Preface

ABSTRACT

The Italian Association for Stress Analysis (AIAS) was founded in 1971 by researchers from academia, research centers and industry. AIAS was intended as a community where to discuss, to share and to develop scientific knowledge related to all technical aspects of stress analysis. In the years, from an initial focus on experimental techniques, AIAS contributed considerably to the development of modern numerical methods and computational techniques for the mechanical engineering design. In 2015, AIAS turned in the Italian Scientific Society of Mechanical Engineering Design.Today, AIAS is an institutional partner that supports the instances from academia in subject area of the mechanical engineering design. Every year, AIAS organizes a technical conference offering the possibility to present research updates, share new ideas and foster collaborations. The AIAS conference has become a fundamental event for all those interested in current developments in mechanical engineering design and stress analysis, where to meet researchers, testing equipment and software developers.The 50th AIAS Conference edition was initially re-scheduled to be held in Genoa, Italy after it was switched as virtual conference in 2020 due to COVID-19 emergency. Unfortunately, due to the continuing pandemic emergency, it was decided to go virtual again to keep continuity with the tradition, confident that, despite the difficulties of the moment, united we stand.As for the previous year, the response of researchers and students has been outstanding over 180 oral contribution have been presented in synchronous, during the three days of the conference, with three simultaneous parallel sessions. In addition to the thematic sessions on AIAS traditional subjects, special sessions on additive manufacturing, energetic methods for structural analysis and smart materials and MEMS have been successfully organized with the contribution of the AIAS technical committees.Among all contributions presented at the conference, 54 have been selected to be published after peer review, in this volume. This was made possible thanks to the active participation of all AIAS members, to the work of the AIAS Scientific Committee and Conference Papers Review panel (Profs Giovanni Meneghetti, AIAS Scientific Coordinator, Luciano Afferrante, Francesco Bucchi, Filippo Cianetti, Enrico Armentani, Marco Sasso). Their outstanding contribution is gratefully acknowledged.List of Disclaimer, Editors, Scientific Committee are available in this pdf.