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IRT Saint Exupéry pursues a series of portraits devoted to the men and women who best represent the institute: its researchers. Their high-level skills and wealth of experience contribute hugely to IRT Saint Exupéry’s performance and unique position, which is so crucial for its members and partners.
Can you tell us about your career so far?
I came back to Toulouse in 2014, when I joined the COMPINNOV TD project in the materials field at IRT Saint Exupéry, looking at bird strikes using my skills in mechanics.
Composite & Metallic Materials & Processes Competence Centers
VITAL Project (2019-2021)
- Industry members: Airbus, Stelia Aerospace
- Academic members: ONERA, University of Porto (Portugal), University of Girona (Spain)
LASER Project (2018-2020 )
- Industry members: Safran, Ariane Group, Altran, Thales Alenia Space
- Academic members: SIMAP [4]
COMPINNOVTD Project (2014-2018) – STIMPACT Platform
Today, I’m applying my expertise to two IRT Saint Exupéry projects in parallel. The LASER project, which I’m in charge of, focuses on metal additive manufacturing. It’s about manufacturing and experimentally characterizing structures known as lattices – which have huge potential in terms of being streamlined and their performance – on different scales while developing predictive numerical models. The other project, VITAL, concerns composite materials. The aim is to develop and validate methods to replace the thousands of tests conducted in industry on test coupons – definition – as needed for certifying aeronautical structures.
Can you tell us more about the Vital project that is starting up?
We work in this area with IRT’s multi-disciplinary optimization experts, namely François Gallard and Matthias De Lozzo, because our work uses their GEMS software to manage the uncertainties of the materials’ properties, which are never exactly the same. We are going to estimate the impact of these uncertainties on the performance of composite structures to ensure that each part meets the specifications, irrespective of the material, with a certain variability range.
What results have been obtained and are expected?
The LASER project has already produced numerous results. We now have the means to carry out tests on lattice structures equipped with four, 12-million-pixel cameras that can monitor the test in real time and measure displacement fields so we can compare the results with the simulation results using digital image correlation.
As for the VITAL project that is starting, we are moving forward in defining and implementing the integration platform that will be used to test and validate the methodologies.
What do you like at IRT Saint Exupéry?
I was lucky enough to finish my PhD thesis in 2014 when the IRTs came on the scene. This model, which is like the one in Belgium, fitted in with my wholehearted desire to work as a research engineer.
Do you have a small story to share with us?
Publications & Releases
[2] Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Toulouse (2013) – Subject: supercomputing strategies for the local post-buckling of large stiffened structures.
[3] ICA (CNRS/Mines Albi/INSA Toulouse/ISAE-SUPAERO/Univ. Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier).
[4] Science et Ingénierie des Matériaux et Procédés (CNRS/Grenoble INP/Univ. Grenoble Alpes)