Academic Staff

Dr Giuseppe Zurlo

MEng, PhD

Contact Details

Lecturer
Applied Mathematics
NUI Galway
T: Ext. 5005
E: GIUSEPPE.ZURLO@nuigalway.ie

Biography

I got my MSc in Mechanical Engineering in the Politecnico di Bari with a Thesis on the role of "A priori inequalities in nonlinear elasticity". Since then I developed a strong interest for the theory of Elasticity and, more in general, for Continuum Mechanics, for the theory of Phase Transitions, for Electroactive Materials and more recently for Growth, both in biological materials and in more general non-biological frameworks. I did my PhD in the University of Pisa in this subject, on the modelling of "Material and phase transitions in biological membranes". During this period I spent some months at Cornell University(NY) and Carnegie Mellon University(USA) and I worked on a new model for the nonlinear elastic behavior of the lipid bilayer, the shell of cells, that accounts for thickness variations.

Research Interests

My research is focused on the modelling of material behavior at the intersection of Con- tinuum Mechanics with Nonlinear Elasticity, Biology and Electromagnetism. More specif- ically I work on Growth, Morphogenesis and Patterning in biological materials, on the mechanical behaviour of Cell Membranes, on the modeling of damage and healing phenomena in Rubber Materials, on the theory of Finite Elasticity with a specific focus on the mechanics of thin bodies, on Electroelasticity of soft actuators and en- ergy harvesters. My principal research interest is currently an ambitious and far-reaching project to develop a mechanical theory for 3D Printing of biological materials.

Research Projects

	Project	Start Date	End Date
	IRC Post Doctoral Fellowship 2016 Stefania Colonnelli - Harvesting Electrical Energy from Ionic Polymers	01-OCT-16	31-OCT-16

Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2023)	'Growth anisotropy of the extracellular matrix shapes a developing organ' Stefan Harmansa, Alexander Erlich, Christophe Eloy , Giuseppe Zurlo, Thomas Lecuit (2023) 'Growth anisotropy of the extracellular matrix shapes a developing organ'. Nature Communications, 14 (1220) [DOI] [Details]
	(2022)	'Taut domains in transversely isotropic electro-magneto-active thin membranes' Aman Khurana, Deepak Kumar, Atul Kumar Sharma, Giuseppe Zurlo, M.M. Joglekar (2022) 'Taut domains in transversely isotropic electro-magneto-active thin membranes'. International Journal Of Non-Linear Mechanics, 147 [DOI] [Details]
	(2022)	'Electromechanical stability of wrinkled dielectric elastomers' Aman Khurana, M.M. Joglekar, Giuseppe Zurlo (2022) 'Electromechanical stability of wrinkled dielectric elastomers'. International Journal Of Solids And Structures, 246-147 [DOI] [Details]
	(2021)	'Piezoelectric Machines: Achieving Non-Standard Actuation and Sensing Properties in Poled Ceramics' Giuseppe Saccomandi, Emanuela Speranzini, Giuseppe Zurlo (2021) 'Piezoelectric Machines: Achieving Non-Standard Actuation and Sensing Properties in Poled Ceramics'. The Quarterly Journal Of Mechanics And Applied Mathematics, 74 (2):159-172 [DOI] [Details]
	(2020)	'Mechanical behavior of multi-cellular spheroids under osmotic compression' Dolega M, Zurlo G, LeGoff M, Greda M, Verdier C, Joanny JF, Cappello G, Recho P (2020) 'Mechanical behavior of multi-cellular spheroids under osmotic compression'. Journal Of The Mechanics And Physics Of Solids, [DOI] [Details]
	(2020)	'The Poynting effect' Zurlo G, Blackwell J, Colgan N, Destrade M (2020) 'The Poynting effect'. American Journal Of Physics, 88 :1036-1040 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
	(2021)	'Strain incompatibility as a source of residual stress in welding and additive manufacturing' Zaza, D,Ciavarella, M,Zurlo, G (2021) 'Strain incompatibility as a source of residual stress in welding and additive manufacturing'. European Journal Of Mechanics A-Solids, 85 [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'Nonlinear elasticity of incompatible surface growth' Truskinovsky, L,Zurlo, G (2019) 'Nonlinear elasticity of incompatible surface growth'. Physical Review E, 99 [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'Foreword to the special issue: Constitutive modelling in biomechanics' Balbi V., Zurlo G. (2019) 'Foreword to the special issue: Constitutive modelling in biomechanics'. International Journal Of Non-Linear Mechanics, [Details]
	(2018)	'Fine tuning the electro-mechanical response of dielectric elastomers' Zurlo, G,Destrade, M,Lu, TQ (2018) 'Fine tuning the electro-mechanical response of dielectric elastomers'. Applied Physics Letters, 113 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
	(2018)	'Inelastic surface growth' Zurlo, G,Truskinovsky, L (2018) 'Inelastic surface growth'. Mechanics Research Communications, 93 :174-179 [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'The out-of-plane behaviour of dielectric membranes: Description of wrinkling and pull-in instabilities' Greaney, P,Meere, M,Zurlo, G (2019) 'The out-of-plane behaviour of dielectric membranes: Description of wrinkling and pull-in instabilities'. Journal Of The Mechanics And Physics Of Solids, 122 :84-97 [DOI] [Details]
	(2017)	'Printing Non-Euclidean Solids' Zurlo, G;Truskinovsky, L (2017) 'Printing Non-Euclidean Solids'. Physical Review Letters, 119 [DOI] [Details]
	(2017)	'Catastrophic Thinning of Dielectric Elastomers' Zurlo, G,Destrade, M,DeTommasi, D,Puglisi, G (2017) 'Catastrophic Thinning of Dielectric Elastomers'. Physical Review Letters, 118 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
	(2015)	'The role of material behavior in the performances of electroactive polymer energy harvesters' Colonnelli, S,Saccomandi, G,Zurlo, G (2015) 'The role of material behavior in the performances of electroactive polymer energy harvesters'. Journal Of Polymer Science Part B-Polymer Physics, 53 :1303-1314 [DOI] [Details]
	(2014)	'Hysteresis in electroactive polymers' De Tommasi, D,Puglisi, G,Zurlo, G (2014) 'Hysteresis in electroactive polymers'. European Journal Of Mechanics A-Solids, 48 :16-22 [DOI] [Details]
	(2014)	'Failure modes in electroactive polymer thin films with elastic electrodes' De Tommasi, D., Puglisi, G., Zurlo, G. (2014) 'Failure modes in electroactive polymer thin films with elastic electrodes'. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 47 (6) [Details]
	(2014)	'Damage induced dissipation in electroactive polymer harvesters' S. Colonnelli, G. Saccomandi, G. Zurlo (2014) 'Damage induced dissipation in electroactive polymer harvesters'. Applied Physics Letters, [Details]
	(2013)	'The stretching elasticity of biomembranes determines their line tension and bending rigidity' Deseri, L., Zurlo, G. (2013) 'The stretching elasticity of biomembranes determines their line tension and bending rigidity'. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 12 (6):1233-1242 [Details]
	(2013)	'Inhomogeneous deformations and pull-in instability in electroactive polymeric films' De Tommasi, D., Puglisi, G., Zurlo, G. (2013) 'Inhomogeneous deformations and pull-in instability in electroactive polymeric films'. International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics, 57 :123-129 [Details]
	(2013)	'Non-local elastic effects in electroactive polymers' Zurlo, G. (2013) 'Non-local elastic effects in electroactive polymers'. International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics, 56 :115-122 [Details]
	(2013)	'Electromechanical instability and oscillating deformations in electroactive polymer films' De Tommasi, D., Puglisi, G., Zurlo, G. (2013) 'Electromechanical instability and oscillating deformations in electroactive polymer films'. Applied Physics Letters, 102 (1) [Details]
	(2013)	'Inhomogeneous spherical configurations of inflated membranes' Tommasi, D.D., Puglisi, G., Zurlo, G. (2013) 'Inhomogeneous spherical configurations of inflated membranes'. Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics, 25 (2-4):197-206 [Details]
	(2012)	'Taut states of dielectric elastomer membranes' De Tommasi, D., Puglisi, G., Zurlo, G. (2012) 'Taut states of dielectric elastomer membranes'. International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics, 47 (2):355-361 [Details]
	(2012)	'Electric field localizations in thin dielectric films with thickness non-uniformities' Puglisi, G., Zurlo, G. (2012) 'Electric field localizations in thin dielectric films with thickness non-uniformities'. Journal of Electrostatics, 70 (3):312-316 [Details]
	(2012)	'A note on strong ellipticity in two-dimensional isotropic elasticity' De Tommasi, D., Puglisi, G., Zurlo, G. (2012) 'A note on strong ellipticity in two-dimensional isotropic elasticity'. Journal of Elasticity, 109 (1):67-74 [Details]
	(2011)	'Compression-induced failure of electroactive polymeric thin films' De Tommasi, D., Puglisi, G., Zurlo, G. (2011) 'Compression-induced failure of electroactive polymeric thin films'. Applied Physics Letters, 98 (12) [Details]
	(2010)	'Pull-in and wrinkling instabilities of electroactive dielectric actuators' De Tommasi, D., Puglisi, G., Saccomandi, G., Zurlo, G. (2010) 'Pull-in and wrinkling instabilities of electroactive dielectric actuators'. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 43 (32) [Details]
	(2009)	'Damage and healing effects in rubber-like balloons' De Tommasi, D., Marzano, S., Puglisi, G., Zurlo, G. (2009) 'Damage and healing effects in rubber-like balloons'. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 46 (22-23):3999-4005 [Details]
	(2008)	'Derivation of a new free energy for biological membranes' Deseri, L., Piccioni, M.D., Zurlo, G. (2008) 'Derivation of a new free energy for biological membranes'. Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics, 20 (5):255-273 [Details]

Book Chapters

	Year	Publication
	(2008)	'Thermodynamics, in: Continuum Mechanics' L. Deseri, G. Marcari, G. Zurlo (2008) 'Thermodynamics, in: Continuum Mechanics' In: Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems. [Details]

Conference Publications

	Year	Publication
	(2013)	*21st AMEA Congress* D. De Tommasi, G. Puglisi, G. Zurlo (2013) Hysteretic electromechanical behaviour of electroactive polymeric films 21st AMEA Congress Torino, Italy, [Details]

Editorial

	Year	Publication
	(2019)	Foreword to the special issue: Constitutive modelling in biomechanics. Balbi, V,Zurlo, G (2019) Foreword to the special issue: Constitutive modelling in biomechanics. Editorial [DOI] [Details]

Teaching Interests

Here at University of Galway I am Lecturer of Applied Mathematics in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. More in detail I teach:

mp191 Mathematical Methods I (24h)
mp120 Engineering Mechanics (36h)
mm140 Mathematical Methods for Engineering I (18h)
mp236 Mechanics I (24h)
mp410 Nonlinear Elasticity (24h)
ma2101 Mathematical and Applied Mathematics II (18h)

ma2102 Mathematical and Applied Mathematics II (18h)

Modules Taught

Term/Year	Module Title	Module Code	Subject / Desc
2022/23	Nonlinear Elasticity	mp410	Applied Mathematics
2022/23	Engineering Mechanics	mp120	Applied Mathematics
2022/23	Mechanics I	mp236	Applied Mathematics
2022/23	Mathematical and Applied Mathematics II	ma2102	Applied Mathematics

Internal Collaborators

	Name	Description of Collaboration
	Michel Destrade	Research
	Martin Meere	co-supervision of PhD thesis

External Collaborators

Name	Organisation / Institute	Country	Description of Collaboration
Giuseppe Puglisi	Politecnico di Bari	ITALY	research
Lev Truskinovsky	ESPCI Pairs	FRANCE	research
Giuseppe Saccomandi	Università di Perugia	ITALY	research
Domenico De Tommasi	Politecnico di Bari	ITALY	research
Luca Deseri	Brunel University	UNITED KINGDOM	research