Laura Govoni

i) Innovative foundations for offshore wind turbines. The study is aimed at innovative solutions for offshore wind turbine foundation systems, with particular attention to direct suction caisson type foundations. The behavior of these structures under cyclic and monotonic load has recently been investigated in collaboration with the Fraunhofer research institute IWES (Hannover). The need to investigate and/or test innovative solutions for the development of offshore wind farms is currently more felt in areas where onshore installations are preferred or prevalent, compared to contexts where technologies for the supply of offshore wind energy are well established. For this reason, research has recently turned to the optimization of performance and the consequent reduction of costs for the development of offshore wind farms in Italy starting from the site-specific design of the structure which includes the foundation and the transition element together with the crucial aspects of installation and removal.

ii) Mitigation of risk from landslides. This research topic concerns the study of the behavior of mesh rockfall barriers. The study primarily concerned the implementation and interpretation of full-scale tests, conducted at the vertical drop field on samples of different models of high-capacity mesh rockfall barriers, belonging to various energy absorption classes (from 500 to 5000 kJ) and therefore the development of FE-type, non-linear and dynamic numeric models of prototypes with two-dimensional or three-dimensional geometry. In the context of the analysis of the residual risk from rock falls, the research is now aimed at studying the response and management of existing mitigation works with particular attention to rockfall barriers with limited capacity of the semi-rigid type (type of works also studied in collaboration with the CGSE of the University of Newcastle (Australia).