112 research outputs found

    Ultralight Ladder-type Coilable Space Structures

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    We describe the concept of an ultralight ladder-type coilable strip used as the main element to build large planar deployable space solar power spacecrafts. It is composed of TRAC longerons connected with lenticular cross-section rods which enables it to fully flatten and thus be packaged efficiently. The design is tackled here as well as the manufacturing of a scaled version of this new type of structures. Finite element analyses are used to understand the underlying behavior of such structures. Experimental model testing is then used as a way of validating this computational framework. Finally a simulation framework enabling simulation at the spacecraft scale is presented and preliminary results obtained with shows how such structures behave while integrated into a larger spacecraft

    Homogenisation of advective-diffusive transport in poroelastic media

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    International audienceAdvective-diffusive solute transport in a poroelastic medium is usually modelled at the macroscopic scale by considering a poro-elastic formulation associated with the classical advective-diffusive solute transport equation. The purpose of the present work is to rigorously determine the macroscopic model by starting with the pore-scale equations that describe transient advective/diffusive solute transport in a saturated deformable elastic porous medium. The macroscopic model is derived by using an homogenisation method. It includes Biot's model of consolidation and a transport equation of advective-diffusive type. This latter contains a coupling term which reveals a mechanically-induced solute transport mechanism

    Ultralight Ladder-type Coilable Space Structures

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    We describe the concept of an ultralight ladder-type coilable strip used as the main element to build large planar deployable space solar power spacecrafts. It is composed of TRAC longerons connected with lenticular cross-section rods which enables it to fully flatten and thus be packaged efficiently. The design is tackled here as well as the manufacturing of a scaled version of this new type of structures. Finite element analyses are used to understand the underlying behavior of such structures. Experimental model testing is then used as a way of validating this computational framework. Finally a simulation framework enabling simulation at the spacecraft scale is presented and preliminary results obtained with shows how such structures behave while integrated into a larger spacecraft

    Probing the Buckling of Thin-Shell Space Structures

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    The overarching goal of the research presented in this dissertation is to apply and extend a newly developed methodology to understand the buckling of complex thin shell structures. This methodology enables the determination of tighter buckling criteria and paves the way to the development of more efficient structures, used closer than ever to their buckling load and even beyond. It would result in dramatically lighter structures to be built and has the potential to enable new applications, such as extremely large aperture satellites. We first analyze the stability of open section thin shell structures under a pure bending moment, through simulations. These structures are composed of longitudinal thin-shell elements connected transversely by thin rods, and inspired by real spacecraft structures. The present study applies and extends recent work on the stability of cylindrical and spherical shells. The role of localization in the buckling of these structures is investigated and early transitions into the post-buckling regime are unveiled using a probe that locally displaces the structure. The probing method enables the computation of the energy input needed to transition early into a post-buckling state, which is central to determining the critical buckling mechanism for the structure. We show that the structure follows stability landscapes also found in cylindrical and spherical shell buckling problems. This initial computational study is the basis for the first ever probing experiment on a complex structure. In order to test these new structures under bending, a new bending apparatus is designed and implemented. The boundary conditions are chosen such that the apparatus is statically determinate (isostatic), and no state of self stress can develop in the sample during its mounting and testing. This feature is especially desirable in the study of thin shell structures and their elastic instabilities, for which imperfection sensitivity plays a crucial role in the buckling transition and the post-buckling regime. The accuracy of the isostatic bending machine is first assessed through the testing of rods, and its imperfection insensitive behavior is then highlighted in experiments on tape springs, and through numerical studies of the same structures. The new bending machine is complemented by a probing apparatus, and the stability of the open section thin-shell structures subjected to a pure bending moment is studied experimentally. The experiment confirms that localization of deformations plays a paramount role in the structure's nonlinear post-buckling regime and is extremely sensitive to imperfections. This characteristic is investigated through probing experiments. The range of moments for which the early buckling of the structure can be triggered using this probe perturbation is determined, as well as the energy barrier separating the pre-buckling and post-buckling states. The stability of the local buckling mode is then illustrated by an experimental stability landscape of shell buckling, and probing is then extended to the entire structure to reveal alternate buckling modes disconnected from the structure's fundamental path. These results can be used to elaborate efficient buckling criteria for this type of structures, through the use of transition diagrams determined experimentally. Finally, the buckling and post-buckling behavior of ultralight ladder-type coilable structures is investigated. These specific structures are used in the Space Solar Power Project at Caltech and are referred to as strips. Similarly to the previous studies, the stability of strip structures loaded by normal pressure is computationally studied by applying controlled perturbations through localized probing. The probing technique is generalized to higher-order bifurcations along the post-buckling path, and low-energy escape paths into buckling that cannot be predicted by a classical eigenvalue formulation are identified. It is shown that the stability landscape for a pressure-loaded strip is similar to the landscape for classical shells, and the open section thin shell structure studied initially in this thesis. While classical shell structures buckle catastrophically, strip structures feature a large stable post-buckling range. Probing enables the full characterization of the structure's unstable behavior, which paves the way to extend its operation closer than ever to the buckling load, and even in the post-buckling regime. It would enable the design of more efficient structures by dramatically reducing their mass, therefore enabling new large spacecraft to be built.</p

    Vers la géolocalisation par vision d'une caméra mobile : exploitation d'un modèle 3D de ville et application au recalage visuel temps réel

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    National audienceNous proposons un algorithme qui corrige a posteriori les dérives des méthodes de SLAM. Celui-ci exploite la connaissance a priori d'un modèle 3D simple de l'environnement. Notre méthode se déroule en deux étapes successives. Tout d'abord, un alignement grossier de la reconstruction SLAM avec le modèle 3D est calculé. Pour cela, nous proposons un algorithme d'ICP non-rigide exploitant un modèle de transformations articulées original et adapté au problème. l'alignement obtenu est ensuite raffiné à l'aide d'un ajustement de faisceaux. Pour cela, nous proposons une nouvelle fonction de coût permettant d'intégrer à la fois la cohérence entre les observations 2D et les points 3D reconstruits et la cohérence géométrique avec le modèle 3D de l'environnement. La méthode complète est validée sur des séquences de synthèse et réelles de grande échelle. Enfin, nous montrons que les reconstructions obtenues sont suffisamment précises pour être directement utilisées dans des applications de localisation globale

    A lightweight tile structure integrating photovoltaic conversion and RF power transfer for space solar power applications

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    We demonstrate the development of a prototype lightweight (1.5 kg/m^3) tile structure capable of photovoltaic solar power capture, conversion to radio frequency power, and transmission through antennas. This modular tile can be repeated over an arbitrary area to forma large aperture which could be placed in orbit to collect sunlight and transmit electricity to any location. Prototype design is described and validated through finite element analysis, and high-precision ultra-light component manufacture and robust assembly are described

    A lightweight tile structure integrating photovoltaic conversion and RF power transfer for space solar power applications

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    We demonstrate the development of a prototype lightweight (1.5 kg/m^3) tile structure capable of photovoltaic solar power capture, conversion to radio frequency power, and transmission through antennas. This modular tile can be repeated over an arbitrary area to forma large aperture which could be placed in orbit to collect sunlight and transmit electricity to any location. Prototype design is described and validated through finite element analysis, and high-precision ultra-light component manufacture and robust assembly are described

    Genome sequencing of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli CFBP4834-R reveals that flagellar motility is not a general feature of xanthomonads.

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    Xanthomonads are plant-associated bacteria that establish neutral, commensal or pathogenic relationships with plants. The list of common characteristics shared by all members of the genus Xanthomonas is now well established based on the entire genome sequences that are currently available and that represent various species, numerous pathovars of X. axonopodis (sensu Vauterin et al., 2000), X. oryzae and X. campestris, and many strains within some pathovars. These ?-proteobacteria are motile by a single polar flagellum. Motility is an important feature involved in biofilm formation, plant colonization and hence considered as a pathogenicity factor. X. axonopodis pv. phaseoli var. fuscans (Xapf) is one of the causal agents of common bacterial blight of bean and 4834-R is a highly aggressive strain of this pathogen that was isolated from a seed-borne epidemic in France in 1998. We obtained a high quality assembled sequence of the genome of this strain with 454-Solexa and 2X Sanger sequencing. Housekeeping functions are conserved in this genome that shares core characteristics with genomes of other xanthomonads: the six secretion systems which have been described so far in Gram negative bacteria are all present, as well as their ubiquitous substrates or effectors and a rather usual number of mobile elements. Elements devoted to the adaptation to the environment constitute an important part of the genome with a chemotaxis island and dispersed MCPs, numerous two-component systems, and numerous TonB dependent transporters. Furthermore, numerous multidrug efflux systems and functions dedicated to biofilm formation that confer resistance to stresses are also present. An intriguing feature revealed by genome analysis is a long deletion of 35 genes (33 kbp) involved in flagellar biosynthesis. This deletion is replaced by an insertion sequence called ISXapf2. Genes such as flgB to flgL and fliC to fleQ which are involved in the flagellar structure (rod, P- and L-ring, hook, cap and filament) are absent in the genome of strain 4834-R that is not motile. Primers were designed to detect this deletion by PCR in a collection of more than 300 strains representing different species and pathovars of Xanthomonas, and less than 5% of the tested xanthomonads strains were found nonmotile because of a deletion in the flagellum gene cluster. We observed that half of the Xapf strains isolated from the same epidemic than strain 4834-R was non-motile and that this ratio was conserved in the strains colonizing the next bean seed generation. Isolation of such variants in a natural epidemic reveals that either flagellar motility is not a key function for fitness or that some complementation occurs within the bacterial population. (Résumé d'auteur

    Initial results from a hydroacoustic network to monitor submarine lava flows near Mayotte Island

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    In 2019, a new underwater volcano was discovered at 3500 m below sea level (b.s.l.), 50 km east of Mayotte Island in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel. In January 2021, the submarine eruption was still going on and the volcanic activity, along with the intense seismicity that accompanies this crisis, was monitored by the recently created REVOSIMA (MAyotte VOlcano and Seismic Monitoring) network. In this framework, four hydrophones were moored in the SOFAR channel in October 2020. Surrounding the volcano, they monitor sounds generated by the volcanic activity and the lava flows. The first year of hydroacoustic data evidenced many earthquakes, underwater landslides, large marine mammal calls, along with anthropogenic noise. Of particular interest are impulsive signals that we relate to steam bursts during lava flow emplacement. A preliminary analysis of these impulsive signals (ten days in a year, and only one day in full detail) reveals that lava emplacement was active when our monitoring started, but faded out during the first year of the experiment. A systematic and robust detection of these specific signals would hence contribute to monitor active submarine eruptions in the absence of seafloor deep-tow imaging or swath-bathymetry surveys of the active area
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