HARVEST main outcomes presented in AIAS Conference

The Italian Association for Machine Design (AIAS) organises every year a conference to discuss the advances in the national research on mechanical design, experimental methods, simulation strategies, advanced materials and processes. Due to COVID-19, the 49th edition was held online from September 2nd to September 5th, 2020.
In one of the sessions dedicated to composite materials, two presentations were related to the HARVEST project. Both were given by the research group on composite materials of the University of Padova, a member of the consortium.

The first work was entitled “Modelling the thermo-electric properties of continuous fibre reinforced composites” and was presented by Michele Zappalorto. Here, the innovative strategies for modelling the thermo-electric behaviour of fibre-reinforced composites developed during the project were shown.

The second presentation was given by Paolo Andrea Carraro and was entitled “A micro-mechanical model for the effect of the microstructure on the thermo-electric properties of unidirectional composites”. In this work, the effect of the local material microstructure on the thermo-electric properties of composite materials was discussed and a modelling approach, capable of accounting for this effect, was proposed.
This conference, that recorded a very wide participation from the members of the Italian scientific community in the field of machine design, was a great opportunity for disseminating the HARVEST consortium, its aims and some of the main outcomes of the first part of the project.