. The Milan School of Architecture draws
on the citys highly productive and specialised background and on
the strong commercial and entrepreneurial spirit that lies at the
heart of several important events, first and foremost the Salone
Internazionale del Mobile which, every year, brings Milan into the
international spotlight, than La Triennale di Milano, one of the most
important Italian institution devoted to promote design culture.
The PhD in Interior Architecture and Design was established twenty
years ago with the aim of providing students with a culturally
qualified and critically based education. Throughout its activity,
it has trained more than one hundred researchers and around
half of them are currently teaching in national and international
universities.
Aims of the course
Improving the ability to plan, manage and coordinate research
programs; collecting and elaborating historical documentary
materials, as well as producing documents on interior design
(architecture, furnishing, decoration, stage-designing, exhibit
design fitting, museography, furniture production);
Improving the knowledge of how to plan, develop, technically
implement, troubleshoot and manage complex interior design
projects
Topics and research issues faced during the course
In addition to the development of a specific individual curriculum,
doctoral candidates will deal with several subject-related issues
concerning Interior Architecture and Design in analytic and
planning suitable scales and in different areas:
Theory and history: basic principles of architecture and interior
design; evolution of content, methodologies and planning
concepts in different ages and cultural realities, with a particular
examination of actual architectural and
industrial design issues;
Housing models: history, new trends and
future orders of housing (private and common
dwellings; public, company and autonomous
working precincts; cultural, social, health,
sports and leisure services and facilities, open
urban area services and structures) in relation
to social, economic and cultural developments,
technological and informational innovation and
formal and aesthetic issues;
Architectural space: structure, composition
and quality of urban and building interior
space, its connection with the context and its
organization; nature and features of sheath and
space fitting, and their connections;
Environment: features, methods and tools for
planning, simulation and monitoring of micro-
climate and environmental comfort; study of
aerodynamic, material, ergonomic, energy and
lighting aspects;
Furnishing elements: typology, morphology,
technology;
spatial, material, chromatic, tactile and
ergonomic value of furnishings and objects;
analysis of their connections and relationships
with space and surfaces.
Doctoral program Board
Luca Basso Peressut
Gianpiero Bosoni
Pier Federico Caliari
Luciano Crespi
Immacolata Forino
Marina Molon
Advisory Board
Lucio Altarelli, Universit di Roma La Sapienza
Agostino Bossi, Universit Federico II Napoli
Daniel Cid Moragas Scuola, Elisava Barcellona
Qualifying elements of the curriculum
PhD Yearbook | 2015
Customised teaching methods aimed at
developing each students specific aptitudes in
different areas of design, theoretical and critical
historical research;
Analysis of complex paradigms and
development of split up methodologies of
intervention with interdisciplinary integrations
for proposing, design, theoretical and critical
historical research purposes; 439
Creation of virtual and classic simulation tools
Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design
for the control of figurative, material, metric,
chromatic, energy and light properties.
Study methods
Lectures, training sessions, guided tours and
seminar cycles given by teachers of the College
and by visiting Professors;
Workshop research in fields such as critical
history and design, carried out through
teaching, cooperation activities and horizontal
and vertical exchange between students of
different cycles;
Seminar activities and individual stages/
internships particularly important for enhancing
the students curriculum;
Individual research aided by tutors with the
contribution of the entire teaching staff.
Gianni Ottolini
Gennaro Postiglione
Roberto Rizzi
Pierluigi Salvadeo
Francesco Scullica
Michele Ugolini
Anna Marie Fisker, Aalborg University
Christoph Grafe, TU Delft
Marco Vaudetti, Politecnico di Torino
440

Flexibility and Comfort in Limited Dwelling Updated

PhD Yearbook | 2015

considerations regarding technical possibilities,
functionality, trends and impacts on contemporary living
since the period of 1970s; Identification of future directions
Maja Gjakun - Supervisor: Prof. Francesco Scullica

441
The constant and growing need ergonomic regulations have of some past and present case flexibility methods and comfort

Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design

for functional and affordable changed, as well as the general studies, this research aims to conditions in dwelling, which
dwellings in high-populated perception of comfort. People analyse flexibility and comfort could be helpful to identify the
urban areas emphasises the have found themselves in in limited dwelling interiors appropriate target market for
importance of flexible dwelling a condition which requires with special emphasis on the such type of living options in
interiors, which have definitely adaptation to less. Not updated considerations about the future. Consequently, the
become a priority in the rarely, architects and designers the technical possibilities, trends research outcomes might be
evaluation of housing. This make experiments on space and impacts on contemporary a base for further discussion
kind of necessity has changed through the constant reduction living since the period of 1970s. on how these types of
the traditional understanding of standard scales and the These results can contribute to dwellings can be considered
of interior to a living organism exaggeration in minimalism or in understanding the an appropriate way of living
which should grow according multifunctionality, which raises relevance of todays occupants in the future also for more
to our needs inside a given the question of real usefulness intimate comfort conditions heterogenic audience.
context. and space durability for its in everyday living, as a direct
Confronted to this inhabitants. Accordingly, some response
challenge (or situation) new trends of transition of living to the rapid development and
of decreased affordability of intimacy towards exterior spaces popularity of flexible interior
commodious living spaces, are appearing, which gradually methods in the residential
flexibility is considered as brings into question the essential architecture of the last few
the most appropriate tool right to personal privacy for all decades. Furthermore, the
for experimentation. Todays individuals. aim of this research is to
architects and designers are Starting from these facts and detect tendencies for the
rapidly developing a wide through a more detailed analysis future developments of
variety of concepts where fusion
between architectural and
interior elements is more evident
than ever. Space optimization
and compressed functionality of
furniture have become one of
the main sources of inspiration
in order to achieve the maximum
functional flexibility of spaces.
Additionally, movable and sliding
walls or hinged partitions, which
support a fluid space that can be
divided, separated, integrated or
opened according to the needs
and wishes of the occupants
represent only a small part of all
the applicable concepts.
Consequently, we can notice
that over the last few decades LifeEdited Apartment by Graham Hill, 2010.
442

Public and Personal: Urban Spaces on a new way to approach the urban

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Human Scale
Jacopo Leveratto - Tutor: Immacolata Concezione Forino
Coordinator: Luca Basso Peressut
Recently, and especially from
accessibility of public space that
aimed at identifying concrete
public spaces, involving a greater
attention to human scale, not
only as metrical parameter,
but primarily as dimension of
dwelling through taking care
of a place.
Dwelling and appropriation of
space, of course, are closely
interrelated. Dwelling represents 443
a continuous process of spatial

Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design

the first half of the Nineties,
despite the success shown
by some of the most relevant
design experiences, some
sociologists, political scientists
and urban planners seem
to suddenly agree, almost
unanimously, that public space
has never been so weak and
unrepresentative, to let them
think about its imminent death.
Far from exclusively being a
crisis of representation about
its symbolic role, this condition
seems to increasingly affect
its legal and spatial status.
Urban areas where access is
legally guaranteed to everyone
are progressively compressed
by increasing instances of
privatization that effectively
reduce the public realm both
directly and indirectly. The
progressive loss of this spatial
typology takes place both
through the direct sale of public
assets to private companies and
through the expansion of private
spaces related to entertainment
and retail as community life
centers, like multiplexes and
malls. This, in itself, would
not be necessarily a problem,
if it meant only a relocation
of the social rituals into some
other urban spaces subject to a
different regime. The problem
is that such a regime, based
on mechanisms of exclusion,
deprives those rituals of their
constituent feature, the universal
makes it the only venue for the
unexpected meeting with the
other.
However, this widespread
privatization, which seems
to be behind the decline of
public space, is not the result
of a deliberate policy aimed
at dismantling the public,
but represents the outcome of
a prior process of alienation
essentially started by citizens.
The progressive retreat from
the public city appears, in
fact, to coincide with the
abandonment of the individuals
public dimension, which causes
a generalized lack of interest
towards this kind of spaces. The
public city is not a stable and
defined body, but is made of
the claims and the withdrawals
over a given space, which trigger
inclusive and exclusive processes.
Today, nobody seems interested
in making or contesting claims
over public space. In this sense,
the progressive privatization
processes, that directly or
indirectly change the legal
structure and the physical shape
of contemporary city, should
be interpreted as the simplest
and cheapest answer to the
public spaces abandonment and,
consequently, to their neglect
and degradation.
It is around this belief that, from
the early Sixties, a significant
part of the urban design
discipline has been moving,
tools that enable and encourage
different forms of appropriation
of public space. Over the last
thirty years, in fact, the concept
of urban design has evolved
into its most contemporary
declination, which deals with
the making of places for the
community through building
adequate connections between
the meanings, the physical
setting and the activities within
a certain public space. A difficult
task to carry out on this scale,
since this appropriation does
not regard so much the legal
statute of the space, as the
peoples ability to domesticate
it. For this purpose, to meet the
needs of suitable instruments,
the research proposes a
historical-critical reading of
contemporary urban design,
from the perspective of interior
architecture, focused on the
quality that personal space
shows in public space design.
During the last thirty years,
in fact, interior architecture
has finally abandoned a
topological definition based
on the opposition with the
exterior, to overcome its
traditional spatial domains linked
to domestic environments and
face a new topic, the realm
of urban interiors. This
expression, however, does not
concern the rise of a new spatial
typology, like indoor plazas or
malls, but it rather describes a
definition, in which body
produces space starting from
his own space and traces his
projection around him. In this
sense most immediate form of
appropriation seems to develop
in this bodily space, the personal
one, whose extent represents
the individual ability of taking
care of places, exerting an actual
physical control over them.
While within the private realm
this dimension tends to expand
coinciding with the whole space
owned, in the public one it is
subject of negotiation both with
the others, who exert the right
to control their portion of space,
and with the same architecture,
which proposes and often
imposes an institutionalized
spatial arrangement. However it
is precisely in public that this sort
of invisible and portable sphere
seems to gain consistence,
marking out a personal territory,
enabling the individual to
develop a sense of identity
and engage in the rituals of
communication and recognition,
and reflecting the persons
location in the social space.
Despite this acknowledged
relevance, the definition of an
adequate personal space today
represents a marginal parameter
within the public space design.
In fact, even though for fifty
years it has been, as instrument
of regulation of interpersonal
relationships, a central
1. Aldo van Eyck, Otterlo Circles, 1959 [A. van Eyck Archive].
concern of anthropology and
environmental psychology, such
analysis have rarely affected the
built environment design beyond
the empirical identification of an
abstract dimensional standard.
Personal space, however, is not
only defined by the extent of
the bodys control, but rather
by the modalities of spatial
appropriation the body can
exert. Therefore its architectural
design cannot simply cut out
a portion of a larger public
space, but should start from the
valorization of the techniques
the body uses in this form of
spatial personalization.
For this reason, once framed
the issue, the subject area and
the research methodology,
in an attempt to identify
the different modalities of
determination, transformation
and use of urban space that
the environmental project
guarantees to each individual
user, the thesis develops
through a series of theoretical
contributions and selected
case studies, able to define
the architectural consistency
of personal space in public
space design and the formal
and functional relationship
that exists between the two.
In order to identify which
architectural conformations are
able not only to accommodate
the large numbers, but also
to valorize, even symbolically,
the human dimension of
individuals and small groups,
their presence, their action
and their conformative ability.
Because, after all, as Jane Jacobs
wrote, cities have the capability
of providing something for
everybody, only because, and
only when, they are created
by everybody, and today, to
paraphrase Aldo van Eycks
Otterlo Circles, for they return to
belong to everyone, they have to
return to belong to each one.
444
The Future of the Ruins
Carolina Martinelli - Supervisor: Prof. Luca Basso Peressut
The PhD thesis The Future of the
Ruins investigates the role and
significance of contemporary
architecture at the moment
in which it intervenes with
archaeological contexts of
museographical purpose. It
is a complex and articulated
topic because it involves
questions which also belong
to Archaeology, Restoration
and Conservation - so as
to understand the different
points of view of the figures
involved in the processes of
the development of ruins (not
only those of the designers
but also of the historians,
museum professionals, curators,
etc.) - although attention
is mainly turned to physical
phenomena through which
the museographical process
manifests: architecture, space,
exhibition equipment.
The subject of study is the
design operations carried out
in the last twenty years which
are grafted above, internally
or in the immediate vicinity of
European and Mediterranean
archaeological areas or
monuments that are intended
to protect, exhibit, complete or
communicate the Past and its
history.
The aim of the thesis is to
represent a framework of the
state of art, synthesising the
principle approaches and tracing
the methods and guide lines
valid for future interventions.
The results of this research also
present a way of constructing
a operational-methodological
premise applicable in Italy where
recent investigations have
demonstrated the existence of
a notable scope for growth in
the field of museography for
archaeology, and which is yet to
fulfil its potential.
The premise behind this study
reflects the particular heritage
boom we are seeing in recent
years, which is recorded in the
multiplication of international
conferences, scientific texts, and
also in the increase of museums
and exhibitions related to the
theme of cultural heritage,
and a renewed interest in
cultural tourism to the sites
and archaeological areas. A
phenomenon that for many
historians, sociologists and
anthropologists is closely linked
to the rise of multiculturalism
in society - and also in Europe
to the transfer of powers from
the State to community bodies
- that has pushed humanity
to jealously preserve their
identities, and that is reflected
in the attitude of contemporary
society to the materialization
of memory (Pierre Nora,
1989) or museification of
almost any phenomenon of
humanity (Victoria Newhouse,
1998) and, in particular, of
the archaeological fragments.
The peculiarity of recent years
is, however, that the focus
is shifting increasingly from
chattels - conceived as antiques
to guard - to real estate -
preserved and transformed
to use almost exclusively as a
museum so they can be enjoyed
and experienced.
Before getting to the analysis of
the more recent study cases, the
thesis delves into a historical-
critical excursus the passage
from exhibition of archaeological
artifacts in the interior - firstly of
Collectors and then of museums
- to their musealization in situ,
trying to interpret the different
hermeneutical postures with
which each period has looked
at archeological remains and
it questions the reasons that
have generated different
architectonic forms at excavation
sites or other strategies for the
collocation of artifacts. As Ignasi
de Sol-Morales reminds us, the
outcome of an intervention on
the existing changes depending
on the historical moment in
which they are created because
they change both values-
meanings conferred upon it,
both are objectives that the new
project aims to fulfill (Ignasi de
Sol-Morales, 1985).
This narrative path begins
in the late Middle Ages and
early Renaissance, ends in
the last three decades of the
Twentieth Century, and has
been interpreted as a story of
growing of reuse of the Past:
first material, then metaphoric,
political-ideological and cultural.
In particular, the origins of this
discussion analyze the attitude
of historical continuity expressed
throughout the Middle Ages
that has been translated into
a continuous reuse of existing
structures or the reuse of
fragments as building materials.
This attitude persists up to
Humanism when, taking a
progressive historical distance by
the Ancients considered other
than the present, inaugurates
a new reuse of archaeological
remains. They are no longer
seen as just repositorium
material to draw upon for the
construction of new buildings
in other contexts but as
potential repositorium of topoi
figurative, representative and
expressive, recovering from the
past and reviving, citing them
and revising them in paintings
and sculptures, in decorations
of studioli, in the exhibition
design of the Museums-Palace
of the Eighteenth-century
and in the architectural forms
of Museums-Mausoleum of
Nineteenth Century. These
issues are discussed in the first
part of the thesis that examines
the origins of the museum and
the evolution of the way of
displaying archeology from the
first forms of private collectors
until the Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Centuries, witnesses
of the first archaeological
excavations and the birth of the
first public museums as flags of
nationalist regimes.
The second part focuses in
the Nineteenth and Twentieth
Centuries and examine in depth
the first restoration interventions
of monuments, considered as
paradigms of operations of the
post operam arrangement of
an archaeological dig, and the
transition from exposition of
the remains in the museum to
their exhibition on site. The
discussion includes some Italian
museographical projects of
the Second World War period,
considered emblematic in the
settings of the culture of the
project and became ideal models
for decades. In this section
of the thesis the time frame
deepens in which the testimony
of the past, in addition to an
aesthetic value, acquires an
historical and documentary
sense. This means recognizing
the importance of preserving,
protecting, intervening on
fragments and archaeological
sites in order to communicate
their significance, in different
ways: mimetic restoration
that follow the language and
the logic of the monument;
philological and scientific
refurbishment highlighting the
differences between old and
new trying to preserve the clarity
of the diverse historical phases
that characterize the monument.
In these ways critical-creative
actions are added to seek
to recover the unity of the
monument respecting the
traces of time, without making
a fabrication of history. This
attitude seems to be the most
pursued contemporary times
and is discussed in more detail in
the third and fourth part of the
research.
The third part, organized as an
applied research of exempla,
gives a detailed critical-
descriptive analysis of fifty
case studies. The projects were
selected on a geographical
basis (limited to archaeological
contexts in Europe and
around the Mediterranean),
temporal (made in the last
two decades) and oriented
towards the issues of quality,
PhD Yearbook | 2015
and systematized chronologically
in four types of intervention:
museums in archaeological
context, museums with
protection of an excavation,
open air museums and indoor
museums. Also described are
some archaeological exhibition
designs considered emblematic, 445
temporary or permanent and
Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design
placed in historic complexes.
In the fourth part the projects
are compared in a interpretive
reading - taking into account
different points of view
regarding both operative choices
and options applied to language
- summarizing the main trends
and identifying the attitudes
that characterize contemporary
experiences. In particular, two
areas of inquiry are discerned:
interventions based on the
interpretation/re-invention of
the reading of the Past and
ones, instead, claiming the
legitimacy of choices formally
autonomous in which the new
and existing overlap to generate
a third figure, far from any
programmatically evocative/
reconstructive hypothesis of the
origin.
Finally, from the search
results, we draw the critical
conclusive considerations and
try to anticipate possible future
settings.
446

TOWARDS THE METHODOLOGY FOR REUSE OF modern needs or limitations the supervision of relevant

PhD Yearbook | 2015

CARAVANSERAI,
The case of Iran and Turkey
Golnaz Salehi Mourkani - Supervisor: Prof. Luca Basso Peressut
Co-Supervisor: Prof. A. Jabalameli
Preserving historical heritage
especially Middle East, with a lot
for users of historical heritage.
These limitations are less in
Turkey, so reuse of historical
heritage in Turkey is not limited
to touristic applications.
The findings are summarized as
follows:
Historical records of reuse of
of Creative Conservation caravanserais
organizations, which led to
recognition of this historical
process, selected policies
for reuse of caravanserais in
Iran, and in Turkey at early of
publicity. Furthermore research
also introduces the organized
process of reuse of caravanserais
to provide a systematic method 447
to keep their potential and

Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design

through its usage and of obsolete buildings. is clearly seen. Study of Reuse trends heritage values associated with
sustainability encouraged Middle protection history and recovery Possession of caravanserais in considering the identified factors 1. Plan of Cengle Han (caravanserai)
Eastern countries, including The subject of this research is of historical documents about reuse that can be contribute to the after adaptive reuse as industrial
Iran and Turkey, to focus on reviewing reuse methodologies reuse in Iran and Turkey cause Methodology based on case success of reuse caravanserais. museum of Ankara, Turkey.
Basic layout Courtesy of KA. BA.
reuse of historical masons. Since of caravanserai which is recognition of this historical studies analyzing in case of ARCHITECTURE LTD. Archive. Analyze
these both countries are located accomplished through analyzing process about reuse and the reuse caravanserais in Turkey by author.
alongside the historical trade different case studies of role of caravanserais as the first and Iran
paths and Silk Road, they benefit caravanserais in Iran and Turkey systematic reuse samples. Study Reuse Protocol
from a large group of historical in order to identify the applied of cases in these two countries Degree of intervention and
heritage, i.e. caravanserais, method for reuse of these provides a comparison for reuse principle spaces
dispersed inside and outside the buildings in Iran and Turkey. implications. Although the Philosophy of rebuilding
cities. Although this research studied samples in this research method
concentrates on reuse of show that caravanserais under
Caravanserais are masons that caravanserais and related supervision of historical heritage As it mentioned above
were built in 30 km intervals policies about them in the organizations in Iran and Turkey the subject of this thesis is
for residence of passengers. Middle East; however, it were reused from the middle of addressing reuse of historical
They facilitated travels, trade implies studying philosophy 20th century, but most samples heritage of caravanserais in
communications, and other of protection of historical and effective practices belong Iran and Turkey, by analyzing
tasks, such as gathering heritage in Europe and related to about one decade before. the applied methods in favor
documents and registering history. One of the reasons A supportive organization for of these masons. In general
information places. These is recognition of policies and private sector was established the outcome of this research is
masons have been extended protection methods in Europe to and its effective activities were recognition of common usage
either inside cities or outside of compare with those in Iran and started in 2009 in Iran, and in methods of caravanserais
them. Penetration of religious Turkey, and the second reason 2002 it empowered in Turkey regarding to their heritage
ideas in daily lives of Moslems, is penetration of European (Bozdogan, 2012). values or outstanding universal
2. Section of Cengle Han (caravanserai) after adaptive reuse as industrial
which construed trade and protection methods because Studies in Iran show that there values, including symbolic/
museum. Courtesy of KA. BA. ARCHITECTURE LTD.
travel as good actions in of participation of European are no transparent definitions conceptual and associated
religion, brought construction architects in caravanserais reuse for reserving historical works values, social value and reuse
of caravanserais to the highest projects. Study of European and reuse of them compatible value which led to reuse of
religious actions. Whereas protection methods shows to todays needs of Iran yet. them as hotels and museum,
Muslim civilization has always discussions such as Creative As one of the scholar said, commercial centers, and by local
been mobile (Sims, 1995:80) Conservation, which were preserving and reusing historical needs, or governmental decision.
caravanserais is an architecture seen in the projects of reuse heritage is a dilemma in many These recognized methods
that attributed to this mobility. with European participation. Islamic communities (Rstem of usage of caravanserais,
Changes of technology caused Since this participation Pasa Caravanserai Project Brief, mentioned in General Case
deterioration of caravans and provided considerable samples 1980). Obviously this caused Studies section, are common.
changed trade system rapidly. and discussions of reuse some limited reuse from certain The other outcome of this
This consequently changes of caravanserais, thus this Iranian caravanserai. Generally, research is recovering historical
performance of caravanserais is necessary to point these lack of a transparent definition documents in processing initial
and encountered countries along cases. In the recent reuse for reuse causes either waving systematic reuse of caravanserai 3. Northeastern faade of Cengle Han (caravanserai) after adaptive reuse.
the important trade routes, projects, especially in Iran, lack reuse potentials according to cases in Iran and Turkey under Courtesy of KA. BA. ARCHITECTURE LTD.
Building Engineering | Design | Design
and technologies for cultural heritage |
Electrical Engineering | Energy and Nuclear
Science and Technology | Environmental
and Infrastructures engineering |
Industrial Chemistry and Chemical
Engineering | Information Technology |
Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design
| Management, Economics and Industrial
Engineering | Materials Engineering |
Mathematical MODELS and METHODS IN
Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
Physics | Preservation of THE Architectural
Heritage | Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial
Planning and Urban Development |
Structural Seismic and Geotechnical
Engineering | Technology and Design for
Environment and Building | Territorial
Design and Government | Aerospace
Engineering | Architectural and Urban
Design | Architectural Composition |
Architecture, Urban Design, Conservation
of Housing and Landscape | Bioengineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
450
DOCTORAL PROGRAM
IN MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS
AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
The Ph.D. programme in Management, Economics and Industrial
Chair: Engineering (DRIG) offers students advanced training and
Prof. Mariano Corso preparation to conduct research in the field of management,
economics and industrial engineering. It aims to develop
professionals who are able to carry out high-profile research in
these fields in universities and international research institutions,
manufacturing and service companies, regulatory authorities
and other public bodies. The programme allows the student to
develop a sound methodological background and multidisciplinary
knowledge by attending courses designed to provide a multiplicity
of visions, theories and approaches, a broad cultural panorama and
the ability to study problems in an innovative manner, combining
various analytical perspectives.
The commitment of the Department of Management, Economics
and Industrial Engineering (DIG) to research and scientific
cooperation with other academic institutions and major industrial
and service companies creates an ideal environment in which for
students to acquire leading-edge knowledge and cultivate their own
research interests in a broad range of research subjects.
The program is taught in English. It is composed of three different
types of training activities.
Main courses include:
methodological courses relating to aspects relevant to research in
management, economics and industrial engineering;
thematic courses whose aim is to introduce students in state-of-
the-art research in specific fields relating to the above mentioned
disciplines: Business strategy, Organization & human resources,
Finance, Economics and management of innovation, Industrial
Organization, International economics, Regional and urban
economics, Supply chain management, Operations, Facility
management, Logistics and others.
Elective courses and training in specific themes
these activities are customized according to the specific research
interests of students. Their aim is to extend the scientific knowledge
of students in specific topics and to introduce them to the
international research community through the presentation of
research work in international conferences.
Thesis
The aim of the PhD programmes at Politecnico di Milano is to instil
in candidates a research-oriented mind-set, along
with expertise and skills relating to a specific
research topic.
In order to develop a research-oriented mentality,
candidates must acquire the ability to solve
complex problems, including a thorough analysis
of the problem, identification of an original
solution and the ability to evaluate the solution
and its applicability in given contexts. Ph.D.s
who possess these abilities will have greater
opportunities for advancement in research
positions, both in the academic environment as
well as in public and private organisations.
The main goal is the development of an original
research contribution. The Ph.D. thesis should
help increase knowledge in the applicants
research field. It also needs to be consistent with
the research topics studied in the department
in which the student is completing their Ph.D.
studies.
The doctoral program covers three years.
Students are required to spend at least one
semester in a foreign research institution. The
Department of Management, Economics and
Industrial Engineering is qualified as hosting
institution of the PRIME Network of Excellence
established by the European Commission within
the 6th Framework program. Hence students
have access to the mobility support measures
aimed at promoting international collaboration
between the doctoral programs in the network.
In addition, students are encouraged to attend
doctoral schools and workshops organized
by other institutions and to participate in
international scientific conferences. Presentation
of an original research work in an international
conference is mandatory for admission to the
final exam.
In previous years, students have been hosted by
well known foreign academic institutions such as
PhD Yearbook | 2015
451
CRIC-University of Manchester, SPRU-University
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
of Sussex, University of Reading, University of
Nottingham, London Business School, Trinity
College Dublin, Universit Henri Poincar
Nancy, Georgia Institute of Technology, New
York University, cole polytechnique fdrale
de Lausanne, Imperial College London, Ecole
des hautes tudes commerciales de Paris (HEC),
Cranfield University, University of Warwick,
Chalmers University Gteborg, ETH Zurich,
Harvard Business School, Columbia University,
MIT, UCLA and others.
The Faculty of DRIG includes, in addition to
professors of the Department of Management,
Economics and Industrial Engineering of
Politecnico di Milano, several foreign professors:
Adolfo Arata, Universidad Tecnica Federico
Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile; Neil Gandal, Tel
Aviv University, Israel; Benoit Iung, Universit
Henri Poincar, Nancy, France; Bertrand Qulin,
HEC-Paris; Tereza Tykvova, Zew, Germany; Mike
Wright, University of Nottingham, UK; Frank
Rothaermel, Georgia Institute of Technology,
GA, USA; Irvine Lapsley, University of Edinburgh,
UK; Bruno Cassiman, IESE Business School,
Spain; Alan MacCormack, Harward Business
School, MA, USA; Dirk Czamitzky, University of
Leuven, Belgium; Erik Hultink, Delft University of
Technology, The Netherlands; Christopher Lettl,
Aarhus School of Business, Denmark; Christopher
Worley, University of Southern California, CA,
USA; David Coghlan, Trinity College Dublin;
Stephen Tallman, University of Richmond, VA,
USA.
The program has developed several research
collaborations with private manufacturing and
service firms, regulatory bodies, and other
public research institutions: Value Partners,
TXT e-solutions, DAppolonia, Consorzio MIP,
Fondazione Rosselli, Consorzio Politecnico
 452

Innovazione, IRER, Societ Banknord GE.PA.FI. researchers in economics and management

PhD Yearbook | 2015

SIM, Siemens, Fondazione CEUR, Fondazione
Politecnico, ANIMP-OICE-FONDAZIONE LUIGI DE
JANUARIO, PIRELLI & C., EUROCONTROL, C.T.G.
Italcementi Group.
Typical career opportunities opened up by the
doctoral program include the following ones:
researchers and lecturers in Italian and foreign
universities;
officials of research and training bodies
working in the research departments of private
corporations, financial institutions and public
bodies;
consultants in leading management and
strategy consulting companies;
managers and entrepreneurs of innovative
companies.
The research projects that are presented in the 453
following section are typical examples of the

MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

operating as a link between universities and research work carried out by DRIG students.
private sector companies;

Advisory Board
Adolfo Arata Pontificia Universita Catolica de Valpairaiso
Paolo Cederle Unicredit Group
Mats Engwall KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Jean Pierre Helfer IAE Universit Paris
Nicolai J. Foss Copenhagen Business School
Christer Karlsson Copenhagen Business School
Janina Kugel SIEMENS AG
Gilbert Lenssen European Academy of Business in Society
Filippo Passerini The Procter & Gamble Company
Andrea Pignataro ION Investment Group
Carlo Purassanta Microsoft Italia
Punam Sahgal IIM Lucknow, Noida Campus
Bianca Scheller John Crane
Valerie Suslow University of Michigan Ross School of Business
Reinhilde Veugelers University of Leuven

Scholarship Sponsors
Animp-Oice-Fondazione Luigi De Januario
Centro per lo Sviluppo del Polo di Piacenza
C.T.G. Italcementi Group
Edor Metodi Quantitativi
Fondazione Politecnico di Milano
Pirelli & C.
Telecom Italia S.p.a
Fondazione Cariplo
454

Implementing Environmental Sustainability The process of technical how OPEX and time can be (more precisely 13, 88 years);

PhD Yearbook | 2015

solution analysis has to be in-
in Mobile Network Operators Companies sourced in order to save CAPEX
and time as well. This can be
done by educating personnel,
training and gaining technical
knowledge and experiences
Nikola Asurdzic - Thesis Advisor: Marco Macchi - with the hybrid part of the
Thesis Discussant: Alberto Portioli Staudacher equipment. In this manner
telecom management will
1. INTRODUCTION fact have key roles in acquisition the research: explanatory be ready to enable effective
saved in the process of HBTS
implementation. By providing
in-sourced maintenance for
hybrid part of the equipment,
management will set a more
effective and suitable state for
implementation and operation
of the HBTS.
Results on comparative Life
Cycle Assessment of Base
6 CONCLUSIONS
The outcomes of this PhD
dissertation make several
contributions in order to
understand the environmental
sustainability in MNO
companies, and expand
knowledge on how promoting 455
and enhancing the adoption

MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

Climate change has been and development decisions, exploratory multiple case implementation of green Transceiver and Hybrid Base of green practices in a MNO
described as the biggest acquisition and development study technologies, such as HBTS. Transceiver Station companys settings.
global health threat of the 21st projects, and in creating and Second case study - Type of The next step in procurement Comparative analysis of BTS and First of all, the dissertation
century by The Lancet, one managing organization-wide the research: Modeling and stage was to open a tender HBTS models for two life cycle contributes to offer new
of the worlds oldest and best systems for equipment support simulation for equipment procurement stages was conducted. HBTS has empirical evidence of the process
known general medical journals. for new and existing assets. Third case study - Type of the and construction. OEM has a greater negative impact on the of the sustainable practices
The mobile telecom sector can research: Validation phase to be contacted in order to environment than BTS across all adoption by MNO company,
be seen as both a solution to the 3. GOAL, SCOPE AND supply the suitable parts of impact categories. HBTS has a having a particular focus on
health threats posed by excessive RESEARCH QUESTIONS 5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION the equipment such as PV greater impact throughout all of the introduction of a green
carbon dioxide emissions and Part of the research put the Results from the case study cells and wind turbine with all the impact categories compared technology as the Hybrid Base
climate change environmental spotlight on environmental showed that the strategy of the supporting elements. The to BTS. Impact categories that Transceiver Station
decline, and as a contributor to comparison based on LCA implementation of HBTS may be process that can stay in sourced are most burdened are: global Afterwards, it is worth
the problem. approach between renewable carried out in parallel technology in this case is construction and warming, non renewable energy remarking that the dissertation
power solutions for BTS-site implementation phases. The mounting of the hybrid parts and respiratory inorganic. identifies some internal barriers
2. BACKGROUND AND and standard/conventional first phase concerned only the since MNO personnel have Among others, the following that prevent green practices
MOTIVATIONS BTS-sites, both connected to implementation of standard base enough technical knowledge, categories can be separated adoption such as; knowledge
Potentials for choosing physical an electrical grid. The results of station equipment not related experience and tools for these as influential: carcinogens, and information gap in sub
asset management for purpose this research served as a basis to the power section, while the actions. This is the next step in non-carcinogens and terrestrial stages of hybrid base transceiver
of this research and for solution for further research process of second phase consisted of the enhancing MNO management ecotoxcity. stations introduction especially
to deal with procedures of forming the unique guideline for implementation of hybrid part of in order to enable effective After the inclusion of the use focusing on the detail design
HBTS implementation can be HBTS implementation by MNO the BTS equipment. implementation of green phase the impact of BTS on the stage where MNO company
seen trough the fact that asset company. In order to support Results on Physical Asset technologies. environment became greater seek for a support from the third
management activities permeate both sides, managerial and Management usage in case of The last phase of the in the following categories: party strategic supplier.
to many levels of an organization, technical, we intersected above Hybrid Base Transceiver Stations implementation and use ionizing radiation, respiratory Last but not least, the thesis
and are not confined to a mentioned data and information In the next points, a critical process of the hybrid part organics, aquatic eco-toxicity, would help contributing to
central group. The purpose of obtained from LCA analysis with discussion is provided of the equipment where terrestrial eco-toxicity, land protect the environment in
the physical asset management PAM approach. The conclusions, considering the main evidences a third party is engaged is occupation, global warming shaping the organizations
function is to provide resources discussions and derived guideline useful to give some feedbacks, the maintenance process. In and non-renewable energy. The strategies towards the
and expertise to support from this research could be useful as required for the exploratory the case study conducted, impact of HBTS remained larger environment. Knowledge and
the acquisition, in-service for improving the knowledge of case study, and in relationships contract for the maintenance within the following categories: information from this study can
support and disposal of the MNO companies and also helping to the research questions. was signed at the time of the carcinogens, non-carcinogens, serve as an incentive and also as
physical assets required by the MNO employees to gain more In the detailed design, the procurement process between ozone layer depletion, the guideline to MNO companies
organization. Advantage of using understanding of the power special team opened a tender MNO company and OEM aquatic acidification, aquatic for the implementation of green
PAM approach in this case would alternatives currently available for technical assistance in the or equipment vendor. Since eutrophication and mineral practices. The adoption of green
be also connected to the fact and most suitable strategies for project of the implementation hybrid equipment technical extraction. practices would contribute to
that asset management activities their implementation. of hybrid part of the features do not differ from Payback period lower environmental load caused
and responsibilities impact on equipment. This tender was telecom equipment, in this the payback period for the by MNO companies and thus,
a wide range of roles within an 4. METHODOLOGY open to third parties due to the case maintenance department investment in equipment of PV improving the overall image
organization are not confined to Methodology consists of three lack of technical knowledge of the MNO company can cells and wind generator for in the field of environmental
a specific department. The asset types of the research, namely: about hybrid equipment be put in charge of the the particular location assumed protection, because as the say;
management groups would in First case study - Type of among telecom departments. maintenance process. This is in this study is around 14 years think globally, act locally.
456
Multichannel Marketing: A Generalized
Framework, and the Antecedents and
Consequences of its Implementation
Shan Chen - Supervisor: Prof. Giuliano Noci
From 1997 to 2014, the
worldwide internet users are
estimated to have grown nearly
20 times; in developed countries,
the internet penetration rate is
estimated to be 77% in 2014.
Mobile internet, from 2007
to 2013, has grown seven
times worldwide; especially in
developed countries, mobile
internet users have reached
about 75% of the population1.
Businesses spotted the potential
and opportunities amid the
rapid diffusion of Information
Communication Technology
(ICT). In EU-28, there are nearly
40% consumers who actively
make purchases through
internet by 2013; also nearly
40% of the enterprises make
purchases online; 40%, 25%
and 5% large enterprises,
medium-sized enterprises and
small enterprises respectively
are making turnovers through
internet commerce2. Internet
has made some spectacular
successes, for example,
most recently, the Chinese
e-commerce company Alibaba
which operates a wide range
of internet-based services,
has made the worlds biggest
ever IPO in September 20143.
However, it is not only about
commerce. Empowered by ICT,
businesses create new customer
touchpoints which influence
and transform consumer
behaviors, which in turn set new
expectation and demands to all
the businesses competing in a
market. For example, consumers
nowadays have access to larger
than ever before amount of
information through internet
from official, third-party, or even
user-generated sources; and the
web indeed has become one of
the most important touchpoints
that consumers rely on to search
for information4.
As such, since the late 90s,
we see the approach of
multichannel marketing
emerged and
rapidly gained importance in
both marketing practice and
marketing research. As ICT has
potential impacts on a wide
range of marketing activities, a
large amount of multichannel
marketing research has sprung
up and has provided a great deal
of knowledge in this area.
However, ICT is still evolving in
fast pace. For example, while
internet had been the one of
the hottest innovations in the
90s, it has become almost a
standard and given the spotlight
to mobile technologies just a
decade later. While marketing
research in this area is always
tempted to keep up with the
pace of technological evolution,
it inevitably leaves the current
knowledge fragmented and
un-generalized. In a quick
glance of the extant research,
we find a lack of comprehensive
understanding of multichannel
marketing framework that is
generalizable and applicable to
different types of businesses.
Thus, the objectives of this
research which is composed by
three consecutive studies are:
1. With the first study, we review
the state-of-the-art literature
in multichannel marketing
in order to systemize the
current knowledge, to build
theoretical foundation for
the following studies, and to
refine the research question
for the empirical studies.
2. With the second study, we
propose a multichannel
marketing framework,
integrating the knowledge
from current research and
the marketing practitioners
viewpoints, which is
comprehensive, generalizable
and applicable to any type of
businesses.
3. With the third study, we
investigate the antecedents
and consequences of
implementing multichannel
marketing, which provides
firms practical implications.
In the first study, throughout the
whole period of this research
being conducted (2012-2014),
we reviewed some 130 papers
published between 1996 and
2014 on peer-reviewed and
reputable journals; the results
are discussed in two broad
themes: consumers behavior in
multichannel environment, and
firms behavior in multichannel
environment. Based on the
literature review, we conclude
that the future research in
multichannel marketing lies
in several areas. First of all,
as technology development
continues unravelling, new
marketing channels or new
applications in current marketing
channels will keep emerging; so
will the research opportunities
on these subjects. Second of
all, among the most influential
papers in multichannel
marketing, a substantial amount
are theoretical studies which
have played important roles
in building the conceptual
foundation of research in this
field. However, as multichannel
marketing becomes commonly
adopted by firms, there is a need
for stronger empirical evidences.
Last but not least, a more global
perspective on multichannel
marketing is needed in order
to benefit firms of different
characteristics and objectives.
In fact, at the very end of this
research period, we see a couple
of freshly published studies
addressing the issue of strategic
alignment of multichannel
marketing. A combination of
the latter two areas for future
research is where we set the
context for our following
empirical studies.
The second study started in
the late 2012. It has taken a
qualitative approach, where we
conducted in-depth interviews
with marketing and/or general
managers from 32 Italian
firms of diverse characteristics
(in terms of size, type of
products, type of customers,
and industries) in order to tap
a wide range of experiences
in implementing multichannel
marketing. The interviews are
analyzed against the literature.
This study has two main
contributes: firstly it proposes
a multichannel marketing
framework composed by three
dimensions: channel variety
where individual channels are
aggregated into nine types;
channel usage intensity for
distribution, information
provision and/or relational
communication; and channel
integration perceived by
customers and perceived within
the firm. Secondly it reveals the
firms motivations of adopting
multichannel marketing, which
are summarized in three types:
economic-driven, customer-
driven, and compelled by
competition.
The third study started in the
late 2013. Building upon the
framework proposed by the
second study, it investigates
the relationships between
multichannel marketing practice
and its antecedents and
consequences in a quantitative
approach. The results suggest
that different motivations
of firms in implementing
multichannel marketing
influence the multichannel
PhD Yearbook | 2015
457
configuration; and the influence
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
from firms motivation is much
more significant than the
influence from environmental
forces. The results also suggest
multichannel marketings short-
term performance dip may even
be expected due to investments
and extra costs associated with
implementing multichannel
marketing; however, empirical
evidence also suggests that firms
active in multichannel marketing
show stronger improvement in
effectiveness of utilization of
their assets. To our knowledge,
it is among the first times such
relationships being investigated.
In this dissertation, these three
studies will be presented in the
following as full-length research
papers, with respectively
introduction to areas of
investigation, description of
methodologies applied and data
collection, description of data
analysis, then presentation and
discussion of results, research
and managerial implications if
any. After the three papers are
presented, we will conclude the
whole research.
1
International Telecommunications Union
2
European Commission, Eurostat
3 Bloomberg, Alibabas banks boost IPO
size to record of $25 billion
4 Nielsen, Osservatorio Multicanalit, 2013
458
Allocation of Risks within Public-Private
Partnerships:
A Holistic Framework and Its Application to Energy from Waste
Projects
Laura DAlessandro - Supervisor: Marco Giorgino
The ever-growing demand for
public services simultaneous
with a reduction of public
resources results in inability to
meet demand for infrastructures.
Given the ongoing austerity
measures adopted across the EU,
the solution is neither the use of
debt nor increasing tax and so
there is a need to find alternative
sources of funding. Hence, it
is desirable to seek the private
financing of public utilities and
service infrastructure through
Public-Private Partnerships
(PPPs). PPP was launched in
1992 in the UK, originally as
Private Finance Initiative (PFI)
where successive governments
promoted the involvement
of private sector in the
construction of infrastructures
and the subsequent provision
of public services utilizing
those infrastructures. Even
if there is not a universally
agreed definition of PPP, it can
be considered as a form of
collaboration between public
and private sector.
Since it was launched, PPP
debate is assuming a growing
importance. The allocation of
risks is considered a key element
for achieving value for money
(VfM) and the success of a PPP
project depends crucially on its
risk allocation agreement.
The main aim of this research
is to investigate the allocation
of risks in PPPs by using a
holistic approach based on
the recognition of the critically
important distinction between
management and bearing of risk
and thereby the relevance of risk
governance within a dynamic
business context.
A critical review of different
contributions over time reveals
the approach to risk allocation
in PPP is too simplistic and based
only on a technocratic approach
to the allocation of each risk to
the party best able to manage it,
ignoring the ability to effectively
bear the risk at its occurrence.
Furthermore, the risk allocation
agreement is not able to face
the dynamism of context.
Contractual incompleteness
is not proactively managed
because there is a lack of
consideration of risk governance
aspects.
The literature also reveals that
the analysis of risks in PPPs varies
from sector to sector. Hence,
distinguishing between social
(e.g. prisons etc.) and economic
infrastructure (e.g. toll road etc.),
this research focuses on Energy
from Waste (EfW) PPP projects.
EfW cannot be considered
either purely social or purely
economic infrastructure due to
the impact of regulation in the
waste management industry
being concerned not only with
economic regulation but also
environmental regulation which
has implications for social risk
arising from pollution events.
Hence, EfW can be interpreted
as a hybrid form of PPP in terms
of risk sharing. The literature
lacks scientific articles on this
main topic of risk sharing in this
specific sector and so an original
contribution to knowledge can
be made by empirical research
in this field of study. This
contribution includes:
a more holistic analytical
framework for considering the
allocation of risks within PPPs,
the appropriate arrangements
for governance of those risks
within PPP contracts extending
over two or three decades and
which are therefore inherently
incomplete because they
cannot foresee all eventualities
affecting risks,
empirical research results
derived from a comparative
analysis of risk sharing in EfW
schemes in different countries,
and
evidence-based
recommendations for policy
and practice.
A comparative analysis on three
EfW PPP projects in Italy and
the UK has been developed to
understand the risk allocation
criteria adopted. Subsequently,
an in-depth analysis in one EfW
PPP project in Italy has been
done.
Research results reveal that risk
allocation in PPPs is reflected
in a contract where the greater
part of risks are transferred
from public to private sector
on the basis of a risk catalogue
of all potential risks identified.
However, the adoption of
this criterion seems to be not
enough as public sector often
has to bail out the project when
the private sector cannot cope
with the allocated risks.
Notwithstanding the inability
to statistically generalize from
case studies, the empirical
results derived from the three
EfW cases analyzed suggest
that the risk allocation criterion
adopted in PPP has not been
fully understood in the literature
and it has been implemented
in a myopic and linear way in
practice instead of dynamic and
non-linear. In fact, the unique
criterion adopted for allocating
risks is the ability to manage risk
whilst the public sector seems to
underestimate the relevance of
risk bearing dimension.
The allocation of risk based on
the party best able to manage
risk does not consider the
ability to bear those risks at
their occurrence ignoring the
dynamism of context over 20-
30 years and the complexity
of a PPP. In fact, as revealed
by comparative analysis, the
bearing of default risk pertains
the public sector independently
of the contractual specifications.
Hence, risk transfer seems to be
more apparent than real. Aware
that PPP contract is necessarily
incomplete, this study went
beyond the conventional
tick box exercise adopted for
allocating risks between public
and private sectors which can be
suitable only in a static context.
The first original contributions
to knowledge provided by this
study is the recognition of risk
bearing as an additional criterion
for allocating risk.
The literature review also reveals
a gap in academic research
concerning the adoption of a
dynamic model of risk sharing.
In fact, the dynamism of the
context and its impact on
risk sharing agreement is not
recognized in the static public
sector comparator or other such
assessment of value for money.
The case studies make clear that
contractual rigidity is in sharp
contrast with the dynamism of
context, suggesting that further
work on governance aspects is
required, especially those that
can be important in managing
contractual incompleteness over
time.
Hence, considering the
literature gap and the case
studies results, an in-depth case
study analysis has been done
by extending the analytical
framework in order to handle
contractual incompleteness
over-time. A new holistic
approach to risk sharing based
on a new paradigm has been
developed: managing and
bearing risks within a dynamic
model of multidimensional
risk governance. An original
contribution to knowledge is
the adoption on the innovative
framework to analyze the
allocation of risks in an EfW PPP
project in Italy, where there is a
lack of scientific contributions
focused on risk allocation in this
specific sector and in this specific
context.
The new framework has been
applied revealing that a risk
allocation agreement based on
risk management and bearing
can better safeguard the interest
of actors involved over-time.
Furthermore, according to a
the literature gap identified,
case study reveals the adoption
of a technocratic approach
to risk governance taking
into consideration operation-
level of risks only without
PhD Yearbook | 2015
considering the strategic-level.
This can exacerbate the issue of
incomplete contract.
Aware that PPP contract
is necessarily incomplete,
starting from the distinction
between technocratic and
multidimensional approach
to risk governance, this study 459
proposes a new research
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
stream by reinterpreting PPP as
strategic alliances to overcome
contractual incompleteness in
the cases of social and hybrid
infrastructures. More specifically,
this study recognizes that the
adoption of a technocratic
approach to risk governance,
based on consideration of
operational-level of risks,
is related to the tangible
characteristics of the contract
without considering the strategic
role played by the interpretation
of intangible characteristics
of contract. In this regard, the
consideration of only tangible
characteristics to set treats a
PPP as contractual partnership
and not as strategic alliance.
Nowadays, PPPs, PFIs, PF2
can be interpreted more as
contractual partnerships than as
strategic alliances.
460
HOW TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT THE SPENDING
REVIEW: AN ANALYSIS ON THE EXOGENOUS AND
ENDOGENOUS FACTORS AFFECTING THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF THE SPENDING REVIEW PROCESS
Angelo Erbacci - PHD Supervisor: Prof. Giuseppe Catalano
The objective of this work
The thesis conducts a scientific
analysis on the international
practices and uses of a specific
managerial tool: the spending
review. In basic terms, the
spending review can be
defined as a policy instrument
that organisations (generally
public sector entities) apply in
order to control and reduce
their spending. In recent
years the theme of spending
review obtained an increasing
relevance on the international
scenario, particularly since the
advent of the global financial
crisis. However, despite the
increasing relevance that the
spending review has obtained,
only an emerging academic
literature investigates the
phenomenon of the use of
spending reviews.
The thesis aims at filling
this gap of knowledge
by investigating how an
organisation may effectively
design and implement a
spending review. The focus
of this work is on the use of
spending review by central
governments. More specifically,
the objective of this work is
to investigate how a central
government may effectively
design and use the spending
review. Indeed, the viewpoint
that drives the thesis is to
examine how an organisation
may methodologically
implement this instrument.
Methodological approach
To reach its purpose, the thesis
follows a theory-building
approach. This methodological
choice has been set considering
the lack in the academic
literature of a detailed
theoretical framework under
which analysing the design
process of the spending review.
The process of research is based
on three different steps. As
first step, the thesis defines the
spending review, by proposing
a conceptualisation of the
main features involved in its
process based on a review of
the academic literature on
cutback management in public
administrations. Establishing
a clear definition of spending
review is an essential condition
for outlining the elements of the
effective design of a spending
review. Indeed, in the absence
of a single univocal definition,
different policies may be
included under the label of a
spending review, leading to
mistakes and confusion about
its use. Then, (as second step)
the thesis identifies and analyses
those determinants (exogenous
and endogenous factors) that
may affect the effective use of
this tool. To this end, following
a meaning-oriented approach
to qualitative content analysis
it performs a cross-sectional
comparison on five international
experiences of spending review
implemented in OECD countries.
Finally (as third step) the thesis
carries out an explanatory
case-study based on pattern-
matching logic. This logic
compares an empirical pattern
(the Italian spending review of
2012) with a predicted pattern
(the theoretical assumptions
previously developed by the
thesis following the theory-
building approach).
Research limitations
The main limitation of the thesis
consists in the small pattern
of empirical cases of spending
review examined. This limitation
is consistent with the low
number of spending reviews at
the level of central government
up to now present around the
world. Indeed, the use of the
spending review is spreading in
many advanced countries but, in
numerical terms, the population
of spending reviews is still quite
small. Moreover, the thesis is
based on qualitative analysis
and as such it cant be directly the decision-making process of
generalised elsewhere.
On the other hand, following
a qualitative methodological
approach built upon a big
amount of evidence collected,
the analysis can deeply focus
on its research questions, by
discovering qualitative issues
specific of the institutional
and political environment that
generally accompanies the
spending review process. For
this reason, the thesis may result
to be of interest also for the
countries not comprised in the
empirical pattern and for the
institutional debate.
Key findings
In the first part of analysis, the
thesis develops a definition of
spending review as a managerial
process (an ex ante analysis of
evaluation) that organisations
can adopt to carry out a
selective approach to address
decline (by identifying non-linear
savings). Then, by following
this definition, the thesis builds
a taxonomy that outlines two
different archetypal designs of
this tool: the strategic and the
technical spending reviews.
In the second part of analysis,
the thesis identifies a
theoretical model composed
by two endogenous factors
(organisational and process
dimensions) and two exogenous
factors (political and social
dimensions) that may influence
covering an undefined area
the spending review. The cross-
sectional comparison confirms
the validity of the four factors
since in the majority of empirical
cases the dimensions directly
affect the spending review
process.
Finally, as third part of
analysis, the thesis outlines
some relationships across the
exogenous and endogenous
factors and discovers the
centrality of the organisational
PhD Yearbook | 2015
461
dimensions in affecting the final the spending review instrument.
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
effectiveness of the spending Along these perspectives, the
review process. Moreover, most important contribution
this part of analysis shows the that this work offers is
importance of the dynamic of the development of a first
time (in terms of timing within theoretical framework that
the spending review must be detects those factors that
carried out) as elements altering have an influence over the
the effects of the exogenous effectiveness of the spending
and endogenous factors on the review, confirming an emerging
spending review process. In this view that sees organisational
sense, the thesis reveals that change management and
when recovery interventions are neo-institutionalism as two
needed especially in the short complementary and not rival
period, the spending review is approaches. In this way, the
not the best strategy to achieve thesis provides a first theoretical
these outcomes. base that can be used by
practitioners to direct the ways
The potential value of this the spending review is designed,
work implemented and utilised.
Investigating the features of
the effective design of the
spending review tool represents
a high potential target both for
scholars, public sector managers
and politicians. Indeed, from
an academic perspective,
this work ambitiously aims at
of research on which, up
until now, only an emerging
literature operates. While,
from a practitioner perspective,
a research on the spending
review tool may represent
a first term of reference for
politicians, managers and
public sector analysts through
which addressing their need of
information, data and guidelines
regarding how to design,
implement and effectively use
462
FAMILY BUSINESS PERFORMANCE.
THE PERCEPTION EFFECT: EXPLORING
THE INTERNAL POINT OF VIEW
Sanson Roberto Gonzalez Mosso - Supervisor: Prof. Marco Giorgino
The main contribution of
this research project is the
identification of the conceptual
framework called perception
effect in the family business
performance, in the particular
case of family business without
the obligation to submit audited
financial statements.
The perception effect will
define the tendency of the
future business performance
due to the influence on the
current behavior. The construct
of perception effect comes
from the analysis of empirical
evidence from Mexican case
studies and interviews with
independent business advisors.
Mexico is considered an
emerging market. In recent years
emerging markets represent
an important component of
the world economic growth.
Emerging markets are
highly dominated by family
businesses, whose performance
improvement would benefit the
economy in general. Family firms
(FF) are very important for the
economy to which they belong:
placed in different sectors, they
vary in size, age, objectives and
nationality, among others.
The principal theories used in the
literature to explain the family
business performance are the
Agency Theory, the Stewardship
Theory and the Resource Based
View Theory. The Agency
Theory deals with one of the
more common characteristics
of family firms: the overlap of
ownership and management;
the Stewardship Theory calls for
the altruism of family managers
following the benefits of the
organization rather than their
own; the Resource Based View
(RBV), looks into the particular
resources coming from the
family involvement. Those
theoretical efforts have been
useful to identify some of the
complex dynamics that are
present into the different types
of family business. The influence
the family brings into the
business affects its performance
through the coexistence of both
financial and non-financial goals,
although, in the literature, the
assessment of family business
performance is mainly based on
financial measures.
The current studies on this
subject are mainly related
to succession, corporate
governance and strategic
management, leaving a gap for
more research in other related
topics, as in the case of business
performance particularly, the
use of financial information
provided by family managers,
as well as the system utilized to
assess the business performance.
Perception has an important
influence in the decision making
process of family managers. This
is true particularly in the case of
family businesses without the
obligation to submit financial
statements due to the lack of
control of information both
financial and non-financial:
family managers take core
decisions under the perception
effect.
The financial reports are part of
the performance measurement
system (PMS) of a firm: knowing
the current performance, it
is possible to take decisions
in order to keep or improve
the business position. When
a family firm is not obligated
to submit audited financial
statements, the financial
information they deliver
might not represent a priority,
leading to the replacement
of the financial assessment
with selected measures for the
perception of performance.
Little research exists about
performance measurement
system design and
implementation in family firm.
The current studies pay attention
to the analysis of financial
outcomes, leaving aside the
reliability of this information,
specifically for those family
firms that, not being public
companies, are not obligated
to present audited financial
statements. The present work
has the objective to contribute
filling the gap by analyzing how
the performance measurement
system is implemented as well
as how the financial information
coming from this system is
employed in order to take
internal decisions.
This thesis aims to provide family
managers with some insight on
the importance of an adequate
use of financial information
and of a formal performance
measurement system that might
be useful to lead the company
to the desired place, in terms
of business performance. The
academic community will
achieve a perspective that
extends the literature about
family business performance,
with particular reference to the
use of financial information
and the establishment of a
performance measurement
system, by pointing out the
important effect of perception
into the business performance.
The limitation of this work
consists in the absence of a
measurement of the actual
impact of a structured PMS. The
use of complete and accurate
financial information would
influence the decision making
process but, at the same time,
will entail other costs, as tax
payments and the implicit cost
of control. Another important
limitationis that the study
considers only the Mexican
environment, although it might
be representative of the general
conditions faced by family firms
in emerging markets.
Family firms without the
obligation to submit audited
financial statements may
not have an established and
organized PMS. This kind of
family firms might consider
as a PMS a set of activities
aiming to collect, process and
analyze information on the
actual situation of the company,
as well as the trends in some
core areas of the business. The
informal activities deal with
incomplete information, with
the consequence of low quality
decisions. The use of automated
systems and technological tools
might be underexploited. Raw
financial data can be confused
with processed reports,
preventing the creation of
historical information; decisions
are taken on a day-to-day
basis. This study points out
the importance of the PMS
establishment in a FB in order
to improve the quality of the
decision making process and of
the business performance.
The family and business goals
are not necessarily established
in an explicit way, translated
into financial and non-financial
measures and followed
for their accomplishment.
Family and business goals are
clearly perceived, implicitly reliable, the assessment might
translated into financial and
non-financial measures, the
accomplishment of which are
easy to be felt by the main
shareholders. Family goals might
represent the main objective
of some FBs, but they might
also compromise the business
survival. A clear and objective
PMS, might help to improve the
quality of the decisions, leading
to a better business performance
over time.
This research contributes
also to the FB literature
and business practice in
understanding the possible
benefits of the establishment
and implementation of a
formal PMS in a FB during
a generational change. It
highlights the importance of
a formal PMS in creating a
history on different indicators
that permits the tracking of the
business performance, helping
FBs overcome their weaknesses
and generate better financial
and non-financial outcomes,
with positive effects within the
general economy.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
Future research may be focused
on the presence of multiple
family nucleuses with conflicting
goals inside a single FB, affecting
the design of the PMS, as well
as the selection of measures
and consequently influencing
the business performance. A
multiple case study may be 463
conducted to confirm or reject
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
some of the findings of this
work regarding the influence
that the family goals exert on
the PMS design of the business.
For future research, it would be
important to understand the
impact of formal and established
PMS in the FB assessment
because, if the process to collect
and analyze information is not
lose its validity. If FBs provide
incomplete information, the
validity of the assessment of
good or bad performance might
be compromised.
This research has been
conducted at the Politecnico
di Milano, Italy, under the
supervision of Prof. Marco
Giorgino; during the period
abroad, at the Columbia
Business School, New York City,
USA, under the supervision
of Prof. Eric Abrahamson.
The empirical research was
conducted in Puebla, Mexico.
464
Methodology to define and improve performance
indicators for virtual enterprises, within an
industrial service ecosystem
Mohammadreza Heydari - Supervisor: Prof. Marco Taisch
In the context of collaboration,
service sector is becoming more
and more relevant in building
successful enterprise networks
among potential business
partners that want to join a
temporary and less hierarchical
collaboration network in
order to grasp the market
opportunities. In recent years,
collaborative networks, such
as Virtual Enterprise (VE), has
been providing as a competitive
advantage and started changing
business environments. In this
regard, VE has been identified
as a proper solution for single
manufacturing enterprises to
survive in increasingly market
turbulences but also to increase
the possibility to better achieve
common goals. Therefore,
the collaboration process
happens within a VE lifecycle
to share internal knowledge
(i.e. information), resources,
costs and responsibilities among
partners in order to evaluate and
to implement shared activities
and resources to attain common
objectives. If should be noted
that the success of a virtual
enterprise is difficult, due to
coping with an unpredictable
environment, seating on highly
dynamic structure and having
a short life cycle. In particular,
assessing the collaboration
activities among various partner
(e.g. different cultures, sizes,
tasks, roles, etc.) are the
main reasons of this difficulty.
However, single manufacturing
enterprise might not be skilled
to join a VE solely without
setting control mechanisms or
frameworks that monitor the
success of collaboration among
partners, in order to measure
the efficiency and effectiveness
in achieving common objectives.
This study investigates VEs at
practical implementation level in
order to provide an appropriate
mechanism and methodology
that supports decision makers
to manage and assess the
service performance within a
VE. The basic idea behind of
the proposed method (i.e. PI
Toolset) is to support decision
makers to be able to identify,
control and continuously update
which collaborative activities
(i.e. Functions) are necessary
for service performance
within a VE in order to reach
the objectives. In order to
accomplish this objective, on
one hand the study has been
shed light to VEs characteristics
and it has analyzed (e.g.
Lifecycle, Members, Models,
Interactions, Structures and
etc.) both conceptual and
practical perspectives. On the
other hand, various traditional
Performance Measurement
Systems (PMS) have been
reviewed to select the proper
assessment method according to
VEs features and manufacturing
service enterprise attributes.
Indeed, the selected PMS has
PhD Yearbook | 2015
465
been used to extract the most case practical applications and
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
appropriate service driven scientificindustrial collaborations.
Performance Indicators (PIs) in Keywords: Collaborative
order to evaluate collaborative Network, Virtual Enterprise,
actions and common outcomes Manufacturing Service
of partners within a network Enterprise, Performance
of manufacturing service Measurement Systems (PMS),
collaborative ecosystem. Performance Indicators (PIs) and
Meanwhile, in order to have a PI Toolset.
precise and structured analysis
the selected PMS has been
extended by synthesizing
decomposition methods
such as decisional models
and abstraction methods (i.e.
MDSEA). In this regard, the
proposed methodology has
provided a unique structure to
categorize the generated PIs in
different levels of decisions and
abstractions (see Plan, Govern
and Execute categorize in
VRM). Furthermore, a PI Toolset
has been defined to provide a
simple and useful tool for end-
users; this essentially consists
in a combination of three
methods, i.e. Service Monitoring
Framework, Service PI Method
and Service PI List proposed.
Finally, in order to maximize
the methodology efficiency,
the proposed PI Toolset has
been implemented, tested
and validated through various
real pilot cases in terms of
different market, culture,
size, etc. Therefore, the PI
Toolset has been developed
and optimized in a continuous
-back and forward process,
taking advantage of both use
 466
Sustainable value creation
in manufacturing through maintenance
services
Maria Holgado Granados - Tutor: Marco Garetti - Supervisor: Marco Macchi
Due to the increasing demands
for integrating sustainability
within business, manufacturing
firms are paying more attention
to improve their performance
in terms of economic,
environmental and social
criteria. In this context, the role
of maintenance is changing
and, in fact, maintenance is
perceived as a key business
function for achieving longer
equipment lifecycles and more
sustainable performances within
manufacturing companies. An
enlarged role of maintenance
function is envisioned to
contribute towards the
integration of sustainability
in manufacturing by keeping
the equipment performing
the required functions while
minimizing material and energy
consumption.
Manufacturing is also
experiencing another emerging
trend called servitization, which
is seen as a process of creating
value by adding services to
products and implies a transition
from product-centric offerings
to progressively increase the
content of services in the
offerings. This involves the
adoption of a more customer
centric approach, addressing
concrete customer needs
with more tailored solutions
instead of just products. These
services are closely related
to maintenance whenever
the solution is offered by
equipment manufacturers to
their industrial clients and they
can be provided throughout
the whole equipment life
cycle. Furthermore, a service-
orientation in manufacturing
has been suggested as one of
the possible strategies towards
sustainable manufacturing.
This PhD research investigates
on how industrial maintenance
can be an enabler of more
sustainable manufacturing
operations through its role in the
provision of industrial services.
It focuses on the particular
case of maintenance services
in the Business-to-Business
market, where the service
providers are either Original
Equipment Manufacturers
or Maintenance Service
Providers and the customers
are the industrial users of
manufacturing equipment that
acquire those services. Particular
attention is given in this work
to new forms of maintenance
services developed thanks to
technological innovations, which
bring opportunities to enhance
sustainable value within the
provided service.
The transformation of
equipment manufacturers
towards servitized manufacturers
brings new challenges that are
being studying in literature. In
this regard, this PhD research
focuses on three of the elements
of the transformational model
customer, value, new offering
as main research themes.
Considering the potential
variation of servitization aspects
in different industries and
application areas, this research
investigates different customers
contextual situations and
requirements. Thus, it considers
different manufacturing sectors
and geographical aspects within
the research as the customers
of the services under concern
are the industrial users of
manufacturing equipment.
Customer value has to be
understood as the value
obtained by the industrial
user from the acquisition of
maintenance-related services.
In this sense, there is an
important contribution of this
PhD research regarding the
understanding of value-in-use, in
the particular case of customers
of maintenance-related services.
Special consideration is made
to the creation of value-in-
use under the perspective of
industrial sustainability, thus,
encompassing economic,
environmental and social criteria.
The new offerings related to
maintenance and support
services, developed under the
servitization trend, need to be
understood as a means to offer
sustainable value to industrial
users. In this regard, the study
of maintenance technologies
and the e-maintenance concept
is reflected on as technological
innovations are a strategic
pathway towards sustainable
manufacturing. Moreover, the
design of the new offerings
as an integrated solution for
the customers is also a key
aspect, thus, this PhD research
contributes to support servitized
manufacturers on product-
service configurations.
All in all, the purpose of the
PhD research is to advance the
integration of sustainability
into manufacturing operations
through maintenance service
provision. This have been
pursued by contributing
to the understanding of
industrial maintenance from
a sustainability perspective in
manufacturing plants and by
looking for a systematic method
to incorporate sustainable value
into new service offerings from a
service provider perspective.
This PhD thesis is organised as
follows.
Chapter 1 introduces the
background, the motivation
as well as the overall problem
addressed in this research.
Chapter 2 describes the
research design. It introduces
the main objective and the
research questions that have
led the thesis project towards
its achievement as well as the
methodology followed during
the different stages of the PhD
research.
Chapter 3 presents first the
main literature review done
for this PhD research, followed
by a study on the current
practice regarding maintenance
services focalized on the
Italian manufacturing industry.
Eventually, a short section
summarizes the main findings
and states the gaps found in
literature and between literature
and actual industrial practice.
Chapter 4 introduces the
research findings regarding
the contribution of industrial
maintenance to more
sustainable manufacturing
operations and a proposal
of a framework to map this
contribution. Implications for
users / owners of manufacturing
equipment are manifold as the
findings inform on concrete
contributions of maintenance
to product competitiveness,
innovation and quality, delivery
punctuality, operational cost
reduction, manufacturing
flexibility and process innovation.
Moreover, the findings indicate
that maintenance contributes
to more sustainable operations
by enhancing economic,
environmental and social
performance along equipment
life cycle as well as at different
stages of the manufacturing
processes.
Chapter 5 concerns the
investigation of value creation
within maintenance function
in manufacturing and aims
at providing a tool for
understanding the logic behind
different choices in maintenance
function. In this sense, the
concept of Maintenance
Business Model (MBM) is
introduced and framed within
a proposal of a maintenance
management framework. The
chapter ends with a discussion
and a conceptual example of
choices within the MBM inspired
by the findings of previous
chapter 4.
Chapter 6 studies the
technological composition of
technology-based maintenance
services and proposes a value
analysis method for assessing
how different tool categories
contribute to a set of predefined
service value dimensions. Both
results are useful for servitized
manufacturers willing to propose
PhD Yearbook | 2015
their customers a service solution
that includes innovative tools
or applications. They can serve
as guidelines to understand
the type of technologies to be
included in the service offerings
in order to improve their
pursued value dimensions.
Chapter 7 explains the rationale 467
for the proposal of the value-
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
driven design methodology for
performance-based maintenance
services and describes its steps
in detail. It has been tested in
an industrial context through
a case study that is described
and analysed in Chapter 8. This
methodology supports servitized
manufacturers to identify
different solution alternatives
adapted to their concrete
customers contexts. It has been
observed that the methodology
itself brings also benefits to the
industrial user as an analysis and
prioritisation of their equipment
according to their desired
operational values.
Chapter 9 summarizes the
results of this research by
identifying its main contributions
to knowledge and indicating its
implications for practitioners.
The methods proposed in this
PhD thesis can support both
the service providers and the
industrial users to integrate
sustainable value into their
service offerings and their
manufacturing operations,
respectively. Eventually, the
limitations of this research and
future lines for further research
are discussed.
468

INFOMOBILITY AND OPEN DATA: ARE THEY EASY research. privacy and security to this be a very interesting alternative

PhD Yearbook | 2015

First, the work answers to the
PARTNERS? high level of fragmentation and
heterogeneity that characterize
the research in the Infomobility
literature and provides a useful
support to policy makers
Silvia Malpezzi - Supervisor: Prof. Giovanni Azzone in designing more effective
strategies and interventions on
the mobility system. Indeed, it
This work focuses on the at supporting the transport Infomobility. Up until now, not only clarifies and outlines
information are potentially
determinant elements of the
quality of Infomobility initiatives.
Third, the analyses of the real
potentials of OD in supporting
the achievement of the
Infomobility goals provides an
innovative contribution to the
academic literature and some
insights to support the decision
to OD. Indeed, when this
solution is implemented, data
holders, who are increasingly
aware of the marketing and
travellers satisfaction advantages
of providing the public with a
great amount of information,
are more inclined to share real
time information services. 469
This work, dealing with the

MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

theme of Infomobility - i.e.
the use of ICTs in the field of
transport systems for supporting
transportation management
and providing new travel
information services, with the
final aim of increasing the
sustainability levels of mobility
systems. Infomobility is a
global phenomenon that has
attracted the attentions of policy
makers and operators from
different sectors (transportation,
automotive, etc.). The relevance
of this theme has been
recognized also by the academic
world. Researchers have argued
that a greater information to
users and managers of mobility
systems has an important role in
reducing the traffic congestion
levels and travel times, and
in improving travel safety.
Nevertheless, at present, the
effectiveness of Infomobility
systems is still questioned.
An interesting trend that
is emerging to address this
problem, but that has not been
deeply investigated by academics
until now, is the Open Data (OD)
approach.
OD is a very topical information
management approach that
requires the free circulation of
information for the use, re-use
and re-distribution of it by
the public. The OD approach
seems to be much suitable
for the Infomobility sector.
Indeed, where Infomobility aims
network planning and control,
and at assisting travelers before
and along the trip, OD aims at
enabling a more transparent
evaluation of the operators
activity, at increasing the quality
of data for supporting decision
making of all the information
users, and at subsidizing the
development of new information
services.
With the aim of investigating the
impact of the OD in exploiting
the Infomobility potentials, this
work addresses the following
goals:
Providing an overarching
Infomobility definition and
identifying the key elements
outlining these systems in order
to clarify the meaning of this
term that has been still blurred
in both the academics and
practitioners environments.
Identifying the critical elements
that determine the Infomobility
Quality, in terms of capability
of achieving the Infomobility
goals. Even though it is often
emphasized the dissatisfaction
for the present Infomobility
exploitation and the need for
improving their effectiveness,
the assessment of the
Infomobility Systems capability
to provide mobility managers
and travelers with the
information that they need is a
theme still unexplored.
Investigating the potential
contribution of the OD for
studies on OD have analyzed
projects not specifically related
to this sector. Some authors
just mention transportation as
one of the possible application
fields of OD. Moreover, it is still
not clear how the potentials
of OD can be realized at local
level through specific projects
in the Infomobility sector.
Two research instruments have
been employed in order to
support different phases of this
research. A literature review
on Infomobility, Transport
Information Quality and
Information Quality literature.
Two case studies: the former
with the aim of providing a
broad picture the Infomobility
value as possible answer to
mobility problems and a basis on
which articulating the definition
and framework of Infomobility.
The second one consisting in
a cross-case analysis of two
different Infomobility systems
where an Open Data approach
is adopted. They are in two
cities, Amsterdam and Milan,
embedded in the European
institutional context where
more and more countries are
emphasizing transparency and
openness of Governments
activities by making public
information more easily
accessible and available for
re-use.
Hereafter we discuss the main
results achieved through this
the Infomobility theme, but it
also identifies the most critical
elements of an Infomobility
system. The analysis reveals the
existence of overlapping areas,
reciprocal influences and blurred
boundaries characterizing
different application fields.
These circumstances highlight
the potentials of properly
defining the link between
different services and of
integrating data useful for
different purposes in order to
avoid possible redundancies. To
this aim, this research suggests
the convenience of making
easier and more effective the
coordination among different
actors operating along the value
chain. However, it could be
very challenging because of the
coexistence of public and private
subjects diverging in terms of
sets of values, management
approaches and decision-making
criteria.
Second, it addresses the
unexplored theme of the
Infomobility Quality assessment.
The Infomobility Quality
framework aims at supporting
practitioners in the Infomobility
system design and analysis.
The research suggests that
not only the intrinsic quality
of the transport information,
but also the fitness of the
information contents with the
users requirements and the maintaining the total control
characteristics of accessibility,
of adopting the OD. Enabling a great complexity characterizing
free circulation of data for the Infomobility, opens up several
use, re-use and re-distribution new research questions that
of them, OD entails a high level could be further explored.
of information accessibility Particularly, it could be deepened
and, in turn, a higher control the need of leveraging on
and improvement of the real-time and multi-modal
intrinsic quality of the transport information services for really
information, a more effective fitting the travellers needs, and
transport system management different types and levels of data
and the creation of new integration could be investigated
information services that better in terms of mechanisms that
fit the travelers needs. However, enable them for increasing
the research further confirms the three dimensions of the
how the main criticality within Infomobility Quality.
the Infomobility sector is the
reluctance of the Infomobility
actors in sharing information
to each other, a problem that is
much emphasized when OD is
adopted. An institutional context
characterized by a high level
of commitment and decision
power of transport authorities
and operators much determines
an answer to this issue. Then,
technological standards and
shared data formats are also
required to enable the data
and information flow along the
Infomobility value chain.
This research shows how
Interoperability initiatives,
implying the adoption of
technological standards and
information sharing rules,
but also allowing information
providers handling data and
information services and
and ownership on them, could
 470
Enterprise Risk Management in listed firms:
state of the art and the relationship with
shareholder value
Barbara Monda - Supervisor: Prof. Marco Giorgino
Risk, uncertainty and
unpredictability deeply
characterize human experience.
The ability to assume and
manage risks is particularly
relevant in entrepreneurial
context and is a fundamental
component of managerial
responsibilities. In the past, risk
management activity followed
a silo-based perspective, with
independent, fragmentized
units focused on specific aspects
of risk, such as financial or
insurable risks.
In the XXI century, however,
managers must be capable to
navigate in an always riskier and
dramatically rapidly changing
world. Financial crisis, huge
accounting frauds, terrorism
attacks, natural disasters,
increase in competition, new
emerging business models,
technological evolution and
increased shareholders and
stakeholders attention towards
companies activities challenged
traditional risk management
models, highlighting the
necessity of new approaches
suitable to manage this kind of
complexity.
In the recent years, Enterprise
Risk Management (ERM)
has emerged as a new risk
management approach aimed
at managing the portfolio of
risks that faces an organization
in an integrated, enterprise-
wide manner. It is increasingly
considered an essential
component for firms success
and growth since it adopts
a more strategic, integrated
and proactive perspective that
enables companies to increase
firm value not only by protecting
against negative events but also
by exploiting opportunities.
Unlike traditional risk
management, where individual
risk categories are managed
from a silo-based perspective,
ERM involves a holistic view
of risks allowing taking into
account correlations across all
risk classes.
This thesis deals with Enterprise
Risk Management in listed
firms and aims at investigating
the effects of ERM adoption
on firms value and financial
performances.
The main hypothesis underlying
this work is that firms benefit
from the implementation of
advanced and integrated risk
management systems in terms
of shareholder value and
stability of share prices, and such
benefits increase as the degree
of implementation of ERM
increases.
According to CoSO, ERM is
intended to promote awareness
of the sources of risks and
address them by improving
strategic and operational
decision-making. As a result
of improved efficiency, firm
performance should increase,
volatility should decrease
and cost of capital should be
reduced, thus firm value should
increase. Another hypothetic
benefit of ERM is the creation
of synergies between different
risk management activities: by
integrating risks across classes
and departments, firms are
supposed to be able to avoid
duplication of expenditures (e.g.
insurance) by exploiting natural
hedges.
After an introductory
chapter, the first paper of this
dissertation, organized as a
collection of three papers,
identifies the theoretical
rationales for corporate risk
management, identifying
the conditions under which
firms benefit from investing
in risk management activities
and highlighting the
managerial implications of the
interdependencies of the effects
of different risk management
strategies.
Despite the theoretical
motivations, if and to which
extent ERM creates value is yet
to be proven. In fact, although
the theoretical rationales for
RM/ERM date back to some
decades ago, empirical studies
of ERM are still scarce. Academic
research in this area is still
limited, also because of the
difficulty in developing a robust
measure for the quality of ERM
systems adopted by firms. Most
of the available studies provide
support for the hypothesis that
ERM improves firm value, but
results are not unique. Moreover,
the existing studies show some
limitations, the most important
of them being the fact that they
are based on the CRO hiring as
a signal of ERM adoption but do
not further investigate different
levels of ERM implementation
among firms.
Developing a maturity model
for ERM is challenging because
it requires finding a quantitative
measure for something that is
qualitative in nature, and for
the lack of previous literature.
For these reasons, in the second
paper a Delphi procedure has
been used to reach consensus
in a panel of international
experts on all the parameters
and scores composing an index
to measure ERM maturity, which
has been named Enterprise Risk
Management index (ERMi).
ERMi is a maturity model in
the form of a questionnaire
with closed-end questions,
which gather information on
22 relevant ERM parameters;
the value of ERMi is a
linear combination of the 22
parameters and is measured on
a 0-100 scale. Data to compute
ERMi can be provided by firms
or collected by analysing publicly
available corporate documents
of listed firms.
Using this purposely-built
measure, in the third paper an
empirical analysis is conducted
to investigate the complex
relationships among ERM
adoption, its determinants, firm
market value and share price
volatility, controlling for size,
industry and profitability. The
main question being answered is
if, and to which extent, investing
in a good ERM system
creates value for listed firms.
The methodology employed is
Structural Equation Modelling,
thus solving the endogeneity
problem that plagues many
previous works. Employing
ERMi, a continuous variable,
also allows overcoming another
limit of most previous works, the
use of a binary variable for ERM
adoption, classifying firms as
adopters or non-adopters, thus
failing to consider the level of
implementation of ERM, while
it has to be noted that ERM
implementation is certainly not a
mere on/off status.
Overall, this dissertation
contributes to further
clarifying the rationales and
the best practices for ERM
implementation and verify
them empirically; it also
provides statistically significant
results about the effects of
Enterprise Risk Management,
demonstrating the high
correlation between ERM
implementation and firms
market value, and the high
correlation between ERM
implementation and stability of
share prices.
In other words, the empirical
results confirm the hypothesis
PhD Yearbook | 2015
471
that ERM creates value. Firms
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
with better ERM systems in
place, all else constant, are
valued higher than firms with
less mature implementations.
Additionally, the share price of
firms with mature ERM systems
is less volatile than poorer
adopters.
As discussed in the conclusions
of paper 3, the empirical results
are obtained for a sample of
large listed firms, but in principle
can be extended to all listed
firms, given that they reflect the
preferences of investors in the
stock markets and the nature of
investors does not change with
the size of firms.
Concluding, this thesis provides
a thorough overview of the topic
of Enterprise Risk Management,
the motivation for firms to
implement ERM, the expected
benefits, the real benefits for
shareholders. Although the
empirical analysis investigates
the matter in the largest
firms listed on the main stock
exchanges, some of the results
can be extended to all listed
firms.
This work makes clear the
importance of ERM for firms
and gives an insight into the
characteristics of firms that,
in principle, should gain the
maximum benefits from ERM
adoption.
472
Entrepreneurship and innovation dynamics
in support of sustainable development
Boris Mrkajic - Ph.D. supervisors: Paola Garrone and Luca Grilli
Sustainable development has
emerged as an influential,
although controversial, concept
for both business and policy,
and there is rising recognition
that a major transformation is
needed to reduce detrimental
environmental and societal
impacts created by our presently
unsustainable practices. Striving
for the development that
would meet the economic,
environmental and social needs
of the society is the ultimate
motivation of the thesis, with
the focus on the environmental
dimension. A group of activities
that are contributing to the
environmental goals are typically
marked as environmental
innovation. Environmental
innovation activities refer to
development of innovative
products and processes that
reduce (negative) environmental
impacts. They are considered
to be highly risky, as they
require abundant financial
investments, while the returns
are typically collected in the
long term. Hence, this type
of innovation represents an
extremely interesting case
for research. Furthermore,
the technologies that have
emerged from environmental
innovation activities are gathered
under an umbrella term clean
technologies. Even a completely
new high-tech industrial sector
has emerged, named Cleantech,
which is encompassing
development of environmentally
sustainable products, processes
and services. This thesis
revolves around the two topics,
Cleantech as a recently defined
independent industrial sector
and environmental innovation
as a conduct for advancing
detrimental practices.
The first research output is
focused on the Cleantech
sector, which has emerged
based on the disruptive, radical
technological change. According
to the Schumpeterian line of
reasoning, the most appropriate
actors for fostering this change
are entrepreneurs, as they are
more flexible and agile to adjust
to newly created requirements.
Thus, I try to improve knowledge
on antecedents and initiators
of the technological change
in this domain, by studying
human capital of entrepreneurial
ventures active in the Cleantech
sector. In particular, I investigate
how patterns of founding team
human capital differ for this
specific sector, that is, what
kind of founders human capital
is present in Cleantech start-
ups, and how it is combined
within the teams. This might
be crucial in new ventures, as
human capital is argued to be
a relevant determinant of their
success and innovativeness.
Empirical results yield that
Cleantech sector does demand
peculiar requirements in terms of
business opportunity recognition
and entrepreneurial team
formation, which is valuable
for proper design of policies
targeting this sector. Cleantech
is found to require technically
highly skilled entrepreneurs,
but at the same time, still fairly
commercially experienced
and economically competent
individuals. Furthermore,
data reveals that individuals
are more prone to team up
with cofounders possessing
complementary know-how
when they are starting a new
business venture in Cleantech.
The second and third parts of
the thesis investigate a subset of
environmental innovation that
is responsible for improvement
of resource efficiency, and more
particularly, energy efficiency.
I first study determinants of
energy-efficient innovation, by
enlarging currently established
induced innovation view. I
contend that environmental
externalities of energy (in)
efficient practices, which are
(negatively) impacting the
society and its sustainable
development, create a feedback
loop that acts as an additional
driver (next to market-based
incentives) for introducing
energy-efficient innovation.
Stakeholder theory, a stream
of literature well established in
strategic management, supports
the proposition. Moreover, based
on the industry-level empirical
analysis, firms are indeed found
to be, in average, influenced
by pressures stemming from
different stakeholders, mainly
regulatory actors. The third
part of the study combines
country- and firm-level analysis,
and considers the institutional
characteristics of the business
context within which firms need
to operate. I attempt to show
how energy-efficient innovation
activities are contingent on
these characteristics, and how
this relationship is moderated
by firm size. In other words, the
focus is put on how small- and
medium-sized firms (SMEs)
are reacting differently to the
institutional context with respect
to large firms. Institutional
theory is cross-bread with the
theoretical discourse on energy-
efficiency to create an anchor
for the theoretical framework.
The developed hypotheses
are tested in a cross-country
setting, and the obtained
results are in support of the
main set of hypotheses that
institutional characteristics foster
energy-efficient innovation.
Moreover, different institutional
dimensions are found to be
working differently depending
on the firm size. Compared to
large firms, SMEs emerged to
be more sensitive to regulatory
rather than economic and social
institutional characteristics.
Several interpretations are
offered for these somewhat
controversial and thought-
PhD Yearbook | 2015
473
provoking results. Based on
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
these, implications for policy
interventions and managers
of both small and large
corporations are drawn.
In summary, comprised of
analyses on individual-, firm-,
industry- and country-level, this
thesis enlightens different parts
of the innovation dynamics that
fosters sustainable development.
Several theoretical lenses were
adopted to study different
topics, from competence-
based, induced innovation,
stakeholder to institutional
theory. Analyses were performed
by means of different statistical
and econometric technics. By
deploying this multidimensional
and heterogeneous approach
to the study of sustainable
development issues, the thesis
supplements the academic
literature on the topic and
supplies entrepreneurship and
environmental policy makers and
managers with sound empirical
findings.
474
Sustainability Strategies in Manufacturing
Enterprises definition, typology and
determinants for long-term success
Stojan David Opresnik - Tutor and supervisor: Prof. Marco Taisch
The manufacturing sector
contributes up to 22% of
Europes GDP, while 70% of jobs
in Europe depend, either directly
or indirectly, on manufacturing.
Regardless of its significance,
it is faced today with multiple
transformations. The demand
for environmentally friendly
products is increasing, the
technologies supporting their
production and functioning are
maturing, while environment
related policies are becoming
more severe, causing the
conversion of some of the
traditional bases for competitive
advantage into mere market
necessities. In order to avoid
commoditization and to
enjoy sustainable growth,
manufacturers must learn
how to exploit these changes.
Environmental sustainability
is recognized as being able
to increase the long-term
competitive advantage of
manufacturing enterprises.
However, creating a business
case from sustainability
(Salzmann, Ionescu-somers, &
Steger, 2005) thus planning
(Berns et al., 2009) and
incorporating (Cruz, Pedrozo, &
Estivalete, 2006) sustainability
based operations and strategies
still too often constitutes a
conundrum for managers. Also
it is still unclear under what
circumstances competitive
advantage can be realized by
the adoption of sustainability
practices (Schrettle, Hinz,
Scherrer -Rathje, & Friedli, 2013).
There is a lack of frameworks for
both practitioners and scholars
to develop insights into the
development of sustainable
business in manufacturing
(Gunasekaran & Spalanzani,
2012a), underlining the need
for more studies that develop or
test theories to help understand
sustainable operations
management (Professor Helen
Walker, 2014). The aim of
this thesis is to broaden the
understanding in research of
environmental sustainability
as an operations strategy and,
on the other hand, to help
managers exploit it to sustain
and increase their long-term
competitive advantage. The
first objective, therefore,
was to develop a decision
support tool (i.e. procedure)
for planning Sustainability
Operations Strategies.
A dedicated procedure
linking business strategies,
manufacturing strategies,
sustainability strategies and
environmental impact has been
designed. However, in order to
operationalize it, a knowledge
base containing the information
required to link business
and environment had to be
developed. For this purpose, a
typology, as a methodological
tool, was developed that could
enable the identification,
classification and description
of Sustainability Operations
Strategies used by large global
manufacturing enterprises. The
typology was populated with
200 sustainability activities
identified through a review of
industrial practices. The second
objective was to develop a
procedure for analysing and
assessing the implemented or
planned Sustainability Strategies,
relying on strategic management
and the concept of strategic
fit. Based on the knowledge
acquired from the typology,
seven interviews with experts
and from 23 light-case studies
(i.e. interview and material
analysis from secondary sources),
the following third and fourth
objectives were achieved. The
third objective was to scrutinize
the possibility of achieving
long-term operational success
through the use of Sustainability
Operations Strategies. The
fourth objective was to propose
a definition of Sustainability
Operations Strategies, to be
applied to an in-depth case
study. As part of the set of
results of the first objective,
eleven types of Sustainability
Operations Strategies used by
the manufacturing industry
were identified based on the
populated typology. The three
most pervasive strategies were
in Product Design, Organization
and Manufacturing. Each
strategy type was described
through the identification of its
relations with specific business
and manufacturing strategies
and environmental impacts.
For example, the Product-
Design Strategy is the one
most widely used to support
a business growth strategy
through differentiation while
supporting product quality
(expressed as performance)
as the main priority of a
manufacturing strategy, and
where the environmental
impact arises mostly during
the products middle of life,
thus reducing its resource
consumption. The second set
of results demonstrates that
the decision support tool (i.e.
procedure) for the planning
of Sustainability Operations
Strategies enables the creation
of a link between business and
environment. For instance,
operations managers can
identify the environmental
impact that supports the
capability to reduce a products
price, as a priority of the
manufacturing strategy; in
this case the most pervasive
impact is the reduction of input,
moreover of energy usage.
The procedure in question was
applied to three in-depth case
studies, resulting in proposals
for business development based
on Sustainability Operations
Strategies. The third result
identified that, using the
procedure in question, it should
be theoretically possible to
PhD Yearbook | 2015
475
achieve long-term operational of the business logic of
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
success through Sustainability sustainability. Finally, the
Operations Strategies. However industrial gap of the challenge
multiple barriers and drivers of operationalization of
have been identified that sustainability has been bridged
can affect such an outcome. in part by providing a procedure
These include the availability for planning Sustainability
of competences and resource Operations Strategies in
for such strategies, the level of manufacturing.
integration of sustainability into
long-term planning, the degree
of common understanding of
sustainability throughout
the enterprises functions and
the capability to capture and
communicate the benefits of
sustainability. Thus, through
the proposition of a definition
of Sustainability Operations
Strategy and its dedicated
procedure and methodological
tool to research sustainability in
operations management, the
research partially contributes
to bridging the gap of lack of
understanding of sustainability
in operations management. The
results have also contributed
to bridging the theoretical gap
of the lack of understanding
as to why and under which
circumstances enterprises adopt
sustainability practices through
which they can realise their
competitive advantage. By
creating a link between business
(business and manufacturing
strategy) and environmental
sustainability, the contribution
to industry is to partially fill a
fundamental gap
the lack of understanding
476
CREATING PUBLIC VALUE THROUGH PROCUREMENT:
ORGANIZATIONAL LEVERS FOR IMPROVING PUBLIC
PROCUREMENT PERFORMANCE
Andrea Stefano Patrucco - Thesis Advisor: Professor Stefano Ronchi
Public administration
procurement is the process
that starts with a survey and
analysis of public demand
and needs and continues
until the stipulation and the
subsequent monitoring of the
contract, through the best
possible supply practice. It has
become a very complex function
of government, handling a
great proportion of public
expenditures, representing a very
large fraction of total economic
activity.
Public procurement is continuing
to evolve both conceptually and
organizationally. That evolution
accelerated during the 1990s as
governments at all levels came
under increasing pressures to
do more with less. Indeed, all
governmental entities of rich and
poor countries are struggling
in the face of unrelenting
budget constraints; government
downsizing; public demand
for increased transparency in
public procurement; and greater
concerns about efficiency,
fairness and equity. Additionally,
public procurement professionals
have faced a constantly
changing environment
typified by rapidly emerging
technologies, increasing
product choice, environment
concerns, and the complexities
of international and regional
trading agreements. Further,
policy makers have increasingly
used public procurement as a
tool to achieve socioeconomic
goals. Efficient and effective
procurement is thus necessary
for public sector, in order
to make a rational use of
resources and social spending.
Procurement design directly and
substantially affects countries
performance in the short and in
the long run: in the short run,
most obviously by immediately
determining the costs and
quality of inputs in the public
supply chains; in the long run,
most importantly by determining
suppliers incentives to invest in
R&D and to innovate in general.
The topic is not so easy to be
addressed, as it can be designed
as a complex system consisting
of:
Laws and regulations; tailored to each single situation.
Organizational structure;
Skills and characteristics of
procurement workforce;
Processes;
Tools and techniques.
Procurement design and
management is a complex issue
though, as contractual problems
directly interact with competitive
screening and risk management
problems. Moreover,
procurement is most often a
dynamic, repeated activity, with
short-term objectives often
conflicting with long-term ones.
Strategic procurement decisions
must be taken with a focus
on the future dynamics of the
demandsupply relationship.
Neglecting the importance
of repeated relationships
with potential suppliers and
the effects of procurement
choices on an industry or a
district dynamic could have
very undesirable consequences
for a large buyer, in terms of
both price and quality. This
dynamic distinguishing feature
of procurement also greatly
enlarges the role for reputational
forces.
Unfortunately, there is not a
one-size-fits-all measure for
effective procurement design:
the variety and complexity of
situations in which procurement
decisions are made means
that appropriate purchasing
procedures must take into
account many aspects, and be
Nevertheless, some key forces
driving effective procurement
design are common to most
procurement decisions, and
it is on these kinds of driving
forces that this handbook is
focusing, providing a toolkit
for how to take them into
account in different situations.
Strategic procurement decisions
require rational and competent
decision makers, especially
when procuring innovative
goods or services. The need for
competence obviously relates
to the specific ability to gauge
market developments, but
cannot leave aside more general
skills that have to do with legal
and, particularly, strategic issues.
More, from an academic
perspective, it is only recently
that this area started receiving
attention.
Writing over a decade ago
drew attention to the academic
neglect of public procurement;
in spite of its centrality to public
service delivery and its long
history in public administration,
public procurement resided on
the periphery of management
science.
In the years since much has
happened to redress this
imbalance so that public
procurement has moved closer
to the mainstream. Its research
remit continues to expand
as scholars of management,
public administration, finance,
law, supply chain and logistics
management, mathematics, and
information technology apply
themselves to the study of public
procurement. In turn, this has
opened up promising lines of
inquiry on topics as diverse as
eprocurement, small suppliers,
and buyer professionalization.
The progression of the public
Paper
A systematic literature review on
Public Procurement: past trend, future
developments
Research perspective on Public
Procurement: content analysis of 13 years
of publications in the Journal of Public
Procurement
Theoretical and empirical exploration
of Public Procurement strategy: is there a
deficit?
Evaluating the effectiveness of
Procurement Performance Measurement
Systems in Local Governments
Local Government Procurement: aligning
procurement organization with desired
performance
Table 1: Overview of the papers included in the thesis
procurement field is just as of resources, history of the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
evident outside academia. In institution), thus making the
political and policy arenas public
procurement is now linked
solution of this dilemma almost
impossible. On the contrary, a
to concerns over economic significant contribution could
have been introduced by
growth, social inclusion, and
environmental sustainability. In developing a comprehensive
particular, pressures on public research framework for public
finances since the 2007 global procurement, being the
financial crisis have forced a underlying questions: 477
reappraisal of the role of public
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
procurement, with some arguing Which are the elements
that it should be leveraged for that should be considered
domestic economic growth when designing the public
and job creation. Whatever procurement system?
perspective one takes, it is
clear that the profile of public How an efficient and effective
procurement is greater than at management of procurement
any time previously. in the public sector can be
The perspective adopted in promoted?
facing the challenges described
above isnt the one aim to In order to answer these
give Public Procurement a questions, the research project
finally strategic and pervasive has been designed around five
role for institutions; general papers, all with the aim to shed
lessons got from both theory more light on the characteristics
and practice show that this of the Public Procurement
evolution strictly depend on system, assuming different
different and often out-of- perspective. The positioning
control aspects (i.e. regulation, of the individual papers is
government impact, amount presented in the Table 1.
Research
Viewpoint
method
Modeling of public procurement characteristics
Literature review, data
by analyzing scholars contributions in top
analysis
academic journals
Modeling of public procurement characteristics
Literature review, data
by analyzing scholars and practitioners
analysis
contributions in Journal of Public Procurement
Analysis of the concept of public procurement
Literature review, case
strategy by comparing scholars contribution
study (interviews)
and professionals perspective
Evaluation of the structure of public Secondary source
procurement PMS by document analysis and analysis, Case study
professionals perspective (interviews),
Analysis of Procurement Department
organizational design choice from Case study (interviews)
professionals perspective
478
A Guideline towards Designing Serious
Games in Manufacturing Education
Borzoo Pourabdollaahian - Supervisor: Prof. Marco Taisch
Nowadays, manufacturing
education is struggling with
challenges that it has not faced
before. Moreover; preparing
fresh generation of engineering
graduates qualified to cope with
pacing changes and unexpected
situations in manufacturing
environments as well as lack of
interest among young talents
to enrol in manufacturing
engineering programs force
manufacturing education to
come out with new learning
methods to deal with the current
situation. In this regard, serious
game has been welcomed as
a promising learning method.
Providing learning contents
blurred in a series of engaging
activities, which take place in a
simulated environment presents
a serious game as a unique
solution.
Although the application of
serious games in manufacturing
education has been growing
in recent years, there is little
evidence of their effectiveness
in terms of making progress
in achieving different types of
learning outcomes what the
game is targeted for. Therefore,
it becomes a challenge to
optimize the effectiveness of
serious games when its users
in manufacturing education
centres are unaware of how and
to what extent a serious game
could improve the achievement
of desire learning outcomes. To
address the problem, making a
contribution to manufacturing
education systems is required
in the process of game design
in order to make sure that the
created game is able to satisfy its
users requirements. However,
their contribution sometimes
does not only strengthen the
game design process, but it
also disturbs the whole process.
Since people in manufacturing
education systems are mostly
unaware about the game design
process; therefore, they require
to be supported in terms of how
to make an efficient integration
between learning contents with
components of the game, so
that the target learning values
are easily transferred to players
mind.
This thesis aims to bridge
the mentioned gap through
developing a guideline which
supports manufacturing
education systems in order to
come out with clear ideas and
constructive solutions while
being involved in serious game
design processes. To this end,
initially it is required to evaluate
the effectiveness of the existing
serious games in manufacturing
education. To this purpose, four
experimental studies have been
conducted to assess the impact
of four different serious games
on improving Cognitive and
Affective learning outcomes
achievement according to
the latest revision of Bloom
taxonomy. These games point
PhD Yearbook | 2015
479
different topics related to effectiveness of serious games
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
manufacturing, namely Shortfall in manufacturing, and exploring
for sustainability in supply attributes of serious games in
chain, LCA game for lifecycle manufacturing are the main
assessment, Logistics game contributions to the knowledge
for logistics and operation extension. On the other hand,
management, and SBCE game this thesis has developed a
for product development. practical tool which supports
Once the assessment studies designers, mainly manufacturing
are completed, exploratory education systems, to design
studies are done to identify effective serious games in
those attributes which make manufacturing education.
the games an effective learning
method in manufacturing
education. As a result, 13
attributes have been explored,
and classified regarding their
functions within the games.
Thereafter, the research has
focused on developing the
guideline on considering
the results obtained from
experimental studies. In order
to establish the quality of the
guideline, it develops with
considering those steps to be
completed for developing any
guideline on a general level.
The guideline contains 11
recommendations classified
in two classes, where each
one presents a specific level of
confidence in application of
recommendations aggregated
to that.
This thesis has made an original
contribution to both knowledge
and practice. For the earlier,
presenting a holistic picture
of status of serious games
in manufacturing education,
providing empirical evidence for
480
From Best Practices to Archetypes:
Drawing the Path of Innovation
Monica Rossi - Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Sergio Terzi
Motivation: In product
development, some practices
(tools, methods, techniques)
are recognized to bring more
beneficial results than other
procedures and are defined best
practices. Both in literature and
industry, there is a challenging
research of those kinds of
practices and many efforts have
already identified a conspicuous
number of practices able to lead
companies toward successful
results.
However some issues are still
open. First it is not always clear
if practitioners are aware of the
meaning of PD best practices.
Second, it is not known the
level of diffusion of those best
practices within industries. Also
there is an on-going discussion
on whether a unique overall
set of best practices is suitable
to every circumstance and
industry (one size fits all), or
the use of PD best practices is
context depended. Finally there
is a lack of research on whether
some PD best practices are
grouped together and required
simultaneously. These open
issues motivated the rationale
of my research, which aims at
contributing to this on-going
debate addressing the reasoning
whether each circumstance
requires the use of a unique
overall set of PD best practices
or whether there are different
groups of PD best practices.
Therefore the main research
objective is to look for patterns
in the use of PD best practices;
this means looking for very
typical examples of certain
combination of PD practices
adopted by companies, named
archetypes. Archetypes serve
as interpretative schemas of
complex phenomena and
allow better understanding of
management and organizational
systems.
Structure and Method:
This research is structured in
6 chapters. This first chapter
introduces the area of
investigation together with the
motivation of the research and
the expected contributions.
Chapter 2 details the research
objectives through the
developed research questions.
The methodology followed to
answer these questions is also
described in this chapter. The
literature review that serves as a
support for the whole research is
described in chapter 3. The main
focus is the state of the art in PD
best practices, which provides
the basis for the development of
a PD best practices framework,
as described in chapter 4.
The framework serves as a
preparatory basis for the data
collection, as explained in this
chapter. Chapter 5 describes the
data analysis and the archetypes.
Finally, discussion, conclusions,
and further researches are
delineated in Chapter 6.
Since the objective of this
research is to uncover patterns
behind the use of PD best
practices, literature suggests
the theory-building approach as
proper research methodology.
The building of theory occurs in
two major stages, the descriptive
and the normative phase. Since
the purpose of my research is
to develop a descriptive theory,
it deals with the first of these
two steps. The descriptive
theory methodology has been
accomplished through literature
review and an Exploratory
Research, conducted with a
semi-structured questionnaire
used to face-to-face interview
103 companies in Italy. Cluster
analysis on the collected data
led to the identification of the
researched archetypes. The
result is that the same variables
(107 PD best practices) can
be grouped in different ways
(inductive, when basing on
prevalent literature; deductive,
when basing on collected data
analysis) and both approaches
generate four different
archetypes:
The inductive approach is
aligned with the traditional PD
literature and the so obtained
four archetypes (Cognitive,
Digital, Planner, Methodical)
concern different companies
behaviors in term of People,
Process, Tools and Knowledge
Management (see. Fig.1)
The second approach, driven
by data analysis, highlights
1. The Archetypes, Inductive Approach
different dynamics played
by the companies and give
an additional and unusual
perspective. The archetypes
(Mister Fantastic, The Thing,
Invisible Woman, Torchman)
(see Fig. 2) provide insights on
elements such as sustainability,
efficiency, multifunctionality,
collaboration, advanced
engineering, which usually
are not used as categories to
frame PD best practices. This
second approach represents
a different point of view and
diverse angle from where to
look at the complex dynamic of
the use of practices in product
development.
Theoretical implications:
This research contributes to the
body of knowledge:
1. Improving and enlarge the
current understanding
on PD best practices and
proposes a PD best practices
framework;
2. Providing knowledge about
the current state of maturity
and diffusion of PD best
practices within industries,
through the empirical
research;
PhD Yearbook | 2015
481
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
2. The Archetypes, Deductive Approach
3. Proposing that it is not true the mentioned PD best practices
that one-size fits all since can be implemented, not even
different companies use really how a company can switch from
different PD best practices in an archetype to another. This
their PD processes; is about change management
4. Introduce two different sets of and it is out of the scope of this
4 archetypes each. research, which however opens
Practical implications: the door to further research in
This research has important that direction.
managerial implication for
industry:
1. Create awareness on the
meaning of best practices;
2. Provide a benchmarking
and assessment tool based
on the proposed PD best
practices framework, named
CLIMB. It can be used as a
benchmarking tool, which
is recognized to stimulate
companies motivation toward
continuous improvement.
3. Give perceptions on which
best practices a company
could use, basing on the
particular archetypes it
belongs to;
4. Identify gaps between
prescribed PD best practices
and really used practices.
This research covers the
identification of suitable PD best
practices to be used, considering
the archetype a company
belongs to. The purpose here is
not to give indications on how
482
International expansion, knowledge sourcing
and technological upgrading. The experience
of multinational enterprises from emerging
countries in the last decade
Vittoria Giada Scalera - Thesis Advisors: Prof.ssa Lucia Piscitello (Politecnico di Milano)
Prof.ssa Roberta Rabellotti (Universit di Pavia)
The present research project is
based on the awareness that
in the recent years foreign
direct investments (FDI) from
emerging economies have
significantly grown, from
$11 billion in 1990 to $454
billion in 2013, representing
around the 32% of the world
stock today (UNCTAD, 2014).
Although advanced economies
still remain the main source of
outward FDI, emerging market
multinationals (EMNEs) have
increasingly attracted attention
since they have experienced
an unusual internationalization
path, often becoming global
players in relatively short time
(Awate et al. 2014; Ramamurti,
2009). Consistent with the
springboard theory, EMNEs
outward FDI mainly acquisitions
toward advanced markets -are
triggered by pull factors, such
as brands, technology, design
competences, and managerial
expertise, in order to acquire
strategic assets and resources
to compete successfully in the
global market (Luo and Tung,
2007; Rui and Yip, 2008).
The foremost motivation of the
acquisition of strategic assets is
the development of technical
and innovative capabilities. As a
matter of fact, such capabilities
have been traditionally identified
as key determinants for
firms competitive advantage
(Schumpeter, 1934). Thus,
within this context, it is crucial
to build an understanding
of the knowledge creation
and sourcing process that
boosts EMNEs technological
upgrading, identified as one
of the most powerful enablers
of EMNEs ability to compete
internationally.
This work focuses on EMNEs
international expansion and their
strategies aimed at accessing
new knowledge and valuable
technological competences
through collaborations with
foreign actors, i.e. firms,
universities and inventors. So
the core research question we
seek to address is: How do
EMNEs behave during their
technological upgrading process
through international expansion
and external knowledge
sourcing?
The thesis is a collection of four
papers, intended to analyze
different but complementary
aspects of the abovementioned
research question. Specifically,
in Chapter 1 we present a
critical review of the recent
literature about EMNEs and
the characteristics of their
FDI. Namely, we summarize
and discuss some of the
issues that have attracted
most scholarly debate in the
international business domain,
such as EMNEs country-and
firm-specific advantages, FDI
motivations and modes of
entry into foreign markets.
We also examine to what
PhD Yearbook | 2015
483
extent EMNEs undertake FDI we explore the extent to which
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
to upgrade their technological the integration of emerging
capabilities in order to reduce countries into the global system
their technological gap with of innovation represents a
multinationals from advanced channel for their technological
markets. In the next two upgrading. Using patent data
chapters, we empirically on the innovative activity in the
analyze the internationalization Chinese pharmaceutical industry,
strategies of EMNEs when they we analyze the geographic
undertake knowledge-intensive dispersion of Chinese inventor
acquisitions in advanced networks, as a function of the
markets. In particular, in Chapter characteristics of the innovative
2 we study the relationship actors. Our findings point out
between EMNEs ownership the critical role that foreign
choices and the main motivation universities and research centers
of their international expansion. may play in the technological
Our findings suggest that EMNEs upgrading process of emerging
prefer to acquire less control countries.
and keep the local partner
when they invest for seeking
knowledge, in order to more
easily transfer competences from
the target company. In Chapter
3, we focus on the importance
of EMNEs home-country specific
characteristics on the ownership
choice decisions, presenting a
comparative analysis of Chinese
and Indian MNEs. We argue
that China and India inherent
heterogeneity plays a crucial role
in differently shaping the MNEs
ownership choice. As a result,
we find that Chinese MNEs are
less likely to acquire control in
the target company, compared
to Indian firms. Further, the
greater the institutional distance
between the home and the host
country, the larger the difference
between Chinese and Indian
firms decision. In Chapter 4,
484
PUBLIC SERVICE NETWORK FORMATION:
THE CASE OF CHRONIC CARE DELIVERY
Federica Segato - Supervisor: Prof. Cristina Masella
Rationale - Networks have
become the dominant
organizational structure for
public services delivery, to the
point that they are now more
the rule than the exception in
most public sectors, healthcare
included. A lot has been written
about the antecedents affecting
the actors participation, and
about governance-related
issues. Few studies are instead
dedicated to the processes
through which the network
evolves, especially in the first
stages (i.e. formation), which is
how the actors integrate among
themselves to make a service
operational. Nevertheless, a
further comprehension of the
dynamic of service network
formation is crucial, since the
process of formation impacts
on the network structuring
and functioning, and low
functioning in the healthcare
specific case - means increased
people disabilities, deaths and
tremendous waste of resources.
Objectives - The goal of this
research project is to shed
light on how a public service
network becomes operational,
that is to explain its coming
into being. More specifically,
the thesis aims at providing
an answer to the following
research questions: 1) Why
do the actors (i.e. healthcare
professionals) accept to become
part of the network?; 2) Which
phases, activities and events
make the network proceed
towards its operationalization?;
3) Why do some diversities of
achievement exist (if they exist)
in the pathway of the network
formation?
Methods and Sample -
Qualitative methodologies are
the most effective and suitable
to this study, since we aim
at examining processes, and
the limited extant knowledge
about Public Service Network
(i.e. PSN) formation leaves
field for an exploratory and
inductive research approach.
More specifically, the research is
framed according to Eisenhardts
(1989) process of theory building
from case study research.
The empirical inquiry is based
on four inter-organizational
networks for chronic care
delivery in Italy, whose formation
was supported through a
regional project. The project
requires the coordination of
a panel of actors (General
Practitioners, case managers,
nurses, specialists, technology
providers), belonging to different
organizations (Hospitals, Local
Health Authorities, private
Companies etc.), who should
coordinate to provide a
continuum of care to a selected
population of patients affected
by chronic diseases. This case
is relevant for several reasons.
First, its timing provided the
opportunity to investigate
the process of formation of
a PSN, from the first steps to
the actual enrollment of the
patients in the service. Second,
while in regulated sectors
as the healthcare one the
dynamics are generally driven
by external forces and changes
are imposed through legislations
and top down decisions, this
experimentation was set through
legislative arrangements, but the
participation and commitment
are up to the actors will.
Third, the project deeply
modified the reimbursement
model, unhinging mechanisms
which are consolidated and
strenuously safeguarded by
the practitioners. Last, the
quest for concerted forms
of care delivery is generating
intense debates in the Italian
and international context.
Providing insights on the project
evolution at the network level is
therefore expected to enrich the
knowledge and to contribute to
the international debates on this
topic.
Findings The results are based
on extensive interviews with
primary informants (more than
40 overall), on a survey (374
patients) and on secondary
data sources (laws and decrees,
newspaper articles and press
releases, conferences, public
debates, social networks). We
accurately assessed the process
of formation expected by the
regional authorities when
they emanated the legislation.
Then we investigated the four
cases, by highlighting: the
actors, goals and motivations;
the phases, activities and
events characterizing the
four processes; the emerging
strengths and weaknesses.
Last, we assessed the patients
expectations and satisfaction
about the service received. We
discussed the differences in the
processes, in terms of timing,
activation, turbulence and the
effect of these issues on the
process outcomes.
Theoretical Implications - To
assess the actors motivations,
we took the actors external
(i.e. driven by the external
environment or coerced)
and internal (i.e. pertaining the
individuals sphere) motivations
into account, with the aim to
consider both elements dealing
with the actors voluntariness
and those related to institutional
coercions. We found that in the
networks here investigated each
actor had different problems and
pursued diverse goals. Despite
this apparent divergence, the
network appears as a common
solution for their differentiated
needs.
We provide initial clarifications
about why some agencies
participate more strongly than
others: our results show that
networks formed by a collection
of dyadic relationships pushed
by internal motivations are more
likely to be collaborative and
sustainable in the long run.
The main contribution to the
literature about the process
of formation resides in the
collection of the extant
knowledge about inter-
organizational network
formation and lifecycle and in
the definition of a framework
which keeps together both the
elements emerging from the
scant literature on this topic
and those emerging from an
accurate empirical research. We
framed the process into four
sequential phases (activation,
direction setting, structuring
and service delivery). Also,
we provide initial support to
the hypothesis that different
network conceptualizations can
be reconciled, as they look at
the process of formation from
different though complementary
viewpoints.
Last, we observed that the four
processes presented differences
in terms of time to get things
done, activation phase, and
turbulence of the process. We increase the effectiveness of
observed that the differences
(especially turbulence) in the
process do not necessarily
compromise the efficiency and
effectiveness of the service
delivered.
Managerial/Practical
Implications Although
mandated networks are less
likely to be successful, it is a
matter of fact that individuals
or organizations cannot
exert control over the levers
which drive the changes in
public settings (e.g. resources,
financing). Coherently, in
healthcare, public managers and
policy makers are required to
activate the change and clear
goals should drive them in this
action.
Once the network goals are
clear, the pathway to reach them
should be shaped according
to the context. Taking the
context into consideration
is demanding, especially in
professionals settings, such as
healthcare, where the concepts
of professional dominance
and self-determination and
the resistance of professionals
against change, tend to aliment
PhD Yearbook | 2015
a sort of prejudice against
practitioners. The case in object
partially debunk this myth
and shows that an accurate
observation of the GPs practice
might have brought the policy
leaders and controllers to
appraise some of the existing
system features instead of 485
forcing changes in behaviors
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
and practice. For example, they
might have first work to build
collaboration by bridging ties
with those agencies who already
have a strong reputation in the
community, rather than trying
to establish new ties and roles.
Accordingly, in the intent to
collaboration for chronic care
delivery, some authors suggest
structured methods to identify
naturally occurring networks of
physicians working together.
Last, the literature asserts that
public networks should be
orchestrated. We believe that
this should be done up to a
point. Our results in fact suggest
that a negative relationship
exists among the pressures
exerted by external agents and
the effectiveness of the process
of formation. It emerges that,
more than over-specifying
structures and roles, greater
attention should be paid upon
setting clear targets and let the
actors organize themselves to
reach them.
486
A model to support strategic configuration
of global supply chain
Guang Song - Thesis Supervisor: Alessandro Perego, Riccardo Mangiaracina
Supply chain management
has been studied in the
past decades, because it is a
powerful weapon in reducing
the total supply chain costs,
decreasing the operations risk,
and enhancing the service level.
However, HHoethere is not
still a research focusing on the
design of strategic supply chain
configuration for the entire
supply chain system (i.e. the
strategic location alternatives
of sourcing, manufacturing,
and distribution on the global
or local scale). Therefore, this
research aims to develop a
decision-making model in order
to support users in selecting
the appropriate strategic supply
chain configuration or checking
the coherence of an existing
supply chain configuration based
on the specific global supply
chain problem represented by a
combination of the significant
drivers affecting supply chain
costs and customer service level.
This research employed a
methodology integrating both
qualitative and quantitative
approaches. Eight (8) strategic
supply chain configurations and
27 affecting drivers have been
identified on the basis of an
in-depth literature research on
124 papers published since 1982
to 2013. Forty (40) best-in-class
manufacturing companies have
been investigated in order to
collect the information about
their adopted strategic supply
PhD Yearbook | 2015
487
chain configurations and the
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
value of each identified driver.
Five (5) contextual factors
and 12 significant drivers
have been found through a
sequential quantitative analysis
process based on correlation
analysis, factor analysis, and
regression analysis. As a result,
three decision matrixes for
each supply chain stage have
been built used to make the
decision on strategic supply
chain configuration. Finally,
the reliability of the developed
decision-making model has been
examined based on additional
5 firms.
Therefore, the decision-making
model has been proposed and
validated. A firm could adopt
the decision-making model,
consisted of the 12 significant
drivers, data transformation
scales, and decision matrix
for each supply chain stage,
to design an optimal strategic
supply chain configuration
based on a predefined 4-step
sequential process.
488
Clean and Competitive Factories:
A Neuro-Cybernetic Perspective
on Sustainable Manufacturing Strategy
Bojan Stahl - Supervisor: Prof. Marco Giorgino
Manufacturing is the tip of
scales in the triangle of planet,
people and profit. Not only since
the Brundtland Commission
the concept of sustainable
development has emerged
in manufacturing which
emphasizes on the opportunity
to increase competitiveness,
business growth and success
by pursuing environmental
soundness and social
responsibility. Incorporating
external drivers like poverty,
energy consumption or climate
change, sustainability is seen
as a way of creating new
business opportunities. The key
is to create a viable symbiosis
of a sustainable product
produced in a sustainable
manufacturing system supported
by a sustainable supply chain
and delivered to sustainable
customers. The sustainable
paradigm will emerge as a
key strategy in designing,
managing and operating
products, operations and
supply chains. Thinking and
acting long-term, creating
competitive strategic positions
and outperforming competitors
on a set of performances
is the ultimate goal of the
strategy in every manufacturing
enterprise. However, companies
are struggling to transfer
sustainability from the strategic
agenda into the manufacturing
function, and theoretical
advancement to describe,
explain or even support these
processes is scarce. The aim
of this thesis is to investigate
the organizational strategy
definition, deployment and
capability building process.
Competitive advantage is in the
center of firms success. Gaining
it over competitors by offering
greater value to the customer
is the key for a prosperous
enterprise development and a
warrantor to establish long-term
and viable success. Sustainability
or the sustainability paradigm
is seen as a new and innovative
lever to establish competitive
advantage. Firms being capable
of translating the concept of
sustainable development into
their strategic agenda and
transforming long-term plans
into concrete strategic initiatives
are moving beyond their
competitors (Drake & Spinler
2013). Firms being not capable
of integrating sustainability in
their corporate identity and
pulling it down the hierarchical
meshwork are falling back and
will grievously touch down.
Sustainability in manufacturing
is the feather that breaks the
balance.
Developing and deploying
sustainable manufacturing
strategies is a fuzzy, risky and
difficult task. Various sources
report of the difficulty of firms
to truly implement sustainability
on their operations agenda. The
aim of the underlying thesis was
to investigate and explain the
development and deployment
process in detail.
It was found that the
component people as entities
of the system firm are
underrepresented in operations
research and movements
towards behavioral operations
management may be fruitful
to advance the field further.
Discussions and workshops
with participants from industry,
policy and academia revealed
that while market-based
necessities triggered the need
for sustainability, the key aspects
to fully embrace it and make it a
competitive weapon are internal
and organizational structure and
resources.
Next, based on a case study
approach we investigated the
competitive aggressiveness
concerning sustainability
competitive priorities in relation
to change management
practices. Evidence was found
that change management is
a conditional hypothesis for
creating competitive advantage.
We found different archetypes
of firms according to the level
of change management practice
and sustainable competitive
aggressiveness. Furthermore,
two types of gaps are hindering
the implementation of successful
strategic initiatives.
Lastly, based on the findings,
a neuro-cybernetic reference
model was developed to
overcome the identified
implementation gaps, to
foster manufacturing strategy
definition and implementation
and to support industrial
decision-makers. The Viable
Competitive Model is based on
cybernetic principles and has
the explanatory and diagnosing
power to detail the actual
process of manufacturing
strategy deployment.
The doctoral thesis provides
several contributions to
science as well as practice.
From the scientific perspective
it provides several minor
theoretical contributions
like the confirmation or
falsification of other scholars
findings. However, two major
contributions stand out. First,
it is the development of four
archetypes of companies with
differing degree of competitive
aggressiveness and different
values in the instances of
leadership and direction as well
as planning. Here, performers
are seen as comparably more
aggressive in their behavior
and perform relatively better
in both change management
instances, while Sleepers show
low aggression paired with low
change management practices.
Two archetypes show medium in mapping the is-situation of
PhD Yearbook | 2015
aggressiveness, and are either a company, identify flaws and
performing well or worse
in one or the other change
challenging constructs and
virtually implement measures
management practices. The
theoretical implications were
to cope with those drawbacks.
Hence, the VCS is considered
embedded in the theory of as the first tool that truly
performance frontiers. Second, supports manufacturing strategy
the development of an ex-ante deployment in practice. This
predictive reference model on thesis sets the starting point for 489
Viable Competitive Systems future research on sustainable
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
that goes way beyond the manufacturing strategy. While
traditional models presented in it contributed excessively to
operations strategy and claims the advancement of the field,
to be the first model to truly it opened up new questions,
explain the manufacturing directions and opportunities for
strategy deployment process. future research endeavors.
The model has strong theoretical Supervisor: Marco Taisch
value since it is applicable to
instances regardless of size,
location and focus. Furthermore,
it bridges in a first try the gap
between the resource- and
market-based view of strategic
competitiveness.
The relevance for practice is
astonishing. With the support of
the Viable Competitive System,
firms have a tool which is not
only based on hard scientific
facts and knowledge, but
which is applicable and truly
useful in industrial context.
As shown in the industrial
application the model supports
490
AUTOMATION IN WAREHOUSES: STUDY OF THE NEW
TECHNOLOGIES THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT
OF DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT MODELS
Elena Tappia - Thesis supervisor: Prof. Marco Melacini
1. Premise
Todays warehouses must be able
to respond both efficiently and
responsively to customer demand
with continuously changing
assortments and small order
sizes. In this context, companies
often are interested in adopting
automated warehousing
solutions to achieve greater
operational efficiency and to
cope with the todays challenge
so that they can maintain
competitiveness. However,
companies does not always
have the right competences to
evaluate all the technologies
proposed by material handling
providers, especially those that
are more recently introduced,
and are therefore interested
in performance analysis and
design tools supporting the
evaluation of such solutions.
On the other hand, material
handling providers are always
interested in such tools for
improving the performance
of the provided technologies.
Carried out in close cooperation
with material handling providers,
this research assesses the more
recently introduced material-
handling solutions in terms of
system performance, optimal
design, application areas, and
environmental sustainability
aspects by developing analytical
models.
2. Research objectives and
methodology
According to a tight relationship
with material handling providers
and the gaps identified by
an in-depth literature review,
two innovative warehousing
solutions that are of interests
for companies given the list of
their advantages and the lack of
design tools are:
1. shuttle-based storage
systems with single deep
racks (also denoted as AVS/
RSs) for feeding the picking
stations in parts-to-picker
systems. Compared to the
AS/R systems, this technology
brings the promise of low
operational cost and inherent
volume flexibility. It uses two
different devices for unit
load movements: vehicles
that provide the horizontal
movements and lifts that
provide vertical movements.
2. shuttle-based storage systems
with multiple deep racks (also
denoted as compact storage
systems using shuttles). In
such a system, the vertical
movements and the horizontal
movements within the storage
lanes are carried out by lifts
moving unit loads across
tiers and shuttles moving
underneath the unit loads,
respectively. Hence, this
solution pairs the flexibility of
shuttle-based systems with the
efficiency of compact storage.
This dissertation is a collection
of four papers focused on these
two technologies.
The first paper aims at analysing
the dynamic performance i.e.
response time and throughput
capacity of AVS/R systems
adopted for feeding the picking
stations in parts-to-picker
systems. The paper proposes
an analytical model based on
the queuing network approach.
This approach is required for
evaluating the impact of the
waiting times for the devices
performing retrieval and storage
cycles on the response time.
Validated through simulation,
the model presents a high
accuracy.
The second paper investigates
the main design trade-offs e.g.
large number of short aisles
compared to small number of
long aisles for AVS/R systems,
and proposes a comprehensive
framework for their optimal
design i.e. rack configuration
that meet user requirements in
terms of storage and throughput
capacity at the minimum cost,
given the required service level
and physical constraints .
The third paper is also focused
on AVS/R systems and has
the following objectives: (i)
to include the environmental
perspective in the selection
of automated warehousing
solutions and (ii) to investigate
the trade-off between the
environmental and economic
dimensions when selecting
warehousing technologies
i.e. to investigate whether the
selection of automated solutions
changes varying the considered
dimensions .
The fourth paper focuses on
Compact Storage Systems with
Autonomous Shuttles. It aims at
developing accurate analytical
models based on the queuing
network approach to estimate
the performance measures
for both single- and multi-tier
systems. For single-tier systems,
it also investigates the optimal
depth/width ratio considering
both specialised and generic
shuttles. For multi-tier systems,
it analyses the relationship
between performance and the
number of tiers considering both
specialised and generic shuttles.
Moreover, the paper investigates
the effective improvement in
load throughput time of generic
shuttles, and examines how
equipment needs and costs can
be reduced.
3. Results
In the first paper, the system
performance has been analysed
by considering different
scenarios, defined by the
storage capacity values and
the retrieval demand level,
and different design profiles
in terms of number of storage
tiers, aisles and columns. Thanks
to the analytical model, the
impact of the rack configuration
on creation of queues, and
consequently on the cycle time
and resource utilisation, is
showed.
In the second paper, the
evaluation of the AVS/RS cost
structure shows that, first, cost
minimisation may be achieved
by minimizing the number
of aisles, given the physical
building constraints, and then
by maximising aisle length to
reduce the number of required
vehicles. Simulation results
illustrates how the lift tends to
be the cause of the bottleneck
in case of configurations using
high racks. Conversely, for a
given storage capacity, the
fleet of vehicles represents
the bottleneck as the number
of storage tiers is reduced.
Therefore, the maximum
throughput for an aisle does not
necessarily correspond to the
configuration with the maximum
rack height.
In the third paper, results
indicate that, differently from
previous findings on the broader
context of logistics, a trade-off
between the environmental and
economic perspectives does not
always exist in warehousing.
As the AVS/RS appears to
perform better than the AS/
RS from an environmental
perspective due to its lower
energy consumption per cycle, in
contexts in which the AVS/RS is
more economically suitable, it is
clearly the preferred system and
there is no trade-off with respect
to the environment. Findings
also confirms that it is useful to
incorporate the environmental
dimension when comparing
warehousing solutions as in
some scenarios the technology
selection shifts from one to the
other when considering not
only the economic but also the
environmental impact.
In the fourth paper, the
numerical results indicate
that the depth/width ratio
minimising expected throughput
time is around 1 independent
of the number of shuttles
and the transaction arrival
rate. Moreover, the expected
throughput time varying the
number of shuttles allows
understanding how the flexibility
of such systems i.e. changing
the size of the fleet shuttle to
chase the throughput capacity
required can be managed.
For multi-tier systems, results
PhD Yearbook | 2015
indicate that there is no trade-off
between expected throughput
time and the number of storage
tiers in a multi-tier system with
a continuous elevator. However,
in case of discrete elevator,
the optimum number of tiers
depends on the shuttle type.
Finally, results show that the 491
adoption of generic shuttles
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
leads to a saving in expected
throughput time but the higher
cost of generic shuttles is not
balanced by savings in reduced
throughput time and equipment
needs.
4. Further developments
Three main potential extensions
to this research may be
identified. First, the analytical
models developed can be
extended to explore other
system configurations and
design trade-offs that may be
of interest to the warehouse
designers. Second, this research
starts to explore the flexibility of
the examined technologies by
studying how the performance
changes varying the number
of devices in the systems,
but further developments are
required. Specifically, it could
be interesting to explore the
flexibility value by investigating
the behaviour of the system
cost curve varying the
difference between the required
performance in the design phase
and the effective requirements
over time. Third, the technology
selection problem can be
further enriched by including
the uncertainty associated with
some variables that are assumed
deterministic when making
the decision, in primis the
required storage and throughput
capacity.
492
Manufacturing Through Servitization:
Theoretical Model & Empirical Evidence
Manoosh Zebardast - Supervisor: Marco Taisch
Intense competition among
manufacturing, make
manufacturing to move into
more innovative offers and
shift into more profitable and
sustainable business. Since
1990, companies realize the
importance of moving into
new system that offers mix of
products and services instead
of only products so called as
Product-Service System. This
trend in known as servitization
in manufacturing and is
perceived challenging. This
study is based on the gap that
exists on impacts of servitization
over manufacturer and role of
manufacturer characteristics on
product and service evolution
over time. We intend to establish
a basis for theory development
and practical learning on
servitization in manufacturing.
Therefore, a theoretical model
is developed by support of
Structure-Performance-Conduct-
Performance (S-C-P) paradigm.
Eco-efficiency is widely agreed
for product-oriented services but
there is no measurement model.
Consequently, two assessment
frames are suggested to
enable manufacturing
understand which aspects
are necessary to be measured
and why they have to be
assessed. These assessment
frameworks are developed to
support economical benefit of
manufacturer. The first model
has system level view enabling
PhD Yearbook | 2015
493
management to monitor service
MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
contribution (e.g. service role
on customer retention). By
considering manufacturer
environmental goals, in second
assessment model, the potential
economical advantages are
monitored (e.g. service resource
consumption per intervention).
Lastly, sets of research
hypotheses based on theoretical
model are tested to create
grounding for future normative
theory building. Results
indicate that 1) Economical
resources cannot describe
advancement in product and
service, 2) Product and service
are sensitive to economical
resources and research &
development competences
comparably, 3) Role of supplier
is recognized equally relevant
for both product and services, 4)
Advancement in one component
(e.g. service) is not resulting
on higher revenue generation
in another component (e.g.
product revenue), 5) Economical
advantages in services are more
dependent and explainable by
service advancement itself, 6)
Service package shows a positive
and service quality negative
influence on service economical
performance, and 7) Products
with higher functionalities are
having more positive influence
on economical performance
rather than products with better
eco-efficiency features.
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496

DOCTORAL PROGRAM

PhD Yearbook | 2015

IN MATERIALS ENGINEERING
The courses of the Doctoral Program provide Ph.D students in
The research activities related to the Ph.D. theses develop, full time,
along the three years of the Ph.D. courses. Stages in industries or
in national laboratories in Italy or abroad are offered. Each Ph.D.
student are supervised by a professor of the faculty: the faculty
evaluates the progress of his research activity and at the end of
each year expresses a judgement on the continuation of the work
for the subsequent year. At the end of the third year the Ph.D.
student presents and defends, in a public hearing, his thesis work
with a jury formed by three experts.
The Ph.D. student is strongly encouraged to attend at national and 497
international meetings and present papers in his specific field. The

MATERIALS ENGINEERING
Chair: Materials Engineering with a common, basic knowledge on Ph.D. student is also assigned to give seminars on topical issues
Prof. Chiara Castiglioni Materials Science and Technology, followed by a specialized and/or to lecture on the specific fields of his research or on the
training in specific fields. The objective is to combine the theoretical cultural aspects related to his thesis.
knowledge with the skills required by technology in order to form
qualified researchers who can manage the design, manufacturing The Doctoral School requires the acquisition of 180 credits (in 3
and use of traditional and/or new materials. years) :
at least 30 credits must be obtained through attendance at
Contents of the Doctoral Program Doctoral Courses (with positive evaluation in the examinations);
The Doctoral Course covers the following areas: in addition, attendance at National and International Schools are
Polymers and composites strongly encouraged.
Cements and ceramics the remaining credits will be assigned on the basis of the research
Metals activity necessary to the development of the Thesis project.
Biomaterials and materials for biomedical applications
Processing and characterization of advanced metallic alloys Faculty:
Corrosion and durability of materials The faculty is constituted by Professors from two Departments of
Innovative materials for civil and industrial engineering Politecnico di Milano:
Materials Characterization (Microscopies, Scattering, Spectroscopy)
Modelling and theoretical approaches to the study of materials Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica Giulio Natta
structure and properties Chiara Castiglioni (coordinator) Francesco Briatico Vangosa Chiara Bertarelli
Micro and nanostructured materials (vice-coordinator)
Functional materials for applications in photonic, electronic and
sensors Luca Bertolini Fabio Bolzoni Massimiliano Bestetti
Surface engineering and advanced coatings Alberto Cigada Luigi De Nardo Giovanni Dotelli
Materials for industrial design
Fabio Ganazzoli Luciano Lazzari Marinella Levi
Meta-materials
Transformation of materials Valdo Meille MariaPia Pedeferri Guido Raos
Material for Cultural Heritage Marta Rink Lucia Toniolo Stefano Turri
Pasquale Vena
The courses face immediately advanced issues both in the main
and elective courses. Different curricula are offered, which will be Dipartimento di Energia
activated on the basis of the decisions of the faculty. The Doctoral Marco Beghi Andrea Li Bassi Paolo Ossi
program is characterised by high flexibility, in order to satisfy the
needs of students that have to develop their research activity in Professional skills achieved by PhD in Material Engineering:
different thematic areas. For this reason each student submit to The industrial world depends necessarily on a great variety of
the Faculty a Curriculum to be approved. The Courses offered materials. Nowadays, it is easy to outline two industrial needs:
deal with theoretical, experimental and modelling aspects. Several i) development and innovation in the production, processing,
Courses comprise workshops and seminars, with the participation application and conservation of traditional materials; ii)
of invited internationally celebrated speakers. Students can use development of innovative materials for the production of new
the most modern facilities for materials synthesis, processing and manufactured goods or devices to cope with the growing demands
characterization available at the Politecnico di Milano or in other of modern technologies. Since these two kinds of industrial needs
research laboratories. require specialized people a few specialized curricula are offered.
498

PhD Yearbook | 2015

499
On the other hand, the capabilities acquired through the courses,

MATERIALS ENGINEERING
the research work and the teaching activity assure an adequate
preparation to the academic career.

Referees (Comitato di riferimento)

Edoardo Bemporad, Dip. di Ingegneria Meccanica Marco Bernasconi, Dip. di Scienza dei Materiali,
e Industriale, Universit Roma Tre Universit Milano Bicocca
Marco Ferrera, ST Microelectronics Stefano Gialanella, Dip. di Ingegneria Industriale,
Universit di Trento
Alessandro Martucci, Dip. Ingegneria Meccanica, Laura Montanaro, Dip. Scienza dei Materiali e
Universit di Padova Ingegneria Chimica, Politecnico di Torino
Stefano Radice, Solvay Specialty Polymers SpA Riccardo Po, eni SpA
Fiorella Pozzobon, ST Microelectronics Mario Sobacchi, eni SpA.
Francesco Stellacci , Dept. of Materials Science
and Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne

Granting Agencies :
ST Microelectronics s.r.l. Media Lario Technologies
Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia IIT Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica
SOLVAY SOLEXIS SpA INSTM
eni SpA Electrolux SpA
Faber SpA
 500

Properties of Cellular Polymeric Materials and a simple model based on Changing the process In particular, it was noted that

PhD Yearbook | 2015

in Relation to their Structure
Michele Benanti Supervisor: Prof. Francesco Briatico Vagosa
Cellular materials are an
performances depend both on
material properties measured at
Darcys law (flow through a
porous medium) was able to
describe the evolution of stress
with strain at different strain
rates. DMA characterization
performed at fixed frequency
(1Hz) and several static strains
evidences the differences
among the studied materials,
which can be related to their
parameters allowed obtaining
different morphologies, while
maintaining constant foam
density.
Microstructure characterization,
through image analysis,
revealed an overall cell
orientation in the expansion
direction and a dependence
of structure morphology
smaller cells of nanocomposite
PP foams tend to have rounded
shape (see Figure 1). Structure
anisotropy was reflected by
mechanical properties: all
materials displayed higher
stiffness in the expansion
direction with a ratio between
the modulus measured in 501
the expansion to transversal

important class of engineering
materials, yet the knowledge
and the understanding of their
behaviour is far from being
complete. The aim of this study
is to investigate different aspects
of the mechanical and acoustical
behaviour of cellular polymeric
materials in relation to their
three dimensional structure. The
first part of the work is devoted
to the development of a method
for predicting the mechanical
response of honeycomb panels
made by polymeric material
via a continuous process,
in the context of Progetto
Alveoplast, a funded project
in the framework of Industria
2015 initiative. After
experimental validation of the
predictive ability of the three
dimensional finite element
model, the mechanical response
of several geometries was
analysed in order to optimize
the honeycomb structure for
the use as acoustic barrier for
traffic noise control, taking into
account both the mechanical
and acoustical requirements.
Besides honeycomb structure,
also polymeric foams were
studied. These materials find
application, amongst many
others, as sandwich panels
cores, as shock absorbers and
as acoustic liners for sound
absorption purpose. Regardless
the application they are used for,
their mechanical and acoustical
the nature of the constituent
material and on the structure of
the cells and its change under
load. The possibility to use
polymeric foams to enhance
acoustic performances of panel
led to the study of the influence
of static deformation on the
properties of the foam subject
to cyclical stimuli. Indeed the
static deformation may affect
the microstructure and the
constituent material properties,
thus modifying significantly the
foam behaviour. This study is of
practical interest since foams,
and in particular those used for
noise control, are frequently
subject to static deformation
superimposed to cyclical one.
It was shown that the time-
temperature equivalence
is applicable to predict the
dynamic mechanical (DMA)
response at frequencies not
directly accessible, and that the
effect of static pre-strain and
of temperature are decoupled.
The obtained data were used to
simulate the acoustic behaviour
of a car part made by a layer of
polyurethane foam sandwiched
between two steel sheets. The
prediction was in accordance
with the measured acoustic
performances over a wide range
of frequencies, significantly
wider than that directly
accessible in DMA experiments,
and gave better results than
the prediction carried out using
a single frequency only.
The acoustical and mechanical
behaviour of foams is also
affected by the presence of open
porosity. This was investigated
in a study on a novel open-
cell polyethylene foam (PEOC)
produced at CellMat laboratory
(Universidad de Valladolid,
Spain) through a well-controlled
production route. This material
displays a peculiar structure
characterized by almost closed
cell connected by small holes.
Crushing the foam up to 90%
of its original thickness allows to
obtain a material with different
structure and mechanical
response (PEOC90). Results
suggested that changing the
microstructure can be a very
effective way to control, and
enhance, its sound absorption
characteristic. The very same
foams showed interesting
response to quasi-static and
cyclical mechanical stimuli. In
fact, unlike other open cell
foams, such as PU flexible foam,
PEOC compression behaviour
is significantly affected
by the rate of the applied
compressive strain. Extending
the observations of the studies
performed on liquid-filled
polyurethane foams present
in the literature, this peculiar
behaviour was attributed to
the stress contribution arising
from gas flow through the
holes interconnecting cells,
MATERIALS ENGINEERING
structure. The comparison on the process conditions direction ranging from 1.5 to 3.
between PEOC and PEOC90 and formulations. Nanoclay A part of the study was devoted
seems to confirm that the charged foams prepared at to assess the applicability of
changes in the structure have the lowest pressure conditions existing models in order to
an effect not only on the displayed high structure predict the dependence of
modulus, as expected, but anisotropy and bimodal cell mechanical behaviour on the
also on the loss factor, which size distribution (see Figure 1). anisotropy ratio of the foams
decreases with increasing holes More homogeneous cell size microstructure. The simple
size in cells walls, while static distribution was obtained in model based on rectangular cell
deformation does not seem pure PP foams and in foams proposed by Gibson and Ashby,
to affect significantly the loss produced at higher pressure. in spite of the complexity of the
factor. In the case of closed cell A correlation between cell structure of the studied foams,
foams, the observed reduction anisotropy and cell size was can describe their behaviour in
of loss factor with increasing observed and a different trend acceptable way.
static strain might be attributed for each material was observed.
to the contribution of air
pressure to E.
Finally, the mechanical
properties in relation to
anisotropic microstructure
of polypropylene based
medium density (180 kg/m3)
foams were studied. A non-
standard compression moulding
technology, called improved
compression moulding (ICM),
was used to achieve anisotropy
of cellular structure and
a fine control on the final
foam density. Four different
processing pressures (0.5; 1.5;
4; 8 MPa) and two different
formulations (pure PP and
PP+nanoclays) were employed
to prepare a total of eight
different foams. The influence
of processing condition and of
the addition of nanoclays on the
foaming process was studied
1. Cross section of nanoclay-reinforced polypropylene foam prepared at 0.5
by means of microstructure and MPa. Elongated cells give the material anisotropic mechanical properties; small
mechanical characterisations. rounded cell formation is favoured by the nucleating effect of nanoclay.
502
Polymeric Materials for Advanced Human
Health Applications
Caterina Credi - Relatore: Prof. Stefano Turri
The research work of the
present thesis can be divided
in two main parts both related
to the development and
functionalization of polymeric
materials for advanced human
health applications. One
deals with stem cells-based
therapies for tissue engineering
applications whereas the other
deals with the development of
patterned functional biomaterial
surfaces for rare cells capture
and isolation. The goal of tissue
engineering is to replace or to
repair a damaged tissue or organ
with autologous-engineered
artificial substitutes made by
seeding living autologous
organ specific cells on a
biomaterial, a scaffold, acting
as an extra-cellular matrix and
culturing them giving proper
cues until maturation in a
functional tissue ready to be
transplanted. One promising
strategy consists in addressing
stem cells fate by fine-regulating
their interactions within 3D
artificial microenvironments,
synthetic niches engineered
to mimic individual biochemical
and biophysical factors. To this
end, our first objective was
to fabricate and functionalize
3D synthetic matrices which
are engineered to enable
independently tuning their
physical-mechanical properties,
in terms of geometry and
stiffness, thus allowing
investigating the specific role
that each stimulus have on stem
cells response. 3D freestanding
niches with tailored geometry
were fabricated by two-photon
polymerization (2PP), which
allows rapid prototyping of 3D
complex polymer structures. In
order to widen the range of 2PP
structures mechanical properties,
hydrogels were considered as
biomimetic materials suitably
for 2PP scaffold coatings.
Immobilization strategies based
on physical, chemical and
photochemical interactions
were explored to functionalized
2PP structures with thin layers
of hyaluronan- and gelatin-
based hydrogels, which were
developed to have tailored
stiffness encompassing the
range of physiological values.
Hydrogel mechanical properties
were evaluated validating
a reliable methodology
based on three independent
experimental techniques.
Rheological results obtained
on macroscopic samples were
successively benchmarked
with swelling experiments
following Flory-Rehner theory
and by Atomic Force Microscopy
(AFM) nanoindentation,
the latters considered more
suitable techniques for the
characterization of small-scale
hydrogel samples as those
grafted onto niches. Finally,
biological tests were performed
on hydrogel-coated structures to
study aspects of biocompatibility
and differentiation. All the
hydrogel coatings resulted high
biocompatible with enhanced
proliferation and higher
metabolic activity compared to
uncoated scaffold. Preliminary
results assessed that HA-
coatings induced the formation
of cells agglomerates, which
maintain their plurypotency
thus suggesting their potential
application to produce
therapeutic MSCs in large,
pharmaceutically relevant
scales. Conversely, commitment
towards the osteo-chondral
lineage was observed for
softer gelatin-coated niches,
highlighting the main role that
the chemistry of the surface
coating, combined with
the geometry of the micro
architectures, has respect to the
mechanical properties of the
coating in addressing stem cells
differentiation while cultured in
The main objective of the second
part of the present research was
the design and realization of
patterned functional surfaces
for rare cells capture and
isolation. Currently, biomolecular
patterning is considered one
of the key technologies for the
realization of living-cell arrays
and for the study of specific
individual cellular processes
instead of analyzing the behavior
of a whole cell population, as for
conventional cell-based assays.
Among all the different kinds
of proper chemicals, derivatives
of hyaluronic acid and heparin
were first chosen as baits due
to their preferential interactions
with cancer cells and malaria-
infected red blood cells (pRBCs)
respectively. Particularly, HA is
involved in tumor growth and
metastasis, while heparin is able
to bind to the protein domain
expressed by malaria-infected
erythrocytes and their availability
in well-defined positions offer
the possibility to immobilize
cancer cells and pRBCs and to
make these cells available for
specific tests and experiments
thus encouraging the discovery
and formulation of new drugs
and therapies. A fundamental
issue was the selection of the
substrate material that deeply
affects the final performance
of the array. Best performing
materials should avoid non-
specific cells binding, thus
perfluoropolyethers (PFPEs) were
considered due to their wide
range of properties including
very low surface tension, which
enhances PFPEs anti-fouling/
fouling release properties.
Different photocurable PFPEs
were compared and deeply
characterized to understand the
possible relationship between
their main structural parameters
and their protein resistance
behavior. PFPE-dimethacrylathes
were selected as the most
valuable candidates as substrate
for HA and heparin selective
patterning. To this end, photo-
PhD Yearbook | 2015
503
lithography and soft-lithography performed with cancer cells and
MATERIALS ENGINEERING
were developed and optimized malaria-infected red blood cells
as technologies to selectively assess the capability of HA and
functionalize PFPEs surfaces heparin patterned PFPEs surfaces
following different strategies. in selectively capturing individual
Particularly, free radical population cells.
polymerization was exploited for
glycidyl methacrylate modified
HA grafting onto partially cross-
linked PFPE surfaces by photo-
lithography through photomask.
Whereas, biomolecular
recognition and strong specificity
between avidin and other
biotin-binding proteins was
used for patterning. A photo-
activable biotin was preprinted
by contact printing and UV- a 3D niche.
grafted onto partially cured PFPE
substrate, then biotinylated- 1. Confocal images acquired on GEL-
heparin was immobilized SH-coated niche substrates seeded
with MSCs and cultured for 14 days.
using avidin as intermediate Nuclei stained blue, collagen type-I
linker. Preliminary cellular tests stained red and actin stained green.
2. SEM image showing cancer cells adhering selectively on GMHA spot (a);
optical microscope image showing malaria-infected red blood cells (staining
violet) adhering on heparin (b).
504

Carbon Nanostructures for the commercial sample, (CD) and electrochemical resistance of mesoporous

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Electrochemical Energy Conversion and
Storage Applications
Mazdak Hashempour Igderi - Supervisor: Antonello Vicenzo
Tutor: Massimiliano Bestetti
In the current dissertation,
heating of SS up to CNT
respectively. Fig. 1 shows
the Tafel plot of the specific
activity in the kinetic region.
of the PEMFCs: in this
impedance spectroscopy
(EIS), different characteristics
of the supercapacitor such
as specific capacitance (Cs),
internal resistance (Ri), energy
density (Es), power density
(Ps), relaxation time (t0) and
lifetime were evaluated. Cs
and Es studies showed that
the addition of conductive
CNTs along with high surface
area of RGO, presenting high
rate capability and energy
density at the same time (t0
1 s, Ri 1.4 and a Ps, max
10 kWkg1 steadily all over
the range composition).
Fig. 2 shows the Ragone plot
of different active materials, 505
projecting the power densities

under the general framework
of Carbon nanostructures
for electrochemical energy
conversion and storage
applications, a range of
activities with main
focus on synthesis and
electrochemical characterization
of carbon nanostructured
materials have been carried out.
Accordingly, the thesis has been
divided into three chapters and
a summary of each activity will
be presented in the following
as the objective and results of a
chapter.
(i) Chemical vapor deposition
(CVD) direct growth of
carbon nanotubes (CNTs)
on stainless steel (SS) and
their application for the
bipolar plates of proton
exchange membrane fuel
cells (PEMFCs): in this part,
a systematic study of the
parameters affecting the
direct growth of CNTs on
SS was carried out and the
suitability of the resulting
material for working in
electrochemical environments
was investigated. CNTs were
successfully grown on SS
via a simple CVD method
and without application of
any external catalyst after
fine tuning all the surface
characteristics of SS as well
as the growth parameters. It
was found out that during
the controlled atmosphere
growth temperature, its
surface undergoes nano
scale modifications and the
type of the subsequently
grown filamentous carbon
shows a direct relation to
the size of surface nano
features formed on SS
substrate. CNTs were the
dominant growth products
where the average size of SS
surface nanofeatures was
below 60 nm. Due to the
surface modifications of SS
during the high temperature
carbonrich CVD treatment, a
reduced corrosion resistance
of the SS was found to occur.
In particular, chromium
depletion of SS due to
chromium carbide formation
and sensitization caused
an infirm behavior of the
material in electrochemical
media, appearing in the form
of intergranular corrosion.
Accordingly, although
problems such as high
electrical contact resistance
of bare SS in corrosive media
(mainly due to passive oxide
layer) were addressed, the
CNT coating provided by
this method was evaluated
insufficient as a corrosion
barrier in the electrochemical
media such as bipolar plates
of PEMFCs.
(ii) Investigation on different
carbon nanostructures
as the catalyst support
part, fabrication of Pt
electrocatalyst supported on
different carbon materials,
namely, CNT, reduced
graphene oxide (RGO)
and hybrid CNTRGO was
demonstrated using a rapid
and single step microwave
assisted polyol process, and
the activity of Pt towards
the oxygen reduction
reaction (ORR) was studied
on different supports. Due
to direct relation of the
abundance of defects on the
support and Pt concentration
and dispersion, a Pt
nanoparticle (NP) size trend
as follows was found on
different supports: RGOPt <
CNTRGOPt < CNTPt. XPS
studies, demonstrated a C/O
ratio trend of the supports
in the following order: RGO
Pt (7.26) < CNTRGOPt
(17.49) < CNTPt (21.32).
The content of sp2 carbon
was also following the same
trend. Area specific activity
evaluation of the samples
towards ORR showed a clear
outperformance of all the
lab-made samples compared
to the commercial Vulcan
XC7230%Pt over the entire
kinetic region. In particular,
the specific activities of
RGOPt, CNTRGOPt and
CNTPt samples at E =
0.90 VRHE, were 2.25, 2.3
and 3.13 times higher than
1. Tafel plot of the specific activity of
Pt on different carbon supports in the
kinetic region.
Regarding the mass specific
activity, CNTRGOPt support
showed particularly high activity
due to simultaneous benefitting
from the conductivity of CNTs,
and wettability and surface area
factors of RGO. It was finally
concluded that hybridizing the
1D and 2D support families
(CNT RGO), shared the features
of individual components, so
as to result at the same time
in high area and mass specific
activities.
(iii) Investigation on different
carbon nanostructures as
the active materials for the
supercapacitors: the main
focus of this part was on
the electrochemical behavior
of CNT, RGO and their
composites as the active
materials for supercapacitors,
compared to activated carbon
(AC) as the conventional
material for this application.
Supercapacitor electrodes
were prepared in three main
classes including ACCNT,
ACRGO and ACCNTRGO.
Using techniques such as
cyclic voltammetry (CV),
cyclic chargedischarge
MATERIALS ENGINEERING
species (i.e., CNT and available at certain energy
RGO) can improve a part densities.
of the deficiency of poorly
conductive AC electrodes.
Increased CNT contents
could however, suppress
the capacitance again due
to the low specific surface
area of CNTs. In ACRGO
class however, both Cs and
Es continuously increased
by RGO content due to
simultaneous improvement
of conductivity and surface 2. Ragone plot of different
area. ACCNT RGO class, carbonaceous active materials for
borrowing the conductivity supercapacitors.
from CNT and surface area
from RGO, presented steadily
high Cs and Es. Studies on
the rate capability, power
performance, frequency
response and internal
resistance of the electrodes
showed a superior behavior
of pure CNT electrodes
(a t0 = 0.19 s, Ri = 0.83
and a Ps, max = 22 kWkg 1
at matched impedance
condition) or those containing
a high content of CNTs. Pure
RGO (with a t0 = 6.31 s, Ri
= 6.38 and a Ps, max = 5.6
kWkg-1) was behaving better
that pure AC (a t0 > 100 s
and a Ps, max = 4.1 kWkg1) in
this respect, but still more
sensitive to rate compared
to CNTs. Composite three
component electrodes of
ACCNTRGO class benefited
from low ionic diffusivity
506
Fabrication of CZTS/CZTSe thin film solar
cells from electrodeposited metallic
precursor layers
Md Ibrahim Khalil - Supervisor: Prof. Luca Magagnin
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) and
Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) are
promising absorber material
for thin film photovoltaic
devices due to their abundant
constituent materials, suitable
direct band gap ranging from
~1.0 eV (CZTSe) to ~1.5
eV (CZTS), large absorption
coefficient over 104
cm-1 as well as theoretical
conversion efficiency of
32%. Current commercial
absorber material for thin
film photovoltaic devices are
CdTe and Cu(In,Ga)Se2(CIGS)
which contain earth rare and
toxic materials. In this work,
CZTS/CZTSe thin films were
successfully prepared using an
electrodeposition annealing
route, in which Cu-Zn-Sn metal
precursors (co-electrodeposited/
stacked layers) were deposited
by a novel approach on Mo
substrate, followed by annealing
in elemental sulfur/selenium
environment in quartz tube
furnace with N2 atmosphere.
Different characterization
techniques like XRD, SEM (EDS),
Raman spectroscopy, GDOES,
Photoluminescence spectroscopy
and cross-sectional image
have ensured the well formed
Kesterite (CZTS/CZTSe) after
sulfurization/selenization of
the precursor. As investigation
of the phase diagram of these
materials show that only a small
region (in terms of composition)
is possible to make single
phase CZTS/CZTSe. As a result,
different precursor compositions
of Cu-Zn-Sn ranging from
Cu-poor, Zn-rich to Cu-rich,
Zn-poor have been investigated.
Results showed that Cu-poor,
Zn-rich precursor (here, Cu/
(Zn+Sn)0.91, Zn/Sn1.21) is
best for getting single phase
CZTS. It is well known by
literatures that Cu2ZnSnS4
forms with solid state reaction
of Cu2SnS3 and ZnS at high
temperature. For this reason,
it is very important to have
homogeneous compositions
of Cu, Zn and Sn on precursor
before sulfurization. By using
rotating horizontal working
electrode, we have got almost
mirror like surface (Ra
0.094 m) with homogenous
distribution of Cu, Zn and Sn
from single electrolyte. In case of
co-electrodeposited precursors,
two different ramping rates
(20C/min. and 2C/min.)
during sulfurization at 550C
have been applied and it has
been observed by XRD and SEM
(EDS) that low ramping rate
does not necessarily increase
the grain size of the film rather
create some secondary phases
in the film as Kesterite is
metastable. Moreover, formation
of undesired MoS2 was also
observed in the XRD in case of
2C/min ramping rate. Effects
of different sulfurization periods
(10 min, 30 min, 60 min and
120 min) at 550C have been
investigated. It was observed
and confirmed by XRD, SEM
(EDS) and Raman spectroscopy
that in order to get good
crystalline form of CZTS, longer
sulfurization time (here, 120
min) at high temperature is
needed. Raman spectroscopy
is employed here as diffraction
peak of Cu2ZnSnS4, Cu3SnS4 and
ZnS are very close to each other.
SEM (EDS) analysis show that
composition of CZTS are very
near to the stoichiometric ratio
Cu, Zn, Sn and S. Cross-sectional
SEM image show that CZTS
possess bimodal distribution
of grains: smaller grains are
located near the interface of
Mo and larger grains at the
top of the CZTS which use to
reported in literature. In order
to make sure that the CZTS
compound are intended for
photonic application (i. e. solar
cell) samples were characterized
by Photoluminescence (PL)
spectroscopy at low temperature
(15K). A broad and sharp PL
was observed at 1.21 eV in our
studies, which has matched up
with the existing literatures,
as a broad PL band from CZTS
compound at around 1.2 to 1.3
eV are found in many studies.
GDOES analysis shows that the
composition of Cu, Zn, Sn and S
were not changed along the film
thickness which confirms the
formation of CZTS along the film
thickness also. Moreover, the
effect of intermediate annealing
step (soft annealing) at
comparatively low temperature
(350C) before sulfurization
was also explored. It has been
observed that by using soft
annealing step, sulfurization
time could be minimized to 10
min.
In case of CZTSe thin films also,
different precursors of Cu-Zn-Sn
with same compositions have
been selenized at 550C with
different selenization periods (10
min, 30 min, 60 min and 120
min). XRD, SEM (EDS), Raman
and Photoluminescence (PL)
spectroscopy results showed
that 60 min selenization is
enough for the well formation
of CZTSe without having any
secondary phases. In case of
CZTSe, a broad PL peak was
observed at 0.94 eV at low
temperature (15K) which is in
good agreement with existing
literatures.
After fabrication of CZTS/
CZTSe, n-type CdS buffer layer
was deposited by chemical
bath deposition using cadmium
acetate. Before depositing of
CdS, CZTS/CZTSe films were
etched by 3.5% KCN solution
for 30s. A 80 nm intrinsic i-ZnO
buffer layer, which acts as to
prevent any shunts, was then
deposited by RF sputtering. The
TCO layer consisting of 350 nm
Al-doped ZnO (AZO) was grown
by DC pulsed (2 kHz) sputtering.
Finaly, cells were completed by
PhD Yearbook | 2015
507
evaporating an Al grid contact formation of CZTS.
MATERIALS ENGINEERING
on it. In addition to this, a sulfurized
CZTS film was again selenized in
A 0.6% efficient CZTS solar order to form CZTSSe as record
cell was fabricated on Mo foil efficiency of this kind of solar
substrate which is the first of cell are coming from CZTSSe
this kind of solar cell on Mo foil thin film solar cell. The major
(fig.1) XRD diffraction peak of CZTSSe
Fig.1: External quantum was observed at 27.35, 45.35
efficiency (EQE) of CZTS and 53.77 which are in good
solar cell prepared from co- agreement with the literatures.
electrodeposited Cu-Zn-Sn
precursor
Besides from co-electrodeposited
Cu-Zn-Sn precursor, Kesterite-
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) films were
also successfully synthesized
by using electrodeposition-
annealing by using novel stacked
layer approach. Adherent
and homogeneous Cu-poor,
Zn-rich stacked metallic Cu-
Zn-Sn precursors with different
compositions were sequentially
electrodeposited, in
Cu-Sn/Zn order onto Mo foils
substrate. Subsequently, stacked
layers were soft annealed at
350oC for 20 min in flowing N2
atmosphere in order to improve
intermixing of the elements.
Then, sulfurization was
completed at 585oC for 15 min
in elemental sulfur environment
in a quartz tube furnace with N2
atmosphere. Here also different
characterization techniques
such as XRD, SEM (EDS),
Raman spectroscopy, GDOES,
Photoluminescence spectroscopy
have confirmed the well
 508
Cationic polymers for the design of
multifunctional gene delivery vectors
Chiara Diletta Malloggi - Supervisor: Prof. Gabriele Candiani
Gene therapy can be broadly
defined as the introduction of
genetic material, either DNA or
RNA, into target cells in order
to modify and control their
protein expression. Offering
new treatment possibilities for
both inherited and acquired
human diseases, in the last
two decades, gene therapy
has become one of the most
intensively developing strategies
for current clinical research.
Direct administration of free
oligonucleotides and DNA to
cells is rather ineffective because
of their large dimensions and
their anionic charge that does
induce repulsion with the
negatively charged biological
cell surfaces. Therefore, it is
necessary to develop efficient
and safe gene delivery systems
able to protect DNA against
degradation by nucleases and
transfer the genetic materials
to target cells. To date, the two
main approaches for the delivery
of genetic materials into cells
are based on viral and non-
viral vectors. Viral vectors are
reported to be highly effective
but they all share many critical
disadvantages which strongly
limit their clinical application,
such as immunogenic and
mutagenic issues, and the
limited extent of the DNA they
can carry. In light of these
drawbacks and due to their high
standards in terms of safety,
versatility and easiness of use,
non-viral vectors have been
proposed as promising and safer
alternatives.
Non-viral vectors for gene
delivery are natural or synthetic
materials which are positively
charged at physiological pH.
They spontaneously interact with
the anionic nucleic acids and
condense them into micro-and
nano-scale particles, which
protect the genetic material from
degradation until they reach
their targets. Unfortunately,
despite the development of an
extensive number of reagents,
several issues still need to be
solved, hindering efficient non-
viral gene delivery.
In this scenario, the aim of my
Ph.D. thesis was to address
some of the unsolved issues
in the gene delivery field, by
developing, characterizing
and/or optimizing some newly
synthesized and commercially
available cationic polymers.
With the aim to combine the
high transfection efficiency of
branched polyethylenimine (bPEI)
with the biodegradability of
chitosan, 2 kDa bPEI was grafted
to the chitosan backbone,
obtaining a series of seven
chitosan-graft-bPEI copolymers
with different degrees of
grafting (Chi-g-bPEIx). Along
the Chi-g-bPEIx series, the
higher the degree of grafting,
the greater the -potential
and the cytotoxicity of the
resulting polyplexes. Among
the copolymer series, chitosan-
graft-bPEI with an intermediate
grafting degree of 2.7% was
the most effective transfectant
and allowed for increased
transfection efficiency and
lower cytotoxicity than the gold
standard polymeric transfectant
25 kDa bPEI. Most important,
we demonstrated how the
degree of grafting directly
affects the surface charge, the
transfection efficiency and the
cytotoxicity of copolymer-based
polyplexes. Moreover, in order
to expand the understanding of
the processes of gene delivery,
a Chi-g-bPEIx copolymer was
further characterized for its
complexation behavior with
time-resolved fluorescence
spectroscopy in combination
with SYBR Green I. Fluorescence
amplitude and lifetime
measurements during DNA-
condensation by a Chi-g-
bPEI copolymer, the building
block 2 kDa bPEI and the
gold standard 25 kDa bPEI
highlighted polymer-specific
DNA arrangements within
the polyplexes. Dynamic
time-resolved fluorescence
measurements provided better
insights into the process
of polyplex formation and
disassembly in the presence
of anionic competitors. Some
relationships existing among
the optical behavior, the
physicochemical properties and
the transfection activity of Chi-g-
bPEI-based polyplexes shed light
on their superior transfection
properties.
A family of three
aminoglycoside-rich dendrimers,
based on polyamidoamine
dendrimer generation 4
(dPAMAM G4) linked to
neamine, paromomycin and
neomycin, was developed.
Conjugation of dPAMAM with
paromomycin and neomycin
led to products with increased
transfection efficiencies and
lower cytotoxicities compared
to the unconjugated dPAMAM.
Moreover, dPAMAM G4-
paromomycin and G4-neomycin,
at their optimum N/P, displayed
enhanced transgene expression
also compared to the gold
standard 25 kDa bPEI. Moreover,
given the well-known antibiotic
properties of aminoglycosides,
dPAMAM G4-conjugates
were tested whether they still
possessed antibacterial activity,
either alone or in combination
with the plasmid DNA (pDNA).
The conjugation of dPAMAM
G4 to aminoglycosides greatly
enhanced its antimicrobial
activity. Moreover, the
antibacterial properties of
dPAMAM G4 derivatives
were not influenced by their
complexation with DNA.
Of note, dPAMAM G4-
paromomycin and G4-neomycin
were shown to efficiently
transfect mammalian cells and
to inhibit bacterial growth at
once. Importantly, dPAMAM
G4-paromomycin displayed
the highest transfection
effectiveness and prominent
antibacterial activities, disclosing
this polymer as very suitable for
future in vivo applications.
Finally, aiming to study the
correlation among the intrinsic
properties of cationic polymers,
the experimental conditions
and the in vitro transfection
outcomes, a systematic
comparison of the most used
commercially sourced polymers
for gene delivery was carried
out and the role of several
important parameters affecting
the transfection efficiency
was evaluated. lPEIs, bPEIs,
lPLLs, and dPAMAMs, differing
in Mw, were characterized
after complexation in terms
of physicochemical properties
and transfection behavior
as a function of N/P and
complexation buffer. Of
note, 25 kDa lPEI complexed
at N/P 40 in 150 mM NaCl
was by far the most effective
transfectant. Moreover, factors
such as the composition of
the culture medium, the order
of mixing of the reagents, the
transfection time, the dose of
polyplexes delivered to cells,
the cell seeding density, and the
volume of culture medium were
evaluated experimentally. Of
note, the cytotoxicity was mainly
influenced by the variation of
the experimental conditions, and
PhD Yearbook | 2015
509
the pDNA concentration was
MATERIALS ENGINEERING
revealed to be a key parameter
in gene delivery. By optimizing
the transfection parameters,
we provided useful information
on testing conditions for the in
vitro screening of non-viral gene
vectors.
In conclusion, my thesis
shows that the integration
of different moieties into
a single transfectant is a
promising approach to design
new and more effective
multifunctional systems,
which join the advantages
of their building blocks. The
structure-activity relationship
studies have established the
correlations among the chemical
structure of newly synthesized
and commercially sourced
polymeric gene vectors, the
physicochemical properties of
vector/DNA complexes and their
biological activity, providing
useful information for the
rational design of more and
more effective transfectants.
Further advances in this area
would require interdisciplinary
approaches to understand the
role of the vector chemistry, and
the physicochemical properties
of the vector/DNA complex,
combined with mathematical
modeling and fundamental
studies of cellular processes.
510
Yield and post-yield behaviour of
semicrystalline polymers: open issues of
practical interest
Nadia Perillo - Supervisor: Prof. Claudia Marano
This PhD thesis covers three
different research topics in the
field of science and technology
of polymeric materials. They
all have in common the fact
that the knowledge of the
yield and/or the post yield
behavior is necessary for their
analysis. Further, they all deal
with semicrystalline polyolefins.
In some cases a correlation
between the macroscopic
mechanical behavior of the
semicrystalline polyolefins
investigated and semicrystalline
polymers main deformation
mechanisms was attempted.
A study of the yield and post-
yield behavior of syndiotactic
polypropylene
The research activity aimed to
the study of the mechanical
behaviour of syndiotactic
polypropylene (s-PP) started
within a collaboration with
the research group of Prof. De
Rosa of the Chemical Science
Department of Universit degli
Studi di Napoli Federico II
which has performed a wide
characterization of polyolefins
structure since the 80s and
more recently has focused on
the study of the strain-induced
crystal form transitions of
s-PP. Considering the high
strain recovery of s-PP when
strained after being plastically
deformed (i.e. strained
above its yield point), they
proposed the use of s-PP as
a thermoplastic elastomer.
Within the collaboration with
De Rosas group the possibility
to produce s-PP fibers or films
with an elastomeric behaviour
through the extrusion and
cold drawing processes was
considered. Indeed s-PP
processing has not been faced in
the research activity of this PhD
thesis, which is mainly aimed to
study the mechanical behaviour
of s-PP in relation to the
strain-induced microstructural
transformations suggested
by literature. A suitable
experimental method was set
up to overcome the necking
effect which causes strain
localization in a s-PP specimen
during a tensile test: considering
different zones of a single
specimen as different specimens
strained up to different strains,
a larger amount of data from
few tests was obtained and it
was possible to investigate a
wider strain range than that
explored in literature. The effect
of configuration regularity
of s-PP on its yield and post-
yield behaviour was examined
considering three commercial
syndiotactic polypropylenes
having different stereoregularity
index.
Material yielding in relation
to the applicability of the
Essential Work of Fracture
method
The essential work of fracture
(EWF) method is widely used
to characterize the fracture
behaviour of thin polymeric
films whose application is mainly
in plane stress conditions. It
allows to obtain a materials
specific fracture energy by
performing fracture tests on
several notched specimens (for
example Double Edge Notched
Tension DEN(T) specimens)
differing in the cross-section
width. The method is valid if the
plane stress conditions prevail
and there is not edge effect: the
low thickness of the specimen
and a notch length higher
than a minimum value allow
to satisfy both the conditions.
In addition the method can be
applied only if the yielding of the
whole cross-section has occurred
before crack onset. In this PhD
thesis the latter hypothesis
was verified, considering a
HDPE, performing fracture
tests on DEN(T) specimens.
To determine the yield onset
(stress and strain at yielding)
loading-unloading tensile tests
were performed up to different
strains: through the back
extrapolation of the permanent
strain versus the applied strain
the yield strain was obtained
and the corresponding yield
stress determined. The tests
were performed under uniaxial
and plane strain conditions and
using DEN(T) specimens as well.
While the yield stress resulted
to be dependent on the loading
conditions, the yield strain
turned out to be fairly constant.
This result suggests that the
strain at yield onset in DEN(T)
specimen can be obtained by the
uniaxial tensile test which, using
a standard specimen geometry
deforming homogeneously up to
yield, is more simple to perform.
The hypothesis of yielding of the
whole cross-section was verified
for the studied material.
Assessment of long-term
performance of isotactic
polypropylene using short
term tests
The experimental work related
to this topic was performed
during the six-months term
period at Technological
University of Eindhoven (TU/e)
in the Netherlands. In the last
decades polymers have been
increasingly employed in the
production of loadbearing
component to be used also at
relatively high temperature.
Pipes for hot water and gas
transportation are an example.
They are commonly subjected
to a fairly constant pressure
for most of their service life.
For such applications it is
necessary to predict the pipe
lifetime. Generally temperature
accelerated creep tests are
performed to build the hoop
stress vs. failure time curve and
eventually to predict pipe time-
to-failure in correspondence of
the applied hoop stress. These
PhD Yearbook | 2015
511
tests are expensive because
MATERIALS ENGINEERING
timeconsuming. A method
based on short-term tests to
predict failure in the plasticity
controlled regime is reported in
literature. This method is based
on the hypothesis that failure
occurs when the increase in the
non elastic strain component,
which is in literature commonly
named as plastic strain,
reaches a critical value and
on the fact that the relation
between the yield stress and the
strain rate in a constant strain
rate test is equal to the relation
between the stress applied in a
creep test and the corresponding
strain rate in the creep steady
state. The stress-strain rate
relation can be easily determined
performing short term constant
strain rate tests. Time to failure
for a certain value of the applied
stress can be predicted once that
the critical value of the plastic
strain has been determined
through a preliminary
characterization of the yield
and the creep behaviour of the
material. The method has been
set up for the characterization
of amorphous polymers.
Recently it has been extended to
semicrystalline polymers. In this
thesis the plasticity controlled
failure of isotactic polypropylene
was studied and data from creep
tests on pipes were used for
prediction validation.
512
Preservation of plastic artefacts: multi-
analytical assessment of materials degradation
and development of conservation strategies
Daniela Saviello - Supervisor: Prof. Lucia Toniolo
Since their early production,
plastics have been increasingly
used to create artworks.
Nowadays, a wide range of
plastic objects is displayed in
museums or private collections
and artworks like sculptures
or paintings, installations,
toys, cinematographic and
photographic films and
collectable industrial design
objects have become part of
our cultural heritage. However,
there is an increasing concern
about the preservation of
plastics in collections because
such materials may have a
short life expectancy, being
much more susceptible to
chemical degradation reactions.
Degradation mechanism can
involve both thermal and
oxidative processes, firstly
during manufacture and then
because of the usage, as objects
are continually exposed to
air, moisture, light and heat.
Degradation does not entail only
physical and chemical changes
but may result also in loss in
function, form or significance
of the object, which can
show deformation, shrinkage,
cracking, surface deposits or
discoloration.
For the preservation of plastic
materials and artifacts, it
is necessary to understand
degradation patterns, assess
condition and estimate risks.
Therefore, there is a growing
need for research activities
that provide information on
the chemical composition, the
state of preservation and the
effectiveness of conservation
strategies.
This PhD project was designed
in order to address some of
these issues related to the
conservation of plastic artefacts,
which include the study of
degradation processes of
selected polymeric materials,
the development of active
conservation strategies and
the improvement of a multi-
analytical investigation protocol
for the assessment of the
conservation conditions. The
study of degradation processes
was carried out on five specific
materials used in design objects
and contemporary artworks
of the 20th century, such as
acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
(ABS), poly(vinyl chloride)
(PVC), polypropylene (PP), high
density polyethylene (HDPE) and
linear low density polyethylene
(LLDPE). Accelerated photo-
oxidative ageing was performed
on specimens in order to
simulate, in a suitably short
time, the photo-oxidation of the
materials in museum conditions.
A cutting-edge multi-analytical
investigation, including
spectroscopic techniques (with
lab and Synchrotron equipment),
optical and electronic
microscopic observations and
mechanical tests, was setup
in order to fully investigate
PhD Yearbook | 2015
513
changes in the chemical and of compositional analysis of the
MATERIALS ENGINEERING
mechanical surface properties. artworks and evaluation of the
All the selected materials actual state of conservation.
showed a surface degradation The procedure included mainly
although with different extent microscopic observations and
and depths. Each aged polymer use of spectroscopic with
exhibited different products of the aims of identification of
oxidation due to the different materials, surface morphology
pattern of ageing and in characterization and assessment
the same material different of chemical, physical and
products of oxidation have been mechanical properties of
detected at different depths. material surface and bulk.
These chemical changes lead Finally, a complete and extended
to surface cracking and strong portable FTIR spectroscopic
yellowing of the specimen, campaig, was carried out on
mainly for ABS, PVC and PP. standard polymeric specimens
Mechanical investigation was and artworks from the collection
carried out with three different of the Art Institute of Chicago;
techniques such as scratch, the obtained data allowed
micro- and nano-indentation to build-up a very reliable
tests that allowed the testing database of total reflectance IR
of materials to highlight the spectra, shared in the scientific
differences between unaged and community.
aged samples at different depth
scales.
The conservation strategies
developed include cleaning
treatments, to reduce the
surface yellowing of aged
materials and to remove surface
deposits, and procedures for the
introduction of specific additives
in already manufactured objects,
called post-additivation
techniques. Agar gel was
selected as cleaning agent while
specific optical brighteners and
plasticizer were selected for the
post-additivation procedures.
The investigation protocol
proposed in the PhD project
provided the accomplishment
 514
Photoactive materials for astronomical
holographic optical elements
Alessio Zanutta - Supervisor: Prof. Andrea Bianco - Tutor: Prof. Chiara Bertarelli
Coordinator: Prof. Chiara Castiglioni
The progressive increase
in telescope size and in
complexity of the astronomical
instrumentation has highlighted
how the current technologies
and traditional materials do
not completely meet the
present and future astronomical
requirements. Therefore, new
materials and solutions have
to be developed not only to
realise future astronomical
facilities, but also to improve
the performances of already
available instrumentations. In
this context, this research project
deals mainly with the study of
photoactive materials for the
production of either refractive
or diffractive holographic
optical elements. In particular,
attention has focused to Volume
Phase Holographic Gratings
(VPHGs) as reference diffractive
optical elements, since they
are considered nowadays the
baseline for dispersing elements
in modern astronomical
spectrographs thanks to their
high diffraction efficiency.
Moreover, VPHGs can be used
as a tool to determine the
performances of holographic
materials. Their working
principle is based on the periodic
modulation of the refractive
index (n) in a thin film of
photosensitive material having
a uniform thickness (d). This
modulation is usually induced by
means of a holographic process.
The light diffraction takes place
through the thickness and the
diffraction efficiency, which is
one of the key properties in
the astronomical field, directly
depends on n and film
thickness.
1. Mechanism of hologram formation
in photopolymeric Volume Phase
Holographic Gratings
The dichromated gelatin
(DCG) is the common used
holographic material, which
provides high performances
(especially in terms of n).
However, it requires a complex
developing process, its chemical
composition is variable and it is
highly sensitive to humidity. It
turns out that there is a limited
number of manufacturers of
VPHGs for astronomy, which
are located only in the US.
Therefore, alternatives in term
of holographic materials that
overcome the drawbacks of
DCGs while providing equal
performances, are higlhy desired
and the achievement provides a
spin-off for economy in Europe.
We have found a good
candidate in photopolymers,
which is an important class of
holographic materials that are
becoming popular in visual
art, anti-counterfeit and for
displays. In the framework
of a scientific collaboration
for diffractive holographic
elements for astronomy, Bayer
MaterialScience and Polygrama
Lynx provided solid and liquid
acrylic-based photopolymers
both green sensitive and
panchromatic. Materials were
characterised in terms of
refractive index modulation
as function of chemical
composition, grating line
density, and holographic writing
conditions, i.e., light power
density and exposure time.
Moreover, transparency of the
photopolymers before and after
the exposure has been measured
in the UV-Vis-NIR in order to
determine the wavelengths
range of use. The gratings
based on photopolymers were
tested at normal conditions
and in cryogenic environment,
and ageing resistance was also
evaluated. Interestingly, the
VPHGs based on the Bayers
materials showed constant
performances at room and
cryogenic temperatures for long
time. VPHG dispersing elements
for the AFOSC camera of the
Asiago Telescope (1.82 m) and
for the ALFOSC camera at the
2. Astronomical dispersive elements designed and produced for the ALFOSC
spectrograph at La Palma (ES)
Nordic Optical Telescope (2.56
m) in La Palma (Canary Islands)
were successfully designed
and manufactured. All the
elements were tested both at
the laboratory level and on sky
providing excellent results.
Along with the main project
on photopolymers, another
important research activity
concerned the study of a new
class of materials that show a
high refractive modulation upon
exposure to UV light. Specifically,
we focused our attention on
the Photo-Fries rearrangement
that occurs in aromatic esters.
In literature, many polymers
have been reported showing
high n values. Nevertheless,
PhD Yearbook | 2015
515
films of polystyrene derivatives
MATERIALS ENGINEERING
undergoing photo-Fries
rearrangement. Such results
provide useful guidelines to
design polymers with enhanced
refractive index modulation.
Indeed, we recently designed
new thiophene-based molecules
that could be interesting
candidates for a next generation
of photo-Fries polymers.
3. Photo-Fries rearrangement scheme
a complete understanding of of one of the synthesized and studied
the mechanism leading to such molecules
a great variation still missed.
By means of DFT calculations
on reference molecules and
applying a Lorentz-Lorenz
model, polymers that undergo
a photo-Fries rearrangement
were studied to predict the
refractive index modulation,
which accompanies this light-
induced process. The results
demonstrated that a change
in material density has to be
considered the main source of
the modulation of the refractive
index. The change in material
density was experimentally
confirmed by measuring the
spectral reflectance of thin
Electrical Engineering | Energy and Nuclear
Science and Technology | Environmental
and Infrastructures engineering |
Industrial Chemistry and Chemical
Engineering | Information Technology |
Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design
| Management, Economics and Industrial
Engineering | Materials Engineering |
Mathematical MODELS and METHODS IN
Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
Physics | Preservation of THE Architectural
Heritage | Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial
Planning and Urban Development |
Structural Seismic and Geotechnical
Engineering | Technology and Design for
Environment and Building | Territorial
Design and Government | Aerospace
Engineering | Architectural and Urban
Design | Architectural Composition |
Architecture, Urban Design, Conservation
of Housing and Landscape | Bioengineering
| Building Engineering | Design | Design
and technologies for cultural heritage PhD Yearbook | 2015
518

DOCTORAL PROGRAM schools etc.), planning and intermediate results and data analysis.

PhD Yearbook | 2015

on their research project and preparation of the
IN Mathematical Models PhD thesis, and any other relevant activity. At
the annual meeting the students also receive
and Methods in Engineering a grade by the Faculty. A negative grade may
entail repetition of the current year of doctoral
study (with suspension of the grant, if any) or
exclusion from the PhD program, depending on
the Facultys decision. Mobility of PhD students
to other institutions is strongly encouraged and
Equations are everywhere! Between the atmosphere and the financial support is provided to this purpose.
Placement of graduated Doctors is expected
in the following positions: research and
development divisions of businesses, businesses
involved in innovative design activities,
financial institutions such as banks or insurance
companies, public or private research centres,
public and/or governmental agencies for
social, economical, scientific study, planning or
evaluation, Universities. 519
Since the PhD program in Mathematical

MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING

Chair: wing of a spaceship, in the blood flowing in an artery, on the
Prof. Roberto Lucchetti demarcation line between ice and water at the poles, in the
motion of the tides, in the charge density of a semiconductor, in
the compression algorithms of a signal sending images from outer
space. Such equations represent real problems. The Mathematical
Engineer can see and understand the nature of these equations,
and can develop models in order to understand their relevant
qualities and solve real problems.
This PhD program aims at training young researchers by providing
them with a strong mathematical background and with ability to
apply their knowledge to the solution of real-world problems that
arise in various areas of science, technology, industry, finance,
management, whenever advanced methods are required in analysis,
design, planning, decision and control activities. PhD students carry
our their research both in the development of new mathematical
methods and in the implementation and improvement of advanced
techniques in connection with specific contexts and applications.
The Faculty of the PhD program is responsible for the organization
of the training and research activities of the PhD students. Decisions
of the Faculty comply with the requirements and standards of the
Doctoral School of the Politecnico di Milano. A Chairman is elected
within the Faculty, for representative and coordination activities.
Admission of students to the PhD program is decided after
examination of the candidates. Students applying to our program
must provide their CV, along with reference and motivation letters.
After admission, each student is assigned a tutor. The tutor is a
member of the Faculty who assists the student in the early stages of
his career, especially in the choice of the courses and in identifying a
thesis advisor.
The overall activity of the PhD students can be quantified in 180
credits. The PhD program has a duration of three years. Activity can
be classified into:
introductory courses (no minimum number of credits required);
main courses (at least 30 credits); specialized research training,
including seminars, tutoring activity, participation to workshops/
conferences, and scientific publications (at least 30 credits);
development of a doctoral thesis (at least 90 credits).
At the end of each academic year, the PhD students report to the
Faculty about their activity. The students report about attendance
of courses and exams (and the corresponding grades), participation
in various scientific activities (seminars, conferences, summer
Among others, let us mention some typical types Models and Methods in Engineering (formerly,
of professional skills and possible occupations of Mathematical Engineering) has been active since
the graduated Doctors: analytic and numerical the year 2001, we expect that a larger number
treatment of differential models for physical of institutions and businesses will soon become
and industrial problems, quantitative methods more and more aware of the professional skills
in finance and risk management, operations and expertise of graduated doctors.
research and optimisation, statistical modelling
Faculty Board
Lucchetti Roberto (Full Professor in Mathematical Analysis, Chairman of the Program)
Amaldi Edoardo (Associate Professor in Operational Research)
Ambrosi Davide Carlo (Full Professor in Mathematical Physics)
Arioli Gianni (Full Professor in Mathematical Analysis)
Barucci Emilio (Full Professor in Mathematics for Economics, Actuarial Studies and Finance)
Biscari Paolo (Full Professor in Mathematical Physics)
Cherubini Alessandra (Full Professor in Computer Science)
Formaggia Luca (Full Professor in Numerical Analysis)
Fuhrman Marco (Full Professor in Probability and Mathematical Statistics)
Grillo Gabriele (Full Professor in Mathematical Analysis)
Guglielmi Alessandra (Associate Professor in Probability and Mathematical Statistics)
Marchini Elsa (Associate Professor in Mathematical Analysis)
Paganoni Anna Maria (Associate Professor in Statistics)
Pandolfi Anna (Associate Professor in Construction Science)
Pata Vittorino (Full Professor in Mathematical Analysis)
Perotto Simona (Associate Professor in Numerical Analysis)
Quarteroni Alfio (Full Professor in Numerical Analysis)
Rosso Renzo (Full Professor in Hydraulics)
Sabadini Irene (Full Professor of Geometry)
Sacco Riccardo (Associate Professor in Numerical Analysis)
Salsa Sandro (Full Professor in Mathematical Analysis)
Secchi Piercesare (Full Professor in Statistics)
Verani Marco (Associate Professor in Numerical Analysis)
Zio Enrico (Full Professor in Nuclear Plants)
520

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Reference Committe
Antonio Bonucci (SAES Getters S.p.A.)
Gian Marco Diani (RAS Assicurazioni)
Jean-Frdric Gerbeau (INRIA and Stanford University)
Giuseppe Prezioso (IMAX, Max Mara Group)
Paolo Ruffo (ENI S.p.A.)
Fabrizio Ruggeri (CNR-IMATI) 521

MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING

Grants funded by external partners
ENI European Project MathCard
SAES Getters FIRB-ID Project NUMQUES
CINECA I.I.T.
522
Reduced-order models for patient-specific
haemodynamics of coronary artery bypass
grafts
Francesco Ballarin - Supervisors: Prof. Alfio Quarteroni, Dr. Roberto Scrofani
Co-advisors: Dr. Elena Faggiano, Dr. Andrea Manzoni, Prof. Gianluigi Rozza
Coronary artery bypass grafting
(CABG) is a surgical procedure
in which one or more grafts
are used to create new paths
to restore blood flow to the
myocardium when severe
coronary artery disease (CAD)
occurs. In this case, one or
several major coronary arteries
are occluded; this condition
undermines the perfusion
of oxygen-rich blood to the
heart. Due to this critical issue,
although several alternative
treatments exist, CABG is still
one of the largest components
of surgical practice worldwide.
However, current clinical
experience suggests that, after
some years, the implanted
vessel themselves tend to
occlude, leading to the failure
of the surgery and the need of
reintervention.
Investigating global and local
features of the blood flow, in
particular near the anastomoses,
is of considerable clinical
interest. In fact, some fluid
dynamics indicators, such as wall
shear stresses and oscillatory
shear index, are strictly related
to the development of intimal
thickening and can be efficiently
and accurately estimated by
means of numerical simulations.
In this thesis CFD methods
are developed, focusing on
complex geometries obtained
from clinical data, with a special
attention to computational
reduction techniques, allowing
individualized (patient-specific)
simulations.
The first part of the thesis
contains a review of the
available clinical data and a
discussion of the proposed
medical imaging pipeline.
Patient-specific data have been
acquired for fourteen patients,
who have undergone a coronary
artery bypass surgery. The
current dataset features a broad
variability of both disease (for
example, different two- or three-
vessels disease) and surgical
intervention (for example,
different combination of single
or sequential grafts, Y-grafts
or free grafts, radial artery or
saphenous vein grafts). For each
patient clinical collaborators at
Ospedale Luigi Sacco in Milan
acquire angiographical data in
a pre-surgical phase and CT
scan data in post-surgical phase.
A clinical imaging pipeline is
introduced and discussed in
detail in this part. Figure 1 shows
the reconstruction of a case in
the current dataset.
The second part of the thesis
deals with the computational
reduction framework. In recent
decades vast research interest
has been devoted to model
order reduction techniques
for problems held by partial
differential equations in a broad
variety of contexts. The main
motivation behind the use of
reduced-order models (ROM) is
that clinical interest lies not only
in the simulation on a patient-
specific configuration, but also
in addressing the variation of
the flow conditions and of the
geometry for a detailed analysis
of several scenarios, aiming
at a possible improvement
of the design of the surgical
operation. Unfortunately, relying
on full-order discretization
methods (such as finite element,
finite volume, etc.) for each
new scenario is usually too
expensive from a computational
point of view. ROMs, instead,
allow to obtain an accurate
description of the physical
behavior of the system at greatly
reduced computational costs.
In particular, POD-Galerkin
methods are considered in this
thesis. A finite element (FE)
discretization is employed in a
construction stage (offline), to
be performed once, possibly on
high performance computing
(HPC) facilities. Afterwards,
few relevant basis functions
are computed from a set of
snapshots of the full-order
model, and the PDE is projected
on the reduced basis space, that
is, on the space spanned by
these basis functions. Therefore,
the number of degrees of
freedom of the evaluation stage
(online) is drastically reduced,
enabling fast computations,
which can be performed several
times (e.g. for different physical
and geometrical scenarios),
possibly on a laptop.
The third part of the thesis
deals with possible shape
parametrization techniques for
patient-specific configurations
of coronary artery bypass
grafts, in order to perform
local geometrical variations
of relevant interest in the
clinical practice. Volume-based
parametrizations are first
introduced, together with a
screening procedure for the
selection of the geometrical
design parameters. Furthermore,
a new idea of shape
parametrization is combined to
the volume-based approach,
namely the centerlines-based
shape parametrization. This
technique is based on the
assumption that coronary
arteries and bypass grafts can
be represented as a network
of tubular geometries. In this
framework, we manage to
obtain an intuitive description of
the whole network, accounting
for few parameters related to
the variation of relevant design
variables, such as stenoses
severity and anastomosis
features.
The fourth part of the thesis
presents several results of the
proposed framework on patient-
specific CABG configurations.
We examine variation of inlet
flow rates (grafts and coronary
arteries) among physical
parameters; this is representative
for example of different stress
or rest conditions of the patient.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
523
Moreover, both disease-related 1. three-dimensional reconstruction
of patient-specific CABG. Bypass
MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING
(stenosis severity) and surgery- grafts are represented in green colors.
related (anastomosis features) Coronary arteries are represented in
geometrical parameters are red, pink, orange and yellow. Caption
considered. As a first scenario,
we show that inlet flow rates
have a significant impact on
the magnitude of wall shear
stress (WSS, see also Figure 2)
and the extension of the region
of high oscillatory shear index
(OSI). As a second scenario, we
consider both variation of inlet
flow rates and stenosis severity.
The relation between stenosis
severity and pressure drop or
maximum WSS in the stenosis
is explored, and local WSS
patterns near the anastomosis
are analyzed. As a third scenario,
the variation of both stenosis 2. plot of the wall shear stress near a
and end-to-side anastomoses Y-graft anastomosis.
is considered. Possible relations
between anastomosis type
(related to the grafting angle,
see also Figure 3) and locations
where intimal thickening may
occur are highlighted and
discussed.
3. maximum wall shear stress at the
arterial bed as a function of time and
anastomosis angle.
 524
Intermittency in Reversible Martensitic
Transformations
Noemi Barrera - Advisors: Prof. Paolo Biscari, Politecnico di Milano, and
Prof. Xavier Balandraud, Universit Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand
Martensitic Transformations
(MT) are phase transitions
among different solid states with
different crystalline structures.
These transitions are at the
basis of the behavior of a class
of smart materials, called
Shape Memory Alloys (SMA).
They are metallic alloys which
combine the ability to store the
memory of a given configuration
and recover it after thermal
or mechanical deformations
(Shape Memory Effect) with
the ability to deform to strain
levels that are typical of rubbers
and not of metals (Pseudo-
Elasticity). The applications of
these materials are many and
in several fields, like aerospace,
aeronautics, biomedical, nuclear
and industrial in general. Thus,
the knowledge of martensitic
transformations becomes the
key for the comprehension of
the behavior of SMAs. The goal
of this work is to go one step
farther in the characterization
of martensitic transformations.
In order to do so, we analyze
SMAs from different points of
view. On one hand, we use a
modeling approach by treating
SMAs as macroscopic continua.
In particular, we focus on the
appearance of fatigue and
permanent effects after cyclical
transformations. Actually, many
applications of shape memory
alloys like actuators or coronary
stents, require a cyclical behavior
which remains stable for quite
long times. On the other hand,
we address an experimental
analysis of the phenomenon.
The motivations in the choice
of the experiment and of the
method to be used for the data
treatment are several: we wish
for a significant amount of
data and for a good quality in
terms of resolution; moreover,
we aim at a simple test with
external conditions as simple
as possible. By consequence,
we choose a tensile uni
axial and uni-directional test
in which the specimen is
free to rotate without strong
boundary conditions. The
device also allows for slow
loading rates. This puts the
transformation in quasistatic
conditions, avoiding inertial
effects. Finally, we combine
this experimental setting with a
fullfield measurement method
for the treatment of data, called
grid method. This technique
provides two-dimensional maps
of the strain during all the
martensitic transformation, with
an excellent strain resolution.
The amount of collected data
and the resolution in the
resulting information is such to
perform a wide analysis on the
transformation. Fig.1 shows an
example of two-dimensional
map obtained for the linear
vertical strain component during
the experiment. Different colors
in the map indicate different
solid phases in the specimen,
with a maximum strain in the
vertical direction around 9%,
according to the pseudo-elastic
effect.
1. Linear vertical strain around the
middle of the transformation.
A first step in the analysis
consists in studying the overall
behavior of the material. We
thus find typical results of
martensitic transformations
when interpreted as a
continuous phenomenon.
But the focus of our analysis
is above all on the presence
of intermittency in the
transformation. We consider a
phenomenon as intermittent
when it takes place in a non-
periodic or non-predictable
way. In particular, the kind of
intermittency in which we are
interested is the one that is
present for many different scales
in the same phenomenon. This
feature is called self-similarity.
A self-similar phenomenon is
such that it is similar to itself but
on various scales. For example,
this happens for earthquakes,
from the biggest ones to the
small movements of the earth
crust, for fractals, lung inflation,
economical dynamics and many
phenomena in different fields
and at different scales. Self-
similarity can be very useful.
On one hand, within the same
phenomenon it enables us to
focus on the overall behavior,
instead of considering small
and precise details that become
negligible at bigger scales. On
the other hand, it allows some
comparisons among phenomena
that are apparently very different
but whose statistical behavior
is the same. Among all the
phenomena which have been
found to display intermittency
and self-similarity there are also
martensitic transformations in
shape memory alloys (together
with many other materials like
superconductors, ferromagnets
or porous media). This feature is
particularly interesting because
martensitic transitions are
usually described as continuous
phenomena while in practice,
when looking at the details, the
transition is not continuous but
obtained as a sum of several
events of different dimensions.
From a mathematical point of
view, this kind of phenomena
are characterized by the so-
called power-law distributions of
events, that is
P(X) = X-a.
These laws can be found in
many fields: Gutenberg-Richter
law for earthquakes, Zipfs law in
Social Sciences and Paretos law
in Economics. In our case, we
identify the different events that
contribute to the transformation
and we analyse their features,
like the size or the magnitude,
that is a measure of the energy
related to each event. The
novelty of the result is above
all in the two-dimensionality of
the information, since until now
only one-dimensional measures
have been analyzed in the
study of intermittency of SMAs.
Figure 2 shows the log-log plot
of the probability distribution
function of the magnitude of
the different events during the
transformation. The use of the
log-log plot is the common
practice when dealing with
power laws, since the slope
of the straight line on which
the points are distributed
corresponds to the exponent
2. Log-log plot of the probability distribution function of the transformation
events magnitude.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
525
that characterizes the law. We
MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING
can notice that the magnitude
spans for almost six decades
and shows a distribution
that can be fitted with a
power law. Its exponent can
be estimated in the range
[1.5,1.8], in agreement with
previous experimental results.
In conclusion, the main result
of this thesis is provided by
the combination of a suitable
experimental device with a high-
resolution full-field measurement
technique: it allowed us to
analyze various aspects (also
some poorly investigated ones)
of intermittency in a martensitic
transformation.
 526

Advanced Techniques for the generation ad

PhD Yearbook | 2015

adaptation of complex surface meshes

Franco Dassi - Supervisor: Prof. Simona Perotto - Tutor: Prof. Luca Formaggia

527
In this thesis we develop associated with the statistical

MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING

new tools for optimizing analysis of huge amounts
computational grids in view of of data; a new anisotropic
the approximation of partial mesh generation method to
differential equations on approximate the geometry of
surfaces as well as of different a CAD model based on the
applications: from the statistical embedding of the starting grid
analysis of large data sets, into a higher dimensional space;
to the mesh generation of specic surface mesh operations
CAD models, to the analysis to manage the complex
of geological seismic data geometries characterizing
in basins of interest. More geological domains.
precisely, we focus on surface
meshes composed by triangular
elements and we consider
both isotropic and anisotropic
grids. Independently of the
eld of interest, we pursue the
goal of identifying the best
mesh, i.e., the mesh that
provides the best approximation.
As expected, this does not
represent a straighforward
task. In the literature the same
concept of best mesh often
represents an open issue, since
strictly related to the application
we are dealing with. As a
consequence, according to the
framework under investigation,
we have developed ad hoc
mesh adaptation and/or
mesh generation methods to
properly t the specic de
mands. Different original
contributions are provided in
this thesis: a new a priori and
a posteriori error analysis for
the generation of anisotopic
surface adapted meshes; a new
mesh simplication strategy to
reduce the computational cost
528
Object Oriented Geostatistics
Alessandra Menafoglio - Advisor: Prof. Piercesare Secchi
In recent years, the increasing
availability of complex and
high-dimensional data has
motivated a fast and extensive
growth of Object Oriented Data
Analysis. In OODA the focus
is on the statistical unit as the
atom of the analysis, which
is interpreted as a point in a
finite-or infinite-dimensional
space. For instance, a
multivariate datum of dimension
p is typically embedded p
into the Euclidean space R ,
where standard multivariate
techniques are available. A
B-part composition i.e. , a
Bdimensional constrained vector,
describing the proportions (or
percent amounts) of a whole
according to a given partition of
the domain can be analyzed
via the embedding into the
(B-1)dimensional simplex
endowed with the Aitchison
geometry. Even infinite-
dimensional data can be dealt
with within the framework
of OODA, if embedded into
a suitable functional
2 space
(e.g., the space L of square-
integrable functions). As such,
OODA unifies within the same
framework the classical settings
of real and multivariate analysis,
with those at the frontier of
statistics such as Compositional
Data Analysis (CoDa) or
Functional Data Analysis (FDA)
The aim of this work is
to introduce and explore
Object Oriented Geostatistics
(OOGeoStat) as a new branch of
OODA addressing the problem
of geostatistically characterizing
sets of spatially dependent
object data. The extension of
geostatistical techniques, and
particularly Kriging, to the
OODA setting arises as a natural
answer to the need of treating
disparate types of spatially
distributed complex data. The
unifying idea of this work is to
consider the available data as
object data, and accordingly
interpret a georeferenced
dataset as a partial observation
of a random field valued in
an appropriate space (finite-
or infinite-dimensional). The
relevance of this new viewpoint
to geostatistics is twofold: (i) it
allows to treat a broad class of
georeferenced complex data
which are nowadays commonly
available in industrial and
environmental studies (e.g.,
temperature profiles, data on
soil composition, etc.), and
(ii) it provides new insights in
well-established multivariate
methods, such as Cokriging.
We approach OOGeoStat
progressively, by proposing
original methodologies to treat
increasingly complex scenarios.
We first focus on OOGeoStat
for data embedded into a
separable Hilbert space. This
case appears of particular
interest for applications, as
the Hilbert-space embedding
allows to deal with most types
of data which are commonly
available in environmental
and industrial statistics (e.g.,
multivariate, compositional
or functional data). As a first
key element of innovation, we
establish a novel and coherent
theoretical framework for the
geostatistical analysis of data2 in
any Hilbert space, not just L .
We define novel global notion
of spatial dependence based on
the concepts of norm and inner
product in a Hilbert space, and
consistently develop an original
Universal Kriging methodology
for random fields valued in
any separable Hilbert space.
From an application viewpoint,
this is particularly relevant, as
it significantly broadens the
applicability of the theory on
geostatistics for functional data
currently available. For instance,
in our setting, both point-wise
and differential properties
characterizing functional data
can be explicitly incorporated
in the stochastic model, e.g.,
by embedding the data into an
appropriate Sobolev space.
This new approach to
geostatistics constitutes the
rich soil upon which all the
subsequent developments of this
work are grounded. Amongst
these, a particular emphasis
is given to constrained object
data, in the form of Functional
Compositions (FCs). The latter
are functions constrained to be
non-negative and to integrate
to a constant and are the
infinite-dimensional counterparts
of compositional data. The
statistical analysis of FCs was
pioneered in 2006 by Egozcue
et al., who established a Hilbert
space structure for FCs based
on the log-ratio approach, upon
which the Aitchison geometry is
grounded. We rely on this theory
and on our first developments
to address a key issue in earth
sciences, that is the geostatistical
characterization of soil particle-
size curves (PSCs). These data
describe the distribution of
grains sizes within a given
soil sample and are relevant
to applications related to
groundwater hydrology, soil
science, geophysics, petroleum
engineering and geochemistry,
with emphasis on applications
oriented towards modeling
physical and chemical processes
occurring in heterogeneous
earth systems. As a key
element of innovation, we here
propose to analyze particle-
size distributions through their
densities, interpreted as object
data within the Hilbert space
of FCs, endowed with the
generalized Aitchison geometry.
A relevant advantage of our
approach lies in the possibility
of obtaining predictions of
the entire particle-size curve
at unsampled locations,
as opposed to classical or
compositional Kriging which
only allow for finite-dimensional
predictions, based on a set of
selected features (or synthetic
indices) of the curve. As such,
our developments allow for a
complete assessment of the
information content embedded
into PSCs, which is critical
to the proper modeling of
several physical and chemical
processes occurring in
heterogeneous earth systems,
which are affected by the local
composition of the host soil/rock
matrix.
In a number of situations,
the Hilbert-space embedding
cannot be employed. This is
the case, for instance, when
the covariation between
phenomena is the focus of
the analysis. This kind of
information is usually available
in the form of manifold data,
such as covariance matrices
or operators. Even though
the analysis of data belonging
to Riemannian manifolds is
relevant (e.g., in shape analysis,
diffusion tensor imaging or
the analysis of covariance
structures), the nonlinear
geometry of Riemannian
manifolds often prevents a
proper account for the spatial
dependence which may exist
among data when these are
georeferenced. Another instance
of non-Hilbert data is the case
of environmental variables
associated to continuous
profiles: a natural embedding
for this kind of object data is the
space C of continuous functions,
which is a separable Banach
space with the uniform norm,
but cannot be equipped with a
complete metric induced by an
inner product (i.e., it cannot be
a Hilbert space). In C however,
the point-wise evaluation of a
function is meaningful,2 unlike
the case of the space L which
is typically employed in FDA.
Even in these cases, the abstract
viewpoint of our approach offers
a new perspective to address
these issues. These ideas are
explored in the last part of this
work, which seeks to go further
beyond Hilbert spaces, in the
challenging directions of object
data in Riemannian manifold
and in Banach spaces. We
PhD Yearbook | 2015
recognize important differences
in the complexity of these
object data, which reflect on
the strategies we employ for
their statistical analysis. To face
the problem of the non-linearity
in a Riemannian manifold, we
employ a projection strategy
relying upon the observation 529
that, if the dispersion of the
MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING
data on the manifold is not too
large, these can be projected
on a suitably chosen tangent
space, where additive models
and linear predictors can be
used. Instead, in the absence of
an inner product, we consider
an extension of the Kriging
methodology to the Banach-
space embedding, grounded on
the theory of Gaussian processes
in function spaces. The latter
developments are proved to
be fully consistent with the
methodology proposed in the
first part, and are part of an on-
going research project aiming to
unify within the same theoretical
framework multivariate, space-
time and functional geostatistics.
530
Weighted Functional Inequalities and
Nonlinear Diffusions of Porous Medium
Type
Matteo Muratori - Supervisors: Gabriele Grillo, Bruno Nazaret
This thesis deals with a
class of nonlinear diffusion
equations whose prototype
is ut = D(|u|m-1u), known as
porous medium equation
(PME) for m > 1 and as fast
diffusion equation (FDE) for
m<1. One may see it as a
particular nonlinear version
of the heat equation whose
diffusion coefficient is a
power of the solution itself.
Such coefficient becomes
degenerate or singular at
u=0 depending on whether
one considers the PME
or the FDE, respectively.
Evolution equations of porous
medium type have a long
history, both as concerns the
applications which motivate
their consideration and from
the mathematical point of
view. Here we are concerned
with a number of (weighted)
variants and extensions of
the PME or the FDE, for
which we address several
fundamental issues such as
existence and uniqueness
of solutions and their
asymptotic behaviour. Our
analysis aims at linking as far
as possible the properties of
the solutions with functional
inequalities associated with
the underlying functional
spaces. Below we outline the
main topics investigated in
the thesis, which is divided
into four chapters.
In chapter 1 we deal with
the weighted PME, namely
rm(x)ut = div[rm(x)(|u|m-1u)],
where rn and rm are suitable
positive functions (weights).
The weight rn corresponds
to an inhomogeneous
mass distribution, whereas
rm corresponds to an
inhomogeneous diffusion
coefficient. It is natural to
introduce the measure dn:=
rn(x)dx, whose associated
Lebesgue spaces we denote
as Lp(n) for p 1. Our first
concern consists in considering
Lq(n) Lp(n) smoothing and
decay properties of solutions,
where u(t)Lp(n) as a
consequence of u0Lq(n). It
is a classical problem in linear
semigroup theory, which has
widely been studied in the
nonlinear setting as well. Here
we prove full equivalence
between suitable versions of
such smoothing and decay
estimates and appropriate
Poincar-, Sobolev- or
Gagliardo-Nirenberg-type
inequalities. These estimates
may not be satisfied up to
p = unless Sobolev- or
Gagliardo-Nirenberg-type
inequalities hold true (i.e.a
Poincar-type inequality is
not enough). The details
of the stated equivalence
depend on the particular
problem at hand: we consider
Euclidean domains with both
homogeneous Dirichlet and
homogeneous Neumann
boundary conditions. In the
same chapter we also consider
an inhomogeneous filtration
equation in the Euclidean
space Rd, namely a weighted
PME where rm1 and |u|m-1u
is replaced by a more general
function G(u). It is known that
nonuniqueness phenomena
can occur even for bounded
data and solutions. Uniqueness
can then be restored by adding
a suitable nonhomogeneous
condition at infinity. Here
we prove existence and
uniqueness results, under
suitable assumptions on rn(x)
and G(u) and provided certain
pointwise conditions at infinity
are prescribed.
Chapter 2 is devoted to the
study of nonnegative solutions
to the fractional porous medium
equation (FPME) ut = (D)s(um),
where m > 1 and for s(0,1)
we denote as (D)s the fractional
Laplacian operator on Rd. The
investigation of such a class
of equations has been started
recently by J. L. Vzquez et al.;
in particular, well-posedness
of the evolution is proved for
general L1 data. Existence and
uniqueness of Barenblatt-type
solutions, namely solutions
having a Dirac delta as initial
datum, have been proved again
by Vzquez. Motivated by
these results, we have tackled
the problem of (existence and)
uniqueness of weak solutions
to the FPME with initial datum
a general positive finite Radon
measure. This is performed by
adapting a clever argument
first introduced by M. Pierre a
long ago, whose applicability
is however far from obvious
in the present context. In fact
our method, based on Riesz
potential techniques, also works
in the case of the weighted
FPME (WFPME) r(x)ut = (D)s
(um), provided some power-type
conditions on r(x) are required
both at the origin, where it
can be singular, and at infinity.
Being able to prove existence
and uniqueness of Barenblatt-
type solutions in the weighted
case as well, we can study the
asymptotic behaviour of general
solutions to the WFPME in terms
of Barenblatt-type solutions, at
least when r decays slowly at
infinity. The convergence result
exploits scaling properties of
the Barenblatt-type solution
associated with a singular-power
density even if the equation
at hand involves a regular
density. The asymptotics of
solutions to the WFPME with
rapidly decaying densities is
quite different. In fact we prove
that the latter is determined
by a separable solution which
involves the solution of a
suitable fractional sublinear
elliptic equation. This requires
techniques completely different
from the ones we use in the
slowly decaying case.
In chapter 3 we address
the problem of finding the
functions that optimize a family
of Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg
(CKN) inequalities, which can be
obtained by interpolation from
Hardys inequality and from the
Sobolev inequality: they depend
on the weight |x|-g(g(0,2)) and
on p(1,(d g)/(d2)). Finding with homogeneous Dirichlet
optimal functions for CKN
means finding those functions
which attain the best constant
in the inequality. Such problem
was solved by M. Del Pino and J.
Dolbeault in the non-weighted
case g = 0. In particular, they
show that the optimal functions
coincide with b0(x):= (1+|x|2)-1/(p-1),
up to a multiplication by a
constant and a scaling. Our aim
is to generalize this result to
CKN, namely to prove that their
optimal functions are of the type
of bg(x):= (1+|x| 2-g)-1/(p-1).
Establishing that bg optimizes
CKN among radial functions
is easy. Hence, our analysis
amounts to proving that the
optimal functions are radial,
which is not trivial even if the
weight |x|-g is radial (in general
symmetry breaking phenomena
can occur). By means of
a perturbation argument
involving concentration-
compactness techniques, we
show that the result is true
provided g > 0 is small. This has
interesting consequences for
the asymptotics of nonnegative
solutions to the power-weighted
Euclidean FDE |x|-gut = D(um) in
the range (2d g 2)/[2(d g)]
< m < 1. In fact, the optimality
of bg for CKN is equivalent to the
validity of a sharp free energy-
Fisher information inequality,
which is in turn equivalent
to a sharp exponential decay
estimate for the free energy
functional. The latter is a
measure of the distance
between a general solution and
bg, after a standard time-space
scaling.
Finally, in chapter 4 we study
the FDE on hyperbolic space
HN(N 2). As it happens for
the fast diffusion equation on
bounded Euclidean domains
boundary conditions, solutions
become identically zero
PhD Yearbook | 2015
in a finite time T > 0. The
asymptotics of nonnegative
radial solutions (i.e. solutions
depending on the spatial
component only through the
geodesic distance r from a given
pole) turns out to be, in the
range m((N 2)/(N + 2),1),
driven by a separable solution 531
with the same extinction time
MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING
T, which involves the unique
positive energy solution V to an
elliptic Emden-Fowler equation.
Convergence to the separable
solution is proved in a strong
sense, namely in the uniform
norm of the relative error and
at the level of all derivatives.
We point out that, at least in
the special case of spherically
symmetric Riemannian manifolds
known as model manifolds,
we basically fall in the class
of equations described by a
two-weight FDE. In fact, in
this framework, the radial
component of the Riemannian
Laplacian can be written in the
form r-1(r)r(r (r)r) in geodesic
polar coordinates. Here we
perform a detailed analysis on
hyperbolic space only, as the
topologically simplest example
of noncompact, negatively
curved model manifold. We
believe however that our results
can be extended at least to more
general model manifolds with
strictly negative curvature.
532
Numerical approximation of the electrical
activity in the left ventricle with the
inclusion of the Purkinje fibers
Simone Palamara - Supervisors: Prof. Alfio Quarteroni, Dr. Christian Vergara
Cardiovascular diseases are
the leading cause of death in
the world. This highlights the
vital role of the cardiovascular
system, that allows blood to
circulate, supplying oxygen
and nutrients to tissues and
removing wastes from them.
Due to its importance, scientists
during the last century have
developed bio-mathematical
models of the cardiovascular
system, exploiting the
increase in the computational
power in combination with
new technologies for both
the acquisition of clinical
data and the design of new
experiments. These efforts are
crucial to gain better insight
on the mechanisms regulating
cardiovascular system activity
and to provide the clinicians
with a powerful instrument
for diagnosis and therapeutic
design. In this thesis we
concentrate on the study of
the heart electrical activity,
that is fundamental since it is
the spreading of the electrical
signal that triggers the heart
contraction. The purpose of
this work is the numerical
modelization of the electrical
activity in the left ventricle
with the inclusion of Purkinje
fibers. Because of its role, a
dysfunction of the normal
electrical propagation causes
a disorganized and irregular
contraction of the whole
heart, that in the worst case
can lead to sudden death.
Therefore, in the last years,
detailed and sophisticated
electrophysiological models of
the heart have been developed
with the aim of revealing and
describing the causes and the
major mechanisms arising
in different pathologies. In
particular, we can identify two
main classes of models: (i)
cardiac tissue and cell models
that describe the structure of
the cardiac tissue and all the
cellular mechanisms involved in
the generation and propagation
of the electrical signal; and (ii)
cardiac anatomical models,
that describe instead all the
anatomical structures that
regulate and influence the
spreading of the electrical signal.
Both these classes of models are
fundamental to obtain accurate,
reliable and realistic description
of the electrical activity in the
heart. To the first class of models
belongs for example the so
called bidomain model, that is
the most accurate model for
describing the spreading of
the signal through the cardiac
tissue, capable of representing
different phenomena, from
normal propagation to
tachycardia and defibrillation.
Coupled to the bidomain model,
detailed models of the heart
cells have been developed,
describing the dynamics that
lead to the generation of the
electrical signal at the cell level.
Instead, cardiac anatomical
models concentrate their
efforts in including the major
structures involved in the
electrical propagation, based on
anatomical knowledge or driven
by clinical data. For example,
the reconstruction of the three-
dimensional geometry of the
heart through medical images,
the inclusion of the muscular
fibers and the modelization of
the cardiac conduction system,
that regulates the propagation
of the electrical signal through
the heart. The choice of which
structure to be included depends
on the level of accuracy required
and on the clinical problem that
is addressed. In this thesis, we
focus on modelling the electrical
activity in the left ventricle, using
clinical data on the activation
times and medical images
provided by the Division of
Cardiology, Ospedale S. Maria
del Carmine, Rovereto, Trento,
Italy and by the operative unit
of Radiology of Borgo-Pergine,
Ospedale di Borgo Valsugana,
Borgo Valsugana, Trento, Italy.
Clinicians are interested in the
electrical activity of the left
ventricle, since this cardiac
chamber pumps blood in the
whole body (except for the
lungs) and therefore electrical
pathologies affecting the left
ventricle can be life-threatening,
such as the ventricular
tachycardia or ventricular
defibrillation. The electrical
activity in the left ventricle is
regulated by the peripheral
part of the cardiac conduction
system, the Purkinje fibers. These
fibers regulate the propagation
of the electrical signal in normal
conditions, but they also play a
role during abnormal electrical
propagations. In the latter
situation, the inclusion of the
Purkinje fibers is essential also
to design new therapies or to
optimize existing ones. The
present work can be regarded
in this framework, since it
concerns with the study of
electrical activation of the left
ventricle with the inclusion of
the Purkinje fibers, with the
final aim of addressing cases
of clinical interest, related
to healthy and pathological
propagations. In particular, the
principal goals of this work
are: the study of different
strategies for solving the
coupled problem given by the
interaction between the Purkinje
fibers and the ventricular
myocardium, arising at the
endpoints of the fibers, the
Purkinje-Muscle junctions (PMJ).
The electrophysiology models
considered are the monodomain
and eikonal equations. After
a brief introduction, the thesis
is organized as follows. In
Chapter 2 we introduce the
biological notions about the
heart physiology, focusing on
the role of the Purkinje fibers in
the ventricular activation, on the
studied pathologies (myocardial
infarction, Wolff Parkinson
White syndrome and left bundle
branch block) and therapies
(cardiac resynchronization
therapy and ablation therapy).
In Chapter 3 we present the
clinical data, consisting in
medical images of the left
ventricle and in endocardial
measures of the activation
times acquired by means of
the Navx system. At the best
of the authors knowledge,
these data have been used for
computational purposes only
in one paper, for the definition
of a space-dependent muscular
conduction velocity. In Chapter
4 we study the mathematical
models of the electrical activity,
focusing on the monodomain
and eikonal problems. We study
different strategies for modelling
the coupled problem given by
the interaction between the
Purkinje fibers, represented as a
one-dimensional network, and
the myocardium. Finally, we
propose some numerical tests to
compare the different strategies
and we present a preliminary
result on the inclusion of
the Purkinje network in an
electro-mechanical simulation.
This is, at the best of authors
knowledge, the first attempt
to include the Purkinje fibers
in the electro-mechanical
simulations. In Chapter 5 we
detail the major and original
achievement of this thesis,
PhD Yearbook | 2015
533
consisting in a methodology
MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING
for the generation of a patient-
specific Purkinje network, driven
by available clinical measures
of the activation times acquired
on the endocardium of the
left ventricle. At the best of
the authors knowledge, this
is the first time that clinical
data are used to generate
a patient-specific Purkinje
network. Finally, in Chapter 6
we present several numerical
results of what discussed in the
previous chapters, both in an
ideal geometry with synthetic
data and in real geometries
with clinical measures of healthy
and pathological propagations.
Moreover, we consider an
application to the cardiac
resynchronization therapy (CRT),
with an optimization study
to identify the best timings
and locations of the stimuli
produced by the CRT-device.
The numerical simulations
have been performed both in
ideal geometries and in a real
geometry with a patient-specific
Purkinje network.
534
THE ROLE OF MECHANICS IN MORPHOGENESIS:
THEORY AND NUMERICS
Viola Pettinati - Advisor: Davide Ambrosi
Morphogenesis is the ensemble
of biological processes that
lead to the emergence of
an organism shape. The
orchestrated cellular process of
differentiation and duplication
yields organs that have a
precise shape and size. An
important role in this phase is
held by molecules that were first
hypothesized by Alan Turing. In
his seminal work, he described
how the concentration of
chemical substances in a tissue
evolves in time because of
reaction and diffusion processes.
The density patterns, dictated by
instability, can be conjectured to
drive the system shaping. Even if
he did not precisely identify such
molecules, Turing called them
morphogens to convey the idea
of shape generation.
A fundamental contribution to
the theory of morphogens is due
to Lewis Wolpert, who proposed
the French flag model. The
central element of this model
is the spatial distribution of
the concentration of specific
substances in the tissue: it is
detected by the cells which,
according to specific thresholds,
trigger the transcription of
distinct sets of genes. According
to this theory, there is a direct
correlation between the input
(the concentration level) and
the output (the response of
the tissue): each threshold
corresponds to the border of
an expression territory. Many
efforts have been made to
understand how morphogens
influence growth, and Turings
idea was extended: not only
morphogens are responsible
of pattern formation, they also
specify mutual cell position and
then influence organism growth.
Examples of morphogens are
the Decapentaplegic (DPP),
Hedgehog, and Wingless.
The theoretical argument
that the concentration of a
morphogen can drive growth
is fascinating and successful
in some cases, but such an
appealing explanation is to be
corroborated by other physical
mechanisms. An alternative
approach to explain how the size
in the tissue growth is controlled
by a limited proliferation is
based on mechanobiology. In
the study of the responsible
mechanisms for the tissue
size determination, the most
popular model organisms is
the Drosophila Melanogaster,
also known as fruit fly. We
concentrate our attention on
the Drosophila wing imaginal
disc, the structure of the larva
from which the adult insect
wing originates. Mechanical
stress is known to play a role in
tissue development, sometimes
in conjunction or superposition
with chemical signaling. In
particular, evaluation of the
stress in the wing imaginal disc
by photoelasticity has been the
subject of recent experimental
works. One of the aims of this
thesis is to address whether a
continuum mechanics model
can reproduce a stress pattern
qualitatively similar to the one
reported and reconstructed by
these experiments. The stress
is a long range field, natural
candidate for intercellular
communication, and, as a matter
of fact, cells are well known
to modulate their motility and
reproduction rate on the basis
of their own tensional state. We
formalize different conjectures
about possible morphogenetic
mechanisms in mathematical
equations and analyze them in
terms of physical admissibility.
Our standpoint is that a
physical field is an admissible
mechanism of local transduction
of global information if,
under homogeneous growth,
it depends in a specific way
on the domain size and on
its relative position in the
organ only. By means of finite
elasticity calculations under
plane strain-plane stress
assumption in a circular disc,
we show that, prescribing an
active contraction in a circular
portion of the domain, possibly
dictated by high concentration
of morphogens, the force
balance equation yields a stress
distribution of the desired form:
the stress locally provides the
cells the information about
the size of the tissue, and
such a signal is compatible
with a homogeneous growth.
Moreover, it is compressive, it
grows at a given position fixed
in space as the disc becomes
larger. These results are
qualitatively in agreement with
recent experimental observation.
Then, we corroborate and
extend this idea to the case of
a full threedimensional domain
with the support of numerical
simulations. We have developed
a finite element code to
determine the stress distribution
induced by an inhomogeneous
active contraction in a 3D
monolayer. Two geometrical
settings are considered: a thin
circular cylinder and the real
shape of the wing imaginal
disc. Both radial and biaxial
symmetries in the morphogens
concentration can be set on the
basis of possible line sources
and then determine the active
region. The flexibility of the
numerical simulations allows us
to enforce different symmetries
when experimental reports
obtained by different techniques
are apparently in conflict.
These simulations also validate
numerically the assumptions
that were at the basis of our
analytical results. They confirm
that the planar components
of the stress strongly resemble
the ones obtained in the
2D case, confirming that
the planar axialsymmetric
approximation is able to catch
the relevant features of the
stress distribution. Moreover, the
z-components of the computed
stress is much smaller than
the other components and
do not significantly vary along
the thickness, thus supporting
our simplifying assumptions.
Therefore, our analysis of
the Drosophila development
provides an effective mechanism
for the regulation of tissue size
in growing organisms.
It is known that mechanics
plays an important role also in
the emergence of organism
shape. Coordination and
integration of forces by long-
range force transmission and
mechanosensing of cells within
tissues produce large-scale
tissue shape changes. The limb
has long been considered a
paradigm of the organogenesis.
Experimental studies on
mouse and chick limb bud, the
embryonic precursor of the
limb, have provided extended
knowledge of the underlying
chemical processes involved in
organogenesis. However, the
gene effects on shape have
still to be determined. There
have been several attempts to
quantify the spatiotemporal
distribution of growth in the
limb bud. The prominent
hypothesis is called the
proliferation gradient hypothesis.
According to this mechanism,
the elongation of the limb bud
is achieved by distal cells being
stimulated to divide faster than
proximal cells, without invoking
any kind of directional behavior:
high distal rate of non-oriented
proliferation are considered
to be sufficient to drive tissue
growth. Recent studies call into
question this idea. They indicate
that cell elongation and division
have preferential directions,
and therefore the oriented cell
behaviors are important for
driving tissue elongation. How
much of the growth is due to
phenomena like convergent
extension, the process by which
the tissue of an embryo is
restructured to converge along
one axis and extend along a
perpendicular axis by cellular
movement, and how much
is due to homogeneous and
PhD Yearbook | 2015
anisotropic growth has still to
be understood, and calls for
mechanical models. Moreover,
evidence of anisotropy in the
limb bud tissue have already
been provided: the basal
membrane, which surrounds the
limb bud, can be classified as a
transversal anisotropic material. 535
In this thesis we propose a
MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING
preliminary mixture model for
vertebrate limb bud growth.
In our model, the limb bud
is described as a three phase
mixture, made of the fluid and
the solid components of the
extracellular matrix, and of (fluid)
cells. A water inflow triggered by
the active transport of chemical
species increases the ECM
fluid phase, and mass transfert
among different components
induces their growth. This
study represents a first step to
connect the chemical signals
and the mechanical response
of the tissue in a context of
mixture theory. We feel that this
context is the most appropriate
to describe a realistic limb bud,
especially because, through the
ECM fiber distribution, the tissue
anisotropy can be taken into
account.
 536
Global and component-wise distribution-
free inference for functional data:
methods and applications
Alessia Pini - Supervisor: Prof. Simone Vantini
Functional Data Analysis, i.e.,
the statistical analysis of sets
of curves, is a lively area of
statistics. New possibilities
introduced by recent
technologies of recording high-
resolution data representable
as functions, leave statisticians
with the problem of developing
novel methodologies to analyze
this type of data. In the thesis,
the problem of inference on
functional data is addressed,
from both a methodological and
an application point of view.
Functional data are typically
modeled as random elements of
infinite dimensional separable
Hilbert spaces, and one of the
main issues is the impossibility
of defining a probability
density function for random
functions. However, the
problem of developing suitable
inferential tools for functional
data is of high importance for
practitioners. For instance, a test
for deciding whether several
groups of curves have the
same (functional) mean could
be applied to a wide range of
situations. We may think of the
case in which the curves express
the movement through time
of groups of subjects affected
by different pathologies: in this
case, a test of mean comparison
between groups could provide a
quantitative way to understand
whether they express the same
behavior.
Statistical inference for
functional data is approached
from two different perspectives:
parametric and non-parametric
inference. Non-parametric
inference commonly relies
on computational intensive
permutation techniques.
Parametric inference relies
instead on distributional
assumptions on functional data
(e.g., normality). In the case of
functional data, normality is a
very demanding assumption,
practically impossible to verify.
For this reason, we choose
to base inference on non-
parametric permutation tests.
For instance, suppose that we
want to test for differences
between two groups of curves.
A permutation test can be
constructed by evaluating the
distribution of a test statistic
measuring the distance between
groups over the space of all
possible permutations of data
across groups. The p-value of
such test can be evaluated as
the proportion of permutations
leading to a test statistic
higher than the one evaluated
with the non-permuted data.
The resulting test is exact,
and it does not require any
distributional assumption.
Methods
The first methodology
developed in this work is a
distribution-free inferential
method for the mean of
functional data based on a
generalization of Hotellings T2
statistic in functional Hilbert
spaces. The statistic is the
natural extension in the infinite-
dimensional framework of the
statistical tools for testing the
mean with unknown variance,
from the works of Gosset
(Student) and Fisher at the
beginning of the twentieth
century, up to the earlier
extensions of Hotellings T2 to
high dimensional data. The
proposed method is a global
inferential procedure, i.e., it
provides a unique result over
the whole domain of the
curves. For instance, it is able
to test whether two functional
populations have the same
mean, but in case of rejection
of the latter hypothesis, it is
not able to select the parts
of the domain presenting the
differences. To answer this
question, we developed a novel
methodology, namely, the
Interval Testing Procedure (ITP).
This procedure is based on the
expansion of data on a (possibly
high-dimensional) functional
basis, and provides the selection
of the basis coefficients that
lead to a rejection of the null
hypothesis. If a local basis -such
as B-splines-is used, the ITP
can be used to identify regions
of the domain of statistical
significance. The procedure
is developed for the case of
testing the mean of one and
two populations, and for testing
the parameters of a functional-
on-scalar linear model.
Applications
As first application, a functional
one-way ANOVA is applied
to knee movement data of a
follow-up study on Anterior
Cruciate Ligament (ACL)
ruptures. The knee movements
of individuals suffering from an
ACL injury, treated with surgery
(first group), physiotherapy
(second group), and uninjured
controls (third group) are
investigated. The ITP shows that
individuals that were treated
with physiotherapy present
significantly different movement
patterns with respect to the
other two groups both during
take-off and during landing (Fig.
1).
The ITP is then applied to the
remote monitoring of laser
welding. A functional two-
1. Definition of the knee angles in the sagittal plane (left); flexion/extension curves of the physiotherapy (blue), surgery
(red) and control (green) groups (right) during take-off, flight, and landing phases. Shaded areas: intervals presenting
significant differences between the groups at 5% (light grey) and 1% (dark grey) levels.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
537
way ANOVA is performed to Software
MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING
investigate the effects of the Implementations of the ITP
gap between welded plates and have been made freely available
the location of the laser beam in the R-package fdatest,
on the laser emission spectra. downloadable from CRAN, at
The result of such technique http://cran.r-project.org/web/
is the selection of a band of packages/fdatest/index.html.
wavelength in the thermal The package implements the
emission domain in which only ITP in different frameworks (i.e.,
the gap effect is significant. This one-population, two-population,
suggests the use of emission ANOVA, and linear models)
data on this band to monitor the by means of different basis
gap during the welding process expansions (i.e., B-spline and
at any possible location. Fourier).
Finally, the ITP for one-sample
inference is applied to assess
the uncertainty about solar
energy generation systems.
The ITP is adopted to evaluate
the frequencies of a Fourier
basis that are significant in the
expansion of the mean function
of climatic data. The result
is used to evaluate relevant
quantities for the installation of
a residential photovoltaic plant.
538
BIO-POLyMeR INTeRFACes FOR OPTICAL
CeLLuLAR sTIMuLATION: A COMPuTATIONAL
MODeLING APPROACh
Matteo Porro - Supervisors: Prof. Riccardo Sacco, Prof. Guglielmo Lanzani,
Dr. Maria Rosa Antognazza
The continuously increasing
convergence of life sciences and
engineering is determining an
impressive expansion of novel
disciplines, and a significant
role among them is played
by bioelectronics. In this field,
innovative applications such
as human-machine interfaces,
wearable devices and prosthetics
are able to capture enormous
attention by the consumer
audience and represent a
huge business opportunity,
attracting important investments
for fundamental research
and development of novel
prototypes.
A dynamic and challenging
branch of prosthetics is
represented by the activity
carried out for developing
devices aimed at restoring the
sight to people who lost it
because of some degenerative
illnesses. In this context, an
important contribution is
provided by the group of
Prof. Guglielmo Lanzani at
the Center for Nano Science
and Technology @PoliMi of
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia.
They recently developed a
photovoltaic device made of
a particular semiconducting
polymer and demonstrated that
this latter is able to stimulate
a piece of dissected rat retina
placed onto it upon illumination
with visible light. This result
is of great importance since
polymers are characterized by an
enhanced biocompatibility and
superior mechanical properties
compared to inorganic
semiconductors, which are the
reference materials for the state
of the art prototypes.
In particular, this thesis deals
with the investigation and
the mathematical description
of a simplified configuration
of such device. This consists
in a bio-polymer interface, in
which a thin slab of P3HT, a
photosensitive semiconducting
polymer, is contacted with a
transparent electrode of Indium-
Tin-Oxide, and a cell is grown
onto it, the whole system being
immersed in a physiological
solution to allow cell survival.
Despite the fact that measured
cell transmembrane current and
voltage clearly demonstrate that
a significant electrical cellular
activity is elicited with light
stimulation due to absorption
by the polymer, the involved
physical processes are still not
fully understood, with both
electrical and temperature
related phenomena possibly
occurring in the system. For
this reason, the modelling and
simulation efforts have been
addressed at exploring the
proposed descriptions of the
actual working principles of the
device, and at verifying that such
pictures are compatible with the
experimentally observed trends.
In the first part of the thesis,
we focus at characterizing the
role of electrical effects, by
considering a configuration
without the cell. We carry out a
systematic analysis of performed
measurement and propose a
sound mathematical description
to describe the chain of events
that lead from input light
illumination to the development
of an output photovoltage signal
that drives cellular response.
The adopted model consists in
a system of partial and ordinary
differential equations that
represent:
generation, diffusion,
decay and dissociation into
free charges of excitons, a
particular type of excited state
of the polymer molecules;
electric conduction of
generated free electrons and
holes in the polymer according
to the classical Drift-Diffusion
formalism;
trapping and release of charge
carriers in localized trap states
in the energy gap of the
polymer;
rearrangement of electric field
inside the device according to
Gauss law.
The resulting nonlinear system of
equations is numerically solved
using techniques including:
time advancing with Rothes
method and Backward
Differentiation Formulae;
system linearization with the
Newton method;
spatial discretization with
exponentially fitted finite
1. Proposed device working principles. (left) Light absorption determines free charge generation and ion rearrangement
in the solution, inducing cell membrane response. (right) Light absorption induces temperature variation in the
environment, the cell membrane properties are modified and excitation occurs.
elements in primal-mixed
form, incorporating the
classic Scharfetter-Gummel
stabilization.
We perform extensive numerical
simulations to corroborate
and support the picture of the
device working principles that
we draw based on the obtained
experimental evidence:
a critical role is played by
the interface between the
P3HT and the ITO electrode,
characterized by the presence
of a depleted region and of
the corresponding electric
field, which drives exciton
dissociation and induces
charge displacement;
charge trap dynamics
determines the characteristic
time scale of the device
response in terms of
photovoltage signal.
In the second part of the thesis,
an analysis of the response
upon photostimulation of cells
grown onto such polymer-
electrolyte interface devices
is carried out using patch
clamp measurements. This
choice aims at demonstrating
that for particular values of
the illumination intensity, the
observed phenomena are
actually determined by a change
of the local temperature. The
PhD yearbook | 2015
539
MATheMATICAL MODeLs AND MeThODs IN eNGINeeRING
adopted mathematical picture allows for an accurate and
of the problem consists in a robust discretization of problem
system of partial and ordinary equations. Additionally we
differential equations that propose an extension of the
represent: method in the two-dimensional
heat generation and diffusion framework to account for
in the polymer and delivery to the modified formulation
the solution; of the problem in cylindrical
the electrical response of cell coordinates with axial symmetry.
membrane; We perform the stability and
the change of membrane convergence analysis of the
capacitance, conductance proposed methods, validating
and resting value due to the them with a series of numerical
temperature increase. experiments.
Obtained results are in excellent
agreement with measurements
and support the picture which
identifies the temperature
induced variation of the
membrane capacitance as
the driving force of cellular
depolarization. However, the
physical interpretation of this
latter membrane characteristic
is still under debate, and the
chapter ends with a critical
discussion of the mainstream
description, based on the classic
Gouy-Chapman-Stern theory of
double layers.
The thesis ends with a
chapter devoted to a detailed
description of the adopted
finite element methodology,
showing how the use of an
exponentially fitted stabilized
primal-mixed formulation
540
On the mathematical modeling of a metal
foam expansion process
Elisabetta Repossi - Advisor: Dott. Marco Verani - Coadvisor: Prof. Riccardo Rosso
Metal foams are special cases
of cellular metals with closed
cells. These materials attract the
attention of researchers and
engineers, thanks to properties
like damping, high capability of
energy absorption, high stiffness
and low weight, that make them
suitable for a wide range of
applications, in particular in the
automotive industry.
Many different processes have
been developed for producing
this kind of materials. Precursor
foaming is suggested in the
literature as useful for filling
processes and it is the method
used in our research activities.
It involves the heating of a
solid material (called precursor)
containing an embedded gas
source (a blowing agent) that,
upon temperature increasing,
releases gas and drives the
foaming process. Two processing
methods can be distinguished
depending on whether the
precursor is prepared by a
metallurgical or a melt route,
which are respectively identified
as Powder line or Formgrip line.
In this work we have considered
the powder line. Precursor
foaming is characterized by a
pronounced foam expansion
stage in the liquid state, as
it has been highlighted by
the experimental work we
performed at M.U.S.P. laboratory
in Piacenza, in collaboration
with M.U.S.P. researchers: the
metal matrix is in the melted
state upon heat treatment of
the foaming precursor(s). In fact,
during the heat treatment, at
temperatures near the melting
point of the matrix material,
the blowing agent decomposes
and the released gas forces the
compacted precursor material
to expand. In the process,
the resulting foam expansion
depends, therefore, on the
content of blowing agent,
temperature, time, pressure,
heating rate, size of the
precursor, etc. Furthermore,
other physical variables govern
the dynamics of the gas bubbles
in the foamed matrix of a
precursor, such as the matrix
state (solid, semi-solid or liquid),
the presence of solid particles on
the bubble walls, fluid viscosity,
etc.
The high costs and the lack of
control in the manufacturing
process (in order to avoid foam-
decay phenomena like drainage
and coarsening) prevent the
industrial production of metal
foams. A mathematical model
describing the manufacturing
route of metal foams could help
engineers in the study of the
physical parameters that are
involved in the evolution of the
foam. We are interested in the
study of the expansion stage of
the foam within a hollow mold.
The mathematical modeling of
the foam expansion stage can
be reduced to the mathematical
modeling of two-phase
incompressible-compressible
fluids: the incompressible part
is the liquid metal, while the
compressible part is the gas
inside bubbles. The literature of
multiphase flows includes many
types of differential models.
In a sharp-interface approach,
the thickness of the interface
between the two phases is
small compared with other
characteristic scales of the fluids.
In recent years, diffuseinterface
models have been successfully
used to describe the flow of
two or more immiscible fluids
both for theoretical studies and
numerical simulations. In this
situation, the transition between
the two phases takes place
smoothly across an appropriate
diffuse interface or layer (in
contrast with the sharp-interface
approach, in which the physical
parameters characterizing the
flow are discontinuous across
the interface). These models are
based on the observation that
even for two (macroscopically)
immiscible fluids there is a
very thin interfacial region in
which partial mixing of the
two fluids occurs. Phase-field
models belong to the diffuse-
interface family of models. They
have been used to describe a
variety of physical problems in
which phase transitions play
a role, namely condensation,
evaporation, crystallization,
etc. The importance of phase-
field techniques has grown
considerably as they can be
implemented numerically in
an effective way. They are
characterized by a scalar
parameter, called order
parameter, which differs in the
two phases. There are different
choices for the order parameter:
for example, the average
volume fraction of a phase or
the mass concentration of a
phase. In both cases, the order
parameter has a clear physical
meaning and its evolution
is described by a nonlinear
diffusion equation. We have
derived a thermodynamically
consistent phase-field model for
the description of the expansion
stage of the foam. We have
adopted mass concentration of
the liquid phase as phase-field
variable.
The system of equations
associated the phase-field
model for metal foams is an
incompressiblecompressible
version of a Navier-Stokes-Cahn-
Hilliard (NSCH) system. Several
numerical approximations of
the NSCH system have been
proposed in literature in the
case of incompressible two-
phase fluids, but, up to our
knowledge, the numerical
analysis in the incompressible
compressible case is missing.
Very recently numerical
techniques have been developed
for quasiincompressible fluids,
i.e., fluids in which both phases
are incompressible, but the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
541
mixing is compressible. The
MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING
main difficulties in the numerical
approximation of these systems
are represented by the presence
of the pressure in the chemical
potential definition and by the
velocity field that is no longer
divergence-free. The idea is to
build a numerical scheme that,
at the discrete level, preserves
mass conservation and the
energy dissipation law associated
to the original system. The
system of equations derived by
Lowengrub and Truskinovsky (LT
system) for quasi-incompressible
fluids has many similarities with
the NSCH system associated to
the metal foaming model: for
this reason, first we have derived
a numerical discretization for the
LT system and then we extended
this numerical method to the
case of the NSCH system for
incompressible-compressible
fluids (i.e., the metal foam
model case). We proved that
these discretizations satisfy mass
conservation and an energy
dissipation property at the
discrete level.
 542
Efficient solution techniques for
hp-version Discontinuous Galerkin
approximation of elliptic problems
Marco Sarti - Advisor: Dr. Paola F. Antonietti - Co-Advisor: Dr. Marco Verani
In this thesis, we address the
study and design of efficient
solution techniques for the linear
system of equations arising
from the high-order version
of the Discontinuous Galerkin
(DG) discretization of elliptic
equations. Since they were first
introduced in 1973 by Reed and
Hill for parabolic problems, DG
methods have undergone huge
developments and a variety of
schemes have been designed
for the discretization of a wide
range of equations. The main
reason behind the success
of DG methods lies in their
inherent advantages compared
to standard (conforming)
discretizations, such as:
the limited number of inter-
element communications,
restricted only to neighboring
elements, which makes
the method suitable for
parallelization;
the intrinsic local conservativity
property;
the simplicity in treating non-
matching grids;
the natural flexibility in
handling high-order polynomial
approximations, which allows
to employ an elementwise
varying polynomial order over
the computational domain;
the simplicity in imposing
weakly boundary conditions
and in handling possible
discontinuities in the
coefficients of the physical
model.
In addition to the above
mentioned advantages, it has
recently been shown that DG
schemes are suitable to be built
in the physical frame, avoiding
traditional polynomial spaces
mapped from a reference frame.
This property allows to deal
with general-shaped elements,
including polygonal/polyhedral
elements. The flexibility of DG
methods in handling general
meshes has no counterpart in
the conforming framework,
where the design of suitable
finite element space for meshes
of polygons/polyhedra is far
from being a trivial task. Several
examples are represented by
the Composite Finite Element
Method, the Polygonal Finite
Element Method, the Mimetic
Finite Difference method,
the Extended Finite Element
Method, and the most recent
Virtual Element Method. It
is recognized that the main
drawback of discontinuous
discretizations is the larger
number of degrees of freedom
for a given computational finite
element mesh and polynomial
approximation order, compared
to their conforming counterpart.
Moreover, for second order
elliptic problems with smooth
solutions, it is usually observed
that, for fixed discretization
parameters, the discretization
error resulting from DG and
conforming discretizations is
roughly comparable, which
implies that the practical utility
of this class of methods is
strictly related to the availability
of fast solution techniques for
the (linear) system of equations
resulting from the discretization.
The recent trend in this direction
is focused on multilevel
techniques, including Schwarz
domain decomposition methods
and two-level and multigrid
techniques.
In this doctoral work, we analyze
W-cycle multigrid algorithms
in the case of standard
computational grids, following
the abstract theoretical
framework for this class of
multilevel solvers. We prove that
the W-cycle multigrid scheme
converges uniformly with
respect to the granularity of the
underlying mesh, the polynomial
approximation degree and the
number of levels, provided
the number of smoothing
steps is large enough, and
properly chosen as a function
of the polynomial degree. The
numerical experiments confirm
our theoretical results and also
demonstrate that our multigrid
methods converge even if the
assumption on the minimum
number of smoothing steps is
not satisfied, but in this case the
convergence factor deteriorates
when the polynomial order
increases. We also discuss in
detail the effects of employing
non-inherited or inherited
sublevel solvers, and show that
our W-cycle algorithms converge
uniformly with respect to the
number of levels if non-inherited
sublevel solvers are employed
(i.e., the coarse solvers are
constructed rediscretizing our
original problem at each level),
whereas convergence cannot be
independent of the number of
levels if inherited bilinear forms
are considered (i.e., the coarse
solvers are the restriction of the
stiffness matrix constructed on
the finest grid).
The same theoretical tools
are employed to develop the
multigrid framework for the
case of polygonal/polyhedral
grids, thus retrieving similar
convergence estimates. The
analysis is based on suitable
geometrical assumptions on
the set of underlying grids,
which cause the convergence
result for the W-cycle multigrid
scheme to hold only if the
number of levels is kept limited.
Moreover, unlike the case of
standard grids, where the set
of nested grids is obtained
from successive refinements
of an initial partition, here
the grids are obtained by
successive agglomerations
of the finest partition where
the problem is meant to be
solved. The flexibility of the DG
method in handling general-
shaped elements allows to fully
exploit this agglomeration-
based strategy, which can be
considered a more natural
PhD Yearbook | 2015
543
approach in the context of a analysis is carried out following
MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING
multigrid philosophy. the standard multigird theory
Space decomposition techniques for the V-cycle method. We
are also considered, and we underline, that unlike the
design and analyze a two-level W-cycle multigrid scheme we
additive preconditioner, which have previously studied, here
is uniform with respect to the we do not require any lower
discretization parameters, i.e., bound on the number of
the mesh size, the polynomial smoothing steps to guarantee a
approximation degree, and convergence iteration, and this is
the penalization coefficient due to the choice of conforming
appearing in the bilinear form. finite element spaces for the
The proposed method is based coarser levels. For any solution
on the splitting of the high-order technique proposed, we show
DG space into the high-order extensive numerical tests
conforming finite element space which underpin our theoretical
plus a correction. Then, in the predictions, and for the W-cycle
context of Parallel Subspace multigrid algorithm we also
Correction method, we prove include the numerical study of
that the uniformity of the several variants of the method
preconditioner on the DG space not explicitly treated in the
results from the uniformity of analysis.
two distinct preconditioners on
the corresponding subspaces.
In particular, our operator
is a combination of a two-
level overlapping Schwarz
method, built on the high-order
conforming subspace, and of a
pointwise Jacobi method, built
on the remaining DG subspace.
The two-level setting is then
further developed into a
V-cycle multigrid algorithm,
which is uniformly convergent
with respect to the number of
levels and the discretization
parameters. In this case, the
highorder DG finest space is
paired with a hierarchy of nested
linear conforming finite element
spaces, and the convergence
544
Discontinuous Finite Element Approximation
of Calm-Hilliard Problems
Simone Stangalino - Advisor: Marco Verani
This thesis is devoted to the
design of a new discontinuous
Galerkin (DG) approximation of
Cahn-Hilliard (CH) equation with
dynamic boundary conditions.
To achieve this goal we focus
on a set of subproblems that
represent crucial steps towards
the achievement of the final
goal.
The first chapter is the
introduction of the thesis. It is
presented the process of phase
separation in a binary alloy
and the importance of the CH
equation as a model of such a
process. The interest of dynamic
boundary conditions is also
underlined: such conditions take
into account the interaction of
the alloy with the walls. Finally,
are reported several advantages
related to the choice of DG
methods for the numerical
resolution of CH type problems.
Chapter 2 deals with high order
DG methods for elliptic problems
on surfaces. A second order
linear elliptic model problem
is considered on a compact,
smooth and oriented surface G
embedded in R^3. First, a family
of polynomial approximations
to G of degree k 1 is built,
as well as an isoparametric DG
space of degree k; associated to
this family. Then, a unified (so-
called primal) formulation is
given for the DG approximation
of the model problem, using
the elements of degree k. The
primal formulation is based
on numerical fluxes: different
choices of the fluxes lead to
different classical formulations
of V surface DG methods. Up
to seven examples which fit
into this general framework are
provided. A unified analysis is
then performed and provides
optimal error estimates in L^2
norm and H^1-like mesh-
dependent norms. Numerical
simulations on the unit sphere
with linear, quadratic and
quartic elements illustrate the
theoretical results.
In Chapter 3, the DG
approximation of a parabolic
problem with dynamic boundary
conditions is considered. A
second order linear elliptic
problem is first studied on a
rectangular domain W, with
generalized Robin boundary
conditions on the bottom
and top edges (denoted
Paraview plots of the linear (right) and quartic (left) DG approximations
G_1), and periodic boundary the solution of the continuous
conditions on the left and right problem. Numerical experiments
edges. An interior penalty DG using various time steps, various
approximation of the problem space steps and various orders
is proposed with elements p confirm the theoretical rates
of order p 1, and optimal of convergence. A numerical
error estimates are derived in example with Dirichlet boundary
the L^2(W) norm and a mesh- conditions instead of periodic
dependent H^1(W) x H^1(G_1)- boundary conditions is also
like norm; the error estimates performed, exhibiting similar
take into account the regularity convergence rates.
of the solution and the degree Chapter 4 presents a numerical
of the element. The parabolic comparison of several multigrid
version of the problem is methods for the numerical
then considered on the same resolution of the (classical) CH
domain, with dynamic boundary equation by a DG method. For
conditions. A fully discrete the numerical simulation of
approximation of the parabolic the CH equation, many time
problem is proposed. Optimal steps are usually required, so
error estimates are provided that the fast resolution of the
in L^(0,T; L^2(W)) norm and nonlinear problem at every
mesh-dependent L^2(0,T; time step is a crucial point for
H^1(W) x H^1(G_1)) norm, accelerating the computation.
assuming enough regularity Four examples on long time
and compatibility conditions for scales with linear and quadratic
elements are first presented
in two space dimensions: they
illustrate the efficiency of the
approach. Then, two multigrid
methods are presented and
compared on a few time steps.
The first method is a classical
multigrid method applied to
the Newton linearization of the
fully discrete problem, and the
second method is a nonlinear
multigrid method (Fully
Approximation Scheme, or FAS).
Various numerical experiments
are presented, with different
initial conditions, different
time steps, different number
PhD Yearbook | 2015
545
of levels. In several situations, one introduced in Chapter 3
MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND METHODS IN ENGINEERING
the FAS algorithm is shown to and the time discretization
behave faster than the Newton is an implicit Euler scheme.
linearized algorithm. Three numerical examples
In Chapter 5, is presented a new compare the new DG method
family of smoothers involved in with a classical conforming
the FAS algorithm from Chapter finite element approach from
4, the so-called collective block the literature. In the first two
Gauss-Seidel smoothers. The examples, a rectangular domain
local blocks are composed by is chosen, and in the last one, an
degrees of freedom associated annulus-like domain is chosen.
either to one or more elements The results are similar to those
(element-wise blocks) or to one obtained with the conforming
or more interfaces (interface- finite element method. The
wise blocks). The smoothers are results in this chapter illustrate
stated in one space dimension the adaptability and the
in the context of a reaction efficiency of the DG approach
diffusion equation and of chosen here.
a linearized CH equation.
A local Fourier analysis is
performed, and the resulting
spectrum of the smoothers is
presented in a great variety of
situations, with various discrete
parameters. The smoothers are
then considered in a two-level
multigrid algorithm. Numerical
tests clearly show that the
interface-wise block smoothers
behave better than the element-
wise block smoothers in such
a situation. The efficiency of Snapshots of the computed solutions
these smoothers regarding the using DG discretization of CH
computational cost is finally problem.
We notice the typical behaviour of the
shown in several tests. solution on the edge where dynamic
In the last chapter, Chapter 6, boundary conditions are imposed.
is proposed and implemented
a DG approximation of the
CH equation with dynamic
boundary conditions in two
space dimensions. The space
discretization is similar to the
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548
DOCTORAL PROGRAM
IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Within the current global economic scenario, still striving to recover
Chair: from general slowdown and uncertainty, Mechanical Engineering
Prof. Bianca M. Colosimo stands out as one of the leading and driving sectors of industrial
manufacturing in Italy. In terms of per-capita manufacturing
production (2013), our country ranks 2nd in Europe and 8th on a
worldwide scale (Confindustria, Scenari Industriali n.5, June 2014).
In this competitive panorama, and in order to respond to the
requests of a challenging sector, the PhD Programme in Mechanical
Engineering provides doctoral candidates with a strong scientific
training, fostering and refining research and problem-solving
abilities with respect to the academic and non-academic milieu.
Our Programme, organized within the Department of Mechanical
Engineering, relies on the development of an interdisciplinary
and integrated high-level educational offer, by focusing on a
comprehensive scientific proposal, from conception to realization.
All Doctoral Candidates follow a minimum path of three-years,
which includes specific courses and lectures, held by Faculty
members and foreign professors and experts, in-depth research,
laboratories and active cooperation with international industries,
institutions and research groups. With this background, our
Doctorates are able to blend the exactness of scientific knowledge
with the ability to deal with management and industrial issues. In
this view, their scientific profiles are suitable for prestigious positions
at national and international level within universities and research
institutions, large industrial and consulting companies, SMEs.
RESEARCH AREAS
The PhD Programme in Mechanical Engineering covers a number of
different disciplines, being devoted, in particular, to innovation and
experimental activities in six major research areas; all doctoral thesis
displayed in the following pages belong to one of these areas:
Dynamics and vibration of mechanical systems and vehicles:
this research line is organized into five research areas, namely
Mechatronics and Robotics, Rotordynamics, Wind Engineering,
Road Vehicle Dynamics, Railway Dynamics. It features modelling
of linear and non-linear dynamic systems, stability and self-
excited vibrations, active control of mechanical systems, condition
monitoring and diagnostics.
Measurements and experimental Techniques: the Mechanical and
Thermal Measurements (MTM) group has its common background
PhD Yearbook | 2015
549
in the development and qualification of new measurements
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
techniques, as well as in the customisation and application of
well-known measurement principles in innovative fields. MTM
major research focus is oriented towards the design, development
and metrological characterisation of measurement systems and
procedures, the implementation of innovative techniques in
sound/vibrations, structural health monitoring, vision, space and
rehabilitation measurements.
Machine and vehicle design: this research area is involved in
advanced design methods and fitness for purpose of mechanical
components. Advanced design methods refer to the definition of
multiaxial low and high cycle fatigue life prediction criteria, and
the assessment of structural integrity of cracked elements, the
prediction of fatigue life criteria of advanced materials as polymer
matrix composite materials (short and long fibres), the definition
of approaches to predict the influence of shot peening on fatigue
strength of mechanical components. Gears, pressure vessels and
helicopter components are dealt with. Optimal design and testing
of vehicle systems create a synergism between the theoretical and
the experimental researches on ground vehicles.
Manufacturing and production systems: this research field gives
relevance to the problem of optimal transformation of raw
materials into final products, addressing all issues related with the
introduction, usage, and evolution of technologies and production
systems during the entire product life-cycle. PhD activities, in
particular, are developed within the following research fields:
Manufacturing Processes (MPR), Manufacturing Systems and Quality
(MSQ).
Materials: this area is focused on the study of production process
and characterization of materials, for structural and functional
applications. Excellent research products were obtained both on
fundamental research topics (e.g. nanostructured materials, foamed
alloys, chemical phenomena in liquid melts, microstructural design
ecc.) and on applied research (e.g. failure and damage analysis,
texture analysis, high temperature behaviour, coatings for advanced
applications, etc.). The research projects carried out in recent years
addressed specifically the following research topics: Steelmaking
and Metallurgical Processes, Advanced Materials and Applied
Metallurgy.
Methods and tools for product design: two main research topics are
addressed in this field: PLM-Product Lifecycle Management, which
includes process modelling, engineering knowledge management,
550

product innovation methods, systematic innovation principles Cheli, Alfredo Cigada, Andrea Collina, Giorgio Colombo, Roberto

PhD Yearbook | 2015

and methods, topology optimization systems, and data/process Corradi, Umberto Cugini (Emeritus), Giorgio Diana (Emeritus), Fabio
interoperability, and Virtual Prototyping, which includes virtual Fossati, Marco Giglio, Massimiliano Gobbi, Mario Guagliano, Nora
prototyping for functional and ergonomics product validation, Lecis, Stefano Manzoni, Carlo Mapelli, Gianpiero Mastinu, Michele
haptic interfaces and interaction, reverse engineering and physics- Monno, Paolo Pennacchi, Barbara Previtali, Ferruccio Resta, Daniele
based modelling and simulation, emotional engineering. Rocchi, Bortolino Saggin, Quirico Semeraro, Tullio Tolio, Maurizio
Vedani, Roberto Vigan, Alberto Zasso
LABORATORIES
One of the key elements of our Doctoral Programme is represented ADVISORY BOARD
by our laboratories; we feature some of the most unique, active 551
and innovative set-ups in Europe: Cable Dynamics, Characterization Last Name First Name Company-Organization Position

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
of Materials, DBA (Dynamic Bench for Railway Axles), Dynamic CESARINI Riccardo Brembo Director of Brembo
Testing, Dynamic Vehicle, Gear and Power Transmission, Performance
Geometrical Metrology, High-Temperature Behaviour of Materials,
COELI Paolo Centro Ricerche Fiat Head of Feature Planning at
La.S.T., Manufacturing System, Material Testing, Mechatronics,
FCA EMEA
MI_crolab Micro Machining, Microstructural Investigations and
Failure Analysis, Outdoor Testing, Physico-Chemical Bulk and GARITO Domenico Schaeffler KG Global Key account Fiat &
Surface Analyses, Power Electronics and Electrical Drives, Process Chrysler WW presso Schaeffler
Metallurgy, Reverse Engineering, Robotics, SIP (Structural Integrity KG
and Prognostics), SITEC Laser, Test rig for the Evaluation of Contact BOIOCCHI Maurizio Pirelli Tyre General Manager Technology
Strip Performances, VAL (Vibroacoustics Lab), VB (Vision Bricks Lab),
FAINELLO Marco Ferrari Senior Manager at Ferrari
Virtual Prototyping, Water Jet, Wind Tunnel.
MURARI Bruno ST Microelectronics Advisor
INTERNATIONALIZATION ROMANI Mario ANSALDOBREDA Director
We foster internationalization by strongly recommending and
supporting PhD candidates mobility abroad, for short-term FAVO Francesco RFI CERSIFER RFI Diagnostics Head of
study and longer research periods. We promote, draft and Department
activate European and extra-European Joint Degrees, Double PhD POLACH Oldrich Bombardier Transportation Chief Engineer Dynamics
Programmes and Joint Doctoral Thesis; our Department is actively LONGANESI CATTANI Francesco PRADA-Luna Rossa Head of PR
involved in EU-based and governmental third-level education
agreements such as Erasmus Mundus, Cina Scholarship Council and CADET Daniel Technical Directorate, Alstom External Relations Director
Brazilian Science Without Borders. Transport
Our international network includes some of the highest-level FOGLIAZZA Giuseppe MCM Technical Manager
and best-known universities all over the world, such as MIT-
MANDELLI Massimiliano Sandvik Italia General Manager
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US), University of California
at Berkeley (US), Imperial College London (UK), Tsinghua University BIGLIA Mauro Officine E. Biglia & C. Manager
(CN), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (US), Delft BORSARO Zeno Riello Sistemi Technical Manager
University of Technology (NL), University of Michigan (US), cole
RABINO Edoardo Centro ricerche Fiat Manager
Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne (CH), Technische Universitt
Mnchen (DE), University of Southampton (UK), Technical University CATTANEO Stefano IPG Fibertech General Manager
of Denmark (DK), Pennsylvania State University (US), Chalmers CANTELLA Michele ATOM R&D Manager
University of Technology (SE), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
(IL), Virginia Tech (US), Technische Universitt Darmstadt (DE), LIVELLI Marco Jobs CEO
University of Bristol (UK), The University of Sheffield (UK), cole ZIPRANI Francesco Marposs R&D Manager
Centrale de Paris (FR), Politcnica de Madrid (ES), Universit Laval
(CA), Universidad EAFIT (CO), AGH (Akademia Grniczo-Hutnicza)
University of Science and Technology (PL). SCHOLARSHIP SPONSORS
Brembo, Pirelli, Rold Elettronica, Saes Getters, MUSP, Riva
DOCTORAL PROGRAMME BOARD Acciaio, STMicroelectronics, Inaf - Osservatorio Astronomico
Bianca Maria Colosimo (Chair), Stefano Beretta, Andrea Bernasconi, di Brera, Fondazione Universit di Mantova, Ferrari, Tenaris,
Marco Bocciolone, Marco Boniardi, Monica Bordegoni, Francesco Rizzoli Ortopedia, Fondazione Politecnico, ETS Sistemi Industriali,
Braghin, Stefano Bruni, Gaetano Cascini, Federico Casolo, Federico Fondazione Universit di Mantova, ITIA-CNR, BLM Group, Luxottica.
 552
FRICTION LAWS FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE TIRE
RUBBER COMPOUNDS
Erfan Afrasiabi - Supervisor: Francesco Braghin
Contact between macroscopic
surfaces occurs on asperities and
local nano/micro-scale asperity.
Tribological phenomena like
friction and wear are highly scale
dependent.
Two principal strategies in tire
friction estimation are Top-
Down and Bottom-Up.
Top-Down approaches start
from tire dynamics and rely
on statistical mechanics and
experiments. Their outcome
are typically empirical or semi-
empirical friction models. In this
approach friction identification
is carried out relying on
macroscopic kinematic quantities
and the dynamics of the entire
tire, i.e. longitudinal and lateral
contact forces.
Bottom-Up approaches,
instead, start from first principles
and use fundamental mechanics
and physics to link the atomic
scale to the macroscopic
aspects of deformation and
energy dissipation in material.
Such an analysis is based on
the understanding of the
fundamental physics behind
the contact mechanisms, load
distribution, stress and strain
patters, elastic and plastic
material response, surface
topography, interaction of
contaminants and surface
chemistry. Adhesion forces play
a controversial roles in micro-
domain.
In this research, identification
and sensitivity analysis of friction
1 Normalized lateral force versus slip angle
law for high-performance tire
rubber compounds at both
macro-scale and micro-scale
have been carried out.
For macro-scale, nine physical
factors (i.e. slippage, slip angle,
camber angle, vertical load,
inflation pressure, tire bulk and
tread temperatures as well as
road surface roughness and road
temperature) were identified as
being effective from a sensitivity
analysis carried out on telemetry
data. Thus, a non-linear tire
2. Normalized lateral force in time domain for Left tire
the asphalt properties, the
model able to predict tire
contact forces as a function of
these nine parameters has been
developed and validated. Results
show that the proposed model is
able to correctly predict tire-road
lateral forces with a correlation
coefficient higher than 91%
in all working conditions (Fig.1
& Fig.2). The high stability and
fast simulation time allow to use
the proposed model in real-time
conditions.
Starting from a literature review
PhD Yearbook | 2015
553
of existing models (empirical,
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
semi empirical and theoretical)
the most promising approach
for micro-scale friction model
(both hysteretic and adhesive)
has been identified. This model
allows to account for the
effective pressure distribution,
sliding velocity and temperature
distributions in the footprint
area. Sensitivity analyses to
surface topography, background
3. Estimated total friction coefficient for two models of asphalt
temperature and road roughness
cut-off wavelength have been
carried out. Some criteria for
objectively determining the road
roughness cut-off wavelength
have been proposed and tested.
The main improvements with
respect to the literature are a
complete model accounting for
both the hysteretic and adhesive
energy losses as well as the
extension of hysteretic losses
to 2D deformations (Fig.3). It
is shown that, considering 2D
instead of 1D deformations,
increases the estimated
friction coefficient by 7% to
21% according to the surface
roughness.
 554
FRACTURE ASSESSMENT OF CRACKED
COMPONENTS UNDER BIAXIAL LOADING
Diya Zohdi Ratib Arafah - Supervisors: Prof. S. Beretta, Dr. M. Madia (BAM, Germany)
The PhD activity has been
devoted devoted to the
thorough investigation of
the effect of biaxial loading
on the fracture assessment
of cracked components. In
particular, the research aims
to address unsolved issues in
the assessment of pressurized
components.
The analyses have been carried
out onto different levels, starting
from the failure analysis on the
tested cracked specimens, the
analytical assessment based
on current standards, up to
the higher level represented by
the numerical investigations
by means of finite elements.
In the analytical and numerical
assessment particular care is
1. Comparison between the computation (left) and experimental result (right) of burst pressure for tubes subjected to
biaxial loads.
dedi- cated to the estimation of
the crack driving force, in terms
of J-integral, and the variation
of the local constraint along the
crack front. A major effect of
the biaxial loading on these two
quantities is observed.
The following main results that
have been achieved in this work:
1. Extension of reference stress
method to biaxial loading
through the development of
reference yield stress solutions
for plates with semi-elliptical
surface cracks subjected to
biaxial tensile loading.
2. Importance of carrying out
fracture toughness tests on
dedicated specimens, which
are able to reproduce nearly
the same constraint condition
PhD Yearbook | 2015
555
of the component under
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
investigation.
3. Development of an analytical
assessment methodology for
fracture instability anal- ysis of
pressurized components with
longitudinal external surface
cracks.
4. Application of cohesive zone
modeling to simulate the
ductile tearing in thick- walled
components (Fig. 1).
556
Optimal structural design for improving
safety of road vehicles
Federico Maria Ballo - Supervisor: Prof. Giampiero Mastinu
co-Supervisor: Prof. Massimiliano Gobbi
In this doctoral thesis Multi-
Objective optimization and
Topology Optimization
techniques are applied for
solving actual engineering
problems related to the
lightweight design of vehicle
components relevant for safety.
The thesis proposes a double
stage approach for performing
the optimal structural design
of vehicle components, i.e.
the minimization of the mass
and the maximisation of the
structural efficiency (e.g.
stiffness, integrity etc.) of such
components. Simplified models
(either analytical or numerical)
are always derived to guide the
applications involving Topology
Optimization, i.e. the optimal
structural design problem is
at first dealt with a simplified
model and then Topology
Optimization is performed. So
both analytical and numerical
methods are derived in order
to solve a number of optimal
structural design problems
referring to simple models of
vehicle components.
The simplified models are used
in a preliminary phase of the
design process and have a great
importance since they provide
the designer important and
useful indications for solving the
problem.
Moreover, results obtained in
this phase, are also important
since can help the designer to
handle more complex numerical
models that are then employed
in the subsequent and more
detailed analysis.
A novel analytical method based
on the matrix formulation of
the Fritz John conditions for
Pareto optimality is applied for
minimizing the total mass of a
cantilever beam loaded at the
free end while maximizing its
structural stiffness. Maximum
stress together with buckling are
treated as design constraints.
Unreferenced analytical
expressions of Pareto optimal
sets for beams with different
cross sections are derived by
means of this method and
compared.
Fig.1 shows the analytical
expressions of the Pareto
optimal sets plotted in the
objective functions (compliance
and mass) domain for the four
analysed cross sections. Results
show that the I-shaped beam
exhibits the best structural
performances.
An original multi-objective
optimization approach is used
for the structural optimization
of the simple model of a brake
caliper, i.e. a simplified finite
element model of the caliper
is developed and used for the
optimization.
The design variables are the
dimensions of the cross sections
of the beam elements and the
position of some nodes of the
structure in order to account for
shape variations.
The Parameter Space
Investigation (PSI) method is
adopted for computing Pareto
optimal solutions.
Topology Optimization
techniques have been used in
conjunction with the original
simplified model to obtain
optimal layouts at the very
beginning of the design process
(Fig.2).
The preliminary design of the
brake caliper and the front
upright of a race car as well
the design of a new front
wheel for a race motorcycle are
performed by means of topology
optimization approaches and
simplified structural models.
Regarding the design of
motorcycle wheels, the
knowledge of loads acting on
the component during its real
working situations and also
the knowledge on how these
contact forces are transferred
from the tire to the wheel rim
are of crucial importance for
the design of an optimized
lightweight component.
For this reason a proper in-depth
study has been performed
before structural optimization.
New original simplified analytical
and FEM models of a motorcycle
tire are developed and validated.
In the Finite Element model
the actual structure of the tire
PhD Yearbook | 2015
557
has been considered (Fig. 3), 1. Pareto optimal solutions of the minimum mass and compliance problem in
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
i.e. the beads, the 0 degree the objective functions domain for four cantilever beams with different cross
sections.
(circumferential) steel ply and
the 90 degree (radial) ply have
been considered in the model.
An incompressible Neo-Hooke
model has been employed for
describing the rubber material
property.
Subsequently a new prototype
of motorcycle Smart Wheel is
developed and realized (Fig.4).
The device is able to measure
tire contact forces on a front
motorcycle wheel.
The measured data were of 2. Result from Topology Optimization of the brake caliper of a race car, bottom
view (left) and lateral view (right).
great interest since represent
actual loading conditions of
the component and are used
as reference loads for the
topology optimization of a new
motorcycle wheel.
The combination of topology
optimization approaches with
proper simplified models has
been effective for the refined
structural optimization of a
number of lightweight vehicle 3. Finite element model of a race motorcycle tire.
components relevant for safety.
4. New Smart Wheel able to measure
tire/terrain contact forces and
moments on a race motorcycle.
558
The setup of a multihead weigher machine
Alessia Beretta - Supervisor: Prof. Quirico Semeraro
A Multihead Weigher Machine
(MWM) is mainly composed
of a system of feeders, a set
of H pool hoppers, a set of H
weight hoppers and a discharge
chute to the packaging machine
(Figure 1). The product is
continuously fed via a central
dispersion feeder and H radial
feeders to the pool hoppers.
The role of the pool hoppers is
to stabilize the product before
dropping it into the weight
hoppers. Each weight hopper
is equipped with a load cell
that weighs the product and
transmits the information to a
computer. The computer then
selects a subset of hoppers
whose total weight is equal to or
greater than the target weight
T. Then, the computer opens the
selected hoppers releasing the
product through the discharge
chute into the downstream
packaging machine. For
customer protection, the law
requires that the weight of each
package must be no less than
the target weight. Consequently,
a package filled with a
quantity of product below the
target weight is defined ``non
conforming and cannot be sold
in the market.
A MWM is a complex machine
which needs a setup strategy
and a suitable operation
software. The control software
works in real time and its goal is
to select the best hopper subset
to open in order to achieve
the package target weight,
according to the product, the
cycle time constraint and the
objective function. This problem
is equivalent to the well-known
knapsack problem. Instead in
my thesis we want to tackle the
setup strategy which is still an
open problem.
The setup problem of a MWM
deals with the determination
of the optimal average weight
of product to be delivered to
each pool hopper. This setting
may change according to the
type of product to be packed
and the target weight of the
package. An improper selection
of the machine setup affects
the machine efficiency in terms
of ``non conforming rate,
material cost, scrap or rework
1. A multihead weigher machine.
cost and possible losses due to
the deviation of the product
performance from customers
and/or producers target. Thus,
the initial setting of the machine
is a very important decision
affecting the general economic
performance. Currently, the
setup procedures adopted in
industrial practice mainly rely
on the operators skill and
experience during a trial-and-
error manual setup which
does not guarantee the best
performance. To the best of our
knowledge, the setup problem
has not been addressed in the
scientific literature apart from
some preliminary results.
Thanks to the definition of the
setup problem and its main
variables together with the
expression of the objective
function (expected production
cost per ``conforming package
) to minimize, the problem to
find out the optimal setup of a
MWM has been formalized. The
Solution Space of the problem
has been characterized. Its deep
analysis allows us to discover an
interesting symmetry property
to reduce its dimension and,
consequently, to tackle the setup
problem faster. According to the
characterization of the Solution
Space, five algorithms have
been considered: gradient based
algorithms (SPSA and RSM), a
``Brute Force (BF) algorithm
and two random sampling
algorithms (RC and RD). Their
performance (Figure 2) in
terms of median and standard
deviation of the expected cost
have been compared using
the same number of objective
function evaluations n, which
is used as a proxy of the
computational effort. As easily
predictable, the increasing of
n causes the values of both
indicators to diminish. In fact,
a greater number of evaluated
machine setups allows for an
improvement of the algorithm
performance.
We can surmise that the
performance of BF and RSM
algorithms become more
and more comparable as n
decreases. Moreover, the
performance difference between
PhD Yearbook | 2015
559
the two random sampling as much as the number of
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
algorithms (RD and RC) remains packages per minute increases.
irrelevant by varying n and
their performance are always
worse than the BF and RSM
ones. These conclusions have
been generalized changing the
MWM main parameters. Instead,
the SPSA has always the worst
performance regardless the
number of objective function
evaluations.
Lastly, the optimal solution
found with the RSM algorithm
is compared with two ``rule
of thumbs used in industrial
practice. The expected cost
of the RSM solution and its
standard deviation are lower
than the two industrial solutions
allowing a firm to save money
2. Scatterplot of the performance of the different optimization methods. The
median of the expected cost obtained thanks to the 50 replicates, is plotted
on the x-axis. Instead, on the y-axis, the value of the standard deviation of
expected cost is plotted for each optimization method.
560
An innovative approach to evaluate peoples effect
on the dynamic behavior of structures
Anna Cappellini Measurement and Experimental
Techniques
Anna Maria Chiara Cappellini - Supervisor: Alfredo Cigada
In recent years, problems related
to in-service vibrations have
gained a growing attention.
Since brand new structures
have become more and more
slender, an increasing number of
problems related to unexpected
vibration amplitudes have been
recorded. Indeed, people acting
on pedestrian structures behave
as dynamical systems capable
of modifying the dynamics
of the structure itself as well
as of introducing a load. This
phenomenon is commonly
known as Human-Structure
Interaction (HSI). At present,
however, the knowledge of
HSI is still limited. Indeed, the
determination of vibration
amplitudes of structures
occupied by people is a very
complex task. Particularly,
at least two main critical
issues can be identified. The
first aspect regards a correct
characterization of the active
forces induced by people on
the structure. The majority of
standards and codes suggest to
model human-induced forces
as harmonic forces. However,
this assumption is too simplistic
and does not reflect the real
trend of human-induced forces.
The second aspect regards
the influence of people on
the dynamic properties of the
structure they occupy. Few
attempts were made to include
the effect of people. However,
a model capable of providing
an accurate prediction of the
experimental evidence does not
currently exist in literature.
This work aims at proposing
and validating an innovative
approach to include the effect
of peoples presence when
simulating the dynamics of joint
Human-Structure systems.
First, the work focused on the
analysis of the effect of passive
people on the modal properties
of the joint Human-Structure
systems. An appropriate
analytical model was proposed
to include the effect of peoples
presence. The method only
requires the knowledge of the
modal model of the empty
structure as an input. Each
subject is then added locally on
the structure by means of his/her
apparent mass. The proposed
approach places no constraints
on the number of structural
degrees of freedom taken into
consideration.
Two slender staircases and
1. Experimental and predicted FRFs
data available in literature were
used to validate the proposed
approach. The experimental
results showed that passive
peoples presence could produce
a significant increase of damping
ratios with respect to the empty
structure. The predicted modal
parameters and Frequency
Response Functions (FRFs) were
in good agreement with the
experimental values in all the
considered cases, as exemplified
in Figure 1.
The proposed approach was
then extended to predict the
structural vibrations. First, tests
under controlled conditions
were performed to validate
the proposed approach. One
subject was asked to march on
a force plate, while a second
subject was standing still on
the structure. The actual force
induced by a single subject
and the structural response
were measured at the same
time. Results showed that the
use of the proposed model
highly improved the predictions
of vibration amplitudes with
respect to the use of the model
of the empty structure, as
exemplified in Figure 2.
The proposed approach was also
applied to predict vibrations in
operating conditions. Also in
this case results showed that
the use of the model of the
empty structure to simulate the
structural response causes an
overestimation of the vibration
amplitudes. Conversely, the use
of the proposed methodology
led to results much closer to the
experimental measurements.
The analytical matrix of the
joint H-S system was then
analyzed in order to highlight
its properties. The observation
of the analytical form of this
matrix allowed to evidence the
differences between the use of
the complete model proposed
in this work (Multi Degrees Of
Freedom - MDOF - structure)
and the superposition of Single
Degree of Freedom (SDOF)
structures to predict the dynamic
behavior of MDOF structures
occupied by passive people. An
approximate approach based
on the analysis of the apparent
mass curves was also proposed
to predict the type of influence
due to peoples presence on the
modal parameters of the joint
H-S system. Results showed
that under the hypothesis of
SDOF structure the approximate
PhD Yearbook | 2015
561
solution introduces small errors the effect of different peoples
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
with respect to the complete distribution was evaluated by
model. Conversely, the use of means of simulations. Results
the modal superposition of the showed that peoples effect
effects for MDOFs structure can increase with the occupation
introduce errors which can be rate. However, it was also proved
hardly quantified a-priori if the that the modification of modal
modes are not well separated. parameters is highly influenced
An analysis of the effect of by peoples distribution.
people in different postures
and for different directions of
vibration through the analysis
of various apparent mass curves
was also proposed. Results
showed that people can both
increase and decrease the
natural frequencies and damping
ratios of a structure.
The method was also verified
considering a grandstand
of the San Siro Stadium as
test case structure. Thus, an
extension of the model to a
different and more complex
case was proposed. The impact
of the number of people on
the structure on its dynamic
behaviour was analysed and
2. Experimental and predicted structural vibrations
 562
Aluminum Matrix Composites reinforced
with Alumina Nanoparticles
Riccardo Casati - Supervisor: Maurizio Vedani
Aluminum alloys show a
great number of remarkable
properties, such as low density,
good resistance to corrosion,
low thermal expansion. These
characteristics make them very
attractive materials for several
industrial fields where important
applicative constrains have to
be satisfied. For example, light
weight (higher performance
and lower consumption) and
improved mechanical and
functional properties (strength,
corrosion and wear resistance)
are essential features that
materials have to possess in
order to be employed in many
applications in the mechanical,
automotive, and aerospace field.
Another important feature of
Al alloys is their recyclability, as
reprocessing does not damage
their structure. Moreover, CO2
emission limitations and energy
cost make lightweight materials
a priority condition.
In this view, Al based metal
matrix composites are
considered very interesting.
These hybrid materials show
opportunities to design light-
weight structures with precise
balance of mechanical and
physical properties, with a
relevant improvement on the
tribological characteristics and
also high temperature strength.
Furthermore, the reinforcement
particles are generally
thermodynamically stable at the
elevated temperatures, making
these materials suitable for high
temperature applications. A
novel concept of composites,
which further enhances the
properties of conventional
composites, is given by the
design of metals reinforced
by nanoparticles. Due to their
very small size, the nano-fillers
are able to interact with the
lattice defects, i.e. dislocations,
enabling new strengthening
mechanisms to be activated.
Their impact can be of great
relevance either from the
scientific or the technological
point of view. Since metal matrix
nanocomposites (MMnCs) are a
very novel class of materials, the
lack of knowledge associated
to them has still to be filled up.
Several technological issues
have to be overcome in order to
produce bulk nanocomposites
characterized by homogeneous
dispersion of nanoparticles and
high mechanical performance.
The comprehension of the
physical phenomena related
to their improved mechanical
behavior and functional
properties is still incomplete and
needs a deeper understanding.
The aim of this thesis work
consisted in the development
of Al nanocomposites with
enhanced damping and
mechanical properties and good
workability. The nanocomposites
exhibited high strength, good
ductility, improved damping
behavior and the capability of
being worked into wires. Since
the production of MMnCs by
conventional melting processes
was considered to be extremely
critical because of the poor
wettability of the nanoparticles,
different alternative powder
metallurgy routes were adopted.
Alumina nanoparticles were
embedded into Al powders by
severe grinding and consolidated
using several techniques. Special
attention was directed to the
structural characterization at
micro and nanoscale since
uniform nanoparticles dispersion
in metal matrix is primarily
important. Moreover, some
of the billets produced via
powder metallurgy were also
rolled to prepare wires as an
example of final product. The
Al nanocomposites revealed
an ultrafine microstructure
reinforced with alumina
nanoparticles produced in-situ or
added ex-situ.
The work had a strong empirical
basis. Different sintering
methods and parameters
were employed to produce
MMnCs characterized by well
dispersed nanoparticles in the
Al matrix. In particular, different
powder metallurgy routes
were investigated, including
high energy ball milling and
unconventional compaction
methods (ECAP, BP-ECAP,
hot extrusion). The physical,
mechanical and functional
behavior of the produced
materials was then evaluated
by different mechanical tests
(hardness tests, instrumented
indentation, compressive and
tensile tests, dynamo-mechanical
analysis) and microstructure
investigation techniques
(scanning and transmission
electron microscopy, electron
back scattering diffraction, X-ray
diffraction, differential scanning
calorimetry). The experimental
results were then theoretically
discussed. Literature equations
and models were also used
to predict the mechanical
behavior of the material and
the numerical and experimental
results were compared.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
563
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
1. Proposed mechanisms
about the effects of milling
and consolidation processes
on the composite powder
reinforced with in-situ and
ex-situ nanoparticless: I) after
drying, the aluminum powders,
which are covered by an oxide
passivation layer, are supposed
to be additionally surrounded
by g-Al2O3 clusters; II) after
milling these clusters and the
oxide passivation layer (square
fragments) are broken up into
small debris; III) after ECAP
compaction the fragments of
passivation layer and the g-Al2O3
NPs are dispersed into the
aluminum matrix.
564
The Hedgehog Shape Memory Alloys Based
Shock Absorber
Marco Citro - Supervisor: Gaetano Cascini
Despite Shape Memory Alloys
are a quite young technology,
after the invention of Nitinol
Stent in the 1990s, they became
a standard in the biomedical
field thanks to their unusual
characteristics known as
Superelasticy and Shape Memory
Effect. Both these characteristics
are attributable to the Shape
Memory Alloys capability of
recovering large displacements
through a phase transition
between two intermetallic solid
states. However, in the industrial
field, only few successful
applications exist. Since 2000,
the industrial market has shown
a growing interest for such
material. Some prototypes have
been developed but they did
not really achieve the market.
Psychological inertia is often
responsible to push potential
users toward more conventional
solutions notwithstanding the
numerous advantages that these
alloys are capable to offer if
used for some applications. The
lack of classification standards
is another reason that does
not help the diffusion of Shape
Memory Alloys. Today, two kinds
of industrial applications exist;
they are the electro and thermal-
actuated devices. The analysis
of such products has underlined
that electro-actuated devices
use small diameter wires with
more complex electronics while
thermo-actuated devices are
simpler but usually they perform
PhD Yearbook | 2015
565
higher forces. No successful applications have been classified values of current crash boxes
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
applications, which make use based on the protection and the results obtained with
of Superelastic Alloys have been mechanisms detected. Among the drop weight tower for the
found in the industrial market. all the applications, the crash specimen LD3510.
The goal of this research work box has been selected as the
is to identify an application reference one, since the crash
Test Peak[N] Average [N] %E. ab E.ass. SAE LR
that exploits the key features boxes and the hedgehog
Energy [J] (J)
of Shape Memory Alloys in the absorber showed a similar
industrial field. To achieve this impact response. LD3510 20,7 6296,0 926,8 62,5 14,0 0,7 6,8
result, it is necessary to search Afterwards, several tests have LD3510 64,8 8439,0 1459,6 81,7 53,7 2,5 5,8
a new field or to investigate been carried out, in order
LD3510 121,3 9602,0 1844,9 89,8 109,5 5,2 5,2
among those already explored. to prove the concept and
For the research, Biomimetics eventually the device has LD3510 181,5 22500,0 1184,1 99,9 181,1 8,6 19,0
has been used, getting demonstrated to be capable C.Box A 15000,0 49350,0 20830,0 8,3 1250,0 6,1 2,4
inspiration from the different of absorbing large amounts of
C.Box B 15000,0 67040,0 40000,0 16,0 2400,0 7,4 1,7
examples provided by the energy. The first tests carried
Biomimicry taxonomy. The latter out have shown an absorption C.Box C 15000,0 50010,0 25000,0 10,0 1500,0 5,8 2,0
is a classification of animals capability equal than 85% with
and plants that have been respect to the energy provided. However, the results have shown
studied and classified based Such capability has been the excellent potential of the
on the functions they perform. subsequently verified through developed device. Subsequently,
Among the diverse examples compression tests and impact a very simple design has been
taken into consideration, the tests. All the collected data have proposed. The latter is just a
hedgehog, and its spines, have been processed through ANOVA hypothesis aiming at verifying
led us to devise a new concept in order to verify the significance if the hedgehog absorber can
of impact absorber. The device of the parameters that turned respect the energetic specs of a
based on this idea exploits the out to be significant. Afterwards, crash box.
Superelasticity of many Shape the same values have been used Despite all the tests done so
Memory Alloy wires arranged to calculate some regression far, before switching from
with the same configuration of models. The obtained results the applied research to a
the spines of a hedgehog. have been also compared with precompetitive development,
To characterize the behavior those of the crash box, a device further tests are needed in
of such absorber, the field of commonly used to absorb order to increase the level of
impacts has been investigated. shocks in the automotive field. It confidence with the hedgehog
The goal was to better is important to state that, since absorber behavior. If the results
understand the phenomenon the test method used for the obtained in this research work
and the protection mechanisms crash box is different from what will be confirmed for higher
currently exploited and has been done for the hedgehog impact energies and for different
to find an application to absorber, the comparison has layouts, fields such as the
make a comparison. Five been made only partially. automotive or the military one
protection mechanisms have could benefits from the use of
been identified and different Comparison between some the hedgehog absorber.
566
FAULT DIAGNOSIS OF THE RUNNING GEAR IN
HIGH SPEED RAILWAY VEHICLES
Livio Gasparetto - Supervisor: Prof. Stefano Bruni
Evolution in high-speed rail
transportation is aimed towards
increased efficiency and
optimisation, to reduce life cycle
cost (LCC) of rolling stock, while
maintaining high standards
of reliability, availability,
maintainability and safety
(RAMS). To his end, traditional
maintenance strategies, based
on pre-determined travelled
time or distance intervals,
are not sufficient anymore,
and focus is moving towards
modern techniques of condition
monitoring for the components,
to achieve the so-called
Condition Based Maintenance
(CBM), in which critical wear
or fault of components is
estabilished by analysing data
generated during the normal
service of the vehicle using fault
detection and isolation (FDI)
methods. The objective is to
perform maintenance only when
needed, thus reducing costs of
component fixing or substitution
on one hand, and off-service of
the vehicle on the other.
Examination of State of Art in
the field shows a large variety
of approaches to the problem.
Some methods make use of
wayside mounted sensors to
examine the rolling stock while
it transits in certain spots on
the rail network. The advantage
is that an entire fleet can be
monitored while in service with
few sensors, but only a limited
range of faults (e.g. out of
roundness wheels, hot boxes)
can be detected by wayside
monitoring units, whereas for
other fault types the diagnosis
would not be reliable and/
or accurate enough to allow
resolving the kind, location
and degree of severity of the
fault. Other methods make use
of on-board measurements,
generally by accelerometers
or gyroscopes, and can be
divided in two categories: data-
driven and model-based. Data
driven techniques use several
algorithms to analyse data to
produce significant indexes
tied to faults or malfunctioning
of various components. These
indexes are then compared to
addressable ranges that may
be defined, e.g. based on a
statistical treatment of available
fault records, to achieve fault
detection and, less frequently,
fault isolation. In model-based
methods instead, measurements
are used in combination with
a mathematical model of the
system to generate a residual,
and the FDI process is then
based on the examination of
the residual function. Results are
encouraging, but faults isolation
is generally difficult, and few
or no results with application
measurements performed on rail
vehicles have been presented.
Other model-based methods
use more complicated filters
to assess the estimation of the
proper value of some parameter
important for the vehicle
dynamics (damping, stiffness,
or wheel conicity). These
methods show generally good
performance at the price of
some degree of complexity.
In this thesis two methods for
the condition monitoring are
presented. One model-free
(data-driven) and one model-
based. Both of them consider a
railway bogie in the horizontal
plane and have the aim to assess
the condition of the wheel-rail
profile and of the secondary
dampers, particularly the anti-
yaw damper.
The aim of the model-free
method is to detect the
incipient instability of the
bogie well in advance of the
traditional instability detectors,
when oscillations have not
reached critical amplitudes.
The method is based on the
combined use of the random
decrement technique (RDT) to
approximate the auto-correlation
of the acceleration signal of
the lateral bogie frame, and of
the Prony method to identify
the characteristic exponents of
the system for the RDT output.
The output of this analysis is
the estimate of the (possible)
haunting motion frequency and
the residual stability margin.
These results are in turn analysed
by a fault classifier that, using an
addressable database of possible
component status combinations,
determines the most probable
condition. For this work, the
database was built using a multi-
body model of the high-speed
trailed ETR 500 class car and
included various wheel profile
conditions and different levels of
degradation of the yaw damper.
The proposed model-based
method identifies the values of
some parameters fundamental
for the lateral and yaw motion
of the bogie, using a multi-
step approach based on the
linear Kalman Filter and on
the Extended Kalman Filter. To
this end, a simplified dynamic
model of the bogie has been
developed, that reproduces
also the lateral track irregularity
dynamics affecting the two
wheelsets. Such irregularity
is estimated in one step, and
then given as an input to the
following step, that estimates
three important parameters:
lateral damping of the bogie,
yaw damping of the bogie and
wheel-rail conicity, used as a
linearization of the relationship
between the rolling radius
variation and the wheel-rail
relative displacement in lateral
direction.
Both the methods have been
tested with data collected by a
prototype CBM system that was
installed on board of an ETR
500 class high-speed train called
ETR 500-Y1, owned by RFI (the
company managing most part
of the Italian rail infrastructure),
which is used for track
PhD Yearbook | 2015
567
maintenance and experimental and nominal conditions. The
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
purposes. A multi-body model results of the tests performed
of one single car of the same on virtual and real data show
train was used to simulate faults unambiguous detection of the
and conditions that could not be proper condition for the yaw
introduced on the real train. damper and for the wheel
The model-free method has conicity. On the other hand,
been applied on ETR 500-Y1 estimation of the lateral damper
experimental data, and it was coefficient does not allow the
able to distinguish the cases of detection of a fault for this
a bogie with new profile from component. Next steps for the
the case of a bogie with worn model-based method are the
profiles. Next steps for this test of valid alternatives to the
research include an improvement Extended Kalman Filter and the
of the database used for fault application of the method to the
detection, using data measured vertical dynamics of the vehicle.
during line tests, the inclusion in
the method of other fault types
and the extension of the method
including new indexes other
than frequency and residual
stability margin such as the
modal shape, by using both the
lateral accelerometers mounted
on the bogie. The same method
could also be applied to the
vertical dynamics of the bogie,
to assess condition monitoring
of primary and secondary
vertical suspension components.
The model-based method was
tested by means of virtual and
in-line measurements. While line
test measurements were possible
only for the vehicle running
in a condition presumably
close to nominal, virtual
measurements, performed
using multi-body simulations,
allowed the application of the
method to data generated
with components in both faulty
568

Profile Monitoring of Multi-Stream Sensor traditional SPC practice, different time-frequency scales. challenges and designed for

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Data
Marco Luigi Giuseppe Grasso - Supervisor: Prof. Bianca Maria Colosimo
Tutor: Prof. Paolo Pennacchi
In the framework of industrial
requirements in various sectors
The result is a paradigm-shift
because of the high sampling
frequencies of sensor signals,
the computational constraints,
the complexity of the signal
patterns, the time-varying
properties of industrial
processes, the streams of data
from different sources, and
the multiplicity of operating
conditions. Those challenges and
The analysis is then extended
to signals coming from multiple
sensors, which must be properly
integrated and fused together
in order to achieve a better and
more synthetic representation of
the on-going process.
in-process utilization. They were
tested by means of Monte Carlo
simulations and compared with
benchmark techniques. Real
data from different industrial
case studies, including waterjet
cutting, grinding of cylindrical
rolls and end-milling processes,
were used to demonstrate the 569
performances of the proposed

quality management, traditional
Statistical Process Control (SPC)
procedures depend on quality
characteristics measured on
the product of manufacturing
processes. They also assume
that a number of parts may
be collected during In-Control
(IC) operations to estimate
the process parameters and
to design the control charts.
Nevertheless, the evolving
market demands and the
development of novel
technologies have been leading
to productive scenarios where
traditional SPC methods are no
more appropriate or even not
applicable.
In different discrete-part
manufacturing applications (e.g.,
in the aerospace sector), the
production of high-value-added
products implies extended
machining times (e.g., several
hours for a single part, possibly
longer than the tool life). It
also involves expensive tools
and materials, together with
high precision requirements.
The use of traditional SPC
procedures, based on post-
process measurements, implies
a delay between the possible
occurrence of a fault and the
detection of its effects on the
product. This yields unacceptable
costs for wasting expensive
materials and time-consuming
re-manufacturing operations.
In addition, high customization
impose small lot productions or
even one-of-a-kind productions
(i.e., the production of lots that
consist of a single item). In that
case, there is no possibility to
perform a control chart design
phase based on repeated
processes, and hence novel
quality control procedures must
be considered.
A viable solution consists of
sensorizing the machine tools
and the production systems
in order to collect data about
the quality and stability of the
process during the process
itself. This is possible thanks to
the continuous technological
developments that are
leading to data-rich industrial
environments, where several
sources of potentially useful
information are easily available.
1 A paradigm shift in SPC: from product-based to signal-based monitoring
from product-based SPC to in-
process SPC.
A quality monitoring based on
in-process data may provide a
faster reaction to out-of-control
shifts, thanks to condition-
based control strategies aimed
at quickly mitigating (or even
suppressing) the effects of faults,
with a consequent reduction
of wasted parts. Furthermore,
in-process SPC provides a
potential 100% production
coverage as it allows collecting
data during each process run,
instead of evaluating the quality
characteristics on sampled
products at the end of the
process.
However, such a paradigm
shift implies a number of
novel challenges and critical
issues with respect to the
information contributions on
critical issues push the need to
develop novel SPC approaches
and to improve the existing
ones.
This thesis is aimed at studying
and developing novel signal-
based SPC methods in order to
deal with those challenges. A
particular family of industrial
processes in considered, i.e.,
the family of discrete-part
manufacturing operations that
exhibit a cyclical behaviour. In
that case, the IC state of the
process can be described by
cyclically repeating patterns
of acquired signals, known as
profiles. Therefore, this study
deals with the use of profile
monitoring methods for in-
process sensor signals.
Different inter-related research
problems are discussed and
faced. In the first part of the
study, the focus is on signals
from a single sensor that
exhibit complicated patterns
or undesired misalignments.
In this frame, the two
following problems were
faced: (i) the integration of
registration information in a
profile monitoring framework,
to guarantee a proper
management of different
signal variability sources; (ii)
the enhancement of profile
monitoring performances in
the presence of complicated
signal patterns characterized by
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
methods in actual industrial
scenarios.
2. Ultra High Pressure (UHP) pump of
a waterjet plant (top panel) and multi-
stream signals from water pressure
and plunger displacement sensors
3. Products of a roll grinding process
(bottom panel)
(top panel) and multivariate variables
in in-control (IC) and out-of-control
(OOC) process states (bottom panel)
In the last part of the study,
the analysis is focused on
the development of profile
monitoring methods for
processes that exhibit multiple
IC states, which represents
a challenging violation of
traditional SPC assumptions.
This analysis if motivated
by the fact that, in different
manufacturing applications,
parts of the same quality can be
produced by processes can not
be characterized by a unique IC
state. The existence of multiple
IC states is due to operating
modes that vary in time (e.g.,
different cutting parameters,
different tools, different
ambient conditions, etc.), and
hence novel profile monitoring
methods are required.
All the proposed approaches
are driven by actual industrial
570
Smart tyre data: identification of relevant
parameters for vehicle handling
improvement
Davide Ivone - Supervisors: Prof. Stefano Melzi, Prof. Federico Cheli
Research context
The introduction of modern
digital electronics in the
automotive industry has
increased the integration
of intelligent systems in the
vehicle design. The availability
of new technologies is pushing
the automotive sector to
constantly invest in developing
new innovative solutions
aimed to improve the vehicle
efficiency in terms of safety and
performances.
Tyres play fundamental key
when characterizing the vehicle
dynamics since they constitute
the only parts of the vehicle
which maintain contact with
the road. One of the most
challenging and innovative
aspect of the automotive sector
is to use the tyre as a sensor able
to identify useful information as
it is located in a very privileged
position. The emerging concept
of smart tyre basically describes
a tyre equipped with sensors
and digital-computing systems
for monitoring thermal and
mechanical parameters which
are eventually extended to the
vehicle electronic control unit
while driving.
Pirelli Tyre is pushing technology
for sensors embedded in the
tyre inner liner able to focus on
vehicle dynamics and security
devices. The CyberTyre project
developed by Pirelli Tyre has the
main purpose to make the tyre
an active part of the vehicle by
installing a suitable number of aspect by directly measure the
sensors capable to collect useful tyre-road contact forces. The
information from the interaction accelerometer signals, collected
between tyre and road. during the tyre rolling motion,
The innovative measurement include information about the
system is based on a single tyre-road contact as they are
three-axial accelerometer strongly correlated to the macro-
installed inside a rubber support deformation of the tyre inner
and then glued onto the inner liner which is directly generated
liner of the tyre as Figure shows. by the contact forces and slips
This device is able to transmits quantities.
the acquired signals via wireless To assess the benefits induced by
to a suitable receiving system. the smart tyre, tyre-road contact
forces measurement are included
into an extended kalman filter
CyberTyre for active vehicle which are added to the ones
control systems usually present on-board vehicle
Since tyre forces estimation as the steering angle, lateral
is a decisive and challenging and longitudinal acceleration
feature in the automotive and yaw rate. In particular,
sector, a strategic CyberTyre more precise and prompt
objective is the fulfillment of this tyre-road friction coefficient
1. CyberTyre sensors glued onto the tyre inner liner
and consequently vehicle
side-slip angle estimations
are appreciable if results are
compared with a standard case
where information from the
smart tyre are not available.
Moreover, robustness analysis
performed by introducing
the road bank angle and by
changing some tyre and vehicle
parameters shows how accuracy
of the estimated quantities
is maintained. Manoeuvre
simulations of a validated
vehicle model have been run in
Matlab/Simulink.
Another important developed
argument is the introduction
of new relevant parameters
in order to maximize the tyre
cornering performances by
studying the tyre contact
patch dynamics behavior by
means of CyberTyre. Particular
attention is given to the tyre
inclination angle (IA) which
has significant influence on
tyre lateral forces especially in different IA but same entity of
lateral limit conditions. Indoor
testing had a strategic role for
the topic development since
it allowed to approach the
problem in controlled dynamics
conditions as well as finite
element analysis (FEA) gave
very helpful support for the
phenomena comprehension. The and furthermore the power
introduction of a different signal dissipation due to lateral slip is
filtering method is a crucial
aspect of the treated argument:
both time and frequency
domain are considered for the
data elaboration and features
extraction. Eventually, a new
index (CPI) of tyre contact
patch exploitation is defined
and based on numerical model
of the tyre portion in contact
with the road able to describe
the normal stresses distribution
in the contact patch domain.
The CyberTyre capabilities to cornering performances. Once
PhD Yearbook | 2015
characterized the normal stresses CPI is trustworthy, it might be
distribution have been compared
with an optical measurement
used as reference for control
logics for active suspensions: the
system for tyre footprint stress
field: results are in very good
IA is real-time actuated so that
tyre cornering performances
agreement between the two are improved. Nevertheless, an
measuring methods. The CPI intermediate development step
index is a synthetic parameter could be considered: realization
which defines how far the of an hardware in the loop 571
tyre is from the maximum tyre with the Flat-Trac machine
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
cornering condition. Results of and CyberTyre in order to
the proposed exploitation index experiment the active control
are presented in a series of logics based on CPI.
sweep of inclination angle and
vehicle manoeuvre simulations
both performed with the Flat-
Trac machine from MTS.
Figure depicts the CPI trend
in function of IA at imposed
inflating pressure (P), vertical
load (Fz) and tyre slip angle
(SA): moving towards negative
IA, lateral force increase while
the index is minimized and it
tends to the same value for all 2. CPI trend for a sweep IA test
testing conditions. Figure shows
a step steer manoeuvre run at
lateral force: in this situation the
maximum cornering condition is
identified by the SA which has
to be minimized and this trend
is well described by CPI. In fact,
lower values of SA, on equal
terms, allow to have a margin
for applying higher lateral force
reduced.
Conclusion
A first step towards the
correlation of the tyre contact
patch exploitation from the
CyberTyre point of view is
presented in this research
activity. Next steps are aimed to
make the CPI more robust and
reliable: in many studied cases
the index seems to identify the 3. CPI trend for a step steer
best tyre configuration for the manoeuvre at different level of IA
572
A Methodology to Support the Modeling
and Design of Material Separation Systems
for Recycling
Ali Jadidi - Supervisor: Prof. Marcello Colledani
During the recent years due to
the significant technological
innovations, the production
of electric and electronic
equipment (EEE) has been
marked as the fastest growing
area in industrialized countries.
This results in an increased
amount of waste electric and
electronic equipment (WEEE). In
EU countries WEEE is the fastest
growing waste stream having
an annual growth rate of 3%
to 5%.WEEE are considered
critical waste streams due
to their hazardous materials
contents. Therefore in case of
a non-proper waste treatment,
they can generate negative
environmental impacts.
The need for treating end-of-life
products is also highlighted in
other sectors such as automotive
industry. It is estimated that over
15000000 vehicles retired per
year in the USA and 15-25% of
their total weight is landfilled.
Taking into account the potential
environmental impacts of the
waste disposal many countries
have set up new regulations and
legislations in terms of end-of-
life management and in order
to improve the recycling process
and reduce the waste disposal.
Waste treatment is an important
issue not only in terms of
environmental concerns but
also from the recovery aspect of
valuable materials. In fact WEEE
and end-of-life vehicles (ELV)
are mixture of various materials
that potentially can be seen as
a resource of metals, such as
copper, aluminum and gold.
Due to the complex and variable
material mixture of WEEE and
ELV, their material recovery is a
very challenging task that has
not been solved yet. For instance
talking about the PCBs that
are widely used in electronic
products, currently only about
30-35% of metals represents
in the PCBs are recovered with
purity level varying between
85% to 95% depending on the
element.
Indeed efficient treatment
of these complex mixtures
requires automated multi-stage
systems composed of different
size reduction and material
separation stages. In this regard,
Smart mechanical treatments,
that are considered in this work,
are ideal techniques for recovery
of materials in WEEE and ELV
since they involve very limited
environmental impacts, energy
consumption and production
of by-products. Mechanical
separation systems use different
material properties such as
conductivity, size and density for
treating the input mixtures.
In spite of the extensive research
works dedicated to analysis of
different material separation
and comminution technologies,
design and performance
evaluation of these systems have
been rarely studied from system
engineering pint of view.
In M. Colledani and T. Tolio
(2013) a multi-level framework
that is illustrated here is
introduced for integrated
modeling of the material
separation systems considering
the interaction among process
and system levels. Indeed in
mechanical separation systems
there is a strong interaction
between process and system
levels.
In the proposed model, in the
system layer the dynamics of the
material flow in the recycling
system is considered. This layer
considers in input from the
process layer transformation
matrices that are required for
analysis of material flow. In
the process layer the physics
of the process is used in order
to predict the transformation
matrix based on the updated
estimate of the material flow
dynamics calculated in the
system layer. The interaction
between two layers is captured
through parameter exchange
between two layers.
Although the proposed multi-
level model is useful in capturing
the process-system interaction,
following relevant aspects are
neglected.
Uncertain separation matrixes
The quality of the separation
processes that can be
determined by the separation
matrixes is not constant and
can be affected by particle-
particle interactions. The real
experiments that are reported
in this work confirm that the
quality of the separation process
may be degraded by increasing
the material flow rate as it can
increase this kind of interactions.
Effect of the material re-
processing
In material separation systems
it is common to re-process the
materials in order to improve
the output quality or increase
the amount of the recovered
materials. In spite of the
importance of the material
re-processing, this aspect is not
included in this model.
In this work a multi-level
approach is taken considering
these aspects and other
system logistics issues such as
machine breakdowns, machine
processing rates, starvation and
blocking propagation, and role
of conveyors as finite buffers.
Therefore, a comprehensive
model is developed that is
capable of predicting the
performance and support the
design of the separation systems
used in recycling.
Material flow rate is considered
as a system level parameter
than can affect the separation
quality. Indeed, on the one hand
at process level the separation
quality and the size-reduction
efficiency is degraded with
increasing flow rates. Therefore
the material flow rate which
is a system level parameter
can affect the process level
performance. On the other
hand, the separation quality at
process level affects the material
routing in the system.
The decomposition method
that breaks the system into the
small sub-systems, composed of
two machines and one buffer,
is used in order to calculate the
system performance. Moreover
a methodology that is called
linearization is introduced
for quantitative analysis of the
material re-processing. In this
method the behavior of the
reworking loop is approximated
by a transfer line composed of
desired number of machines.
Developed methods are
implemented in Matlab. The
methods are validated by
comparing the results with
simulation models, under
different system configurations.
The results confirm that the
precision of the proposed
methods.
Another important process
in recycling systems is the
comminution process for
shredding the input particles.
Comminution processes directly
affect the material routing and
the efficiency of the downstream
separation processes. In this
work different experiments
on comminution process are
performed to help providing
a better insight to different
aspects of these processes.
The assumptions of the
model and some of the key
PhD Yearbook | 2015
573
results are validated by the
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
experimental analyses performed
at the ITIA-CNR laboratory for
demanfuacturing, within the cell
3 on recycling technologies and
systems.
The assumption related to
the effect of the flow rate
on separation quality is
validated thorough the corona
electrostatic separation of
a binary mixture composed
of plastic and copper. The
same process is also used for
experimental validation of the
linearization method.
The experiments that are
performed on CES process
also confirm the importance
of the material re-processing
in material separation systems.
It also proves the criticality of
choosing the right set of process
parameters for material re-
processing.
574
EXPERIMENTAL METHODS FOR THE ASSESSMENT
OF STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF COMPOSITE
BONDED JOINTS
Md Kharshiduzzaman - Supervisor: Prof. Andrea Bernasconi
In-situ structural health
monitoring methodology
provides continuous monitoring
of technical structures, helps to
optimize the use of the structure
and minimize downtime. This
PhD work introduced an in-situ
monitoring technique based
on backface strain field which
is capable of evaluating the
structural integrity of adhesively
bonded joints and also enables
monitoring of crack propagation
under fatigue loading. The
concept of monitoring method
for single lap (SL) joints is
based on a known relationship
between the crack position
and position of the negative
minimum of backface strain
(BFS) profile, usually found by
finite element analyses. For
an Aluminum-Carbon fibre
reinforced polymer it was found
that the corresponding backface
position of the negative
minimum strain value of BFS
strain profile along Al substrate
follows the crack tip with an
offset of approximately 2 mm.
By means of this correlation,
it was possible to detect the
presence of crack in static
tests and this allowed for
real-time monitoring the crack
propagation in the bonded
joint during fatigue test. After
the specimen had undergone
150,000 fatigue cycles, the crack
length from the monitoring
technique was noted and
compared with measurements
obtained by optical microscope
which verified the crack position
monitored by this technique.
In the first place, an array of
electrical strain gages was
used for acquiring BFS profile.
An identical framework was
also adopted and tested
experimentally by replacing
the electrical resistance strain
gages with FBG sensors which
confirms the applicability of
the monitoring system with
FBG optical sensors. It was also
observed that, the use of an
array of FBG sensors produced
more accurate results compared
to electrical strain gages. This
is because of their multiplexing
capability which enables to
insert all the FBG sensors within
a single optical fibre. Hence it
was possible to place all the
sensors along the centerline of
1. BFS based monitoring technique using an array of strain gages.
the backface of Al substrates
of the SL joint and therefore
minimizing the effect of any
possible misalignment.
With the goal to apply this
BFS based technique using
FBGs to bonded joints made
of more complex materials
such as woven composites, the
assessment of strain sensing
using FBG sensors onto the
backface of such material were
performed where strain field
is not uniform and local strain
gradients exist. We adopted
T-matrix method coupled with
DIC technique in our study.
DIC technique was used to
capture the strain field in woven
composite and that strain field
was used to simulate the FBG
response for a given gauge
length.
It was seen from T-matrix
2. BFS based monitoring technique using an array of FBG sensors.
simulations that, spectral
response of 10 mm FBGs
does not perform well in high
strain gradient fields. This is
because they fail to produce
distinguishable single peak
which is mandatory for strain
estimation. Whereas 4 mm
FBG sensor seemed to retain
the main characteristic needed
for strain measurement. Even
though small chirping effect
was still present in this case,
however it was not as dominant
as of 10 mm case, which caused
the peak to split. Finally, for 1
mm FBG sensor, it is seen that
reflected spectra produce a
distinctive peak which is vital
for strain estimation. Besides
the chirping effect is completely
eliminated in this case thus
making this configuration very
much suitable for high strain
gradient applications such as in
woven composites.
In order to confirm our
observations, experimental
tests were carried out for
woven composite strips using
FBG sensors for all three
gauge lengths. For 10 mm
FBG sensors, it was seen that
the experimental results does
not match well with simulated
results as suspected. For both
4 mm and 1 mm FBG sensors,
good agreements were found
between experimental and
T-matrix simulated observations.
Moreover, experimental results
confirm that, strains read by
both type of sensors are close to
the averaged strain of the strain
field over their corresponding
gauge lengths.
Although peak splitting
phenomenon was eliminated
for smaller FBG gauge lengths,
but due to their small size, they
sense rather local strain values
which were confirmed while
PhD Yearbook | 2015
575
comparing with global nominal
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
results. This problem can be
overcome by using an array
of FBG sensors keeping the
intermediate distance between
the sensors as small as possible.
Difficulty remains as the exact
position of the sensor within the
optical fibre is still a concern.
Also local strain values produces
by smaller FBGs can differ
from global values obtained by
continuum mechanics. In order
to eliminate all these concerns,
in the last past of this thesis,
distributed optical sensing using
optical backscatter reflectometer
(OBR) was adopted. BFS profiles
for CFRP-CFRP SL joint were
experimentally obtained using
this technique and compared
with FE analyses. As OBR
interrogates thousands of
sensing locations along a single
optical fiber simultaneously and
thus transforming an ordinary
optical fiber into a high spatial-
resolution distributed strain
sensor, it was seen that this
method can capture BFS strain
profile with higher accuracy.
Comparison with FE analyzed
results confirmed. Finally,
the FE model was validated
by comparing with 2D DIC
experimental results.
 576
COLD SPRAY COATING: PROCESS EVALUATION AND
WEALTH OF APPLICATIONS; FROM STRUCTURAL
REPAIR TO BIOENGINEERING
Atieh Moridi - Supervisor: Prof. Mario Guagliano
Cold spray is a promising
technology to obtain surface
coatings. Development of new
material systems covering a wide
range of required functionalities,
from internal combustion
engines to biotechnology,
brought forth new opportunities
to the cold spraying. This thesis
goal can be divided into two
main categories:
The first is understanding the
fundamental features of the cold
spray. In this regard, the focus
was on two issues: assessment
of critical and erosion velocities
and also the mechanical
behavior of cold spray coating
under indentation loading. In
cold spray, bonding is obtained
when the impact velocity of
particles exceeds critical velocity,
but it is less than an upper limit
beyond which erosion happens.
A new model is proposed,
combination of numerical and
analytical solutions, to calculate
the critical and erosion velocities.
This model was based on energy
approach. However, different
phenomena have been proposed
as the indicator of adhesion
and coating build up. What
most approaches agreed upon
is that a material jet is formed
during high velocity impact.
However, excessive deformation
of elements in the material
jet makes it extremely mesh
dependent in simulation. To
this end, Eulerian framework is
used in which elements are fixed
and material can flow (Figure
1--.a). Variation of temperature
and plastic strain as well as jet
formation and instability are
presented.
Mechanical behavior of
consolidated coating under
indentation loading conditions
is also explored. Cold spray
deposited coatings show strong
dependency on the indentation
size scale. To interpret the
experimental observation, a
damage based finite element
model consisting particle interior
and particle boundaries was
developed (Figure 1.b).
This phase of the thesis
was accomplished with two
comprehensive reviews (Figure
2). First on different material
systems that have been
cold sprayed. This includes
metallic, ceramic, metal matrix
composite, polymer and nano
structured powders. The second
1. Von Mises stress distribution a) impact simulation of single particle using
Eulerian framework b) Consolidated cold spray coating under indentation
loading and progressive damage at interparticles.
review is on cold spray to
mitigate corrosion. The effect
of deposition temperature
and pressure, particle size,
carrier gas, post-treatment and
co-deposition of metals and
ceramic particles on corrosion
behavior is discussed.
The second goal is investigating
the application of cold spray
on repairing damaged parts
and biomedical engineering.
There has been some efforts in
repairing structural parts using
cold spray. Most of the time
only visual inspection has been
performed since simulating
real loading conditions are
not possible. In the present
investigation, a systematic study
of defect shape and ability of
cold spray to fill it is done (Figure
3.a). Furthermore, repaired
part must retain bulk material
properties. Fatigue represents
one of the most intricate
PhD Yearbook | 2015
577
types of damage to which
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
structural parts are subjected
in service. The effect of cold
spray deposition on fatigue life
of Al alloy is studied and 15%
improvement was achieved.
The enhancement of fatigue
life by means of shot peening
is also considered. It was found
that conventional shot peening
(SP) and severe shot peening
(SSP) are more efficient if they
are performed prior to cold
2. Critical reviews on a) cold spray material system and b) important
spray deposition. SSP+CS (best parameters on corrosion behavior of cold spray coating
combination) increased the
fatigue strength up to 26%
in comparison to as received
condition.
For biomedical application,
guidelines are proposed for
deposition of porous coatings.
The porous-coated implant
can be stabilized by biological
fixation as a result of bone
ingrowth. Experiments were
carried out at under-critical
impact conditions, using rather
coarse powders and fast gun
traverse speeds. Thick, macro
rough, sufficiently high strength
coatings, suitable for implant
applications, with porosity of up
to about 30% was successfully
3. Applications of cold spray coating a) Studying ability of cold spray in cavity
deposited using marginally low filling for repair applications, b) Under critical cold spray deposition to obtain
impact conditions (Figure 3.b). porous coating for biomedical application.
 578
Design of a 6-dof floating motion simulator
for hardware-in-the-loop wind tunnel
tests on nautical components
Navid Negahbani - Supervisor: Hermes Giberti
In recent years the development
of CFD simulations has increased
the knowledge of the problems
of fluid-structure interaction.
This trend has been particularly
important for floating body
research fields such as offshore
wind turbines and sailboats,
involving two fluids. Moreover,
the reliability of CFD software
requires further experimental
validations. To reach t, as a
complementary approach to
that of the test tank, there is
the need to perform dynamic
aeroelastic tests in the wind
tunnel.
In this thesis has been addressed
project of a parallel kinematic
machine that emulates the
fluid-structure interaction: the
architecture of the machine has
been chosen according to the
specifications and behavior of
the sail boats and offshore wind
turbine in floating situation of
sea; kinetostatic optimization
1. 3-D view of Hexaglide
was performed with genetic
algorithms in MATLAB
environment; the dimensioning
of the motor-reducer was
conducted downstream of
a dynamic simulation of the
motion in Simulink, whereas the
operating conditions are more
severe; ADAMS MSc software
was used for vibration analysis in
small movement.
Parallel Kinematic Machines
(PKMs) are commonly used for
tasks that require high precision
and high stiffness. In this sense,
the rigidity of the drive system
of the robot, which is composed
by actuators and transmissions,
plays a fundamental role. In
this thesis, ball-screw drive
and belt drive actuators are
considered and a 6 Degrees of
Freedom (DoF) parallel robot
with prismatic actuated joints
is used as application case. A
mathematical model of the
ball-screw drive and belt drive
are proposed considering the
most influencing non-linearities:
sliding-dependent flexibility,
backlash, and friction. Using this
model, the most critical poses
of the robot with respect to the
kinematic mapping of the error
from the joint- to the task-space
are systematically investigated to
obtain the workspace positional
and rotational resolution, apart
from control issues. The error
sensitivity analysis will do with
respect to the most influencing
non-linearities parameters.
Finally, a non-linear adaptive
robust control algorithm for
trajectory tracking, based on
the minimization of the tracking
error, is described and simulated.
The dynamic parameters are
learned during the motion
and introduced in the inverse
dynamic model of the robot,
which is used as a feed-forward
compensator.
Optimal geometrical
parameters of robots were
found considering kinetostatic
performance index. Drivers and
motor-reducer was chosen for
the robot by considering the
efficiency of the reducer. The
robots were considered flexible
and first natural frequency of the
robot were calculated. Actuators
were analyzed for dynamic
problems considering nonlinear
parameters such as flexibility,
backlash and friction and error
evaluation of the robot. Selected
robot was controlled for
PhD Yearbook | 2015
579
tracking the complex trajectory
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
with considering nonlinear
parameters.
Taking everything into
consideration, Hexaglide (figure
1) was chosen for using in the
wind tunnel as a sea simulator,
because it can be covered the
desired workspace with different
joint motion ranges. Also, it is
more rigid than the Hexaslide
and Hexaglide that can satisfy
all limitations of the commercial 2. Increasing percentage of the error using belt-driven unit with respect to ball-
linear transmission. screw-driven unit.
Ball-screw drive was the best
selection as a Hexaglide linear
actuators (figure 2), but it
depends the required accuracy
of the wind turbine researcher. If
belt drive satisfy their accuracy,
they can use the belt drive
because it is cheapest linear
transmission.
The presented control method
can control the robot precisely.
The PID adaptive-robust
control has lowest error and
consequently the precision is
best among the other applied
control methods (figure 3). 3. Pose error percentage in three types of the control method.
580
A Method for Forecasting Design
Requirements based on Experts Knowledge
and Logistic Growth Curve.
Christopher Nikulin - Supervisor: Gaetano Cascini
The rate of technological
innovation increased
considerably in the last
years. This situation forced
companies to quickly adapt their
organization, processes and
products to better answer the
emerging demands from the
society. In such a continuous
fight to survive, companies
need to anticipate the main
features of future products and
related manufacturing processes
as essential mechanisms to
keep their market position,
competitiveness, and moreover
to support the innovation
process.
In this dynamic scenario,
the constant evolution of
products and processes create
emerging and non-obvious
problems challenging those
who conceptualize, develop and
implement the new solutions,
known as design engineers.
In this scenario, a relevant
research goal in the engineering
design domain is the definition
and identification of suitable
methods and tools to anticipate
main features of products and
processes, which have to be
capable of driving, with more
efficiency, the design process
and also support decision
makers about technological
choice. This mentioned need is
pushing design engineers for
methods, models, and tools
to better answer emerging
demands and changes by
exploring Technology Forecasting
(TF) methods.
In this scenario, understanding
which forecasting methods,
techniques and tools can be
suitably introduced in general
design process emerged as a
research opportunity in the
design domain. In specific,
this PhD thesis attempts at
shed light on the forecasting
methods suitable to be used and
adopted by design engineers, by
taking into account their skills,
knowledge and background.
Research method and
contribution
The first contribution of
this research concerns the
formalization of knowledge
among different domains.
The major contribution of
the present research, in turn,
consists in the consequent
introduction of a method for
forecasting design requirements
usable by design engineers
without previous experience
in forecasting. The research
proposal has been structured
in the following tasks: i)
Formalization of the semantics
of the requirements. This
allows keeping a structured
and systematic description of
the requirements during the
elicitation process, simplifying
the transfer of knowledge; ii)
Formalization of forecasting
methods compatible with
design engineers knowledge.
This approach offers a frame
useful to synthesize and
create recommendations for
design engineers bringing the
knowledge from forecasting
experts to the design users;
iii) Proposal of a method for
forecasting design requirements
capable to support design
engineers to anticipate
information about design
requirements. The latter is
the main contribution of this
research. It should be intended
as a contribution to the design
theory and practice to generate
solutions that are capable
of having a more resilient
response to product changes,
but can be useful also to drive
R&D strategies and related
investments.
The proposed process is
organized according to the
core elements of a forecasting
method, as proposed by
Martino (1993), to keep a
more structured and systematic
approach to develop a
forecasting analysis. Specifically,
this contribution focuses on
three main aspects: identification
of relevant requirements;
identification among the
requirements of the variables
possibly behaving according to
a logistic model; logistic growth
analysis.
The proposed method for
identifying requirements suitable
for representing the evolution of
the technical system under study
consists of seven sequential
steps; requirements can be both
quantitative and qualitative.
1. Management of knowledge
for design requirements in the
framework of the system operator.
Circled numbers refer to the steps of
the procedure of the method, and
arrows represent the logical flow
from one screen to the other.
The achievements of the
research activities have been
subdivided into three different
criteria: i) Theoretical structural
validity (Pedersen et al., 2000):
i) Empirical performance
validity (Pedersen et al.,
2000): iii) Capability of the
method to guide the design
engineers without experience in
forecasting.
Results and conclusions
The proposed objectives
and goals of this research
have been achieved by using
different approaches. First
of all, theoretical structural
validity has been achieved
by the individuation of a
set of techniques from the
forecasting research field in
order to properly carry out the
regression analysis to support
the early design phases. Several
contributions were developed
as a theoretical framework
for the organization of design
requirements i.e. Element-
Name-Value logic was used to
describe requirements with time
perspective and formalization of
knowledge for the application of
logistic growth curve. Moreover,
test with students allowed
validating the suitability of the
adopted models in this research.
Regarding the empirical
performance validity, case
studies were developed in two
different industrial contexts
as white good in the context
of the FORMAT-project and
mining industry in the context
of Cluster Mining-project.
Industrial partners recognized
the usefulness of the approach
in producing results that clarify
the directions of development
for their product and process.
For what concerns the FORMAT-
project, the method has been
useful in order to support
the overall methodology of
the project at bringing new
information about vacuum
forming technologies. Moreover,
the proposed method has
brought positive amendments
to the overall FORMAT-
methodology, mainly for
what concerns the analysis of
information, known as stage-A.
For what concerns to the Cluster
Mining-project, the method has
been useful to clarify directions
of R&D about mining mill.
Regarding the ability of the
method to guide design
engineers without experience
in forecasting, the control
group test has been useful to
validate the method steps. The
method steps allowed gaining
new insights and conclusions
about the product of which
testers were not aware before.
Moreover, the group working
with the method was capable to
bring better results than those
freely working. Remarkably,
the testers with the method
PhD Yearbook | 2015
exploited in a better way the
data available in order to drive
conclusions for product (i.e.
washing machine). In terms of
repeatability, the testers with
the method have demonstrated
to be capable to follow all the
steps without the presence
of a facilitator. The results 581
of the NASA task load index
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
showed that the method does
not require so much workload
demand, and consequently it
can be used and adopted by
design engineers without a deep
forecasting expertise (as the
testers were).
Finally, the author did not have
the opportunity to explore
the benefits of the method
application in the overall
design process, starting from
elicitation of requirements
until the final design proposal.
Nevertheless, given the over-
mentioned results, the author
considers that the method can
be embedded in any Product
Development Process or used
as a complementary analysis
as demonstrated during the
different case studies along
this research. Noteworthy,
the method is able to support
different users with lacks of
knowledge in statistics (i.e. not
only design engineers).
582
Data Fusion for Process Optimization and
Surface Reconstruction
Luca Pagani - Supervisor: Bianca Maria Colosimo
Last years are characterized
by the impact of global trends
and manufacturing technology
is faced with a number of
different challenges. The
topics of customized products,
reduced life time, increased
product complexity and global
competition have become
essential in production today.
The changing in modern
manufacturing towards a
customized productions is
characterized by high-variety
and high-quality products, a
paradigm shift in metrology is
coming on.
Information that concerning
the state of the products and
production processes is obtained
with the aid of metrology.
Due to this paradigm shift, the
complexity and accuracy of
the product requirements are
increasing.
At the same time, smart
sensorization of equipment
and processes is providing new
opportunities, which have to be
appropriately managed. A large
amount of data can be available
to aid production and inspection
and appropriate methods to
process the big data have to information (Fusion model).
be designed.
In this scenario, multisensor
data fusion methods can
be employed to achieve
both holistic geometrical
measurement information and
improved reliability or reduced
uncertainty of measurement
data to an increasing extent.
The main purpose of this thesis
is to explore new approaches
for reconstructing a surface
starting from different sources
of information, which have to
be appropriately fused. Surface
is meant in a broad sense, both
as the geometric pattern of a
physical object to be inspected
and as the surface representing
a response function to be
optimized.
The first part of the thesis
focuses on the reconstruction
of the surface geometry via
data fusion. In this case, it is
assumed that multiple sensors
are acquiring the same surface,
providing different levels of
data density and/or accuracy/
precision. The thesis starts
exploring the performance of
a two-stage method, where
Gaussian Processes (also known
as kriging) are appropriately used
as modeling tool to combine
the information provided by
two sensors. Figure 1 shows the
reconstructed surface, with the
error map, using only one sensor
(Lo-Fi and Hi-Fi models) and
properly combining the available
the best setting of the process
Then, the thesis faces the
problem of suggesting a data
fusion method when large
point clouds, i.e., big data (as
the ones commonly provided
by non-contact measurement
systems) have to be managed.
In this case, the use of
PhD Yearbook | 2015
583
Gaussian Processes poses some
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
computational challenges and
this is why a different method
based on multilevel B-spline is
proposed.
As a second contribution, the
thesis presents a novel method
for data fusion, where the
uncertainty of the specific
measurement system acquiring
a: Low fidelity model b: High fidelity model c: Fusion model
data is appropriately included
in the data fusion model to 1. Prediction of the surface with error map
represent the uncertainty
propagation.
Eventually, the thesis faces
the problem of using surface
modeling to quickly detect
possible out-of-control states of
the machined surface. Starting
from a real case study of laser-
textured surface, an approach
to combine surface modeling
with statistical quality control is
proposed and evaluated.
The second part of the thesis
focuses on using data fusion
for process optimization.
In this second application,
data provided by computer
simulations and real experiments
are fused to reconstruct the
response function of a process.
In this case, the aim is to find
parameters to maximize the
process performance. It is
shown how data fusion can be
effectively used in this context to
reduce the experimental efforts.
584
Microstructural evolution of austenite
during and after hot deformation of
steels
Alessandro Angiolo Paggi - Relatore: Maurizio Vedani
In the last 50 years, economic
and technical demands have
forced the steel industry to
develop innovative processes
to supply the transportation,
energy and construction
market with high strength,
high toughness and cost-
effective steels. This has
led to the development of
thermomechanical processes
(TMP) able to refine the
austenitic grains and the final
microstructure after phase
transformation through the
control of rolling temperature of
microalloyed steels.
To design a TMP schedule it
is necessary to have detailed
models describing the
recrystallization kinetics and
the evolution of the size of
recrystallized and unrecrystallized
austenitic grains of steels during
and between each deformation
pass. Moreover these models, to
be industrially effective, have to
be coupled with Finite Element
Modelling (FEM) for the rolling
mill design.
Up to now, only empirical
models have proved to give
satisfactory results, but these
rely on a huge quantity of
parameters that have to be
calibrated by ad-hoc laboratory
tests. Unfortunately different
tests and different test analysis
methodologies usually give
different calibration parameters
for the same phenomenon and
therefore different FEM results.
Therefore, the aim of this work
has been to gain an effective
knowledge of the metallurgical
mechanisms at the basis of steel
microstructural evolution during
hot rolling and to compare
their hot characterization
methods, in order to identify
the most accurate ones to
be used together with FEM.
Since the approach adopted
in this research work is mostly
methodological, to simplify
the comparison of testing
methods, an AISI 304L austenitic
stainless steel has been studied
in torsion and compression at
temperatures between 900 C
and 1200 C and strain rates
from 0.001 s-1 to 10 s-1. The
recrystallization kinetics has been
studied using direct methods,
such as optical microscopy
and Electron Back-Scattered
Diffraction (EBSD) and indirect
ones, such as double hit and
stress relaxation tests.
The first part of this work
has been devoted to a critical
review of the wide literature
on these metallurgical
phenomena, focusing on
recovery and recrystallization of
steels. Despite the numerous
publications, it is still lacking
a detailed knowledge of
nucleation mechanisms of
recrystallized grains and a
framework of differential
equations describing the flow
stress curves of a recrystallizing
material. However, empirical
models supply to these
deficiencies, organizing the
metallurgical understandings in
equations that can be used for
steels microstructural evolution
modelling. The main weakness
of this approach is that the
models calibration parameters
are dependent on the
laboratory testing methods. For
example, researchers can decide
to characterize the hot flow
stress-strain behaviour of steels
by torsion or by compression
tests. Since, as shown in this
work, the flow stress curves are
different due to the different
response of materials to these
deformation modes and to
the presence of friction in the
compression tests, this kind of
decisions have an impact on the
constitutive parameters used to
summarize the hot deformation
behaviour of steels.
Beside these issues, also the
combination of experimental
uncertainties and analysis
methodologies have a
significant influence on
constitutive parameters. It was
demonstrated, using a Monte
Carlo method, that not all the
techniques can be used with the
same trustworthy. In particular,
it has been found which method
is the most robust against the
propagation of experimental
uncertainties and that the errors
in the determination of the flow
stress are the most important
aspects to be minimized in the
equipment design.
Also the assessment of the
recrystallization kinetics can be
performed in different ways.
Direct methods, based on the
observation of the evolution of
microstructure, can give many
details about nucleation and
growth mechanism, but they
are very time-consuming and
not always applicable. Indirect
methods, based on the study
of the effect of recrystallization
on mechanical properties, are
faster, but they can give only an
average information about the
behaviour of the material.
Concerning the microstructural
evolution during deformation,
the application of indirect
methods, such as the
differential analysis coupled
to the Quelennec model, has
permitted to calculate the
flow stress curves for different
combinations of temperature
and strain rate with very good
agreement with experimental
results and to evaluate indirectly
the recrystallization kinetics from
the flow stress curves shape
itself. On the other hand, the
recrystallizing microstructure
has been characterized in terms
of change in the diameter
and shape of grains by optical
microscopy. It was shown that
nucleation occurs at triple
junctions and serrated grain
boundaries and after the
formation of the first necklaced
structure the grain growth limits
the final refinement. All these
finding are in good agreement
with literature and theoretical
results. Finally, the comparison
of dynamic recrystallization
kinetics measured by direct and
indirect methods has shown a
reasonable agreement.
Regarding the microstructural
evolution after deformation, the
comparison between indirect
methods has confirmed that
double hit test can measure
slower recrystallization
kinetics than those obtained
by stress relaxation method.
Direct observation by optical
microscopy has shown that
nucleation of new grains
occurs at grain boundaries
and triple junctions with
a rate proportional to the
strain applied. After an initial
refinement, the microstructure
coarsens and the final grain
size is reduced proportionally
to the nucleation rate. EBSD
analysis, giving more details
on substructures produced
by the deformation, has
identified in the distribution
of deformation inside grains
the mechanism promoting and
limiting the growth of new
grains. The recrystallization
kinetics measured by EBSD has
shown to be more reliable than
the one measured by optical
microscopy and similar to the
ones measured indirectly. The
differences with double hit and
stress relaxation tests have been
PhD Yearbook | 2015
585
explained in terms of gradient of
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
deformation inside compression
samples.
According to the present work,
the direct analysis is the most
accurate way to study the high
temperature microstructural
evolution needed for the design
of a TMP, but a complete
characterization, taking into
account different temperatures,
strains and strain rates, grain
sizes and chemical compositions,
would require such a large
investment in time and research
efforts to be incompatible with
industrial product develop
ment times and requirements.
However, a careful indirect
analysis of the changes in the
high temperature mechanical
response can give many
information in a quicker time
and can significantly reduce the
metallographic campaign efforts.
586
Design and Motion Planning of Multi-Robot
Assembly Cells for Body-in-White Spot
Welding
Stefania Pellegrinelli - Advisors: Prof. Tullio Tolio, Prof. Anath Fischer
The number of industrial
robots worldwide is constantly
increasing. According to the
International Federation of
Robotics, 160,000 new robot
installations were sold in 2012,
leading to the second highest
level ever recorded for one year.
The majority of these robot
installations (about 40% of new
installations in 2012) are related
to the automotive sector and to
multi-robot cells for body spot
welding.
Multi-robot cells for spot
welding cells are robotic cells
in which several parts are
assembled by spot welding (Fig.
1). They are characterized by
different robots working at the
same time on a single body that
is handled by a transporter. The
body is generally composed of
two or more components that
are blocked during the welding
process by ad-hoc fixtures. The
design of the multi-robot cell
for spot welding relies on two
main steps: cell design and
off-line multi-robot motion
planning. Given the fixture,
the body and the welding
points, cell design concerns the
selection of the resources, such
as robots and welding guns,
and their displacement in the
space cell while considering
productivity, costs, flexibility
and reconfigurability. Motion
planning concerns the allocation
of the welding points to the
resources, i.e. a robot and its
welding gun, and the definition
of a motion plan for each robot
so that the body is correctly
assembled, while coping with
cycle time and avoiding collisions
between the robot and the
fixture or among robots.
Currently, cell design and motion
planning are sequential and
completely manual activities,
generally managed from
different industrial functional
units. Moreover, due to these
activity subdivisions, several
cycles are needed for obtaining a
feasible final solution. However,
each cycle causes delays and
errors that could be avoided
through better integration of
these activities.
The proposed approach aims
at defining a methodology
for optimizing the cell design
while reducing time and error
due to the lack of integration
between the design and the
motion planning. The idea is to
exploit existing motion planning
1. Multi-robot cell for car body spot welding.
techniques in order to define
a new cell design approach
that is highly integrated with
motion planning. The research
copes with the following topics:
cell design, motion planning
for single-robot cells, motion
planning for multi-robot cells,
collision detection and multi-
resolution simulation.
The thesis proposes a 5-stage
approach (Fig. 2) able to
provide the cell design and
the coordinated robot motion
plan. Motion planning is based
on an off-line decoupled
motion planning techniques
for high-dimensional spaces
and articulated robots in order
to grant applicability to multi-
robot cell for spot welding. The
motion plan for each single
robot is defined through existing
techniques (Stage 1), whereas
the coordination of the robot
is based on a new developed
model applied to articulated
robots (Stage 2 and 3). The
existing techniques employed in
Stage 1 (probabilistic roadmap)
have been modified in order
to best adapt to the high
complexity of the environment
that characterizes multi-robot
spot-welding cells. Several
algorithms were developed
exploiting the information
coming from the technological
process of the spot welding.
The motion plan is based
on the Open Robot Realistic
Library that, representing the
virtualization of the robot
motion planner, catches the real
robot behavior during trajectory
generation. OBB hierarchical
decomposition (Stage 5) is
employed for collision checking
and as a basis for multi-
resolution simulation. Cell design
is solved simultaneously to multi-
robot motion planning in Stage
3. It copes with the selection
of the best resources among
a set of preselected resources
according to a cost minimization
criterion, the definition of the
position of the resources in the
systems (position/orientation of
the robot and allocation of the
welding guns to the robots) and
the allocation of the welding
points to the robots. The
approach does not currently take
into account the flexibility and
reconfigurability of the system.
The final provided solution is
validated through simulation
(Stage 4).
The approach was tested on
PhD Yearbook | 2015
587
three ad-hoc cases and two needed for the resolution of the
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
industrial cases provided by design and motion planning can
the Italian company COMAU be decreased from some weeks
S.p.A. The three ad-hoc cases of manual work to some days
were successfully solved. The of simulation and manual work.
influence of the environment Manual work will be limited
complexity on the single-robot to the preparation of the data
motion planning and on the and to adjustment of the final
final solution was addressed solution, if needed.
through a detailed study of
the first industrial test case.
Specifically, the need for motion
planning algorithms taking
into account the technological
problem of the spot welding
was proved. The resolution
of the second industrial case
represented a successful test bed
for the whole approach.
According to the analyzed
cases, the employment of
this methodology can provide
useful support for robotic and
automotive companies. The time
2. Approach
588
VIRTUAL HOMOLOGATION OF HIGH-SPEED TRAIN
AERODYNAMICS: EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL
STUDIES
Antonio Premoli - Supervisor: Prof. Federico Cheli
Interest in the aerodynamics
of trains has grown in the last
30 years, especially with the
introduction of new high-speed
rolling stock. The necessity
to increase run safety and
train interoperability between
European countries has led
to define standards like CEN
and TSI. So, a new train that is
designed to run on the European
high-speed line must fulfil
requirements on its aerodynamic
behaviour defined in the TSI.
The requirements usually ask
for full scale experiments or
experimental tests on reduced-
scale models in wind tunnel or
moving model test rig. Especially
for full scale experiments, the
cost for homologation tests
is very high since they have
to be carried out during the
night in absence of commercial
traffic and performed several
times over a long stretch of the
line in order to consider the
different features that could
be encountered such as slope,
tunnels, curves and different
infrastructures.
In the present research an
investigation of the possibility
to rely on virtual homologation,
consisting of CFD methods and
wind tunnel tests, to simplify
homologation procedures with
respect to three aerodynamics
features of high- speed trains is
performed.
Regarding the effect of the
wind acting transverse to the
train, called crosswind, both
reduced-scale models in wind
tunnel and CFD simulations
are already provided by the
CEN norm. However, both the
approaches do not take into
account of the relative motion
between the train and the
infrastructure when the wind
is blowing. Neglecting this
effect may have an impact in
the definition of aerodynamic
force coefficients. In this study,
the quantification of the
differences in the coefficients
has been investigated by
means of CFD simulations
with a moving reference frame
approach, considering different
infrastructure scenarios:
the Single Track Ballast and
Rail (STBR) and the 6m high
embankment (EMBK). The
deflection of the flow induced
by the relative motion changes
the incoming flow conditions
on the front part of the train,
1. ETR500 leading vehicle force (CFZ) and moment (CMX) aerodynamic coefficients
with EMBK scenario.
while in the rear part this effect
is less important. Since the
effect is limited to a small part
of the whole train, the impact
on the aerodynamic coefficients
is not so pronounced. The
comparison between the results
of the simulations with still and
moving models highlighted
that considering the relative
motion between the train and
the infrastructure lead to larger
aerodynamic coefficients. The
variation is larger the larger is
the infrastructure dimension
with respect to the train
dimension. In fact, considering
the EMBK scenario, it has been
found an underestimation in the
aerodynamic coefficients of the
order of 10% in the considered
range of yaw angles, as shown
in Fig.1. The underestimation
of the aerodynamic coefficients
will lead to an underestimation
of the Characteristic Wind
Curves that represent the
limit conditions for the train
overturning.
Regarding the effect of the wind
generated by the train passing
trackside structures and people,
called slipstream, TSI standard
requires at least 20 independent
full scale measurements
with major restrictions on
environmental and infrastructure
conditions. These tests are very
expensive both in terms of
time and costs. In the present
work the possibility to study the
slipstream problem using a still
model in wind tunnels will be
investigated. The benefits from
working on a still model in a
wind tunnel are that ambient
conditions can be controlled
during all the test runs and it is
possible to avoid the problem
of small measuring time, but
an appropriate measuring
system should be adopted.
In this case CFD simulations
can be used as a useful tool
for designing the wind tunnel
experiment and testing different
solutions in advance. Since the
slipstream strongly depends on
the generated turbulence, a
DES numerical model has been
applied, in order to capture the
smaller flow structures that form
near the surface the train with
an adequate computational
effort. Different CFD models
have been developed and the
results have been compared to
the full scale measurements. It
was found that the boundary
layer on the ground and the
ballast plays an important role
for the slipstream assessment
and in Fig. 2 it is shown how the
vorticity develops in the rear part
of the train. The wind tunnel set-
up has been defined according
to these information and it was
found that WT measurements
overestimate the numerical
results. Again, the development
of the ground boundary layer
represented the major problem.
BL could be better controlled by
reducing the splitter plate in the
upstream direction and using
a porous floor on the splitter
plate in order to prevent its
generation.
2. Vorticity generated by the train
reproduced by means of CFD
simulations.
The flow generated in the
underbody region of the train
lead to a phenomenon called
ballast lifting and it has been
recognised in the TSI as an
open point. Ballast pick-up
PhD Yearbook | 2015
589
depends not only on the train
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
underbelly geometry but also
on the track conditions, so
there are lots of parameters
that need to be taken into
account. In order to better
understand this phenomenon,
an experimental set-up has been
defined to measure air flow and
forces in the train underbody
region during different test
campaigns. Then a numerical
CFD model, composed of a
full scale model of ETR500
put on the STBR scenario, has
been defined to simulate the
undercar flow. Effects of ballast
stones and sleepers have been
taken into account through
rough wall functions. Results
showed a good agreement
between experimental measures
and numerical model, both in
terms of velocity profile and
of forces acting at the ballast
level. This tool could be used to
perform forecast analyses. For
instance, with the numerical
model it should be possible to
consider different train speeds
or different train underbelly
geometry, without the necessity
of performing full scale tests,
that are much more expensive
and time-consuming.
590
A METHODOLOGY FOR AFFORDING USER
EXPERIENCES
Francesco Pucillo - Supervisor: Prof. Gaetano Cascini
We dont sell product. We sell
experiences. Sentences like this
one are increasingly common
in companies advertisements.
In a same fashion, the number
of scientific publications about
User Experience (UX) is quickly
raising: the research user
experience on Scopus returns
about 11,500 entries, but less
than one fifth of them are older
than 2005. UX can be defined
as a persons perceptions and
responses resulting from the
use and/or anticipated use of
a product, system or service.
However, the design for the UX
has gained several criticisms,
related to some limitations
that both researchers and
practitioners aim to overcome.
Firstly, an experience cannot
be designed, nor guaranteed.
The purpose of designing
experiences could thus lead
designers to attempt to design
something that is not there
to be designed, such as the
user. Secondly, the design
of an interactive artefact,
to a certain extent, impacts
users behaviours, habits
and eventually experiences.
Hence, every designer or
design engineer developing
interactive artefacts acts as a UX
designer. From that perspective,
systematic approaches can result
with being valuable support to
those which have to deal with
the UX, albeit not being properly
UX designers. Nevertheless,
there is a lack of systematic
approaches suitable to support
design engineers in designing
for the UX.
This thesis deals with these
issues and tries to address
the following main research
question: How can we support
design engineers and companies
in effectively and efficiently
designing for the UX?. The
research question is thus
addressed as follows.
The first step arises from the
consideration that designing
experiences implies some risks.
In order to overcome said risks,
a novel formalisation for the
UX is outlined. More in detail,
after a critical discussion about
the role of the UX designer and
her/his designs, the relation
between the user and the
artefact is represented by means
of the concept of affordance;
a formulation in affordance is
thus proposed as a possible
solution to overcome the
above discussed issues. Hence,
the concept of Experience
Affordance is postulated as
follows. An artefact affords an
experience to a user when the
user has a certain psychological
need and the artefact has a
feature capable of fulfilling it.
A schematic representation of
Experience Affordances is shown
in Figure 1.
Such a formalisation
gives a prominent role to
the satisfaction of users
psychological needs. In this
fashion, on the one hand it takes
into account the subjectivity
of experiences, whilst on the
other hand it allows building a
systematic approach upon.
From this perspective, in order to
develop a systematic approach,
the concept of Experience
Affordance is expanded beyond
its definition and a theoretical
model that describes how
Experience Affordances work
developed. To this purpose,
it is assumed that Experience
Affordance can be seen as
proposals for needs satisfaction
made to the users; then, it
is argued that the process
through which the artefacts
offer these possibilities to the
users can be described as a
communication one. Hence, a
novel design-as-communication
model is proposed. Basing
on the Jakobson model of
communication, Experience
Affordances are then modelled
in a fashion that not only
highlights the elements that
play a role in providing users
with experiences of needs
satisfaction, but also the roles
these elements play.
Eventually, the main research
question of this thesis is
addressed through the
development of a systematic
approach, based on said design-
as-communication model.
Subsequently, such an approach
is implemented into a computer-
PhD Yearbook | 2015
591
based tool. This tool, called User need-finding activities and the throughout the whole UX design
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Experience Design Supporting evaluation stage. This offers, as process. This opportunity, as well
Tool (UXDST), aims to foster a main future opportunity, new as the main limitations of the
the ideation of novel artefact hints on the possibilities for a work, are critically discussed in
features capable of addressing novel integrated approach for the final chapter.
users psychological needs. supporting design engineers
Some exemplary screenshots
from the UXDST are shown
in Figure 2. Hence, the tool is
tested in order to preliminarily
verify its capability of supporting
the design for the UX and
individuate the most suitable
paths for future improvements.
Finally, a complementary
discussion is carried out: in
spite of being outside the main
contribution of this dissertation,
two further systematic methods
are proposed and discussed.
The first one is based on the
narrative analysis of user
stories, and aims to support
1. A schematic representation of an Experience Affordance
designers and design engineers
in individuating and highlighting
users psychological needs. The
second one, instead, roots in
Experience Affordances and
proposes such a formalisation
as a tool for evaluating the
possible experiences for needs
satisfaction offered by artefacts
to users. Therefore, after
a theoretical discussion an
exemplary application is shown.
The methods and tools proposed
in this dissertation refer to
different time phases of a design
process. Whilst the main part
deals with the synthesis of novel
solutions, the other methods
are related, respectively, to the 2. Exemplary screenshots from the UXDST
592
Methods for LCF life predictions in
presence of defects
Silvio Rabbolini - Supervisor: Stefano Beretta, Huseyin Sehitoglu
Nowadays, gas turbines and
other components employed
for power generation are
subjected to several load cycles
during their lifetime, since they
are switched on and turned
off several times each day, in
order to meet the peak loads
requested by users. High plastic
strain can be present in these
components, since high loads,
applied to the structures during
start-ups and turn-offs, can
generate yielding in certain
regions, such as near notches.
In order to take into account
these conditions, state-of-the-
art procedures consider fatigue
life assessment as a crack
propagation problem. Fatigue
crack growth is usually described
taking into account material
elastic-plastic behavior and
crack growth rates are described
as a function of elastic-plastic
parameters, such as the applied
plastic strain range or the cyclic
J-Integral.
These models, however, present
several limits. First there are
simplified equations based on
fatigue load cycles calculated by
adopting Masings hypothesis, a
feature that does not take into
account transient phenomena,
such as ratchetting and mean
stress relaxation. Then, they
consider the effects of crack
closure, but opening levels are
usually calculated by adopting
analytical models, known to be
precise only under fully reversed
loadings.
These conditions represent the
motivation and the starting
point of this Ph.D. thesis, which
aims to study crack propagation
in plastic zones. In this work
the attention is mainly focused
on the effects of crack closure
and material cyclic behavior
and to the possibility to apply
the general formulation of J
in fatigue life assessment for
components subjected to LCF
conditions.
In the first part of this work,
a general formulation of
was obtained, starting from
Dowlings original proposal. This
formulation, which does not
depend on Masings hypothesis,
allows the direct extraction of
the cyclic J-integral from the
remote fatigue cycle. This model
was employed to study fatigue
crack growth in presence of
plastic strain. It was found that
short crack propagation could
be accurately described only
if effective stress and strain
ranges were considered in
J-integral range calculations.
This means that, even during
propagation in the LCF regime,
crack closure plays an important
role. As proposed by state-
of-the-art procedures, it was
found that crack growth rates,
experimentally measured during
short crack propagation, lie
on reference curves obtained
from tests performed at high
stress ration on standard
compact tension specimens.
This condition was not met
when tests performed at high
temperature were considered.
In particular, it was found that
experimental data-points exhibit
a marked speed increment.
This increment was related to
a damage mechanism present
at crack-tip, which consisted
in a pattern of micro-cracks
surrounding defect main
body. Additional experimental
campaigns underlined the
fact that this phenomenon
is temperature dependent.
Because of this, a speed
factor was introduced in the
calculations for describing the
enhancement of crack growth
rates.
The same observations were
obtained in the second part
of the work, in which crack
propagation in presence of
notches was studied. This
activity was developed in
order to provide a crack
propagation model suitable
for real components. An
accurate study of the stress/
strain field of a compressor
disk, performed in order to
check material behavior near
the most critical parts of the
components, showed that disks
experience an elastic shakedown
condition. This situation is
related to the particular spinning
tests performed before final
installation and implies that an
approach based on LEFM can
be adopted, even if residual
strains are present. The strains
recorded during the experiments
confirmed the elastic shakedown
condition numerically simulated.
In particular, it was found that
the crack propagation model
accurately describes fatigue
crack growth when the stress/
strain cycle registered at the
notch root is fully reversed,
whereas it provides wrong
estimates when an applied mean
stress is present. This fact was
related to the wrong crack-
closure estimates provided by
the current analytical model.
Because of this, the attention
was shifted on the experimental
determination of crack closure.
An innovative technique
based on computer vision,
digital image correlation, was
employed to study crack-closure
in a Ni-based superalloy, Haynes
230. In this phase, single crystal
structure was considered, in
order to remove the effects
of grain boundaries in crack
opening/closing levels. Two
different techniques were
adopted: virtual extensometers,
placed along crack flanks, were
employed to check crack-closure
levels, whereas a regression
algorithm was used to extract
the effective stress intensity
factors from the singular field
present at the tip. In order to
validate the technique, cyclic
plastic zones were calculated
from extracted and compared to
PhD Yearbook | 2015
593
those calculated from numerical similar to those present in the
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
simulations, which considered linepipes were tested. It was
single crystal plasticity. Good found that good estimates could
agreement was found, be obtained only if experimental
underlining the capabilities opening/closing levels, together
of DIC in the study of fatigue with experimental stress
crack growth. Moreover, it was and strain amplitudes, were
found that crack propagation considered.
behavior of single crystals is
similar to the one observed
when polycrystalline structure is
considered.
In the final part of this work,
these techniques were applied
in the study of fatigue crack
growth in linepipes subjected
to severe loading conditions.
The particular loading condition
experienced by the tubes implied
the adoption of the crack
propagation model based on
. An experimental campaign
was performed to study crack
opening and closing loads
during propagation in presence
of very high plastic strains.
DIC was employed during
this activity, by adopting an
innovative technique based on
virtual strain gages positioned
near crack tip. It was found
that the levels calculated by the
analytical model proposed by
Newman underestimated the
effective stress and strain ranges
applied to the crack at Re=0.5.
In particular, it was observed
that, during LCF, a crack stays
open for almost the whole
fatigue cycle. At this point,
specimens containing defects
with constraint conditions
594
Low Frequency Vibrations analysis as a
method for condition based monitoring
system for railway axles
Pawe Rolek - Supervisor: Prof. Stefano Bruni
Introduction:
Railway axles are one of the
crucial elements providing
safety and functionality of
railway vehicles, thus special
attention to their health needs
to be paid. To prevent failure of
the axle periodical inspections
are performed. Railway axles
in modern vehicles are not
only transferring load but also
providing support for brakes
and other auxiliary elements,
thus their proper inspection
against faults requires complete
disassembling process and use
of one of the nondestructive
diagnostic techniques (like
ultrasonic scan, eddy current
test, etc.). This approach has
significant disadvantage:
inspection needs to be performed
in workshop which is time, effort
and money consuming. Due to
the lack of information about
the state of the axle during its
operation the inspections are
performed periodically on time
or kilometer basis, which can
cause either money loss for
operator in case of unnecessary
check (no problems found) or
serious accidents in case of
axle failure due to overcome
of critical condition before
planned inspection. In presented
work analysis of application of
the Low Frequency Vibration
measurement approach for
railway axle online condition
based monitoring system is
presented.
1. Low Frequency Vibration
analysis (LFV)
LFV is based on the measure of
harmonic components in the
axle bending vibration having
periodicity which is an integer
sub-multiple of the revolution
period. These vibrations
are induced by the crack-
breathing mechanism and by
asymmetry in the bending inertia
of the axle, as produced by a
stiffness reduction introduced by
propagating transversal crack.
Abovementioned vibrations have
a low-frequency nature, and due
to this fact the measurements
can be conducted by using
simple, robust and inexpensive
transducers. This method
was initially proposed for
crack detection in the shaft
of turbo-machinery [1], and
was demonstrated to provide
reliable results for this kind
of application based on
experiments performed on a
laboratory test rig, however due
to different work specification
of railway axle (speeds much
lower than first critical, not
stable working conditions due
to additional excitation sources,
weather condition influence,
etc.) successful application in
railway field was not obvious.
2. Experimental tests and
results
The experimental full-scale tests
have been carried out by means
of the Dynamic Test Bench for
Railway Axles (BDA) available at
the labs of Politecnico di Milano
Department of Mechanical
Engineering. In particular, a
three point rotating bending
was applied to the full-scale
specimen via an actuator group
and an electric motor: in this
way, both constant amplitude
and block loading fatigue or
crack propagation tests could be
carried out.
LFV signals have been acquired
by means of three laser
transducers to monitor possible
damage occurrence and its
development during the axle
operation under load. Because
of difficulties to monitor axial
vibration in real application
authors have focused only on
vibration measurement in radial
direction. Two laser transducers
have been mounted in vertical
direction and one in horizontal
direction pointing to the central
region of the axle, which
allowed to obtain the highest
displacements produced by
the applied loads. For speed
detection and absolute phase
lag analysis Tachometer signal
(one per rev signal) has been
obtained from the electric motor
used to rotate the axle.
During experiment campaign
a number of nxRev harmonics
appeared in the measured signal
and after trending process the
increase in the level of vibration
became evident for some of
them.
The 1xRev component showed
the largest increase in amplitude
at the final stage of the tests
(and hence with the abrupt
increase of the crack size).
The amplitude of the 2xRev
component was also sensitive
to the number of cumulated
loading blocks. The 3xRev
component showed a lower
sensitivity to the number of
block loading repetitions, still a
nearly monotonically increasing
trend, but the trend was less
clear, probably on account of
disturbances such as thermal
effects that may produce a bow
of the rotating axle. Finally the
amplitudes of the remaining
4xRev to 7xRev components
remained very low during
the whole tests with a slight
increase in the final stage of the
test. In conclusion, the 1xRev,
2xRev and in some cases also
3xRev harmonic components
of vibration signal appear to
be the best suited to be set in
relationship with the presence
(and possibly with the size)
of a propagating crack in the
axle. It is necessary to keep in
mind that not only increase of
amplitude of vibration signal
can indicate presence of fault.
Some experimental results are
showing decrease in amplitudes
during initial stage of crack
development, which could
be explained by influence of
opposing phases of generated
signals [2].
3. 3D model analysis and
results
3D analysis by finite element
method was used to investigate
vibrations inducted by breathing
mechanism of crack existing
in railway axle under working
conditions (applied loads and
rotations). Finite element model
of axle was discretised by means
of reduced integration C3D8R
elements. Due to the fact that
model was experiencing high
number of revolutions second
order accurate formulation
elements from explicit library
were used. Axle crack was
introduced in model as fixed size
discontinuity in finite element
mesh. Since crack breathing
mechanism was most important
phenomena to investigate
during simulation contact
parameters were defined at both
sides of cracked specimen walls
(crack lips), which allowed to
simulate opening and closing of
crack lips caused by rotational
bending. During simulation
analysis campaign two scenarios
were investigated: laboratory
test equivalent scenario and
railway case scenario, where the
latter one including additional
excitations raised by wheel
and rail irregularities was
representing more closely real
working conditions of railway
axle.
The laboratory scenario
simulation results appeared
to be in good qualitative
agreement with the
measurements performed in
the full-scale tests on cracked
axles. In particular the ratios of
the amplitude for the 1st and
2nd harmonic were in good
agreement with these that can
be observed during laboratory
test. The absolute amplitude
of vibration obtained at the
end of the tests performed on
cracked axles was consistent
with the amplitude obtained
by means of Finite Element
simulations for a crack in the
range of 25% to 35% which
was roughly consistent with the
final crack amplitude found on
the specimen at the end of the
laboratory test.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
Simulations including additional
sources of excitation coming
from wheel-rail interaction
(railway simulation case) showed
that irregularity levels reported
on worn railway wheels are
not overcoming vibrations
caused by 35% deep crack
in the axle, thus allowing to 595
assume that the detection of
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
a crack in similar size is highly
probable during vehicle service.
1xRev and 2xRev harmonics
occurred to be the most
suitable to indicate presence
of crack. Comparison of two
cases with different crack depth
(30% and 35%) revealed that
NxRev vibration components
are undergoing higher rate of
change of amplitude due to
crack propagation than from
developing out-of-roudness
profile of wheel allowing to
assume that that axle condition
monitoring based on LFV is
capable of delivering diagnostic
results even during further
degradation of wheel profile.
Bibliography :
[1] Pennacchi P., Bachschmid
N., Vania A.: A model-based
identification method of
transverse cracks in rotating
shafts suitable for industrial
machines, Mechanical Systems
and Signal Processing, Vol. 20,
2006, 2112-2147.
[2] R. B. Randall, Vibration-based
condition monitoring: industrial,
aerospace and automotive
applications: John Wiley & Sons,
2011
596
Model Based Compliance Shaping Control
of Light-Weight Manipulator in Hard-
Contact Industrial Applications
Loris Roveda - Supervisor: Prof. Francesco Braghin
Light-weight manipulators
are increasingly used in
interacting robotic tasks where
reduced mass and (controlled)
compliance are required to
ensure safety and adaptability.
Interacting tasks are generally
referred to both human-robot
interaction (e.g. handling
assistance) and robot machining
(e.g. automatic assembly or
surface finishing). Moreover,
lightweight manipulators are
often mounted on flexible
structures or mobile platforms.
In such applications the
dynamics of the interaction is
affected by the robot base and
the environment, in addition to
the dynamics of the controlled
robot.
The critical compliant scenario
(i.e., compliant robot base,
controlled robot, environment
and, eventually, human
operator) may cause the
presence of natural frequencies
in the operating bandwith of
the manipulator due to the
coupled dynamics, significantly
influencing the interaction
accuracy in a wide critical
bandwith. Such condition
may give rise to excitation of
resonances of the coupled
system that could hinder the
stability of the task execution
(especially during contacts
transients). Moreover, the base
elasticity is remarkably crucial
from the controller performance
point of view. Both dynamic
and static deformation of the
robot base may affect the
task execution, resulting in
decreasing performance (e.g.
steady-state errors) and task
failures (e.g. instabilities).
Interaction control has long been contexts).
investigated in order to safely
execute such applications.
Impedance control is particularly extend (a) and (b) algorithms to
suitable for interacting
applications, allowing to
define a target dynamics (i.e.,
mass, stiffness and damping
parameters).
Although impedance methods
are proved to be dynamically
equivalent to explicit force
controllers, a direct tracking
of the interaction is not
straightforwardly allowed.
To overcome this limitation
preserving the properties of
the impedance behaviour two
different families of methods
have been mainly introduced:
class (a) force (or position)
tracking controllers and class (b) (a) and (b) methods, tuning on-
impedance variable impedance
controllers.
Limitations of class (a) are
related to the limited bandiwth
of the controllers to avoid
instabilities dealing with
changing environments.
Limitations of described class
(b) are related to the absence of Kalman Filter (EKF).
the runtime estimation of the
environment stiffness.
Additionally, both class (a) and
(b) are not considering force
overshoots avoidance.
Moreover, compliant robot
base state-of-the-art methods
do not consider contact
tasks or consider the use of
external sensors (i.e., reduced
applicability to industrial
The purpose of this Thesis is to
a global impedance shaping to
overcome described limitations:
avoid force overshoots/
instabilitie;
compensate for compliant
robot base.
The novelty of the defined
approach is the possibility
to track a target interaction
force (or deformation) while
modifying the impedance of
the global interacting scenario,
having a complete estimate
of the complete plant. This is
defined as impedance shaping.
This is done evolving from class
line both the position set-point
and the stiffness and damping
parameters of the impedance
control based on both the force
error and the on-line estimated
stiffness of the interacting
environment, obtained
implementing an Extended
Eventually, such control scheme
is capable to consider the
compliant robot base scenario
in order to compensate for the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
597
compliant robot base dynamics. real assembly tasks. Results
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
In this case, the defined control show the effectiveness of the
strategy takes into account proposed control strategies,
the estimated position of the compared with control schemes
manipulator base to correct in literature (in particular, a
the position set-point of the second order explicit force
impedance control, obtained tracking controller based on the
implementing a Kalman Filter impedance control), that show
(KF) to avoid the use of external force overshoots, instabilities
sensors. and lower dynamic performance.
The proposed control scheme Topics covered in this Thesis
has been developed based on have been developed and tested
an incrementally study of the at ITIA-CNR, IRAS group.
described complex scenario.
Firstly, the rigid robot base
scenario has been taken into
account (focusing on the robot
- environment interaction).
Then, the compliant robot
base scenario has been taken
into account (focusing on the
compliant robot base dynamics).
A complete model of the
interaction dynamics is needed
as the proposed control
strategies are model-based and
to design the observers.
Developed dynamic models have
been validated, especially the
impedance control model of the
closed-loop robot dynamics (i.e.,
static and dynamic impedance
behaviour validation). Then,
observers and control strategies
have been developed, using the
developed models to synthesize
the algorithms and to study the
closed-loop stability.
Developed control strategies
have been validated in a
598
Innovative technique to assess tensile
axial load in tie-rods by means of dynamic
measurements
Matteo Scaccabarozzi - Supervisor: Prof. Alfredo Cigada
This thesis deals with a new
method to estimate axial load
in tie-rods by means of indirect
measurements. The knowledge
of this information is of great
importance to assess the health
of the tie-rod itself and of the
whole structure, which the
beam is inserted in.
The method is based on dynamic
measurements and require the
experimental estimation of
the tie-rod eigenfrequencies
and mode shapes in a limited
number of points. Furthermore,
the approach requires to develop
a simple finite element model,
which is then cross-correlated
with the experimental data by
means of a model updating
procedure.
The aim of the present work is
to design, develop and validate
an innovative technique to asses
the tie-rod axial load, based on
dynamic measurements and
able to overcome most of the
problems and limitations of the
previous approaches. Particularly,
the method is expected:
to be simple to apply
(both experimentally and
numerically);
to give accurate assessment
of tensile force (results as
good as or better than those
achieved by the best methods
in literature)
to be effective with different
kinds of tie-rods (e.g. with
both uniform and non-uniform
beam cross-sections);
that should not need any
accurate estimation of material
data, working properly even
with rough nominal data;
to work even with operational
modal analysis in order to
apply an effective continuous
monitoring of tie-rods.
In order to achieve a
method based on dynamic
measurements, the modal
behavior of tie-rods was
investigated. The tensile load
is the object of the analysis,
but the tie-rod dynamic
behaviour is affected also by
other parameters: some are
measurable and therefore
considered as known (e.g. the
cross section area) and others
are unknown (e.g. the actual
free beam length , the Youngs
modulus and density of the
material). The behaviour of
the constraints at the end are
unknown as well. The stiffness
of the constraints is represented
by the equivalent torsional
stiffness in the model of the
tie-rod . The following method
was developed to assess the
axial load:
i. identify the first tie-rod
eigenfrequencies by means of
experimental tests;
ii. asses by identifying the
eigenvector components in
two points;
iii. build a FE model of the tie-rod
where the material properties
are fixed to nominal values
and the geometry is assumed
to be measured. The value of
comes from point ii of this list
iv. use the FE model to build the
relationship between the value
of each eigenfrequency and
the axial load . The tie-rod
axial load is estimated as the
mean of the various values .
v. the value of is refined by
means of a modal updating
procedure, by cross-correlating
the FE model results with the
experimental data in terms of
eigenfrequencies.
The method takes into account a
reasonable range of uncertainty
for each unknown parameter.
Two methods for assessing were
investigated. One is effective
also working with environmental
forcing, the other led to a
feature useful to estimated the
actual beam free length .
Extensive numerical simulations
and experimental were carried
out tests in order to validate the
method.
Numerical validation was carried
out by means of Montecarlo
simulations on different case
studies. Results are represented
in terms of, where is the true
value of axial load in the
beam. For a case study, Fig. 1
shows the results in terms of
average value of and the results
distribution pointed out by the
interval and the boundary values
and , for different value of axial
load and constriant stiffness.
Results before and after the
model updating are shown.
1. Errors in estimations before and after the updating procedure
The experimental validation was
performed on a test rig as similar
as possible to an actual tie-rod.
The tests were carried out with
different levels of axial load
and different stiffness of the
constraints. In order to simulate
also a real low level of stiffness,
some rubber layers were put
between the elements of the
clamps which constraint the
beam ends. The experimental
tests were performed by
measuring the input force on
the beam as well as by providing
only the environmental forcing.
Results are shown in Fig. 2.
The experimental tests show
that the maximum discrepancy
(after updating) on load
estimation was lower than 10%,
in strict accordance with the
numerical validation.
In conclusion, the
comprehension of the basic
effects of geometrical and
mechanical variables on the
cases) to that associated to
modulus of the material with a
modal behaviour of a beam
was the starting point to design
the new method to assess the
axial load. The eigenfrequencies
of the beam were found to
be suitable to estimate the
axial load but the analyses also
showed that an estimation of
the stiffness of the constraints
was necessary prior to any other
task. Hence, methods two assess
the stiffness of the constraints
2. experimental test results
were investigated.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
Montecarlo simulations were
thus performed in order to check
the reliability of the designed
method and to understand
the level of confidence of the
achieved results. The results
showed that this new method
is able to guarantee an accuracy
close (or even better in some 599
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
the best methods in literature
with less constraints (e.g. the
necessity to know the Youngs
very high accuracy).
Finally an experimental validation
of the method was carried out
and the results confirmed those
coming from the Montecarlo
simulations.
Therefore, the designed method
reaches all the goals fixed at
the beginning of the work and
it is noticed that the developed
procedure does not require
to measure the input to the
structure. Furthermore, the
number of sensors required to
measure the response of the
beam is limited to two. This
makes the current method much
cheaper with respect to most of
the referenced techniques, even
enabling to carry out continuous
monitoring of the tie-rods.
600
Title: Human body response to multi-axial
dynamical vibrations.
Stefano Solbiati - Supervisor: Giovanni Moschioni
Body-transmitted vibrations
could lead to serious
consequences on health.
Vibration transmitted to the
body generate cyclic stresses
critical for the spine and may
lead to musculoskeletal disorders
(i.e. low-back pain) besides
physical and psychological
fatigue.
Many studies focused on
understanding the dynamics
of the body both in seated
and standing postures. These
studies evidenced a general
nonlinear behaviour which was
investigated under different
experimental conditions (i.e.
vibration magnitude, postures
and other anthropometric
parameters). Despite the
huge amount of material,
the variability of the human
body dynamics was not still
clearly understood, being
the issue more complex than
expected; the main open issue,
is that the variability due to
the nonlinear behaviour of the
biodynamic response has not
been systematically compared
to the inter- and intra-subject
variability.
Aim of this work was
the identification of the
nonlinearities affecting the
response of the human body
exposed to whole-body
vibrations. The research was
entirely addressed to the
characterization of the response
for standing persons using a
novel approach for the study of
the nonlinearities of the body-
transmitted vibrations. This field
was not completely explored
and few works were reported in
the literature. Besides the lack of
material, the largely described
nonlinear behaviour was often
in contrast or not fully supported
by the experimental results: e.g.
nonlinearities with respect to the
vibration magnitude were found
even if the ordinary coherence
function was close to unity.
The research activity was carried
out according to the following
steps:
1. characterization of the
apparent mass in case of
vertical whole-body vibration;
2. identification of the
nonlinearities;
3. design and realization of a
suitable excitation system
and setup for measuring
the apparent masses in the
basicentric reference system;
4. characterization of the full
(three-by-three) matrix of
apparent masses for the
standing persons;
5. characterization of the
response in case of multi-axial
vibrations (no more than two
axes contemporarily excited).
The study of the nonlinearities
was performed for both single-
axis and multi-axial vibrations.
The reference parameter for
the biodynamic response of the
human body was the apparent
mass (hereafter APMS), i.e. the
of the nonlinear terms to the
modelled nonlinear terms did
frequency response function
between the transmitted force
and the applied acceleration.
In the first part of this work,
nonlinearities were identified
by conditioning the APMS
deriving from the vertical
whole-body vibration (WBV)
with a set of nonlinear functions
of the acceleration; both the
acceleration and the force were
measured only along the vertical
direction.
Afterwards, the full (three-by-
three) matrix was identified with
a purposely-designed excitation
system composed by two
electrodynamic shakers and a tri-
axial force plate. The excitation
was initially mono-axial and the
force was measured along the
three coordinated axes. Both the
symmetry of the APMS matrix
and the effect of the vibration
magnitude were assessed with
paired t-student and Wilcoxon
signed-rank tests. In the last part
of the research, the response
(forces along three mutually
perpendicular directions) was
measured with the uncorrelated
excitation along two axes.
The APMS derived in these
conditions has been compared
with the one obtained upon
exciting a single axis.
Nonlinearities in the human
body response to vertical
WBV were analysed using the
conditioned output spectra
and the multiple coherence
functions. The contributions
and the cross-axis APMSs under
APMS were negligible (i.e. the
not take part in the definition
of the response) and the
nonlinearity was associated
to the variation of the modal
parameters in time, due to low
frequency motion during the
tests and involuntary muscular
actions. Both in the standing
and legs bent postures, the
responses modelled with
conditioned and linear models
were very similar and differences
between the ordinary and the
multiple coherence functions
were comparable to the intra-
subject variability.
The full three-by-three APMS
matrix was derived by exposing
subjects to independent
vibrations along the three
orthogonal axes. Such task
involved the design of either
a dual-axis excitation system,
made by the junction of two
electrodynamic shakers, or a
tri-axial force plate, for the
measurement of the transmitted
forces in the reference system.
For each axis, both the direct
and the cross-axis APMSs were
computed by the use of linear
estimators.
Generally, the normalized
APMS decreased in amplitude
towards higher frequencies,
except for the case of vertical
WBV where both the direct and
the frontal cross-axis APMSs
increased to a main resonance
peak (at about 5-6 Hz) and then
decreased to lower magnitudes.
Such coupling may suggest a
common vibration mode in the
xz-plane but it did not occur
under a reciprocal condition
(i.e any resonance rose on
both axes due to a frontal
excitation). No more couplings
were found between the direct
excitations along the other axes.
Unexpectedly, along the vertical
direction (z-axis) the human
body was found more sensitive
to vibrations. Independently on
the excitation axis, the direct
vertical APMS and both the
vertical cross-axis APMSs were
higher in magnitude than the
corresponding direct APMSs. In
facts, one would expect that the
major inertial contribute occurs
along the direction of excitation.
No differences occurred within
the APMSs being the vibration
magnitude not a driving
parameter for the modelling of
the biodynamic response.
Secondly, the same statistical
analysis were performed on
the APMS matrices of a single
individual. In this case, it was
observed a more dependence
of the response on the vibration
magnitude. Many differences
occurred at frequencies where
the aggregate responses
were found equal. Definitely,
the comparison between the
population and the individuals
APMS matrices evidenced
the more dependence of the
individuals response on the
vibration magnitude. This finding
may depend on the scatter in
the populations biometric data
whose uncertainty introduced on
the response is such to overlay
magnitude dependent effects.
The frontal cross-axis APMS
under vertical WBV was
conditioned for assessing
whether nonlinearities in the
response occurred. Results from
the linear estimators and the
conditioned quantities were
found similar. Further analysis
evidenced that the drop in the
coherence function was not
attributable to some nonlinearity
but the response was not
stationary. Consequently, the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
APMS matrix of an individual
was fully conditioned with
the same aim of proving the
extent of the nonlinearity. The
differences between the linear
estimators and the conditioned
quantities were comparable to
the intra-subject variability.
The APMS matrices in case 601
of dual-axis excitations were
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
characterized by exposing
subjects contemporarily
to independent vibrations
along either a primary or a
transversal directions (i.e.
with increasing magnitudes
of acceleration). Results from
the comparison between the
APMSs taken under single-
axis and dual-axis exposures
confirmed that the biodynamic
response was influenced by
the addition of a secondary
transversal acceleration. Such
dependence cannot be extended
either to all the directions of
excitation or within a specific
response path. It was found
a marginal contribute of the
overall magnitude of vibration
since dual-axis APMSs were
almost equal. As for the APMS
under single-axis excitations,
nonlinearity in the response due
to the addition of a secondary
vibration was more evident for
the individual rather than in
the sample population. Such
behaviour may again depend on
the variability in the populations
biometric data whose
uncertainty is such to overlay the
effects due to the addition of
extra-axis vibrations.
602
Uncertainty Evaluation and Performance
Verification of A 3D Geometric Focus-Variation
Measurement
Wahyudin Permana Syam - Supervisor: Prof. Givanni Moroni
Quality is an important aspect
of a product. High quality
product ensures the functionality
of assembled products and
the interchangeability among
products from different
manufacturers. To verify product
quality, tolerance verification
(geometrical measurement) by
means of coordinate measuring
systems has to be carried out.
Advancement of manufacturing
technology enables a significant
reduce of critical dimensions,
together with an increase of
geometric complexity. This
creates challenges in coordinate
metrology: tolerances become
tighter. Optical-based metrology
instruments are a potential
option to verify these tolerances.
But of course also in this case
traceability is a fundamental
aspect to ensure reliable
measurement results.
This thesis addresses the
problem of traceability of a
focus-variation microscope
as 3D coordinate measuring
system. First, the traceability of
the instrument will be discussed
considering its performance.
Proposals for reference artifacts
and procedures to conduct
performance verification
according to the ISO10360-8
and ISO10360-3 standards are
presented. These proposals
consider both 3-axis and
4-axis configurations of the
instrument.
Second, an approach is
PhD Yearbook | 2015
603
presented for task-specific ideal substitute geometries
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uncertainty evaluation by to sampling points will be
simulation, coherent with the discussed. An improvement
ISO15530-4 standard. The of non-linear least square
proposed simulation approach is fitting is presented, based on
based on spatial statistic model the optimization of the initial
considering the correlation solution through chaos method.
among captured points. To
support the simulation and
consider all significant error
sources, characterization studies
to investigate the influencing
factors of measurement by
focus-variation microscopy are
presented, too. Finally, industrial
case studies are carried out to
validate the simulator developed.
The validation conforms to the
ISO15530-4 standard.
As a by product of this study,
algorithms to associate
 604
Development and Implementation of Optical
Measurement Systems for Tyre Footprint
Stress Field
Andrea Zanoni - Supervisor: Federico Cheli
Tyre testing is an essential part of
the tyre development process: its
goals are both the refining and
validation of numerical models
of the tyre thermomechanical
behaviour and the direct
verification of the effectiveness
of the design choices.
In particular, tyre footprint
stress field acquisitions offer
the potential advantage of
encapsulating a great amount
of information: the details of
the stresses exchanged between
the tyre and the road surface
are of fundamental importance
in a vast area of the tyres and
vehicles dynamical behaviour.
Normal stress maps in the
tyre footprint are routinely
measured in static conditions
by tyre manufacturers with
different methodologies: the
most commonly used are
pressure-sensitive papers and
piezo-resistive matrix systems,
initially developed in the field of
biometrics. Much less common
is the availability of contact
stress or deformation fields in
dynamical conditions (i.e. with
the tyre rolling), limited to date
essentially to miniature force
transducers line arrays that
operate a burst of acquisitions
upon the tyre passage. This
method offers the advantages
of giving information about
stresses in all three directions,
however it is very expensive
both in implementation and
in maintenance costs. Another
option, both suitable to static
and dynamic conditions, is
represented by contact pressure
sensing devices base on the
frustration of total internal
reflection of light.
1. the optical static footprint tests
bench.
When light is forced to be totally
reflected inside a transparent
medium, an exponentially
decaying wave is present at the
boundary interfaces. If an object
is present in the portion of space
occupied by the evanescent
wave a portion of the reflected
light can be reflected back
through the medium, reaching
a camera framing the opposite
boundary surface. Since the
decaying constant is in the order
of magnitude of hundreds of
mm, for an object to occupy
the region of the evanescent
wave it has to be in practical
terms in contact with the
medium surface. The effect of
the deformability and of the
superficial roughness of the
object is to redirect light on the
unit area in direct proportion to
the applied contact pressure.
Therefore, in the case of a
pneumatic tyre, a measurement
device for the footprint contact
pressure can be realized, based
on this physical phenomenon.
This work focuses on the
development of two such
testing systems and their
implementation at Pirelli Tyre
Testing Department facilities in
Milano Bicocca. A static tests
bench has been implemented
by supporting a glass plate
illuminated form the sides by an
array of LED lights and framing
its underside with a calibrated
camera.
The intensity values of the
pixels are correlated to contact
pressure magnitude via the
interposition between the
tested tyre and the glass surface
of a calibrated polymeric
material. Each acquired image
is then processed by a custom-
developed software that
isolates the footprint area,
either automatically or with the
intervention of the user, and
converts the image intensity
values into normal stress
values. The conversion is made
constraining the integral of the
normal stresses to equal the
normal load applied during the
tests, acquired by the test bench
reading the output of load cells
placed on the wheel hub.
2. Comparison between normal stress maps obtained in statical conditions by the developed test bench (left) and a
commercial piezo-resistive matrix system (right). Values displayed are normalized with respect to the inflation pressure.
A second testing system, aimed
at dynamical conditions, is
implemented on a tyre testing
drum by inserting in its structure
a frame supporting a curved
glass sheet, aligned with the
drum surface, also illuminated
by the sides by LED lights arrays.
A calibrated camera, fixed to
the wheel hub, frames the
underside of the glass plate.
Both the camera and the LED
lights are triggered to acquire
an intensity map of the tyre
footprint upon the passage of
the tyre on the glass window.
As in the static measurements
case, a polymeric material sheet
is fixed on the outer surface of
the glass. The material is not the
same as in the static case, since
the sensitivity and mechanical
resistance requirements are very
different. Also in this case, the
software for the processing of
the acquired frames has been
custom-developed based on the
Open Source C++ computer
vision library OpenCV: in
addition to the functionalities
present in the static tests
bench software it allows for
the recovering of motion blur
degradation effects up to
moderate intensity.
Currently, straight free rolling
tests at speeds up to 120 km/h
with camber angles up to 4 in
magnitude are possible.
3. fv coefficients comparison referring
to rolling resistance measurements
obtained by the developed optical
system (on the abscissae) and via a
standard certification system (on the
ordinates).
A first validation of the
systems has been performed
by comparing their results to
those of established commercial
measurement system in the
case of the static tests bench.
For the drum testing system, a
comparison was made on rolling
resistance estimates based on
PhD Yearbook | 2015
605
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
the analysis of the contact patch
normal stress field acquired
by the dynamical system,
i.e. evaluating the forward
displacement of the normal
stress field resultant with respect
to the vertical plane containing
the wheel screw axis, obtained
via standard certification
procedures. The results of
the validation processes and
their repeatability proved to
be very encouraging and the
static tests bench has been
advanced to the industrialization
process and CE certification.
The dynamical system is still in
active development while its
industrialization is undergoing.
Future developments are
especially focused on the
extension of the range of testing
conditions allowed, in terms
of wheel tangential velocity,
longitudinal and lateral slip and
torque applied.
Industrial Chemistry and Chemical
Engineering | Information Technology
| Interior Architecture and Exhibition
Design | Management, Economics and
Industrial Engineering | Materials
Engineering | Mathematical MODELS and
METHODS IN Engineering | Mechanical
Engineering | Physics | Preservation of
THE Architectural Heritage | Rotary-wing
aircrafts | Spatial Planning and Urban
Development | Structural Seismic and
Geotechnical Engineering | Technology
and Design for Environment and Building
| Territorial Design and Government |
Aerospace Engineering | Architectural
and Urban Design | Architectural
Composition | Architecture, Urban Design,
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| Design | Design and technologies
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and Infrastructures engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
608

DOCTORAL PROGRAM IN PHYSICS 4) Doctoral Thesis. The thesis work is the students are involved in innovative work. A list of

PhD Yearbook | 2015

major activity of the Program. It has a marked the Faculty members follows:
experimental character, and will be carried out in
one or more laboratories at the Department of
Family Name First Name Position*
Physics.
The students are also encouraged to perform BERTACCO RICCARDO AP
part of their thesis work in laboratories of other BRAMBILLA ALBERTO AP
national or foreign Institutions. Collaborations
CICCACCI FRANCO FP
that may involve the PhD students are presently
active with several national and international CUBEDDU RINALDO FP 609
The Doctoral Program in Physics at Politecnico di Milano aims at research and academic Institutions, such as: DALLERA CLAUDIA AP

PHYSICS
Chair: attracting bright students with a good scientific background and ETH-Zrich, EPL-Lausanne, Lund Institute of
a clear interest towards the development and applications of new Technology, University of Paris-Sud, Ecole DANDREA COSIMO AP
Prof. Paola Taroni
ideas and technologies. It offers a wide range of opportunities Polytechnique-Paris, University of Barcelona, DELLA VALLE GIUSEPPE PA
in the fields of advanced applied physics, such as photonics University of Berkeley, University of Cambridge,
DE SILVESTRI SANDRO FP
and optoelectronics (lasers, ultrafast optics), biomedical optics Technical University of Wien, University of
(optical tomography), vacuum technologies (thin film depositions), Bordeaux, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, DU LAMBERTO FP
material technologies (microelectronics and nanotechnologies, Harvard University, INFM-CNR, IITIstituto Italiano FINAZZI MARCO AP
micromechanical processing), and advanced instrumentation di Tecnologia, European Space Agency, ENEA,
(electronic and atomic microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance). Elettra-Ts, PSI-Villigen, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, GHIRINGHELLI GIACOMO AP
Scientific education and training to develop general research European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF- ISELLA GIOVANNI PA
abilities in all areas of applied physics is increasingly needed by Grenoble).
LANZANI GUGLIELMO FP
advanced technological companies. Through a general education The average number of fellowship/grants for
in the basic areas of applied physics and a specific knowledge in students admitted to the PhD Program is twelve LAPORTA PAOLO FP
condensed matter physics, as well as optics and lasers, the PhD per year, while the average number of available MARANGONI MARCO AP
Program aims at the development of an experimental approach to positions is more than double. At present, the
problem solving techniques and at the attainment of a high level of overall number of students in the three-year NISOLI MAURO FP
professional qualification. course is fifty-six. RAMPONI ROBERTA FP
The Doctoral Program has a strong experimental character. The Teaching and research activities of the Doctoral STAGIRA SALVATORE PA
contents are strictly related to the research activities carried out in Program are controlled and organized by a
the laboratories at the Department of Physics. They can be divided number of Faculty members large enough TARONI PAOLA FP
into two main areas: to cover a wide spectrum of research fields. TORRICELLI ALESSANDRO AP
a) Condensed Matter Physics, including photoemission; spin- All members are highly qualified and active
resolved electronic spectroscopy; magneto-optics; X ray researchers. This ensures a continuous updating *Position: FP = Full Professor; AP = Associate
diffraction; magnetic nanostructures for spintronics; of the PhD program and guarantees that the Professor; RC = Researcher/Assistant Professor
synchrotron radiation spectroscopy, positron spectroscopy,
semiconductor nanostructures.
b) Optics and Quantum Electronics, including ultrashort light
pulse generation and applications; UV and X optical harmonics The Doctoral Program relies also on the advice of a Steering Committee, formed by distinguished
generation; biomedical applications of lasers; diagnostics for experts (see table below) coming from R&D industries or research laboratories, taking care that the
works of art; laser applications in optical communications; time goals of the PhD Program are in line with the needs of the non-academic world.
domain optical spectroscopy and diagnostic techniques.
All research activities rely on advanced experimental laboratories Family Name First Name Institution
located at Politecnico di Milano (Milano-Leonardo Campus and PIROVANO AGOSTINO Micron Semiconductor Italia s.r.l.
Como Campus) and are performed in collaboration with several DONATI FABIO EPFL Lausanne, CH
international Institutions. Besides the experimental research, a MIOZZO LUCIANO Solvay Specialty Polymers
consistent effort is devoted to the design and development of novel
von KENEL HANS ETH Zrich, CH
instrumentation.
The educational program can be divided into three parts: 1) Main MASOTTI GIOVANNI El.En. S.p.A
courses specifically designed for the PhD program; 3) Activities
pertaining to more specific disciplines which will lay the foundation
for the research work to be carried out during the Doctoral Thesis;
610
Study of thin films and mesoporous materials
by means of Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy
for applied and fundamental physics
Stefano Aghion - Supervisor: Rafael Ferragut
My PhD research activity was
focused on the use of positrons,
the anti-particle of the electron,
bothas a probe for material
properties and as a fundamental
element for the production
of antihydrogen at the CERN
laboratories.
Positron annihilation
spectroscopy is a consolidated
technique for the study of
defects in metals, alloys and
semiconductors as well as for
the analysis of free volumes
inside polymer materials.
At VEPAS laboratory (Variable
Energy Positron Annihilation
Spectroscopy), L-NESS
(Laboratory for Nanostructure,
Epitaxy and Spintronics on
Silicon, Politecnico di Milano,
Polo territoriale di Como), a slow
energy positron beam and a bulk
positron lifetime spectrometer
have been employed to the
study of thin films, hybrid solar
cells and PMMA polymers in
order to correlate positron
spectroscopy information
to the electrical and optical
properties of the materials.
The chemical composition
and the morphology of voids
and porosities in hybrid
solar cells and thin film
metal oxide semiconductors
- IGZO in particular have
been studied and a strong
correlation between the
positron spectroscopy results
and the electrical properties of
materials have been found. In
a PMMA polymer, free volume
measurements have showed that
the material optical properties
depend even on slight changes
in the free volumes dimensions
and concentration.
Positron annihilation
spectroscopy techniques have
also been applied to the study
of positron to positronium
converters for the AEgIS
(Antimatter Experiment:gravity
Interferometry spectroscopy)
experiment at CERN (Geneve,
Switzerland). The AEgIS
experiment will produce
antihydrogen by overlapping
a cold antiproton cloud and a
cold, laser excited, positronium
cloud, therefore an efficient yield
of positronium is crucial for the
experiment fulfillment.
The AEgIS experiment is one
of the five experiments in
the world that works with
low energy antiprotons. The
antiproton decelerator AD at
CERN, a very unique facility,
delivers bunches of cold
antiprotons. The only way to
study antimatter properties with
a good enough resolution is to
cool (i.e. to lower the kinetic
energy) and catch antiatoms in
electromagnetic traps; the lower
their kinetic energy, the more
accurate the measurements can
be performed. The principal
aim of the AEgIS experiment is
to measure the antihydrogen
gravitational acceleration g
on earth, i.e. to test the Weak
Equivalence Principle (WEP) for
antimatter. The WEP is one of
the cornerstones of Einsteins
General Relativity, which states
that the trajectory of a free
fall body does not depend on
its composition but only on
its initial kinematic conditions
(position and velocity). The
gravitational interaction is
the only one, among the four
fundamental interactions
(gravity, electromagnetic,
weak and strong) described
by a classical theory, General
Relativity, and not by a quantum
field theory. Therefore the g
measurement for an antimatter-
matter system could in principle
shed light on which quantum
model could describe the
gravitational interaction. In a
second phase of the experiment
antihydrogen spectroscopy will
be performed in order to verify
the Charge Parity Time theorem
(CPT), which states the symmetry
between the properties of
matter and antimatter.
At CERN I had the opportunity
to cooperate in the setup of the
AEgIS pulsed positron beam
that delivers positrons to the
AEgIS central region in which
antihydrogen will be produced
in the near future. I also
participated to the antiproton
runs during which antiprotons
were successfully cooled and
stored for hours inside the
apparatus electromagnetic traps.
Among the several samples
suitable as positron to
positronium converters studied
at L-NESS, silica Aerogel 85
and MCM-41represent the
best candidates. They are
mesoporous silica characterized
to have a very low density and
a very high porosity. Aerogel
85 in particular has a density of
85 mg cm-3 and a porosity of
96 % and has been developed
by the NASA to be applied in
the Stardust Project as particle
collector in the space. When
a silica aerogel sample, or
MCM-41 sample, is used as
a target of a positron beam,
positronium atoms are formed
inside the interconnected pores
and then escape into vacuum
from the sample surface. The
common geometry used for the
production of positronium atoms
is the backscattering geometry:
positronium atoms are emitted
from the same surface where
the positrons are implanted.
Since for many experiments
that involve high positronium
yield in vacuum, like the AEgIS
experiment but in general all
the experiments for the study
of positronium properties,
positronium formation in
transmission geometry is very
promising, Aerogel 85 properties
have been used to simulate a
cold positronium yield in vacuum
using micrometric silica thin
films in transmission geometry. A
Monte Carlo simulation method
for the study of positronium
PhD Yearbook | 2015
611
diffusion inside silica aerogel has
PHYSICS
been developed for this purpose.
According to the simulation
results the use of transmission
geometry enhances the cold
positronium yield in vacuum
compared to the reflection
geometry and the results will
be used as indications for the
design of thin film silica positron
to positronium converters.
In conclusion, besides
acknowledging that the
AEgIS experiment is ready
to produce antihydrogen in
order to measure antigravity,
it has been shown that the
positron annihilation techniques
are suitable for the analysis
of composition; porosities
and voids of contemporary
thin film based devices and
allow disclosing new sets of
information on them. Moreover,
for fundamental antimatter
physics experiments, the
micrometric mesoporous silica
membranes in transmission
geometry will remarkably
increase the efficiency in the
production of cold positronium.
612
Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in Three-dimensional
Topological Insulators Investigated by Time- and
Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy
Fabio Boschini - Supervisors: Claudia Dallera, Ettore Carpene
The topological insulating phase
has been recently theorized
and experimentally observed
in three-dimensional systems.
A metallic surface state with
a Dirac cone dispersion like
graphene appears within
the bulk energy gap but,
unlike graphene, spins and
momentums are locked
resembling an helical spin
structure. The possibility to
induce a spin-polarized surface
current together with the
predicted protection by spin-flip
backscattering events promote
the application of topological
systems in future spintronic
devices.
Angle-resolved photoemission
spectroscopy (ARPES) in widely
employed in studying surface
properties of topological
insulating systems. The
understanding of physical
properties of topological
electrons under an optical
excitation is fundamental for
future applications and it can
be achieved by exploiting
the classical pump and probe
technique. Time-resolved
ARPES (TR-ARPES) provides a
direct snapshot of the temporal
evolution of the band structure
of the system upon an intense
optical perturbation. Only few
research groups in the world can
perform TR-ARPES experiments,
thus dynamical properties
of topological electrons are
still partially hidden. In this
thesis an innovative TR-ARPES
setup is described and novel
experimental results on Bi2Te3
and Bi2Se3 topological insulators
are presented.
Commonly, TR-ARPES setups
are based on a high-repetition
rate Ti:sapphire laser followed
by a fourth-harmonic generation
optical setup of its fundamental
frequency (typically 1.55 eV).
Our innovative setup is based on
a high-repetition rate Yb-laser
source. By means of a cascade
of nonlinear processes 1.85-eV
pump and 6.05-eV probe pulses
are generated. The heart of the
optical setup is a non-collinear
optical parametric amplifier
that allows to tune the output
wavelength at 680 nm (1.85 eV)
with an associated bandwidth
ensuring a pulse duration shorter
than 30 fs after the prism
compressor. By a sum-frequency
generation optical modulus
205-nm (6.05 eV) pulses are
obtained. Emitted electrons
are detected by means of a
time-of-flight electron analyzer.
The measured state-of-the-
art 50-meV energy resolution
together with the excellent 70-fs
temporal resolution place our
novel setup at the forefront of
this technique.
Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 three-
dimensional topological
insulating samples were grown
by the Prof. X. Zhous research
group at National Lab for
Superconductivity Institute of
Physics (Beijing, China) and they
present a single Dirac cone in
the center of the Brillouin zone.
We demonstrate the ability to
modify the population of the
topological Dirac cone of Bi2Te3
on a time scale of hundreds of
femtoseconds. Our Bi2Te3 sample
is p-doped, thus the Fermi
level crosses the topological
surface state. The pump beam
promotes valence electrons into
empty bulk bands. Hot non-
thermal electrons redistribute
in the whole Brillouin zone as
a consequence of relaxation
processes (mediated by electron-
electron and electron-phonon
scattering) and fill the empty
states of the topological Dirac
state. The population of the
topological state presents a 70-
fs delayed response time. This
first experimental evidence of
the delayed population time of
the Dirac cone suggests that the
topological surface state cannot
be directly optically populated
by the employed pump beam
but only as a consequence of
the electrons decay from the
bulk bands. Hence, bulk bands
behave as charge reservoirs for
the topological state feeding this
latter on a time scale of several
picoseconds.
The Bi2Se3 sample is intrinsically
n-doped, thus the Fermi level
crosses the bulk conduction
band and the topological Dirac
cone is completely filled. A
detailed study of pump induced
relaxation processes allows to
extract the presence of a second
empty Dirac-cone-like surface
state approximatively 1.8 eV
above the first Dirac cone. The
weak electron-phonon coupling
of topological electrons leads
to longer relaxation times in
comparison to electrons lying in
the close bulk band, allowing us
to disentangle the topological
state contribution from the bulk
band one. The existence of the
second topological surface state
has been already proved by
other research groups by means
of two-photon photoemission
technique. Theoretical
calculations and the observed
helical spin structure suggest
that the second empty Dirac
cone shares the same physical
origin with the first topological
surface state at the Fermi
edge. We show novel dichroic
TR-ARPES measurements of
the second Dirac cone of Bi2Se3
where we are able to selectively
populate one of the two
opposite spin-polarized branches
of the second topological
surface state with circularly
polarized pump light and follow
the temporal dynamics of
the dichroic signal, i.e. of the
photo-induced spin-polarized
electronic population. We
detect a strong k-dependence
of both the temporal decay
and the response time of the
dichroic signal. Thanks to an
efficient bulk-to-surface state
optical transition, only empty
states of the second Dirac
cone away from the center of
the probed k-region can be
populated. Then, the spin-
polarized electronic population
decays along the spin-polarized
branch of the second topological
cone by intraband scattering
events. Thus, a dichroic signal
appears in the center of the
second Dirac cone with a certain
delay (approximatively 30 fs)
as a results of the intraband
relaxation process. This is the
first experimental evidence to
our knowledge of the ultrafast
flow of a spin-polarized
electronic population in the
second Dirac cone of Bi2Se3.
We prove the capability to
selectively excite one of the two
spin-polarized branches of the
second topological state with
circularly polarized pump light,
i.e. photo-induce an ultrafast
spin-polarized surface current.
Moreover, topological electrons
do not simply recombine
with empty unpolarized bulk
states but flow along the Dirac
cone maintaining their spin-
polarization.
We observed an unexpected
dichroic signal in
correspondence with the image
potential state of Bi2Se3. The
image potential state can be
populated with the linearly
polarized 6.05-eV beam and
photoemitted with the circularly
polarized 1.85-eV beam. The
PhD Yearbook | 2015
613
revealed dichroic signal does not
PHYSICS
change sign in the whole probed
k-region, contrary to what
observed for the second surface
state. This novel finding seems
to indicate a net spin-order of
the image potential state. The
image potential state wave-
function is localized outside the
sample but is presents also a
decaying tail into the bulk. Thus,
an interference effect between
the image potential state wave-
function and the spin-polarized
topological surface wave-
function is possible. This latter
could lead the image potential
state to earn a net spin-order.
In conclusion, the excellent
working parameters of our
innovative TR-ARPES setup
allowed us to obtain novel
intriguing experimental results
on the ultrafast electronic
dynamics in three-dimensional
topological insulating systems.
 614
Advanced Spectroscopy Techniques for the
Study of Pigment Materials
Anna Cesaratto - Supervisor: Prof. Gianluca Valentini
Conservation science is a
multi-disciplinary field, which
combines a number of scientific
methods for the material
characterization of works of
art and of their degradation
products, for the definition
of proper conservation and
preservation protocols, for the
developing of new restoration
materials. In particular,
the characterization of the
material used in an art object
is fundamental not only for
defining proper conservation
protocols but also for the in
depth study of the technology,
the trade roots and the style
of an epoch. Many advanced
analytical tools have been
recently developed, with
the main aim of providing a
chemical description of cultural
heritage materials, with a non or
micro-invasive approach. This is
particularly challenging, due to
the fact that artwork materials
are complex mixtures intrinsically
heterogeneous, composed of
a wide range of compounds,
from organic to inorganic ones,
and a wide range of size scale,
which goes from the chemical
identification of compounds to
the mapping of trace elements,
alteration or restored phases.
This intrinsic complexity calls for
multi-analytical approaches, to
overcome the various limitation
of individual spectroscopic
methods.
This thesis reports the results
of the application of a set of
advanced optical and vibrational
spectroscopy techniques to the
study of pigment materials. In
particular, the attention has
been focused on two different
classes of materials: modern
pigments and traditional
dyestuff. As modern pigments,
cadmium based pigments
have been studied in depth;
anthraquinone based colorants
have been considered as
traditional dyestuffs.
Cadmium based pigments are
cadmium-zinc sulphide (Zn1-x
CdxS with 0 < x < 1) or cadmium
sulphoselenide (CdSxSe1-x with 0
< x < 1), with a high substitution
of Zn in the light yellow shades
and a high substitution of Se
in the darker shades. They are
IIb-VIa semiconductor, with
a direct radiative emission in
the visible range and two trap
state radiative emissions in the
near IR. The in depth study
of the photo luminescence
(PL) emission of a group of
commercially available cadmium
based pigments gives new
insights into the photophysical
properties of these materials.
The radiative emissions of the
materials exhibited a strong
dependence on the excitation
power, as it can be seen in
Figure 1, which shows the
emission from a cadmium
sample for two excitation
regimes. In fact, a non-linear
behaviour was demonstrated
by PL experiments at different
irradiance, both in CW and with
short pulses. Measurements
have shown that the ratio
between the band edge and
the trap state emission intensity
depends on the excitation
intensity. These findings confirm
that the mechanism for carrier
recombination in cadmium
pigments is highly influenced by
electron trapping in deep trap
states.
As regards traditional dyestuffs,
a group of red anthraquinone
based lake pigments and dyed
textiles were studied, with
both vibrational and electronic
spectroscopy. Lake pigments
and dyed textiles are produced
through the formation of an
insoluble dye-metal ion (called
mordant) complex.
Part of the research regarded
the development and testing
of a new Surface Enhanced
Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)
based technique. The approach
combines the high sensitivity
of the SERS read out with the
high resolution of the UV-laser
desorption of the materials in
an area few microns large. The
ablation step is described in
figure 2: (i) a high power UV
laser pulse is delivered on the
area of analysis, (ii) the material
enters in a plasma phase, (iii) the
plasma plume expands upward
and outward, (iv) the plasma
solidifies on the SERS active
substrate. After the ablation is
PhD Yearbook | 2015
615
PHYSICS
1. Photoluminescence spectra of a cadmium pigment sample following excitation with a 100 Hz-Q-switched and a CW
laser source acquired with the spectrometer in continuous modality (a). Images of the PL emission excited in the pulsed
(spot 1) and the CW (spot 2) regimes from the same sample (b).
performed in the selected area, for dye analysis mainly focus on the analysis of the palette of a
the SERS spectra are acquired the detection of the organic part watercolour painted by Vincent
focusing a CW 488 nm laser of the material, disregarding the van Gogh. In particular, a novel
directly on the SERS active metal ion used as mordant. data analysis protocol for the
substrate. In conclusion, a number classification of multispectral
The technique was successfully of optical and vibrational data cube was combined
applied to the study of a series spectroscopy techniques were with luminescence imaging
of painting cross sections, widely merged together in a multi- techniques and with point-like
expanding the applicability of analytical approach finalized to Raman spectroscopy.
SERS based techniques to the
study of single layer or single
lake particles in cross sections or
heterogeneous materials.
The study of the same class
of materials was then carried
on with the application of
steady state and time-resolved
luminescence analyses on
a series of anthraquinone
dyed textiles, with the aim of
discriminating between the
various types of dye-metal ion
complexes in a non-destructive
fashion. In fact, the majority of 2. Schematic representation of the ablation step (left). Close up of the two
the standard analytical technique ablation optical geometries: focussed beam (top) de-focussed beam (bottom).
616
Integrated photonic circuits by femtosecond
laser writing for qubit manipulation, quantum
cryptography and quantum optical analogies
Giacomo Corrielli - Supervisor: Roberto Osellame
Quantum technology promises
to revolutionize radically the way
we look at information science,
offering unprecedented levels
of computation efficiency and
communication security. In the
past two decades, the effort
of the scientific community
for advancing in this research
field has been enormous, from
both the theoretical and the
experimental point of view.
However, despite the number
of remarkable achievements
in creating and manipulating
individual quantum systems,
quantum technology is still
far from real world practical
applications, due to the high
complexity of the experiments,
that makes them hardly scalable
beyond the proof-of-principle
demonstration level. A relatively
new and effective approach for
facing this huge technological
challenge is that of integrated
quantum photonics, where
small, monolithic optical circuits
are used to manipulate quantum
states of light. The intrinsic
mechanical stability of these
devices allows to control the
phase of light in each spatial
mode to an extent that is
impossible to reach with bulk
optical elements, allowing for
the fabrication of complex
interferometric structures. The
spatial overlap of different
modes can be performed
straightforwardly by means of
directional couplers. The field
enhancement arising from the
optical confinement in few-
micrometer-sized waveguides
improves the performances
of non-linear interactions, for
example for the realization of
efficient integrated photon
sources or frequency converters.
Lastly, integrated optics,
being a mature technology
developed for classical optical
communications, can benefit
from a well-established
manufacturing industry and
a solid know-how in device
designing.
Among the various fabrication
techniques, femtosecond laser
micromachining demonstrated
in the recent years to be a very
powerful technology for the
design and the development
of innovative optical circuits
for quantum applications. This
technique, in fact, presents
unique features and several
advantages over conventional
lithographic processes. It is
a mask-less and single-step
fabrication technique that
does not need any special
auxiliary facility, like a clean
room. It can be performed with
a relatively simple fabrication
setup and this reflects in a
significant cost reduction and
speed-up in the prototyping of
new devices design. Since the
waveguide fabrication is based
on non-linear multiphoton
absorption of femtosecond
laser pulses in a transparent
substrate, it is, at least at first
approximation, independent
from the specific chemical
composition of the material.
Consequently, femtosecond laser
micromachining is adequate for
processing a large number of
different transparent substrates,
from glasses and crystals to
polymers, with the same laser
system and fabrication setup. In
addition, this technique shows
an intrinsic three-dimensional
fabrication capability,
allowing for the realization of
optical circuits with complex
geometries, not obtainable
with conventional lithographic
processes.
In this thesis work, femtosecond
laser micromachining is used
for the fabrication of several
integrated optical devices
that implement a number
of new functionalities, with
important applications in the
field of integrated quantum
photonics, in particular for the
manipulation, the measurement
and the transmission of qubits
encoded in the polarization
degree of freedom of quantum
light. In addition, three
experiments regarding the
simulation in dielectriclight-
guiding structures of the
dynamics of complex quantum
systemsare presented.
For the first time, we realized
a waveguide-based integrated
device that behaves like an
optical wave-plate, with
the optical axis inclined in a
controlled and precise fashion.
This new component permits to
produce an arbitrary rotation of
light polarization and paves the
way to the full manipulation of
light polarization in integrated
optics. In order to demonstrate
the immediate application of
this novel element to quantum
information science, and, in
particular, to the manipulation of
polarization encoded qubits, we
fabricated an integrated device
that performs the polarization
state tomography of light,
simultaneously on two separated
spatial modes. We validated
its functioning by performing
the quantum state tomography
of single photons and of
polarization-entangled photon
pairs. The high measured
fidelities of the reconstructed
states (> 97%) are comparable
to those obtainable with
standard bulk optical elements
and testify the suitability of our
novel integrated components in
the manipulation of polarization
encoded qubits.
A polarization insensitive
integrated optical circuit lies at
the heart of the functioning of
the architecture we propose
for short distance quantum
communications. In particular,
we have shown in this work
the design of a handheld
device based on micro-optics
elements and with an extremely
reduced footprint (few tens of
mm3) capable of preparing and
sending over short distances
faint laser pulses in four
possible polarization states.
An exhaustive characterization
of all the single device
components demonstrated
that the sender module we
propose is in principle suitable
for performing quantum key
1. Real (left column) and imaginary (right column) parts of the density matrices
of the Bell y- state reconstructed with our integrated device (top row) and
with standard bulk, optical waveplates (bottom row). The calculated fidelity
between the two is > 97%.
distribution protocols at high
repetition rates (100 MHz),
provided that the residual
spectral distinguishability of the
output photons is compensated.
The presented results represent
an important step forward in
the realization of a customer-
oriented quantum device with
real world applications.
Finally, we demonstrated
how waveguide arrays, finely
engineered both in terms
of circuit geometry and
waveguiding properties, can
be used as model systems
with controllable parameters
to simulate, with only classical
resources, the evolution of
complex quantum dynamics that
are inaccessible in real systems.
By adopting this approach, we
studied the effect of particles
interaction on their motion
in a ordered lattice, under
the action of a static force,
and we observed that under
PhD Yearbook | 2015
617
PHYSICS
suitable conditions, the exotic
phenomenon of fractional
Bloch Oscillations can take
place. Furthermore, we studied
how the presence of a strong
AC monochromatic field can
influence the electronic transport
in a graphene-like bidimensional
lattice and possibly induce
dynamic localization. Finally,
we constructed a specially
engineered semi-infinite lattice
that is capable to support a
peculiar surface state, with
the energy embedded in the
continuous band of scattered
lattice states, showing an
algebraic rather than exponential
localization at the lattice edge.
618
Time domain diffuse optical imaging at
short source-detector distance
Laura Di Sieno - Supervisor: Antonio Pifferi - Assistant supervisor: Alberto Dalla Mora
The research leading to this PhD
dissertation has been mainly
accomplished in the Physics
Department of Politecnico di
Milano and in collaboration
with foreign institutions as
Commissariat lnergie interfiber distance in the
Atomique et aux nergies
Alternatives (CEA, France)
and Physikalisch-Technische
Bundesanstalt (PTB, Germany).
The main framework of this
work resides in the interaction of
light with diffusive media. In the
last decades light has become
attractive as a non-invasive tool
to investigate diffusive media
and different optical methods
based on Continuous Wave
(CW), Frequency-Domain (FD) or
Time-Resolved (TR) approaches
have been developed. Although
CW techniques are more
common, easy to implement
and already commercialized, TR
spectroscopic techniques are
important alternatives for non-
standard cutting-edge research.
The most important feature
of the TR approach is that the
depth investigated by photons
is encoded in time. Indeed,
the early-arriving photons are
those that travelled only in the
superficial layer of the medium
while photons arriving later have
visited deeper structures.
Recently, it has been
demonstrated that the use of
a small distance (few mm, or
even null) between the injection
and collection points improves
the confinement of photons
within the probed medium.
This feature provides a better
contrast, spatial resolution and
signal intensity as compared
to measurements at a large
imaging and tomographic
case of reflectance geometry.
However, the huge increase in
the peak of early photons
(i.e. photons directly reflected
or scarcely diffused from the
surface) causes the saturation
of the dynamic range (DR)
of common single-photon
detectors thus preventing
the use of the null-distance
approach. For this reason, the
technical implementation of a
null-distance deep-tissue scheme
is very challenging and never
tried before outside our research
group.
The null-distance approach has
become feasible for the first
time thanks to the development
by Dipartimento di Elettronica,
Informazione e Bioingegneria
of Politecnico di Milano of the
Single-Photon Avalanche Diode
(SPAD) modules that can be
enabled in fast-gated mode.
Indeed, they can switch from the
OFF to the ON state in less than
200ps, thus rejecting the peak
of early photons. In addition,
the application of the gated
technique permits to enhance
the DR of the measurements up
to 7 orders of magnitude.
My PhD activity was completely
devoted to the investigation
of the physics at the null-
distance its experimental use
in different application fields
such as functional Near-Infrared
Spectroscopy (fNIRS) for brain
imaging, non-contact scanning
protocols for assessment of
reconstructions.
First of all, we aim to
demonstrate that the use of the
null-distance approach, coupled
with the high DR fast-gated
acquisitions, can improve fNIRS
measurements and permits to
detect brain activation with
higher signal-to-noise ratio and
improved spatial resolution.
Different technological solutions
were considered to solve
problems connected to high DR
acquisitions (e.g. the removal
of any optical reflection) and
a dedicated setup was built.
Finger tapping exercises on
healthy subjects were performed
and we clearly demonstrated
the improvement given by the
null-distance approach in the
detection of brain activation.
The technological development
of compact detectors and
microelectronic laser sources
(e.g. VCSEL), will improve the
proposed setup, decreasing
cost and going towards a
miniaturization of the probe.
A second field of application
explored during my PhD is
the non-contact scanning
imaging. A non-contact
approach is needed in cases
where the contact between
optode and tissue can cause
pain (e.g. burnt injuries) and
even perturb the system (e.g.
local variation of blood content
due to compression of skin
necessary to achieve good
optical contact). Also, remote
scanning of the forehead
for e.g. cognitive studies is
another interesting perspective.
For all those reasons, a non-
contact TR scanning instrument
based on null-distance was
built. The proposed setup
was characterized in terms
of performances using two
of the technology. The increase
time-domain diffuse imagers (BIP
and nEUROPt protocol) agreed
upon by many institutions. After
the objective characterization
of the instrument, several in-
vivo measurements on healthy
volunteers were performed. In
most of them, the expected
trend of oxy- and deoxy-
haemoglobin was observed,
meaning that the proposed
instrument is able to detect
hemodynamic changes.
During my PhD I also
investigated the use of a
null-distance approach for
tomographic reconstructions.
In this case, the high DR
acquisitions were analysed using
the Mellin-Laplace transform
which exploits the different
arrival time of photons to
improve the reconstruction. We
demonstrated on phantoms that
the new approach permits to
increase the spatial resolution
and the depth sensitivity of both
2D and 3D reconstructed maps
(see Fig.1). Then we moved
toward clinical applications such
as the monitoring of the vessel
permeability in flap surgery.
We built an instrument based
on multiple source-detector
distances and we performed
pre-clinical tests on rats. We
demonstrated that the proposed
setup is able to follow the
hemodynamic variations that can
occur in case of complications of
flap surgery (e.g. formation of a
thrombus). Further experiments
on model closer to human (e.g.
piglets) are currently under
study.
The use of the null-distance
approach, coupled with high
DR fast-gated measurements,
enlightens the potentialities of
this technique, but also allows
us to understand the bottleneck
in the DR of the measurement
is indeed limited by a source of
noise called memory effect. In
order to better understand this
newly discovered background
contribution, a comprehensive
characterization was done
to identify its physical origin.
A possible solution for the
reduction of the memory
effect by 4 decades was then
proposed.
During my PhD I finally
1. Reconstructed (first row) and simulated (second row) maps of two separate
inclusions at 15 mm depth. The black signs represent their real position.
investigated the possibility to
PhD Yearbook | 2015
replace the Time-Correlated
Single-Photon Counting
(TCSPC) board with a dual
window fast-gated counter.
Indeed, fast-gated counters
can dramatically reduce both
costs and complexity in TR
multichannel systems, while
achieving high count rate, thus 619
offering a great advantage
PHYSICS
in applications like brain and
muscle functional imaging. We
proved the equivalence between
a classical TCSPC board and
a fast-gated counter in terms
of achievable contrast and we
demonstrated its suitability for
various applications.
In conclusion, the improvement
given by the null-distance
approach in different
applications was demonstrated.
In the future, the development
of compact and low-cost
devices can lead to the
realisation of small and portable
instruments, exploiting the null-
distance approach in different
applications fields.
620
TripletTriplet Annihilation-Induced
Photon Up-Converted Delayed Luminescence
in Solid-State Organic Composite
Hossein Goudarzi - Supervisor: Prof. Panagiotis E. Keivanidis
Herein we will present results
of our studies on photoactive
layers of solution-processed
organic composites that could
be potentially utilized as solid-
state photon up-converting
layers. Different methodologies
for increasing the luminescence
intensity of the triplet-fusion
induced photon up-conversion
process in solid state layers
of organic thin films will be
discussed. In this work, low-
energy photon up-conversion on
the basis of charge transfer (CT-
UC) and of energy transfer (ET-
UC) in thin films will be probed
as two possible mechanisms
of low-energy photon up-
conversion via triplet-triplet
annihilation (TTA-UC).
Regarding the ET-UC process,
a comprehensive temperature-
dependent spectroscopic
study will be carried out on a
binary composites consisting
of the organometallic complex
(2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethyl
porphyrin) platinum (II) (PtOEP)
mixed with the blue emitter
9,10 diphenylanthracene
(DPA). Time-integrated and
time-gated (on the ns-s time
scale) photoluminescence (PL)
measurements will be employed
for probing the generation
of the photon up-converted
DPA delayed luminescence
via TTA-UC, after the laser
photoexcitation of DPA:PtOEP
at 532 nm. In the light of these
data as well as atomic force
microscopy (AFM) imaging, it
will be demonstrated that the
up-converted blue emission
will be significantly enhanced,
if the binary model is dispersed
in the photophysically inert
matrix of poly (styrene) (PS). The
ternary structure PS:DPA:PtOEP
will experimentally prove that
the presence of PS tunes DPA
and PtOEP aggregation and
consequently gives rise to
an increased up-converted
luminescence emission.
Concerning the CT-UP process,
the same photophysical
characterisation will be
accomplished on the blend
films comprising PtOEP as the
sensitizer and either PF2/6 or
PF8 as the blue emitter. The
experimental observation
from the comparative room-
temperature PL measurements
will confirm that the up-
converted TTA-induced blue
emission intensity will be
enhanced in PF8:PtOEP thin
film in respect to PF2/6:PtOEP.
Moreover, the effect of b-phase
formation in the film of
PF8:PtOEP will be addressed. The
time-integrated and time-gated
PL measurements will rationalize
that the presence of b-phase in
the up-converting composites
affects the intensity and the
lifetime of the up-converted blue
emission.
The temperature-dependent
PL measurements on the
aforementioned up-converting
PhD Yearbook | 2015
621
composites will help us to gain
PHYSICS
insight about the influence of
temperature on the CT-UC and
ET-UC processes. According to
the time-integrated PL studies
in the range of temperature
between 100 K and 290 K, it
will be verified that lowering
the temperature enhances the
TTA-induced up-converted blue
emission intensity in the up-
converting composites working
with either CT-UC process or
ET-UC process.
At present, our results enable a
discussion on the microscopic
processes of energy migration
that dictates the efficiency of
TTA-induced low-energy photon
up-conversion in solid-state
composites. This methodology
paves the way toward the
sensitization of photoactive
devices such as solar cells,
light sensing photodiodes, and
photodetecting transistors to
photons of low energies.
 622
HYBRID SOLAR CELLS: EFFICIENCY, STABILITY AND
PROCESSABILITY
Simone S. Guarnera Supervisor: Dr. Annamaria Petrozza
The work introduced here was
carried out in the laboratories
of the Center for Nano Science
and Technology (Istituto Italiano
di Tecnologia) in Milan and of
the Department of Physics of the
University of Oxford.
Photovoltaics (PV) is considered
one of the most promising
renewable energy technologies
that could help to solve
important environmental and
geopolitical problems arising
from the actual consumption
of fossil fuels. Because of the
remarkable potential of a
technology based on an energy
source worldwide available,
in the last decades research
and technology innovation has
focused on the development of
solar cells able to achieve high
power conversion efficiencies
with low production costs.
Among these, hybrid devices,
such as dye-sensitized, polymer/
metal oxide and perovskite-
based solar cells, have been the
subject of intense research.
However, since the PV market
needs efficient and stable solar
cells that can be prepared with
cheap and simple processing
techniques, as long as the focus
of the research is just on one of
these research fields, the route
towards the commercialization
of the technology will be long.
In particular, the long term
stability of third-generation solar
cells has drawn little attention
even though it is an important
issue that will determine
whether they can represent a
market opportunity.
The research activity presented
in the PhD thesis deals with the
design and the development
of innovative hybrid solar
cell architectures, i.e. devices
incorporating both organic
and inorganic materials. In
order to improve the devices
on its whole, we concentrated
our efforts mainly on the
improvement of long-term
stability while keeping an eye on
efficiency and processability.
Dealing with hybrid active
materials, vulnerability towards
moisture is critical. Therefore we
present technological solutions
that have been conceived to
improve the stability during
long-term operation or during
the fabrication process of dye-
sensitized solar cells (DSSC) and
perovskite solar cells (PSC).
We approached the problem
of water infiltration in a DSSC
by engineering the device
architecture to fabricate more
robust cell, independently of
the quality of the encapsulation.
We introduced for the first time
the concept of an integrated
getter in an optoelectronic
device and we implemented
that by introducing the getters
in the form of a dispersion of
nanozeolites in the mesoporous
TiO2 photoanode of the solar
cell. Thanks to the capability
of the nanozeolites to absorb
water, we have demonstrated
an improved stability of the
devices after 1000 h of outdoor
exposure without affecting
the performance of the device
and not even the standard
fabrication process.
We showed that the concept
of integrated getter can be
successfully implemented in a
PSC, as well.
Since hybrid organometal
halide perovskites are very
sensitive to moisture during
the crystallization process,
usually they are processed in
a controlled dry atmosphere.
To improve the robustness
of PSCs, we redesigned the
architecture of a standard cell
by replacing the mesoporous
Al2O3 scaffold layer with
a scaffold composed of
nanozeolites. We demonstrated
that standard devices show
lower photocurrent when
they are fabricated in a humid
environment, while the
performances of device with
the nanozeolites scaffold are
independent on the environment
of the processing. Therefore, we
proved that the zeolite scaffold
can protect the device during
the fabrication process.
Another common issue of
perovskite solar cells is the
initial drop in efficiency that
is observed during long
term stability studies. We
1. SEM pictures of (a) standard PSC architecture and (b) new architecture with a protective active layer. (c) J-V curve of
devices with (black spot) and without (red spot) buffer layer. (d) stability test of previous devices.
first identified the origin of
this efficiency drop with the
occurrence of electrical shunt
pathways becoming increasingly
more important as the device
is operated under standard
working conditions. We
developed an equivalent circuit
model, to quantify the loss of
current that results from the
undesirable leakage path that
arise as a consequence of the
migration of the metal through
the hole-transporting material
(HTM).
Then we proposed a new
device architecture which is able
to address this problem (Fig.
1a,b). By adding a thin Al2O3
mesoporous layer between the
perovskite and the HTM, we
prepared devices with nearly
no degradation in the first
350 hours of operation (Fig
1d). Moreover, we improved
the efficiency of such devices
by reducing the high series
resistances related to the
thickness of the HTM (Fig 1c).
Finally, we focussed on the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
623
PHYSICS
improvement of hybrid polymer/ amount of crystalline phases
metal oxide solar cells, a perform better despite the lower
technology with big potentiality, injection efficiency in the metal
thanks to the non-toxicity of the oxide. This has been proven
materials and the low-cost of by growing a monolayer of
the manufacturing process. 4-mercaptopyridine on the metal
Important improvements have to oxide surface. This interlayer
be done to increase the power promotes a better covering
conversion efficiency to levels of the TiO2 surface and a -
appealing to the PV market. stacking of the polymer already
The understanding of the effect at the interface, allowing for an
of local morphology on charge enhancement by three times of
generation dynamics at hybrid the device efficiency.
polymer/metal oxide interfaces
represents a matter of primary
importance on the way to
enhance device performance.
We found out that it is possible
to tune the interfacial polymer
morphology by properly treating
its surface. In particular, we
measured a higher charge
injection efficiency in the oxide
from amorphous polymer phases
compared to crystalline phases.
Nevertheless, we found that
the energy mismatch existing
between the two phases acts as
a barrier to charge collection,
then devices with a large
624
DEVELOPMENT OF GRAPHENE-BASED
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS FOR RADIO-FREQUENCY
APPLICATIONS
Erica Guerriero - Supervisor: Prof. Roman Sordan
The microelectronic scenario
is following a constant trend
toward miniaturization,
beneficial for increased
operation speed and lower
fabrication costs. However,
the conventional silicon-based
electronics is reaching a scaling
physical limit, with short channel
effects becoming detrimental
for devices operations. In
this perspective the scientific
community has intensified the
reaserch on novel materials,
among which graphene, a two
dimensional sheet of carbon
atoms arranged in hexagonal
lattice, emerged as one of the
most promising candidates.
The high mobility (almost equal
between holes and electrons),
carrier density and saturation
velocity arising from the
peculiar band structure make
graphene suitable for high
speed electronics. However,
the lack of a bandgap prevents
graphene-transistors (GFETs) to
be turned off, with consecutively
low ION/IOFF and high static power
consumption, hindering the
development of graphene-based
devices for logic applications.
In the field of high-frequency
analog electronics, however, the
complete switching-off of GFETs
is not required, thus making
graphene an attractive option.
This PhD work was devoted to
the development of graphene
devices for high-frequency
applications. Since almost all
real circuits comprise multiple
stages, GFETs exhibiting intrinsic
gain Av = gmrd >1 are needed
to provide voltage gain to the
single stage, preserving signal
integrity in transmission. To
achieve over-unity gain a low
output resistance rd and high
transconductance gm are needed.
With a high-k, ultra-thin native
aluminum oxide formed during
e-beam evaporation of Al, we
managed to fabricate GFETs with
high gm and Av. Connecting these
GFETs in inverter configuration
we demonstrated the first
graphene voltage amplifiers
exhibiting significant voltage
gain in ambient conditions.
Graphene obtained by CVD-
growth have been implemented
in the fabrication process,
providing more homogeneus
performances and scalability,
and CVD-graphene-based
inverters exhibiting DC and
AC voltage gain above 20 dB
were demonstrated. These
devices could be cascaded
to perform multiple logic
operations. Demonstration of
device cascading led to the
fabrication of the first graphene
integrated ring oscillators (ROs),
Fig.1a,b. ROs are composed
of an odd number of inverters
cascaded in a loop in which
noise components at a certain
frequency can propagate and
get amplified thereby inducing
oscillation. ROs require inverters
with over-unity voltage gain,
in/out signal matching, large
voltage swing, and high
current drive. Knowing the
effect of device parameters on
performances we have tried to
optimize the design to reduce
the delay per stage. Different
metals have been tested with
two-probe and four probe
measurements to reduce contact
resistance, showing that pure
Au contacts provide the lowest
value of 200 m. Best devices
exhibit a highest oscillation
frequency of 4.3 GHz with 0.9
m gate length, surpassing
silicon ROs speed at the
same gate length, Fig.1c. The
fabricated ROs have been tested
as analog mixers and amplitude
modulators, operating in the
gigahertz frequency range,
thereby demonstrating the
potential of this technology for
integrated circuits applications.
The second part of my PhD
work has dealt with the study of
GFET high-frequency response,
aiming to further improve the
performances and to extend
their frequency capability.
A FET can be described as a
two-port device, with gate as
input and drain as output port.
The frequency response can be
probed through the application
of a small power wave signal
superposed to the DC bias at the
highest gain point at both ports.
A VNA records the reflection
and transmission coefficients
of the power waves, called
1. a) Circuit schematic and b) optical image of the fabricated RO. c) Gate delay
per stage: comparison between current Si CMOS technology and the best
graphene ROs fabricated.
S-parameters, that are related
to the impedances of the circuit.
To extract useful information
from measurements I have made
a small-signal model which
contains all the resistances,
capacitances and inductances
of the circuit, Fig.2a. With ADS
software, the values of these
parameters can be optimized
relatively to the measurements,
giving access to the intrinsic
device parameters. From
S-parameters measurements the
maximum oscillation frequency
fmax, cutoff frequency fT and Av
can also be extracted. fT gives
an estimation of the transit
speed of the carrier in the
channel, while fmax describes
the maximum frequency at
which the transistor is capable
to amplify power. Tipically in
GFETs fT is higher than fmax,
in contrast with conventional
PhD Yearbook | 2015
625
oxide and reduce the contact
PHYSICS
resistance. We foresee that it
would be difficult to outperform
the III-V in a short term. Anyway
graphene has shown speed
performances that are unbeated
by organic electronics on every
substrate, so we can guess
that this performances can be
obtained as well on flexible and
transparent substrates through
further research.
HEMTs. However, in our devices
we found out the opposite
trend that can be explained by
the large rd (good saturation)
shown by GFETs thanks to the
ultra thin oxide that leads a
strong gate control producing a
fast carrier depletion. The GFETs
exhibit highest fT of about 10
2. a) Small-signal circuit model of
GHz, fmax of 21 GHz , Fig.2b,
the GFET used to extract device
and Av > 30 dB at 10 MHz for parameters from S-parameter
devices with 1 m gate length. measurements. b) Gain performance
Moreover the fmax/fT ratio is fmax, fT and Av for one of the GFETs.
above 3, the highest value ever
reported for GFETs. Compared
with the state of the art of
graphene technology these
devices exhibit good Av and fmax,
while fT is still limited by the low
intrinsic mobility, mainly due to
the oxide interfacial traps that
degrades transport properties
increasing the scattering. To
improve the performances we
should improve the quality of
626
Ultrafast Magneto-optic Spectroscopic
Ellipsometry: Genuine Magnetization Dynamics in
Half-metallic and Metallic Systems upon Laser
Excitation
Hamoon Hedayat Zadeh Roodsari - Supervisors: Ettore Carpene, Claudia Dallera
Ultrafast optical techniques
have been established as the
most effective and flexible
approaches to study the
dynamics in a material within a
picosecond time-window. This
relatively new field provided
fundamental insight into one of
the most important properties
of condensed matter systems:
magnetism. Magnetism, a
primary physical phenomena,
has been recognized thousands
of years ago as its trace is found
in Chinese and Greek ancient
references. During this long
time, magnetism, even without
a deep and fundamental
understanding, has been
employed in several applications,
e.g. compass needle. About
two hundred years ago, Oersted
realized that the interaction
between the electric field
and a magnet could have
unlocked the gate to dramatic
technological applications,
including electric motors. Later,
Faraday discovered the rotation
of light polarization when
passing through a magnetic
medium, followed by Kerr in
1876, who put the first stones
in a new branch of magnetism
called magneto-optics. The
next milestone in the field of
magnetization is due to Maxwell
and his basic equations, which
mathematically systematized
the relation between magnetic
field, electric field and charges
and currents. Nevertheless, a
while later, it was proposed that
magnetization is a quantum-
mechanical concept, so, until
quantum mechanics gradually
evolved within the last century,
magnetization remained a rather
unclear phenomenon. Latest
decades were full of significant
progress in the understanding
and application of magnetism
theoretically and experimentally.
Parallel to the rapidly expanding
computer industry, demand has
grown for faster data access
in the memory storages. One
of the potential candidates for
this continuing quest has been
photonic control of the spins in
a suitable magnetic material.
Owing to technical innovations
in the optical apparatuses,
leading to generation of beams
with only few femtosecond
(10-15 s) pulse duration, the
investigation of magnetic
properties on such a short time
scale has become possible,
in particular with pump &
probe technique. The pump &
probe scheme can be basically
described in the following
general picture: an ultrafast
intense laser pulse, the pump,
locally perturbs various (quasi-)
particles in a sample. Then
after a certain delay (which
in our experiments could
range from tens of fs to tens
of nanoseconds), another
ultrashort pulse, sufficiently
weak and with a specified
polarization, the so-called probe,
monitors the modifications of
interest in the heated region.
By employing the pump &
probe method, and based on
changes in the polarization state
of the reflected probe beam
from a magnetic specimen, we
can elucidate spin variations:
the technique is called Time
Resolved Magneto Optical Kerr
Effect (TR-MOKE) and is a well-
established method to extract
the dynamics of magnetization
down to the fs time domain.
Although deliberate
manipulation of spins in the
fs time window may not bring
to femto-spintronics devices in
the near future, the extensive
scientific curiosity in this
fields yields more illuminating
insight about the fundamental
characteristics of the photon-
matter interactions and the
magnetization behavior in the
strongly nonequilibrium state.
The principal objective of our
study has been a comprehensive
investigation of the ultrafast
spin dynamics in the metallic
ferromagnets by means of
time resolved magneto optical
Kerr effect technique. In these
transition metals, the spin
quenching process takes place
within only few hundreds of fs
upon laser excitation: the most
rapid magnetization variation
ever observed. The origin of this
ultrafast phenomena is under
vigorous debate. A number of
microscopic models have been
suggested for the mechanism,
along the progress on the
experimental side. Some of the
theories are more accepted,
but up to date there is not a
unanimous agreement. The
theories can be categorized into
two general types: single particle
based and collective excitations
based mechanisms. Our
recent experimental evidences
contribute to further clarification
of the process.
A crucial point is that in
particular conditions TR-
MOKE does not reflect the
pure magnetic behavior, i.e.
it contains mixed information
about charge and spin effects.
We have developed an
experimental approach, so-called
Time Resolved Magneto-Optic
Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (TR-
MOSE), to carefully analyze the
Kerr signal. Utilizing this method
we are well able to disentangle
magnetic contributions from
optical effects. We have
successfully performed TR-
MOSE in several metallic and
half metallic systems, and their
genuine spin dynamics has been
deduced and discussed in great
detail.
The experiments to study the
ultrafast demagnetization
dynamics in ferromagnetic
metals have been conducted
on a 50 nm thick Fe (100) film
epitaxially grown on MgO (100)
at room temperature in ultrahigh
vacuum. The results revealed
the time scales of different
(quasi-) particle interactions
after the pump excitation:
electron-electron interaction
occurs on a time scale of 100
fs, demagnetization is found to
take place on 180 fs timescale
and the extracted time constant
for electron-phonon relaxation is
260 ps. The deduced dynamics
of the conductivity tensor
demonstrates that ultrafast
demagnetization cannot
be attributed to significant
modifications of the band
structure, such as a collapsing
exchange interaction (related
to single particle processes).
Instead we suggest that
the loss of spin ordering
takes place due to electron-
magnon interaction (collective
excitation). Our proposed picture
is perfectly consistent with
the experimentally obtained
time-scales, energy cost and
the observed fact that shows
that demagnetization is probe
energy-independent.
In order to clarify whether
TR-MOKE technique reliably
traces the spin dynamics or
not, we have also compared
the magneto optical response
of some ferromagnetic
benchmarks: metallic Fe
and halfmetallic CrO2 and
La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO)
systems. Half metals are a
category of ferromagnetic
or ferrimagnetic materials
whose electronic structure
PhD Yearbook | 2015
627
shows unusual properties
PHYSICS
about the Fermi level: for one
spin orientation they have
conducting metallic behavior,
while for the opposite spin
orientation the presence of a
gap in the density of states leads
to semiconducting or insulating
properties. We measured the TR-
reflectivity for all samples in the
same delay range. Our analysis
suggests that a drastic change
in the transient reflectivity can
be regarded as a clear hint of
charge contributions in the
Kerr signal. In the case of CrO2
an order of magnitude larger
jump in the initial reflectivity
with respect to Fe sample can
be observed, corresponding
to considerable charge effects
in the Kerr signal for the
half metallic sample. Since
we found an unusual probe
energy-dependence results of
the transient magnetization
behavior in LSMO sample,
we plan to perform the same
experiments in different LSMO
stoichiometries as a next step to
reveal the genuine spin behavior
in these interesting and complex
oxides.
 628
Study of triple bulk heterojunction
organic solar cells
Zhipeng Kan - Supervisor: Dr. Panagiotis E. Kevanidis
Organic materials offer an
attractive opportunity for
the development of organic
photovoltaic cells that could
support portable consumer
electronics. With respect to
the state of the art, organic
photovoltaic cells (OPV) show
low values of power conversion
efficiency (PCE) not so attractive
for industrial production.
Different approaches to improve
the PCE were reported in
literatures, and one of these was
by acting on the morphology
of the mostly used active layer
based on the binary blend
of P3HT: PCBM, for example
through the introduction of
solvent additives and/or a
third component. The addition
of a third component could
extend the absorption band
of the binary cells, since the
1. Graphic abstract
organic materials could cover
the low-energy range of the
solar spectrum. The use of
ternary blend as the active layer
has been also suggested as a
practical method for controlling
the morphology of the OPV
layer.
Considering the ternary
organic solar cells progresses, a
methodology for improving the
PCE of organic solar cells made
by photoactive layers of P3HT
and PCBM of non-optimized
microstructure is presented,
through the introduction of
a quinoidal small molecule
5,5-bis-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-oxo-
2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-ylidene)-
2,2-dihydroxy bithiophene (QBT)
as a third component. Based
on a series of independent
characterization experiments
we address the QBT content
PhD Yearbook | 2015
629
dependent photophysical,
PHYSICS
electrical, thermal, structural and
morphology-related properties
of the ternary photovoltaic
P3HT: PCBM: QBT system for
elucidating the origin of the
PCE improvement. An increase
in efficiency around 47%, by
adding only 0.6wt% of QBT,
has been actually gained, while
further additions are detrimental
for the device performances.
It was highlighted that in the 2. Sketch of ternary blend energetics and proposed excited state path ways. Schematic representation of the energy
levels of P3HT, PCBM, QBT, asobtained bycyclic voltammetry.The LUMO P3HT is taken as -2.9 eV.
P3HT: PCBM: QBT systems
charge generation proceeds
the EQE spectra of the ternary molecular weight, were studied holes carriers mobility. As a
via three different excited state
devices that show improved by comparing the electrical comparison, QBT did not have
pathways that are consistent
EQE values at the corresponding properties, surface topography, positive effects on l-P3HT:
with the relative position of
wavelength ranges. film crystallinity and charge PCBM: QBT (l: low molecular
energy levels of the materials
Then the effects of donor carriers mobility. The results weight) properties, because
involved. The direct excitation of
polymer molecular weight turned out that with QBT the crystallinity level of l-P3HT
the P3HT component results in
on ternary organic solar cells as the third component, the matrix is already optimized. The
charge generation that is driven
properties were investigated. h-P3HT (h: high molecular microstructures of the active
by electron transfer between
Two sets of P3HT: PCBM: QBT weight) matrix crystallinity layer determines the triple
the photoexcited P3HT and
system, which show P3HT was improved, assisting to an bulk heterojunction devices
both the electron acceptors
characterized by different enhanced absorption, increased performances.
QBT and PCBM in the triple
bulk heterojunction (BHJ). Then,
the direct excitation of PCBM
causes energy transfer from
the photoexcited PCBM to QBT
followed by a hole transfer
process from QBT to P3HT.
Moreover, the direct excitation
of QBT, which is characterized by
an absorption at the wavelength
range of 700 nm, results in
photocurrent generation via a
photoinduced hole transfer from
QBT to P3HT. The positive impact
of these three excited state
path ways on the production of (a) (b)
photocurrent is confirmed by 3. Ternary blend films crystallinity summary. (a) h-P3HT-PCBM-QBT films, (b) l-P3HT-PCBM-QBT films
630
FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION
OF POLYMER- BASED ARTIFICIAL RETINAL
PROSTHESIS
Lucia Laudato - Supervisor: Dr. Maria Rosa Antognazza
In the expanding research
field of bioelectronics, optical
stimulation of living cells and
tissues has recently started to
emerge as a promising tool,
complementary to electrical
stimulation, both for in vitro and
in vivo studies. The most direct
application falls within the field
of retinal prostheses, consisting
in restoration of impaired light
sensitivity in blind retinas. In
this scenario, organic materials
appear optimal candidates for
active photosensitive layers
and/or conducting electrodes
and/or substrates, thanks to
their excellent biocompatibility,
mechanical properties and
optoelectronic capabilities.
It was recently reported that
polythiophene-based blends are
able to elicit action potential
in primary neuronal networks,
and also to partially restore
light sensitivity in explanted
retinas bearing photoreceptors
degeneration. These promising
results encouraged the
realization and functional
evaluation of an all-organic,
photovoltaic retinal prosthesis.
Respect to the current, state
of the art retinal prostheses
based on inorganic materials,
a photovoltaic prosthesis
realized with an organic
semiconductor avoids use of
external components (like
intraocular receivers and
amplifiers) and does not
need any wiring, can offer
enhanced spatial resolution,
better biocompatibility and
higher conformability to
the remaining retinal tissue.
Moreover, organic conductors
and semiconductors are unique
materials in combining ionic
and electronic conduction, thus
mimicking the mechanisms
adopted by nature for signal
transmission. Besides the above
mentioned benefits, the contact
of an organic semiconductor
with tissues and physiological
solutions rises important issues
of biocompatibility and temporal
stability.
In the first part of this thesis,
the hybrid interface of an
organic semiconductor with a
physiological-like environment
has been widely characterized by
making recourse to a plethora
of optical and electronic
techniques, and by adopting
the preferential architecture
of a photoelectrochemical cell
(PEC). Interestingly, transient
photocurrent measurements
have permitted to identify the
main processes occurring at the
interface of the polythiophene
derivative with aqueous
solution under irradiation. The
PEC cell has been studied also
in case of oxidation of the
polythiophene based film by
treatment with oxygen plasma:
this case resembles the one of
sterilization, and suggests that,
if performed with optimized
parameters, oxidation doesnt
affect the PEC cell efficiency in
photo-current generation.
All organic, photovoltaic
retinal prosthesis has been
then optimized and widely
characterized. Preferred device
architecture includes a fully
biocompatible and flexible
substrate, namely a silk
fibroin film, a biocompatible
and flexible conducting
layer, namely a poly(3,4-
ethylenedioxythiophene)
and poly(styrenesulphonate)
(PEDOT:PSS) film, and an
active, conjugated polymer
layer, namely a regioregular
poly(3-hexylthiophene) (rr-
P3HT) film. The prosthesis has
been analyzed after 28 days of
immersion in saline solution,
irradiation with ambient light at
37 C, by means of absorption
spectroscopy, contact angle
and transient photocurrent
measurements. The prosthesis
stability in physiological
conditions has been therefore
successfully assessed.
Realized prostheses have been
implanted in dystrophic Royal
College of Surgeons (RCS)
rats eyes, and biocompatibility
and functionality studies have
been carried out. Optical
coherence tomography,
confocal scanning laser
ophthalmoscopy, histochemistry
and immunohistochemistry,
electrophysiology, pupillary
reflex measurement, and visually
driven behavior test have been
PhD Yearbook | 2015
631
performed. It has been observed suitable protocols for the
PHYSICS
that organic prosthesis can realization of a proper thin film
sustain the surgical procedure substrate and the subsequent
for subretinal implantation and fabrication of the overall device.
follows the natural curvature of BC and PET has revealed to be
the rat retina. Biocompatibility the most suitable substrates
properties have been assessed for the realization of a scalable
as well. Preliminary results retinal prosthesis.
indicate that, up to two Overall, this work provides a
months post implantation, light detailed characterization of
sensitivity of dystrophic retinas organic based retinal prosthesis
is restored by the photovoltaic implanted in blind rats, and
prosthesis; moreover, they show represents a useful starting point
that its implantation doesnt for subsequent engineering
compromise the functionality of of artificial devices targeted to
remaining inner retinal layers. human beings.
Based on these promising
results, the feasibility of
implantation of an all-organic
retinal prosthesis in a human eye
has been investigated. To this
aim, a different animal model,
the pig, has been selected
for its eye similarity to that
of human beings, and proper
device architecture has been
implemented. Many possible
candidates for the substrate
material have been evaluated,
including bacterial cellulose
(BC), poly(ethyleneterephthalate)
(PET), poly(lactic-co-glycolic
acid) (PLGA), polycaprolactone
(PCL), poly(methylmethacrylate)
(PMMA). In each case, many
different constraints have
been considered, including
solvent resistance, wettability,
processability, thermal stability,
mechanical properties. A
combinatorial approach
permitted to define the most
 632
Femtosecond laser micromachining
for advanced manufacturing
of microfluidic devices
Sara Lo Turco - Supervisor: Luigino Criante
The experimental activity
performed in this PhD Thesis
context has been devoted to
develop and integrate new
functions for fluidic analysis
purposes in lab-on-a-chip
(LOC) devices, fabricated
by femtosecond laser
micromachining in glass.
The idea below LOCs concept
is the possibility to miniaturize
and integrate several laboratory
functions on a single substrate
with dimensions ranging from
hundreds of micrometers to
few millimeters. The very first
consequence of miniaturization
is that small quantities of
samples and reagents are used
(10-9 to 10-18 litres) thus leading
to a natural high resolution and
sensitivity of detection together
with short times for analysis.
Other side benefits related to
small size are the low cost, low
energy consumption, reduced
waste generation and more
generally better controlled
reactions which ensure safe
work conditions. In short, LOCs
are extremely portable devices
which facilitate their diffusion
in the healthcare market with
the innovative idea to dispose of
portable points of care, to be
even used by non-experts and
without any special equipment.
In this regard we exploited the
fs-laser assisted etching for
fabricating the micro-devices,
thanks to the intrinsic 3D
potential of this technique
enabling a mask-less direct
writing of any sort of geometry
inside the substrate, as in
the ship-in-a-bottle idea. In
particular, the micro-structures
should be first irradiated by
the femtosecond laser, with
3D motion-control, and then
selectively removed by chemical
etching leaving empty zones
inside the substrate, thus
producing the microfluidic
platform. Furthermore the same
tool (fs-laser) can be used to
fabricate waveguides in fused-
silica glass with a slight refractive
index increase with respect
to the surrounding volume.
As a direct consequence,
fluidic recirculation and optics
detection are easily integrated
in the same device, allowing
a fast-prototyping of total-
analysis-systems (micro-TAS).
Easy network reconfigurability is
visualized in fig. 1a.
Considering the etching step,
we explored the combination
of the hydrofluoric acid (HF)
for large volume removal and
potassium hydroxide (KOH) for
extreme precision fabrication
(order of 1mm). When using
one single etchant, the former
tends to produce highly conical
microchannels due to isotropic
etching in the volume, whereas
the latter is limited in etching
strength requiring several hours
for removing few hundreds of
micrometers of irradiated fused-
silica. Interestingly, the combined
use of both the etchants in
subsequent steps enables the
realization of complex platforms
with innovative design and
uniform internal structures.
Thanks to this strategy, we
successfully fabricated a micro-
filter for particle separation and
a fluidic-switch for fluid selection
(reported in fig. 1b,c). The filter,
composed of a grid of 2.05mm-
size 15 x 15 pores and directly
encapsulated inside a square
channel, permits to separate
different particle species in
suspension. In particular, the
internal dimensions are suitably
engineered considering typical
size of biological samples, where
blood-cells and related material
range between 1.5 mm-10mm
in size. Regarding the second
device, we demonstrated an
extremely compact fluidic switch
(1mm x 2mm) that can be
connected to other systems by
means of inlet/outlet insertions
for full integration. The switch is
composed of a T-shape channel
with a movable glass-block
inside, enabling to alternatively
block port-1 or port-2 and select
the output direction.
Besides the described micro-
mechanical components, we
carried out a state-of-the-art
study for integrating a laser
microcavity directly inside the
analysis device. Indeed the
potentials of LOC systems can
be significantly enhanced if
disposing of source excitation
PhD Yearbook | 2015
633
PHYSICS
1:
a) different microfluidic chips fabricated by fs-laser assisted etching;
b) micro-filter blocking 7mm-beads immersed in water;
c) T-shape microchannel with movable glass block acting as fluidic switch;
d,e) AFM-based 2D-mapping revealing the surface roughness of d) top-wall and e) bottom-wall;
f) Schematic design of the laser integrated microcavity.
and detection inside the of 7500lines/mm and refractive domain inspection, we found
microchip, allowing to reduce index modulation up to 5 10-2, out that the non-uniform energy
either the coupling and thus permitting first-order distribution within the fs-laser
transmission losses as well as operation in the VIS-region. focal-spot leads to a different
increase the device selectivity. Therefore, by merging the fs- surface structuring in the top-
Furthermore by exploiting the laser micromachining for micro- wall (fig. 1d) and bottom-wall
intrinsic high sensitivity of a laser device fabrication with the soft- (fig. 1e). In detail, the former
cavity, the optical properties matter holography for gratings case feels the periodicity of the
of fluid-samples can be easily imprinting, we aim at realizing laser-tracing whereas the latter
monitored thanks to an in-situ an all-in-one platform for fluids one reveals a more random
highly sensible sensor. The first analysis, with basic design profile. This difference implies
choice for laser integration in displayed in fig. 1f showing the a different scattering of any
microfluidic systems is selecting central microchannel filled with light beam passing through the
high-gain dye-molecules dye-solution, two side gratings sample and, considering each
diluted in liquid solvents as acting as cavity mirrors, and particular application of the
active medium, with emission the external connections. As lab-on-a-chip, the surface profile
covering the whole VIS region. first step, we optimized either can be controlled by suitably
As a direct consequence, due the micro-device from the tailoring the fs-irradiation
to high chemical degradability fluidic point of view and the parameters: such as beam-
of any dye compound, fluidic photo-polymerizable mixtures shape, polarization, pulse energy
recirculation results necessary in chemistry in order to obtain and laser-traces spacing.
order to refresh new molecules high efficiency diffraction
in the cavity and enhance the gratings with the selected
laser life-time. Furthermore, an configuration. Secondly, since
easy lasing-tuning is achieved the beams coherence during
by integrating wavelength- the holographic process results
selective mirrors, constituted strongly affected by the intrinsic
of Bragg gratings recorded by surface roughness left by fs-
means of 2-beams holography laser fabrication, we performed
within photo-polymerizable a detailed study in order to
resins. In particular we selected control and improve the surface
this technique as it allows for quality. In particular, by means
a single-step volume grating of AFM-based 2D mapping
realization, with high resolution and corresponding spectral
634
Mechanisms of cellular photostimulation
in hybrid interfaces based on organic
semiconductors
Nicola Martino - Supervisor: Maria Rosa Antognazza
Hybrid interfaces between
organic semiconductors and
living tissues represent a new
tool for in vitro and in vivo
applications, bearing a huge
potential, from basic researches
to clinical applications. In
particular, light sensitive
conjugated polymers can be
exploited as a new approach for
optical modulation of cellular
activity. It has been previously
demonstrated that thin films of
organic semiconductors used
for photovoltaic applications
are able to stimulate the
bioelectrical activity of neurons
grown on their surface upon
illumination with pulses of
visible light, both in the case of
hippocampal neuronal cultures
and of explanted blind retinas.
This thesis is focused on the
study of the functioning
mechanisms of these hybrid
interfaces, composed of a
photoactive layer in contact
with an electrolytic solution;
the main absorbing material
used is the prototypical
conjugated polymer poly(3-
hexylthiophene) (P3HT), in some
cases blended with the electron
acceptor phenyl-C61-butyric
acid methyl ester (PCBM). The
study is carried out both from
a photophysical and electrical
point of view to understand the
processes occurring at the hybrid
interface upon illumination,
and regarding the ability of the
device to stimulate biological
cells. In particular, we are
interested in understanding how
photoexcitation of the active
material in the device is able to
modulate the potential of the
plasma membrane, which is
the main parameter controlling
the firing of action potentials in
excitable cells.
First, the current strategies
used for measuring and
controlling bioelectrical activity
are reviewed; after describing
the evolution of electrical
measurements and stimulation
of cellular activity, particular
attention is paid to optical
techniques and the photoactive
hybrid polymer interfaces are
introduced. The experimental
characterization of these
hybrid polymer/electrolyte
interfaces is presented, with
a thorough investigation of
their spectroscopic, electrical
and thermal properties, in
order to delineate the main
phenomena that occur at the
device surface upon illumination
with short pulses of light (on
the order of tens/hundreds of
milliseconds). On these short
timescales, the hybrid interface
does not support an efficient
electrochemical transfer of the
charges photogenerated in the
active material to the electrolytic
solution. In contrast with
standard organic photovoltaic
cells, were charges are extracted
by metal contacts, the hybrid
device is not able to sustain
a continuous current upon
illumination. Instead, a capacitive
charging of the polymer/
electrolyte interface is observed,
similar to what happens in all-
electrical silicon-based devices
used for capacitive stimulation
of neurons. Interestingly, the
capacitive currents obtained
in the polymeric devices
upon photostimulation are
comparable in intensity to those
typical of electrically-driven
inorganic devices; however, their
temporal dynamics are quite
short (on the order of 1 ms), due
to the finite amount of charge
that can be accumulated at the
polymer/electrolyte interface.
Once this capacitance has
been charged, all the charges
photoexcited in the active
material during illumination
recombine non-radiatively to
the ground state. Thus, apart
from a small fraction that is used
to charge the interface, all the
energy of photons absorbed by
the material is dissipated into
thermal vibrations leading to a
local heating of the electrolyte
at the device surface. Depending
on the light intensity used, an
increase in temperature on the
order of few degrees can be
observed after illumination with
pulses of tens of milliseconds.
The effects of photostimulation
of the active material on cells
were studied by growing
HEK-293 cells on the hybrid
interfaces. Being non-excitable
cells, HEK-293 allowed to isolate
the effects of photoexcitation
on the basic properties of the
membrane, investigated via
electrophysiological methods
and in particular with pacth-
clamp techniques. Apart from
the capacitive charging of the
interface, which is reflected
in a spiking signal in the
recorded potential of the cell,
the illumination resulted in a
biphasic effect, with an initial
transient depolarization of
the membrane followed by a
prolonged hyperpolarization.
Both these effects were
attributed to the local heating
of the system mediated by
light absorption in the active
polymer. In particular, the initial
transient depolarization was
related to an increase in the
membrane capacitance with the
temperature, consistently with
recent reports on the mechanism
of functioning of infrared neural
stimulation (INS), in which water
absorption of IR light is used
to induce a local heating. This
depolarization signal significantly
depends on the electrical
properties of the membrane,
in particular its time constant
(the product of membrane
resistance and capacitance),
with faster membranes
(i.e. with a higher specific
conductance) responding
with lower depolarization
signals upon illumination. The
subsequent hyperpolarization
PhD Yearbook | 2015
635
was instead attributed to a shift
PHYSICS
in the membrane equilibrium
potential towards more negative
values, determined by the
electrochemical equilibrium
of the ionic species on the
two sides of the cell plasma
membrane as described by
the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz
equation, which strongly
depends on temperature. To 1. Electrical schematization of
complete the description of the coupling between the hybrid
polymer/electrolyte interface and a
the photostimulation process, biological cell described with a two-
a mathematical modelling of compartment model that considers
the dynamics of the membrane the basal and the lateral portion of
the plasma membrane. The green
potential is proposed, which box represents the area of the device
consistently reproduces the illuminated during stimulation.
experimental data collected on
the HEK-293 cells. developments, towards the
The work is concluded by creation of a multi-functional
wrapping up the results platform for light-controlled
in the context of existing cell manipulation, with possible
techniques for cell stimulation applications in different fields of
and by pointing out to future neuroscience and medicine.
2. Variation in membrane potential measured on an HEK-293 cell upon
illumination with a 200 ms pulse of light (I = 57 mW/mm2). The figure shows
the comparison between the experimental results (grey open circles) and the
numerical modeling of the system (pink solid line). The single contribution to
the total signals from the variations in membrane capacitance (blue dashed
lines) and equilibrium potential (green dashed lines) are also reported.
636

Strain engineering in Si, Ge and SiGe alloys is an important target for the but extended over 20 m strain, in particular it was found

PhD Yearbook | 2015

development of more efficient
technologies, in fact in this way
the dislocations are confined
away from the active parts
of the devices. A systematic
study of different parameters
Valeria Mondiali - Supervisor: Monica Bollani (Ge content, film thickness
and growth temperature) was
performed to find the optimum
The need for an increase in the were used to characterize so a direct band gap should conditions. All the samples were
outside the pattern. In this case
the dislocations were always
aligned along the direction of
the pit rows, giving rise to areas
in which dislocations ran in only
one direction. The samples were
studied by Raman spectroscopy
and nano X-ray diffraction.
This is the first case where
Raman spectroscopy was
that the presence of dislocations
resulted in a lower compressive
strain in the film (Fig. 2(b)) and
a greater tensile strain in the
substrate. On the contrary, in
the areas between the pits there
was a greater compressive strain
in the SiGe layer, proving that
they were free of defects. Finally, 637
the samples were characterized

performance of microelectronic
devices has pushed the
traditional silicon-based
architectures to their limits.
One possible way to overcome
these limits is identified in the
use of strain engineering. This
method allows an increase in
performance of the devices
through the ability to control
the band structure of the
semiconductor. Compressively
strained silicon is used in
high-speed electronic devices,
and tensile germanium in
optoelectronic devices. The use
of thick films in hindered by the
nucleation of dislocations, which
decrease the performance of
the devices, however using the
dislocation engineering method
it is possible to govern the
nucleation and the propagation
of dislocations at the nanoscale
level.
Regarding the problem of
strain control, a suitable
nanopatterning of the SiGe layer
induces, through the generation
of edge forces, a compressive
or a tensile strain, respectively
for a Si or a Ge substrate.
SiGe films were deposited by
low-energy plasma-enhanced
chemical vapor deposition
(LEPECVD). SiGe nanostressors
were realized by electron beam
lithography (EBL) and reactive
ion etching (RIE). Scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) and
atomic force microscopy (AFM)
the obtained structures. First
of all, the SiGe-on-Si system
was studied. The realized
structures were characterized
by Raman spectroscopy in
order to study the strain state
of the silicon as a function
of the patterning of the SiGe
film, obtaining a compressive
strain of the Si substrate of
1%. Using finite element
method simulations (FEM), it
was possible to demonstrate
that the strain induced in the
substrate depends on the ratio
between the width and the
spacing of the stripes (Fig.1(a)).
So, wide stripes with narrow
gaps between them were
needed to maximize the induced
strain. After these promising
results, the SiGe-on-Ge case
was considered. In this case the
goal was a uniaxial tensile strain
higher than 4% in order to
induce the transition to a direct
band gap in the germanium.
A simplified numerical model,
which was very sensitive to the
temperature, the growth rate,
and the Ge content of the alloy,
was developed to describe
the strain relaxation process
of tensile SiGe on Ge. In this
way the optimum conditions
for the growth of a metastable
film were found. Also in this
case the strain depends on the
spacing between the stripes,
and for a spacing of 20 nm
the strain is higher than 4%,
PHYSICS
be induced in the germanium. characterized by AFM, verifying used for the direct visualization using TEM analysis in order to
This strain can be enhanced that the dislocations propagate of the dislocations present in investigate the nature of the
using a Ge membrane instead along the pit rows (Fig. 2(a)). a film. Through the Raman defects.
of a bulk material. SiGe/Ge This control effect was not maps, it was possible to obtain
membranes were obtained using confined only within the pattern information concerning the
a wet etching process which
preserves the SiGe layer, leading
to the realization of high quality
surfaces. The used anisotropic
etchants, TMAH and KOH, allow
a high Si/SiGe selectivity which
is necessary to avoid damaging
the stressors. These samples
were analyzed by Raman
spectroscopy, confirming the
preservation of the SiGe layer on
top of the Ge membrane. At this
point the SiGe stressors were
fabricated from the SiGe layer 1. a) FEM simulation of exx(upper panel) and ezz (lower panel) for SiGe/Si stripes. b) SEM image of SiGe nanostressors on
(Fig 1(b)). top of a Ge membrane.
Regarding dislocation
engineering, a new method of
controlling and engineering the
dislocations was developed.
Suitable patterns, realized by
EBL, provided a controlling
effect on the propagation of
dislocations in an epitaxial SiGe
film grown on the patterned
Si substrate. The pattern was
a matrix of inverted pyramid
aligned along the <110>
directions: these inverted
pyramids acted as favourable
points for the nucleation of
dislocations. In this way, it
was possible to control the
propagation of dislocations
along the pit rows. The ability
to confine dislocations and 2. a) AFM image of the amplitude in tapping mode of SiGe on a pit-patterned substrates. b) Raman maps of the Si-Si
obtain areas without dislocations peak of the SiGe film.
638
Water-Gated polymer-based Organic
Field Effect Transistors for biosensing
applications
Rossella Porrazzo - Relatore: Maria Rosa Antognazza
This thesis investigates the
fabrication and characterization
of water-gated organic field-
effect transistors (WGOFET),
employing organic polymeric
materials as the active
semiconducting layer, for
biosensing applications.
Compared to a typical solid
state top-gate transistor
configuration, a water-based
electrolyte substitutes the usual
polymeric dielectric, allowing to
work at very low voltages (<1V)
typical of the biological systems,
and opening for the possibility
of development of a WGOFET-
based biosensing platform.
In a first phase of the work
we screen the most promising
p-channel (holes conducting)
semiconducting polymers to
be used as active materials for
WGOFETs: we finally focus on
polymers of the polythiophene
family, which exhibit remarkable
performances in terms of
charge carrier mobility and
electrochemical stability
as compared to previously
demonstrated state-of-the art
polymer-based WGOFETs, being
able to work also in a biological-
like environment (0.2 M molar
concentration NaCl solutions).
Notably, the critical comparison
among different polythiophene-
based polymers allows to
unravel key physical mechanisms
of the hybrid interface between
conjugated polymers thin films
and saline electrolytes.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
639
By employing the best
PHYSICS
performing polymer among the
selected ones, poly(2,5-bis(3-
hexadecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno
[3,2-b]thiophene) (pBTTT), an
electrolyte gated pBTTT-based
device is realized, sensitive
towards pH and ionic strength of
the electrolyte, being stable for
more than 24 hours operation.
Moreover, the device is modified
with the enzyme penicillinase,
and a proof-of-concept sensor
specifically sensitive towards
penicillin is demonstrated.
Furthermore, two n-channel
electron-conducting polymers
are investigated for the first
time as active materials in
water-gated architectures,
demonstrating outstanding
performances. By coupling
p- and n- type polymers,
water-gated complementary
inverters are realized, paving
the way to the fabrication of
complementary circuits working
in a liquid environment.
640
Time-resolved investigation of electron
dynamics in few-particle systems using a
versatile attosecond beamline
Maurizio Reduzzi - Supervisor: Giuseppe Sansone
The goal of the PhD project
has been the development of
a versatile high-repetition rate
(10 kHz) XUV/IR attosecond
beamline for time-resolved
studies of electron dynamics in
few-particle systems (atoms and
small molecules).
The generation of XUV radiation
was achieved via upconversion
of Carrier-Envelope Phase
(CEP) stabilized pulses centered
around 800 nm with 5 fs
duration, obtained via hollow-
core fiber compression of
the pulses produced by a
commercial titanium-sapphire
based laser system.
The production, via High-order
Harmonic Generation (HHG) in
noble gases, of subfemtosecond
XUV pulses with duration
down to 380 as was then
demonstrated in attosecond
streaking experiments; the
combined exploitation of
different generating media
and metallic filters resulted in a
broad frequency tunability in the
15-30 eV range.
From the technological point
of view, the main challenge
of the project was to interface
the developed beamline with a
REaction MIcroscope (REMI), a
charged particle spectrometer
capable of detecting multiple
electrons and ions in
coincidence, providing access to
the momentum vector of all the
detected fragments.
The detection of the generated
ionized fragments is the most
natural way to follow in real
time the dynamics of an atom
(or a molecule) triggered by the
interaction with a broadband
XUV attosecond pulse. Because
of the large bandwidth implied
by the very short time duration
of attosecond pulses, multiple
reaction pathways are usually
involved, complicating the
interpretation of experimental
results. It is then highly desirable
to collect every possible piece of
information from the process,
i.e. to realize a kinematically
complete experiment: this is the
ultimate goal of a REMI.
The successful operation of
the REMI inside the developed
1. An experimental streaking spectrogram performed on argon. The XUV
attosecond pulse was centered around 28 eV: 380 as is the pulse duration
obtained from the retrieval algorithm.
attosecond beamline was
demonstrated in streaking
measurements for the
characterization of isolated
attosecond pulses (see Figure 1).
It consists in a two-color XUV-IR
ionization experiment performed
on a noble gas. Provided that
the dipole matrix element
remains approximately constant
within the bandwidth of the
XUV pulse, the delay-dependent
photoelectron kinetic energy
distribution can be interpreted
as a FROG spectrogram,
allowing for the retrieval of the
XUV pulse.
Furthermore, the REMI was used
to study IR-assisted ionization of
the helium atom, excited to the
1snp manifold by the generated
tunable attosecond pulses.
The main result of this
experiment, corroborated
with simulations based on the
numerical solution of the Time-
Dependendent Schrdinger
Equation (TDSE) in Single Active
Electron approximation (SAE),
was to highlight the presence
of a transition in the dominant
ionization pathway, depending
on the intensity of the IR
pulse: while at low intensity
(lower than 3x1012 W/cm2) the
dominating process is the two-
photon process (1 XUV + 1 IR)
stemming from the whole 1snp
manifold (with n>2), at higher
intensities the four-photon
process (1 XUV + 3 IR) from the
1s2p state becomes dominant.
An important part of the project
was also dedicated to the study
of atoms and molecules with
Attosecond Transient Absorption
Spectroscopy (ATAS), where the
observable is provided by the
XUV radiation transmitted by
a dilute gas sample, spectrally
resolved thanks to a home-built
XUV spectrometer.
This technique can be
considered complementary to
the REMI, since it provides access
to the dynamics in the bound
excited states of a system, which
are invisible to a charged particle
spectrometer since no ionization
is taking place.
ATAS was applied for the first
time to a molecular system (N2)
for the study of multi-electron
dynamics. The population of
a coherent superposition of
electronic states lying below
as well as above the ionization
potential was demonstrated
(see Figure 2); the coherence
was proved by the observation
of quantum beatings with
a periodicity of 1.33 fs (one
half-cycle of the IR field), due 1 IR) allowed bound excited
PhD Yearbook | 2015
to a two-IR-photon coupling state of the system. While the
between the two XUV-populated
manifolds (one below and one
experimental observation of
LISs was already established,
above the ionization potential,
respectively). The experimental
the achievable control over
their appearance exploiting the
results were supported with relative polarization between
numerical calculations based on the XUV and the IR pulse was
Time-Dependent Perturbation the subject of our investigations.
theory (TDP). The result was qualitatively 641
Finally, the technique was explained thanks to symmetry
PHYSICS
applied to singly-excited helium, arguments in a Floquet-like
which has been the subject of model; quantitative agreement
many similar investigations in was provided by simulations
the last few years. In particular, based on the solution of the
the novel contribution was the TDSE in SAE.
demonstration of a control
over Light Induced States
(LISs), which are absorption
features appearing only in the
simultaneous presence of an
XUV exciting pulse together
with a dressing IR pulse.
They can be thought as the
(virtual) intermediate state
connecting the ground state
to a two-photon (1 XUV
2. Experimental observation of a coherent electron wavepacket in N2. The
transient absorption trace shows half-IR-cycle oscillations in the region 17.0 -
18.5 eV (lower panel) as a result of the interference between the single XUV
photon (tail of the XUV spectrum - green shaded area in the upper panel) and
the three-photon (absorption of one XUV photon - center of the green shaded
area followed by absorption of two IR photons) pathways leading to the
population of the same state states (blue shaded area).
642
Nano-oxides on a reactive substrate
A scanning tunneling microscopy study of transition metal
oxides on Fe(001)
Michele Riva - Supervisor: Lamberto Du
Stimulated by technological
applications of oxides in
catalysis, electrochemistry, gas
sensing, corrosion protection,
electronics and high-density
storage, considerable scientific
effort has been spent in the last
decades to the investigation
with atomic-scale resolution
of oxide surfaces and metal/
oxide interfaces. In particular, a
growing attention has been paid
to the investigation of structural,
electronic and magnetic
properties of the surfaces of
bulk crystals and ultrathin oxide
films supported on noble-metal
substrates. The latter have been
the subject of extensive research
(i) as model inverse catalysts,
and (ii) due to their rather
facile preparation by reactive
metal deposition (RD) in oxygen
atmosphere, thanks to the inert
noble metal support.
Comparatively much less
efforts have been spent on the
investigation at the nanoscale of
oxides coupled with substrates
characterized by an elevated
reactivity toward oxygen, such as
Fe [Fig. 1(a), top]. The question
of how oxides form on top of a
reactive metal is, nevertheless,
of apparent relevance, e.g.,
concerning the use of oxides as
protective coatings. Moreover,
investigation of the effects of
the reactive support on the
local electronic properties,
chemical composition and defect
distribution of the growing oxide
is crucial in view of possible
catalytic applications. Finally,
the large majority of materials
possessing long-range magnetic
ordering belongs to the class
of reactive metals. In this
respect, new exciting properties
can arise from the interfacial
interaction of oxides possessing
long-range spin ordering
and their magnetic support.
In particular, technologically
relevant phenomena, currently
exploited in high-density
storage media, spintronics and
magnetic field sensing, still await
suitable model systems to allow
a profound understanding via
atomic-scale probing.
Indeed, the high reactivity
of magnetic supports as Fe
poses serious limitations to
the preparation methods
for well-defined oxides,
i.e., ideally characterized by
atomically flat surfaces, and
chemically and structurally
abrupt interfaces with the
substrate. O2 exposure, in fact,
readily induces the formation
of substrate oxide phases [Fig.
1(a), bottom], whose structure
and chemical composition are
hardly controlled. As a result,
oxides grown by RD on reactive
substrates like Fe exhibit rough
surfaces and diffuse interfaces,
hampering both atomic-scale
imaging via scanning tunneling
microscopy (STM) and idealized
modeling.
The research activity of my
PhD aimed at achieving a
deeper understanding of the
subtle mechanisms occurring
when interfaces between
nanostructured transition metal
(TM) oxides and a magnetic
Fe(001) substrate are formed. In
particular, three main strategies
have been adopted to achieve
the preparation of high-quality
Cr, Co and Ni nano-oxides. (i)
TM growth on a well-ordered,
pre-oxidized Fe(001) surface,
i.e., Fe(001)-p(11)O [Fig. 1(b)];
(ii) post-oxidation of, and (iii)
homoepitaxial RD onto ultrathin
TM buffer layers, grown on
either Fe(001) or Fe(001)-p(11)
O.
Fig. 2 reports a restricted
selection of the STM results.
Growth of sub-ML (1 ML =
1.2 1015 at./cm2) amounts of
Cr on Fe(001)-p(11)O leads
to the stabilization of two
monolayer-thick oxides with
Cr3O4 [Fig. 2(a)] and Cr4O5 [Fig.
2(b)] stoichiometry, unobserved
among bulk Cr oxides.
Conversely, Ni/Fe(001)-p(11)O
growth leads to the formation
of an alloy oxide surface, with
Ni4FeO5 stoichiometry [Fig. 2(c)].
A similar tendency of Fe atoms
to get oxidized is strikingly
observed when oxidation of
Ni/Fe(001) films is considered
[Fig. 2(d)]. In this case Fe
atoms migrate through the Ni
buffer and form a buckled FeO
nano-oxide with a polar (111)
orientation.
PhD Yearbook | 2015
643
The results achieved during
PHYSICS
my PhD could pave the way
toward a deeper understanding 1. Large-scale STM images of (a) the Fe(001) substrate before (top) and after
of heterostructures formed by (bottom) exposure to 50 L (1 L = 1.33 10-6 mbar s) O2 at room temperature,
magnetic oxides supported and (b) the Fe(001)-p(11)O surface. An atomically-resolved STM image (3.83.8
nm2) of Fe(001)-p(11)O is reported in the inset of panel (b).
on ferromagnetic substrates,
especially considering the great
progresses achieved in direct
observation of spin structures
down to the atomic scale via
spin-polarized STM. Moreover,
the peculiar structures formed
by these oxides in direct contact
with a reactive substrate could
prove promising candidates as
novel model catalysts.
2. (a,b) Atomically-resolved STM images of single layer-thick Cr oxides prepared
by growing (a) 0.75 ML, and (b) 0.80 ML Cr on Fe(001)-p(11)O at 670 K. The
presence of ordered Cr vacancies (dark spots in STM) results in Cr3O4 and
Cr4O5 formal stoichiometry for the nano-oxides in (a) and (b), respectively. (c)
STM morphology of a 5 ML-thick Ni/Fe(001)-p(11)O film grown at 570 K. At
variance with respect to (a,b), the dark spots in (c) have been identified as
single Fe atoms. The formal stoichiometry of this alloy nano-oxide is therefore
Ni4FeO5. (d) Atomically resolved STM image (top, 7.04.8 nm2) and line profile
(bottom) of the polar FeO(111) nano-oxide (surface unit cell sketched in red)
developing when a 5 ML Ni/Fe(001) film is exposed to 150 L O2 and post-
annealed to 570 K.
 644
From Dye sensitized to Perovskite-based solar
cells: a perspective on the fundamental
working mechanisms evolution
Vittoria Roiati - Supervisor: Prof Guglielmo Lanzani
Sunlight is the most abundant
renewable energy source on
earth, it would then potentially
enable sustainable economic
growth for humanity with a
minimum detrimental impact
on the environment, if properly
converted and stored. Among
the photovoltaic technologies
developed to convert solar
power, silicon-based ones
are the most consolidated in
industry. There are, however,
many alternatives, promising
cheaper, environmental-friendly
solutions, with characteristics
suitable for various technological
applications. Among these, Dye-
Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) are
mostly coming of age, providing
potential penetration into high-
added value energy markets,
such as the BIPV (Building-
Integrated Photovoltaics),
unattainable by classic
inorganic semiconductor based
photovoltaics. DSSC solar cells
are based on the light harvesting
operated by a sensitizer
antenna through electron
injection into the conduction
band of a nanostructured semi-
conducting oxide, followed by
dye regeneration by a redox
shuttle liquid electrolyte or solid
hole transporting material. Huge
efforts have focused in the last
20 years on the development
of new efficient materials and
innovative architectures for
DSSC, in order to improve device
performances, progressing
in the roadmap towards the
widespread applications of this
technology. Hybrid organic
inorganic perovskites have
emerged at the forefront of the
most exciting and innovative
materials for this application in
recent years. Initially proposed
as an evolutionary step of
mesostructured solid state
sensitized solar cells, they soon
demonstrated ground-breaking
performances, soon reaching
outstanding solar to electricity
conversion efficiency close to
20%, and holding the promise
of accessible scalability with
low-cost solution processability.
Hybrid halide perovskite
possess key characteristics for
PV manufacturing: intense
and broad light absorption,
remarkable ambipolar charge
mobility and very low non-
radiative carrier recombination
rates, leading to impressive
charge diffusion length. These
fascinating properties allowed
the inclusion of perovskite
materials in a variety of device
architectures in the last couple
of years, exploring different
manufacture procedures
including spin coating and
evaporation of thin films. The
characterization perovskite-
based solar cells (PSC) offers
several challenges to the
scientific community, which has
been involved in the last decade
in the study of DSSC. In fact
these devices present interesting
peculiarities when analysed with
conventional tools employed for
DSSC characterization. In this
thesis, Time Correlated Single
Photon Counting (TCSPC),
Photoinduced absorption (cw-
PIA), Transient Photovoltage
(TPV) and Electroabsorption
(EA) are employed to shed
light on charge dynamics
and interface physics of both
class of devices. Experimental
evidences show that the
models developed for data
interpretation in DSSC analysis
have to be reconsidered when
dealing with perovskite solar
cells (PSC). The comparative
analysis between the old
and the new generation
of mesostructured solar cells
is completed with a punctual
review of the hot debate of the
scientific community around
each of the investigated aspects.
Two main topics are presented
and experimentally supported by
the author:
1. Charge injection to the
TiO2 matrix is limited in
mesostructured PSCs, contrary
to the case of conventional
dye-sensitized solar cells.
This implies that, after
charge separation in the
perovskite itself, electrons
are mainly transported
towards the selective contact
through the same active
material. This behaviour
is hypothesized following
different experimental
evidences obtained with
independent methods. First,
TCSPC analysis revealed that
for hybrid halide perovskites
PL quenching is not related to
charge extraction but mainly
to the morphological and
crystalline structure of the
perovskite film. Contrary to
the case of DSSC, then, no
charge injection rate can be
retrieved for luminescence
decay analysis as some groups
reported in early works.
Second, cw-PIA showed very
weak feature attributable to
the absorption of electrons
in the TiO2 matrix in efficient
state-of-the-art devices.
Efficient injection and fast
charge recombination would
justify this result, but it
would be in contrast with the
observed good performances
of the solar cells. Third,
TPV revealed a double path
for charge recombination,
with a slower component
attributable to the charges
injected in the TiO2 substrate,
recombining with the typical
dynamics observed for solid
state DSSC, and a faster
component attributable to the
electrons percolating through
the perovskite material. The
fast recombination component
does not negatively affect
the performances of the
devices since it is coupled with
efficient and fast transport,
as demonstrated by means of
transient photocurrent in the
same samples. The cartoon
in figure 1 shows schematics
of the hypothesized double
path for charge carriers in
mesostructured perovskite
solar cells.
2. EA spectroscopy has been
employed to demonstrate
the influence of the oxide
mesoporous scaffold on the
PhD Yearbook | 2015
morphological and structural
properties of perovskites. As
observed by others for the
case of DSSCs, first derivative
features often superimposed
to cw-PIA spectra are due to
local electric fields originated
by charge displacement after
excitation and acting on 645
ground-state dye molecules
PHYSICS
(described as oriented dipoles)
according to the linear Stark 1. Cartoon illustrating the double
effect theory for absorption path for electrons percolation in
shift. Mesostructured PSCs, in mesostructured PSC, with slow and
fast dynamics associated to TiO2 and
cw-PIA and EA experiments, perovskite transport respectively,
showed derivative features hypothesized according to TCSPC, cw-
similar to the DSSC case, PIA and TPV analysis.
revealing the presence of
oriented dipoles at the
interface between perovskite
and mesoporous oxide. The
orientation provided by the
interaction with TiO2 could
influence perovskite growth
and transport properties;
moreover, the presence of
electric dipoles in perovskites,
which appear to have a
strong influence in PSC
working mechanism, has
been experimentally tested.
Figure 2 provides a schematic 2. Right: schematics of dipole moment
view of the direction of the variation for the TiO2/perovskite
(PERO) interface and shape of the
dipole moment variation corresponding linear Stark signal for
and the corresponding oriented dipoles. Left: DFT calculated
shape of the Stark derivative ground and excited state dipole
moments for the system.
feature, together with a DFT
simulation confirming EA
experiments.
646

Comb-Assisted Cavity Ring-Down The spectral scan is performed

PhD Yearbook | 2015

by tuning the comb repetition
Spectroscopy rate while maintaining the tight
lock between the probing laser
and the OFC. This approach
minimizes the frequency offsets
that could emerge between
Tommaso Sala - Supervisor: Marco Marangoni ECDL and comb during the
spectral scans. The setup is fully
automated by using a real-time 647
The fields of frequency various techniques, cavity ring- structure and dipole moment of system equipped with an FPGA,

metrology and trace gas
sensing historically developed
along two separated paths.
In the last decade, the former
benefited from the advent of
optical frequency combs (OFCs),
enabling the absolute calibration
of optical frequencies. The
latter has witnessed over the
past twenty years continuous
methodological and technical
developments leading to
more and more sensitive
spectrometers, especially
when combined with high-
finesse optical cavities, while
little attention has been paid
to the frequency accuracy of
the measurement. For this
reason the connection between
these two fields is particularly
attractive.
The huge success of OFCs lies
in their discrete, stable and
reproducible structure, readily
referable to primary microwave
standards, allowing the link
between the optical and the
radio frequency (RF) domain and
providing an absolute frequency
axis to any spectroscopic
recording.
Bringing the benefits of OFCs
into the field of molecular
spectroscopy and trace gas
sensing is the main goal of
this thesis. To the purpose
of the enhancement of the
measurement sensitivity, several
spectroscopic techniques have
been developed. Among all the
down absorption spectroscopy
(CRDS), proved to be very
powerful and effective. It is
based on the measurement of
the photon decay rate inside a
high-finesse optical cavity, with
high sensitivity and immunity to
probing laser intensity noise.
Our aim is the development of
a comb-assisted, continuous
wave (CW) CRDS setup that can
provide the high accuracy on
the frequency axis offered by
an OFC and at the same time
high sensitivity on the vertical
scale. An absolute frequency
axis adds several features to
a high-sensitive spectroscopic
measurement. It enables
ultrahigh precision and accuracy,
with frequency uncertainties
on the line positions as low
as 1016, and also ensures an
increased signal-to-noise ratio
and sensitivity thanks to massive
averaging of precisely calibrated
spectra. These characteristics
help to solve many open
questions, such as the analysis of
the impact of line-shape models
on the spectroscopic parameters,
providing deep physical insights
on the collision processes of
molecules. This also permits
the absolute determination
of molecular line centre
frequencies and linestrengths
with unprecedented precision
and accuracy, allowing tests
of quantum-mechanical
calculations of the energy levels
molecules.
In this thesis we present a new
approach to comb-assisted
CRDS, where high sensitivity
and frequency accuracy are
obtained by using a high-finesse
optical cavity (F100000) and by
locking a CW probing laser to
one mode of an Er:fiber OFC in
the near-IR, respectively. A wide-
bandwidth phase lock between
the OFC and an extended cavity
diode probing laser (ECDL) is
achieved by using their beat
note as the driving signal of an
acousto optic modulator (AOM)
in a feed-forward configuration,
cancelling the frequency
fluctuations of the ECDL with
respect to the stable OFC. The
coherence properties of the
comb are efficiently transferred
to the CW probing laser, whose
frequency noise is reduced with
a maximum control bandwidth
of 0.8 MHz. This ensures a
high spectral purity of the
probing laser and very high
reproducibility and accuracy
to the frequency axis upon
scanning the comb repetition
rate. The use of an AOM in
this setup is very effective
because, besides providing for
the probing laser line-narrowing
and referencing, it is also used
to interrupt the laser beam and
to start the ring-down event
once a reasonable intensity
threshold is measured (Fig. 1).
providing to a piezoelectric
actuator the sawtooth signal
needed to dither the cavity
length and performing a cavity
length tracking in order to
maintain the dithering of the
cavity resonance centred around
the probe laser frequency during
a spectral scan.
The test of the spectrometer
performances was performed
on the P14e line of CO2 at
1.57 m at low pressure (Fig.
2). The measurement of the
decay rate 1/t is related to
the gas absorption by the law
a=(ct)-1-(ct0)-1, where 1/t0 is
the decay rate of the empty
optical cavity. The huge density
of spectral points and the high
signal to noise ratio of the
recording make this system
ideal for an accurate line-profile
analysis. A limit of detection
on the vertical axis as low as
1.61010 cm1 is found over
a single spectral scan which
consists of 1500 spectral points
acquired over 75, as limited by
temporal drifts of the empty
cavity and by parasitic etalons,
as highlighted by the analysis
of the Gaussian fit residuals.
Several statistical independent
measurements were repeated
to get an insight into precision
and accuracy of the line centre
frequency retrieved from the
fitting, demonstrating an error
of 38 kHz on the line centre
determination in a Doppler
PHYSICS
1. Experimental setup of the comb-assisted CRDS spectrometer. Blue lines
indicate fibre paths. FC: fibre coupler. DAQ: acquisition board; PZT: piezoelectric
actuator; PD: photodiode.
broadening regime in single the need of GHz electro-optical
spectral acquisition. When modulators that do not exists
averaging over several scans the outside the telecommunication
statistical uncertainty in the line spectral region.
centre frequency reaches 9 kHz,
with the absence of systematic
errors on the frequency reading.
This setup, besides attesting the
undisputed advantage given
by a comb-based spectrometer,
also shows that comb-based
highly sensitive detection
allows frequency accuracy to be
straightforwardly pushed to the
typical kHz-level of the sub-
Doppler regime.
In conclusion, we have
introduced a new configuration
that allows conjugating very
high performance on both the 2. Top) Typical single-scan absorption
horizontal and vertical scale. spectrum at a pressure of 2.5102
mbar for the P14e line of CO2. Bottom)
This ranks the system close to
Residuals of a Gaussian fitting for
the state of the art of comb- a single-scan and for a 50-times
assisted spectrometers, without averaged spectra.
648
Ultrafast Photophysics of Low Dimensional
Materials
Giancarlo Soavi - Supervisor: Prof. Giulio Cerullo
Nanotechnology, the
characterization and exploitation
of objects with dimensions in the
order of 1-100 nm, represents
nowadays a fruitful platform for
advanced technologies and a
challenge for future applications.
Besides the empirical use of
nanostructures in ancient times
for ornamental purposes, such
as the Lycurgus Cup (4th century
AD, Rome) with its iridescent
colours or the glittering stained
glass windows of the medieval
cathedral of Sainte-Chapelle
(1242, Ile de la Cit, Paris), the
modern interest for the field was
triggered by the visionary talk of
R. Feynmann, Theres Plenty of
Room at the Bottom (1959). On
the other hand, the invention
of the Scanning Tunneling
Microscope in 1981 by G.
Binning and H. Rohrer, both
awarded with the Nobel Prize in
Physics in 1986, is often referred
as the watershed in nanoscience,
as it represents the first tool to
directly observe matter with
sub-nanometer resolution. Thus,
we are nowadays experiencing
the results of approximately
half-century of intense nano-
research, with a large number of
discoveries and applications that
are more and more affecting
our everyday life. In this work
we concentrate on the ultrafast
optical properties of two classes
of nanomaterials: Carbon
Nanotubes (CNTs) and Gold
Nanoparticles.
CNTs are the one-dimensional
allotropic form of carbon and
they were first discovered in
1991 by S. Iijima. With all
its different allotropic forms,
carbon played a key role in
the technological advances
of our society. Graphite, the
most stable and common
carbon allotrope, has a layered
and planar structure formed
by carbon atoms arranged in
a honeycomb lattice. Its first
large scale application dates
back to the 16th century, when
the discovery of an enormous
deposit in Borrowdale (UK),
used by the locals for marking
sheep, led to the birth of the
pencil industry. The advent of
the low-dimensional carbon
allotropes (fullerene, CNTs and
graphene), instead, had to wait
until the second half of the 20th
century. Fullerene (the ideal 0D
system formed by carbon atoms
on a hollow sphere) was found
experimentally only in 1985
by H. Kroto et al. and earned
the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in
1996 to R. Smalley, H. Kroto
and R. Curl. Graphene, a one
atom thick carbon layer, is the
youngest among the carbon
allotropes. It was isolated and
detected for the first time
in 2004 by the group of A.
Geim and K. Novoselov, both
awarded with the Nobel Prize
in Physics in 2010. Recently,
Nature has published the list of
the 100 most cited research of
all time. In the field of physics
the discovery of CNTs and the
discovery of graphene are at
the first and third position
respectively. Despite the huge
number and diversity of possible
applications of these low-
dimensional allotropic forms
of carbon, the easiest example
to explain their importance
is probably electronics. Being
already at the physical limit for
the Moores Law, where the
quantum mechanical effects
can no longer be neglected,
the further miniaturization of
transistors calls for completely
new methodologies. Circuits
made of graphene and CNTs
would benefit both from the
smallest possible size, limited
by the dimension of atoms,
and the highest ever known
carrier mobility, exceeding by
approximately two orders of
magnitude that of silicon.
Gold nanostructures are metallic
systems of nanometer size
with unique optical properties
that arise from the so called
Localized Surface Plasmons,
namely free electrons collective
oscillations coupled to an
external electromagnetic field.
The technological importance of
gold nanostructures hails from
the large variety of possible
applications, including non-
linear frequency conversion,
high resolution imaging,
photovoltaics, biological sensing
and imaging, cancer therapy,
PhD Yearbook | 2015
649
biodiagnostics and integrated which brings back the system to carrier mobility in these two
PHYSICS
optical devices. In this respect, the thermal equilibrium. classes of low-dimensional
the possibility to control the In this thesis we exploit ultrafast materials. A deep understanding
electronic and optical properties pump-probe spectroscopy of all these factors is a
of gold nanoparticles by to define the time-scale and fundamental prerequisite for
changing their geometry and mechanisms of the energy further development of their
nanocrystallinity together with relaxation processes, interactions technological applications.
their strong sensitivity to the with the environment and
environment are of fundamental
importance. The study of the
ultrafast optical response of
gold nanoparticles allows to
selectively address the series
of relaxation processes that
fully characterize the temporal
evolution and interactions
of plasmons, electrons and
phonons inside the material.
When the photon energy of
an excitation pulse falls inside
the absorption spectrum of the
gold nanoparticle plasmonic
resonance, coherent oscillations 1. Timeline of the carbon allotropes, from graphite to graphene. The pencil
industry was born in 1564 thanks to the discovery of a graphite deposit in
of the electron sea can be Borrowdale. Graphene is considered the fundamental building block for this
launched. These oscillations class of low-dimensional materials, obtained by wrapping-up (fullerene),
lose the phase information rolling-up (CNTs) or stacking (graphite) a single-atom layer of carbon.
(plasmon dephasing) within
approximately 10 fs and transfer
the whole absorbed energy to
the electronic distribution. Then,
in the first 100 fs the electrons
relax from a non-thermal to a
thermal electronic distribution
via electron-electron interaction
and subsequently transfer
energy to the lattice via electron-
phonon interaction. Finally, the
cooling of the lattice takes place
on a relatively slow time scale (in
the order of the ns) by energy
transfer to the environment, i.e. 2. Schematic picture of the relaxation processes following ultrafast optical
phonon-phonon interaction, excitation in gold nanoparticles.
650

ATTOSECOND ELECTRON DYNAMICS IN COMPLEX experiments performed with By performing a Velocity Map systems with the aim of studying

PhD Yearbook | 2015

MOLECULAR SYSTEMS
Andrea Trabattoni - Supervisor: Prof. Mauro Nisoli
In 1981 Zewail and coworkers
in the order of 10 fs). Electron
technology to the investigation
attosecond temporal resolution,
with the aim of studying
electronic dynamics in complex
molecular systems. First we
investigated ultrafast relaxation
process in multielectron diatomic
molecules. We concentrated
on the N2 molecule, that is
the most abundant species in
the Earths atmosphere, with
Imaging (VMI) experiment,
we were able to disclose the
ultrafast dissociative mechanisms
leading to the production of N
atoms by XUV photoionization,
and to observe a predissociation
quantum interference between
the electronic states of the
molecular cation. We also
managed to extract information
ultrafast electronic dynamics
in molecules of biological
interest. We performed a mass
spectrometry experiment on
Phenylalanine (one of the
essential amino acids) and
analyzed the temporal evolution
of molecular fragmentation
after XUV ionization. We were 651
able to measure a charge

published a pioneering work
on quantum coherence effects
in the vibrational states of
anthracene, paving the way for
the study of ultrafast dynamical
processes in isolated molecules.
In the same years the laser
sources were experiencing a
dramatic development thanks
to the appearance of the first
subpicosecond dye lasers
(1974) and, few years later, the
achievement of pulses with a
duration down to 6 fs (1987).
The great results on both sides
converged in the development
of ultrafast spectroscopy and
femtochemistry, providing an
ultrahigh-speed photography
at the atomic and molecular
level. Nowadays this research
field is really well established
and gives a direct access
to dynamical processes of
great importance in physics,
chemistry and biology. From
quantum mechanics we know
that femtosecond temporal
scale is intrinsically related to
the nuclear motion, for this
reason a typical experiment
with femtosecond resolution is
able to investigate in real time
the evolution of a reaction, the
breaking of a chemical bond,
the fragmentation of a complex
system after the perturbation of
the initial quantum state, down
to the vibrational oscillation in
diatomic molecules (the ground
state vibrational period of H2 is
dynamics occurs on a faster
temporal scale ranging from a
few fs down to a few hundreds
as (1 as = 10-18 s), for this reason
in order to track the electronic
motion in matter shorter light
pulses are required.
In 1987 and 1988 two
indipendent experiments were
able to produce coherent
extreme ultraviolet (XUV)
radiation by exploiting the
interaction between a strong
IR laser field and the atoms
of a rare gas. The result was
a series of odd harmonics of
the fundamental wavelength,
corresponding to a train of
subfemtosecond bursts. Only
few years later this process was
fully understood and called High
Harmonic Generation (HHG).
Since then, great effort was
made to investigate more in
detail the HHG process, until the
first experimental demonstration
of attosecond pulses generation,
performed in 2001 by Paul
and coworkers, who were able
to generate a train of 250 as
pulses. During the same year
a single attosecond pulse with
a time duration of 650 as was
successfully isolated from a train
of attosecond pulses. These
results paved the way for the
birth of attosecond physics.
In the last two decades a
strong effort was made to
characterize attosecond
sources and to apply this
PHYSICS
of ultrafast electronic dynamics the goal of understanding the about the slope and shape of oscillation in the yield of
in matter. The main problem interaction of molecular nitrogen nitrogen (in particular N2+ ions) immonium dication fragment,
the community has to face is with extreme ultraviolet (XUV) potential curves, a sort of real- providing for the first time an
the low intensity of attosecond radiation, that is of crucial time mapping of molecular experimental demonstration of
sources, since the convertion importance to completely electronic states. charge migration in a biological
efficiency of HHG process is disclose the atmospheric Then we tried to push our molecule.
quite low (in the order of 10-6), radiative-transfer processes. investigation to more complex
resulting in XUV energies usually
in the range between hundreds
of picojoules up to few
nanojoules. This level of energy,
and correspondent intensity, is
tipically too low for initiating
non linear processes in matter,
thus for performing attosecond-
pump attosecond-probe
experiments. For this reason the
common solution is to combine
the XUV pulses with a VIS/NIR
laser field, with an attosecond-
pump femtosecond-probe
configuration. This setup can still (a) (b)
preserve a temporal resolution
1 (a) Photoionization experiment on molecular nitrogen performed in a Velocity Map Imaging (VMI) spectrometer. (b)
in the attosecond timescale and Pump-Probe map of the N+ Kinetic energy, as a function of the delay between attosecond-pump and few-femtosecond-
in the last years gave important probe pulses.
results in investigating ultrafast
electron dynamics in atoms,
and recently even in simple
molecules. Despite these positive
results, attosecond physics still
didnt show the capability of
investigating complex systems,
for example biomolecules, where
ultrafast electron dynamics are
expected to play a fundamental
role in many biological processes
such as catalysis, respiration,
DNA damage by ionizing (a) (b) (c)
radiation and photosynthesis. 2 a) Oscillatory dynamics on the decaying slope of the delay-dependent yield of immonium dication (reported in the
This thesis describes attosecond- inset in a 100-fs delay range). b) Sliding-window Fourier-transform of the experimental data. c) Sliding-window Fourier-
pump femtosecond-probe transform of the numerical result.
652
Auger electron microscopy
for the characterization of 1D
and 2D nanostructures
Mohammad Javad Vahid Dastjerdi - Supervisor: Prof. Alberto Tagliaferri
Scanning Auger Microscopy
(SAM) is an electron spectro-
microscopy technique that
joins the imaging resolution of
Scanning Electron Microscopy
(SEM) and the analytical power
of Auger Electron Spectroscopy
(AES). In addition to the
imaging capabilities provided
by SEM, potentially down to
the nanometer scale, in a SAM
apparatus the focused electron
beam from the SEM column is
exploited to generate Auger
electrons, which are filtered by
the AES analyzer. AES is able
to provide semi-quantitative
atomic concentration and
chemical analysis of the few
atomic layers at surface of a
sample. Thus, SAM is potentially
able to give a relevant insight
into the surface electronic,
chemical and structural
properties of nanostructured
systems, with nanoscale lateral
and sub-nanoscale depth
resolution. These capabilities
make SAM a very valuable
tool for the investigation
of todays nanostructured
solid state systems, with a
large variety of applications
ranging from sensing to nano
electro-mechanical and energy
harvesting devices and to
catalysis.
This work exploits the SAM
capabilities, complemented
with the use of several other
microscopic and spectroscopic
technique, like Atomic Force
Microscopy (AFM) and micro-
Raman spectroscopy, to
investigate two prototypical
nanostructured systems: (1) 1D
Tungsten oxide nanorods and
(2) 2D graphene and graphene
oxide (GO) single and multilayer
films.
In the first section, the
investigation focus on the
chemical-physical conditions
at the surface of amorphous-
like Tungsten films, which
have an important influence
on the nucleation and
growth of 1D Tungsten Oxide
(WOx) nanorods. WOx is a
transition metal oxide, the
nanostructuring of which can
lead to unique characteristics.
The photochromic and
electrochromic properties of
WOx in nanostructured thin
films have been increasingly
investigated and applied to
the development of devices.
Nanostructured WOx is also
a well-studied material for
photocatalysis and sensing; in
its nanorod form, WOx is also
appealing for field emitting
purposes.
In this work, 1D Tungsten oxide
nanorods are grown by Pulsed
Laser Deposition (PLD) at the
surface of amorphous-like
Tungsten thin films on Silicon
substrates, under a variety
of conditions. The growing
conditions are correlated to
the different structural features
of the nanorods with the help
of the SAM investigation,
providing an assessment of
the local chemical conditions
at film surface. It is shown
that, although the oxygen
concentration in the bulk of the
tungsten oxide films depends
strongly on the oxygen partial
pressure during deposition,
the oxygen is not chemically
bound to the W atoms to form
a stable compound. Rather
it is adsorbed at the large
interface area provided by the
nanoscale grain boundaries of
the quasi-amorphous Tungsten
film. This finding explains the
need for a thermal annealing
to promote the growth of
Tungsten oxide nanorods, which
however require also other
local concurrent conditions to
nucleate and develop like the
material strain or curvature. By
the unique surface sensitivity
of SAM, it is shown that the
Tungsten oxidation arrives at
the film surface under selected
mechanical conditions, and
that a high surface mobility of
the oxygen atoms is needed
to overcome the difference
between the lower film
concentration and the higher
oxygen stoichiometry in the
nanorods.
The second section deals with
the thickness characterization on
graphene and graphene oxide
flakes on different substrates
by Auger electron microscopy.
Graphene and graphene oxide
flakes are routinely produced
nowadays with thicknesses
ranging from single atomic
layers (0.3 nm and about 1
nm, respectively) to few layers.
They belongs to a wider class
of thin film materials that can
be obtained from bulk layered
materials, which form crystals
with weakly bound layers.
Graphite (the bulk form of
carbon from which graphene
has been firstly extracted) is the
most common example and
perhaps the most attractive
due to the wide range of
astonishing properties of
graphene, its biocompatibility
not to be forgotten. They are
prototypical examples of 2D
structures that can be used for
the state-of-the-art and futures
nanoscale devices. The family
of layered compounds includes
however other, sometime very
interesting, examples; these
include semiconductors or
superconductors and present
at the same time several other
interesting properties, like
charge density waves and phase
transitions connected to them.
In this work, it is shown that
the state-of-the-art thickness
characterization by SAM, based
on semi-empirical electron
Effective Attenuation Lengths
(EAL), can bring to uncertainties
largely exceeding the single
layer thickness. To overcome
this limitation, EALs are
experimentally determined by
the simultaneous exploitation
of AFM profiles at flake
border, providing an absolute
thickness reference, and of
SAM, providing highly reliable
values. The direct determination
of the EALs allows to obtain
sub-monolayer precision in
the determination of the layer
thickness by SAM, at any point
inside the flake surface. The
approach is experimentally
demonstrated on graphene
and graphene oxide (GO)
flakes, over conductive and
insulating substrates, which
are representative of a large
variety of applications. The
sensitivity of the graphene
thickness characterization
on SiO2 substrates, already
demonstrated, is increased and,
more important, these results
extend the field of application
of SAM characterization
considerably beyond the present
practice, to graphene oxide
films and to metallic substrates,
which are hardly accessible
by the more acknowledged
-Raman approach. Moreover,
the SAM characterization
boosts the relevant advantage
of accessing any point of the
full film area, while the direct
thickness measurement by AFM
are limited to the proximity of
film borders. This advantage is
shared with -Raman, which
has other limitations such as
the reduction of the GO sheets
by the laser irradiation. These
PhD Yearbook | 2015
653
achievements are promising
PHYSICS
in view of a wider control for
the large area devices based
on graphene and its oxide
with reliable directly seeing
of structural defects, and
quantitatively detect chemical
impurity on almost any
substrate.
Finally, it has been demonstrated
the possibility to get information
on the thickness of graphene
and GO flakes by secondary
electron contrast with the
typical SEM resolution, down
to the nm scale, once a proper
reference is given. As the Auger
microspectroscopy is often
associated to SEM in the same
apparatus and it is now able to
provide the absolute reference,
this demonstration pave the way
to the high lateral resolution
characterization of large area
graphene and GO films with
sub-monolayer resolution on a
very wide variety of substrates,
with properties ranging from
conductors to insulators and
from heavy to light atomic
weight compounds.
Industrial Chemistry and Chemical
Engineering | Information Technology |
Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design
| Management, Economics and Industrial
Engineering | Materials Engineering |
Mathematical MODELS and METHODS IN
Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
Physics | Preservation of THE Architectural
Heritage | Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial
Planning and Urban Development |
Structural Seismic and Geotechnical
Engineering | Technology and Design for
Environment and Building | Territorial
Design and Government | Aerospace
Engineering | Architectural and Urban
Design | Architectural Composition |
Architecture, Urban Design, Conservation
of Housing and Landscape | Bioengineering
| Building Engineering | Design | Design
and technologies for cultural heritage |
Electrical Engineering | Energy and Nuclear
Science and Technology | Environmental
and Infrastructures engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
656
DOCTORAL PROGRAM IN
PRESERVATION OF the
ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
The PhD programme in Preservation of the Architectural Heritage,
Chair: first activated at the Politecnico di Milano back in 1983, is organized
Prof. Carolina Di Biase in a renewed form. In addition to the professors of architectural
restoration, history of architecture and structural strengthening of
the Politecnico di Milano, the Faculty Board includes representatives
from other well-known universities and research institutes
(professors of the Universit di Genova, IUAV, Venezia; experts at
the highest level in the field of preservation of cultural heritage and
of the administration of cultural heritage in Italy: Istituto Superiore
per il Restauro e la Conservazione ISCR, formerly Istituto Centrale
del Restauro, Soprintendenza Regionale della Lombardia); they
collaborate actively in the teaching and research activities.
The ultimate purpose of the Faculty Board not only resides in
broadening the experiences that the PhD candidates acquire over
the first three years of the course, where they have the opportunity
to interact with scholars from different backgrounds; it chiefly aims
at providing the PhD candidates with a unique training experience
in the Italian panorama, so far unparalleled also in domains other
than the preservation and restoration of the cultural heritage. Such
context, where different traditions and approaches are compared,
investigates the synergies and responses to the modern themes of
cultural heritage protection.
The PhD programme is meant as the place where theorization,
methodology, investigation into the most significant chapters of
the protection of historic architectural and cultural heritage are
connected to complex, challenging operating research themes,
on-site and lab experimentation of analytical and diagnostic stages
and, finally, the experimentation at building sites which cater for the
foremost Italian works.
The relationship with Italian Ministero per i beni e le attivit culturali
e il turismo, Mibact, has been definitely fruitful, especially when
we consider that many among the best PhDs in Preservation of
Architectural Heritage have been hired as officers and executives to
the above ministry.
Teaching aims
The Faculty Board organization allows to investigate and share
extremely relevant, up-to-date topics that, architectural heritage
being the high spot of research, describe the complex domain of
preservation, a strategic field and, at the same time, one of the
chief resources of the Italian economy and future.
Being a mix of differentiated research, experimentation and
operating methods, the PhD programme provides
the candidate with a rich and very interesting
experience.
The on-going contact with the breakthroughs
from studies and research carried out in Italian
and international contexts and the will to
promote joint projects are fostered through
expanding the network of relations the university
entertain with other universities and research
centres in different geographic areas of the
world.
In this regard, over the past 3 years the PhD
programme in Preservation of the Architectural
Heritage has been committed to promoting and
coordinating inter-doctoral courses contributed
by foreign professors from different European
countries (lately the Course of the PhD School
Tradition and Perspectives of Polytechnic Culture
in Europe).
Such activity will further benefit from the co-
operation with other PhD programmes in the
Politecnico di Milano and the universities that
collaborate with the PhD programme activities.
Coursework
The PhD programme, lasting three years, calls for
the acquisition of 180 credits overall.
Thirty credits are concentrated in the first year
and are divided as follows: 25 (minimum) offered
by
PhD courses organized by the PhD programme in
Preservation of the architectural heritage, and 5
credits offered by the PhD School.
The academic plan of the PhD programme
revolves around 5 main research areas:
1. Preservation culture and practice; 2.
Diagnostics of materials and structures
and rehabilitation of historic buildings; 3.
Methods and themes of historical research; 4.
Construction history; 5. Historical territory and
landscape.
The remaining credits are aimed at personal
study and research for the PhD thesis. Moreover,
for each PhD candidate a specific study path
is organized and PhD candidates may attend
courses offered by the School for Specialists
(Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Architettonici
e del Paesaggio - SSBAP) in Milan and in Genoa,
in relation to the various topics of their thesis.
The activities undertaken during the second and
third year also include attendance of workshops,
seminars, national and international conferences
related to individual research, with great
PhD Yearbook | 2015
attention to conferences wherein PhD candidates
present the results, even partial, of their research
theses.
Research organization and topics
Educational activities are related to research
either under way or at an early stage of
development, some of which addresses major
monumental structures and some of the most 657
renowned sites of the world.
PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
To the aim of their thesis research, PhD
candidates have the opportunity to rely on
facilities and
laboratories, both inside and outside the
University, the breadth and width of which
provides them with a crucial support to the aim
of acquiring competence for highly qualified
research activities in the domain of cultural
heritage protection.
In this connection, the PhD programme deems
to carry on the long - standing collaboration
with the ICVBC-CNR (the Institute for the
Preservation and Enhancement of Cultural
Heritage) Gino Bozza Unit, Milan. As for
the thesis research, candidates thus have the
opportunity to address and investigate in-depth
the wide-ranging themes connected to heritage
knowledge and preservation broadly meant,
such as advanced methods of investigation;
knowledge management and preservation
processes applied to historic buildings tradition,
as the ones presented here and related to the
archaeological sites and remains (Ottoman Baths
from 13th to 16th century in seismic areas, fig.
1) or to twentieth-century heritage (the thesis
concerning the structural experimentation on
high-rise buildings in reinforced concrete in
era of fifties and sixties, and the analysis of
their performance in relation to the current
1. Ismail Bey Bath, south west view
 658

design code requirements, fig. 2); or to critical technical systems and to reducing the impact

PhD Yearbook | 2015

and historical investigation on museological
and museographical issues, as deepen in the
research dealing with the refurbishments of the
Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in the first half of the
20th century (fig. 3).
This aspect increases the technical characteristics,
and will make PhD immediately competitive at
the European level.
The multi-disciplinary nature of the doctoral
courses, encouraged in the framework of the
of new systems which, since long, have been
extensively addressed by the PhD programme
and at the heart of an International exchange
with European universities and research labs;
the research about BIM technologies applied
to architectural heritage, as evidenced by
Building Information Modelling for the current
architectural heritage, or the studies carried
about the seismic vulnerability of buildings,
which will be keyed to investigating the cognitive
Doctoral Program Board
The Board of Professors comprises the following members:
Carolina DI BIASE (Head), Full Professor Architectural Restoration (Politecnico di Milano)
Claudio CHESI (Vice coordinator), Full Professor Structural mechanics (Politecnico di Milano)
Maurizio BORIANI, Full Professor Architectural and urban restoration (Politecnico di Milano)
Maria Antonietta CRIPPA, Full Professor History of Architecture (Politecnico di Milano)
Alberto GRIMOLDI, Full Professor Architectural Restoration, Head of the Specialization School of
Architectural Heritage and Landscape (Politecnico di Milano)
Ornella SELVAFOLTA, Full Professor - History of Architecture (Politecnico di Milano) 659
Maria Cristina GIAMBRUNO, Associate Professor - Architectural Restoration (Politecnico di Milano)

PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE

PhD programme since its establishment, equally methods underlying the Guidelines for the Lorenzo JURINA, Associate Professor Structural mechanics (Politecnico di Milano)
values the fundamental contribution of historical assessment and reduction of the seismic hazard Serena PESENTI, Associate Professor - Architectural Restoration (Politecnico di Milano)
research a longside its methods (see the thesis the cultural heritage (Ministerial Circular n.26 of Marica FORNI, Associate Professor - History of Architecture (Politecnico di Milano)
on encaustic painting in Mantua, Verona and 2nd October 2010, D.P.C.M. 9th February). Antonella E. SAISI, Assistant Professor - Diagnostics of Historic Buildings (Politecnico di Milano)
Cremona between the 18th and 19th century); at Cristina TEDESCHI, Assistant Professor, Referring Professor of the Material test Laboratory
the same time it features innovative, pioneering section Historic Buildings Materials Diagnostic, monitoring and investigation on materials for
themes: research about the energy response historical buildings end cultural heritage (Politecnico di Milano)
of buildings targeted to the reuse of existing Eugenio VASSALLO, Full Professor - Architectural Restoration (IUAV, Venezia)
Paolo FACCIO, Associate Professor - Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings (IUAV, Venezia)
Stefano MUSSO, Full Professor - Architectural Restoration, Head of the Specialization School for
Architectural Heritage and Landscape (Universit di Genova)
Giovanna FRANCO, Associate Professor Renovation technologies (Universit di Genova)
Gian Paolo TRECCANI, Full professor - Architectural Restoration (Universit di Brescia)
Giulio MIRABELLA ROBERTI, Associate Professor Strenghening and Rehabilitation of Historical
Buildings (Universit degli Studi di Bergamo )
Barbara DAVIDDE, Head of the Underwater Archaeology Unit at ISCR and Archaeologist on behalf of
the Ministry for Cultural Heritage
3. Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Raphael room - on the wall
drawings by Pellegrino Tibaldi (around 1960s), inStoria Invited experts:
dellAmbrosiana. Il Novecento, Arti Grafi che Amilcare Caterina BON VALSASSINA, General Head for Research and Education at the Ministry of the
2. The Pirelli building: from the archives to the numerical Pizzi, IntesaBci, Milan 2002. By courtesy of Intesa
model. Sanpaolo. Cultural Heritage and Tourism (former Regional Head of Architectural Heritage and Landscape of
Lombardy);
Gisella CAPPONI, Head of the Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione e il Restauro ISCR (formerly
Advisory Board Istituto Centrale del Restauro) Rome;
Giovanna ALESSANDRINI, Past Director of Research Centre ICVBC CNR Unit di Milano Gino Andrea ALBERTI, Head of the Department of Architectural Heritage and Landscape for the territories
Bozza of Brescia, Cremona and Mantua.
Francisco BARATA FERNANDES, Facultade de Arquitectura - Universidade do Porto (in charge of the
course Advanced Studies in Architectural Heritage and of the namesake PhD programme)
Luigia BINDA, Politecnico di Milano, expert in Rehabilitation of historic buildings
Dario CAMUFFO, Past Director of Research CNR ISAC Padua (Expert in Climatic change,
Environmental history, Italian and European Standardization)
Javier GALLEGO ROCA, Catedrtico de Restauracin Arquitectnica, ETSA, Universidad de Granada
Franz GRAF, EPFL Lausanne (Laboratoire TSAM, Techniques et Sauvegarde de lArchitecture Moderne)
and Accademia di Architettura , Mendrisio, professor of Construction and T
echnologies of Twentieth - century architecture
Andr GUILLERME, CNAM - Conservatoire national des arts et mtiers, Paris (cole Doctorale Abb
Grgoire Patrimoine)
Rob P.J. VAN HEES, University of Technology, Delft (Chair of Building Conservation, senior scientist in
the Building Materials department at TNO)
660
WOOD AND EARTH ARCHITECTURES IN NORTHERN
ITALY FROM ROMAN TIMES TO THE MIDDLE AGES:
The transmission of knowledge trought the archaeological
record
Anna Antonini - Supervisor: Prof. Alberto Grimoldi
Wood and earth have historically
been the first rough materials to
be used in construction. A long
tradition of studies, considered
Romans to be stone and brick
builders. And this could not be
denied, as most of the Roman
monuments we are used to visit
all over Europe are magnificent
work of art in stone and bricks.
But, going down in nowadays
excavations, a different
panorama could be traced.
Since 1983, when the congress
Architectures de terre ed de
bois showed that in France,
Switzerland, Great Britain and
Germany wood and earth were
used as building materials even
in luxurious domus, excavations
demonstrate that romans were
good constructors even with
perishable materials. Actually
we could find traces of this
phenomenon just reading
classic authors. In Italy the
discoveries made in the rest of
Europe on perishable materials
delayed to be assumed, but
they are now currently accepted
and considered in almost all
excavation reports. Some
important synthetic papers
on this topic for the roman
period appeared in the first
00 years. From this statements
started the wish to deepen the
use of perishable materials in
construction between the roman
period and the Middle Ages.
We define perishable materials
organic elements like timber
or reed, and plastic elements
like mud, earth or clay. The
thesis presents the analisys of a
census which aim was to map
building techniques in perishable
materials. The archaeological
findings considered are
dated from the 2nd cent. BC
(Romanization) to the end of
the 12th cent. AD. Particularly
reference were made on the
Official Journals of the regional
boards of the Italian Ministry of
Culture. The Regions considered
are the actual Piemonte,
Lombardia, Liguria, Veneto
and Emilia Romagna, which
correspond to the roman Gallia
Cisalpina. These kind of sources
guarantee homogeneity in the
accuracy of papers, but they
dont give a good quality of data
that has been deepened case by
case. One of the problems that
the research had to face was the
reliability of the archeological
record, which has been
evaluated in the analysis. The
census conducted in Northern
Italy on edited excavations
revealed 305 evidences of the
use of perishable materials in
construction. The subsequent
step was the development
of a standard vocabulary in
order to isolate the common
technical features of each
record. The almost endless
variety of building techniques
that excavations revealed,
made compulsory the need to
create groups of evidences.
A classification based on
groundwork techniques lead
to the isolation of different
technological groups. The
data recording presented in
the thesis allowed to identify
five technological groups for
the Roman period. Here are
shortly described. Group 1:
layers foundation post fast
Group 2: masonry footing and
timber structure 302 Group
3: masonry footing and earth
structure Group 4: earth fast
posts Group 5: timber framed
structure The individuation of
the technological groups here
described bring the Northern
part of Italy in strict connection
with England, France, and
Germany. This tradition in
domestic building, which we
couldnt call of subsistence.
This tradition in domestic
building, which we couldnt
call of subsistence because
of the use of technologies that
presume a precise production
cycle, seems not to have
disappeared in Northern Italy.
As in most part of Europe, even
in Italy, with the end of the
Roman empire, something in
the way of building, changed.
No more huge public buildings
like stadiums or amphitheaters,
and, in domestic architecture,
a change in the way of living:
houses became smaller and
less articulated, even probably
in upper classes domestic
architecture. And all around
Europe people built mostly in
perishable materials. Why? This
was probably the first question
that medieval archaeologists
tried solve since their subject
was born. The first and most
common answer was to blame
on barbarians population
that destroyed the Roman
technology. In Italy this idea
was very well established for
two reason. Firstly because
of the monumentality of
roman sites and their excellent
preservation state and secondly
because the stratigraphic
method was applied later than
in other countries and some
archaeological evidences were
ignored. In this situation the
technological gap between
the Roman period and the
Early Middle Ages seemed to
be huge, and this allowed the
spread of discontinuists theories,
that are still ongoing nowadays.
This situation allowed many
archaeologists (and historians
too) to presume that barbarians
generated a great loss of
technology. But since the end
of the 70s these theories have
been rejected and the theory
of continunity gain popularity.
In Italy the problem was faced
when the medieval archeology
PhD Yearbook | 2015
661
was born, in the middle of the
PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
80s. Since then many scholars
studied the way of building of
medieval population and some
synthesis have been made on
perishable material buildings.
The census here presented
took in consideration all these
previous proposal and propose a
new subdivision in technological
group: Group 1: masonry
footing and timber structure
Group 2: earthfast posts Group
3: timber framed structure In this
2. Technique R_5 3d reconstruction
perspective it became possible
that there was a technological
continuity with the Roman
period in the use of the same
foundational techniques and, in
the preserved cases, even in the
upper part of walls. A chapter in
the thesis is dedicated to some
very well preserved case studies,
which allowed a technical
comparison. Particular attention
is dedicated to Piazza Marconi
site in Cremona, which is in
course of editing.
3. Piero di Puccio, Histories from
Old Testament, Pisa Monumental
Cemetery.
1. Rimini, surgeons Domus,earth wall
on brick footing.
662
Construction techniques of Ottoman baths
from 13th to 16th century in seismic areas
Kerimcan Apak - Supervisor: Giulio Mirabella Roberti
Earthquakes have affected
buildings structures since the
beginning of construction
history. The buildings that
appeared to be strong in the
usual life (like masonry or stone
buildings) could be potentially
devastate to a catastrophic
level. Various interpretations
have been forwarded about the
potentials of the collapse of the
buildings, based on observation
of the response of the buildings
during the earthquakes.
Scientists work on the effects of
seismic activity on the buildings,
and on the prevention of major
damages and loss of human
lives. The outcomes of all
these researchs come through
with the direction of building
techniques and materials.
Surprisingly the performances
of historical buildings under
the seismic activity can be
very successful compared to
contemporary buildings. The
traditional techniques and
earth materials performed
successfully in past earthquakes.
This issue took the scientists
attention to the historical
building techniques. As well
as the questions related to
understanding these historical
structures and their seismic
behavior. For instance, many
ancient structures in Turkey were
still standing from centuries
and passed many earthquakes
without any consolidations.
Therefore this issue have to be
investigated for giving a new
light to the ancient construction
details.
There are so many questions
that arise from the investigation
on ancient structures. But one
of the most interesting one is
if the old masons were aware
about the ancient anti - seismic
constructions details or they
used those techniques according
to other criterions such as
the patrons requests and the
budget of the construction. This
question is important in order
to understand the development
of the construction against the
seismicity and the integrations
of the construction details and
architectural essences between
different cultures, like appended
in ancient Ottoman period.
Ottoman baths are ones of
the still standing structures
from centuries without or with
minimum consolidation. The
typology of those buildings, their
historical locations and cultural
environment are very interesting
and appropriate for investigation
of this research topic. The
cultural era, between 13th
and 16th century in Ottoman
domination, is the time where
integration of construction
details from the west and the
east was achieved. The new
society of the Turkish people
and their innovative character
formed a new architecture
which was the source of classical
Ottoman architecture. While the
development of the construction
techniques and structural
applications progressed in
parallel to architectural styles.
The essences of Byzantine,
Seljuks building techniques
could be followed on the
buildings of that era.
In this study for understanding
the anti seismic construction
awareness of the masons
in 13th and 16th centuries;
research mainly focused
on historical construction
techniques in varied cultures
in different of times such
as Turkish seigniory, early
Ottoman and Byzantine periods.
Analyzing those techniques
gave an overview of the history
of construction and their
integration with local cultures.
And also some answers to the
questions such as how it was
firstly built and developed.
The secondly focused issue
for finding an answer to the
problem were analyzing the
ancient masonries of the baths
with techniques adopted for
traditional buildings in seismic
areas, such as masonry quality
index evaluation, damage
and collapse analysis. Those
investigations were qualitative
but also quantitative analyses
which give an estimate of the
strength of the masonries and
possible collapsed scenarios.
The outcomes from those
investigations were the clues
for understanding the usage of
PhD Yearbook | 2015
663
preventive techniques for seismic
PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
protection.
From the outcomes of the
methodological investigations
and comparison of historical
outlines, it appears that the
masons were aware of seismic
activity and they adopted some
ancient precaution techniques
against the earthquake effects.
However these techniques were
used randomly in building scale
facing other constraints such 2.15th century historical structure 4. 15th century historical structure
as budget and patron tendency (Ismail Bey Bath) in Iznik-Turkey. (GaziMihalBey Bath, 1421 A.D.)
Timber tie beam holes were located in Edirne-Turkey. The timber tie
in architecture. As well those inside the walls of the structure. beam holes were inside of the
preventive techniques were not Timber tie beams were kept together masonry structure. As well the brick
commonly used in city scale. the masonry walls for the horizontal knitting patterns were behave like a
loads. horizontal beam around the perimeter
Some architectural, construction
of the structure against the horizontal
tendencies and integrations loads.
were commonly used in
settlements however they not
became generalized.
The results and the research
methods of the thesis are giving
a perspective of thoughts of
construction of ancient buildings
that we can learn some ideals
about their resistance to the
seismic activities.
3. 15th century historical structure
(GaziMihalBey Bath, 1421 A.D.)
in Edirne-Turkey. The corners of
the building constructed with
materialsmore durable, which was
done in purpose for keeping the
structure more stable for horizontal
loads. On the upper photograph,
strengthened corner of the building
1. 15th century historical structure was seen. On the lower photograph,
(Ismail Bey Bath) in Iznik-Turkey. collapsed corner was seen.
664
The Transmission and Circulation of Practical
Knowledge on Art and Architecture in the Middle
Ages. The Case of Compositiones lucenses Tradition
and its Connection to Vitruvius De architectura
Giulia Brun - Supervisor: Prof. Alberto Grimoldi
The transformation of literary
culture of the past into reliable
documents for a history of
artistic and building knowledge
may be complex and time-
consuming. Yet the keen interest
medieval art and architectural
studies have been devoted to
texts from the past has not yet
entailed a thorough reflection on
some crucial factors that may tell
us important indications on the
influence of those compilations.
This dissertation copes with
the earliest Western example
of a recipe book for practical
arts known as Compositiones
lucenses that includes 160 texts,
in Latin, for the making of art
products, decorative motifs,
and architectural elements.
This study attempts to reassess
the issue conferring a new
perspective on the circulation of
Compositiones lucences and its
practical knowledge by means
of new evidence and different
courses of research. I argue that
Compositiones lucences offers
far more than just a small group
of medieval manuscripts; it
should be seen as a recipe book
with an incredible diffusion in
the Middle ages, which benefits
of the extraordinary connection
with Vitruvius De architectura
that is the most important work
on practical arts and architecture
from the Antiquity. Eventually,
I endeavour to open the way
for a different interpretation on
the meaning and influence of
practical arts treatises during the
Middle Ages, on the basis of a
new reading of Compositiones
lucenses and its tradition, of
its medieval manuscripts and
of a particular version that
was systematically copied with
Vitruvius.
Despite the centuries of studies
and the innumerable critical
editions on its first manuscript
Lucca, Biblioteca Capitolare,
490 (8th century), many crucial
factors on the real influence of
Compositiones lucenses during
the Middle ages have been in
turn neglected or overrated.
Much of the literature debate is
constantly revolving around only
few segments of the problem,
among which the identification
of Compositiones lucenses
with another collection, of an
alchemical character, known
as Mappae clavicula, stands
out. On the contrary, there has
not been enough research on
the amount of manuscripts
that copied the recipe book
and its true contents. New
evidence suggests that at least
twenty-six manuscripts transmit
Compositiones lucenses, much
more than it was initially
thought. Moreover, the data
that I gathered points out that
in several Vitruvian manuscripts
may be found another version
of Compositiones lucenses,
autonomously created, that I
termed Editio minor, on which
it was urgently necessary a
thorough exploration.
The dissertation is divided into
two parts. The first one deals
directly with the complex issue
of Compositiones lucenses
tradition. It follows the history
of the recipe book from its
first medieval specimen as
a collection that developed
heterogeneously even beyond
the Middle Ages. Much of this
section centres on the data
given by the manuscripts,
which have been systematised
and rationalised to provide
new objective elements for
understanding how the
transmission took place. I imply
the rigorous framework of
codicology to posit medieval
manuscripts of Compositiones
lucenses tradition as crucial
factors for the circulation of
practical knowledge on art
and architecture. For the first
time, twenty-six manuscripts
of the recipe book have been
thoroughly examined both in
their general contents and in
their codicological features. A
closer look at the data indicates
the capacity of Compositiones
lucenses of being continuously
subject to additions, subtractions
and reformulations so that its
historical development may be
followed from Lucca manuscript
to the later tradition, resulting in
at least seven different phases.
The discussion then centres on
three remarkable examples of
recipes for mortars and plasters
1. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, De architectura London, British Library, ms. Harley
2767, f. 1r (8th-9th century)
making given by Compositiones
lucenses tradition that provide
confirmatory evidence about
a multifaceted transmission
of the collection. On the basis
of new data, it seems also fair
to suggest that the nucleus of
recipes that I named Editio minor
has been copied systematically
only after Vitruvius De
architectura, from the very first
known specimen London, British
Library, ms. Harley 2767 (Fig. 1)
to at least the 15th Century.
The second part, on the
contrary, is focused on the
distinctive connection of
Editio minor with Vitruvius
De architectura. This section
borrows tools and notions
from philology, linguistics and
historical pragmatics that I
adapted to the present aims. On
these grounds, I reconstructed
procedure. Eventually, I apply
the text of Editio minor in a
critical edition portrayed in a
stemma codicum in which two
families have been isolated, with
a third branch outliving between
the lines of an unpublished 15th
century manuscript. The analysis
confirms the claim that Editio
minor is an ancient selection
borrowed from an existing wider
tradition, rather than a first
example in an archaic phase of
that recipe book later subject
to severe additions and textual
agglomerations.
Moreover, I develop another
innovative method that codifies
the twenty-six texts of Editio
minor in a sequence of strings
representing the instructions
as displayed in manuscripts.
By employing this method, it
is now objectively possible to
establish whether a given text
can be truly considered as a
PhD Yearbook | 2015
recipe by satisfying a certain
number of questions and
verify the quantity of implicit
knowledge inside each
the concept of text-colony
i.e. a text that, like a beehive,
does not owe its survival on
its units to verify that Editio 665
minor is above all a textual
PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
structure in which agglutinations
and estrangements of its
single units do not undermine
its meaning and utility as a
practical arts recipe book. This
approach aimed to rationalise
in an inter-subjective way the
typical capacity of this medieval
literary genre of recipe books of
attracting upon its nucleus other
texts thematically related.
In short, this dissertation
contributes to broaden ours
horizons on the actual presence
of this literature in medieval
Europe by assessing the
diffusion of written records
on art and architecture. It
provides convincing outcomes
to prepare the ground for a
future comparison between the
availability of those texts and
the material marks in coeval
artefacts and built environments.
666
The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana throughout
the 20th century: refurbishments between
museology and museography
Silvia Colombo - Supervisor: Prof. Pietro C. Marani
During the 20th century the
Milanese Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
goes towards significant
changes, here analysed and
investigated from a wide
perspective. The span of time
considered starts with the first
setting of the century (1905-
1907), promoted by Prefetto
Achille Ratti, and ends after
the Second World War, when
architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni
was called by the museum
administration to refurbish
the museum (1959-1966). In
this context introduced by
a general dissertation on the
Milanese museums at the end of
the 19th century and concluded
by an overlook on the most
recent events of the Pinacoteca
more attention will be given
to the changes occurred to the
museum during the ventennio
fascista (more precisely
between 1927 and 1939).
To fully understand the historical
path accomplished by the
museum throughout a century,
an interdisciplinary approach,
between the humanities and
the social sciences, is essential:
actually museum studies,
history of art, restoration and
architecture from one side and
memory studies on the other
are used as useful instruments
to read the exhibition space
through the decades.
In this way, and also thanks
to a comparative consultation
of bibliographic and archival
sources, it is possible to follow
out the architectural, artistic and
collecting aspects characterising
every single construction site
and to understand the reasons
behind every renovation project
too.
Going through the complex
series of the Pinacoteca
Ambrosiana renovations and, at
the same time, looking at the
coeval situation, national and
international, this research aims
to give the Milanese museum
a context that we can define
both historical-cultural and
topographic. Moreover, with
the help of the social sciences,
it tries to explain some choices
that made the Pinacoteca a
unique case in Milan, but also
marked its critical fortune in
some historical periods.
Finally, trying to put together all
the traces left by the museum
from time to time, this research
intends to identify as much as
possible a recognisable identity
of the museum, survived over
against the challenges offered
by a crucial period like the 20th
century.
The thesis is composed by
seven chapters which highlight
some significant topics related
to the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
and also follow a chronological
path. The first chapter the
only one exclusively based on
published material is a short
dissertation on the history of the
museum, since its opening, in
the 17th century, until the end
of the 19th century; of particular
interest, here, are some literary
milestones such as the Musaeum
(1625) by Federico Borromeo
and the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
guide wrote by the architect
Luca Beltrami (1895), able
to show the spatial changes
occurred to the museum during
the decades.
The second part draws attention
to two different museum
settings: the one committed by
the Ambrosiana administration
to the architect Luca Beltrami,
the art critic Gustavo Frizzoni,
the restorer Luigi Cavenaghi,
and conducted between 1905
and 1907; the other carried out
between 1921 and 1923 by
the architect Ambrogio Annoni,
called by the new Prefetto, Luigi
Gramatica, to design a new
arrangement of the institution
(Library and Museum) after the
difficult moment of the First
World War.
The third part, which is the
load-bearing structure of the
thesis, examines the cultural
situation of the Pinacoteca
Ambrosiana between the
Twenties and the Thirties, during
the ventennio fascista and
until the Second World War.
In this moment the museum,
enlarged thanks to the new
spaces acquired from some
properties related to the San
Sepolcro church, is going to
deal with a huge change.
The whole project, desired by
Prefetto Giovanni Galbiati, is
successfully completed in two
different rounds (1927-1932 and
1936-1938) thanks to an quipe
of professionals composed by
three architects coming from
Politecnico di Milano Gaetano
Moretti, Ambrogio Annoni e
Alessandro Minali , artists and
artisans. The result, a gallery
nostalgically looking at the past,
is thus contextualised through
a series of national (Mostra
della Rivoluzione Fascista,
the opening of the Pinacoteca
Vaticana, both in 1932, and the
Milanese Mostra di Leonardo,
in 1939) and international
examples (Musographie
conference, organised in Madrid
in 1934).
The following chapter,
contextualising the lapse of
time between the anglo-
american bombings (1943) and
the Milanese Reconstruction,
highlights the peculiar situation
of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana,
especially if compared to other
similar cases. The museum,
actually, rebuilt exactly like it
was just before the war, stays
strongly linked to its past due
to an obstinate decision taken
by Galbiati himself, who
furthermore would be pushed
to resign in a few years (1951).
Finally, the late intervention of
the architect Caccia Dominioni
(1959-1966), examined in
chapter 5, is able to imprint on
the museum a huge change but,
on the other side, it excludes
the Galbiati rooms, added
during the Twenties. In this
way, the gradual oblivion that
occupies the rooms, closed and
then reused as storages for the
art collection, is thus considered
from the point of view of the
memory studies, able to link
the architectural space to its
PhD Yearbook | 2015
historical past in this case
directly connected to the military
and political trauma of the
previous period.
Chapter 6, considering
the events occurred to the
Pinacoteca during the last
decades until the Grande
Ambrosiana project (1990- 667
1997), capable of recover
PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
the forgotten spaces of the
museum, tries to follow the 2. Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Leonardi
identity of an exhibition space Aula. Setting commissioned by
that, at the end of the century, Giovanni Galbiati to the architect
Ambrogio Annoni (1936-1938)
is the result of a collection of courtesy Archivio Storico Intesa
refurbishments. Sanpaolo, Milano
In closing, the seventh section
collects the most significant
documents examined in some
public and private archives
spread between Milan and
Rome.
3. Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Sala di
Nicol da Bologna (1996). This room
was closed after the intervention of
the architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni
(1959-1966) and reopened during the
Nineties courtesy Archivio Storico
1. Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Sala dei
Intesa Sanpaolo, Milano
moderni. Setting commissioned by
Giovanni Galbiati to the architects
Moretti, Annoni, Minali (1927-1932)
courtesy Archivio Storico Intesa
Sanpaolo, Milano
668

Arturo Danusso in Earthquake Engineering namely, the shear wall and rigid architect of the Marina City Concluding, all the performed

PhD Yearbook | 2015

frame systems, the tube and
and Skyscraper Design tubular system with a rigid core
and the gravity system.
In this thesis, a critical overview
of the architectural design
process has also been pointed
Valentina Sumini - Supervisor: Prof. Claudio Chesi [Politecnico di Milano] out in an attempt to highlight
Co-advisors: Prof. Jamshid Mohammadi [Illinois Institute of Technology] the connections between
Prof. Luigi Sorrentino [Universit La Sapienza] the architectural form and
the structural design of these
Towers, Bertrand Goldberg, was
certainly influenced by the Italian
skyscrapers having access, in his
personal library, to all the articles
related to the Italian high-rise
buildings (he had subscriptions
to Casabella, Domus,
LArchitecturedAujourdhui and
other periodicals). Therefore,
the widely-discussed and
structural analyses of the
skyscrapers mentioned above
have shown high capacity
resources and very effective
behavior characteristics. These
buildings were conceived with
a strong initial cooperation
between architects and
structural engineers, with 669
neither appearing to prevail

PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE

The idea of this research was
originated by an important
question that was raised related
to the preservation of reinforced
concrete skyscrapers built in
the fifties and sixties of the 20th
Century. The question was:
Are skyscrapers built in era of
fifties and sixties still confirm
with the provisions of the new
structural design codes practiced
today? The adequacy of these
structures is an important
piece of information; since this
information will identify specific
design factors that are prevalent
today and were not considered
when older versions of codes
were used.
The change in the code and
introduction of new factors into
the design process resulted in a
radical decision regarding many
buildings at the end of the 20th
century; and that decision was in
favor of demolition.
The research proposed herein
intends to analyze the structural
performance of some iconic
reinforced concrete tall buildings
in relation to the current design
code requirements - both in
Italy and in the United States.
This research is performed by
examining the work of one
of the renowned engineering
scientists of the Twentieth
Century: Arturo Danusso.
Arturo Danusso has been
responsible for a significant
contribution to the use of
dynamics in the design of
earthquake-resistant structures
especially after the Southern
Calabria-Messina Earthquake of
1908. His most important papers
were focused on the problem
of designing houses that would
survive during earthquakes
without the danger of collapse.
Danusso was probably the
first to (1) propose a dynamic
approach to design as opposed
to the static lateral force
method; and (2) apply the modal
analysis technique in structural
design. Moreover, he proved
scientifically that the seismic
demand on structures does not
depend upon the ground motion
characteristic alone. He also
showed skills in mathematics
in solving differential equations
and linear systems.
In this research, a mathematical
model of his project for a seismic
resistant house is presented to
better explain his intuitions in
seismic engineering.
From the studies in earthquake
engineering, Danusso acquired
the knowledge for another
important contribution to civil
engineering; and that is the
design of skyscrapers in the
fifties. Reviewing his papers
related to dynamics, it is possible
to demonstrate the connection
between seismic design and
high rise building conceptual
design and behavior. This is
clearly shown by his studies
on the mechanical vibration
of structures, which were
published in three main journals
(Il Cemento, Il MonitoreTecnico
and Il GiornaledeiLavoriPubblici
e delleStrade Ferrate) between
1909 and 1954 and in as some
chapters in different books.
He had perfectly understood
the importance of the dynamic
behavior of structures, not
only in relation to seismic
actions but also with reference
to tall-buildings designs. It is
important to note that the most
challenging force action on
high-rise buildings is wind, and
not ground shaking.
The importance of his
contribution can also be
understood based on his
strong belief in the role of
experimental testing for full
understanding of the dynamic
response of structures. His book
on experimental methods took
advantage of the shaking table
at ISMES in Bergamo, through
which scaled models could be
tested.
Danusso was also involved in the
structural analysis of the main
high-rise buildings in Milan in
the fifties, such as the Breda
Tower, the Velasca Tower and
the Pirelli Building. The design
of these skyscrapers exhibits
different structural solutions,
skyscrapers. GioPonti and Pier advertised Velasca Tower, from and both intending to build a
Luigi Nervi in the Pirelli Building, an intellectual point of view, was significant and durable work for
BBPR in the Velasca Tower and completely known by Bertrand their respective competence.
Luigi Mattioni in the Breda Goldberg, who was both an Their innovations are still
Tower worked in very close architect and an engineer. With recognizable nowadays and
cooperation with Danusso in this dual expertise, he was able confirm the need of the synergic
designing buildings that exhibit to understand the innovative collaboration between architects
the monolithic sculptural nature core system introduced by and engineers in the design and
of concrete, while exploring new Danusso. construction process.
structural layouts for each one.
This kind of study can go beyond
the Italian experience. And as
such, a comparative analysis
has been developed with the
Astor Tower and Marina City
Towers, which were designed
and built in Chicago, around the
same period. They both were
in concrete and presented the
same kind of structural design.
1. Left: Original drawings of the Velasca tower (1956-58). Right: Synthetic
In particular, the Twin Marina results of the modal analysis obtained by the FEM model built for the present
City Towers were the tallest work.
residential reinforced concrete
skyscrapers in the world in the
sixties.
The choice of thoroughly
evaluating the structural
performance of the Marina
City Towers is strictly related
to the analysis of the main
characteristics of Danusso
high-rise buildings design.
These characteristics are: (1) an
iconic architecture, (2) the use
of reinforced concrete, (3) the
challenge of height, and (4) the
introduction of a core as the
main shear system to resist the
lateral loads (as is the case in the
Velasca Tower).
Moreover, it is noted that the 2. Left: Marina City towers (1959-62). Right: modal analysis.
670

Earthquake resistant systems: experience based

PhD Yearbook | 2015

construction techniques in vernacular architecture. Two
study cases: the village of Castelvecchio Calvisio (LAquila,
Italy) and the town of Lefkada (Lefkada Island, Greece)

Sandra Tonna - Supervisor: Prof. Claudio Chesi

671
In the thesis the issue of seismic knowledge, handed down from the Apennine villages in the environment and, specifically, proposed. Also in this case, defining land archives,

PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE

protection structural solutions is
debated, with reference to the
criteria which were developed
within the constructive
tradition before earthquake
resistant design started to be
developed as a science. The
scientific approach to design
dates back to the beginning
the of 900; being based on
the interpretation of both the
physical phenomenon of ground
shaking and of the structural
response, it opened to the
possibility of quantitative design
evaluations.
The research is addressed, in
particular, to the subject of
residential architecture, which is
examined in the special context
of a poor architecture in
critical areas. Poor refers abandon traditional construction
to situations where, due to
economic reasons, the use
of both local resources and
experience coming from empirical
traditions has no alternatives; as
to criticality, reference is made
to the case of specially severe
environmental conditions, in
relation to which a stronger need
to provide adequate safety to
buildings is felt.
In the pre-modern age, before
scientific computational
procedures were formulated,
effective earthquake-proof
structural solutions were
developed following rules simply
based on common sense
and experience. This kind of
generation to generation, led
to the definition of structural
solutions suitable to resist a
variety of critical environmental
situations.
In this way, both the original
morphology and the evolution
in time of most effective
construction techniques are
directly related to the level of
criticality of local actions: in
areas affected by severe and
frequent natural disasters,
special systems had to be
developed. In order for this to
happen, it is necessary that
the memory of the natural
event and the knowledge of
the damage are not lost. The
risk consciousness induces
local society not to forget nor
traditions. After performing the
techniques, but rather to
maintain and improve them.
In this context, the thesis aims to
develop an extensive description
of the seismic protection
elements developed in the
building tradition; this kind of
knowledge provides the basis
for the subsequent evaluation of
their real effectiveness through
the use of modern structural
analysis tools. In this spirit, a
simplified evaluation of the
resistance levels is developed
in the thesis, based on a
simple, yet standard, numerical
procedure.
The theme was initially examined
with reference to the case of
province of LAquila, for which,
after the 2009 earthquake
extensive campaigns for damage
description were performed.
The analysis of the building
framework and of the seismic
protection elements which are
typical of these villages is based
on the results of a detailed
survey work carried out on the
field, supplemented by the
study of local economical and
historical conditions; specifically,
historical earthquakes and the
subsequent reconstruction and
reinforcement interventions have
been examined (Fig.1).
The study was focused on the
area of Castelvecchio Calvisio,
which provides a faithful
image of ancient building
an interesting interpretation
identification and description of
the seismic protection elements,
the simplified quantitative
evaluation was applied to an
estimate of the available seismic
resistance. This has suggested
an interpretation, in terms of
specific numerical values, of the
safety resources implicit in the
construction systems developed
by tradition.
In order to go deeper into the
debate about the effectiveness
of building traditions developed
on empirical bases, the analysis
has been extended to a second
case, different in its peculiarity,
yet similar to the first example as
belonging to the Mediterranean
to a critical area, subject to
frequently recurring major
earthquakes and characterized
by a well defined traditional
building system.
The interest was focused on
the Ionian island of Lefkada,
where critical environmental
conditions include also soil
related problems, due to
the original presence of a
marshland, subject over the
time to reclaiming works.
Seismic and geotechnical
criticalities have significantly
influenced both the structural
response and the adoption of
a suitable foundation system.
The availability of abundant
historical documentation on
the local tradition has allowed
structural system able to resist
of the building system, which
was developed as a response to
repeated earthquake experience.
As in the previous study case,
the problem has been analyzed
under a general perspective,
including historical and
economic conditions typical of
the area: the island historical
seismicity has been studied and
important information have
been drawn from the analysis of
unpublished archival documents
related to the damage survey
activities which followed
historical earthquakes.
In particular, an interpretation
of the foundation systems
developed by tradition is
finally, the simple numerical capable of suggesting new
evaluation has been performed knowledge horizons and also
in order to explain the surprising of providing methodological
ability of builders to develop, guidance on intervention
in the past, a construction methods for the conservation
technique able to oppose strong and enhancement of the
seismic effects (Fig.2). historical building stock.
The two selected study cases
also allow to discuss the
implications of the earthquake
return period on the building
quality: Castelvecchio
Calvisio and Lefkada are both
characterized by high seismic
hazard but with different return
periods: 200 and 30 years,
respectively. This has led, in
the first case, to alternately
forget and rediscover the
tradition and, in the Greek
one, to the development of a 1. Sketch of recurring seismic
protection elements and their
arrangement in a building aggregate
simultaneously two different
criticalities, the geotechnical and
the seismic one.
As a general conclusion, the
research program and the
field investigations provide
documentation on the constant
effort of builders, in the past,
to conceive seismic resistant
structures. In both the cases
of Castelvecchio Calvisio
and Lefkada this effort has
resulted into resistance levels
of the masonry structures
2. The traditional system construction
basically in line with the design of Lefkada, with particular reference
requirements in force today. to the two different foundation
Collecting local construction structures present: on the left
techniques and maintenance foundation wall with pozzolana in
the mortar, on the right with the
procedures is the basis for timber grid.
 672
The encaustic painting between revival and invention.
The debate in the technical literature and the first
applications on plaster in Mantua, Verona and Cremona
between the 18th and 19th century
Paola Travaglio - Supervisor: Prof. Alberto Grimoldi
The research focuses on one
of the most debated painting
techniques the encaustic
painting arisen in the ancient
times and rediscovered in the
second half of the 18th century.
The study aims to better
understand what encaustic
painting is from a technical
point of view and to propose
an overview of the debate
on this technique, verifying,
through the compared study of
bibliographical and documentary
sources, its origin, the reasons,
the different contexts, the
material outcomes.
Essential moment of the
artistic culture born from the
Enlightenment, the debate on
encaustic painting mainly took
place between the pages of
treatises by scholars and artists.
For this reason, the starting
point of the research is the wide
technical literature which deals
with encaustic painting from the
antiquity to the 19th century.
After a review of the classical
literature, which will be the basis
of the following experiments,
the discussion proceeds with
an analysis of the technical
literature between the Middle
Ages and the end of the 17th
century, in order to detect if and
to what extent it had carried on
handing down memory of this
technique. The central part of
the research finally consists in
the 18th and 19th century debate
on encaustic painting, with the
study of the French, English,
Spanish, German, and especially
Italian technical literature.
If almost all the eighteenth-
century literary works were
based on the interpretation of
the obscure words of the Latin
authors, aiming at the revival of
what was considered the most
widespread ancient painting
technique, the experimentations
also gave rise to the invention of
new pictorial procedures.
In the 19th century there was a
partial change of perspective
towards encaustic painting,
whose research, particularly in
Italy, intertwined the debate on
the use of varnishes in painting,
the first chemical analyses
on archaeological finds, and,
above all, the events related to
the conservation of artworks,
finding then application also in
the industry, where encaustic
became synonymous with
products containting wax
designed to protect various
materials.
Some notes on encaustic
painting in the Italian manuals
on painting tecniques of the first
half of the 20th century conclude
the chapter.
The second part of the research
aims to deepen the root of
the Italian debate on encaustic
painting, with particular
attention to the first applications
of this technique on plaster in
the cities of Mantua, Verona,
and Cremona. The study is
based on the consultation of
bibliographical-, periodical-
and archival-sources, mostly
presented in the documentary
appendix.
The first section focuses on
the spread of the first Italian
publication on the topic, the
Saggi by the Spanish ex-Jesuit
Vincenzo Requeno, retracing
the events relating to the two
editions (1784 and 1787) and
highlighting how the main
centers of diffusion of encaustic
painting, at least in the first
phase immediately following
the publication of the text,
were found in Northern Italy,
anticipating albeit slightly the
most known executions carried
out in Rome.
The second section investigates
the spread of encaustic painting
in Mantua, city which promptly
embraced the methods
proposed by Requeno thanks
to the work of painters and
decorators who worked in
some of the most important
decorative works in Mantua
in the last two decades of the
century. Some of them took part
in a kind of encaustic painting
academy, set up by the Marquis
Giuseppe Bianchi in his palace.
It is therefore proposed a first
analysis of this contest, with
particular attention to the figure
of the Spanish ex-Jesuit Juan
Andrs, who played a crucial
role in the spread of interest for
encaustic painting in Lombardy.
The city of Verona saw instead
an intense debate on the
preparation of Punic wax, which
resulted in the publication of
several dissertations, starting
from the one by Anton Maria
Lorgna. His research on
encaustic painting is mainly
reconstructed through his
correspondence, together with
the events related to the award
for the painting in Punic wax
and encaustic established at the
Academy of Painting in Verona,
and the encaustic decorations
performed in the city.
A more in-depth analysis is then
dedicated to Cremona, the city
which saw the update on the
Italian and European technical
literature, and also the presence
of clients, intellectuals, and
artists who, thanks to their
network of relationships and
antiquarian interests, promoted
the spread of encaustic painting,
especially on plaster.
Besides the early interest
in this tecnhique shown by
Giambattista Biffi, whose
unpublished writings of artistic
and antiquarian nature are
investigated, the research
focuses on the abbot Isidoro
Bianchi, the real protagonist
of the Cremonese debate
on encaustic painting, and
the Spanish ex-Jesuit Ramn
Ximnez. Even in this case their
figures and the role played in
the spread of encaustic painting
in Cremona are investigated
through their extensive
correspondence and writings,
published and unpublished.
The supposed encaustic
paintings made in Cremona
in the 18th and 19th centuries
are then retraced, focusing on
the works by Santo Legnani,
Luigi Benini, Francesco Ferrari,
Giovanni, Giuliano e Giulio
Motta, Gallo Gallina, who the analytical technique in
PhD Yearbook | 2015
worked in some of the most the indentification of wax in
important noble residences of complex mixtures.
the city. The comparison with At the end of the research
some unpublished documents the results of the scientific
has also allowed to better investigations made on some
clarify some attributions and of the mural paintings by Gallo
the history of the decorative Gallina in Palazzo Ala Ponzone
interventions. in Cremona are presented.
The third part of the thesis 673
presents the results of some
PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
early research of experimental
nature.
The first section deals with
an attempt of classification
of the encaustic painting
techniques, made on the basis
of the technical literature.
One of the main question
related to encaustic concerns
the terminology. In fact, this
lemma even in relation to
its etymology has been used
over time to indicate various 1. Luigi Benini, Hebe and the Eagle of
art techniques and materials: Jupiter, 1795-1801, encaustic painting
from inks for writing to (?), Cremona, palazzo Cattaneo
different procedures of wax
painting, from enameling to the
encaustication of paintings and
the finishing of artifacts and
sculptures.
The classification is then
followed by a review of the main
scientific studies dedicated to
the investigation of waxes as
pictorial materials, with the aim
of underlining the achievements
of the scientific disciplines
applied to the conservation field
about encaustic painting and the
analytical techniques used in the
investigations.
The third section of the chapter
deals with the making of
samples of encaustic painting
on plaster, prepared according
to the recipes of the technical
literature, some of which were
later examined with FT-IR, in
order to check the effective
reproducibility of the procedures
and to test the response of
674
The Ducal Palace in Mantua.
The architectural metamorphosis
of the Palace into a Museum (1887-1938)
Lisa Valli - Thesis supervisor: Paolo Carpeggiani - Co-supervisor: Alberto Grimoldi
The research focuses on the
Ducal Palace of Mantua and, in
particular, on its architectural
metamorphosis into a
museum (1887-1938). The
aim of my study is to provide a
concise critical analysis of the
Palace in its final remarkable
transformation from an
administrative seat into the
museum we know today.
Contextually, I have taken into
account the people and the
craftsmen involved in the works
of renovation and restoration
and the maintenance procedures
during such a process. The
main hypothesis behind my
research considers the Palace
as an architectural organism
which is both unique in its size
and complex stratification, and,
simultaneously, it is analogous
to other great historical and
architectural complexes typical
of the region, due to their similar
possibilities of conservation and
fruition.
What I wanted to argue through
such a concise critical analysis is
that the fortune that the Palace
has enjoyed while facing its
transformation into a Museum
and the subsequent preservation
did not cause divestiture and
abandonment but it is rather to
be interpreted as an interaction
of political, social and cultural
instances. Such an interaction
can still be highly enlightening
for the future management,
and therefore the future
conservation, of the National
Heritage and, more specifically,
of the Ducal Palace in Mantua.
After a first phase of the
research devoted to the
analysis of the main published
resources, the research on the
documentary sources were
therefore undertaken at the
archives of those institutions
and people historically involved
in the administration and
preservation of the Palace. In
many cases, the analysis of the
sources was necessarily preceded
by an extensive survey and the
compiling of topographical
instruments for the consultation
of the archival records. The
next step was the drafting
of the texts by comparing
the architectural artefact and
the information found in
bibliographic and documentary
sources.
The first part of the thesis offers
a critical synthesis of the findings
of the research: I have been
able to mark four main phases
of the transformation process
of the Gonzaga court in a State
Museum. A first phase took
place between 1707 and 1866.
I have taken into account the
most significant events in order
to outline the characteristics
of the Palace at the end of the
process of gradual disposal of
the Court of Mantua from being
a representative core of the
power of the Gonzaga Duchy to
its becoming the administrative
headquarters of an increasingly
peripheral province of the
Austrian governorate. A second
stage can be identified with
the two decades following the
Annexation of the Province of
Mantua to the Italian Kingdom
(1866), which ended with the
takeover of the Palace by the
Ministry of Education (1887).
The Court, registered among
the buildings forming the Estate
Endowment of the Crown
(1868), became a legacy of a
Nation to be built, in which such
a legacy, at least initalially, did
not have a clear role. This phase
also witnessed the progressive
recognition of the monumental
value of the Palace: the first
interventions, marked by a
mainly conservative character
and performed by state
initiative, were manifestations of
this process.
Following the Ministry of
Education taking charge
of the Palace, the first
vicissitudes of the Palace as
a monumental site regularly
open to the public began (in
October 1887). As a result,
the first major interventions
took place on the initiative
of the appropriate Regional
Office for the Conservation of
Monuments. The interventions,
made possible mainly through
the contribution of the local
authorities, were partially carried
out as a step of the process
of urban transformation and
isolation of the monument and,
partly, to ensure its preservation
and accessibility. Once again,
the monumental complex had
to find a new function: the
Museum, wonderful but lost
since 1627, became a Museum-
pretext through an inventio,
justifying the acceptance of
the architectural complex,
and as a symbol of the pre-
unification past of Mantua. The
conception of the museum is
outlined through the analysis
of the progressive stages of the
rediscovery of the vocation of
the Palace as an exhibition venue
and the drawing up of the
Convention between the State
and the Mantua institutions
for the transport of the civic
collections in the Palace (1915),
up to the concrete design of the
spaces and the location of the
museum (1921).
In the first post-war period,
the conditions required for the
construction of the project of
the Museum were ready. The
finding of the resources needed
for the affordability of the
initiative of the Museum was
closely related to the immediate
and pervasive adherence to
Fascism that was manifest in
Mantua and that ensured,
both directly and indirectly,
the government support. The
architectural interventions
needed to transform the palace
into a museum mainly took
place between 1923 and 1938.
The Museum was presented
for the first time in its entire
configuration on the occasion
of the Iconographic Exhibition
of the Gonzagas (1937). While
the majority of the great Italian
museums was established after
the Second World War, the
Museum of the Ducal Palace
in Mantua was made almost
twenty years earlier, by 1938. institutional impasses that,
PhD Yearbook | 2015
However, some interventions obliquely, have caused its
that occurred in the 60s must
be remembered as necessary
wounds. The image will be more
faithful, and so expendable in
premises to the comparison with
the architecture of the Palace
conservation activities, the more
it will be possible to further
today, such as those mainly deepen the research and the
aimed to refit the museum comparison with the artifact
and to recover its decorative itself.
wall paintings cycles. The 675
Palace Museum thus began its
PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
adventure as a repository of
civic collections and museums,
and eventually, in the second
quarter of the twentieth century,
it firstly became a claimed
Museum, demanded both by
the citizenship and by the State
which, through this, tried to
build their image, and finally it
has aligned to the Italian State
Museums, in the vicissitudes
and purposes, as well as in the
lack of resources and yet in its 1. The Ducal Palace in Mantua
excellence. antecedently to the earthquake of
In the second part of the thesis, spring 2012 (March 2012).
made up of the the Tools,
of the Workbook and the
Equipments, I have presented
both the findings concerned
with the individual portions of
the building (data which may
support the knowledge and
preservation of the complex),
and the working tools built for
the drafting of the study and
for the future promotion of
the immediate access to the
knowledge resources available
on the Palace.
The main outcome of the
research consists in the
reconstruction of the image
of an architectural complex
absolutely outstanding in its
stratification and sedimentation,
in which the reality and the
concreteness of its buildings, as
well as the magnitude of the
efforts made for its defense and
for its knowledge, far outweigh
the transitional historical and
Information Technology | Interior
Architecture and Exhibition Design |
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Engineering | Materials Engineering |
Mathematical MODELS and METHODS IN
Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
Physics | Preservation of THE Architectural
Heritage | Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial
Planning and Urban Development |
Structural Seismic and Geotechnical
Engineering | Technology and Design for
Environment and Building | Territorial
Design and Government | Aerospace
Engineering | Architectural and Urban
Design | Architectural Composition |
Architecture, Urban Design, Conservation
of Housing and Landscape | Bioengineering
| Building Engineering | Design | Design
and technologies for cultural heritage |
Electrical Engineering | Energy and Nuclear
Science and Technology | Environmental and
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Chemistry and Chemical Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
678
DOCTORAL PROGRAM
IN Rotary Wing Aircraft
Objectives
Chair: The Ph.D. program in Rotary Wing Aircraft aims at educating
Prof. Luigi Vigevano students and creating world-class researchers in all main
technological disciplines relevant to rotorcraft vehicles. Helicopters
and tilt-rotors present some of the most interesting and difficult
challenges of the aerospace sciences; mastering such problems
requires the understanding of the underlying physical processes,
the integration of multiple disciplines, an effective use of
sophisticated mathematical models, and of numerical and
experimental methods. To reflect this situation, the Ph.D. program
gives special emphasis to developing multi-disciplinary thinking and
problem-solving skills in students, while striving to give the students
a solid knowledge of the fundamental physical phenomena and
of all necessary state-of-the-art methods and tools. Successful
graduates of the program are expected to be able to conduct and
manage original cutting edge research in the rotorcraft technology
domain, with an ability to rapidly move in neighboring areas such
wind power, fixed-wing and automotive engineering, or other
related high-tech engineering fields.
Organization
The Ph.D. program has a duration of three years, and it is organized
in three main educational areas:
1. Introduction to research (30 credits): specialized courses covering
fundamental aspects of the basic rotorcraft disciplines, which
aim at giving the student a solid understanding of the physical
principles and methods used in rotorcraft research.
2. Advanced research (30 credits): various activities aimed at
educating the student to become a successful researcher, while
improving the technical understanding of the rotorcraft disciplines
which are specific to his/her thesis. Activities that are developed in
this part of the Ph.D. program include:
Elective courses offered at the Politecnico di Milano or other
Universities in Italy or abroad;
Participation to short courses, summer schools and seminars;
Co-authoring papers published in international peer-reviewed
journals;
Co-authoring and presenting papers at international conferences;
Spending exchange periods at other research institutions.
3. Development of the doctoral thesis (120 credits): work on the
thesis starts in the first year of the Ph.D. program (20 credits), and
is developed in the second (40 credits) and third years (60 credits).
PhD Yearbook | 2015
679
In their theses, students are expected to develop original scientific
Rotary Wing Aircraft
work in any one of the areas that are relevant to the fields of
rotorcraft technology.
Each student is assigned an Advisor, who is responsible for
overseeing the scientific development of the research work, and a
Tutor, who follows the students throughout the Ph.D. course and
acts as a mentor. Students report every six months to the Doctoral
Program Board, presenting their progress in terms of course and
research work. At the end of each year, students are graded and
admitted to the next year based on their performance. One or
more external referees are nominated by the Board towards the
completion of the thesis for its review.
Students should spend at least three months of the Ph.D. program
in an external institution, and financial support is provided for this
purpose.
Students collaborate in the rotorcraft-related research activities
developed at the Departments of Aerospace Engineering,
Mechanical Engineering and Information and Electronics of
the Politecnico di Milano, and faculty members from all three
departments participate in the Doctoral Program Board. Students
have access to state-of-the-art laboratories, as the large wind tunnel
of the Politecnico di Milano, various labs specializing in vehicle
safety and crash testing, structural dynamics and aero-elasticity,
composite and smart materials, robotics, sensing and many others,
including computing and super-computing facilities.
The participating departments have wide networks of scientific
collaborations with companies, research centers and academia in
Italy and abroad, which expose students to the relevant national
and international scientific communities. Much of the research
developed within the Ph.D. program is conducted in close
collaboration with the national rotorcraft industry.
The Ph.D. program in Rotary Wing Aircraft creates specialists in the
design, analysis, testing, certification and operation of rotary-wing
vehicles and their sub-systems. Specific competences are gained
either in a single discipline or in the integration of disciplines, which
include dynamics, fluid mechanics, flight mechanics and control,
structures and materials, active and passive safety, and avionics.
Career opportunities for the students of the program are as
researchers in academia or research centers, as highly-qualified
research engineers, research managers or private consultants for
rotorcraft, aeronautical, wind energy and mechanical engineering
companies, in roles such as:
680

PhD Yearbook | 2015

681
1. Expert in computational and/or experimental fluid mechanics,
Doctoral program Board

Rotary Wing Aircraft

capable of developing methods, models, experimental devices
and testing procedures for aeronautical applications, in particular Prof Airoldi Alessandro Prof Gibertini Giuseppe
for rotors and interacting surfaces; Prof Anghileri Marco Prof Guardone Alberto
2. Expert in the active and passive control of aerospace structures,
Prof Astori Paolo Prof Lavagna Michle
with skills in both global and sub-system level design;
3. Expert in the control of vibration and noise in rotorcraft and Prof Bernelli Zazzera Franco Prof Mantegazza Paolo
vehicles in general; Prof Bisagni Chiara Prof Masarati Pierangelo
4. Expert in the dynamics and control of vehicles, including the
design and implementation of flight control systems for piloted Prof Bottasso Carlo Prof Morandini Marco
and autonomous systems; Prof Consolati Giovanni Prof Quadrio Maurizio
5. Expert in active and passive safety of vehicles, including the
design of crashworthy structures, their numerical simulation and Prof Di Landro Luca Prof Quaranta Giuseppe
experimental testing; Prof Dozio Lorenzo Prof Quartapelle Procopio Luigi
6. Expert in the design of rotary-wing systems, with a global vision
Prof Frezzotti Aldo Prof Ricci Sergio
of the vehicle as an integration of complex sub-systems.
Prof Galfetti Luciano Prof Sala Giuseppe
Prof Ghiringhelli Gian Luca

ADVISORY Board
Giorgio Brazzelli, AgustaWestland & Distretto Aerospaziale Lombardo
Matteo Casazza, Leitwind
Massimo Lucchesini, AleniaAermacchi
Marco Molina, SELEX Galileo
Fabio Nannoni, Agustawestland
Franco Ongaro, Estec

Scholarship Sponsors
AgustaWestland
682
INDENTATION: MECHANICS AND APPLICATIONS
Sina Amiri - Supervisor: Marco Giglio
Different approaches have been
proposed in order to determine
the material behavior of ductile
materials. Since, the mechanical
properties of an industrial
component are modified
during manufacturing process
due to plastic deformation,
heat treatment and etc.,
an alternative approach for
standard experimental procedure
addressed to predict the elastic-
plastic properties of material
after manufacturing process is
of interest. Indentation testing,
where a diamond indenter of
specific geometry is impressed
into the surface of the test
specimen, provides array of
information about the material
which can be can analyzed
to understand better the
material behavior (Fig. 1). This
is especially true for small size
components where it is also
complex to extract specimens to
test on standard test system.
There are numerous studies
regarding determination of
mechanical properties of bulk
material by means of indentation
in the literature, however, more
research is needed to achieve a
robust and efficient procedure.
This work is aimed to investigate
in exploitation of indentation
technique for the acquisition of
several mechanical properties.
Capability of the technique to
acquire elastoplastic behavior
and fracture is investigated with
relevant applications. Moreover
also the capability of the method
to deal with multilayer structure
has been investigated.
Several researchers have studied
different approaches based on
dimensional analysis and the
concept of a representative
strain. In this work, a well-
defined optimization procedure
is proposed to characterize
the plasticity of bulk material
where the optimization strategy
is sequential and domain
reduction. As an application
for the proposed strategy, the
Johnson-Cook (JC) constitutive
model of the aluminium alloy
Al6061-T6 is characterized
based on micro-indentation
testing and high fidelity finite
element models (Fig. 2). This
methodology allows determining
a set of JC constants for
Al6061-T6. The obtained results
have good agreement with
parameters calibrated by means
of a consolidated approach
based on standard specimens.
Furthermore, after
understanding of indentation
mechanics for bulk material,
studying indentation for
multi-layer structures is very
stimulating. It is a more
challenging scenario, in
comparison to bulk material,
because experimental results,
obtained during indentation on
the external layer, are affected
by mutual interaction of the
layers (internal layers work
as a non-rigid basement). In
this work, effectiveness of a
well-known analytical model to
evaluate elasticity (in the case of
multi-layer structures) is studied.
Regarding plasticity, there are
several researches in literature to
evaluate the effect of substrate
based on dimensional analysis
however a well-described
inverse method is proposed in
this thesis and behavior of two
industrial multi-layer structures
are investigated: Lithium-ion
battery and Glass Laminate
Aluminium Reinforced Epoxy
(GLARE). In particular, extensive
experiments are performed in
which indentation technique has
been exploited to investigate
the mechanical properties
of the components of Li-ion
battery with the aim of better
understanding their mechanical
integrity. Indentation tests are
performed on each individual
component with a Berkovich
indenter. In order to perform
the tests, fused silica substrate
has been used to constrain the
samples. From the unloading
curve of the measured
indentation load-displacement
data, the elasticity of the anode
and current collectors are
obtained. Also, the individual
stress-strain curves are calculated
through inverse engineering
method of the loading curve.
Micro-tensile tests are also
carried out on the aluminium
and copper foils to verify the
effectiveness of the proposed
approach. Also, micro-structure
analysis has been performed to
give an insight into the structure
of the battery components
which is necessary for small scale
mechanical characterization
(Fig. 3). Moreover, GLARE
laminate is studied as a well-
known multi-layer structure
in aerospace industry. The
main purpose of the work has
been to study the mechanical
behavior of the Al2024-T3 layer.
In this study, indentation tests
with different applied load are
carried out to study the effect
of glass fibre/epoxy prepreg
substrate. Regarding to the
plastic behavior, an optimization
procedure has been followed to
obtain stress-strain curve.
Fracture analysis using
indentation technique has
been of interest for the
present work. At present
researchers focus more on
the estimation (by means of
micro-indentation technique)
of fracture toughness of brittle
materials. However in order to
evaluate fracture toughness of
ductile materials which exhibit
a more complex behavior,
more research is needed to
have a robust approach for this
type of material. Therefore, a
novel approach is proposed to
estimate the fracture toughness
of ductile materials. The
Berkovich indenter is adopted
to generate a crack-like indent
and the experimental data have
PhD Yearbook | 2015
683
been elaborated on the base
Rotary Wing Aircraft
of the principal concept of
continuum damage mechanics
(CDM) and a model of
indentation energy to fracture.
Considering the stress intensity
approach and the Griffith
theory, energy per unit area
value is used to calculate the
fracture toughness of the ductile
material. As an application,
the fracture toughness of the
aluminium alloy Al6061-T6 is 2. Von Mises stress distribution [MPa]
evaluated by this approach. in numerical analysis of spherical
indentation on aluminium alloy
Traditional compact tension Al6161-T6.
(CT) tests have been performed
to attest the accuracy of the
proposed approach and a
numerical analysis is adopted to
investigate the stress state in the
indentation test.
3. SEM image of Berkovich
indentation impression on the surface
of Li-ion battery cathode (LiCoO2).
1. Indentation instrument with
different commercial indenters.
684

Design optimization of wind turbines is achieved by Sequential computation and finally CoE systems, considering a passive

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Quadratic Programming (SQP)
algorithm, a refinement can be
applied at fine-level by 3D finite
element models (FEM). The
modeling of the CAD geometry,
the meshing and the definition
Federico Gualdoni - Supervisor: Carlo L. Bottasso of the FEM are fully automated
procedures performed by a
dedicated tool. The refinement
The last years have reported support tower, that are the of the rotor, are evaluated by an analysis can be applied to
evaluation. control surface. This element is
The Monolithic with Load defined as a passive aeroelastic
Updating (MLU) approach system appended to the rotor
merges aerodynamic and blade, so the movement of
structural design of rotor blades the flap is related to the blade
in a single optimization problem. vibrations by an appropriate
In this case a technique to tuning of aero-structural
estimate loads dependence properties. Therefore, no
on aerodynamic variables is additional active components are 685
developed to estimate efficiently required, limiting the negative

Rotary Wing Aircraft

a remarkable increase of most important aero-structural aeroelastic model of the entire the entire blade or to critical the gradients. The correct values effects on the reliability of the
the nominal power of the components in terms of CoE. wind turbine. The regulation regions of limited extension. The of the design requirements are entire wind turbine. Moreover,
single wind turbine, aiming At the beginning, trajectory includes the definition interaction between the coarse recovered iteratively. the passive flap is a distributed
at a reduction of the cost the development and of different operative regions and fine-layer is performed mechanism, able to react to
of energy (CoE). The global implementation of the and, if required, a constraint on iteratively, by heuristic scaling of The design procedures are localized noise due to the
trend is characterized by the aero-structural optimization maximum tip speed. design requirements that allows validated by meaningful test turbulence. Preliminary analyses
confirmation of horizontal techniques is presented. An Subsequently, the design of to include local 3D effects into cases and the pros and cons of are performed by simplified
axis wind turbine (HAWT), as introduction to the simulation the structural layout is studied. the optimization procedure. each approach are reported. models, aiming at understanding
the most efficient layout, and environment is provided, The structural optimization Finally, the attention is Different classes of wind turbines the key parameters that
by the increase of the overall highlighting the modeling procedure aims at obtaining the focused on the aero-structural are considered, encompassing maximize the passive flap
dimensions of each machine. approach. A multibody aero- lightest structure that satisfies design of the rotor blades, standard industrial applications effectiveness. Two systems are
The industrial trend and the servo-elastic simulator software a set of design requirements, highlighting the importance of and future concepts. At the taken into account: a typical
multidisciplinary nature of the able to describe general fixing the aerodynamic multidisciplinary approach. A beginning the attention is section model with unsteady
wind turbine stress the aero- topology systems is adopted. For characteristics, i.e. the external tested algorithm is presented focused on various applications aerodynamics and a reduced
structural design problem, this purpose, a broad library of shape of each component and and it is used to validate two of the structural optimization order model of the rotor
imposing a constant updating of elements is available, including the wind turbine configuration. innovative procedures integrally algorithm. The interaction assembly. The entire operative
the methodologies to perform rigid bodies, nonlinear flexible The parametrized model for developed in this thesis. Each between coarse and fine-level range is explored, identifying
the optimal sizing. elements, joints, actuators blade and tower structure is method involves different users is reported by considering a the advantages in term of
models and aerodynamic defined by optimization variables participation and computational 2MW wind turbine, showing load alleviation. Furthermore,
The current project investigates models. The regulation over that determine structural cost. the inclusion of local stress a limited interference with
this topic by constrained the entire operative range is properties at a finite number of The first algorithm is the Pre- concentrations into the coarse the standard wind turbine
aero-structural optimization ensured by pitch-torque control control stations. Regarding the Assumed Aerodynamic Shape optimization level. Moreover, components is shown. Despite
techniques. Various aspects of strategies that are provided by blade, the thickness values of (PAAS) approach that consists the effects of nonstructural mass these promising results, further
the design process are reported, external dynamic libraries. the constitutive elements along of generating a population of estimation and sizing of blade analyses are required to energy
focusing on the improvement A first design strategy considers blade span are considered, while aerodynamic shapes by user- root bolted joint are examined applications.
of the classical configuration the aerodynamics of rotor the tower is parametrized by defined parameters, running on a 10MW machine. Then the
but also considering innovative blades, showing how the diameter and thickness values the subsequent structural coupled design of blade and
solutions related to the load maximization of the Annual along the tower height. optimization routines and finally tower structures is reported,
alleviation. The developed Energy Production (AEP) can In order to increase the evaluating the CoE produced showing sensitivity studies
methods are based on a general be achieved. The optimization computational efficiency, a by each design. The optimal that allow to identify the best
approach that reproduces the consists of identifying, for a multi-layer method is adopted. solution is identified by response wind turbine layout. Finally
real operative conditions. For this given set of airfoils, the optimal The optimization is performed surface methods. the aero-structural algorithms
reason, a high-fidelity simulation chord and twist distributions. at coarse-level that involves The External Aerodynamic/ are examined, focusing on
environment is employed to To limit the number of efficient geometrically exact Internal Structure (EAIS) the design of a 10MW HAWT,
evaluate the numerous situations variables, the procedure relies beam models, cross-sectional approach automatically reporting a detailed comparison
imposed by the international on a parametrization of the analyses and multibody handles the aerodynamic of macroparameters and design
standards, making the aerodynamic properties of techniques. The design parametrization by an external variables of each configuration.
developed procedures attractive the blade by perturbation requirements are included by optimization routine. The
for industrial applications. The functions. The aerodynamic constraint equations, to meet external optimization loop has The final activities of the project
attention is focused on the coefficients, that define the the international standards. in its cost function the sequence investigate the load alleviation
design of rotor blades and global aerodynamic performance When the optimal configuration of blade mass minimization, AEP capabilities of distributed
686
Computational fluid dynamic analysis
of a L-shaped Gurney flap for vibration
control
Valentina Motta - Advisor: Prof. Giuseppe Quaranta
The present work deals with
the aerodynamic assessment
of a L-shaped Gurney flap
for rotorcraft applications. At
first the behavior of oscillating
airfoils, representative of
clean blade section models, is
characterized numerically and
analytically with linear low order
formulations. Inviscid numerical
computations, verified a priori
with experimental data, are
performed on symmetrical
airfoils, with maximum thickness
ranging between 4% and
24% of the chord, undergoing
small amplitude oscillations in
pitch. The computed lift and
pitching moment coefficient
exhibit increasing detachments,
with respect to the classical flat
plate Theodorsens model, for
growing values of the airfoil
thickness. By exploiting the
numerical results, a modification
of the Theodorsens formulation
is developed, which allows
to take into account the
unsteady thickness effects in
the analytical computation of
the aerodynamic forces. Such
formulation is indeed found
capable to significantly improve
the accuracy in predicting the
unsteady airloads, on airfoils of
arbitrary maximum thickness, in
the range 424% of the chord.
A steady state characterization
of the aerodynamic behavior
of the L-tab is then carried
out. This allows to investigate
the potential suitability of
the tab in adapting the rotor
asset, according to the flight
conditions. The reliability the
of steady state numerical
computations is supported by
comparisons with experimental
data measured on the same
device, as well as on a common
trailing edge Gurney Flap
(GF). Numerical computations,
performed both at small and
at static stall angles of attack,
highlight how the L-tab under
consideration features a twofold
effective operation, which makes
it an hybrid between a Gurney
flap and a classical trailing edge
(TE) plain flap. Namely, when the
L-tab is downward deployed, it
acts as a Gurney flap, allowing
for lift and lift to drag ratio
enhancements, without in turn
severely affecting the drag
coefficient. On the other hand,
upward deflections of the L-tab
are shown capable to reduce
the blade airloads, in terms of
both lift and pitching moment
magnitude. In particular,
qualitative numerical results,
attained in the static stall
regime highlight how upward
deflections of the L-tab around
20 degrees appear effective in
significantly alleviating the static
stall negative effects.
Unsteady computations are
then performed for small
amplitude oscillations either of
the airfoil or of the L-tab, to
ultimately assess the feasibility
of such movable device in
reducing vibration on rotor
blades. Convergence analyses
of the numerical solution are
performed, to ensure the
accuracy of the attained results.
Notice that, dealing within the
small perturbation regime, the
aerodynamic behavior of the
blade can be assumed to be
linear. This hypothesis allows
to investigate separately the
airfoil pitch, the airfoil plunge
and harmonic oscillations of the
L-tab. Unsteady motions, either
of the airfoil or of the L-tab,
exhibit shedding phenomena of
the Counter Rotating Vortical
structures (CRV) generated
past the vertical prong of
the control surface. The CRV
convection leads to secondary
small amplitude oscillations
in the resulting airloads, also
experimentally observed in
literature on similar devices. A
spectral analysis of such multi-
harmonic airloads highlights
that the frequency of the
secondary oscillations is around
twenty-two times that of the
input motion. This substantial
regularity, common to pitch,
plunge and L-tab oscillations,
allows to know a priori at which
frequency eventual secondary
vibration have to be expected.
By the way, it is remarkable that
the exact shedding frequency is
not actually an integer multiple
of the rotor angular velocity,
therefore avoiding unwanted
resonance effects on the blade.
Additionally, the amplitude
of the secondary oscillations,
observed in the unsteady
airloads is much lower than
the magnitude of the primary
counterpart.
Overall the steady and unsteady
characterization of the L-tab
shows that the primary effect
induced by such device consists
of a modification in the effective
camber and chord length,
with respect to those of the
clean airfoil. Such effects are
due to the generation of the
aforementioned counter rotating
vortical structures, which yield
a shift of the Kutta condition
application point downstream
the TE.
On the basis of the aerodynamic
characterization of a blade
section equipped with the L-tab,
a physically based Reduced
Order Model (ROM) is built up,
with the aim to avoid issues
concerning the computational
burden of Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) evaluations. The
developed ROM is capable to
correctly reproduce the mean
line modifications induced
by steady state or oscillating
motions of the L-tab --with
the airfoil at constant angle
of attack-- in addition to
accurately predict the resulting
lift and moment coefficients. For
unsteady motions, either of the
airfoil or of the L-tab, only the
first harmonic of the airloads
is taken under consideration
for the model order reduction,
being this component by
far the main concern, when
dealing with control systems
for vibration reduction on rotor
blades.
The development of a physically
consistent ROM has several
potential advantages, with This approach is indeed
PhD Yearbook | 2015
respect to commonly used appropriate for rotorcraft
black box identification
procedures, e.g. rational
applications, due to the highly
tonal nature of the vibration,
function approximations.
Indeed, whereas for these latter
which occur at known specific
frequencies, integer multiples
approaches CFD simulations of the rotor angular velocity.
--or alternatively experimental The quadratic form of the cost
measurements-- are a necessary function, minimized to compute
step for the identification, these the control inputs at specific 687
are no longer mandatory for a frequencies, involves the blade
Rotary Wing Aircraft
physically consistent ROM, as root vertical shear, in addition
the one herein proposed. That to the flapping and feathering
is, when dealing with a fixed moments. In fact the vertical
or movable GF-like device, the force has a primary affection in
preliminary computation of transmitting the vibratory loads
the developed airloads can be from the rotating to the fixed
performed immediately, without reference frame of the hub. The
involving CFD evaluations. As control inputs at 2/rev, 3/rev, 4/
a result, a significant speed rev and 5/rev, respectively are
up in the preliminary design computed.
procedure is attained. Indeed Overall the L-tab appears
the immediate availability potentially a very promising
of the equivalent geometry alternative to plain flaps or
allows, for instance, to proceed movable Gurney flaps in
in parallel with the general alleviating vibratory loads on
aerodynamic sizing and control rotor blades.
system realization, and in the
meanwhile eventually refine
the ROM with unsteady CFD
computations.
The potential capabilities of
the L-tab in reducing vibration
on rotor blades are then
investigated by employing the
developed ROM in assembling
the aerodynamic transfer matrix
of a three DOF aerostructural
typical section model. The
resulting aerostructural system
relates the rotating frame blade
root flapping, feathering and
hinge moments to the bending,
pitching and control surface
motions. The control input,
meant in terms of deflection
law of the trailing edge device,
is computed with an higher
harmonic control algorithm,
conceived to control vibratory
loads at discrete frequencies.
 688
GENERALIZED AEROSERVOELASTIC STABILITY
ANALYSIS OF ROTORCRAFT
Aykut Tamer - Supervisor: Prof. Pierangelo Masarati
Rotorcraft are flying vehicles that
utilize rotating wings to provide
lift, propulsion, and control
forces; which enable the aircraft
to rise vertically and hover
above the ground; thus they can
operate in remote areas, where
there is no airstrip and even no
ground contact exists. For this
reason, rotorcraft are ideal and
unique vehicles for search and
rescue, which are also frequently
used for other purposes such
as transportation of human
and cargo, military actions,
firefighting and construction. In
order to maintain flight at zero
and low airspeeds, a sufficient
magnitude of relative speed
between lifting surfaces and air
should be supplied by rotating
wings with respect to the
fuselage. However, since they do
not operate in high speed axial
flow, rotors have to be designed
big enough in order to enable
all essential tasks of a flying
vehicle, i.e. rotor contributes to
lifting, propelling and controlling
the rotorcraft. These essential
tasks are not separable and the
resulting cross couplings, under
which aerodynamics, structural
dynamics and flight control
systems (FCS) interact, lead to
complexity and dominance over
all the aspects of helicopter
operation. Due to the higher
level of complexity, rotary wing
operation and maintenance
costs are higher than those of
conventional airplanes; and
life-long problems exist such
as proneness to instability and
excess levels of vibration. In
order to be more competitive
in aviation market, it should
be kept in mind that rotorcraft
physics is multidisciplinary and
determined by nonlinear and
time dependent equations in the
broadest sense.
Aeroservoelasticity is in the
heart of this complexity; a
multidisciplinary technology
dealing with the interaction of
the aircrafts flexible structure,
the steady and unsteady
aerodynamic forces resulting
from the aircraft motion
and the FCSs. For rotorcraft,
determination of stability is a
critical task in aeroservoelasticity,
since they are inherently
unstable systems, which
additionally include significant
nonlinear, cross-coupling and
time-dependent effects. In
order to achieve quick results,
the rotorcraft problems can be
solved assuming independent
disciplines and using simplified
models at elementary levels.
However, the multidisciplinary
nature should be carefully
preserved with possible
nonlinear and time variant
effects in order to foresee
significant problems such as
instabilities, vibrations, limit cycle
oscillations and other problems
related to the aeroservoelasticity
of the system.
This work is a result of such
a motivation and focuses on
developing tools and methods
in order to increase the
effectiveness of aeroservoelastic
stability analysis of rotorcraft;
such that the need of
simplifications and the level of
uncertainty can be minimized.
The capability of aeroservoelastic
stability estimation can be
increased by following two
paths. The first way is to
focus on the multi-disciplinary
nature of aeroservoelasticity
by increasing the number of
disciplines and developing
detailed comprehensive
models of rotorcraft and its
subcomponents. The second
path is to increase the capability
of mathematical and numerical
tools to quantify the stability,
such that the systems having
different levels of complexity
can be analyzed without
requiring simplifications in multi-
disciplinary, nonlinear and time-
variant nature of rotorcraft.
The first path is well-known
in rotorcraft industry; many
comprehensive tools have been
developed for multi-disciplinary
analysis of rotorcraft and the
helicopters in service verify the
capacity and success of these
tools. Then, as computers
speed up, flexible multibody
dynamics codes emerged. The
two multibody dynamics codes
mainly dedicated to rotorcraft
research and development are
DYMORE and MBDyn. A state of
art idea is to develop a numerical
platform which is capable of
representing elastic and rigid
boundary conditions between
the components of a rotorcraft
that can come from independent
sources. For this reason, a
simulation tool called MASST
(Modern Aeroservoelastic State
Space Tools) was developed at
Politecnico di Milano prior to
this work with the philosophy of
being the platform of coupling
the mathematical models of
the rotorcraft components
originating from independent
sources. A valuable extension
to MASST is to develop an
aeroelastic rotor code with
the benefits of: flexibility for
performing stability analysis of
rotorcraft with different levels
of complexity; more efficient
use MASST as a design code
by allowing optimization and
parametric analysis on rotor
variables; and gaining freedom
from commercial comprehensive
tools.
The second path that we
have followed is to extend the
capability of stability analysis
without requiring simplifications
in the system nonlinearity and
time dependence. Stability
is defined as the behavior
of the solution of dynamical
system equilibria under the
presence of a perturbation.
There exist spectral methods
which quantify the decaying
characteristic of independent
components of solution, i.e. the
systems exponential multipliers
or characteristic exponents.
Having determined the stability
measures that quantify stability,
it is easier to interpret and
compare the results. In this
work, spectral methods of
estimating stability is preferred
and developed for rotorcraft
systems having different levels
of complexity. Although the
stability definition is the same
for any system, the methods
that estimate stability differ
depending on the complexity.
Evaluating the stability of linear
time invariant (LTI) systems
is straightforward and can
be simply computed using
the well-known eigenvalue
decomposition. As a next step,
the stability of linear time
periodic (LTP) systems is added
to MASST in order to increase
the capacity of stability analysis
which is achieved using Floquet
Theory. Although LTI and LTP
systems are widely used in
rotorcraft stability estimation
and can represent the dynamics
of many rotorcraft problems;
they imply simplifications when
the system is nonlinear and
a-periodic. Then, in order to
further improve and generalize
the stability analysis of rotorcraft;
quantitative stability of linear
time periodic and nonlinear
non-autonomous systems is
formulated using Lyapunov
Characteristic Exponents (LCEs).
LCEs indicate the stability of
solutions of nonlinear non-
autonomous systems; without
requiring simplifications,
reference solutions and
assumption of a period; and
additionally to give the same
results and interpretation with
eigen-solution and Floquet
method, when implied on LTI
and LTP systems respectively.
Hence, they represent a natural
generalization of stability
indicators that are familiar in
current engineering practice.
Discrete QR decomposition is
used to estimate LCEs.
In a dynamical system, the rate
PhD Yearbook | 2015
of change of stability estimates
with respect to a parameter
also plays a significant role in
design phase, if that parameter
is expected to change or there is
uncertainty in it. Such sensitivity
is useful to gain insight into
the dependence of stability
indicators on system parameters, 689
or can be integrated into
Rotary Wing Aircraft
gradient-based optimization
procedures and continuation
algorithms, or into uncertainty
evaluation problems. A novel
contribution of this work is
the development of analytical
sensitivity estimations instead
of finite-differences to avoid
issues related to sharp changes
in sensitivity parameters and
to gain the possibility to detect
such changes, in order to
detect topology changes of
the solution and track them
using continuation algorithms.
Following the eigen-solution
method for LTI, Floquet
theory for LTP and Lyapunov
Exponents for nonlinear non-
autonomous systems, analytical
sensitivity of stability properties
is formulated for different
levels of complexities that
are encountered in rotorcraft
aeroservoelasticity.
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Physics | Preservation of THE Architectural
Heritage | Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial
Planning and Urban Development |
Structural Seismic and Geotechnical
Engineering | Technology and Design for
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| Building Engineering | Design | Design
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Chemistry and Chemical Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
692

DOCTORAL PROGRAM IN

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Spatial Planning
and Urban Development

693
Objectives of the PhD Programme

Spatial Planning and Urban Development

Chair: The PhD Programme in Spatial Planning and Urban Development
1. The global map
Prof. Costanzo Ranci is addressed to international and Italian students, and is fully of social networking
taught in English. Started in 2009, the programme is focused
upon research, and is intended to educate planners who are able
to establish a dialogue with the experiences of the best European
and international PhD programmes in planning, urban policies and
design, urban studies. This inter-disciplinary programme is based
upon the specific approach of Milan Polytechnic to design and
territorial analysis. The teaching activity is based on introductory
courses concerning both methodological aspects and core issues,
as well as on intensive design workshops. The Programme takes
advantage of the close cooperation with three other Programmes in
Architectural and Urban Design, in Preservation of the Architectural
Heritage, and in Territorial Design and Government.

Contents of the PhD Programme

The main courses and workshops are focused on three topics:
Cities in globalisation. The processes of radical transformation
of contemporary cities are explored through a comparative
approach and with specific attention to new global developing
cities and to European cities. The main issues addressed are the
social, economic and territorial transformations that have been
taking place in cities over the last two decades as a consequence
of the globalisation processes; the governance problems in
evolving cities. Planning theory. Different planning fields are
explored through a critical and comparative approach. The main
issues addressed are: paradigms, traditions and innovations
in planning theory; spatial and land use planning, and their
relationship with citizenship and justice; comparative studies about
planning systems; the relationship between planning theory and
practice; visioning and strategic dimensions in planning, policies
and projects. Urban and territorial policies. Sector policies
and their relationships with the problems of governance and
government are analysed using a comparative approach. Some
of the policies investigated are: welfare and cohesion, land use,
mobility and infrastructures, environmental quality and housing.
The Programme has a strong international orientation, and is
aimed at meeting the demand for researchers who are skilled
users of analytical approaches to urban problems, as well as to
planning, management and implementation of urban policies.
Doctors with such profiles could be employed by Italian and
2. The masterplan
of Expo Shanghai 2010
international academic institutions, public bodies and research
centres.
Development of the PhD dissertation
The varied inter-disciplinary suggestions which are offered
to students represent a great opportunity for understanding
the multiple dimensions of urban change, planning, projects
and policies. However, in order to avoid the concurrent risk
of redundancy, students should be able to convey them to a
clear research project. That is the reason why the topic of the
dissertation is outlined since the first year, in order to lead and
specialise the educational process along all the three years of
the PhD Programme. At the end of the first year each student
submits to the faculty: a) his/her PhD Thesis project; b) his/her
proposal for a six-month internship abroad, both coherent with
the dissertations topic and previously discussed with the tutor. A
second milestone is placed at the end of the second year. Students
complete the review of the works carried out during the previous
stages, and deepen the discussion on the advancements of the
694

PhD Yearbook | 2015

695
thesis work. During the third year a last milestone is settled, at the

Spatial Planning and Urban Development

end of the first semester, for refining the preparation of the thesis
in view of the final examination.

Doctoral program Board

Alessandro Balducci Giovanna Fossa Stefano Moroni
Stefano Boeri Luca Gaeta Gabriele Pasqui
Massimo Bricocoli Ilaria Mariotti Marco Ponti
Grazia Concilio Luigi Mazza Davide Ponzini
Remo Dorigati Scira Menoni Costanzo Ranci
Valeria Fedeli Corinna Morandi Andrea Rolando

Advisory Board
Louis Albrecht John Forester
Piero Bassetti Robin Hambleton
Luca Bertolini Klaus Kunzmann
696
PORT DEVELOPMENT AND PORT-CITY INTERFACE
DYNAMICS
The Case of Dubai Global Hub Port-City
Mina Akhavan - Supervisor: Prof. Ilaria Mariotti - Co-Supervisor: Dr. Csar Ducruet
Port-cities have long fascinated
geographers, economists,
architects/planners and
sociologists, as they are centres
of exchange where different
cultures and environments meet,
at the boundaries between land
and sea. The two components of
port-cities: ports as nodes within
a transport system, and cities as
central places of a wider socio-
economic system, are mainly
considered interconnected in
their location, development,
activities and issues. The varied
multidisciplinary studies tend
to explore ports and cities as
two separate assets. Despite
the existence of rich literature
on port-city studies, there is
rather a divergent perspective
in the port-related and urban-
related issues. Indeed ports
are not only embedded within
the global logistics, but they
occupy urban spaces and
contribute to the local and
regional economic growth.
Thus, in order to understand the
current and future challenges
in port-city development, there
is a need for a more integrated
multidisciplinary approach.
Compared to other cities,
presence of the port(s) in
a city is accompanied by a
specific demand on maritime
resources and activities,
which makes port-cities more
complex urban communities.
Nevertheless, as an impact of
technological advancement and
growing level of globalization
and transnational flows, the
changes in the maritime sector
have major underestimated
implication on urban
development issues. This is even
more crucial for the case of the
fast developing countries, as the
port-city(s) becomes a national
trading importance. The case of
Dubai with its fast developing
modern port infrastructure is an
interesting case, which shows
how the global flows can create
complex spatial configurations.
Although this field of study has
already received a great deal
of research, little evidence has
nevertheless been provided
about the emerging global
cities in the Middle East and its
sub-region. Since the 1970s,
among the Arabic city-states
of the Persian Gulf region,
Dubai has developed with
an unprecedented pace, to
emerge as a regional hub, while
mediating the flows of people,
goods, capital, knowledge
and ideas. Hence, the extreme
case of Dubai, not least in the
Middle East, is interesting for
further studies on how global
flows can create complex
spatial configurations. Framing
a theoretical base from a wide
body of literature- linking port-
city studies and globalization
theories- this dissertation
illustrates the features and
characteristics of the port-city
development dynamics, at the
basis of Dubai.
Taking into account the
multidisciplinary nature of
the topic, centred on a case-
study approach, the present
thesis has combined different
methodologies in order to
answer the following key
research question: why is the
port-infrastructure crucial for
the city, and specifically how do
freight flows contribute to the
growth of hub-port cities, in the
fast developing countries?
Accordingly four sub-questions
and hypothesis are outlined as
follows:
To what extend is the pattern
of Dubai port-city evolution
comparable to the existing
European and Asian based
models?
What is the interaction between
the port and the city? How
do the port and its ancillary
trade-based infrastructures
jointly contribute to the urban
development?
To what extend were urban
planning and policies able to
guide the fast growth of Dubai
city-state?
To what extent can Dubai
development model be
considered successful to secure
the citys national, regional and
global competitiveness?
Hypothesis 1: Dubai port-city
development resembles the
Asian model, which can be
conceptualized by a four-phase
pattern.
Hypothesis 2: There is a mutual
strong relationship between
the port and the city: the city
is serving the port in terms
of infrastructure provision,
maintenance and management;
while the port, inserted in the
global supply chain, plays a
key role in the citys economic
diversification.
Hypothesis 3: Several master
planning, comprehensive and
structural planning failed to
cope with the speed of the city
growth.
Hypothesis 4: Since 1980s,
Dubai has sustained and
strengthened its position as the
main transshipment hub of the
country and the Middle Eastern
Region.
A combination of theoretical
and empirical studies is,
therefore, essential in order to
investigate the phenomenon of
rapid urban development within
the framework of (global) hub
port-city studies. Emphasizing
the oil-revenues as the starting
engine for Dubais growth, this
study argues the importance of
infrastructural provision for the
citys fast development from
an entrept to a transhipment
hub port city. The significance
of Dubais port relies on its
successful integration within
the logistics and global supply
chain, which play a key role in
diversifying the economy. This
study illustrates the unique
pattern of Dubais development
compared to other oil-based
cities of the Middle East, which
also resembles the Eastern major
global hub-port cities, such as
Singapore.
From a spatial point of view, mediating flows of people,
PhD Yearbook | 2015
starting from the mid-1970s, goods, capital, knowledge and
particularly after the completion
of the Jebel Ali Port project,
ideas. Hence Dubai becomes an
intermediately node within the
the territorial morphology of
Dubai enjoyed a new phase of
complex network of the regional
and global connections.
development. The new seaport, Although Dubai has been
35 km far from the historical successful to become a regional
city centre and planned as trading/transportation hub, and
part of a new city, became a a major player in global supply 697
growth pole for Dubai. In this chain, there is still a need to
Spatial Planning and Urban Development
stage the urban infrastructure reorganize and implement an
is indistinct or simply absent. integrated strategic planning
With the growing trade, a that benefits and supports
moderate urban development is the human capital and the
shaping along the Dubai Creek socio-economic status of the
and around the first seaport, city. Hence, this study calls
Port Rashid; the population had for future research on to what
already reached an approximate extend Dubai is lacking human
180,000. In the 1990s, the new capital on one hand, and more
Ports zone is forming an urban importantly to what extend
sprawl; the area between the the incoherent planning of
city centre and Jebel Ali is still port development and the
far less developed. The growth surrounding urban areas has
corridor along the axis of Dubai- affected the socio-economic
Abu Dhabi connection (Sheikh pattern of the city and the
Zayed Road), stretching from quality of life of the residents.
the Dubai international airport
towards the Jebel Ali area, is
evident. Home to a population
of 1.5 million, in the mid 2010s,
Dubai has developed into a
global city from mosaics of
mega-projects.
As illustrated in this study a
character that distinguishes
Dubai, especially from the similar
post-oil cities of the region, is its
hub-strategy and intermediary
role in the global economy.
Dubais economic structure has
been historically tied to its free-
port and entrepot functions. This
is due to its geographic location,
serving as a mediator of flows,
while emerging as a regional
hub for trading, logistics,
tourism. Although the city has
been investing on developing
the manufacturing and industrial
sector, it relatively produces
little and instead focuses on
698
RECONSIDERING LOCAL CIVIC SERVICES.
A critical review starting from the new Italian planning tools
Ombretta Caldarice - Supervisor: Stefano Moroni
The work is questioning about
what is and what could be the
contribution of planning tools to
the regulation of urban services.
In existing cities, urban services
play a critical role in creating
more prosperous, fair and
inclusive societies. Today, more
than ever, urban services are
called on to protect the welfare
of society while creating the
conditions for social and
economic development. From a
delivery point of view, services
are traditionally considered a
necessary public provision, as
on the one hand they pursue
some universal purposes and on
the other they are developed
on public infrastructures or in
public areas. On the contrary,
private sector is excluded
from services provision since
it is believed to be inefficient,
ineffective and inequitable.
However, in the present time
of economic uncertainty the
governments provision of
urban services is challenged by
fiscal austerity measures that
have been accompanied by
deep, sudden and protracted
cuts in public expenditures. In
addition, different and complex
social problems have created
new challenges for urban
services, requiring a widespread
reorganisation.
In this perspective, the work
aims to offer innovative ideas
for an efficient, effective and
sustainable way to plan and
deliver urban services, re-
thinking the traditional planning
approach.
In the first part, Current
Problems: Three Tendencies,
the reconstruction of the
historical and legal situation
regarding the Italian debate is
presented. The analysis of the
Italian regional planning laws
highlights three main tendencies
within the current services
planning approach: (i) from
quantity to quality, for which
services are not intended as a
minimum quantity of area but as
a complex urban policy; (ii) from
a general to a sector plan, for
which the traditional land use
plan is replaced by a strategic
and thematic plan; and (iii) from
design to management, for
which the traditional services
planning is supported by
operational management and
financial control.
The second part, Innovation
Attempts: Three Challenges, is
the empirical core of the work. It
presents the analysis of 24 Piano
dei servizi (Services plan) of
Lombardia Region, an innovative
tool for the urban services
planning on the municipal
level. The selected case studies
are the Services plan of the 24
municipalities of the Lombardia
region with a population of
40.000 or over (Table 1).
The analysis uses 3 groups of
analytic criteria (Table 2). In
particular: (i) 10 procedural
criteria, describing the technical
elements of Services plan; (ii)
10 content criteria, describing
the contents of the Services
plan; and (iii) 10 implementation
criteria, describing the
procedures of Services plan.
The empirical investigation
shows that Services plans
are generally analytic tools,
still bound to the traditional
approach to services planning.
Consequently, the results are
complex documents, in which
both the regulatory and strategic
aspects are described in great
detail and marked by a high
amount of unusual and archaic
words, by complex phrasing
and often highly mixed with
legal jargon. In addition, the
majority of plans provide
traditional procedures, still linked
to the direct implementation
an any consideration of the
participation of private sector.
Finally, Services plans do not
seem to focus on the economic
feasibility of the planned
operations in relation to the
municipal budgets.
In the third part, Future
Prospects: Three Themes,
the proposal of the work is
presented. The proposal of the
research is the change to a rule-
based perspective for the urban
services planning. The proposal
is based on three key concepts:
1. Rules. Services plan are
today constructed as tools
limiting the planning activity
to an analytical-descriptive
document (more typical of
geography and sociology) or
to a simple procedural tool
(more typical of administrative
sciences). In this regard, it
would seem useful to pursue
a spatial approach to services
in which the technical rule is
considered the key, while the
descriptive and evaluation
aspects are given less
prominence. In this way, rules
simple, abstract, general and
mainly negative would be
independent of any specific
result, thus not proposing
specific spatial and physical
design.
2. Simplification. Services plan is
today constructed as complex
a tool, with wide, detailed
descriptions both defining
the regulative and design
aspects. With regards to these
considerations, a simpler and
more communicative draft
would be desirable.
3. Responsibility. Services plan is
today defined as a tool that
is not particularly concerned
with financial sustainability
of planned services or with
the interaction between the
public and the private sector,
as expected by the horizontal
subsidiarity principle. In this
Table 2. Matrix of analytic criteria
I. Procedural Criteria
I.01 Implementation advancement
I.02 Process length
I.03 Document(s)
I.04 Document(s) length
I.05 Cartographic support documents
I.06 Issuing body
I.07 External consultant(s)
I.08 Drafting steps
I.09 Variance(s)
I.10 Community consultation
vision, it would be desirable allocated, while the private
PhD Yearbook | 2015
to redefine the responsibility sector could pursue its
of both the public and private
sectors. Public administration
interests without violating
rules and without any specific
would fulfil their functions public support.
on the basis of resources
Table 1. The 24 case studies
699
Implementation
Council Regulation
Spatial Planning and Urban Development
Status
Milano Approved Del. C.C. n.16 del 22.05.2012
Brescia Approved Del. C.C. n.57 del 19.03.2012
Monza Approved Del. C.C. n.71 del 19.11.2007
Bergamo Approved Del. C.C. n.86 del 14.05.2010
Como Approved Del. C.C. n.32 del 13.06.2013
Busto Arsizio Approved Del. C.C. n.59 del 20.06.2013
Varese Adopted Del C.C. n.67 del 21.12.2013
Sesto San Giovanni Approved Del. C.C. n.32 del 16.07.2013
Cinisello Balsamo Approved Del. C.C. n.48 del 24.10.2013
Cremona Approved Del. C.C. n.13 del 02.03.2009
Pavia Approved Del. C.C. n.33 del 15.07.2013
Vigevano Approved Del. C. C. n.8 del 08.02.2010
Legnano Approved Del. C.C. n.100 del 25.10.2011
Gallarate Approved Del. C.C. n.28 del 15.03.2011
Rho Approved Del. C.C. n.23 del 17.06.2013
Mantova Approved Del. C.C. n.60 del 21.11.2012
Lecco Start up Del. C.C. n.24 del 04.08.2009
Cologno Monzese Approved Del. C.C. n.1 del 24.01.2013
Paderno Dugnano Approved Del. C.C. n.32 del 13.06.2013
Lodi Approved Del. C.C. n. 35 del 14.03.2011
Seregno Adopted Del. C.C. n.125 del 12.12.2013
Lissone Approved Del. C.C. n. 19 del 17.03.2012
Rozzano Approved Del. C.C. n. 26 del 10.12.2012
Desio Approved Del. C.C. n. 29 del 20.04.2009
II. Content Criteria III. Implementation Criteria
II.01 Strategies and objectives III.01 SP Efficacy
II.02 Use of spatial images III.02 Index of services
II.03 Strategic projects/areas III.03 Service dimensioning
II.04 Definition of service III.04 Planning parameters
II.05 Classification of service III.05 Planning procedures
II.06 Classification criteria III.06 Implementation modes
II.07 Mapping typology III.07 Implementation categories
II.08 Ownership typology III.08 Subsidiarity principle
II.09 Financing typology III.09 Monitoring
II.10 Managerial typology III.10 Relation with other instruments
 700

Rights to Cope: A study of urban land tenure

PhD Yearbook | 2015

and flood adaptive capacity and Bangkok
City
Yanin Chivakidakarn - Supervisor: Prof.ssa Scira Menoni

701
International Disaster Risk making upon investment in in land tenure covenants.

Spatial Planning and Urban Development

Management (DMR) literatures
have asserted that land tenure
security promotes adaptive
capacity to natural disaster.
Insecurity of land tenure
is viewed as vulnerability,
and largely inferring to the
marginalized city dwellers
whose livelihood hardly settled
on owned land but leased
or intruded. Therefore, land
tenure improvement programs
in urban areas are aiming to
increase tenure security, which is
incremental in spite of imminent
natural disaster threats.
However, very few land tenure
scholars have made extensive
studies mentioning natural
disasters, especially flooding,
and vise versa for DRM scholars
about land tenure in urban
context.1 Using Bangkok City
as the case of observation, the
study is thus attempting to
bridge the relationship between
types of land tenure and flood
coping capacity. Conceptual
framework is constructed from
applied economics, legal, and
behavioral psychological science
theories related to decision-
assets and the likes. Empirical
evidence is derived from focused
group interviews, questionnaires
and community laboratory to
assess (1) livelihood asset, (2)
flood compensation entitlement,
(3) catastrophe insurance
coverage, and (4) perceived
flood coping capacity as
elements of total flood adaptive
capacity among different levels
of legitimate rights, different
level of security in land tenure.
The case of Bangkok City
has shown that the level of
land tenure security through
types of land tenure does not
significantly affect livelihood
assets of slum communities
as the core coping capacity to
flooding. Yet it greatly influences
the communities access to
financial aid for home recovery
by means of the governments
flood compensation and
catastrophe micro insurance
coverage. As per perceived
flood coping capacity, different
types of land tenure also
showed different levels of
perceived capacity in accordance
with level of legitimate rights
However, at the community
level, the assessment yields no
perceived capacity difference
among communities of different
land tenure security when it
comes to implementing flood
prevention measures. Analyzing
and explaining these findings,
among others, discussion about
the significance of duality in
land tenure arises besides level
of rights and tenure security
theories. In other words, the
residents choose one level
of tenure security among
other levels existing in own
communities when making
decision about flood coping and
adapting. Finally, the researcher
invites urban planners to pay
attention to possible changes
in pattern of land tenure
as changes of flood coping
capacity, while simultaneously
look at spatial trend of urban
settlement in the midst of future
flood risk.
Keywords: Land tenure, property
rights, disaster risk reduction,
vulnerability, and coping
capacity.

1 David Mitchell, Land Tenure and Disaster Risk Management, Land Tenure Journal, 1 (2010); Torsten Grothmann
and Anthony Patt, Adaptive Capacity and Humang Cognition, sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu, 2003 <http://sedac.
ciesin.columbia.edu/openmtg/docs/grothmann.pdf> [accessed 4 June 2014]; Torsten Grothmann and Anthony
Patt, Adaptive Capacity and Human Cognition: the Process of Individual Adaptation to Climate Change, Global
Environmental Change, 15 (2005), 199213 <doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2005.01.002>; Torsten Grothmann and
Fritz Reusswig, People at Risk of Flooding: Why Some Residents Take Precautionary Action While Others Do Not,
Natural Hazards, 38 (2006), 101120 <doi:10.1007/s11069-005-8604-6>.
 702
Designed Landscapes of Discarded Fill
Chiara Geroldi - Supervisor: Prof. Alessandro Balducci
The term Anthropocene
connotes the current geological
epoch as that in which man is
the main agent of geological
and ecological transformation.
The geologists Roger Hooke and
Bruce Wilkinson have recently
asserted that the amount of
earth moved today by man is
greater than that moved by
natural processes, part of which
consists of discarded fill. The
magnitude of the production
and movements of discarded
fill began to accelerate at the
beginning of the industrial
revolution. The twentieth
century saw an increase in
waste production and of made
ground, i.e. man-made ground
constituted by different types of
fill, including materials as diverse
as garbage or mining waste,
as Sabine Barles and J. Andrew
Charles respectively notice.
This phenomenon is
accompanied by the fact, as
Kevin Lynch points out, an
away no longer exists. Within
the field of urban studies, the
recent concept of planetary
urbanization emphasizes that
urbanization has now reached
such remote places as the
atmosphere and the ocean.
The magnitude of the
phenomenon and a growing
lack of space, accompanied
by increased environmental
concerns and a diffuse
NIMBY syndrome, show us
the importance of dealing
with discarded fill. This thesis
sustains the importance and the
opportunity to address these
materials through design.
Firstly, this research aims to
show that discarded fill can
become an opportunity to
construct significant designed
landscapes, where designers
can play a positive role in
making such sites places of
interest, within a collaborative
environment and in a field that
is generally the prerogative of
other disciplines. In addition,
it aims to individuate valuable
considerations for engaging
with discarded materials from
a design perspective. It focuses
mainly on earthy fill, and
particularly on that derived from
tunnel excavations and dredging
operations.
An unrealized project from the
Venice Renaissance represents
an early example of a design
attitude toward these materials:
an island with a little garden hill
to be constructed in San Marco
Basin with the materials dredged
from the city canals, proposed
by Alvise Cornaro.
What does it mean to engage
with discarded materials through
design? How can an activity
of design engage responsibly
within this field?
Concepts such as planetary
urbanization and drosscape,
underline that waste and waste
sites are part of urbanization.
This recognition suggests the
possible value of engaging visibly
with them rather than adopting
the attitude that tends to push
discarded materials away.
The fact that today, waste
disposal is planned in advance,
even before waste is actually
produced, suggests that there
is an opportunity for designers
to intervene early-on in the
process, ex ante in respect to
the movement of discarded fill.
The possibility and type of its use
is influenced by many aspects,
including the type of material,
the presence of contamination,
and the regulatory framework.
Designers should be aware of
this complexity. There is also a
complexity of meaning that can
connote them and influence the
design project.
Primarily, this research
individuates the legibility of
the constructed essence of
these designed landscapes,
particularly of the ground, as an
important aspect to engage with
and, possibly, to communicate
their identity, which is related
to the significant presence of
made ground. At the other
end of the legibility spectrum
it poses strategies that tend
to hide this aspect, either by
constructing natural looking
landscapes or by camouflaging
the interventions with their
surroundings. Legibility can be
achieved in declared ways or
through more subtle solutions,
as a collection of projects
discussed in this research will
show. This thesis points out
that approaches that favor the
legibility of the constructedness
of designed landscapes of
discarded fill and increased
visibility of material placement
can provide additional value
to design projects. They can
provide more awareness
about discarded fill and a
growing consideration of these
landscapes.
How can the designed
interventions make legible or
hide their constructed essence?
How can the fill identity be
made legible otherwise? Can
discarded fill be successfully
located in visible sites? What
is the role of designer and
the advantage of their early
involvement?
Three main cases will be
addressed with respect to
complexity, visibility, legibility,
and the role of the designers.
These consist in landscapes
constructed with a considerable
amount of discarded fill;
they have been designed by
landscape architects who
intervened ex-ante with respect
to the placement of materials.
They constitute, respectively,
examples of a natural looking
landscape, a subtle designed
camouflage, and design
legibility. In particular, the cases
considered are:
Spectacle Island Park, Boston,
United States, constructed with
excavated material derived from
the construction of the Central/
Artery Tunnel Project, designed
by Brown, Richardson + Rowe;
Sigirino Depot, Sigirino,
Switzerland, built with
excavated materials derived
from the construction of the
AlpTransit Ceneri Base Tunnel,
designed by Atelier Girot;
Parque do Tejo and Tranco,
Lisbon/Loures, Portugal,
developed during EXPO98
and constructed with dredged
materials and fill derived from
a construction yard, designed
by PROAP/Hargreaves.
This thesis aims to show
that discarded materials can
be turned from waste to
resource, from discarded fill
to designed landscape. It also
attempts to show the complexity
of the field, to address the role
of designers, to show these
landscapes can be successfully
developed in visible positions,
to highlight how legibility or
concealment can be achieved,
and to identify other strategies
for conveying fill identity.
Chapter one shows the
magnitude of the phenomenon,
and addresses the concept
of planetary urbanization,
drosscape, the rise of
environmental concerns and the
NIMBY syndrome. Moreover,
it defines discarded fill,
it provides notes on the
classification of man-made
landforms and information on
the possible uses of dredged
materials and materials derived
from tunnel excavations.
The second chapter describes
one of the earliest examples of
what this thesis calls a designed
landscape of discarded fill: the
historical case study in Venice.
The project shows that a design
attitude toward discarded
materials was already present
centuries ago and it will prove
to be an outstanding example of
placement in a highly visible site.
Chapter three introduces the
fact that discarded materials
and their accumulations are
connoted by different meanings
that can influence the design
project. Moreover, it addresses
legibility and hiding, by means
PhD Yearbook | 2015
of naturalization or camouflage,
from a theoretical point of view.
Finally, it provides a collection of
designed examples embodying
different types of discarded
fill that show the variety of
possibilities to engage with
legibility. They constitute a useful
reference for designers, they 703
are a minority as compared to
Spatial Planning and Urban Development
the large amount of discarded
materials that have been
addressed in a functional way.
Chapters four, five, and six
address the three case studies.
These are addressed with the
aim of: providing information
on the use, disposal, and flows
of discarded materials for the
main works these interventions
are related to; showing that
discarded fills can be successfully
placed in visible sites; addressing
the role of the designers;
individuating the elements
that lead to their legibility or
concealment; individuating other
possible ways of conveying the
identity of the fill beyond the
legibility of their constructed
nature (e.g. toponyms, events,
etc.); suggesting what the added
value of design is.
This thesis addresses a little
considered field of research. The
main contributions it provides
consist not only in showing the
relevance of the subject, but
also in individuating different
considerations valuable for
addressing discarded fill through
design.
704

Homelessness in/out the public space of

PhD Yearbook | 2015

contemporary Toronto

Simona Sambati - Relatore: Prof. Costanzo Ranci

705
My research looks at current

Spatial Planning and Urban Development

transformations of Toronto
from a specific point of view:
that of extreme marginality,
which I have explored through
ethnographic work and
described through text and
photo, to convey a personal
experience. Toronto is city
engaged in an intense period
of shift linked to long and
complex post-Fordist transition,
namely the transition from an
industrial city to a global one.
The first part of the work is
addressed to the analysis of
these important transformations 1. An homeless person sleeping on a bench, Toronto downtown (photo is mine)
that are shaping the current
economic and political context 3. A protestor in a OCAP march to
and that are disintegrating a of marginality invisible through use public space represents a save the School House Shelter (photo
social fabric already seriously the exclusion of the homeless loss of justice and an increase is mine)

compromised by strong internal from public space. The loss of in inequalities and irreconcilable
competition. The increasing public visibility and the right to separations within the city.
presence of the homeless (tip
of the iceberg of a big segment
of impoverished population
and symptom of a growing
social vulnerability) within the
urban context raises problems
of public space management,
of urban order and security.
My analysis of the city of
Toronto reveals, unfortunately,
that homeless people are
increasingly marginalized and
experience social exclusion in
terms of increasing restrictions
on where and how they are
able to use public space. The
city of Toronto has manifested
and still manifests an explicit 2. Bus shelter at Harbord Street (in Toronto downtown): a woman sleeping on
will to make disturbing forms the newest bench with metal arms (photos is mine)
Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design
| Management, Economics and Industrial
Engineering | Materials Engineering |
Mathematical MODELS and METHODS IN
Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
Physics | Preservation of THE Architectural
Heritage | Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial
Planning and Urban Development |
Structural Seismic and Geotechnical
Engineering | Technology and Design for
Environment and Building | Territorial
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Engineering | Architectural and Urban
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of Housing and Landscape | Bioengineering
| Building Engineering | Design | Design
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Electrical Engineering | Energy and Nuclear
Science and Technology | Environmental
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Engineering | Information Technology PhD Yearbook | 2015
708

DOCTORAL PROGRAM The study plan includes courses and seminars given by scientists,

PhD Yearbook | 2015

experts and researchers active either in the Politecnico or in other
IN STRUCTURAL SEISMIC AND Italian and foreign universities, research institutions and high-tech
firms.
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING The main objective of the activity of the PhD candidate is
development of an original research contribution, which must be
coherent with the research topics developed in the department in 709
which the PhD Programme is carried out, and its publication in the

STRUCTURAL SEISMIC AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

form of a PhD thesis. In such thesis, the objectives of the research
Objectives of the Doctoral Program work should be clearly stated in the context of the state of the art
Chair: Structural, Seismic and Geotechnical Engineering - SSGE consists of the research field and the methods and original results presented
Prof. Roberto Paolucci of the disciplines and techniques that allow to understand, model and discussed. The PhD research will be developed under the
and control the behavior of: (a) structural materials (concrete, guidance of a supervisor.
steel, masonry, composites, bio-materials and materials for
micro-systems), (b) structural systems (from constructions to To earn credits and to start or to refine their dissertation, the
bio-mechanical systems and micro-systems), (c) soils, and (d) Candidates are strongly suggested to spend a period abroad, in one
environment-construction interaction. Being deeply-rooted in Civil of the universities or research centers that have systematic scientific
Engineering, which is by its own nature highly inter-disciplinary, relations with the Politecnico di Milano. At the same time, the PhD
SSGE focuses also on the environmental actions, either external (like School favors the visit of foreign scholars, to give short courses
earthquake, vibrations, irradiation, wind and fire) or ensuing from in Milan. In this way, the Candidates are offered a number of
soil-structure interaction (like those caused by retained-earth thrust, opportunities to interact with the international community.
landslides and water-table fluctuations). Because of their generality
in materials and structural modeling, the methods developed within
the domain of SSGE are very advantageous also in other technical-
scientific domains, whenever understanding and controlling
the mechanical aspects are necessary to guarantee both design
reliability and structural safety, serviceability and durability. Many are
the examples of the issues typical of SSGE: from tall buildings and
bridges to industrial bio-mechanical and micro-electromechanical
systems, from off-shore structures and dams to the rehabilitation of Doctoral Program Board
monumental buildings, from seismic design and structural dynamics
Raffaele Ardito Marco di Prisco Roberto Paolucci (Coordinator)
to slope stability, tunnel behavior and foundations, not to quote
many issues that are in common with several branches of Industrial Fabio Biondini Liberato Ferrara Umberto Perego
Engineering. Within this context, the primary objective of this Gabriella Bolzon Attilio Frangi Federico Perotti
Graduate School is to favor the advancement of the knowledge,
Claudia Comi Elsa Garavaglia Lorenza Petrini
with reference to: (a) innovation in materials and structures; (b)
building safety under highly-variable actions; (c) soil and surface/ Alberto Corigliano Cristina Jommi Luigi Zanzi
buried structure stability. This objective is pursued by giving the PhD Dario Coronelli Pier Giorgio Malerba Claudio di Prisco
Candidates an advanced, research-oriented formation, based on the
Stefano Mariani
pivotal role of Structural Engineering and on the multi-disciplinary
nature of Seismic and Geotechnical Engineering.
Advisory Board
Contents of the Doctoral Program
Attainment of a PhD in Structural, Seismic and Geotechnical Luigi Albert (SOIL Geotecnica, Milano) Giovanna Gabetta (ENI, Milano)
Engineering requires study and research activity of at least three
Ettore Anelli (Tenaris, Dalmine) Guido Mazz (Enel-RSE)
years full-time equivalent study, research and development of the
PhD thesis, with a minimum of 35 credits from PhD level courses. Carlo Beltrami (Lombardi Ingegneria, Milano) Paolo Negro (JRC, Ispra)
Roberto Borsari (Tetra Pak Packaging Solutions S.p.A.) Silvia Scuri (Artech srl, Milano)
The Candidates are offered several advanced courses on a variety of topics
Stefano Cangiano (C.T.G.-Italcementi) Massimo Zambon (Techint, Milano)
concerning materials and structural mechanics, computational and
experimental methods, and structural reliability, the focus being always on
 710
MEMS Sensors for Measuring the Earth
Magnetic Field: Mechanical Aspects
Mehrdad Bagherinia - Advisors: Prof. Alberto Corigliano, Prof. Stefano Mariani
The electronic compasses
found application in low power
devices, such as cell phones
and portable Global Positioning
Systems (GPS). Navigation
magnetometers use the Earths
magnetic direction or magnitude
to determine direction. The
Earths magnetic field varies
place to place on Earth but
ranges between .
In electronic applications, there
are several requirements for the
magnetic field sensors. Besides
having enough sensitivity and
resolution to measure the
direction of the Earths magnetic
field, it is essential to have small
size and low power consumption
while being compatible
with CMOS fabrication.
Micromachining process enables
such a sensor to be fabricated
in a micron size with CMOS
compatible processes. Low-
cost batch production is also
another advantage of the
micromachining process.
Microelectromechanical systems
(MEMS) are micron-size devices
that combine electrical and
mechanical components to
sense or manipulate (actuate)
the physical world. MEMS are
fabricated using micromachining
processes, developed initially for
integrated circuit industry, to
add mechanical elements such
as beams, gears, diaphragms
and springs to devices. This
allows a mechanical system to
be fabricated in a very small
area, typical of an IC device.
MEMS are typically fabricated
on silicon wafers and due to
their size, tens of thousands
of these devices can be
fabricated on a single wafer to
significantly decrease the cost
of mass production. Examples
of MEMS devices include
e.g. inkjet-printer cartridges,
microengines, mircropumps,
micromirrors, inertial sensors (i.e.
accelerometers, gyroscopes and
magnetometers).
The goal of this project was
to study, design and optimize
novel micromachined MEMS
sensors for Earth magnetic
field sensing which has found
various applications in electronic
devices. Based on some
specifications determined by the
industrial sponsor of this project,
STMicroelectronics, it was also
intended to not use special
processing steps or non-standard
materials for the fabrication
1. The characteristic component of a capacitive magnetometer.
of the devices, hence the
sensors could be manufactured
in standard micromachining
processes. Moreover, it was
favored to design the sensors
structure in such a way that
they filter the acceleration noise
intrinsically by design, without
further electrical filters.
This work starts with multi
physics modeling of MEMS
magnetometers. To provide
a frame for new designs and
modeling, a multi-physics model
of a beam, considered as a
characteristic component of
Lorentz force magnetometers,
subjected to Lorentz force and
electro-thermo-mechanical
loading has been described.
As shown in Fig. 1, due to an
voltage difference between
anchorages, an excitation
current can flow along the
beam. If the frequency of
equals to the vibrating beam
resonant frequency, when
PhD Yearbook | 2015
711
STRUCTURAL SEISMIC AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
2. SEM images of the experimentally tested HDETF structure (dimensions in
m).
the beam is exposed to an magnetometer. Moreover, it be reduced, while maintaining
external magnetic field in the can mechanically filter parasitic the same performance and
out-of- plane direction, then a accelerations. reliability. At the end, a new
mechanically distributed Lorentz Since, the design variables of idea for single-structure 3-axis
force is generated in-plane, the Half-DETF structure were magnetometers has been given.
perpendicular to the beam axis, chosen by a trial-and-error Different aspects of this work
and accordingly the beam will procedure, optimality of this can be used for design and
deflect. device is obtained by means modeling of other MEMS devices
Based on the STMicroelectronics of a structural optimization and systems. Results of the
technology and the provided approach. A wide scenario of presented modeling framework
framework, two ideas for design configurations, obtained can be adapted and adjusted to
MEMS uniaxial magnetometers with the proposed optimization investigate the behavior of many
out of the acoustic bandwidth approach, is discussed. of the micromechanical devices.
are proposed, designed and Multi-axis sensing and sensor Also the proposed structural
fabricated: a Half Double Ended integration is the trend of MEMS optimization approach can be
Tuning Fork (HDETF) structure inertial sensors as they allow widely exploited to optimize
and a frame-like structure. chip size and fabrication cost to various devices in MEMS field.
The fabricated HDETF sensor
(see Fig. 2) has been tested. The Table I
test set up that was exploited Comparison of performance indexes of current and available Lorentz force
to process signals of this sensor magnetometers.
has been described and the Publication Axis Resolution Dimensions BW Mass
experimental results have been (nTmA/ (mm) (HZ) (KG)
also compared to the best Hz )
sensors found in literature (see This work Z 115 650 x 65 60 5 x 1010
Table I). By comparison, it can be
Li et al. X/Y 500 1080 x 800 69 9.7 x 109
concluded, in spite of occupying
Li et al. X/Y 88 200 x 1000 2.3 8 x 1010
a very small die area, this
Z 55 200 x 1000 7.4
sensor provides a good balance
Thompson et al. Z 235 2000 x 1000 1 6.8 x 10-9
between important performance
indexes (Brownian noise- Kyynarainen Z 7 2000 x 400 2 1.2 x 109
et al.*
limited resolution, bandwidth
and sensitivity), so that it can * This device features an extra metal layer
be considered as an efficient **Estimated data
712
Tensile structures: biaxial testing
and constitutive modelling of coated
fabrics at finite strains
Giada Colasante - Supervisor: Prof. Giorgio Novati
This thesis deals with the
mechanical characterisation and
constitutive modelling of coated
fabrics that are employed in
tensile membrane structures.
These are made of thin surfaces
that can carry only tension and
no compression or bending;
therefore they represent highly
efficient structural forms, which
require specific knowledge to
be designed. The rapid growth
of this structural typology has
led to heterogeneity of the
current design procedures
and to fragmentation of the
technical knowledge that
membrane producers have
at their disposal. These two
aspects are partially linked to the
absence of European standards
on membrane structures.
A series of contributions are
provided in this work, which are
in line with the objectives of the
Research Cluster on Innovative
Textiles (ClusTEX) that has been
created in 2008 at Politecnico
di Milano, with the aim of
systematising and enhancing
the expertise currently possessed
by several research units on the
subject of advanced composites.
First, an extensive literature
review is carried out, to assess
the current state of the art about
the analysis and design of tensile
structures. The multiplicity
of methods employed in the
form-finding and cutting pattern
generation stages is described
within a unified framework.
The scarcity of references about
cutting pattern highlights the
need of further research and
may be partially attributed to the
absence of reliable constitutive
laws for the description of the
first-loading behaviour that
coated fabrics undergo during
installation.
Then, the thesis focus is put on
membrane materials for tensile
structures. These are mainly
composite materials made of
a polymeric matrix, reinforced
by means of woven yarns. The
production process and the main
technical characteristics of these
composites are described. The
mechanical behaviour of coated
woven fabrics, which turns out
to be extremely dependent on
their internal meso-structure,
is deeply explored. The
experimental results obtained
from uniaxial and biaxial tests,
which have been performed
directly by the author, are also
commented.
The complex anisotropic
nonlinear behaviour of coated
woven fabrics is not adequately
modelled in the current design
practice, which often employs
the orthotropic linear elastic
constitutive law. On the other
hand, the constitutive models
used for research purposes
are often too complex and
computationally expensive.
Within this framework,
hyperelastic modelling at finite
strains seems to be promising
to efficiently reproduce the
response of such materials.
A new model is proposed in
this thesis, which has been
created by adding a term to
the free-energy of the existing
Holzapfel-Gasser-Ogden model
for biological tissues. This new
energy component has been
thought to capture the strong
interaction between the warp
and fill yarns which is due to the
weaving (crimp interchange).
The proposed model is
calibrated for different materials,
by employing the biaxial test
data previously presented. A
validation of the new model
is performed through some
simple benchmark problems, of
which the analytical solution is
evaluated with a code developed
by the author with Mathematica
software. The comparison of
the results with experimental
data shows that the model can
reproduce well the stress-strain
behaviour of coated woven
fabrics for uniaxial and bias
extension tests, as well as for
biaxial tests.
Finally, the new constitutive
law is implemented into a user
subroutine for ABAQUS, and the
same validation examples are
solved numerically, with results
that are close to the analytical
solution. This implementation
into a general purpose finite
element software opens the
doors to the application of this
model to structural design.
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However, some numerical
issues have still to be solved:
extremely large stresses at
very large strains, difficulty of
Newtons method in predicting
a reasonable displacement
correction when the stiffness is
law, discontinuous derivatives
of the strain energy due to
deactivation of the some terms
when fibres are shortened.
These are all aspects that would
deserve further studies, aimed at
improving the efficiency of the
solution algorithm.
Acknowledgments
This research has been funded
by the Leo Finzi Memorial
Scholarship, adiministered by
Istituto Lombardo Accademia
di Scienze e Lettere. The author
gratefully acknowledges the
support from Finzi family.
1. Biaxial tensile test on a cruciform
specimen.
714
Multilayer Precast Faade Panel:
Structural Optimization for Energy
Retrofitting
Giorgia Colombo - Supervisor: Prof. Marco di Prisco
Co-supervisor: Dr. Matteo Colombo
In Europe residential and
commercial buildings are
responsible of about 40% of
the total energy consumption
and the 70% of this energy
is used for heating. To reduce
this consumption, Standards
introduce limits to guarantee
the energy saving in new
buildings, but also the energy
retrofitting of existing buildings
has to be considered, because
of their large impact on the
phenomenon.
In this perspective a multi-
layer prefabricated faade
sandwich panel characterized
by an internal EPS layer and by
two external layers of Textile
Reinforced Concrete (TRC) is
proposed. Just the insulating
material is used to transfer the
shear between the external TRC
layers. The maximum size of
the panel is 1.50x3.30 m2; the
panel height is properly chosen
in order to fix it to the frame
concrete beams by means of
four punctual connectors placed
near to the four corners.
The main advantages of this
solution if compared with the
thermal coating (EIFS system)
are: the lower impact on
occupant life (no scaffoldings
required), the possibility to
obtain the desired finishing in
terms of surface roughness,
colour, pattern (including the
reproduction of the original
faade), the higher quality
of finishing and the higher
durability. The latter aspect is
particularly important, especially
considering a residual expected
building life of at least 30 years.
Aesthetic and durability aspects
are directly related to the use
of a high strength fine-grained
concrete in TRC.
An innovative in-pressure casting
technique is adopted to avoid
the use of glue and to prevent
the debonding between the
layers thanks to the good bond
obtained during the production.
The main goal of the work
is to provide the mechanical
characterization of this panel.
The research was developed at
material, cross-section and full-
structure level.
Material level includes the
investigation performed on TRC
specimens in order to assess
their behaviour in tension,
considering both standard and
extreme conditions (residual
strength after exposure to
freezing and thawing cycles).
At lab-scale level, failure modes
of the sandwich solution have
been investigated. In particular,
small (550x150 mm2) and big
(1200x300 mm2) sandwich
beams, characterized by the
stratigraphy described above,
were tested according to a four
point load scheme (Figure 1).
Both geometries were tested in
standard conditions, and small
beams were also tested after
the exposure to freezing and
thawing cycles. Furthermore,
the behaviour of the sandwich
solution when loaded with
a concentrated load was
investigated.
Concerning full-scale level, tests
were developed considering a
real panel simply supported on
four points and loaded initially
with a distributed load, in order
to assess the Serviceability Limit
State behaviour, and then with
concrete blocks up to failure
(Figure 2), in order to determine
the maximum load brought.
In parallel, a standard modelling
of sandwich structures has been
performed and the models
adopted have been validated
with respect to the collected
experimental results. Two models
were proposed: a literature
analytical model, implemented
in order to take into account
material non linearity, and a
finite element model, built in
Abaqus FEA software by using
default material models.
Basing on the research results,
some significant conclusions can
be drawn:
a multi-layer precast faade
panel, characterized by
external TRC layers, has
been proposed as a durable
alternative to thermal coating;
the sandwich behaves as a
partially composite panel
and is characterized by
a ductile behaviour: the
ductility is guaranteed by the
multi-cracking of TRC layers
followed by the shear band
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development in the EPS layer; be characterized by following matrix interaction;
the kinematic response of the standard procedures; concerning bending, the use
sandwich solution is governed the tensile behaviour can be of a tensile constitutive law
by the shear behaviour of EPS; identified starting from tensile determined from tensile tests
the damage introduced by tests. At SLS, test results allow allows to properly predict
freezing-thawing effect is to define the constitutive law; bending behaviour of TRC
aligned with that of a high at ULS, the Effectiveness Factor specimens reinforced in the
performance concrete. Two (EF) is proposed to be used in same way up to a certain
opposite main phenomena can order to account for the fabric- thickness.
be identified: the damage of
the matrix due to cycles and
the activation of self-healing
and late hydration; in sandwich
samples the exposure to cycles
affects mainly the ductility of
the beams;
considering modelling, a
good agreement between
experimental results and
analytical-numerical global
responses were found in all
the simulations; hence, it 1. Four point load test on big sandwich beam.
is possible to state that the
assumption of perfect bond is
reliable considering in-pressure
cast sandwich specimens.
The investigation suggests to
treat TRC as an homogeneous
material constituted by fabrics
embedded in the matrix, and not
as reinforced concrete simply
as the union of two materials
with distinct constitutive laws.
Considering the use of TRC in
a composite, the main question
is how to characterize it for the
structural design of the element:
in uniaxial compression, the
contribution of the fabric
does not play a key role,
hence its presence can be
neglected and the mortar can 2. Failure of the real scale panel.
716
SEISMIC PERFORMANCE OF PRECAST
STRUCTURES WITH DISSIPATIVE CLADDING PANEL
CONNECTIONS
Bruno Alberto Dal Lago - Supervisor: Prof. Fabio Biondini
The inadequate seismic
behaviour of the cladding
panel connections of precast
structures and the consequent
failures occurred under recent
earthquakes in Southern
Europe showed that a revision
of the technology and design
philosophies adopted for this
type of systems is necessary. To
solve this problem, a general
framework for seismic design
of precast structures based on
innovative fastening systems of
the cladding panels is proposed.
In this framework, the stability
of the cladding panels under
seismic action is ensured by
means of a dissipative system
of connections in between the
panels that allows to control the
level of forces and to limit the
displacements. The proposed
connection systems consist of
friction-based or plasticity-based
devices inserted in between
panels, that are connected to
the structure through a statically
determined arrangement. In
this way, the panel-to-panel
connections lead the cladding
panels to become integral part
of the whole faade, making
it much stiffer up to the limit
force associated with the
friction threshold or yielding
of the devices. Plasticity-based
dissipative connectors to be
inserted between columns and
panels are also proposed and
investigated. The technological
aspects and design choices of
materials and shapes leading
to a stable hysteretic behaviour
of the dissipative devices are
discussed and subjected to
experimental verification at
Politecnico di Milano by means
of monotonic and cyclic tests
carried out on single devices
(Figures 1.a and 1.b), as well
as on full scale two-panel
structural sub-assemblies with
dissipative connections (Figure
1.c). The silicone sealant,
that is generally interposed in
between the panels, is also
mechanically characterised
through experimental testing.
Design guidelines for single
devices are derived based
on the interpretation of the
experimental results. Capacity
design procedures for structural
sub-assemblies and systems
are also developed based on
the mechanical characteristics
of the dissipative connectors.
The efficiency of the proposed
approach is demonstrated by
means of non-linear dynamic
analyses of typical precast
frame-panel structural systems,
as well as through a further
experimental campaign carried
out at ELSA Laboratory of the
Joint Research Centre of the
European Commission on a
full-scale prototype of a precast
building with cladding panels
(Figure 1.d). This experimental
program includes pseudo-
dynamic and cyclic tests on
structural assemblies provided
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STRUCTURAL SEISMIC AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
with vertical and horizontal
panels and different types of
connection systems, including
the friction-based panel-to-
panel dissipative connections
tested at Politecnico di Milano.
Numerical simulation of the (a) (b) (c) (d)
pseudo-dynamic and cyclic tests
1. Setup of experimental tests on dissipative devices carried out at Politecnico di Milano: (ab) local tests on dissipative
is performed to calibrate the connectors; (c) tests on a two-panel structural sub-assembly. (d)Fullscale prototype tested at ELSA Laboratory (JRC).
modelling criteria provided in
the design guidelines and to
validate simplified procedures for
the estimation of the maximum
drift attained during a seismic
event. The role of the diaphragm
action on the efficiency of the
proposed connection systems
is finally investigated by means
of dynamic nonlinear analyses
carried out on a set of precast
buildings with different plan
geometry and distribution
of the earthquake-resisting
system. The results confirm
the remarkable improvement
of the seismic performance of
precast structures based on the
beneficial effects of cladding
dissipative connections, which
can provide suitable energy
dissipation capacity and limit
forces and displacements
when the effectiveness of
the horizontal diaphragms is
ensured.
718
Combined model order reduction and domain
decomposition strategies for the solution of non-
linear and multi-physics structural problems
Martino Dossi - Supervisors: Prof. Alberto Corigliano and Prof. Stefano Mariani
During the last years, a great
progress has been made in
computational science and
engineering. Higher-fidelity
mathematical models, better
approximation methods, and
faster solution algorithms have
been developed for many
applications. However, for
many time-critical problems,
numerical simulations are so
computationally intensive
that they are either too slow
to satisfy the problems time
constraints (i.e. real-time or
quasi real-time simulations,
e.g. in biomedical applications,
forecast weather simulations,
structural health monitoring,
adapting design and computer
graphics research) or they can
not be performed as fast as
needed. As a consequence,
in different engineering fields
there is a growing interest
in developing techniques
which allow to obtain an
approximate solution of
nonlinear complex problems;
multi-scale computational
strategies have been developed
to tackle this important issue,
such as enrichment techniques,
homogenization strategies, and
the Domain Decomposition
(DD) method. Together with
these techniques to obtain
an approximate solution to
generate low-dimensional and
low-complexity computational
models, the development of
the Model Order Reduction
(MOR) methods appear to
be promising in alleviating
computational demands with,
potentially minimal loss of
accuracy.
In this work, the coupled use
of Domain Decomposition
(DD) methodologies together
with model order reduction
techniques based on the
use of Proper Orthogonal
Decomposition (POD), is
proposed. Starting from the DD
technique proposed by Gravouil
and Combescure (2001), the
DD algorithm used in this
work is characterized by the
enforcement of displacement
continuity between initially
decoupled sub-domains.
Three model order reduction
techniques coupled with DD are
presented
First, a new strategy for the
efficient solution of highly
nonlinear elastic-plastic
structural dynamic problems
is proposed. Applying the
standard version of the POD in
dynamics, the resulting reduced
order model is generally poor
at capturing the dynamical
response of the system in
entire input space, especially
in the case of the presence of
the evolution and irreversible
phenomena, e.g. plasticity.
Against this drawback, the
idea is the adaptation of the
POD basis with two different
updating strategies: first, during
the training part of simulation
(i.e. when the reduced bases
in each sub-domain are
constructed), the reduced space
is continuously updated, as
soon as a new snapshot (i.e.
the response of the system
in a time instant) is collected;
second, an on-line update of
the reduced space, which allows
increasing the versatility of the
algorithm. During the reduced
fast analysis a behaviour check
is implemented, to control if the
linear elastic hypothesis in each
sub-domain remains valid. The
POD is applied to domains that
remain elastic; in those parts
of the structure in which the
non-linear phenomena occur,
the POD reduced analysis stops,
and, through a zoom-in strategy,
the non-linear modelling is
performed. The rich non-linear
and reduced linear regions are
analysed simultaneously and are
glued together through interface
relations. The applications show
that the computation time
necessary for solving elastic-
plastic problems can be reduced
of approximately 50%, while
keeping accuracy comparable
to that of the full model solved
with a classical monolithic
approach.
Second, an innovative numerical
procedure, based once again
on the combined use of a
DD technique and of a POD
methodology, is proposed, to
simulate multi-physics electro-
static structural dynamic
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problems. In the design and process is modelled according fracture propagation (see e.g.
reliability assessment of Micro to the method proposed by Fig 2) show as the coupled use
Electro Mechanical Systems Confalonieri (2013); the POD of DD and POD allows to obtain
(MEMS), based on realistic is applied to sub-domains that a reduction of the computational
simulations of complicate remain elastic. Examples of burden up to almost 30%.
multi-physics processes, e.g. the
electro-mechanical, the thermo-
mechanical and the magneto-
mechanical ones an accurate
solution is required. This kind
of complex and usually non-
linear coupled problems lead to
situations with large numbers
of degrees of freedom, which
are prohibitive to solve with
standard finite element model.
Apart from geometric and
material nonlinearities, it is most
often the coupling between the
mechanical and the electrostatic
domain, which causes, because
of the deformation of the
1. Plane resonator subjected to time-invariant actuation: maps of in-plane
simulation boundary, non-linear displacement field. Comparison among the solutions obtained with a
terms in an otherwise linear staggered approach, and with the proposed SD-DDPOD methodology.
problem. For this reason, one
of the goals of this project is to
show how the combination of a
DD technique with the POD, can
give rise to an algorithm which
efficiently solves the non-linear
electro-mechanical coupled
problem (see e.g. Fig. 2). The
electro-mechanical dynamic
analyses show computational
gains up to 98%.
Finally, the coupled use of
DD and POD is used for the
simulation of fracture problems
under dynamic conditions.
Assuming that cracks can
propagate only inside one 2. Kalthoffs experiment: maps of . Comparison among the outcomes of the
sub-domain, the fracture reference DD approach and of the reduced methodology.
 720
Piezoelectric Vibration Micro Energy
Harvesters
Giacomo Gafforelli - Supervisor: Alberto Corigliano, Raffaele Ardito
Co-Supervisor: Sang-Gook Kim
In recent years the world is
facing an extraordinary diffusion
of the Internet of Things (IOT)
concept which is the idea of
building smart and autonomous
sensors networks that help us
in sensing, understanding and
controlling our environment. For
this idea to be effective, new
sensors should be small, barely
costless and autonomous.
Recent advances in low-power
consumption circuitry have
enabled ultra-small power
integrated circuits which
can run with extremely low
amount of power. This scaling
trend has opened the door
for on-chip energy harvesting
solutions, eliminating the need
for batteries or complex wiring,
thus forming the foundation for
battery-less autonomous sensors
networks which can harvest on-
site the energy they require for
their operations.
Piezoelectric
MicroElectroMechanical Systems
(MEMS) energy harvesting is
an attractive technology for
harvesting small amount of
energy from ambient vibrations.
This work presents current
developments in this technology
and studies i) cantilever, ii)
bridge-shaped and iii) frequency
up converter harvesters in order
to highlight advantages and
drawbacks of each solution.
The major innovative
contributions proposed in this
thesis are:
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Developing a refined, yet
simple model with the aim of
providing fast and insightful
solutions to the multi-physics
problem of energy harvesting
via piezoelectric layered
structures. The main result
has been to retain a simple
structural model (Euler-
Bernoulli beam), with the
inclusion of effects connected
to the actual three-dimensional
shape of the device. Numerical
validation of the model has
been performed.
Developing a model for
piezoelectric bridge-shaped
harvesters which properly
includes nonlinear stretching
strain and piezoelectric
coupling. The main result has
been to show that the power
generation of resonant energy
harvesters is bounded by the
mechanical damping. However,
nonlinear resonant harvesters
have much wider power
bandwidth and achieve lower
displacements than that of
linear resonators. Experimental
validation of the model has
been performed.
Proposing and designing
a simple and efficient
frequency up conversion
mechanism that allows for
MEMS scale integration and
it is fully compatible with
microfabrication processes.
722
Self- Healing Capacity Of Cementitious
Composites
Visar Krelani - Supervisor: Prof. Liberato Ferrara
Co-supervisor: Prof. Romildo D. Toledo Filho
The self- healing capacity
of cementitious composites
employed for either new or
repairing applications opens
challenging perspectives for the
use of construction materials
intrinsically able to recover its
pristine durability levels, thus
guaranteeing a longer service
life of the designed applications
and a performance less sensitive
to environmental induced
degradation. One possibility of
achieving the aforementioned
self-healing capacity stands in
the use of additives featuring
a delayed crystalline activity.
These additives are able,
when in contact with water or
atmosphere humidity, to form
chemical compounds which are
able to reseal the cracks thus
guaranteeing the recovery of
a pristine level of mechanical
performance.
In order to approach the
investigation, besides
conventional concrete (with and
without the aforementioned
admixtures) the characterization
of the self-healing capacity
of High Performance Fiber
Reinforced Cementitious
Composites (HPFRCCs) with
steel fibers and combination
with the natural ones was also
studied, i.e. their capacity to
completely or partially re-seal
cracks, as a function of the
material composition, maximum
crack opening and exposure
conditions. This also implies
a new structure concept and
a wider worthiness of the
sustainability of engineering
applications which can be
achieved thanks to the use of
high performance cement based
materials, which encompasses
and overcomes the traditional
one related to the use of by-
products in mix-compositions,
which can be effectively pursued
also in this case
In order to quantify this self-
healing ability and its effects
on the recovery of mechanical
properties a methodology has
been developed and validated
in the thesis. It consisted in
pre-cracking up to different
crack opening levels (a three
point bending scheme with COD
measurement was employed)
prismatic beam specimens,
made with both concrete, with
or without the aforementioned
additive. Moreover, for HPFRCCs,
the topic has been investigated
including the effect of different
flow-induced alignment of
fibers, triggered through tailored
casting, which can result into
a material exhibiting either a
strain hardening or softening
behavior, whether stressed
parallel or perpendicularly to the
fibers. In all cases, specimens
were initially pre-cracked,
according to a 4-point bending
scheme, and up to different
values of crack openings.
Specimens were then submitted
to different conditioning
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STRUCTURAL SEISMIC AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
environment (natural winter
or summer environment, water
immersion, exposure to humid
or dry air, wet-and-dry cycles,
representative temperature and
humidity cycles representative of 1. Healed crack for specimen (a) pre-cracked up to 100 m; (b) 1 month of water immersion
winter and summer exposure)
for different exposure times.
After scheduled exposure
durations the specimens were
tested up to failure according
to the same scheme employed
for pre-cracking and results, in
terms of load-crack opening
curves were compared to those
obtained from virgin specimens
before any treatment.
Dedicated microscopic
investigation completed the
experimental program and
allowed to have a deeper insight
into the true nature of the crack
healing products and hence of
the self-healing mechanism. The 2.Healed crack for specimen (a) pre-cracked up to 150 m; (b) 6 months of water immersion
significant amount of garnered
experimental results also allowed
suitable self-healing indices to
be defined and quantified, as
from the measured recovery of
mechanical properties, including
load bearing capacity, ductility
and stiffness; a predictive
numerical approach was also
formulated and validated for
NSC: this is a much needed
approach in order to consistently
consider the self-healing
phenomenon into a durability
based design.
3. SEM image inside the surface of healed crack (a) magnification up to 10 m; (b) magnification up to 3 m for
specimens immersed in water after 6 months
724
The control of multipotency and differentiation
of stem cells in three-dimensional scaffolds
structurally interacting at the cell scale
Michele Nava - Supervisor: Manuela T. Raimondi
The control of stem cell response
in vitro, including multipotency
maintenance and lineage
commitment, has been proved
to be directed by mechanical
cues, even in the absence of
biochemical stimuli. Through
focal adhesions, cells are able to
anchor, sense and react to the
surrounding microenvironment.
Mechanical factors, including
the substrate stiffness, the
surface nanotopography, the
microgeometry, and extracellular
forces can all have significant
influence on regulating stem cell
activities.
To provide an interpretation of
how mechanical cues can be
used to direct stem cells fate
in vitro, we introduced the
concept of force isotropy
relevant to cytoskeletal forces
and relevant to extracellular
loads acting on cells. This
notion allowed to quantitative
interpret the experimental
results relevant to the advanced
culture substrate fabricated via
two-photon laser polymerization
technique. During two-photon
polymerization (2PP), a tightly
focused femtosecond laser
pulse induces a crosslinking
photoreaction in the polymer
confined within the focal
volume. As a rapid-prototyping
technique, 2PP enables the
fabrication of truly arbitrary
three-dimensional (3D) micro-
and nanostructures directly from
computer models, with a spatial
resolution down to 100 nm. For
these reasons, 2PP fabrication
represents the suitable technique
to create scaffolds mimicking the
native 3D environment in which
cells reside.
We applied 2PP to fabricate 3D
microscaffolds, or niches,
to study rat and human
mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)
response to mechanical cues.
The main advantage of this
study model is that it allows to
directly compare, on the same
sample, significantly different
culture configurations and,
therefore, different levels of
cytoskeletal tension and nuclear
spreading. We used a hybrid
organic-inorganic photoresist
called SZ2080. The niches,
of sizes fitting in a volume of
100100100 m3, were made within the 3D niches.
by an external containment grid
of horizontal parallel elements
and by an internal 3D lattice. We
developed two niche heights, 20
and 80-100 m, and four lattice
pore dimensions (10, 20, 30 m
and graded). We used primary
rat MSCs to study cell viability,
migration and proliferation in
the niches, up to 6 culture days.
MSCs preferentially stayed on/
in the structures once they ran
into them
through random migration from
the surrounding flat surface,
invaded those with a lattice
pore dimension greater than 10
m, and adhered to the internal
lattice while the cell nuclei
acquired a roundish morphology.
In the niches, the highest MSC
density was found in those
areas where proliferation was
observed, corresponding to
the regions where the scaffold
surface density available for
cell adhesion was the highest.
The microgeometry inducing
the highest cell density was 20
m high with graded pores, in
which cell invasion was favored
in the central region of large
porosity and cell adhesion was
favored in the lateral regions of
high scaffold surface density.
Cell density in the niches, 176
cells/ (100100 m2), did not
significantly differ from that of
the flat surface colonies. This
implies that MSCs spontaneously
homed and established colonies
culture system. Despite the
We improved the synthetic
niche system to study the
effect of mechano-topological
parameters on morphology,
renewal and differentiation of
rat MSCs. Niches arranged in
complex patterns were formed
in a photoresist with low auto-
fluorescence, which enabled
the clear visualization of the
fluorescence emission of the
markers used for biological
diagnostics within the internal
niche structure. The niches were
structurally stable in culture up
to three weeks. At three weeks
of expansion in the niches, cell
density increased by almost
10-fold and was 67% greater
than in monolayer culture.
Evidence of lineage commitment
was observed in monolayer
culture surrounding the
structural niches, and within cell
aggregates, but not inside the
niches. Thus, structural niches
were able not only to direct
stem cell homing and colony
formation, but also to guide
aggregate formation, providing
increased surface-to-volume
ratios and space for stem cells to
adhere and renew, respectively.
Then, to give more conclusive
evidence of multipotency
maintenance within niches,
we increased the number of
engineered niches from 7 to
around 400 niches per sample,
covering 10% of the available
culture surface, in the aim to
obtain larger niche-cultured cell
numbers of around 8000 cells
per sample,
compared to the average
140 niche-cultured cells per
sample available in our previous
investigations. We cultured
human bone marrow derived
MSCs for three weeks on
the improved synthetic niche
cytoskeleton tensional states),
weaknesses of the improved
synthetic niche culture system,
we demonstrated that cells
cultured on 2PP-written
substrates maintained both
the proliferation potential and
the bilineage differentiation
potential more effectively than
cells cultured on standard two-
dimensional (2D) culture surfaces
where spontaneous lineage
commitment occurred.
We performed experiments for
functionalizing the niche surface
with a suitable coating with
tailored mechanical properties,
to further control cell adhesion.
We have demonstrated an
effective methodology to
control the surface stiffness of
engineered 3D scaffolds for
stem cell culture. We found
that the presence of the coating
significantly influences the cell
behavior and commitment
inside the niches. Work is in
progress to discern the roles
of the different cues (physical
and chemical) in determining
the cell behavior in the coated
substrates. Nevertheless, this
first study introduces a new and
powerful platform to investigate
the synergistic effects of the 3D
microarchitecture and of tailored
surface mechanical properties.
Since we observed a greater
multipotency and differentiation
potential for rat and human
MSCs cultured on the advanced
niche culture substrate
compared to cells cultured on
standard flat glass substrates,
we addressed these differences
to the distinct adhesive
configuration that cells show
in culture in the synthetic niche
substrate. Indeed, significantly
different culture configurations
and, therefore, different levels of
nuclear spreading (e.g. distinct
were observed. By processing
confocal image sequences, we
measured and quantified distinct
levels of spreading relevant
to each nuclei. Significant
differences in nuclear surface,
volume and shape were found
according to the cell localization
in the synthetic niche substrate.
According to these data,
we set-up a computational
multiphysics model aiming to
give a modeling interpretation
of the experimental results.
The computational model
describes how the diffusive
mass transport of transcription
factors across the nuclear
envelope is influenced by
nuclear deformation. A simple
PhD Yearbook | 2015
relation describing the diffusivity
as a function of the deformation
couples the two phenomena.
Computational results showed
that in spread nuclei, the
strain-dependent diffusivity
amplifies and accelerates the 725
nuclear import of transcription
STRUCTURAL SEISMIC AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
factors if compared to roundish
nuclei. This outcome supports
experimental evidences on the
pivotal role played in nuclear
spreading and mechanics in
cell functions. Despite several
limitations, the computational
model is quite innovative to
our best knowledge. It allows
explaining the functional
differences we observed in the
experiments and supports the
role of cell-substrate interactions
as a primary stimulus involved in
stem cell fate determination.
In conclusion, this experimental
and computational study brings
to light the crucial role played by
the 3D microarchitecture effects
on MSCs fate in culture, with
potential implications for the
design of biomaterial scaffolds
for synthetic niche engineering.
726
Geotechnical and modeling issues in the
design of settlement reducing piles for
high-rise buildings
Fabio Tradigo - Relatore: prof. Claudio Giulio di Prisco
In everyday engineering practice,
piles are often designed by
neglecting load redistribution
over the raft and the underlying
piles, as if piles alone were
resisting all the loads coming
from the superstructure. This
disregards the fruitful use
of piles in combination with
the raft to reduce average
and differential settlements
induced by service loads. In
this context, Piled Rafts (PR)
and Disconnected Piled Rafts
(DPR) are to be distinguished,
depending on whether the piles
are structurally connected to
the raft (Fig.1). DPR setups are
characterized by no pile-raft
structural connection and by
a pile/raft gap which is usually
filled with a layer of compacted
granular material.
Owing to this latter, the loads
coming from the superstructure
are not directly applied on the
piles, so that the design of DPR
foundations is no longer driven
by cumbersome structural
requirements - which is at
variance with PR. From a design
perspective, the adoption of DPR
also leads to admit lower safety
factors for the piles.
The mechanical response
of these foundational
systems results from complex
soilstructure interaction
mechanisms, whose analysis
and interpretation are still under
discussion within the technical
community. Improving the
insight into such interaction
phenomena is preliminary to
optimal design and, therefore,
to an efficient use of piles in the
engineering practice. Because
of the intrinsic complexity of
the raft-soil-pile mechanical
interaction, resorting to three-
dimensional finite element
analyses seems to be the most
reliable option, since complex
geometries and material non-
linearity can be naturally taken
into account. The suitability of
FE analyses is even more evident
in the case of DPRs, where less
intuitive raft-soil-pile interactions
are expected to take place.
While simplified methods for PR
design have been widely studied,
the lack of any analogous study
in the literature for DPRs makes
the use of numerical analyses
mandatory in all practical cases.
In the context of numerical
approaches, a few FE parametric
studies on DPRs have been
presented to investigate
the influence of different
geometrical/mechanical factors,
such as the cushion stiffness, the
gap and the raft thickness and
the overall piling configuration.
Nonetheless, the need for
reliable and well-established
numerical modelling of DPR
foundations is still urging,
especially from a design
perspective. In fact, in case of
high-rise buildings the number
of piles is so high that the
computational cost of carrying
out fully three-dimensional FE
analyses would be unbearable
even for modern workstations,
especially when employing
elasto-plastic constitutive models
and solid elements. While this
issue is usually mitigated in
case of PRs by employing the
so called embedded pile (EP)
elements, no studies have been
presented in the literature with
respect to DPRs.
In this study, preliminary
axisymmetric and EP analyses of
a single isolated pile are carried
out with reference to two in-situ
pile load tests in Milan in order
clarify the role played by all the
involved parameters.
In addition, the soil-structure
interaction of a single
disconnected pile is studied by
carrying out AS elasto-plastic
parametric analyses. Analyses
lead to propose and validate a
new methodology to employ EP
elements in DPR configurations.
PRs and DPRs are compared
by performing fully three-
dimensional elasto-plastic
FE analyses. The complex
interaction mechanisms involved
under purely vertical loads are
investigated over a realistic
range of raft-soil gaps and for
different pile configurations.
Particular attention is also
PhD Yearbook | 2015
727
STRUCTURAL SEISMIC AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
devoted to the response of
structural members. Moreover,
the relevant issues related to the
use of EPs for DPRs are tackled,
applying the aforementioned
methodology to check the
consistency between fully solid
and EP models.
Finally, the PR foundation of
the Isozaki Tower in Milan is
numerically simulated and
compared with site monitoring
results. After the calibration of
soil and EP interface models by
means of two preliminary and
three contract pile load tests, the
entire foundation is modelled
and its behaviour compared to
monitoring results. Finally, the
performance of the foundation
1. Soil-structure interaction in PR and DPR foundations.
is studied by inserting a gap
layer between the pile heads
and the raft, as well as by
carrying out analyses of the
unpiled foundation.
2. Isozaki tower PR foundation FE model.
 728
A multidisciplinary approach for the
structural assessment of historical
constructions with tie-rods
Mira Vasic - Supervisor: Prof. Carlo Poggi - Co-supervisor: Prof. Dario Coronelli
The present research studies
the structural behaviour of
historical constructions with
tie-rods. Preservation and
maintenance of buildings with
heritage value include ensuring
their sufficient bearing capacity
against different loads. This
is a challenging task when
dealing with historical masonry
structures that are characterized
with a complex hyperstatic
structural system. While
currently there are extensive
studies on masonry historical
structures having no tie-rods
as a permanent part of their
structure, there is a limited
number of studies on Gothic
cathedrals with tie-rods where
lateral thrusts are resisted by a
combined action between tie-
rods, spandrels and buttresses.
Their analysis is therefore not
straightforward because it
is difficult to estimate what
portion of the thrust is resisted
by each of these elements. The
thesis proposes how different
approaches can be combined
towards understanding the
structural behaviour of masonry
constructions with tie-rods. It
also develops a methodology
for estimating current state
of the stress in such historical
structures. In particular, a
continuous process of data
acquisition, analysis of structural
behaviour, diagnosis and safety
evaluation was employed
for the case study of Milans
cathedral (Duomo di Milano).
This remarkable monument
was chosen in the present
research due to its multifaceted
structural history, imposing
dimensions and some structural
issues observed at the present.
The ancient builders used the
tie-rods during the construction.
Original tie-rods are still
present in both longitudinal
and transversal direction of
the Duomo di Milano, which
makes understanding its
structural system challenging.
Different techniques and
fields of expertise were used
for the data acquisition:
historical investigation gave
important information on the
tie-rods origin, their structural
purpose and the construction
process of the Cathedral; the
wide experimental campaign
included visual inspection,
material characterization,
and dynamic tests on the
original ties and contributed
to the understanding of the
structural system. Relevant
aspects for the study of the
Cathedrals structural behaviour
were addressed and various
approaches were used, such
as the limit analysis and Finite
Element Modelling (FEM). The
dynamic testing campaign
confirmed that the tie-rods in
the Duomo di Milano are active
members, carrying part of the
lateral thrust, as suggested
by the historical research and
PhD Yearbook | 2015
729
STRUCTURAL SEISMIC AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
structural analysis in the present
work. Moreover, the axial
tensile force was estimated
for the largest portion of
tie-rods in the Cathedral and
was combined with graphic
static analysis employing limit
analysis for a representative
bay of the Cathedral. Graphic
static analysis gave one of the
possible equilibrium solutions
for the structure of the Duomo
di Milano. Another solution
was found using sophisticate
FEM model, which took into
account damage in masonry and
simulated different construction
stages of the Cathedral.
Including structural history in
the numerical analysis showed
to be one of the essential
aspects for understanding tie-
rods behaviour in the past and
present, so as for producing
reliable results. In case of a
cathedral with active tie-rods,
as the Duomo di Milano,
disregarding construction
stages could underestimate
current stress in the tie-rods for
about 50%. The method for
combining different approaches
used in the present work
resulted in understanding the
structural system of a cathedral
with tie-rods, but developed
concepts can be applied to
similar hyperstatic structures.
Materials Engineering | Mathematical
MODELS and METHODS IN Engineering
| Mechanical Engineering | Physics |
Preservation of THE Architectural Heritage
| Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial Planning
and Urban Development | Structural Seismic
and Geotechnical Engineering | Technology
and Design for Environment and Building
| Territorial Design and Government |
Aerospace Engineering | Architectural
and Urban Design | Architectural
Composition | Architecture, Urban Design,
Conservation of Housing and Landscape
| Bioengineering | Building Engineering
| Design | Design and technologies for
cultural heritage | Electrical Engineering |
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
| Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture
and Exhibition Design | Management,
Economics and Industrial Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
732
DOCTORAL PROGRAM
IN TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN FOR
THE ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING
The TEPAC doctorate course intends to provide the students with
Chair: the methodological instruments and knowledge necessary for a
Prof. Anna Mangiarotti mature professional profile, able to develop and apply innovative
strategies for research, design and managing of buildings and urban
settlements.
This know-how is set on the most up dated concepts of production
and urban sustainability in compliance with new European Union
procedural and technical standards for construction, which have
seen in the last fifteen years important changes. For our country this
means achieving a strong innovation in design, either in theory and
in practice.
The Doctorate deals with technical innovation in architecture, with
particular regard to design (from conservation to transformation)
and manage of built environment, and to building elements
production.
Those themes deals with the continuous evolution, at a national
and international level, of the building sector in terms of:
investments growth, new request for environmental sustainability
and quality standards, rehabilitation growth, diversification of
services markets for real estate.
BEST department already possess consolidated skills on those topics,
elaborated along many years of research and study, from the first
DR cycle in Architectural Technology and Architectural and
Environmental Technology and in Technological innovation and
architectural design and then in the two unifying DR Technology
and Design for Environmental Quality In Buildings and Urban
Context and Programming, Maintenance, Rehabilitation of
The Building and Urban Systems (TPQA and PMR) object of this
proposal.
The profiles of professional skills and possible occupations of the
graduated Doctors are addressed to public and private entities
offering high qualified skills in the field of building and urban
design and real estate management: technical offices of public
administration ((Regions, Provinces, Municipalities); high level
practices and engineering societies, real estate and construction
industry.
Those new profiles will be able to interact with an innovative and
environmental friendly approach at design, aiming at enforcing
a systemic approach, an expertise in foreseeing, evaluating and
controlling the design implication of the built environment all over
PhD Yearbook | 2015
733
the time.
TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING
In relation to the different theoretical and operative field the out
coming profiles could be:
Building scale
Expert designer/consultant in components industrialization for the
technical support to the industry;
Expert designer/consultant in industrialized components and
techniques for the technical support of architectural practices;
Expert consultant in building facilities standards;
Indoor environmental quality consultant;
Expert consultant in building diagnostic and performance
evaluation;
Expert consultant in briefing development;
Expert consultant in planning and organization of maintenance
processes;
Expert designer in rehabilitation and re-use;
Expert designer in building facilities planning and management.
Real estate consultant
Life Cycle expert for building components and construction
Urban scale
Expert designer/consultant in planning, design and management
of environmental systems in complex projects,
Energy management consultant
Environmental Designer
Expert designer/consultant in planning and control of urban
maintenance
The course is organized into four phases (Preliminary Study, Basic
Study, Specialization and Thesis.
In the Preliminary study a general background will be given on
the lacking or just mentioned disciplines during the Architectural
Degree (economy, research method, systemic and decision making
process for management).
The Basic formative level will give a background of interdisciplinaary
knowledge, on the topics of technology, building phisics,
informatics and multi criteria evaluation, able to give the
instruments to face the complexity of processes and various
connections they create.
A multidisciplinary approach will be the guideline of workshops, that
will enrich the preliminary study and the development of the Thesis.
734
Four different training areas are activated, that can be configured
as thematic fields tracing out teachers contributions and scientific
analysis guidelines for research (with studies, courses, workshops,
stages):
Rehabilitation and environmental design
This area training activities are referred either to the education of
skills on the problems of existing building heritage following the
logic of multiple incorporated values, either to the general themes
of design sustainability, at different scales. The building process
will be investigated, starting from the pre-design brief to the result
evaluation, thanks to management innovations, analytic methods,
diagnostics, multicriteria and post-employment evaluations;
a particular attention is dedicated to the life cycle analysis, to
tools and methods for the maintenance of quality and their
organizational models.
Energetic efficiency in architectural design
The area concentrate its training activities on themes such as
the rational use of energy and the use of renewable sources
at the building and urban scale. Starting from the analysis of
the interactions between climate and building envelope, and
considering the most advanced building and plant technologies to
control thermo-hygrometric and light comfort of internal spaces,
knowledge and tools for a conscious energetic design are given,
together with general criteria to measure those systems.
Process and Design Innovation
Training activities dealt in this area are oriented to give PhD students
knowledge on the most advanced researches in this field for
processes, products and building systems, with a strong innovative
value on the market. A particular attention will be given to the
planning of interventions on new constructions and on existing
building, in relation to decision making modalities; but also to
the phase of elaboration of strategic and design brief and to the
formulation of the management phase of design processes
Resources Management at the building and urban scale
The training activities of this area are referred to the development
of qualified skills focused on a wide education upon the various
aspects of managing our heritage at different scales (territorial,
urban, infrastructural and buildings).
PhD Yearbook | 2015
735
The Specialization level will be articulated in workshops and
TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING
technical courses in relation of the different students activities.
Education travel are suggested in order to obtain credits. It is also
scheduled that students of different phd years organze common
worshops in order to discuss and deepen on individual themes,
obtaining credits.
The development of the Thesis will be focused either on the
teoretical methodological approach, either on the practical one,
with the aim to encourage process and product innovation.
The thesis proposal will be formulated in the second semester of the
first year, in order to orient since the beginning the stages activities
in Italy or abroad.
The TEPAC Doctoral Course collaborates with several foreign
Universities, for giving PhD students interesting opportunities of
stages and other educational activities: EMPA, Switzerland; Laifit
Building Energy Efficiency Technology Insititution Beijing, China;
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mit, USA; National Cheng
Kung University, Taiwan; Saybrook Graduate School and Research
Center , San Francisco, USA.; SRU Benelux Red Cross Societies,
Gran Duchy of Luxembourg; Technische Universitt Eindovhen,
The Netherlands; Universitad Nacional de Colombia, Columbia;
Universitat Polytecnica de Catalunya, Spain; Universit Franois-
Rabelais, France; Kingston University - School of Surveying and
Planning , UK ; Agencia dEcologia Urbana de Barcelona, Spain. .
736
Social housing by public private
partnership: feasibility issues
Steve Bariselli - Supervisor: Prof. Oliviero Tronconi
The research investigates the
reasons why Social Housing by
public-private partnership, also
named in Italy with definitions
Edilizia Privata Sociale (EPS)
and Edilizia Residenziale
Sociale (ERS), has not yet
reached a diffusion able to meet
the strong housing demand
brought by the social sector so-
called gray, not able to afford
a dwelling directly on the market
but, at the same time, without
requirements to be eligible for a
public housing unit.
The state of the art identifies
and analyzes at the national
level the housing demand
toward which social housing
is addressed to, through
the analysis of the various
phenomena that has modified
it, taking to the need of a
re-thinking of the housing
supply, that has to face more
variegated needs. Social and
economic phenomena detected
and analyzed are: the growing
immigration, considering that
foreign population in Italy has
increased from 1.5 million to
4.4 million just in the last ten
years; the increasing number
of non-resident students, that
have to find an accommodation
in the general housing market,
because of the structural lack
of student housing units that
affects Italy; the continuous
transformation of family types,
with an increase in the number
of families, but a decrease in
their dimensions due to the
diffusion of different family
types, like parents with only one
child, singles, separated couples;
the great increase of housing
prices and rents registered from
1998 to 2007 and only partially
decreased in the last years, but
that is remaining anyway too
high for many families; the
difficulties of young people to
emancipate themselves, due
to the professional uncertainty
that does not allow the
economic independence; the
increase of labor mobility, that is
generating a stronger demand
for temporary accommodations;
the increasing number of elderly
population, with its specific
housing needs; the decrease of
families purchasing power, with
an absolute poverty increased
in the period 2010-2013 from
4,6% to 7,9%.
The analysis of the national
legal framework studies the
evolution from the first national
public housing policies enacted
in the early 1900s to face the
urbanization of the major cities
due to the industrialization, to
the latest enacted acts on social
housing.
At the international level is
analyzed in the first place
the European context, with a
focus on European countries
with greater experience in
the involvement of private
developers and investors in
social housing. States selected
are: France, because of its
system based and managed by
associations named Habitation
Loyer Modr (HLM), that
are for the 66% private
organizations; Austria, in which
private operators, called Limited
Profit Housing Associations
(LPHA) provides and manages
more than the 60% of social
housing units in the Nation;
Germany, that has involved
private operators and investors
in different ways; England,
that involves private investors
in the financing of Housing
Associations, the organizations
that manage social housing in
the State. It is analyzed also the
role played by the European
Union on housing policies, and
the responsibilities that the EU
has on Member States in the
field of social housing.
Outside of the European context
are studied United States
housing policies, examining
the evolution of American
housing initiatives dedicated
to the weaker section of the
society. The analysis start from
the first interventions developed
by private citizens during the
nineteenth century: Company
Towns, made by private
entrepreneurs to house workers
of their facilities that came
from rural areas, Settlement
Houses, developed by young
private volunteers who offered
a shelter to people in need, and
other philanthropic associations
created by local private
operators to provide houses for
rent at low prices. The Federal
intervention on housing policies
occurred in 1917, with the
Shipping act, the first act that
has disposed the allocation of
public funds for the construction
of housing for private citizens.
Since then, seventy years of
housing policies characterized
by huge public housing national
programs, homeownership
encouragement policies, some
episodic private involvement
and the introduction of housing
vouchers have followed. In
1986, with the promulgation
through the Tax Reform Act
of the Low Income Housing
Tax Credit (LIHTC), also known
with the name of the measure
that had emanates it, Section
42, investors and private
developers were back again to
play a strategic and integrated
role in the development,
implementation and
management. This financing tool
is considered one of the most
prolific operations that involves
private investors and developers
in affordable rental housing at
the international level. Then,
other supporting policies that
often work as a complement
with LIHTC are analyzed, such
as the Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG), the HOME
program, and the HOPE VI
program.
Subsequently, the analysis is
restricted to the territorial scale,
studying the context of Regione
Lombardia, the most active
Region in the involvement of
private capitals and developers
in funding Social Housing
projects at the national level,
with the more advanced
regional regulatory system on
housing policies, and with the
higher number of social housing
projects in the territory. It is
studied then the Municipality of
Milan, selected on the basis of
the higher housing emergency in
big metropolitan cities, and the
higher feasibility of operations,
thanks to a higher differential
between market prices and the
construction costs, which makes
more possible to offer reduced
rent. In this phase are analyzed
regional regulations on housing,
as well as Milans municipal The final part of the research
planning instruments, and the
role played by local not-for-profit
organizations.
In the next step are identified
and analyzed financing tools
applicable to social housing
operations, with a focus on
property funds, considered by
the national legislator the main
tool to involve the private sector
in social housing, and phases
that characterize this type of
investment applied to social
housing. Is analyzed the national
Maxi Fund Fondo investimenti
per lAbitare(FIA), instituted
by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti
(Deposits and Loans Fund) with
the aim to create a national
maxi fund that has to invest
in a network of local property
funds spread in the country
for the construction of new
social housing units. The other
financing tools analyzed are Real
Estate Investment Trusts (REITS),
in Italian Societ di Investimento
Immobiliare Quotate, Project
Financing and Public equipment
leasing.
Four Italian case studies are
analyzed and compared, Via
Cenni, Via Voltri, Via Zoia,
in Milan and CasaCrema+
in Crema. Three of them
are realized through Fondo
Investimenti per lAbitare
by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.
Three American case studies
PhD Yearbook | 2015
are analyzed (in Camp Hill,
State College and Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania) realized through
the Low Income Housing Tax
Credit. The analysis of those
cases allows a comparison
between the American LIHTC
and the Italian FIA Maxi property
fund, in order to identify good 737
practices reusable in future
TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING
social housing interventions and
highlighting criticalities.
explores national and local
public policies able to promote
the construction of new social
housing operations in public-
private partnership, analyzing
the critical issues and the
possible improvements where
they were already introduced,
through the critical aspects
that characterize social housing
interventions: the choice of the
right location for the project;
the land acquisition methods;
the potential optimization of the
construction phase; the choice
of the best housing tenure mix;
the provision and the selection
of community services to
provide; the social management
aspects; the taxation, the risk
management about rent arrears
risks, and the investors exit
strategy.
 738
Photovoltaic Flexibles:
Integrating organic solar cells onto ETFE membrane
Zhengyu Fan - Relatore: Prof.ssa Alessandra Zanelli, Prof. ssa Carol Monticelli
Tutor: Prof.ssa Alessandra Zanelli
The application of wafer based
Photovoltaics (PVs) have been
long hindered by their high
production, installation and
maintenance costs, as well
as their poor product design
for building integration. The
upcoming organic photovoltaic
(OPV) with high processibility
of active layer materials
through Roll to Roll (R2R)
printing technology exhibits as
a promising alternative due to
its low capital costs and better
visual pleasing appearance. This
potential has been enhanced by
its recent efficiency and lifetime
research progresses.
Meanwhile, fluoropolymeric
membrane materials
like Ethylene
tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) and
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
share higher popularity as a
glass substitute in contemporary
architecture context attributing
to their extraordinary lightness,
transparency and high flexibility.
Coincidentally, most of the
membrane material application
occasions, including roofing and
facade of large public buildings
such as stadiums, exhibition hall,
as well as building atrium and
aisle roofs, are also the potential
building integrated photovoltaic
(BIPV) integration scenarios.
PV-Flexible proposes a novel
BIPV product solution by
taking advantages of both PV
technologys renewable solar
energy harvesting capability and
easier architectural utilization of
membrane substrates. This PhD
research explores the possibility,
difficulties and effectiveness
of ETFE substrate printed OPV
layers & cells.
Far too little researches have
investigated the design and
development of PV-Flexibles,
while its potential market
segments has also not yet been
well addressed. Current OPV
layers are typically deposited
on plastic substrates like
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
or Polyethylene naphthalate
(PEN), resulting in inferior
performance as architectural
components. Even few works
have been devoted to explore
the performance of PV-Flexible
in real application.
In this research the responses
of OPV layer composite
under external loads have
been investigated through
experimental works with both
commercial OPV modules and
ETFE printed OPV layers, to
understand better the weakness,
the failure mechanism of OPV
in strain and how this will
influence its performance. The
commercial organic module
loses its effectiveness after
meeting the critical strain of
1.8%, corresponding to a
critical stress of 20MPa. The
strength of the encapsulation
layer is the decisive factor of the
cell package ultimate strength
while the transparent electrode
PhD Yearbook | 2015
739
is more sensitive to strain. The
TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING
ETFE printed Ag electrode
conductance is less sensitive
than PET printed one with large
strains (20~50%)
In order to achieve better
printing of OPV onto ETFE, the
wettability of ETFE surface has
been studied and pre-treatments
to enhance it have been verified.
This research also implemented
the experimental printing of
prototype OPV cells onto ETFE
substrate, and its performance
characterization. Deposition of
an extra Polymethylmethacrylate
(PMMA) layer above the ETFE
surface has been proven
to be able to decrease its
hydrophobicity (reducing contact
angle of PEDOT:PSS from 89
to 16.9). ETFE demands a high
surface hydrophobicity, which
leads to a bad printing quality of
OPV electrode layers.
The oxygen plasma treatment
has reached a much higher
delamination load (>50g) and
has been evidenced to be
more effective for a higher
adhesiveness of PMMA layer on
ETFE surface than the corona
treatment.
The property features revealed
by this survey also provide
valuable knowledge for future
realization of mechanically
robust printed OPV in large scale
on architectural membranes.
Keywords: organic photovoltaic,
OPV, tensile test, membrane,
ETFE
 740
FROM SCRAP TO PRODUCT
Production cycles, industrial ecology and territorial impacts
Valorizing scraps from natural stone production
Arch. Marco Migliore - Supervisor: Prof. Monica Lavagna
Tutor: Prof. Cinzia Maria Luisa Talamo
The European Commission,
through its policies and action
plans (Waste Framework
Directive 2008/98/EC, Roadmap
to a Resource Efficient Europe
COM(2011)571, Environmental
Technologies Action Plan,
Ecoinnovation Action Plan,
Europe 2020, Europe 2050),
aims to promote industrial
innovation of products and
processes in order to reduce
environmental impacts. A
key topic for the reduction of
environmental impacts is the
recycle of scraps (pre-consumer
waste) which derive from
production processes, as raw
materials for the same or for
other production sector. This
subject is really important in the
actual current world situation,
in response to the demands
of the general guidelines for
the sustainability of production
processes.
The research project deals with
the subject of the environmental
issues connected to stone
production processes, by
focusing on the very significant
scraps production (on average,
the production of 1 ton of
blocks generates about 1 ton
of scraps which usually goes to
local landfill) and on the possible
ways for reducing and reusing
them.
Case-study
The case of natural stone has
been selected because the
international market of stone is
really relevant and the request
for this material is growing
more and more (contrary to
the trend observed during the
period of global economic crisis
for other building sectors).
Furthermore, stone supply chain
is characterized by a typical
aspect: all the externalities are
localized in a very small area (this
means that territorial changes
and environmental impacts are
evident and perceptible at local
level). For all these reasons,
new territorial policies have
been recently introduced both
at European level, through the
creation of plans for waste
management, and at local level,
by introducing management
plans, which are oriented to
sustainable development and
specific management procedures
for this sector. Therefore the
purposes of this research project
is the creation of a model to
assess impacts and to support
decisions by providing solutions
to improve stone supply chain.
The improvement is pursued
through the reduction of
the related environmental
impacts (improvement of the
environmental profile, green
and ethical product, etc) and
the promotion of reusing scraps
and their valorization through
upcycling processes.
The research starts from the
study of the stone production
processes, focusing the attention
on the studies of extraction,
cutting and polishing phases.
This choice is motivated by the
fact that these activities can
occur on the territory of where
raw materials are extracted,
while other phases have not
necessarily an implication on the
territory of origin.
Method
The first step of the research is
the definition of the typologies
and the features of raw material
and scraps. To simplify the
identification of recycling
scenarios, the supply chains
has been classified with a code
deriving from Italian filing
system (Ateco2007 by ISTAT)
and the typologies of scraps
have been classified with a code
deriving from European CER
catalogue with the addition
of a specific code (defined
as attribute code) that have
the role better identifying the
scraps. The results of this phase
are the construction of an
ordered matrix, that describes
the stones supply chain and
allows to perform environmental
assessments. The matrix is useful
for defining some strategies
for the improvement of the
supply chains. The same matrix
is also useful for public and
private stakeholders, operating
inside the various production
processes, for the generation of
positive externalities.
The next step of the research is
the proposal of ecoinnovative
production scenarios, regarding
processes, products and scraps.
To achieve this purpose three
actions have been done. The
first is to investigate eco-
innovative industrial scenarios,
in accord with the principles
of industrial ecology (EIP for
abroad, APEA for Italy), in order
to create models and to study
the relations which might be
established in an district, for the
development of the sustainability
strategies. The second actions
aims to take contributions from
new approach to sustainability
(Blue and Green Economy,
Green Marketing, Systemic
Design, etc). The third action is
the definition of an evaluation
method, suitable to evaluate the
strategic scenarios identified,
based on a simplified set of
environmental indicators. The
method takes some parameters
from the LCA and contextualizes
the evaluation with indicators
that quantify and assess the
territorial modifications engaged
with marble quarries activities
(ex. land use) through GIS
mappings.
The last step of the research is
composed by: the application of
the proposed evaluation method
in one marble district (the case
study is the Carraras district),
and the collection of results.
This district is one of the Italian
industrial excellence and it is
the most important in the stone
sector for quantity of product,
turnover and innovation. For
this production reality have
been considered good practice,
already in progress, and the
results of research project (such
as the EU Life Project Recyslurry
or the R4ST); with the aim of
defining paradigmatic models
that can be replicated elsewhere.
An important aspect, emerging
from the study of this case is
the importance of the district
authorities (in Italy, in most cases
the district exist formally, but not
operationally), of the consortium
(promoters of initiatives in
the interest of all businesses
in the area, for example the
promotion of the fair IMM) and
of the research centers (creators
of innovative scenarios) in
supporting and promoting eco-
innovation
Results
The results of this research
work are: the definition of
possible scenarios for the
environmental improvement,
through the reuse of scraps
and the reduction of use of raw
material (different production
scenarios have been evaluated
and the most advantageous are
highlighted) and the creation
of an integrated assessment
model (LCA and GIS) that makes
transparent the production
chain of a product and its direct
territorial implications.
Besides, a further contribution
is a methodological proposal
for the integration of a GIS for
mapping the environmental
information on the territory
(identification of quarries
and related information,
identification of landfills and
related information, CO2
emissions related to the activities
of the quarry, etc). This method
of reading the information,
oriented to the stakeholders
(public and private) of the
various production processes,
in order to guide their choices
and to enable the comparison
of different alternatives whit
explicit criteria (environmental
performances).
The evaluation on the Carraras
District is highly representative of
PhD Yearbook | 2015
the site, but it provides research
ideas for other marble districts
which have goals for sustainable
development. The scenarios
presented, if pursued, could
imply a very positive change
that could greatly improve the
local environment and that
could be a stimulus to allow new 741
synergies for the local economy.
TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING
An aspect to be emphasized
is that the recycling of scraps
from quarries and processing
activities also reduces embodied
energy of marble, because the
energy consumed to processing
marble allow to obtain more raw
materials co-products. The
allocation of impacts between
co-products may be related on
the economic value of the raw
material obtained (highest for
the slabs of first quality, less high
for the recycled materials). In the
proposed study, the choice of
using only some environmental
indicators has aimed to simplify
the reading of the assessments,
facilitating the role of decision
makers in the proposing of
regional policies or new systems
of management of quarries
activity. The study demonstrates
the potentialities of scraps, that
can become raw material for
new productions. The focus on
these aspects could lead to the
construction of a local district
highly structured and extremely
competitive both nationally and
internationally.
742
MULTICRITERIA TOOL TO IMPLEMENT THE
ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
SUSTAINABILITY IN HEALTHCARE
Making Sustainability Improved in Hospital
Dario Nachiero - Tutor: Stefano Capolongo
In the last fifty years, the impact
of human activities over the
nature has given profound
upheavals on the environment.
These activities, in some cases,
have become real environmental
emergencies such as the ozone
hole, the greenhouse effect,
desertification and biodiversity
loss. Given the impairment
of quality of life and future,
it is established over time the
awareness of the link between
economic development,
environmental protection and
social equity, so the different
offices of various government
begun to speak about
Sustainable Development.
Currently, environmental
sustainability is an issue of
primary importance, brought to
the attention of the authorities
around the world. During
some important meetings
on sustainable development
held in recent years, there
has been confirmed the
significant increase of the
public interest in relation to
these issues. In the global
context of industrial societies,
the sustainable development is
not in fact prosecuted without
a profound change of current
patterns of development and
socio-economic relations. An
economic system in growth is
sustainable only if the amount of
resources used for the creation
of wealth remains, in quantity
and quality, within appropriate
limits of exploitation and does
not overload the absorption
capacity provided by the
environment. Sustainability
in general terms refers to the
achieved awareness related to
the environment, that requires
ethical choices for the protection
of the background, in the need
for a balance and a new alliance
between artifice and nature.
Nowadays, sustainability
becomes a very large issue and
it is debated with difficulties
for definitions and applicability,
especially with reality and
complex constructions such as
healthcare structures.
A healthcare structure is a public
building that consumes natural
resources to work. It ensure
the welfare of users for 365
days a year, 7 days 7, 24 hours
a day. A healthcare structure
is a building that produces
solid and hazardous waste and
consumes three times more than
a public building of equal size.
Many studies and evaluation
systems for sustainability of
these buildings, at national
and international level, deal
with this issue highlighting
many limitations and problems,
especially in the domestic fields.
To fully satisfy and meet the
real needs of users is therefore
important to develop a new
evaluation tools, specifically
designed for hospitals and
healthcare structures. In Italy
there is a lack of assessment
tools. The research project
therefore seeks to provide a
new system and it is developed
through different stages.
The first stage concerns the
detailed study of the state of the
art, by analyzing the activities
carried out over the years by
national and international
institutions, the rules issued and
application tools for evaluation
of healthcare facilities. It has
been analyzed the impact of
structures on the stakeholders,
from which to start processing.
Last step of the first phase
has also considered the limits
and strengths of national and
international existing evaluation
systems.
In the second phase were
selected and analyzed some
national and international
case studies. Several
sustainable design strategies
were highlighted in terms
of economic, environmental
and social aspect. Hence the
comparison between the
structures served to highlight the
most innovative and sustainable
strategies.
The third phase involved the
preparation of a new evaluation
tool to be applied to Italian
healthcare structure. From the
sustainability strategies found
within the structures analyzed,
some different indicators were
elaborated. These are the basis
for the construction of the
multicriteria assessment tool.
The tool, consists of three main
areas (environmental, economic
and social area), 14 criteria and
42 indicators. The application
of the evaluation instrument
highlights sustainability in an
objective way in these hospitals.
Through the support of a
scientific method called ANP
(Analythic Networked Process)
developed by prof. Thomas
Saaty it was possible to define
weight and importance between
the indicators and criteria.
The criteria were weighted
through different focus groups
composed by some expert
in healthcare structure that
have established, thanks to
their knowledge of different
strategies and management, the
importance of some than others.
The final results, obtained from
the analysis in the structures,
derived from the answers given
by the technicians and the
responsible management of
hospitals.
In the final phase were provided
some helpful tips for designers
and managers of companies
to improve the three levels of
sustainability in the Italian health
facilities analyzed.
The tool is very easy to use and
it has been realized because
of a lack evaluation tools of
sustainability in the Italian
healthcare structure and
hospitals.
The multicriteria evaluation
tool therefore regards the
different aspects of sustainability
divided in economic, social and
environmental through a series
of criteria and indicators, further
investigated and weighted by
measurable sub-indicators. The
system has tried to identify
the sustainability of the overall
structures, through the analysis
of the most critical areas and
technologies and proposing
some possible solutions with
the purpose of providing, at a
later stage of the evaluation, a
set of design guidelines that will
serve to improve sustainability
in hospitals. The evaluation
tool composed by various
questionnaires and evaluation
sheets was carried out by the
administration to technical
studies and final users of the
structures. Some evaluation
groups were also created with
the heads of those who have
helped create the system and
give weight to the various
indicators of the multicriteria
tool for assessing the general
sustainability in the structures.
The application of the
assessment tool has involved
two structures in the Italian
territory. In specific it was
examined a new generation
structure and an old generation
one. The two hospitals case
studies, to which we have
applied the evaluation tool,
are the New Legnano Hospital,
completed and opened in
2010, and the San Paolo
Hospital in Milan, completed
and inaugurated in the 60s.
Both facilities have a similar
catchment area in dimension,
similar number of beds and
similar number of medical staff.
The application of the
instrument has shown that in
the older generation structure
can be found major weaknesses
in terms of environmental
sustainability, especially in
obsolescence identifiable in
structural and technological
leaks. In the new generation
structure can be noted weakness
in structural terms and social
aspect, but easily implementable
with small adjustments in
technologies and management.
Both structures obtained a high
PhD Yearbook | 2015
score in the economic macroarea
and diametrically opposed in the
social area. The new generation
hospital in general obtained
almost double the points than
the old generation one.
The research, therefore,
proposes an easy, intuitive and
effective tool with the purpose 743
of defining and identifying the
TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING
sustainability actually found in
national hospitals, given the
shortage and leak of evaluation
systems.
The proposed evaluation
multicriteria tool seeks
to overcome some of the
limitations encountered in the
various rating systems currently
available in Italy (most often
are used foreign systems like
BREEAM Healthcare and LEED
for Healthcare adapted to the
Italian context) defining a new
multidisciplinary tool, easy to
use that can be implemented in
the future, in different hospitals.
This tool can be used in the
future as well as an element
to assess the shortcomings in
the three areas of sustainability
of health facilities and later to
suggest additional strategies and
technologies to optimize the
environmental and economic
resources used by hospitals
manager, designers and health
facilities.
 744

The potential of a transitional (the only one for which the indices, especially in a semi- use of high-albedo materials

PhD Yearbook | 2015

microclimatic space: the porch in the
Mediterranean-temperate climate
Claudia Poggi - Supervisor: Prof. Alessandro Rogora
Mediterranean architecture
particular type of transitional
balconies, but also greenhouses
porch is effective) in a latitude
of 45N representative of a
temperate climate. In a first
step, different porch proportions
(height/depth ratio) inserted
in different urban canyons
are compared to evaluate
the impacts of incident solar
radiation in terms of percentage
of shaded ground in summer,
outdoor location where the
thermal condition are variable
in time and space. Moreover
a positive effect that results
from the experience (or only
from the vision) of a shaded
transitional space influence the
psychological adaptation to the
thermal environment. For this
reason, in this study comfort
in urban surfaces may lower
air temperature, the reduction
is not enough to offset the
increased radiant loads. In fact,
increasing the albedo value
affects the thermal stress, since
the reflected sunlight contributes
more to the overall heat flux.
Finally, the Tmrt is confirmed 745
as a useful key parameter to

TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING

is characterized by a great
diffusion of transitional spaces
(called also semi-open spaces),
that have intermediate thermal
conditions between the indoor
and outdoor environment. They
are multidimensional spaces
that act as an interface between
two different conditions (inside/
outside; public/private; building/
city) filtering energy flows and
favouring social relations. The
qualities of these spaces are
visible at a micro-urban level
where they create microclimatic
environments that enhance
activities and provide social
interaction.
Historically their role as climatic
moderators makes them
an extension of the private
living space with different
social impacts according
to the specific culture and
the climate. In particular, in
Mediterranean countries, they
have been developed in different
configurations as porches,
patios, loggias etc. especially in
the northern latitudes where
the climate is more temperate
and variable through the year
(presence of hot summers, cold
winters and middle seasons). In
fact, here they are considered
very important passive
strategies, especially for their
role in moderating the effect
of direct solar radiation at a
microscale level.
This study focuses on a
space that morphologically
is covered and located at the
border of a building, usually
called porch in temperate
countries where it is traditionally
present both in its introvert and
extrovert expression, along the
streets and inside the courtyards.
The shade provided by the porch
mitigates the effect of solar
radiation as a source of heat,
cooling the space itself and
also the building facing on it.
However, the potential in terms
of thermal comfort especially
in summer season is in contrast
with the need of solar gains in
winter and daylighting inside
the building. Designers generally
underestimate the importance of
integrating these aspects.
Aim of this study is to define
the potential of the porch as a
perimeter transitional space
and to understand in which
way it can balance the different
environmental requirements in
relation to a user well-being.
The analysis is done starting
from the origins of the
porch, analysing its historical
development and the different
configurations existing around
the world, underlying its
value from a cultural, social,
environmental and also
perceptive point of view.
The morphology of a porch
is defined through variables
that may also identify other
configurations (as loggias,
etc.), and assume the role of
design strategies. The variables
related to the position and the
shape of the porch respect
to the building volume are:
the degree of enclosure
(included ora attached), the
level (ground or upper floor),
the proportions (punctual or
linear) and the scale (building
or room).
In the second part of the
research it is evaluated the
environmental control potential
of a porch adopting a transcalar
approach that considers
the micro-urban level as the
intersection between the urban
and the architectural scale.
A methodology is developed
to evaluate the effectiveness
of different configurations
with respect to different
thermal (summer shading,
winter accessibility) and visual
requirements (daylight and
external view). According to
the method, the evaluations are
performed in sequential steps
of increasing complexities that
also correspond to a logical
order that should be followed
in the design process. In fact,
the method is applied to a study
model but it can be assumed as
guideline to perform different
evaluations at micro-urban level.
The model is analysed varying
geometry, materials and urban
constraints respect to an
orientation along an E-W axis
solar availability on the building
wall in winter and daylight
levels on a workplane inside
the building. Then, more
sophisticated simulations are
carried out to add the materials
effect (in terms of albedo
and thermal capacity). Solene
microclimate, a numerical
tool that performs unsteady
simulations is used to evaluate
the solar, luminous and thermal
effects that result from the
interaction between urban
surfaces and solar radiation.
Thus, the simulation of the
solar inter-reflections between
surfaces allows a complete
daylighting evaluation and
the thermo-radiative transfers
at the built-environment
interface determine the surface
temperatures of the different
sunny and shaded areas during
the day. The last step consists in
the determination of the radiant
conditions in a typical summer
day as a sum of the short-wave
radiation (direct, diffuse and
reflected) and the long-wave
radiation (received from the sky
and from urban surfaces). In
this way the limits within which
a porch influences the Mean
Radiant Temperature (Tmrt)
variation, the most influential
parameter on thermal comfort,
are defined. In fact, it is still
difficult to interpret the actual
human thermal sensation from
the currently used comfort
indexes based on energy balance predict the trend of the human
are introduced only to compare thermal sensation, especially
the effect of the air movement if considered for its deviation
in different configurations. from air temperature during the
As a result the environmental daytime.
potential of different The findings of this research
configurations is described are turned into environmental
especially in terms of comparison micro-urban design guidelines
respect to a reference situation including specific operative
with a non-shaded building procedures with the aim to
facade. In particular, the analysis support an architect to balance
show the geometrical limits for specific user needs with external
which the requirements are not constraints in order to reach a
balanced. A porch, in which satisfactory compromise.
the height is equal to depth, Further evaluations can be
offers the best balance between performed taking in account
protection and openness to the other design features,
sky, with the same percentage integrating also social surveys to
of shaded ground in summer assess the relative importance of
and wall exposure to solar the psychological adaptation on
gains in winter and acceptable human well-being.
daylight levels inside. It is also
demonstrated the effect of a
porch in an adjacent room in
terms of Daylight Factor and
Uniformity. In fact, due to the
multi-reflection process, the
surfaces colour sometimes can
balance the daylight reduction
in the deeper parts of the
space. Moreover, the analysis
confirmed the benefits of a
porch for a pedestrian due to
the reduced direct solar radiation
received by a human body and
to the less long-wave irradiation
emitted by the surrounding
surfaces, in particular the
ground. Regarding the albedo
effects, the evaluations suggest
that although it is known that
746
Dynamic energy simulation of different
pneumatic and air-supported membranes
and proposals for energy saving strategies
Hua Suo - Supervisor: Prof. Alessandra Zanelli
The necessity to reduce energy
consumption has recently
leaded to an evolution of
air-supported and pneumatic
structures, starting from a single
layer envelope and passing to
a double membrane, either
based on cushions or on a
continuous air gap. However
a quantitative assessment of
the energy performance of the
mentioned fabric structures
is still lacking. Therefore this
research aims at assessing the
thermal-physical behaviour
and the energy performance
in winter conditions of air
supported and pneumatic halls,
by taking the case study of
PVC coated polyester skins for
sports halls. The actual energy
saving potential of the advanced
generation membranes
compared to traditional ones is
investigated.
The methodology adopted for
the study consists in on site
measurements on running
sports hall and in dynamic
energy simulations in ESP-r
environment.
In order to set up the simulation
model , some assumptions and
simplification were adopted,
regarding the complex skin
geometry, the homogeneity of
the indoor thermal conditions,
the thermal bridges and so on.
A special approach is needed
for modelling so called 3rd
generation membranes, namely
double skins with a continuously
PhD Yearbook | 2015
747
ventilated air gap, i.e. air flow
TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING
network approach. The models
set up is described in Chapter
3.2
The simulation results show
the dynamic behaviour of
the membranes, focusing on
the low thermal inertia, the
role of the solar gains, of the
infiltration losses and of the
long wave radiation to the sky.
The importance of thermal
bridges in the cushion made
double skin and the role of the
air gap in the third generation
membrane are identified. Finally
the energy demand reduction,
the comfort improvement and
the condensation risk reduction
achievable with double
membranes in respect to the
single are quantified. The final
part of the thesis is dedicated
to proposing strategies and
technologies for further energy
savings in air-supported sports
halls. Some final considerations
on the possibility to generalise
the results referring to the
chosen case study to other
air-supported and pneumatic
structures are derived.
748
Dynamic Adaptive Faade
Modeling Building Envelopes Energy Performance
Comparing Measured and Simulated Data
Sergio Tarantino - Supervisors: Ezio Arlati, Vladimir Bazjanac, Anna Mangiarotti
Ventilated Faades are
recognised as an effective
envelope solution able to
control and reduce energy
consumption, providing high
thermal insulation, shading
from solar radiation, protection
against humidity penetration, an
opportunity of PV technologies
and solar thermal systems
integration. The performance
of materials, components and
systems of every significant part
of work has to be designed
aiming at its integration into
the project, to ensure the
effectiveness of the adopted
solution.
The baseline case developed
during this research project
reports the experimental
application designed and built
on an existing industrial building
in Turate (Como, Italy): a new
hybrid ventilated faade, made
by new supplementary layers,
is being assembled over the
existing envelop, with the
aim of increasing both the
passive thermal performances
(reinforcing thermal insulation
by the exterior added layer) and
the active capturing of solar
radiation to produce electric
energy, to be exploited by use in
the same buildings systems.
The experimental observations
of the air flow phenomena
generated by the chimney
effect, resulting from really
built and monitored applications
on the ADERMA building (in
Turate, Como; Italy), reveal
the multiplicity of behaviors
of the naturally driven air
flow, including the reverse
down-stream direction under
the influence of night-cold
irradiation or weather conditions
generated by rapid pressure
swamps. Normally the energy
displayed by these phenomena is
dispersed into the atmosphere.
The experimental observations
are based upon a very rich
Data Base resulting from
the years-long continuous
monitoring practiced upon
the ADERMA Energy-efficient
ventilated faade installment
(Facciata Ventilata ad Alta
Efficienza Energetica), that is
providing a vast and detailed
demonstration of the natural
air-flows phenomena, reported
in a number of serial graphic
diagrams that allow the detailed
description of the real dynamics
on the exemplary really built
experimentation field.
The experimental application
of this research concerned with
modeling and simulation issues,
consists of the elaboration of
the whole design process -
since the early stages, through
architectural language and
components definition, until
executive and detailed shop
design - by means of advanced
BIM modeling software
environments, based upon real
3D, Object Oriented, Parametric
and IFC Standard Interoperable
packages and tools.
The potential impact of
simulation tools, when applied
early in the design process,
would enhance the most
sustainable design issues by
comparative solutions of design
alternatives through their digital
models comparison. Simulation
should be intended as a process
aimed at suggesting possible
design development paths,
combining the knowledge of
several experts involved in the
early design phase, making of
it an optimized interdisciplinary
phase, and reducing the
uncertainty in the decision
process.
Many contemporary new
building designs originally
include features and measures
designed and specified to
maximize the energy efficiency
of the building. Yet, once
constructed and in operation,
these buildings often fail to
meet energy performance
expectations. The actual
development stage of thermal-
energetic simulation tools for
digital models, already makes
it possible to change design
decisions after quantitative
evaluation of the entire impact
of the proposed solutions on the
buildings energy performance;
in particular on its impact on
the energy performance of the
building during its life-cycle.
The breakthrough sense of this
research is the integration of
advanced design modelling &
simulation processes, in situ
monitoring and real behavior
analyzing tools for the advanced
envelope systems design,
to develop environmental
adaptation capabilities in terms
of energy performance. The
innovative aspect consists of the
opportunity of evaluating the
buildings behavior according
to the different possible
configurations of the envelope,
in its operating condition,
through digital models virtual
experimentation. order to practice their use
The adoption of monitoring
systems, for storing and
analyzing data of the real
energy performances, represents
the main step to support the
contribution of designers and
industries in generating new
design solutions for integrating
technological and productive
issues with architectural
quality. The availability of a
large set of data describing
real performances disclose the
analysis of a number of dynamic
interferences that influence
physical phenomena. With the
availability and affordability of
more detailed measured data,
a more reliable performance
assessment is possible.
The main issue consists in
the possibility to develop a
cross-checking between the
data coming from the digital
simulation phases and the data
coming from monitoring tools
and sensors, for the real built
faades, in order to allow and
to validate a comparison of
building actual performance
and expected performance in
real context and to pursue the
optimization and the refinement
of the whole process.
This integrated approach has
relevant innovative potentials
and can open to a new
generation of model based
energy-efficient assessment
tools, where experimental data
are configured for matching
performance monitoring and
evaluation towards adaptive
envelopes tailored on their
environment.
The main assumption serving
as the foundation of Adaptive
Envelopes is the relevance
of potential effects produced
by putting analysis tools into
the hands of designers, in
since the very first stages in a
buildings design. Among the
analysis criteria, the thermal
and energetic one practiced
via software simulation, is
demonstrating as one of the
strategic issues for contemporary
urban environment balance and
building performance control
and quality increase.
Adaptive Envelopes, aimed at
matching their surrounding
environmental conditions
dynamics in order to optimize
their geometrical shape,
their topological asset, there
material configuration and the
related thermal performance,
are a promising perspective
to be developed by means of
BIM digital modeling and via
software simulation. Adaptive
Envelopes want to exploit
the range of possibilities for
architectural exterior skin of
buildings to operate variations of
their geometrical configuration
and material composition, in
order to enhance and increase
their ability to capture the
maximum energetic advantages
from or in spite of the
irradiation or meteorological
conditions for their exterior
environment.
The Adaptive Envelopes
conception and peculiar
PhD Yearbook | 2015
characteristics is founded upon
their enabling because of their
intrinsic geometrical, material
and functional assets the
monitoring of its on-going
thermal behavior dynamics,
depending on the environmental
variations of the context in
which Adaptive Envelopes are 749
embedded. The system should
TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING
act through monitoring the
difference between the actual
versus the desired thermal
condition in reaction to its
environment, thence adapting
its configuration change by
means of actuators, finally
implementing its optimized
asset by mean of progressive
correction driven by on-purpose
software tools supported by
surveyed data interpretation.
Scope of the works is to
explore parallel approaches
and pathways enabling the
energy saving and renewable
resources energy capture,
by means of digital design
and software simulations of
their performances: the really
promising solutions evidenced
by simulations advantageous
results, may become the
object of experimentation by
material construction on an
already real building site and
related continuous performance
monitoring.
Materials Engineering | Mathematical
MODELS and METHODS IN Engineering
| Mechanical Engineering | Physics |
Preservation of THE Architectural Heritage
| Rotary-wing aircrafts | Spatial Planning
and Urban Development | Structural Seismic
and Geotechnical Engineering | Technology
and Design for Environment and Building
| Territorial Design and Government |
Aerospace Engineering | Architectural
and Urban Design | Architectural
Composition | Architecture, Urban Design,
Conservation of Housing and Landscape
| Bioengineering | Building Engineering
| Design | Design and technologies for
cultural heritage | Electrical Engineering |
Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
| Environmental and Infrastructures
engineering | Industrial Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering | Information
Technology | Interior Architecture
and Exhibition Design | Management,
Economics and Industrial Engineering PhD Yearbook | 2015
752
DOCTORAL PROGRAM
IN TERRITORIAL DESIGN
AND GOVERNMENT
The new doctoral program in Territorial Design and Government
Chair: merges the two previous Ph.D. courses in Urban, Regional, and
Prof. Rossella Salerno Environmental Planning (head by Prof. Valeria Erba) and in Urban
Projects and Policies (head by prof. Patrizia Gabellini), where one
Ph.D.thesis presented in this yearbook have been carried out.
Objectives of the Doctoral Program
Basic objective of the course is to provide analytical and
interpretative tools, as well as planning/design methods, able
to apprehend and improve institutional approaches, ordinary
procedures and experimental practices for territorial government
and design.
The complexity of territorial change in an open society requires a
wide, pro-active innovation in planning practices and expertise.
The interrelation between urban design and projects evaluation,
environmental planning and landscape urbanism, together
with urban governance, growth management and real estate
development are the foci of the research projects developed by the
faculty and the students involved in the course.
The formative program assumes that many planners are involved
with development not only from a regulatory position, but also
proposing and managing actual projects at different scales.
Comparative assessment of best practices and explorative design
at territorial, urban, and local scale are the tools used to pursue
more effective planning methods and techniques.
Contents and research training
The doctoral program offers advanced training in the critical
construction of territorial plans, projects and policies by integrating
different disciplinary approaches. The varied inter-disciplinary
suggestions offered to Ph.D. students represent a great opportunity
for understanding the multiple dimension of territorial projects and
policies, but the students will be required to convey them to a clear
research project among the following research streams:
Spatial plan formats and tools
Role of the project in leading territorial change
Evaluation and management of urban projects and policies
Descriptions/interpretations of cities and territories
Decisions and governance
Nature and soil
The doctoral candidates will be asked to reflect upon the traditions
of planning and urban design within the Italian and European
PhD Yearbook | 2015
753
context, and the actual actions for mastering administrations and the private sector, research
TERRITORIAL DESIGN AND GOVERNMENT
territorial change also exploiting international centers, and universities, with specific expertise:
best practice comparisons. The latter will in governing territorial development through
be achieved through the organization of integrated projects and innovative procedures
international seminars and through an internship able to share planning decisions with the
in international research centers, universities, and involved actors and communities;
public administrations. in urban policy/project evaluation and
The central importance assigned to the doctoral management, with skills for mastering
thesis determines the attribution of a significant market oriented planning policies, impact
quota of formative credits to the activities assessment and compensations; conflicts
finalized to conceive and write the dissertation mediations; betterment recapture and p/p joint
along all the three years, as well to the training development;
on specific themes related to the final doctoral in applied urban and environmental design, in
dissertation by an active participation to applied order to create physical projects able to interpret
researches and workshops. and guide the economical, social, and political
dimensions of land development, and improve
Professional and research profiles the quality of life and the sustainability of the
The Ph.D. program is aimed to prepare built environment.
researchers and skilled professionals for public
Doctoral Program Board
Andrea Arcidiacono Patrizia Gabellini Pierluigi Paolillo
Matteol Bolocan Goldstein Francesco Infussi Paolo Pileri
Bertrando Bonfantini Arturo Lanzani Angela Poletti
Lidia Diappi Chiara Merlini Paola Pucci
Valeria Erba Federico Oliva Rossella Salerno
Scholarship Sponsors
Assolombarda, Settore Territorio
Globus et locus
Milano Metropoli; Associazione europea delle Agenzie di Sviluppo
Regione Lombardia, DG Agricoltura
Provincia di Milano, Direzione Centrale Pianificazione Territoriale
Comune di Milano, Settore Pianificazione Urbanistica
754

QUARTIERI IN GIOCO.

PhD Yearbook | 2015

Localism Act e attivazione locale, un dialogo tra Londra e
Milano
Linda Cossa - Supervisor: Claudio Calvaresi

755
Quartieri in gioco is the Neighbourhood Forum are.

TERRITORIAL DESIGN AND GOVERNMENT

outcome of a research interest At the core of the reflection
toward local community there are the neighbourhood
engagement processes, in view dimension, the community
of strengthening and innovation led development and how
of public action, and from a to build the conditions for: a
direct experience developed real engagement and activism
in the management of the of local communities; a
Neighbourhood Lab in the productive confrontation among
Plan of Social Support to the communities, institutions, and
Contratto di Quartiere II in experts competences; social
Ponte Lambro. innovation and a self-guiding
Ive observed the recent society.
English reform promoted by In closing, the research suggests
the Localism Act, aimed to a dialogue between London and
realize the Big Society and to Milan, developing a reflection
encourage powers devolution based on findings from case
toward local dimension. This studies and stances from
reform introduces significant literature which are critically
changes in the planning discussed, identifying new
system, through recognising possible issues for a new urban
legally the new Neighbourhood policies agenda.
Planning level, and fostering
new neighbourhood
governance form based on local
communities responsabilities
and engagement: the
Neighbourhood Forum. So, Ive
studied his empirical application
in Highgate, a neighbourhood in
London.
In particular my focus is about
those policy tools that can
be useful to accompany this
kind of processes and work in
the direction of community,
stakeholders and institutions
capacities development, by
their rooted dimension and
the proximity to territories
and to the issues they raise;
as Neighbourhood Lab and
756

Analysis of the degree of mutual influence

PhD Yearbook | 2015

between the evolution of the automotive
industry and the metropolitan socio-spatial
domain. The case of Detroit, Michigan
Letizia Imbres - Supervisor: Prof. Costanzo Ranci Ortigosa
Coordinator: Prof.ssa Rossella Salerno
757
The thesis aims to investigate the time, respectively. Then, the spatial domain over the entire morphology (i.e. ethnicity and

TERRITORIAL DESIGN AND GOVERNMENT

mutual influence between the
evolution of the US automotive
industry and the metropolitan
area of Detroit, Michigan, the
latter examined in its spatial
and social constituents. The
analysis has been articulated
according to specific space
and time frames. On the one
hand, a cross-scalar spatial
frame has been chosen to
examine the intrinsically reticular
nature of the US automotive
realm while, contemporarily,
allowing to investigate the
rather areal and linear while Chapter 3 and Chapter
dimensions characterizing
the metropolitan socio-spatial
domain. On the other hand,
an appropriate time frame
has been selected according
to a twofold purpose: first, the
entire timespan considered
has to be sufficiently extended
to include all crucial stages of
the US automobile industrys
evolution (thus allowing for
extrapolating long-term patterns
as well as minor trends and
counter-trends); second, the
temporal frame needed to be
sub-divided in shorter periods
to carry out more analytic
investigation. In order to meet
these criteria, the whole period
covered by the dissertation runs
approximately from 1880 until
the early 2010s, where the two
extremes correspond to the
initial stage of the US industrial
revolution and the present
130-year time span has been
further sub-divided into shorter
phases (and/or subphases) and/or sub-phase, events have
assuming as breaking-points
between subsequent phases
economic recessions and/or
wartime periods. Ultimately,
the body of the thesis has been
articulated into 3 major phases
and 5 sub-phases; in addition,
this sub-division have been
adopted for organizing the
internal structure into chapters.
In particular, Chapters 1 and 2
refer to the 1880-1900 period,
indicators which have been
4 analyze the rise of the US
automotive industry and the
evolution of the socio-spatial
domain until the recession of the
early 1920s. Chapters 5 and 6
focus on the interwar decades,
including the Great Depression
which followed the Wall Street
Crash of 1929. Chapter 7
and Chapter 8 document the
patterns of continuity and
change in the US automobile
industry and the metropolitan
socio-spatial domain during
World War II and the postwar
period. Chapter 9 investigates
the major changes occurring
in the US automobile industry
following the 1973-1974
oil shortage, while Chapter
10 attempts to provide an
overview of the principal trends
characterizing the last decades.
Finally, Chapter 11 examines the
evolution of the Detroits socio-
1973-2010s phase. race, educational attainment,
Moreover, for each given phase employment and unemployment
rate, jobs by occupation, jobs by
been analyzed by making use of industry, income, poverty rate);
analytic categories and sub- c) local government policies
categories which offer valuable and corporate management
interpretation keys allowing interaction.
to exit the chronological Finally, two sets of preliminary
description of facts as well as conclusions are discussed:
providing a set of guidelines the former focuses on the
used to assist interpreters in metamorphosis of the US
rapidly identifying features and automobile industry, by making
tracing evolutionary patterns. If a specific reference to the
necessary, for each sub-category main technical, organizational,
has been determined a set of and spatial changes illustrated
for each phase; the latter
applied for monitoring the reasons about the hypothetical
trend of a selected variable over correlation existing between the
time. The group of analytic major shifts occurring within the
dimensions employed for industry and the socio-spatial
investigating the automotive evolution of the Motor City.
realm comprehends:
a) agents of change; b)
processes and operations
(i.e. product development
and product manufacturing);
c) organizational structure
(i.e. intra-and inter-corporate
relations; corporate-suppliers
relations; labor-management
relations); d) geography (i.e.
national, regional, and local
scale). The sub-categories and
indicators used for tracing the
evolution of the socio-spatial
domain include: a) metropolitan
form (i.e. population change,
metropolitan expansion,
population density and building
vacancy rate, metropolitan
structure; land use); b) social
758
The City Network and the Regional
Evolution in Yangtze River Delta, China
 atteo Giuseppe Romanato - Supervisor: Prof. Luigi Cocchiarella
M of the research in fact is that
Tutor: Prof.ssa Salerno Rossella -
GPT Phd program coordinator: Prof.ssa Salerno Rossella, Politecnico di Milano.
The aim of the research is to
detect ideas, expectations,
aspirations and wishes about the
city in a bottom-up perspective.
To fulfil that a very useful
channel is nowadays the web
and the internet communication.
In this environment messages,
discussions and on-line debates
take shape in an extremely
free way. The fields of social
communication, technology and
representation can help to depict
a complex ground and to find
out new tools to deal with such
a big amount of material. It is
so clear that a multidisciplinary
approach must be taken into
account. All these disciplines
outline the panorama on which
the phenomenon of social
communication takes place.
The postmodern condition,
the space of flows and its
dialogue with the space of
places, the globalized imagery,
the techno-urban imagery, the
territorial commodification,
the spectacular turning of
cities and quarters both from
a communitarian and media
point of view, the dynamics
of connected knowledge,
the human shaping and the
purposes of technological myths
and of techno-scientific utopias
are all elements that must not be
underestimated in approaching
the research. All these
contributions allow to point out
open questions which involve
technical progress, society and
urban space. Are the criteria
trough which we interpret
citizenship, urban images,
community and participation
still well-grounded or should
they be reviewed? How does
technological communication
affect that? What innovations
in terms of contents, ways
and resources can be detected
through research? From a
methodological perspective
it was necessary to realize
that there is not a perfectly
superimposable foregoing
research. So it was indispensable
to build an analysis path
which could borrow the views
of the different converging
disciplines that explored various
sides of the problem trying
to merge them together.
Another important choice
was to vary the approaches to
avoid the risk of overwriting
personal considerations on the
outcomes and not to restrict the
experience only to one single
case study. So the research
work involved a preliminary
phase of triage and three
case studies. The advance of
the research proceeded from
the general to the specific in the
following way.The triage was
a qualitative exploration about
some ways of manifestation of
the urban images on the net.
The first case study was about
a generic urban image of space
and urban environment as
expressed by an amateur group
of web-users. This overview was
tested in comparison between
both the German and the Italian
side of the contributors in a
specific web-site focused on
photography. The second case
study explored the image of
the city no more referring it to
a neuter space but organized
around a site-specific experience:
the city of Milan. The further
and final step was based on
the so called web-communities
that discuss about the present
and past urban transformations
of Milan. Moreover just in
order not to orient the results
a priori a common unit of
measurement was considered
and that is to say the images
themselves. The main issue of
this social exchange, in which
a proper knowledge develops,
are in fact urban images. So
digitalized images in the form of
photos, renderings, drawings,
historical paintings, maps,
sketches and so on can tell us
a lot about the imagery of a
connected population. About
5000 images of all kinds were
collected and about 1000
paged up on 187 tables. Due
to the rhizomatic structure of
the web (especially as far as the
exploration became more and
more specific) all these images
were collected from the different
sources and re-assembled
according to interpretative
categories to make them emerge
in all their communicative
strength. One of the main issue
images are rhetorical dispositives
on the footsteps of Foucault.
The overcoming dimension of
the web flows, including the
images, is so an inevitable part
of the on-line experience of the
media. Beyond this comments,
writings, opinions and
discussions about the images of
the city contributed to describe
emerging sensibilities and ideas
on the net. Most of the reported
textual evidences are linked
with the original web source in
order to warrant the possibility
for the reader to reconstruct
the reasoning as the principle
of the falsifiability by Popper
requires. About 100 opinions
by different people were found
with contributions that can
extend form a line to half a
page in the form of sentences,
monologues, dialogues, debates
etc. The main outcomes of the
first steps could display that
on the web both amateur and
professional production can
find an hospitable reception
and can merge together due
to the growing autonomy of
the digital images. Such images
can move in the internet and
get into contacts with different
audiences and also in different
ways of digital collaborations
for examples in on-line archives
or software platforms. In these
complex ways of communication
a great part of the urban images
wandering on the net reflects
an hyper-dense city showing
the growth rhetoric also beyond
the limits of the different
languages. In this direction it
was possible to discover, in the
first case study, a people of
space amateur photographers
that can incorporate cultured
languages in their production.
The meeting point of such
population, the on-line platform
of Fotocommunity, can be
used to detect the Spaces of
representation overlapping
in some ways with the
Representation of spaces
that Lefbvre considered in his
thought. All these personal and
formal experiences as well as
communitarian vocations can
narrate the urban environments
according to various frames:
the abstracted space, the
growth-myth city and the
historical affective places. In
the second case study, through
personal sites, blogs, and others
platforms it was possible to
describe an iconic web overlay
which covers all the city of
Milan. They can be institutional,
quarters or amateurs sites and
can offer a great amount of
digital images: archives with an
encyclopaedic aspiration but
also innovative forms of mutual
collaboration. Especially the
ideas of a future technological
city based on economical
development and of a nostalgic
past city can be found here as
parallel confirmation of what
detected in the first case study.
In the third case study the web-
communities, gathered around
on-line discussion forums, were
taken into consideration as they
can express more consciously
opinions and expectations about
Milan urban transformations.
Beyond already known forms of
universal mapping or requests
for an urban symbolism there
is here a great presence of
international references and
comparisons thanks just to
PhD Yearbook | 2015
the web dynamics. The typical
form of the on-line images
consumption can in fact
open new territories for the
perception of urban spaces,
the place identity and the
belonging to the city mediated
through technological channels.
Moreover the image of the 759
city that emerges confirms the
TERRITORIAL DESIGN AND GOVERNMENT
rhetoric of the growth and of
techno-utopianism as well as
the regret for pre-capitalistic city.
They are actually symptoms of
disappointment for the present
urban environment and of ideal
projections on alternative visions
as well. It is a fact that the
letdown for the present space
is evaluated with the parameter
of the globalized world that can
reach the web users through the
net.Conclusions can be drawn
on three levels. On the levels of
contents it is clear that neo-
liberal narrations are spread on
the internet through images and
are assimilated by a large quota
of connected people. On the
level of the web environment it
is possible to claim that media
and the city are composing
together and influence each
others on the ground of
expectations. On the level of
resources and opportunities
the iconic dimension of
communication can suggest new
ways to involve common people
to meet with technicians and
institutions in order to take part
in the design and preservation of
the city.
760
Mapping Urban Climate and Air Quality
for City Planning, from Multi-Scale
Modeling to Real-Time Air Sensing
Aldo Treville - Supervisor: Prof. Eugenio Morello
Co-supervisor: Prof. Rex Britter - Tutor: Prof. Angela Poletti
Problem definition
Urban planning is facing the
environmental questions
posed by climate change and
air pollution in urbanized and
increasingly crowded areas
in both the developed and
developing world: how can cities
alleviate their responsibility and
address proper measures? While
current studies are exploring
mitigation and particularly
adaptation solutions to be
applied to target locations, data
and urban models are mostly
available at the regional/city
level, with little information
available at the local/
neighborhood level, and the
peoples level.
However, new available
sensing technologies are
pushing a paradigm shift: from
traditional top-down climate/
environmental modeling and
scarce governmental monitoring
to innovative diffused sensor
networks and participatory
sensing scenarios. The
opportunities for spatial and
environmental planning are
vast: mapping at a local scale
and at a fine-grained resolution
can enhance UHI and pollution
concentration studies, and allow
hotspots spatial and temporal
variation studies. In addition,
real-time information supports
the creation of an urban smart
information platform for
interdisciplinary communication
and collaboration, ultimately
used by planners and decision
makers for planning more
sentient, resilient, and responsive
cities.
The research aimed to
investigate the potential of
mapping urban climate and
air quality with the help of air
sensing; mapping by air sensing
can be a way of transferring
the climatic and environmental
knowledge into planning
languages, bridging the gap
between urban climatology,
meteorology, air studies, city
planning and urban design.
Limits of air sensing, in its
technology and cost, are
the biggest barriers for
current planning processes.
Therefore, exploring air sensing
opportunities, obstacles and
strategies to overcome them,
and providing recommendations
for its integration into urban
planning, was the final scope of
this research.
Methodology, case studies
and fieldwork
Strengths and challenges of
modeling were studied in the
first research step at Urban
Simulation Lab of Politenico
di Milano; the research
included investigating the
relation between microclimate
and discomfort and the
built environment at the
neighborhood level, and the
creation of a model for the
city of Milan collecting data
fromvarious databases.
In a second research step a
specific project was designed,
in order to experiment with
air city sensing in the field
with its limits, and explore the
opportunity of this innovative
approach for urban planning
to study urban climate and air
quality at the people scale. In
fact, considering the limits of
a stationary sensing network
in reaching a proper resolution
(MIT-Clairity case study), a
mobile sensing campaign in a
field experiment was designed
and executed, by testing and
using sensors and exploring
sensing opportunities in
mapping air quality and urban
climate parameters at Senseable
City Lab of MIT.
A conclusive contribution is a
project proposal that includes
the findings of this research,
demonstrating the potential for
the city of Milan to implement
a sensing project integrated
into a model, in the final aim of
mapping urban climate and air
quality in Milan.
Data analysis and findings
Figure 1 shows a high-
resolution, local (and potentially
real-time) air quality map using
data from the mobile sensing
fieldwork. The thesis includes
temperature, humidity and other
pollutants hot-spot analysis from
air sensing.
Among the opportunities that
1. PM2.5 concentration expressed in g/m3 unit, as coming from the collected sensor raw readings (May 30th, MIT
campus, Cambridge, MA).
urban planning should embrace
there is the possibility to reduce
vulnerability, by both limiting
emissions/impact and reducing
sensitivity and increasing
citizens adaptive capacity. In
fact, the potential of such
unprecedented fine-grained
mapping could allow effective
local interventions, such as
urban policies for mobility (i.e.
modifying car accessibility),
energy, and land use (i.e.
relocating pollutant urban
functions, or target groups
from a high polluted areas).
Urban design measures could
be addressed to targeted areas,
in modifying local morphology
(i.e. improving ventilation),
fabrics (i.e. increasing green
areas), and other measures
could increase adaptation
capacity to UHI and to pollutants
accumulation (i.e. barriers from
local sources, alert systems).
Finally, urban practices can also
be affected by such mapping,
such as citizens behavior and
lifestyle (i.e. reducing private
car transportation, increasing
awareness in outdoor activities).
Overall, the potential of sensing
emerged from this work seems
to be very high, but more
for future elaboration than
immediate implementation,
given the recent technology
and the current challenges
experienced. In fact, strong
and unexpected findings
were underlined, such as
data representativeness,
communication and
transparency issues, data
accuracy and calibration (unless
machine-learning techniques
are used to increase data quality
coming from low-cost sensors),
and further research is needed
in order to explore the realistic
possibility of implementation of
the next generation sensing
in urban climate and air quality
mapping.
Conclusions
A paradigm shift towards more
and more air quality attention,
measurements, mapping and
awareness is likely to occur
in the short-term future, and
once sensors improve in data
quality, thanks to ongoing rapid
technology developments,
they will be ready to be
implemented at a large scale for
urban mapping. At the same
PhD Yearbook | 2015
761
TERRITORIAL DESIGN AND GOVERNMENT
time it is possible to envision
a future urban planning more
focused on governing health
and well-being at the peoples
level, and mapping urban
climate and air quality can profit
from new sensing tools and
integrating sectorial knowledge.
Urban planning, therefore,
should be ready and profit
from this opportunity, such as
pervasiveness and its scale and
resolution improvement, as it
will change the future of urban
climate and air quality in our
cities. In addition, participatory
sensing scenarios are beneficial
for both increasing data quality
and enhancing awareness on
environmental and health topics.
The spread of personal sensing
through wearables and the
pervasive sensing might lead
to the panoptic ICT top-down
concern, familiar to smart city
criticism. However, it should be
tackled by enhancing bottom-
up smartness: promoting
crowdsourcing and people-
centric sensing will enhance
urban sensing in an integrated
perspective, both increasing data
quality and citizens participation
and awareness.
Milan, May 2015

Thanks to:
PhD School
Chairs and Secretaries of the Doctoral Programs
The Doctors of the Graduating Class of 2015

Graphic design and layout

Servizi Grafici Editoriali s.r.l. (MI)

For further information:

www.polimi.it/phd
phdschool@polimi.it