Research

• Scientific clusters
  • MIcrostructure, Mécanique, EXpérimentation
    • MIMEX staff
    • Ongoing projects
    • Expertises and equipments
  • SImulation des Matériaux et des Structures
    • SIMS staff
    • Ongoing projects
    • Expertises and equipments
  • Surfaces, Interfaces, Procédés
    • SIP staff
    • Ongoing projects
    • Expertises and equipments
  • Transverse axis : FAMHES
    • FAMHES staff
    • Ongoing projects
    • Expertises and equipments
• Technical Divisions
  • µMAX
  • AT-JPE
  • STAR
• Partnership
• Publications
• Technology transfer
  • ZÉBULON code
• Thesis in progress
• Thesis defended

Scientific clusters

The work of the Centre des Matériaux's research teams aims to understand the phenomena and processes used to explain and predict the behavior of materials in terms of mechanical, thermal and often corrosive environmental stress. This behavior results from their composition but also to a large extent from the process of thermomechanical development and transformation that we seek to optimize. The mastery of the materials rests on the one hand on the processes of elaboration (the improvement of the purity of the alloys and the control of the microstructures had a considerable beneficial effect on their mechanical properties) and on the other hand on the knowledge of their behavior in the conditions of stress as close as possible to those encountered in service. The notion of material performance has gradually been erased in favor of the notions of reliability and environmental preservation.

Recent developments in materials engineering are the result of a collaboration between physico-chemists, mechanics and numericians. This association, in addition to the training of young scientists integrating the three cultures, has made significant progress by :

• taking into account laws representing the behavior of a growing variety of materials (metals and alloys, ceramics, polymers, composites, weaves, multi-materials, etc.) and assemblies (welding, brazing, bonding, etc.) in complex stress conditions (large deformations, creep, fatigue, etc.) for dimensioning components and structures ;
• integrating the notion of defects and damage into the reliability assessment ;
• the "micro macro" approach whose ambition is, from microstructural characteristics, to deduce, by means of homogenization operations, the macroscopic properties (mechanical or physical) ;
• the development and validation of the concept of a local approach to fracture mechanics that integrates microstructural features into the processes of damage and cracking.

Improved computer performance now makes it possible to deal with industrial problems by taking into account in the models a complex geometrical reality, a fine representation of the material and the variability of the mechanical and thermal stresses.

In 2020, there are 3 areas of research :

• MIMEX : Microstructure, Mécanique, EXpérimentation
• SIMS : SImulation des Matériaux et des Structures
• SIP : Surfaces, Interfaces, Procédés

and a transverse axis of research :

• FAMHES : Fabrication Additive des Matériaux Hors Équilibre et des Systèmes