FOUCAULT, Michel, Histoire de la sexualité. Tome I. La volonté du savoir

The interest of using polyimide as a sacrificial and anchoring layer is demonstrated for post-processing surface micromachining and for the incorporation of metallic nanowires into microsystems. In addition to properties like a high planarization factor, a good resistance to most non-oxidizing acids and bases, and CMOS compatibility, polyimide can also be used as a mold for nanostructures after ion track-etching. Moreover, specific polyimide grades, such as PI-2611 from HD Microsystems™, involve a thermal expansion coefficient similar to silicon and low internal stress. The process developed in this study permits higher gaps compared to the state-of-the-art, limits stiction problems with the substrate and is adapted to various top-layer materials. Most metals, semiconductors or ceramics will not be affected by the oxygen plasma required for polyimide etching. Released structures with vertical gaps from one to several tens of μm have been obtained, possibly using multiple layers of polyimide. Furthermore, patterned freestanding nanowires have been synthesized with diameters from 20 to 60 nm and up to 3 μm in length. These results have been applied to the fabrication of two specific devices: a generic nanomechanical testing lab-on-chip platform and a miniaturized ionization sensor

Three mechanisms of hydrogen-induced dislocation pinning in tungsten

The high-flux deuterium plasma impinging on a divertor degrades the long-termthermo-mechanical performance of its tungsten plasma-facing components. A prime actor inthis is hydrogen embrittlement, a degradation phenomenon that involves the interactions between hydrogen and dislocations, the primary carriers of plasticity. Measuring such nanoscaleinteractions is still very challenging, which limits our understanding. Here, we demonstrate anexperimental approach that combines thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) andnanoindentation, allowing to investigate the effect of hydrogen on the dislocation mobility in tungsten. Dislocation mobility was found to be reduced after deuterium injection, which ismanifested as a ‘pop-in’ in the indentation stress-strain curve, with an average activation stressfor dislocation mobility that was more than doubled. All experimental results can be confidentlyexplained, in conjunction with experimental and numerical literature findings, by the simultaneous activation of three mechanisms responsible for dislocation pinning: (i) hydrogentrapping at pre-existing dislocations, (ii) hydrogen-induced vacancies, and (iii) stabilization ofvacancies by hydrogen, contributing respectively 38%, 52%, and 34% to the extra activationstress. These mechanisms are considered to be essential for the proper understanding and modeling of hydrogen embrittlement in tungsten

Determination of the morphological texture of the fibres in a composite material made from a textile of AISI 316L fibres using a mixed deconvolution/positivity method

The orientation distribution or 'morphological texture function' (MTF) of the fibres is determined from measurements of the crystallographic texture of the fibres themselves. From neutron diffraction pole-figure measurements of the fibres in the composite and X-ray diffraction pole figures of the individual fibres, the MTF is determined by a deconvolution. To account for errors in the expansion coefficients due to measurement uncertainties, the deconvolution is performed simultaneously with a positivity criterion in the form of a set of linear equations which may be solved by a least-squares method. This approach is validated using a model system of AISI 316L stainless-steel fibres in an Al-13 wt% Si eutectic casting alloy. The fibres had been spun into yarns and subsequently woven to form a textile. The composite was made by infiltrating a 'brick' containing several layers of the textile with the Al alloy. The results of the deconvolution procedure show that the method indeed yields the expected morphological texture. The so-determined MTF is resolved to an angular resolution not attainable by other methods. It also provides a very good estimate of the volume fractions of the different texture components.status: publishe

Mean-field model analysis of deformation and damage in friction stir processed Mg-C composites

Friction Stir Processing (FSP) is an attractive manufacturing technique to produce Mg matrix composites since it avoids the problem of excessive reactivity between reinforcement and matrix encountered in liquid-phase processing routes. However, the strength of the interface in C-reinforced Mg matrix composites produced by FSP remains to be assessed. A short fibre composite has been fabricated by FSP a stack of a C-fabric between two Mg-AZ91D alloy sheets. In order to elucidate the interplay between matrix hardness and interface bonding strength, the work investigates the influence of heat treatment on the mechanical properties of the composites. An incremental Mori-Tanaka model is developed to analyse the relative roles of heat treatment and C-fibre reinforcement on the flow strength and ductility of the composites in tension and compression. The mean-field model provides an estimate of the stress at the matrix/fibre interface, from which a simple debonding criterion can be derived. Comparison between model predictions and experimental data indicates that damage in the FSP composites is triggered by early interfacial debonding. Based on Finite Element simulations of a tensile test carried out in-situ in a scanning electron microscope, the critical interfacial stress for debonding was identified to be 435 MPa in simple traction but only 250 MPa when damage is governed by shear. This explains the limited strengthening by C fibres observed in heat treated composites

Effect of 165-keV Ar-ion irradiation on microstructural and mechanical properties of zircaloy-4

Cold-worked zircaloy-4 was irradiated by 165 keV Ar ion at room temperature. The aim of the study is to understand the correlation between the dislocation loops induced by irradiation and material hardening. The results revealed ziracloy-4 swelling even at low dose and a strong lattice disorder along and directions. With increasing dose, the microstrain increases while the domain size decreases attributed to the dislocation loops formation. Nanohardness and dislocation density show a similar evolution with the dose, which demonstrate a good correlation between the two parameters. Consequently zircaloy-4 hardening observed at low dose is due to the dislocation loops formation

Microscale characterisation of deformed microstructures of TRIP-assisted and multiphase

The improvement of the mechanical behaviour of high performance steels brings about a renewed interest for the work hardening rate resulting from deformation-induced martensitic transformation or mechanical twinning. Even if these mechanisms are known for quite a long time, the deformation - transformation interactions that they induce is not yet fully characterised and understood. This study aims at characterising the microstructure evolution of a Fe-Mn steel grade during straining thanks to TEM and high resolution OIM. Particular patterns of austenite - epsilon and alpha' martensite are found

Three mechanisms of hydrogen-induced dislocation pinning in tungsten

The high-flux deuterium plasma impinging on a divertor degrades the long-termthermo-mechanical performance of its tungsten plasma-facing components. A prime actor inthis is hydrogen embrittlement, a degradation phenomenon that involves the interactions between hydrogen and dislocations, the primary carriers of plasticity. Measuring such nanoscaleinteractions is still very challenging, which limits our understanding. Here, we demonstrate anexperimental approach that combines thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) andnanoindentation, allowing to investigate the effect of hydrogen on the dislocation mobility in tungsten. Dislocation mobility was found to be reduced after deuterium injection, which ismanifested as a ‘pop-in’ in the indentation stress-strain curve, with an average activation stressfor dislocation mobility that was more than doubled. All experimental results can be confidentlyexplained, in conjunction with experimental and numerical literature findings, by the simultaneous activation of three mechanisms responsible for dislocation pinning: (i) hydrogentrapping at pre-existing dislocations, (ii) hydrogen-induced vacancies, and (iii) stabilization ofvacancies by hydrogen, contributing respectively 38%, 52%, and 34% to the extra activationstress. These mechanisms are considered to be essential for the proper understanding and modeling of hydrogen embrittlement in tungsten

The perinatal presence of antigen (p-azophenylarsonate) or anti-mu antibodies lead to the loss of the recurrent idiotype (CRIA) in A/J mice.

&lt;p&gt;The immune response of A/J mice against p-azophenylarsonate (Ars)-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) is characterized by the dominance, late in primary and during the secondary, of a recurrent idiotype called CRIA, encoded by a canonical combination of Ig gene segments. In this study, A/J mice were given Ars coupled to deaggregated human gamma globulins (dHGG) within 24 h after delivery. The offsprings from these mice were then exposed as adults to Ars-KLH. These animals developed an unusual immune response. The level of anti-Ars antibodies was nearly normal but a dramatic shift in repertoire was observed: the cross-reactive idiotype which is the hallmark of the anti-Ars response in A/J mice was completely absent. The idiotype could be recovered by injection of anti-idiotypic antibodies alone, with no need of lipopolysaccharide coupling. Therefore the presence of antigen at birth can lead to a strong perturbation of idiotype selection. Similar results were obtained with neonatal treatment using anti-IgM antibodies. After recovery of suppression, A/J mice can mount an anti-arsonate response of normal level but devoid of the dominant idiotype.&lt;/p&gt;</p