Best Paper Award 2025
The Best Paper Award aims to recognize the best scientific contributions published annually by researchers in the DICAM Department. The selection is made on the basis of bibliometric indices of international significance.
WINNERS:
- Why the 2022 Po River drought is the worst in the past two centuries (Montanari A., Nguyen H., Rubinetti S., Ceola S., Galelli S., Rubino A., Zanchettin D.)
- Multi-objective economic and environmental assessment for the preliminary design of CO2 transport pipelines (Zanobetti, F., Martynov, S., Cozzani, V., Mahgerefteh, H.)
- Recycling by-design of plastic through formulation with thermally protected enzymes in layered double hydroxide structures (Romano A., Rosato A., Totaro G., Zanaroli G., Celli A., Sisti L.)
Multi-objective economic and environmental assessment for the preliminary design of CO2 transport pipelines
Zanobetti, F., Martynov, S., Cozzani, V., Mahgerefteh, H. / Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is an essential strategy for mitigating global emissions, yet balancing its environmental benefits and associated costs remains critical. This research introduces a multi-objective framework to optimise economic and environmental aspects, providing valuable insights for the effective large-scale deployment of CCS initiatives.
Natech accidents triggered by cold waves
Federica Ricci, Valeria Casson Moreno, Valerio Cozzani
Dynamic rainfall-induced landslide susceptibility: A step towards a unified forecasting system
Mahnoor Ahmed, Hakan Tanyas, Raphaël Huser, Ashok Dahal, Giacomo Titti, Lisa Borgatti, Mirko Francioni, Luigi Lombardo / The paper combines the traditional strengths of the susceptibility framework together with the strengths typical of landslide early warning systems. Specifically, the landslide occurrence has been modeled using a multi-temporal landslide inventory recently released by NASA in the north of Vietnam. The use of The Climate Hazards group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) for the rainfall component limits the model ability in terms of future prediction. Nevertheless, this analysis is a step forward to a new generation of landslides early warning systems.
Learning from a Well-documented Geotechnical Cold Case: The Two Towers of Bologna, Italy
I. Bertolini, M. Marchi, G. Gottardi / This study investigates the foundation soil of Bologna’s Two Towers, providing an overview of the relevant geotechnical model. By integrating historical, geotechnical, and hydrogeological data, it enables an interpretation of the towers behaviour over the past centuries, offering insights for monitoring and preserving such historic structures.
An analytical approach to model Structure–Soil–Structure Interaction (SSSI) of arbitrarily distributed buildings under SH waves
Zubair Zahoor Banday, Xingbo Pu, Alessandro Marzani, Antonio Palermo / This study presents a multiple scattering theory-based model to predict vibration interactions between buildings caused by antiplane shear waves. The framework captures inertial effects by modeling buildings and soil simply yet efficiently. It provides insights into how site conditions and building properties influence the dynamic response of structures and clusters.
Biobased and Compostable Multiblock Copolymer of Poly(L‐lactic acid) Containing 2,5-Furandicarboxylic Acid for Sustainable Food Packaging: The Role of Parent Homopolymers in the Composting Kinetics and Mechanism
Enrico Bianchi, Giulia Guidotti, Michelina Soccio, Valentina Siracusa, Massimo Gazzano, Elisabetta Salatelli, Nadia Lotti / We propose a renewable and compostable plastic for sustainable food packaging, obtained by chemical modification of polylactic acid, a bioplastic already used in packaging. Chemical design allowed to realize a new material with improved thermal, mechanical and gas barrier properties.
On the influence of net head and efficiency fluctuations over the performance of existing run-of-river hydropower plants
Cristiana Bragalli, Domenico Micocci, Giovanni Naldi / The “Cavaticcio” hydropower plant has been a renewable energy resource in the city centre of Bologna for more than 25 years. The Water Engineering research group at DICAM provided scientific support in the preliminary steps of the revamping of the plant, which was recently undertaken. The paper presents some of the most interesting results obtained during this consulting activity, trying to draw general lessons applicable to other similar plant setups.
A PPP kinematic application on historical GPS data: the reprocessing of the ITASE98‐99 Antarctica mission height profiles
Matteo Cappuccio, Luca Tavasci, Enrica Vecchi, Massimo Frezzotti, Stefano Gandolfi / The study provides significantly improved elevation profiles along 1200 km of the Antarctica region starting from data acquired during the ITASE98-99 expedition. By comparing the new profiles to REMA terrain elevation model (2014 epoch) altimetry variations over 15 years have been studied, providing valuable data for understanding the effects of ongoing climate change in Antarctica.
Preliminary study on the application of waste bivalve shells as biofiller for the production of asphalt concrete
L. Caroscio, B. De Pascale, P. Tataranni, C. Chiavetta, C. Lantieri, A. Bonoli / This study investigates waste bivalve shells as eco-friendly biofillers for asphalt concrete, offering a bold step toward sustainable road construction. Matching the performance of traditional fillers, these recycled materials reduce environmental impact while meeting European standards, paving the way for greener infrastructure and a circular economy.
Drought and Human Mobility in Africa
S. Ceola, J. Mård , G. Di Baldassarre / Droughts significantly influence people's decision to move. Here we explore the linkage between drought occurrences and changes in human settlement distribution across Africa for the period 1992–2013. Our results show that drought occurrences are associated with (other things being equal) human mobility toward rivers or cities in 70%–81% of African countries.
Extremely Low Temperatures for the Synthesis of Ethylene Oxide
Benedetta Anna De Liso, Vincenzo Palma, Gianmaria Pio, Simona Renda, Ernesto Salzano / The convenience and sustainability of partial oxidation of alkenes are strongly affected by the potential occurrence of runaway reactions. This article presents an innovative approach for the identification of optimal conditions by means of detailed kinetic mechanisms.
Remote Sensing and Geovisualization of Rock Slopes and Landslides
Davide Donati, Doug Stead, Emre Onsel, Jesse Mysiorek, Omar Chang / The paper presents a conceptual workflow for the processing of remote sensing datasets derived from optical, laser, multi- and hyper-spectral sensors, and the subsequent visualization using MR and VR headsets. The authors envision these technologies to become standard mapping and data analysis tools for future engineers and geoscientists.
Impact of carbon dioxide and nitrogen addition on the global structure of hydrogen flames
S. Eckart, G. Pio, T. Zirwes, F. Zhang, E. Salzano, H. Krause, H. Bockhorn / This work presents a dedicated study on the kinetic aspects and instabilities of hydrogen oxidation in the presence of inert species, supporting the development of sustainable technologies within the framework of energy transition.
Preparation and characterization of metakaolin-based geopolymer membrane supports by facile pressed one-part route
Alessandro Filipponi, Giulia Masi, Serena Bandini, Maria Chiara Bignozzi / This paper reports a facile route to obtain microfiltration membrane supports for wastewater treatments. One-part geopolymers based on metakaolin and anhydrous sodium metasilicate were pressed to produce a membrane support characterized by promising permeability properties and suitable flexural strength for the dedicated application.
An integrated approach to the monitoring of rising damp in historic brick masonry
Elisa Franzoni, Bensu Berk, Mattia Bassi, Clelia Marrone / The church of Santa Croce in Ravenna represents a unique challenge for rising damp, due to its location below the water table level. This gave the opportunity to test a monitoring protocol and to quantify the long-lasting effects of flooding.
Explorations of efficient design solutions for Wire-and-Arc Additive manufacturing in construction
Vittoria Laghi, Giada Gasparini / The paper explores the use of Wire-and-Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) in construction, integrating computational design with advanced fabrication methods to create resource-efficient steel structures like beams and lattice columns. It highlights sustainability, structural optimization and innovative manufacturing techniques in steel construction. The work was supported by the “For Women in Science” scholarship funded by L’Oreal in collaboration with UNESCO for outstanding young researchers, awarded to Engineer Laghi in 2022.
A comprehensive approach to assess transportation system resilience towards disruptive events. Case study on airside airport systems
Caterina Malandri, Luca Mantecchini, Maria Nadia Postorino / The resilience of transportation systems to events that disrupt their scheduling and functionality poses a significant challenge for both planners and transport operators. This paper aims to propose vulnerability and resilience indices for a complex transport node (airport), to identify disturbances to which transportation systems are most vulnerable or resilient and to evaluate system responses.
Gravity flow in rock fractures with substrate and edge drainage
N. Merli, S. Longo, L. Chiapponi, V. Di Federico / Fractures are preferential pathways for the propagation of contaminants. This work studies the advancement of gravity currents in a single fracture of finite length subjected to competing drainage mechanisms due to a permeable substrate and a draining edge. The influence of fluid rheology is also investigated. Applications include CO2 sequestration or environmental remediation.
Why the 2022 Po River drought is the worst in the past two centuries
Alberto Montanari, Hung Nguyen, Sara Rubinetti, Serena Ceola, Stefano Galelli, Angelo Rubino, Davide Zanchettin / The drought that hit the Po River in 2022 was the worst of the past two centuries, and is part of a long-term trend of more frequent and severe drought in the area. The study found that changes in seasonality, declining amounts of snow, and increasing water evaporation from the soil are the main causes.
Valorization of coffee wastes as plant growth promoter in mulching film production: A contribution to a circular economy
Elia Pagliarini, Grazia Totaro, Andrea Saccani, Francesca Gaggìa, Isabella Lancellotti, Diana Di Gioia, Laura Sisti / This paper describes a significant and multidisciplinary example of upcycling agricultural waste in line with circular economy principles. By-products from coffee production (silver skin) are transformed into functionalized biopolymer composites for agricultural use, with antioxidant properties and a rich microbiota that promotes plant growth.
Iterative hierarchical clustering algorithm for automated operational modal analysis
A. Romanazzi, D. Scocciolini, M. Savoia, N. Buratti / In continuous SHM system, managing and detecting modal properties might be cumbersome due to the big volume of data. In this framework, an innovative iterative hierarchical clustering method is validated by performing global variance-based sensitivity analysis on over 10K simulations. The algorithm resulted stable to detect outliers and automatically identify dynamic properties.
Recycling by-design of plastic through formulation with thermally protected enzymes in layered double hydroxide structures
Angela Romano, Antonella Rosato, Grazia Totaro, Giulio Zanaroli, Annamaria Celli, Laura Sisti / The paper highlights a groundbreaking multidisciplinary study on thermally protected enzymes, engineered as fillers for biopolymer formulations to create cutting-edge “on-demand” degradable materials. This innovation offers a powerful and sustainable solution to plastic waste, driving global efforts to minimize environmental impact.
Contributions from experimental geostatistical analyses for solving the cloud-cover problem in remote sensing data
A. Tayebi, S. Kasmaeeyazdi, F. Tinti, R. Bruno / Satellite images are affected by the presence of shadows and clouds, a challenge since the surface features are masked. This paper applies geostatistical tools over a sentinel-2 satellite image targeting land cover in Italy. The estimation has been performed by controlling the properties of the estimator, the varying sizes and shapes of the neighbourhood, the available number of RGB data and the spatial distribution of pixels. Results have shown the advantages and limitations of the proposed method
Exploitation of drainage water heat: A novel solution experimented at the Brenner Base Tunnel
F. Tinti, C. Spaggiari, M. Lanconelli, A. Voza, D. Boldini / Deep tunnels in fractured rock-masses and under high piezometric levels can drain notable volumes of warm water. This paper presents the modelling, design, construction, installation and testing of a geothermal system prototype, Smart Flowing, able to exploit the drainage water heat from the Brenner Base Tunnel. The monitoring results confirmed long-term stabilization of circulating water temperature and fast heat recovery are guaranteed, for optimal integration with heat pumps.
Enhancement of surface properties of cementitious materials by phosphate treatments
Hélène Pasco, Sonia Naidu, Barbara Lothenbach, Enrico Sassoni / Since historic and new buildings made of cement suffer from several deterioration causes, in this study we investigated the possibility to improve the surface properties of cementitious substrates by forming in situ the same mineral that constitutes human teeth and bones – and it worked well!