Quaglini Virginio

Virginio Quaglini is Associate Professor at the ABC Department and a tenured faculty member of the School of Civil Engineering and the School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Construction Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. He is a member of the Board of the PhD Programme in Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering.He served as Scientific Director (2019–2021) and Deputy Scientific Director (2022–2024) of the Materials Testing Laboratory (LPM) at Politecnico di Milano. Since 2025, he has been President of the LPM Certification Board.He has acted as Third-Party Reviewer for bearings and seismic isolation devices in several major international projects, including the Riyadh Metro and Dubai Metro viaducts, the Dubai Marina Bridges, the Third Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul, the Provincial Hospital in Linares, and the Large-Size Telescope at the CTAO South site in Chile.He is the author of four patents on structural systems and seismic devices.

Career

1995: MSc degree cum laude in Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.

2001: PhD in Structural Engineering, Politecnico di Milano (cum laude).

Research

1. Seismic Isolation and Energy Dissipation

Conceptual design, experimental characterization, and numerical modeling of base isolation and energy dissipation devices for the seismic protection of buildings and structures.Analysis of structures equipped with base isolation and supplemental damping systems.Design and optimization of energy dissipation layouts and verification of code compliance.

2. Assessment of Existing Bridges

Investigation and application of experimental techniques for the evaluation of post-tensioned concrete bridges.Classification and assessment of bridge deterioration and structural condition.

Selected Publications

Bruschi, E., Quaglini, V. Reliability analysis of two archetype RC buildings with hysteretic dampers (2024) Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 176, 108290

Bruschi, E., Quaglini, V., Calvi, P.M. A simplified design procedure for seismic upgrade of frame structures equipped with hysteretic dampers (2022) Engineering Structures 251, 113504

Bruschi, E., Calvi, P.M., Quaglini, V. Concentrated plasticity modelling of RC frames in time-history analyses (2021) Engineering Structures 243, 112716

Gandelli, E., De Domenico, D., Quaglini, V. Cyclic engagement of hysteretic steel dampers in braced buildings: a parametric investigation (2021) Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering 19(12), 5219-5251

De Domenico, D., Gandelli, E., Quaglini, V. Adaptive isolation system combining low-friction sliding pendulum bearings and SMA-based gap dampers (2020) Engineering Structures 212, 110536

Quaglini, V., Cattaneo, S., Pettorruso, C., Biolzi, L. Cold bending of vertical glass plates: Wind loads and geometrical instabilities (2020) Engineering Structures 220, 110983

Gandelli, E., Penati, M., Quaglini, V., Lomiento, G., Miglio, E., Benzoni, G.M. A novel OpenSees element for single curved surface sliding isolators (2019) Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 119, 433-453

Quaglini, V., Gandelli, E., Dubini, P., Limongelli, M.P. Total displacement of curved surface sliders under nonseismic and seismic actions: A parametric study (2017) Structural Control and Health Monitoring 24(12), e2031

Quaglini, V., Gandelli, E., Dubini, P. Experimental investigation of the re-centring capability of curved surface sliders (2017) Structural Control and Health Monitoring 24(2), e1870

Quaglini, V., Bocciarelli, M., Gandelli, E., Dubini, P. Numerical assessment of frictional heating in sliding bearings for seismic isolation (2014) Journal of Earthquake Engineering 18(8), 1198-1216

Grants, awards and Honours

Principal investigator and co-investigator of publicly and privately funded research projects, securing over €3 million in competitive grants and research contracts.

In 2021 awarded of the "Switch to Product" grant for the project “AIDA - Non-invasive system to limit the damage caused by earthquakes in buildings”.

Community Service

2025–present: Member of the Committee for the revision of the Italian Technical Building Codes (NTC), and Lead Specialist for the Sub-Committee on Structures with Seismic Isolation and Energy Dissipation.

2020–present: Representative of Politecnico di Milano in FABRE, Research Consortium for the Evaluation and Monitoring of Bridges, Viaducts, and Other Structures.

2007–present: Italian Delegate to CEN Technical Committee 167 “Structural Bearings” and appointed expert in Working Group 1 “Revision of EN 1337”.

2008–2009 and 2016–present: Italian Delegate to CEN Technical Committee 340 “Antiseismic Devices” and appointed expert in Working Group 5 “Revision of EN 15129”.2009–2011: Expert in WG 01.07/2 “Expansion Joints for Bridges”.