Optimisation en fluage et fatigue-fluage d'aciers martensitiques à 9%Cr par traitement thermo-mécanique

National audienceL'utilisation des aciers martensitiques à 9-12%Cr est envisagée dans les futurs réacteurs nucléaires de génération IV. En service, ils seront soumis à du fluage à haute température ainsi qu'à des sollicitations de fatigue-fluage. Or de récents travaux sur l'acier commercial P91 ont montré que des sollicitations cycliques de fatigue combinées au fluage conduisent à un adoucissement rapide du matériau, lié à un grossissement de sa microstructure. Des traitements thermomécaniques ont donc été réalisés dans le but d'affiner et de stabiliser la microstructure de cet acier. Le traitement thermomécanique présenté ici conduit à une martensite plus fine, émaillée de nombreux et fins précipités de type MX. Le P91 optimisé montre un net gain en termes de propriétés mécaniques par rapport à l'acier P91 à réception : sa dureté est plus élevée de 100 Hv, sa limite d'élasticité conventionnelle est supérieure de 430 MPa à 20°C et de 220 MPa à 550°C, sa durée de vie en fluage à 650°C est 20 fois supérieure et son adoucissement à 650°C est légèrement moins rapide

Relationship between microstructure and mechanical behaviour of thermomechanically optimised 9-12% Cr steels

International audienceThe development of Generation IV fission nuclear reactors and fusion nuclear reactorsrequires materials able to resist to high temperature (650°C) creep, but also to creep-fatigue.Martensitic 9-12%Cr steels are candidate materials for these applications.Recent studies on commercial P91 steel showed that cyclic loadings coupled to high temperature creep loadings lead to a strong softening effect, which affects the steelmechanical strength. This effect is due to the decrease of the dislocations density and thecoarsening of martensitic microstructure.Thermomechanical treatments, including warm-rolling in austenitic phase and tempering,have been applied to P91 in order to refine its microstructure and to improve its precipitationstate. The temperature of rolling was set at 600°C, and those of annealing at 650°C and700°C, thanks to MatCalc calculations.Microstructural observations proved that the warm-rolling and the following tempering lead toa finer martensite pinned with numerous small precipitates. In terms of mechanical propertiesimprovement, the hardness of thermomechanically treated P91 is higher than that of asreceivedP91. The yield strengths are higher than that of P91 (around 400 MPa at 20°C; andmore than 200 MPa at 550°C). Preliminary creep resu lts show that these treatments improvethe creep lifetime by at least a factor 8

Efficient Model Learning for Human-Robot Collaborative Tasks

We present a framework for learning human user models from joint-action demonstrations that enables the robot to compute a robust policy for a collaborative task with a human. The learning takes place completely automatically, without any human intervention. First, we describe the clustering of demonstrated action sequences into different human types using an unsupervised learning algorithm. These demonstrated sequences are also used by the robot to learn a reward function that is representative for each type, through the employment of an inverse reinforcement learning algorithm. The learned model is then used as part of a Mixed Observability Markov Decision Process formulation, wherein the human type is a partially observable variable. With this framework, we can infer, either offline or online, the human type of a new user that was not included in the training set, and can compute a policy for the robot that will be aligned to the preference of this new user and will be robust to deviations of the human actions from prior demonstrations. Finally we validate the approach using data collected in human subject experiments, and conduct proof-of-concept demonstrations in which a person performs a collaborative task with a small industrial robot

Discovery of interstellar mercapto radicals (SH) with the GREAT instrument on SOFIA

We report the first detection of interstellar mercapto radicals, obtained along the sight-line to the submillimeter continuum source W49N. We have used the GREAT instrument on SOFIA to observe the 1383 GHz Doublet Pi 3/2 J = 5/2 - 3/2 lambda doublet in the upper sideband of the L1 receiver. The resultant spectrum reveals SH absorption in material local to W49N, as well as in foreground gas, unassociated with W49N, that is located along the sight-line. For the foreground material at velocities in the range 37 - 44 km/s with respect to the local standard of rest, we infer a total SH column density ~ 2.6 E+12 cm-2, corresponding to an abundance of ~ 7 E-9 relative to H2, and yielding an SH/H2S abundance ratio ~ 0.13. The observed SH/H2S abundance ratio is much smaller than that predicted by standard models for the production of SH and H2S in turbulent dissipation regions and shocks, and suggests that the endothermic neutral-neutral reaction SH + H2 -> H2S + H must be enhanced along with the ion-neutral reactions believed to produce CH+ and SH+ in diffuse molecular clouds.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (SOFIA/GREAT special issue

Treg depletion followed by intracerebral CpG-ODN injection induce brain tumor rejection

Using brain lymphoma model, we demonstrate that immunotherapy combining Treg depletion (using anti-CD25 mAb PC61) followed by intracranial CpG-ODN administration induced tumor rejection in all treated mice and led to the establishment of a memory antitumor immune response in 60% of them. This protective effect was associated with a recruitment of NK cells and, to a lesser extent, of dendritic cells, B cells and T lymphocytes. NK cell depletion abolished the protective effect of the treatment, confirming a major role of NK cells in brain tumor elimination. Each treatment used alone failed to protect brain tumor bearing mice, revealing the therapeutic benefit of combining Treg depletion and local CpG-ODN injection

CN and HCN in Dense Interstellar Clouds

We present a theoretical investigation of CN and HCN molecule formation in dense interstellar clouds. We study the gas-phase CN and HCN production efficiencies from the outer photon-dominated regions (PDRs) into the opaque cosmic-ray dominated cores. We calculate the equilibrium densities of CN and HCN, and of the associated species C+, C, and CO, as functions of the far-ultraviolet (FUV) optical depth. We consider isothermal gas at 50 K, with hydrogen particle densities from 10^2 to 10^6 cm^-3. We study clouds that are exposed to FUV fields with intensities 20 to 2*10^5 times the mean interstellar FUV intensity. We assume cosmic-ray H2 ionization rates ranging from 5*10^-17 s^-1, to an enhanced value of 5*10^-16 s^-1. We also examine the sensitivity of the density profiles to the gas-phase sulfur abundance.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 33 pages, 8 figure

On the Influence of Uncertainties in Chemical Reaction Rates on Results of the Astrochemical Modelling

With the chemical reaction rate database UMIST95 (Millar et al. 1997) we analyze how uncertainties in rate constants of gas-phase chemical reactions influence the modelling of molecular abundances in the interstellar medium. Random variations are introduced into the rate constants to estimate the scatter in theoretical abundances. Calculations are performed for dark and translucent molecular clouds where gas phase chemistry is adequate. Similar approach was used by Pineau des Forets & Roueff (2000) for the study of chemical bistability. All the species are divided into 6 sensitivity groups according to the value of the scatter in their model abundances computed with varied rate constants. It is shown that the distribution of species within these groups depends on the number of atoms in a molecule and on the adopted physical conditions. The simple method is suggested which allows to single out reactions that are most important for the evolution of a given species.Comment: 4 pages. To appear in the proceedings of the 4th Cologne-Bonn Zermatt Symposiu

Simulations of the collection of mesospheric dust particles with a rocket instrument

We investigate the collection of dust particles in the mesosphere with the MESS (MEteoric Smoke Sampler) instrument that is designed to fly on a sounding rocket. We assume that the ice particles that form in the polar mesosphere between 80 and 85 km altitude in summer contain meteoric smoke particles; and these should be collected with MESS. The instrument consists of a collection device with an opening and closure mechanism, as well as an attached conic funnel which increases the sampling area in comparison to the collection area. Dust particles are collected either directly after passing through the instrument or indirectly after colliding with and fragmenting on the funnel wall. We calculate the dust and fragment trajectories in the detector to determine the collection efficiency for different particle sizes, rocket velocities, and heights, and we find the final velocities and the temperatures of the particles. The considered design has a sampling area of 62.78 mm diameter and a collection area of 20 mm diameter. For the conditions at the rocket launch site in Andøya, Norway, we estimate the collection of meteoric smoke particles contained in the ice particles to be ∼ 1012–1014 amu mm−2. The estimated temperatures suggest that the composition of these smoke particles is not affected by the collection. Our calculations also show that keeping the instrument open above 85 km altitude increases the amount of small smoke particles that are directly collected. The directly collected smoke particles are heated as they decelerate, which can affect their composition.</p

p-Adic Mathematical Physics

A brief review of some selected topics in p-adic mathematical physics is presented.Comment: 36 page

Shock-enhanced C+ emission and the detection of H2O from the Stephan’s Quintet group-wide shock using Herschel

WWe present the first Herschelspectroscopic detections of the [O i] 63 μm and [Cii] 158 μm fine-structure transitions, and a single para-H2O line from the 35 × 15 kpc2 shocked intergalactic filament in Stephan’s Quintet. The filament is believed to have been formed when a high-speed intruder to the group collided with a clumpy intergroup gas. Observations with the PACS spectrometer provide evidence for broad (>1000 km s−1) luminous [Cii] line profiles, as well as fainter [O i] 63 μm emission. SPIRE FTS observations reveal water emission from the p-H2O (111–000) transition at several positions in the filament, but no other molecular lines. The H2O line is narrow and may be associated with denser intermediate-velocity gas experiencing the strongest shock-heating. The [Cii]/PAHtot and [C ii]/FIR ratios are too large to be explained by normal photo-electric heating in photodissociation regions. H ii region excitation or X-ray/cosmic-ray heating can also be ruled out. The observations lead to the conclusion that a large fraction the molecular gas is diffuse and warm. We propose that the [Cii], [O i], and warm H2 line emission is powered by a turbulent cascade in which kinetic energy from the galaxy collision with the intergalactic medium is dissipated to small scales and low velocities, via shocks and turbulent eddies. Low-velocity magnetic shocks can help explain both the [Cii]/[O i] ratio, and the relatively high [C ii]/H2 ratios observed. The discovery that [Cii] emission can be enhanced, in large-scale turbulent regions in collisional environments, has implications for the interpretation of [C ii] emission in high-z galaxies