Fabio Cavagna

• Developing decoupling techniques based on dynamic substructuring to remove the influence of flexible fixtures (shaker tables, transportation carts, dollies) and obtain the fixed-base modal properties of spacecraft from vibration tests.
• Conducted experimental tests of structures mounted on shaker tables, post-processing the acquired data to extract modal parameters with Simcenter Testlab.
• Performed numerical simulations of structures using Simcenter Nastran, validating the results against experimental data.
• Presented the results at ISMA 2026 (Leuven) and ECSSMET 2026 (Braunschweig).

Environment and Aerodynamics Department.

• Experimental study of fluid–structure couplings in vibration for liquid-propellant launcher tanks (Ariane 6 context): sloshing and hydroelastic modes.
• Finalized the installation of a small-scale tank test bench: suspension of the structures and of the shaker, shaker–component connection, instrumentation and safety procedures.
• Defined the test plan for different configurations (filling level, tank shape), ran the vibration tests and measured the free-surface motion to characterize the sloshing modes.
• Computed sloshing and hydroelastic modes with MSC Nastran and CNES in-house software; developed a model tuning procedure accounting for geometric imperfections and bolted-joint flexibility, and compared the models with the test results.

• Assessed the methodologies used to evaluate and compare the severity of mechanical loads: Shock Response Spectrum, Extreme Response Spectrum and Fatigue Damage Spectrum (sine, random and shock environments).
• Showed on a 2-DOF spacecraft + telescope model the limits of SDOF-based metrics and of the Equivalent Sine Input with respect to coupled loads analysis, leading to overly conservative secondary notching.
• Developed in MATLAB a novel severity comparison approach for multi-axis (6-DOF) loads based on interface forces, requiring only the rigid-body mass matrix and the first natural frequencies; validated it against MSC Nastran transient analyses, showing up to ~3× overtesting of axis-by-axis tests.
• Results published at ECSSMET 2024 (Noordwijk).

Student association developing a CubeSat for ESA's "Fly Your Satellite!" programme.

• Simplified CAD geometries using SolidWorks and Abaqus, integrating them into the FEM model.
• Contributed to defining structural requirements for the Thermal Vacuum Chamber Test.

Research topic: "Decoupling techniques based on substructuring for fixed-base analysis." In collaboration with Siemens Digital Industries Software. Supervisor: Prof. Lorenzo Dozio.

Thesis at CNES: "Experimental study of fluid-structure couplings in vibration."

Thesis with Thales Alenia Space: "A critical assessment on the mechanical load severity comparison, with focus on aerospace applications." Read the project page →