Vincent Le Corre

• IFP Energies nouvelles

We propose a method to measure the local porosity of porous samples from scanning electron microscopy images in the backscattered electron mode. The porous samples are impregnated with a polymer resin and observed in polished cross sections. Image intensities are calibrated with intensities from pure resin and the bulk phase. The calibration model...

Meso-porous γ-alumina ceramics used as catalyst supports are characterized by high porosity fraction (>70%) and specific surface area (>200 m²/g) targeted to ensure high catalytic performances, but at the expense of the mechanical strength. The aim of this work is to link the mechanical properties of three different catalyst supports with their mic...

Nowadays, computational resources allow carrying out mechanical calculations on complex multi-scale mate-rials. Finite Element (FE) calculations can especially be directly performed on microstructures of materials. Thiswork is a first attempt to analyse the impact of the crystalline architecture at a mesoscopic scale on the mac-roscopic elastic pro...

Macroporous γ-alumina ceramics is a granular-like medium composed of agglomerated mesoporous grains allowing inter-granular macroporosity. Macropores, whose equivalent diameter is larger than 1µm, represent a volume fraction of 14.5%. The mechanical properties of the macroporous material are very low compared with the mesoporous matrix. In this wor...

This paper investigates the effect of installation on collapse performance of flexible pipes. In the design of flexible pipelines for offshore field developments, one of the critical failure modes being associated with external pressure and bending loadings is the hydrostatic collapse. In accordance with standards, Technip methodology for flexible...

This paper aims at identifying the multiaxial compression behavior of highly porous ceramics used as catalyst supports. For this purpose, instrumented spherical indentation tests are performed, together with uniaxial and hydrostatic compression tests. A transition from a brittle to a damageable behavior with densification of the material is noted w...

The side crushing test is commonly used to characterize the mechanical strength of catalyst supports. However its interpretation is complex for cylindrical supports due to their irregular geometry and the various fracture modes induced. A better analysis of the crushing test, altogether with a comparison of the results obtained with the three-Point...

The accurate modeling of offshore flexible risers behaviour remains a great challenge because of (i) their complex internal structure, (ii) the variable nature of the loads along the pipe (tension, curvature, internal and external pressures), (iii) and the interactions with structures used to limit the pipe curvature. Technip and IFP have been code...

This paper focuses upon validation of the 3-D FEA model for cyclic bending under tension load case. An important aspect of accurately modelling the behaviour is the complex stick, partial slip and full slip behaviour of the internal components. Particular attention is paid to the resisting moment resulting from internal friction, known as the frict...

This article describes an analysis made to develop a simplified stress-based criterion for brittle fracture focussed on the lowest probability of failure. For that, on the basis of fine numerical interpretation of two series of fracture-tests on 16MND5 reactor vessel steel, a number of variables were proposed:•A stress threshold σth below which cle...

This study deals with the fracture behaviour of welded thin structures in the ductile to brittle transition range. It aims to propose a criterion to define the conditions for which the risk of fracture per cleavage does not exist on a cracked structure. The literature review shows that the difficulties of prediction of the fracture behaviour of a...

This study concerns the nuclear pipe integrity. It is focused on the fracture in the ductile to brittle transition region of ferritic steels. An essential problem is the transferability of failure criterions from specimen to in-service structures. In order to ensure the integrity of a structure, we have to estimate the existing margin towards the...

This study concerns the nuclear secondary circuit pipes integrity. It is focused on the fracture of ferritic steels in the ductile and brittle competition range. In order to ensure the integrity of a structure, we have to estimate the existing margin towards the risk of brittle fracture. A threshold stress σ th is defined as the brittle fracture mi...