Thermomechanical Performance Analysis of Novel Cement-Based Building Envelopes with Enhanced Passive Insulation Properties.

The design of new insulating envelopes is a direct route towards energy efficient buildings. The combinations of novel materials, such as phase-change (PCM), and advanced manufacturing techniques, such as additive manufacturing, may harness important changes in the designing of building envelopes. In this work we propose a novel methodology for the design of cement-based building envelopes.

Numerical Analysis of Degradation and Capacity Loss in Graphite Active Particles of Li-Ion Battery Anodes.

It is well known that the performance and durability of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) can be severely impaired by fracture events that originate in stresses due to Li ion diffusion in fast charge-discharge cycles. Existing models of battery damage overlook either the role of particle shape in stress concentration, the effect of material disorder and preexisting defects in crack initiation and propagation, or both. In this work we present a novel, three-dimensional, and coupled diffusive-mechanical numerical model that simultaneously accounts for all these phenomena by means of (i) a random particle generator and (ii) a stochastic description of material properties implemented within the lattice method framework.