This article presents the mechanical characterization of an eco composite consisting of a thermoplastic matrix reinforced by flax fibres. Different configurations of specimens were tested with uniaxial tensile loading and their mechanical behaviours were discussed. Moreover, the acoustic emission technique was used to detect the appearance of damage mechanisms and to follow their evolution. In addition, a list of these mechanisms was established by means of macroscopic and microscopic observations. The acoustic emission records were post processed by the k-means unsupervised pattern recognition algorithm. Depending on the specimen configuration, three or four classes of events were obtained. The acoustic characteristics of these classes were compared. Then, a correlation between these AE events classes and the damage mechanisms observed was proposed. Their effects on the mechanical behaviour of the material were investigated by means of a variable called the Sentry Function.

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We present the design of an innovative wire antenna able to automatically hide or reveal its presence depending on the waveform of the received/transmitted signal. This unconventional behaviour is achieved through the use of a novel waveformselective cloaking metasurface exploiting a meander-like unit cell loaded with a lumped-element circuit capable to engineer the scattering of the antenna depending on the waveform of the impinging signal. Due to the time-domain response of the lumped-element circuit, the antenna is able switching its scattering behaviour when interacts with either a pulsed wave (PW) or a continuous wave (CW) signal. The proposed configuration paves the way to a new generation of cloaking devices for intelligent antenna systems, extending the concept of antenna as a device capable to sense the external environment and change its electromagnetic behaviour accordingly.

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The work describes the manufacturing, testing and parametric analysis of cellular structures exhibiting zero Poisson’s ratio-type behaviour, together with zero and negative stiffness effects. The cellular structures are produced in flat panels and curved configurations, using a combination of rapid prototyping techniques and Kirigami (Origami and cutting) procedures for PEEK (Polyether Ether Ketone) thermoplastic composites. The curved cellular configurations show remarkable large deformation behaviours, with zero and negative stiffness regimes depending also on the strain rate applied. These unusual stiffness characteristics lead to a large increase of energy absorption during cyclic tests.