Matteo Pezzulla

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Aarhus University
Aarhus
Denmark

About me

Hello! I am an Associate Professor at Aarhus University. My interests are rooted in fluid-structure interactions and shell mechanics.
I am passionate about continuum mechanics and differential geometry, which I try to study via analytical, numerical, and experimental methods.
Before moving to Denmark, I lived, studied, and worked in Rome, Italy

, Boston, USA

, and Lausanne, Switzerland

. I am a member of the American Physical Society (APS).

Friends and collaborators

F. Gallaire, EPFL, Switzerland

M. A. Dias, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

G. C. Ferrante Ericsson Research, Sweden

D. P. Holmes, Boston University, USA

P. G. Ledda, University of Cagliari, Sardinia

P. Nardinocchi, Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy

B. Roman, ESPCI, France

N. Stoop, QuantCo, Switzerland

L. Teresi, Università di Roma Tre, Italy

Publications

S. Gennis, M. Pezzulla, and K. H. Jensen. Mechanical limits shape the eccentric form of rose prickles. Submitted (2025)

M. Taffetani and M. Pezzulla. Nonlinear morphoelastic energy based theory for stimuli responsive elastic shells, arXiv:2511.10324. Submitted (2025)

P. G. Ledda, H. Garg, V. Østergaard-Clausen, L. Krumenacker Rudzki, A. Madary, and M. Pezzulla. Fluid-induced snap-through instability of spherical shells, arXiv:2506.12247. Phys. Rev. Lett., in press (2025)

H. Garg, P. G. Ledda, J. S. Pedersen, and M. Pezzulla. Passive viscous flow selection via fluid-induced buckling. Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 084001 (2024)

K. Barvenik, Z. Coogan, G. Librandi, M. Pezzulla, and E. Tubaldi. Tactile Sensing and Grasping Through Thin-Shell Buckling. Adv. Intell. Syst. 2300855 (2024)

Y. L. Lin, M. Pezzulla, and P. M. Reis. Fluid-structure interactions of bristled wings: The trade-off between weight and drag. J. R. Soc. Interface 20, 20230266 (2023)

P. G. Ledda, M. Pezzulla, E. Jambon-Puillet, P.-T. Brun, and F. Gallaire. Gravity-driven coatings on curved substrates: a differential geometry approach. J. Fluid Mech. 949, A38 (2022)

P. Leroy-Calatayud, M. Pezzulla, A. Keiser, K. Mulleners, and P. M. Reis. Tapered foils favor traveling-wave kinematics to enhance the performance of flapping propulsion. Phys. Rev. Fluids 7, 074403 (2022)

M. Pezzulla, D. Yan, and P. M. Reis. A geometrically exact model for thin magneto-elastic shells. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 166, 104916 (2022)

T. G. Sano, M. Pezzulla, and P. M. Reis. A Kirchhoff-like theory for hard magnetic rods under three-dimensional geometrically nonlinear deformation. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 160, 104739 (2022)

B. Shrimali, M. Pezzulla, S. Poincloux, P. M. Reis, and O. Lopez-Pamies. The remarkable bending properties of perforated plates. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 154, 104514 (2021)

D. Yan, M. Pezzulla, L. Cruveiller, A. Abbasi, and P. M. Reis. Magneto-active elastic shells with tunable buckling strength. Nat. Commun. 12, 2831 (2021)

M. Pezzulla, E. F. Strong, F. Gallaire, and P. M. Reis. Deformation of porous flexible strip in low and moderate Reynolds number flows. Phys. Rev. Fluids 5, 084103 (2020)

D. P. Holmes, J.-H. Lee, H. S. Park, and M. Pezzulla. Nonlinear buckling behavior of a complete spherical shell under uniform external pressure and homogenous natural curvature. Phys. Rev. E 102, 023003 (2020)

D. Yan, M. Pezzulla, and P. M. Reis. Buckling of pressurized spherical shells containing a through-thickness defect. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 138, 103923 (2020)

M. Pezzulla and P. M. Reis. A Weak Form Implementation of Nonlinear Axisymmetric Shell Equations with Examples. ASME. J. Appl. Mech. 86(12): 124502 (2019)

E. F. Strong, M. Pezzulla, F. Gallaire, P. M. Reis, and L. Siconolfi. Hydrodynamic loading of perforated disks in creeping flows. Phys. Rev. Fluids 4, 084101 (2019)

A. Lee, D. Yan, M. Pezzulla, D. P. Holmes, and P. M. Reis. Evolution of critical buckling conditions in imperfect bilayer shells through residual swelling. Soft Matter 15, 6134-6144, (2019)

L. Stein-Montalvo, P. Costa, M. Pezzulla, and D. P. Holmes. Buckling of Geometrically Confined Shells. Soft Matter 15, 1215-1222, (2019)

X. Jiang, M. Pezzulla, S. Wei, T. K. Ghosh, and D. P. Holmes. Snapping of Bistable, Prestressed Cylindrical Shells. Europhys. Lett. 122, 64003, (2018)

M. Pezzulla, N. Stoop, M. P. Steranka, A. J. Bade, and D. P. Holmes. Curvature-Induced Instabilities of Shells. Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 048002, (2018)

M. Pezzulla, N. Stoop, X. Jiang, and D. P. Holmes. Curvature-Driven Morphing of non-Euclidean Shells. Proc. R. Soc. A. 473(2201), 20170087, (2017)

M. Pezzulla, G. P. Smith, P. Nardinocchi, and D. P. Holmes. Geometry and Mechanics of Thin Growing Bilayers. Soft Matter 12, 4435-4442, (2016)

P. Nardinocchi, M. Pezzulla, and L. Teresi. Steady and transient analysis of anisotropic swelling in fibered gels. J. Appl. Phys. 118, 244904, (2015)

M. Pezzulla, S. A. Shillig, P. Nardinocchi, and D. P. Holmes. Morphing of geometric composites via residual swelling. Soft Matter 11, 5812-5820, (2015)

P. Nardinocchi, M. Pezzulla, and L. Teresi. Mechanics of bio-hybrid systems. Procedia IUTAM 12, pp. 145-153, (2015)

P. Nardinocchi, M. Pezzulla, and L. Teresi. Anisotropic swelling of thin gel sheets. Soft Matter 11, 1492-1499, (2015)

A. Lucantonio, P. Nardinocchi, and M. Pezzulla. Swelling–induced and controlled curving in layered gel beams. Proc. R. Soc. A 470(2171), 20140467, (2014)

A. Lucantonio, P. Nardinocchi, M. Pezzulla, and L. Teresi. Multiphysics of bio–hybrid systems: shape control and electro–induced motion. Smart Mater. Struct. 23(4), 045043, (2014)

P. Nardinocchi, M. Pezzulla, B.J. Akle, M. Guenther, and T. Wallmersperger. Actuation and buckling effects in IPMCs. Proc. SPIE 9056, (2014)

Y. Cha, P. Nardinocchi, M. Pezzulla, and M. Porfiri. Giant displacements in IPMC–based structures: a preliminary study. Adv. Mat. Res. 745, 119–128, (2013)

P. Nardinocchi and M. Pezzulla. Curled actuated shapes of ionic polymer metal composites. J. Appl. Phys. 113, 224906, (2013)

P. Nardinocchi, M. Pezzulla, and L. Placidi. Thermodynamically based multiphysic modeling of ionic polymer metal composites. J. Intel. Mat. Syst. Str. 22(16), 1887–1897, (2011)