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International audience; In this work, a design strategy for optimising thin-walled structures based on a global-local finite element (FE) modelling approach is presented. The preliminary design of thin-walled structures can be stated in the form of a constrained non-linear programming problem (CNLPP) involving requirements of different nature intervening at the different scales of the structure. The proposed multi-scale optimisation (MSO) strategy is characterised by two main features. Firstly, the CNLPP is formulated in the most general sense by including all design variables involved at each pertinent scale of the problem. Secondly, two scales (with the related design requirements) are considered: (a) the structure macroscopic scale, where low-fidelity FE models are used and (b) the structure mesoscopic scale (or component level), where more accurate FE models are involved. In particular, the mechanical responses of the structure are evaluated at both global and local scales, avoiding the use of approximated analytical methods. The MSO is here applied to the least-weight design of an aluminium fuselage barrel of a wide-body aircraft. Fully parametric global and local FE models are interfaced with an in-house metaheuristic algorithm. Refined local FE models are created only for critical regions of the structure, automatically detected during the global analysis, and linked to the global one, thanks to the implementation of a sub-modelling approach. The whole process is completely automated, and once set, it does not need any further user intervention.; In this work, a design strategy for optimising thin-walled structures based on a global-local finite element (FE) modelling approach is presented. The preliminary design of thin-walled structures can be stated in the form of a constrained non-linear programming problem (CNLPP) involving requirements of different nature intervening at the different scales of the structure. The proposed multi-scale optimisation (MSO) strategy is characterised by two main features. Firstly, the CNLPP is formulated in the most general sense by including all design variables involved at each pertinent scale of the problem. Secondly, two scales (with the related design requirements) are considered: i) the structure macroscopic scale, where low-fidelity FE models are used; ii) the structure mesoscopic scale (or component-level), where more accurate FE models are involved. In particular, the mechanical responses of the structure are evaluated at both global and local scales, avoiding the use of approximated analytical methods. The MSO is here applied to the least-weight design of an aluminium fuselage barrel of a wide-body aircraft. Fully parametric global and local FE models are interfaced with an in-house metaheuristic algorithm. Refined local FE models are created onlyfor critical regions of the structure, automatically detected during the global analysis, and linked to the global one thanks to the implementation of a sub-modelling approach. The whole process is completely automated and, once set, it does not need any further user intervention.

Maintaining a proper pH level is crucial for successful cell culturing. Mammalian cells are commonly cultured in incubators, where the cell culture medium is saturated with a mixture of air and 5% carbon dioxide (CO2). Therefore, to keep cell culture medium pH in an acceptable level outside these incubators, a suitable CO2 concentration must be dissolved in the medium. However, it can be very difficult to control and measure precisely local concentration levels. Furthermore, possible undesired concentration gradients generated during long-term cell culturing are almost impossible to detect. Therefore, we have developed a computational model to estimate CO2 transport in silicone-based microfluidic devices. An extensive set of experiments was used to validate the finite element model. The model parameters were obtained using suitable measurement set-ups and the model was validated using a fully functional cell cultivation device. The predictions obtained by the simulations show very good responses to experiments. It is shown in this paper how the model helps to understand the dynamics of CO2 transport in silicone-based cell culturing devices possessing different geometries, thus providing cost-effective means for studying different device designs under a variety of experimental conditions without the need of actual testing. Finally, based on the results from the computational model, an alternative strategy for feeding CO2 is proposed to accelerate the system performance such that a faster and more uniform CO2 concentration response is achieved in the area of interest. acceptedVersion