Stability and Failure Mechanisms in Thin-Walled Structures: from Shear Walls to Plate-Lattices and Shells
Thin-walled and slender structures are highly valued for their lightweight, cost-efficient designs and high strength-to-weight ratios, making them ideal for a wide range of engineering applications, including construction and storage tanks. This presentation examines their mechanical performance across lengthscales, focusing on cold-formed steel (CFS) shear walls, architected plate-lattices, and thin spherical shells. For CFS walls under seismic loads, we introduce a 3D finite element model integrating experimental data and probabilistic methods to capture critical fastener failure, recommending higher-capacity sheathing alternatives. For plate-lattices, we analyze their stability and imperfection sensitivity, deriving knockdown factors and optimized designs. Lastly, we investigate probabilistic buckling of imperfect spherical shells, combining experiments and simulations to evaluate defect interactions. With this talk, I hope to advance our understanding of failure mechanisms in thin-walled structures and to support both practical design improvements and the development of novel functional (meta)materials.
Bio: Fani Derveni is an assistant professor in Cornell Civil and Environmental Engineering, with a vision of developing and testing innovative scalable (meta)materials toward sustainable and resilient infrastructure. As a postdoc in mechanical engineering at the ÃÂcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, she investigated the stability and mechanics of thin spherical shells, entangled elastic rods and bio-inspired structures. Prior to this, Fani obtained her M.S. and Ph.D. in structural engineering and mechanics from University of Massachusetts Amherst (2019 and 2021, respectively), focusing on the mechanics and performance of thin-walled metallic structures: from plate-lattice architected materials to cold-formed steel shear walls. She received her diploma in civil engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (2017), and spent six months as an exchange student at Cracow University of Technology, Poland. Outside the lab, she loves running marathons, skiing and hiking.