Essais & Simulations n°140

DOSSIER
SPÉCIAL JEC WORLD
INTERVIEW
Launch of a platform
to study the mechanical fire
behaviour of aeronautical
composites
INSA Rouen presented the results of the work of two partner
laboratories: the Materials Physics Group and the Interprofessional
Research Complex in Aerothermochemistry have been working
on the problem of the fire behaviour of materials which, in view
of the recent air disasters, are at the heart of the concerns of
aeronautical manufacturers.
Benoit Vieille
Doctor of the University of Franche-Comté and Engineer
of the National Superior School of Mechanics and
Microtechnics of Besançon, then Senior Lecturer at
the INSA of Rouen. Appointed Professor in 2019 at the
Mechanics Department of INSA Rouen, his research
activities within the Group Laboratory of Materials
Physics focus on the thermo-mechanical behaviour
in critical conditions of aeronautical composite materials. Adopting a multi-scale
approach to the constituent elements of the composite structure, his work aims
in particular to characterize/understand/simulate the high-temperature fatigue
behaviour, impact behaviour and damage tolerance, as well as the fire resistance
(thermo-mechanical-physicochemical coupling) of reinforced composites.
Alexis Coppalle
Professor at INSA Rouen in the Department of Energy and
Propulsion. His areas of expertise and research topics
are the thermal degradation of composite materials,
fire smoke analysis, analysis and modelling of confined
fires and polluting emissions during the combustion of
biomass
BEFORE YOU PRESENT YOUR LAB
AND THE PROJECT, WHAT DO
YOU FIND OUT ABOUT AVIATION
SAFETY? WHAT FLAWS STILL EXIST
ON AIRCRAFT, ESPECIALLY IN THE
AREA OF FIRE HAZARDS?
The recent air disasters have revealed
that the issue of fire is at the heart of
aircraft manufacturers' concerns. The
use of innovative composite materials
in aeronautical applications is today
confronted with ever more demanding
safety standards to which it is imperative
to provide reliable and representative
answers. Understanding the effects
of heat and fire on the physico-chemical
properties and structural integrity
of composites is essential to ensure
passenger safety. However, certification
tests on real structures do not take into
account the strong thermo-mechanical
coupling within composite materials.
Manufacturers have thus identified a
technological barrier in the fire resistance
of materials and the demand for
appropriate and relevant experimental
characterization means is therefore
high.
46 IESSAIS & SIMULATIONS • N°140 • février - mars 2020