Many steel bridges, built after World War II and still operational, are nearing the end of their designed life. Due to their prolonged service life, degradation phenomena, like fatigue and corrosion, can compromise their integrity. Elena’s research is focused on the creation of a framework for the prediction of the fatigue life of such structures which includes also data collected from a specific bridge. This will make the predictions more accurate for the specific structure under analysis. Her research profile involves aspects such as:

• Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM)
• Model and measurement uncertainties
• Reliability assessment
• Bayesian updating

The main topic of her research, namely fatigue life estimation, is shared with several other projects of the Aluminium and Steel Group.

Elena comes from the field of mechanical engineering, in which she obtained both her bachelor’s and her master’s degrees. Her first graduation project revolved on innovative welding techniques for metals undergoing radiations, while her latest graduation project focused on the fatigue analysis of 308L steel specimens produced by wire and arc additive manufacturing both in the machined and as-built condition.