Amortisseur | EPFL Graph Search

Un amortisseur est un système mécanique destiné à atténuer la force d'un choc ou l’amplitude des oscillations d'un objet en amortissant ses vibrations, généralement par dissipation d'énergie. De nombreux phénomènes physiques peuvent être utilisés pour absorber l’énergie cinétique de l’objet en mouvement : pertes de charge d'un fluide, frottement, comportement hystérétique Cette énergie est souvent transformée en énergie thermique mais peut être convertie dans une autre forme, par exemple électrique. Anecdote historique Une des premières applications d’amortisseurs sismiques est certainement celle du temple de Ségeste en Sicile, construit dans la seconde moitié du En effet, les énormes piliers du temple reposent sur une couche d’environ de plomb, ce qui lui a permis de résister aux nombreux séismes qui ont frappé la région au cours des siècles et lui a permis de rester intact, bien qu’inachevé. Différentes techniques Élasticité de la matière Un simp

Periodic cellular aluminum structures for space applications

Florian Thibaut Gallien

Mass is one of the crucial parameters for hardware that has to be placed in Earth orbit. Due to its harsh environment, a material with highest specific properties is desired to achieve space missions. The rise and development of new technologies, such as additive manufacturing (AM), opened new opportunities in part-design complexity, periodic cellular structures (PCS) being one of them. The present thesis investigates the potential implementation of PCS in space applications, particularly for structures and micro-meteoroids and orbital debris (MMOD) impact shields. This was achieved in three steps: Four different types of AlSi12 PCS manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM) were tested under quasi-static compression to measure the mechanical properties dependency versus topology and to characterize the failure mode. Properties ranging from 3 to 4 GPa for the compressive modulus, 5 to 12 MPa for the yield stress, 12 to 20 MPa for the plateau stress, and 2 to 8 MJ/cm3 for the absorbed energy were obtained. An unexpected failure mode was observed when compared to classical cellular metals, namely a brittle failure occurring by global shearing. A predictive failure criterion was established based on topology considerations and correlated to most of the reported results in the literature. A preliminary test campaign on tensile specimens was performed to compute numerical models that were fed into a finite element analysis. Good agreement with experimental data was shown, and the importance of microplasticity effects in this class of material was highlighted. An alternative process was developed to produce AlSi1 PCS by investment casting. The process is based on replication of a polymer preform used to build a NaCl mold. It was observed that the quality of the final cast part depends mainly on the grain size of the salt, with an optimum identified for distributions between 125 and 180 um. Optimization of the process allowed to reduce the drying time by a factor 6. Main process parameters include a drying temperature of 80C and infiltration at 660C under 300 mbar. From this process, PCSs having an energy absorption capacity of 15 MJ/m3 with an efficiency of 80% were produced. Hypervelocity impact tests were conducted on cast PCS and stochastic structures. The objective being to hit the structures with a 2mm-diameter aluminum sphere at velocities close to 7 km/s. Influence of the sample topology, the orientation, and the bumper material was assessed. Stochastic structures successfully stopped the projectile in all configurations. The beneficial effect of the bumper was measured reducing the crater depth from 20 mm to 14 mm. This type of structure exhibited a comparable areal density (0.8 g/cm2) to simple Whipple shield design. PCS poorly performed in mitigating the impact as the debris passed through all the structures, independently of the test configuration due to the open-channels present. PCS are good candidates to be used in space hardware, but their design and the manufacturing process need to be carefully chosen depending on the specific application. AM PCS are suitable for structural application with a high compressive modulus and yield stress. Cast PCS would perfectly fit in shock absorbers. A more random design would be preferable for MMOD shielding applications.

EPFL2018

Extraction of p-n junction properties and series resistance in GaAs nanowire-based solar cells using light concentration

Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, Dmitry Mikulik, Ian Nachemson, Pablo Romero Gómez

Series resistance in solar cells limit their maximum conversion efficiency and thus should be minimized. Generally, such losses originate from deficiencies at the contact or absorber level. Quantifying them is the first step for tackling its reduction. In this work, we provide a new way to assess the series resistance in nanowire-based solar cells, which significantly underperforms predicted theoretical efficiency. We illuminate the devices at different levels of light intensity (from 1 to 1000 suns), which gives us insight in the carrier transport and series losses mechanism. We demonstrate the method on a device obtained by self-assembled GaAs nanowire p-n junction arrays on silicon. This analysis method provides a platform to distinguish the intrinsic response of the nanowire p-n junction from the series resistance effects. More generally, we provide a means of optimizing the efficiency in next generation solar cells, where contacts still have to be developed.

IOP PUBLISHING LTD2019

Vapor Transport Deposition of Methylammonium Iodide for Perovskite Solar Cells

Christophe Ballif, Cédric Bucher, Léo Duchêne, Quentin Jean-Marie Armand Guesnay, Quentin Thomas Jeangros, Nathanaël Miaz, Björn Niesen, Florent Sahli, Niccolo Salsi, Aymeric Michel Schafflützel

Vapor-based processes are promising options to deposit metal halide perovskite solar cells in an industrial environment due to their ability to deposit uniform layers over large areas in a controlled environment without resorting to the use of (possibly toxic) solvents. In addition, they yield conformal layers on rough substrates, an important aspect in view of producing perovskite/ crystalline silicon tandem solar cells featuring a textured silicon wafer for light management. While the inorganic precursors of the perovskite are well suited for thermal evaporation in high vacuum, the sublimation of the organic ones is more complex to control due to their high vapor pressure. To tackle this issue, we developed a vapor transport deposition chamber for organohalide deposition that physically dissociates the organic vapor evaporation zone from the deposition chamber. Once evaporated, organic vapors, here methylammonium iodide (MAI), are transported to the deposition chamber by a carrier gas through a showerhead, ensuring a spatially homogeneous conversion of PbI2 templates to the perovskite phase. The method enables the production of homogeneous perovskite layers on a textured 6 in. wafer. Furthermore, small-scale methylammonium lead iodide solar cells are also processed to validate the quality of the absorbers produced by this hybrid thermal evaporation/vapor transport deposition process.

2021

Periodic cellular aluminum structures for space applications

Florian Thibaut Gallien

EPFL2018