Modelling of Short-Term Interactions Between Concrete Support and the Excavated Damage Zone Around Galleries Drilled in Callovo–Oxfordian Claystone

peer reviewedProduction of energy from nuclear power plants generates high-level radioactive nuclear waste, harmful during dozens of thousand years. Deep geological disposal of nuclear waste represents the most reliable solutions for its safe isolation. Confinement of radioactive wastes relies on the multi-barrier concept in which isolation is provided by a series of engineered (canister, backfill) and natural (host rock) barriers. Few underground research laboratories have been built all over the world to test and validate storage solutions. The underground drilling process of disposal drifts may generate cracks, fractures/strain localisation in shear bands within the rock surrounding the gallery especially in argillaceous rocks. These degradations affect the hydro-mechanical properties of the material, such as permeability, e.g. creating a preferential flow path for radionuclide migration. Hydraulic conductivity increase within this zone must remain limited to preserve the natural barrier. In addition galleries are currently reinforced by different types of concrete supports such as shotcrete and/or prefab elements. Their purpose is twofold: avoiding partial collapse of the tunnel during drilling operations and limiting convergence of the surrounding rock. Properties of both concrete and rock mass are time dependent, due to shotcrete hydration and hydromechanical couplings within the host rock. By the use of a hydro-mechanical coupled Finite Element Code with a Second Gradient regularization, this paper aims at investigating and predicting support and rock interactions (convergence, stress field). The effect of shotcrete hydration evolution, spraying time and use of compressible wedges is studied in order to determine their relative influence

Perfusion-decellularization of human ear grafts enables ECM-based scaffolds for auricular vascularized composite tissue engineering

Introduction: Human ear reconstruction is recognized as the emblematic enterprise in tissue engineering. Up to now, it has failed to reach human applications requiring appropriate tissue complexity along with an accessible vascular tree. We hereby propose a new method to process human auricles in order to provide a poorly immunogenic, complex and vascularized ear graft scaffold. Methods: 12 human ears with their vascular pedicles were procured. Perfusion-decellularization was applied using a SDS/polar solvent protocol. Cell and antigen removal was examined by histology and DNA was quantified. Preservation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) was assessed by conventional and 3D-histology, proteins and cytokines quantifications. Biocompatibility was assessed by implantation in rats for up to 60 days. Adipose-derived stem cells seeding was conducted on scaffold samples and with human aortic endothelial cells whole graft seeding in a perfusion-bioreactor. Results: Histology confirmed cell and antigen clearance. DNA reduction was 97.3%. ECM structure and composition were preserved. Implanted scaffolds were tolerated in vivo, with acceptable inflammation, remodeling, and anti-donor antibody formation. Seeding experiments demonstrated cell engraftment and viability. Conclusions: Vascularized and complex auricular scaffolds can be obtained from human source to provide a platform for further functional auricular tissue engineered constructs, hence providing an ideal road to the vascularized composite tissue engineering approach

Numerical Simulations of Void Linkage in Model Materials using a Nonlocal Ductile Damage Approximation

Experiments on the growth and linkage of 10 μm diameter holes laser drilled in high precision patterns into Al-plates were modelled with finite elements. The simulations used geometries identical to those of the experiments and incorporated ductile damage by element removal under the control of a ductile damage indicator based on the micromechanical studies of Rice and Tracey. A regularization of the problem was achieved through an integral-type nonlocal model based on the smoothing of the rate of a damage indicator D over a characteristic length L. The simulation does not predict the experimentally observed damage acceleration either in the case where no damage is included or when only a local damage model is used. However, the full three-dimensional simulations based on the nonlocal damage methodology do predict both the failure path and the failure strain at void linkage for almost all configurations studied. For the cases considered the critical parameter controlling the local deformations at void linkage was found to be the ratio between hole diameter and hole spacing

Characterization of the High Temperature Strain Partitioning in Duplex Steels

A microgrid technique has been developed for the analysis of the high-temperature micro-scale strain distribution between ferrite and austenite into duplex stainless steels. The local strain is measured by micro-extensometry using square microgrids engraved on flat specimens by electro-lithography. The sample with microgrids on the surface and preliminary imaged with high definition scanning electron microscope (SEM), is inserted in a plane strain compression specimen to be deformed under conditions representative of hot rolling. After deformation, the sample is extracted from the compressed block and the surface is again analyzed by SEM and image processing to determine the strain field. The strain is heterogeneously distributed with a strong localization of the deformation, in the form of shear bands located within the ferrite and at the vicinity of the austenite/ferrite interphase boundaries. These strain maps provide useful informations about the rheology of the phases as well as about the local conditions at the origin of the damage process

Multiscale analysis of the strength and ductility of AA 6056 aluminum friction stir welds

International audienceThe number of parameters a.ecting the friction stir welding process, the subsequent forming operations, and the structural integrity is very large: chemical composition of the two welded materials, welding parameters and thermal history, initial microstructure, flow properties of each alloy, etc. A multiscale analysis based on macro- and micromechanical tests has been conducted in order to determine and quantify the phenomena controlling the mechanical properties of joints made by welding AA 6056 Al alloys in a T4 or T78 state and to construct a predictive model for plasticity and fracture. Small tensile test samples were machined inside the various zones of the welds and parallel to the welding direction to identify the local plastic and fracture properties. Macrotensile tests using samples machined transverse to the welding direction and strain maps obtained by digital image correlation (DIC) provided information about the overall strength, plastic strain localization, and fracture of the joint. Three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) analysis of the deformation of the welded samples loaded transverse to the welding line based on J2 flow plasticity theory and on the parameters identified on the small test samples was used to quantify the effects of the geometrical, microstructural, and mechanical factors affecting the plastic flow localization process and the evolution of the constraint in the weak zone, which controls the damage rate. Uniform plastic flow is controlled not only by the yield strength mismatch between the weak zone and its surrounding but also by the strain hardening mismatch, both related to the precipitation of the Q phase. The ductility was addressed using a micromechanics-based damage model. A key ingredient of the model was to account for both large primary voids nucleated early on intermetallic particles and small secondary voids nucleated on dispersoi¨ds, which have a first-order effect on the fracture of the AA 6056 Al alloy. The model is shown to capture very well the drop of the overall ductility in the welded joints

Multiscale analysis of the strength and ductility of AA 6056 aluminum friction stir welds

The number of parameters affecting the friction stir welding process, the subsequent forming operations, and the structural integrity is very large: chemical composition of the two welded materials, welding parameters and thermal history, initial microstructure, flow properties of each alloy, etc. A multiscale analysis based on macro- and micromechanical tests has been conducted in order to determine and quantify the phenomena controlling the mechanical properties of joints made by welding AA 6056 Al alloys in a T4 or T78 state and to construct a predictive model for plasticity and fracture. Small tensile test samples were machined inside the various zones of the welds and parallel to the welding direction to identify the local plastic and fracture properties. Macrotensile tests using samples machined transverse to the welding direction and strain maps obtained by digital image correlation (DIC) provided information about the overall strength, plastic strain localization, and fracture of the joint. Three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) analysis of the deformation of the welded samples loaded transverse to the welding line based on J(2) flow Plasticity theory and on the parameters identified on the small test samples was used to quantify the effects of the geometrical, microstructural, and mechanical factors affecting the plastic flow localization process and the evolution of the constraint in the weak zone, which controls the damage rate. Uniform plastic flow is controlled not only by the yield strength mismatch between the weak zone and its surrounding but also by the strain hardening mismatch, both related to the precipitation of the Q phase. The ductility was addressed using a micromechanics-based damage model. A key ingredient of the model was to account for both large primary voids nucleated early on intermetallic particles and small secondary voids nucleated on dispersoids, which have a first-order effect on the fracture of the AA 6056 Al alloy. The model is shown to capture very well the drop of the overall ductility in the welded joints