Enabling design by analysis requires the development of high-fidelity tools that couple flow and material behavior. A main challenge lies in developing suitable and robust numerical techniques that accurately track the material interface and in defining proper boundary conditions that capture material degradation. The material response in the presence of defects introduces added complexities,...
In the domain of thermal insulation at high temperatures, refractory porous or fibrous materials are of particular interest. In these materials, the conductive and convective heat transfer modes can be negligible and thus, the radiative transfer plays a key role that must be accurately quantified
In this work, we study a random array of overlapping infinite cylinders under vacuum, assumed...
Internationally, the use of wood in constructions is increasing due to its aesthetic appeal and environmental benefits. However, this trend poses significant challenges in terms of fire safety. Accurate fire simulations therefore require improved modelling of wood drying, pyrolysis, and combustion processes, with particular attention to the porous nature of wood materials.
In this work, the...
In the context of modeling the manufacturing and degradation of high-temperature carbon- or ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs), the simulation of heat and mass transfer in porous media is a key element. The transfer modes are frequently a mix of diffusive and radiative transfer, such as rarefied gas transfer during Chemical Vapor Infiltration, an important processing route for CMCs, and...
Charring ablators protect spacecraft by coupling low thermal conductivity and endothermic pyrolysis with porous outgassing to produce transpiration cooling. This work establishes an end-to-end multiscale modeling framework for these TPS materials. At the pore scale, we performed detailed DSMC simulations of high-temperature rarefied gas flow through reconstructed fibrous preform geometries....
When it comes to high-temperature processes, coupled conduction–radiation heat transfer plays a critical role in many porous and architectured materials, including ceramic foams, fibrous insulators, lattice structures, or triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) geometries. In such media, strong heterogeneities (high porosity levels, complex solid–void interfaces) frequently prevent standard...
This work presents a systematic experimental study aimed at improving the efficiency of volumetric solar receivers through the use of periodic porous ceramic absorbers with tailored morphologies and pore sizes. The primary objective is to assess how controlled geometric design parameters influence the thermo-fluid dynamic behavior of solar absorbers operating under forced convection and...
High-temperature volumetric solar absorbers operating above 1000 K are key components for next-generation concentrating solar power systems. However, their deployment is still limited by the occurrence of severe thermal gradients, reaching up to 200 K·cm⁻¹, which lead to mechanical cracking, material degradation, and a reduction of overall thermal efficiency due to radiative losses. Addressing...
Lignocellulosic biomass is already used in both energy-production and space applications, for example, in the external thermal protection system of Ariane 6. In the current context of environmental transition, a wider range of high-temperature applications is being envisioned, spanning ground-based to space environments. However, the successful use of bio-based composites under extreme...
Understanding high-temperature degradation processes is critical to the development of hypersonic flight systems for space exploration and national defense. To be safe and effective throughout the extreme conditions of re-entry, designs must anticipate and be robust to materials changes through ablation and oxidation. Hand-in-hand with the development of computational capabilities has been a...
