ACO

Acoustics

Summary

The Acoustics team’s activities focus on non-destructive evaluation, control and characterization by ultrasonic acoustics as well as the development of sensors and acoustic instrumentation in hostile environments.

RESEARCH TOPICS:

The Acoustics team’s activities are concentrated around two research topics: The first one, dedicated to ECND, focuses on the development of ultrasonic acoustic solutions for Non-Destructive Evaluation, Control and Characterization. To do this, our team masters and develops a large number of methods and tools of acoustics (propagative and resonant) allowing a multi-frequency characterization of the acoustic properties of a wide range of materials and structures. These works aim in particular at the determination of viscoelastic properties and the prediction of mechanical behavior laws of complex materials. The AIHE theme, Acoustic Instrumentation in Hostile Environments, is dedicated to non-destructive ultrasonic measurement and characterization in hostile environments. The research work is recognized through more than three decades of partnerships with the main players in the nuclear industry such as EDF, CEA, or JRC for the European Commission. It contributes to the increase in knowledge of the behavior of fuel assemblies during their irradiation. The group’s research focuses on the design and manufacture of sensors, on the implementation of specific electronic processing chains, and on the production of complete prototypes with a specific focus on characterizing the behaviour of devices under pressure, irradiation and temperature

SKILLS:

The IES Acoustics team is structured around a backbone of expertise in the development and shaping of piezoelectric materials for the design and manufacture of ultrasound sensors

The research aims to address two main objectives:

Extend the operating ranges of acoustic measurement instruments and methods in hostile environments, particularly for high temperatures and in radiative environments.

All these works require a mastery of the entire acquisition chain, from the electronics to the sensor, as well as a fine understanding of the propagation of ultrasonic waves to extract relevant information on the material from often disturbed signals. We have the scientific and technical skills to design ultrasonic systems, to build sensors and associated electronics, and to implement them in specific devices dedicated to the analysis of complex physical phenomena that we model.