On April 6, 2023, Jeanne Cavoit, currently a doctoral student at IRDL/ENSTA Bretagne, was presented with the Master Arnaud Metsue 2022 award by SF2M Ouest (Société Française de Métallurgie et Matériaux – French Society for Metallurgy and Materials). This award was for the work she did for her end-of-year project on the characterization of the mechanical behavior of a laminated composite resin material.
Where did you carry out your end-of-study internship and on what assignment?
I carried out my end-of-study project (PFE) from March to September 2022 at the Dupuy de Lôme Research Institute on the ENSTA Bretagne campus as part of the "self-heating" research chair.
My work aimed to characterize the behavior of a composite material resin studied as part of a thesis with Safran Composites. Indeed, in certain loading situations, it is this resin that is subjected to the greatest load. So, we need to predict how and when it will break, etc.
For this purpose, my work involved three main stages:
- carrying out of behavior and self-heating tests,
- defining of a relevant model with respect to the results of the true-to-scale tests on the resin, and
- true-to-scale running of this model on the composite material to compare it against the test results obtained during my 2nd year.
What does it mean to you to receive this award?
This award was presented for my end-of-year project work and it is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work carried out during these 6 months. Furthermore, the award does not go just to me, but also to the IRDL laboratory, and my supervisors, Nicolas Carrère and Libor Navratil, who helped me a lot.
© Greenov
You have decided to continue the work on a thesis. What is it about? What are the issues?
My thesis is entitled: "Inflatable textile panels for marine noise reduction applications: mechanical characterization and sizing".
More simply, it concerns the study of the mechanical and fatigue properties of inflatable panels made from coated fabric (polyester fibers, PVC coating). These panels are then placed around the piers planted offshore during wind farm sites, in particular.
This solution was developed by Greenov, which is financing my thesis (CIFRE thesis), in order to meet new standards on underwater noise levels.
Studies have shown the harmful impact of human activity on marine ecosystems when there is "too much noise" underwater. This disturbs many marine species. The challenge is therefore to develop new solutions capable of soundproofing construction sites at sea.
Where have you got to in your thesis? What are next stages?
My thesis is just beginning. For now, it's all about understanding all the issues involved: it is a new material for me, so the first weeks are given over to reviewing the existing literature (in particular, how this material already has been modeled, and what tests have already been carried out to characterize it). It's also a matter of finding my place in the laboratory and in the company.
I also intend to quickly set up the initial tests in order to obtain a relevant, repeatable protocol during the rest of my thesis.
What career do you envisage after your thesis?
For now, I'm thinking of going into industry after my thesis, but as I've changed my mind a lot throughout my studies, nothing is certain!
