Dr. Gabriel Barbat has been awarded a UPC 2023 Special Doctoral Award in the category of Civil and Environmental Engineering for his thesis "Mixed finite elements with independent strain interpolation for isotropic and orthotropic damage", developed at the CIMNE Industrial Manufacturing Processes Group under the supervision of Prof. Miguel Cervera and Prof. Michele Chiumenti.

The thesis, submitted in 2021 and for which Dr. Barbat received an Excellent Cum Laude, proposes a novel method to revolutionise numerical fracture modelling. Addressing a five-decade-old problem in computational solid mechanics, the research challenges the false dependence on mesh orientation inherent in the finite element method.

Dr. Barbat introduces a mixed finite element method using a unique strain/displacement approach. This breakthrough ensures local convergence of stress and strain fields, a critical improvement over standard formulations. The superiority of the method allows for a more accurate reproduction of crack trajectories, bearing capacity and collapse mechanisms, outperforming alternatives such as the extended finite element method and the phase field model in terms of cost efficiency.

The Special Doctoral Prizes are awarded every year by the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) in order to recognise the best doctoral theses at the university that have received a cum laude grade in their final evaluation. The 2023 ceremony, which honoured theses from the 2020/2021 academic year, was held on 8 November at the UPC Campus.