Materials

A recent winner of a CNRS Bronze medal, Romain Quey is a materials science researcher at the Georges Friedel[1] laboratory at Mines Saint-Étienne. He focuses especially on the deformation of metallic polycrystalline materials. In the following interview for I’MTech, he presents his research, between synchrotron radiation and digital simulation.   …

Carbon fibre composite materials are increasingly widespread, and their use continues to rise every year. Recycling these materials remains difficult, but is nevertheless necessary at the European level for environmental, economic and legislative reasons. At IMT Mines Albi, researchers are working on a new method: vapo-thermolysis. While this process offers promising …

The decade-long ACCUM project carried out by SNCF, Stratiforme Industries, the Valenciennes Railway Testing Center and IMT Lille Douai has led to the development of a new catenary cantilever system for railways. This advance represents a major change in this field, where equipment has seen little change over the past …

The researchers working on the XENON1T project observed a strange phenomenon: the simultaneous capture of two electrons by the atomic nucleus of xenon. A phenomenon so rare that it earned the scientific collaboration, which includes the Subatech[1] laboratory, a spot on the cover of the prestigious journal Nature on 25 …

Out of the 4 billion tons of cement produced every year, the overwhelming majority is Portland cement.  Invented over 200 years ago in France by Louis Vicat — then patented by Englishman Joseph Aspdin —Portland is a star in the world of building materials. Its almost unparalleled durability has allowed …

I’MTech is dedicating a series of articles to success stories from research partnerships supported by the Télécom & Société Numérique Carnot Institute (TSN), to which IMT Atlantique belongs. How can military vehicles be made more discreet on the ground? This is the question addressed by the Caméléon project of the …

Article written in partnership with The Conversation France. By Rodolphe Sonnier, IMT Mines Alès. This article was co-authored by Clément Lacoste (IMT Mines Alès), Laurent Ferry (IMT Mines Alès) and Henri Vahabi (Université de Lorraine). The discovery of fire is often cited as the most important discovery in the history …

The MAGIC project aims to develop a camouflage technique against infrared cameras. Mines Saint-Etienne is using its expertise in the optical properties of materials to achieve the project’s objective. Funded by the DGA and supported by the ANR, MAGIC primarily focusses on military applications. Jenny Faucheu, a researcher on the project …

The colors of cave paintings are of great interest because they provide information about the techniques and materials used. Studying them also allows fewer sample to be taken from ancient paleolithic works. Research in colorimetry by Dominique Lafon-Pham at IMT Mines Alès provides a better definition of the colors used in …

The 3-year H2020 project PHENOmenon, launched in January 2018, is developing nano 3D printers capable of producing micro and nano-structures (particularly those with an optical function), while adhering to limited production times. Kevin Heggarty is a researcher at IMT Atlantique, one of the project partners along with three other European …