Optimization of hybrid aerated vertical/horizontal flow treatment wetland

Doctorante : Caroline MIYAZAKI

Laboratoire INSA : INRAE

École doctorale : ED206 Chimie de Lyon (Chimie, Procédés, Environnement)
 

The combination of stricter local regulations and the need for higher capacity plants has prompted companies in the wetland treatment sector to prioritize research and development initiatives aimed at enhancing total nitrogen (TN) removal and minimizing system footprints. In response to these challenges, it was created the Rhizosph'air system to be resilient, compact, and robust, with a capacity to serve communities of 2,000 to 10,000 PE. This thesis contributes to the optimization of total nitrogen (TN) removal while addressing operational challenges related to environmental protection and wastewater reuse. Chapter 2 provides an overview of key topics related to the Rhizosph'air system, including nature-based solutions (NbS) and aerated treatment wetlands (TW). It identifies key research areas for improvement, including oxygen transfer and nitrogen dynamics, to enhance TN removal. Chapter 3 is dedicated to the analysis of the impact of aeration strategies on system hydrodynamics. To this purpose, tracer tests have been employed to assess both internal and outlet responses. Hydraulic parameters and modeling provided valuable insights into the system's behavior. Chapter 4 examines a range of experimental conditions, demonstrating that inflow-based aeration strategies promote equilibrium between aerobic and anoxic environments, thereby optimizing TN removal. Furthermore, the strategy suggests using the primary filter for generating nitrates during aeration and allowing denitrifying bacteria to consume them during non-aeration periods and batch-hour. The utilization of organic carbon from raw wastewater is also a key aspect of this strategy. Finally, Chapter 5 examines the proposed aeration strategy, its limitations, and the resilience of the hybrid system. It also assesses the applicability of the N-k-C* model and investigates the potential for real-time aeration control using online sensors, including bending points and model predictions. This research advances the understanding of aeration processes and TN removal, offering innovative strategies for improving wetland treatment performance in small communities

Characterization of plastic strain localization in polycrystalline materials by means of 3D X-ray diffraction imaging techniques

Doctorant : Zheheng LIU

Laboratoire INSA : MATEIS

École doctorale : ED34 : Matériaux de Lyon

This thesis is part of the ANR 3DiPolyPlast project devoted to an in-depth study of the mechanisms leading to plastic strain localization in pure metals. 2D surface observations, 3D volume characterization, and numerical simulations are carried out in three simultaneous PhD projects. This thesis focuses on 3D characterization of strain localization using a combination of Topo-Tomography (TT) and Diffraction Contrast Tomography (DCT) - two synchrotron radiation near-field imaging techniques allowing for
1 micron spatial and 0.02-degree angular resolution. Two material systems have been studied: Ti-7Al alloy and pure Ni. In both cases the 6D algorithm is used to reconstruct the orientation field during initial stages of plastic deformation, which in turn is analysed for signatures of strain localization. Both the data acquisition scheme for TT and the 6D / 5D reconstruction algorithms for DCT and TT scans have been optimized. Theoretical analysis for the TT scan is performed to explore the limits of its reconstruction capacities and the methods to enhance them. Simulated diffraction data are used to study joint reconstructions of DCT and TT scans, illustrating possibilities and limitations of the optimized reconstruction framework. Contrary to Ti7Al, exhibiting clearly resolvable orientation contrasts in vicinity of slip bands, the diffraction data from pure Ni could not reveal slip bands, probably due to the weak and diffuse character of slip in this pure material. However, distinct structures in the orientation field were observed in directions perpendicular to the primary slip plane.

Intégration de centres colorés en nanophotonique silicium : contrôle de la localisation des émetteurs et ingénierie d’émission spontanée

Doctorante : Hugo QUARD

Laboratoire INSA : INL
École doctorale : EDA160 : EEA (Électronique, Électrotechnique, Automatique)

Depuis des décennies, chercheurs et ingénieurs explorent l'intégration de sources lumineuses efficaces dans la plateforme en silicium. Récemment, les centres colorés dans le silicium ont émergé comme candidats prometteurs pour ces sources lumineuses dans les bandes du proche infrarouge et des télécommunications. Isolés, ces défauts agissent comme des sources de photons uniques, ouvrant la voie à l'intégration de dispositifs photoniques quantiques avec les plateformes électroniques en silicium. Cependant, quelques verrous persistent : (i) les processus actuels pour créer ces défauts sont complexes et nécessitent généralement des étapes d'implantation, et (ii) le contrôle de la direction et de la polarisation de la lumière émise par les centres colorés reste difficile. Dans ce travail, nous abordons le premier verrou en démontrant qu’un recuit laser femtoseconde permet d’obtenir des centres colorés dans des substrats commerciaux en silicium sur isolant sans implantation. Cela permet de générer des centres W dans une zone restreinte de taille inférieure à la section transversale du spot laser. Le deuxième verrou est traité en couplant les centres colorés avec des structures photoniques en silicium. Nous avons amélioré la directivité de l'émission des centres G en les intégrant dans des résonateurs de Mie en silicium fabriqués par démouillage. Par des simulations FDTD, nous avons estimé une efficacité d'extraction dépassant 60%, et les données expérimentales indiquent que nous pouvons collecter plus de 90% du signal émis dans l'espace libre avec une ouverture numérique standard. Nous avons également démontré par des simulations que l’intégration des centres colorés dans des cristaux photoniques permet d’obtenir des états de polarisation diverses à partir des centres émettant initialement une onde polarisée linéairement. Des cristaux photoniques présentant les modes optiques d’intérêt ont été réalisés expérimentalement. L'ensemble de ces résultats montre une avancée dans le contrôle de la localisation des centres créés et l’ingénierie de leur émission spontanée

Écoulement intraventriculaire en échocardiographie Doppler avec réseaux de neurones fondés sur la physique

Doctorant : Hang Jung LING

Laboratoire INSA : CREATIS
École doctorale : ED162 : MEGA de Lyon (Mécanique, Energétique, Génie civil, Acoustique)

Les maladies cardiovasculaires sont les principales causes de décès dans le monde, causant plus de 20 millions de décès chaque année. L'évaluation de la santé cardiaque est cruciale pour prévenir ces maladies. Pour cela, l'échocardiographie est couramment utilisée en routine clinique à cause de sa portabilité et de son coût abordable. Les examens échocardiographiques évaluent la fonction systolique et diastolique du cœur, mais les mesures de la fonction diastolique peuvent parfois donner des résultats de diagnostic discordants. Explorer des biomarqueurs alternatifs, comme le flux sanguin intracardiaque, pourrait améliorer la précision de la quantification de la fonction diastolique. La cartographie du flux vectoriel intraventriculaire ou “intraventricular vector flow mapping” (iVFM) est une technique qui reconstruit le flux sanguin vectoriel à partir des champs scalaires fournis par l'échocardiographie Doppler couleur, mais elle nécessite des étapes de prétraitement chronophages. Dans cette thèse, nous avons utilisé l'apprentissage profond (DL) pour automatiser ces étapes, y compris la segmentation du ventricule gauche et la correction des artefacts de repliement de phase ou l'aliasing. Nous avons également développé des méthodes basées sur les réseaux de neurones fondés sur la physique pour reconstruire l’écoulement vectoriel intraventriculaire, montrant que ces approches peuvent améliorer l'efficacité et la précision de l'iVFM. L'automatisation complète du pipeline d'iVFM à l'aide de réseaux de neurones, de la segmentation à la reconstruction du flux vectoriel, améliore la fiabilité de l'iVFM. La prochaine étape serait d'appliquer cet outil en milieu clinique pour explorer et extraire de nouveaux biomarqueurs basés sur le flux, ce qui pourrait bénéficier à la détection précoce des maladies cardiovasculaires.

Développement d'encres fonctionnelles pour l'in-Mold Electronicc

Doctorant : Thomas GUÉRIN

Laboratoire INSA : AMPERE

École doctorale : ED160 : EEA (Electronique, Electrotechnique, Automatique)

Cette thèse explore le domaine émergent de la plastronique 3D, qui combine l’électronique et la plasturgie pour intégrer des circuits électroniques sur des substrats 3D en polymère. Le travail se concentre sur le développement d’encres conductrices pour le procédé In-Mold Electronics (IME), une technique prometteuse pour la production en grand volume de dispositifs plastroniques, notamment pour les interfaces homme-machine.

Le processus IME comprend plusieurs étapes : l’impression de pistes conductrices sur un film mince de polycarbonate à l’aide d’encre conductrice, le transfert des composants électroniques sur le film et leur connexion au circuit par collage, le thermoformage du film en 3D et le surmoulage 3D par injection de thermoplastique.

La thèse étudie différentes formulations d’encres conductrices, en se concentrant sur celles composées d’une matrice polymérique organique contenant des charges métalliques micrométriques, avec l’argent comme conducteur électrique. Des encres à base de matériaux organiques issus de la pétrochimie ont été élaborées.

Deux encres se sont démarquées : l’encre N°1 (Vinnol H30/48M) avec une faible résistivité mais peu thermoformable, et l’encre N°2 (TPU 4878 NT1) avec des performances satisfaisantes en résistivité et thermoformage.

En parallèle, des encres conductrices biosourcées ont été formulées, dont l’encre N°3 (PLA-CY-804) avec une faible résistivité et l’encre N°4 (PLA-CY-212) avec de bonnes performances en résistivité et thermoformage. L’encre N°4 se distingue par son respect de l’environnement.

Cependant, des limitations subsistent, notamment des problèmes de délamination et de rupture des pistes conductrices lors du thermoformage, ainsi que le détachement des composants électroniques lors de l’étape d’injection. Ces contraintes géométriques liées au 3D ont été étudiées, mais certaines encres n’ont pas encore été testées jusqu’à la réalisation d’un démonstrateur.

 

Methodology for the robust design of air bleed systems in aeronautics

Doctorant : Gabriel DE CARVALHO FERREIRA SILVA

Laboratoire INSA : AMPERE

École doctorale : ED160 : EEA (Electronique, Electrotechnique, Automatique)

At the design stage, product engineers try to find the perfect balance between the physical parameters of the components and the performance required to properly design a system. It is therefore very important to understand how the choice of physical parameters at the design stage will impact the dynamic behavior of the final product. The problem requires skills in modeling complex multi-physics systems and control theory.
This work investigates the air bleed system of aircraft in collaboration with Liebherr Aerospace Toulouse. Although the structure of each valve and the arrangement of valves in the air bleed system are well known, the parameters that critically impact performance are difficult to identify. Due to the complexity of the model required to reproduce the behavior of valves, its non-linearity and the high degree of coupling between parameters, existing tools quickly show their limits. That is why the aim of the work presented in this thesis is to propose a new methodology that closely address the dynamic aspects of these valves from the design stage and provide a relevant evaluation of their dynamic performance in relation with the design requirements. This new methodology is presented and described from its theoretical concepts to its application to practical problems; it is based on a specific modeling step followed by a numerically solved stability condition, which is formulated as a constrained optimization based on linear matrix inequalities (LMI). The main originality of this work is based on the use of optimization tools to find, not an optimal parameter value, but the admissible ranges for a set of parameters which guarantee the required dynamic behavior.

 

23/10/2024 à 21h (CEST) / 24/10/2024 à 6h (AEDT)

Doctorant : Alexandru TECHERES

Laboratoire INSA : MATEIS

Ecole doctorale : ED34 : Matériaux de Lyon

The strengthening of Al alloys via Sc and Zr has been well documented in the literature. The formation of L12 Al3Sc and Al3Zr leads to improvements of mechanical properties through formation of precipitates during artificial ageing. However, the scarcity and cost of Sc have always been a challenge towards adoption on an industrial scale. Nonetheless, new mineral deposits discovered in Australia, together with novel processing methods create the expectation that the price of Sc will become more accessible.
In the context of a circular economy, recycling is the norm. However, this introduces impurities in the recycled material which originate from the imperfect sorting of scraps. The precipitation kinetics of Al3Sc in high purity, controlled composition Al alloys is well understood. However, the precipitation process in the presence of impurities such as Fe and Si has not been studied.
Therefore, the problematic of the current thesis focuses of the effect of impurities on the precipitation kinetics in Al-Sc-Zr during artificial ageing at various temperatures. Previous reports in the literature indicate an accelerating effect of Si and there are limited reports on the effect of Fe.
Using a combinatorial method, in this work we investigate the effect of Si on the precipitation kinetics via samples with a macroscopic composition gradient (also called diffusion couples). Additionally, two sets of samples are investigated with different Fe concentration to comparatively study the effect of Fe. The precipitation kinetics is observed indirectly via small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and hardness measurements across the samples with macroscopic composition gradient. Furthermore, advanced characterisation techniques such as Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Atom Probe Tomography are employed to analyse conditions determined as critical during the ageing.
A strong acceleration effect was observed, with increased Si, agreeing with previous reports. However, a saturation effect was identified, which seems to depend on the ageing temperature. This is discussed as a function of Si-vacancy interaction in the precipitation of Al3Sc. Modelling in a Kampmann-Wagner Numerical framework was performed assuming various numbers of heterogenous nucleation sites. To match experimental results, it was required to increase the diffusion coefficient of Sc in the presence of Si, further highlighting the acceleration effect.
It was identified via TEM and APT that the presence of Si leads to smaller mean radius and larger volume fraction of precipitates, which promote larger increments of the mechanical properties. Furthermore, it was observed that Si replaces Al in the structure of the precipitates and that the concentration of Si in the precipitates increases with the concentration in the solid solution.
Finally, it was observed that Fe can replace Al in the precipitates too. Moreover, in the presence of Fe, Si is found in higher concentrations inside the precipitate than when Fe is virtually absent. However, only a minimal difference is observed in terms of hardening between the alloys with different Fe content and only early in the ageing process. Analytical strengthening calculations seem to predict well the hardening in a Fe-free alloy but poorly in the Fe-rich one. This indirectly suggests that Fe has an effect on the precipitation kinetics, but more investigations are needed to fully understand the effect of Fe on precipitation in these alloys.

 

Eco-design and processing of polymer composites towards the shielding of EMI by absorption: Processing, structure, and properties relationship

Doctorante : Emna MASGHOUNI

Laboratoire INSA : IMP

École doctorale : ED34 : Matériaux de Lyon

 

Thermodynamic and kinetic control of liquid metal dealloying for the design of porous metallic powders

Doctorant : Louis LESAGE

Laboratoire INSA : MATEIS
Ecole doctorale : ED34 Matériaux de Lyon

Metallic powders are becoming increasingly widespread due to their use in additive manufacturing processes and as catalytic materials. In this context, it is appealing to develop processes that enable the formation of open porosities in metallic powders to modify their mechanical properties and increase their specific surface area. We propose using liquid metal dealloying (LMD) to create porous powders with modified microstructures and properties. LMD is a novel technique that involves the selective dissolution of an alloying element from a precursor in a liquid metal solvent. This results in the formation of a continuous ligament structure and open porosity in the dealloyed layer.
By mixing precursor and solvent powders and heating them above the melting temperature of the solvent, we successfully dealloyed FeNi and NiCu precursor powders. This process led to either fully porous or partially porous microstructures featuring core- shell morphologies. To better understand the kinetics of the dealloying process and the resulting microstructure, we developed a diffusion model based on thermodynamic principles and successfully compared it with experimental results obtained from NiCu alloys immersed in liquid Ag. Additionally, we used in situ X-ray diffraction to monitor the phase transformations occurring during the dealloying of FeNi particles by Mg. This combination of experimental and simulation work demonstrates how dealloyed structures are controlled by equilibrium thermodynamics and/or the kinetics of the dealloying reaction. Our results highlight the potential of LMD to design dealloyed powders with tailored dealloyed fractions, ligament sizes, compositions, and microstructures. Finally, we propose using compression tests applied to powders to assess their suitability for applications in cold spray.

Multi-criteria decision making for sustainable engineering systems

Doctorant : Majid BASEER

Laboratoire INSA : CETHIL UMR5008

École doctorale : ED162 MEGA

The trend towards sustainability in the building sector is gaining momentum, driven by environmental regulations and societal will. Although new building projects adhere to established standards, they replace only 1-3% of existing buildings annually. Renovation projects often present challenges such as the presence of uncertain data, varied stakeholder’s interests, and complex sustainability factors. To address these limitations, this thesis aims to integrate uncertainty into the decision-making process. The thesis develops a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework based on sustainability factors encompassing economic, environmental, social, and technical aspects for energy renovation of existing buildings. In contrast to existing deterministic MCDM methods, this framework incorporates uncertain data, yielding more realistic outcomes. A review of established MCDM methods was conducted, followed by a SWOT analysis to select a suitable method for the research problem. The application of MCDM methods in building energy renovations was examined to understand sustainability factors comprehensively. To address uncertainty, probability distribution and Monte Carlo simulation are integrated with MCDM methods. These tools represent uncertainty, simulate decision-making, and handle ambiguity. The novel MCDM framework, probabilistic ELECTRE Tri, has been developed based on the ELECTRE Tri method, probability distribution, revised Simos method, and Monte Carlo simulation. This framework was specifically developed for the classification of scenarios for building energy renovation. It was validated through a case study of a social housing project in Lyon, France. The results from the probabilistic ELECTRE Tri method were compared with those from ELECTRE Tri, underscoring the significance of incorporating uncertainty in decision-making. The developed framework enhances transparency, adaptability, flexibility, and user understanding, benefiting stakeholders. It is generic and can improve the objectivity and consistency of decision- making. Additionally, it advances sustainable building renovation and aligns with global environmental and energy efficiency goals. Keywords: multi-criteria decision making, ELECTRE Tri, uncertainty, probability distribution, energy renovation, sustainability.