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In the field of civil and transports engineering,research activity at UMR Navier - LAMI covers experimental, theoretical, as well as numerical aspects of mechanics of materials and structures.

Innovative structures are designed and realized by using timber and composite materials. The proposal of structural design criteria for the optimal use of these materials, still scarcely used in civil engineering, is the main purpose of research in this area. Three projects are currently developed: the design of a composite footbridge, the construction of composite grid shells, and the optimization of the use of timber in the design of structures.

This research area include the following subjects: multi-body dynamics, dynamic stability of structures, railway dynamics, tyre dynamics and tyre noise modelling, vibroacoustics of uncertain structures, modal identification and dynamic identification of non-linear modes, in view of the analysis of soilstructure interaction, identification of the dynamic behaviour of polymers at low frequencies.

Activities in this research area are mainly directed to: (i) the proposal of criteria for the « good use » of non-renewable materials, in order to preserve natural resources; (ii) the analysis and the production of materials having a low environmental impact;
(iii) the use of timber structures, in order to reduce the emissions of gases causing the greenhouse effect.

Research activities in this area aim the development of engineering numerical tools for the structural analysis of heterogeneous structures. In this context the multi-scale approaches appear as a privileged theoretical tool, since they provide the modelling of the macroscopic behaviour through a description of the local (microscopic) physical properties.