Experimental and computing strategies in advanced material characterization problems

The mechanical characterization of materials relies more and more often on sophisticated experimental methods that permit to acquire a large amount of data and, contemporarily, to reduce the invasiveness of the tests. This evolution accompanies the growing demand of non-destructive diagnostic tools that assess the safety level of components in use in structures and infrastructures, for instance in the strategic energy sector. Advanced material systems and properties that are not amenable to traditional techniques, for instance thin layered structures and their adhesion on the relevant substrates, can be also characterized by means of combined experimental-numerical tools elaborating data acquired by full-field measurement techniques. In this context, parameter identification procedures involve the repeated simulation of the laboratory or in situ tests by sophisticated and usually expensive non-linear analyses while, in some situation, reliable and accurate results would be required in real time. The effectiveness and the filtering capabilities of reduced models based on decomposition and interpolation techniques can be profitably used to meet these conflicting requirements. This communication intends to summarize some results recently achieved in this field by the author and her co-workers. The aim is to foster further interaction between engineering and mathematical communities.