These are the main lines of research of the group at present:

Railway dynamics

Design of complex railway models including rolling stock and traffic control and signalling systems. Development of virtual railway models and advanced control algorithms including mobile swagger systems and virtual coupling used both for line capacity sizing and for simulations of the actual behaviour of the train on the track

Multiphysics simulation

• Numerical methods for the resolution of coupled mechanical problems. For example, thermomechanical or stress-diffusion problems, including the inelastic response of the material, both in the range of small and large deformations.

• Algorithms for the simulation of fluid-structure interaction. The group has developed particle Lagrangian methods and also ALE formulations. Recently, formulations have been developed for the simulation of the interaction between thin structures (shells and beams) with fluids.

Computational Mechanics

The group is interested in the development and analysis of numerical methods that can be used to solve complex problems in nonlinear mechanics of solids, fluids and structures. In relation to these three disciplines, the group has developed to date:

• New methods for the time integration of elastodynamics, methods that preserve the fundamental laws of mechanics such as the preservation of moments or energy.
• Improved algorithms for the calculation of structures that include nonlinear beams, shells and membranes.
• Inelastic material models, such as for the study of elastoplasticity and viscoplasticity with large deformations.
• Procedures for the study of the impact of uncertainty in mechanical models, both to calibrate these using Bayesian techniques, and to determine the uncertainty of the results predicted by numerical tools.

Mechatronic systems

• Development of algorithms for modernization and simulations of multi-domain systems that are present in mechatronic systems, including advanced predictive control algorithms, applied to road and rail vehicles, autonomous driving and robotics

Modeling and simulation in critical infrastructures

• Complex models and simulation of critical infrastructures such as railway energy systems.