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The research activities developed in this area concern different aspects of safety: “Process safety” and “Functional Safety”, ie the loss of control and the phenomena of instability of plants and machines and “Risk Assessment”, which includes both urban planning and territorial of industrial areas, carried out through the development of modeling techniques for complex systems (cellular automata, complex networks, etc.), and the development of methodologies for the analysis of accidental risk and its prevention and mitigation. As regards the mechanical and plant engineering field, the focus is on issues concerning the innovative design of machines, plants and subsystems based on advanced simulation tools (structural, dynamic and fluid dynamics) and on the integration of mechatronic components, aimed at optimizing performance, operator safety, reduction of the impact on the environment and resilience to adverse events. With regard to the safety issues raised by the energy transition, the safety issues arising from the use of new energy carriers, such as new fuels and materials (including those with a high energy content), are relevant.
Another aspect concerns the study for the risk assessment of the consequences related to the occurrence of extreme climatic conditions, now more and more frequent, and able to expose both anthropized and natural areas of the planet to critical conditions.