Coordinators:
F2M: Samuel Forest
M&MoCS: Francesco D’Annibale and Daniele Zulli

Main topics: 
Exploiting nonlinearities and instabilities in mechanical systems.
Stability and bifurcation in nonlinear periodic and/or multilayered beam and shell-like structures. 

Instabilities are ubiquitous in the behavior of geomaterials, engineering materials and structures. Well–established methods are available to predict bifurcation points like buckling threshold, necking–barreling, strain localization phenomena including shear band or compaction band formation. A well-established paradigm of structural mechanics limits the operating range of structural systems within largely conservative boundaries. Traditional recom- mendations tend to limit the admissible elastic response of structures and materials within the narrow range of small displacements and below the thresholds of critical loads. Such restrictive conventions are often motivated by insufficient levels of confidence in (i) the accuracy of the simplified mechanical models, (ii) the approximate description of dynamic actions and interactions, (iii) the limited performance of some traditional construction materials