MUSAM is a research unit of engineers, physicists and applied mathematicians researching the multi-scale and multi-physics characterization of materials. Topics of investigation regard the deformation, fracture, fatigue, contact and structural integrity of heterogeneous materials and structures, coatings, material microstructures and devices. In addition to computational tools developed in-house (
finite element method, boundary element method, molecular dynamics), the experimental facilities available in the laboratory include mechanical testing machines, a scanning electron microscope, a confocal and interferometric profilometer, a digital image correlation system and a high resolution thermocamera. This research is applied to areas of civil, mechanical, aerospace and electronic engineering, renewable energy systems and geophysics.
