Dans une thématique de sécurité incendie, la prédiction de la propagation d’une flamme le long d’une paroi verticale solide nécessite la quantification du rayonnement. L’objectif de la thèse est de quantifier et caractériser les suies d’une flamme de PMMA. La flamme stationnaire d’un brûleur gaz sera également étudiée. La méthode optique de LII, une fois calibrée (extinction), permet d’obtenir des champs 2D de la fraction volumique ainsi que le taux de combustion en fonction de la hauteur pour la flamme de PMMA. Ensuite, la morphologie des agrégats de suie est déterminée grâce à des clichés MET et des mesures de la distribution en taille. Les propriétés optiques sont obtenues avec des mesures in-situ et ex-situ (effet de la température) de l’extinction spectrale, couplées avec une mesure de la concentration massique pour remonter à la fonction d’indice. Cette base de données permettra la perspective de calculer le rayonnement des suies et de l’utiliser dans un modèle de propagation. / In the field of fire safety, the propagation prediction of a flame along a solid vertical wall requires radiation quantification. The thesis objective is to quantify and characterize the PMMA flame soot. Gaseous burner steady flame will also be studied. The LII optical method, after calibration (extinction), provides 2D volume fraction fields and the combustion rate in function of the height for the PMMA flame. Then, the soot aggregate morphology is determined by TEM images and size distribution measurements. The optical properties are obtained with in-situ and ex-situ measurements (temperature effect) of the spectral extinction, coupled with a mass concentration measurement to obtain the index function. This database will allow the prospect to calculate the soot radiation and to use it in a propagation model.

Rocket propulsion using the hybrid-propellant scheme is a technology that offers much promise in applications where high-performance liquid rocket engines are deemed too complex and solid rocket motors are considered to lack performance or safety. However, despite extensive research, there is still a lack of knowledge in the theoretical aspects of hybrid rocketry, especially in the area of fuel-oxidizer mixing and fuel regression rate. This lack of a good theoretical model makes the implementation of good, practical solutions and mature, well-functioning designs more diffcult. This disadvantages the hybrid rocket engine when compared to liquid rocket engines or solid rocket motors.In this study, a hybrid rocket engine burning polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) with compressed air has been designed to the point of a preliminary design defnition. PMMA is a transparent material, and this has been utilized to create a transparent-chamber rocket engine where engine processes can be studied with various optical methods withoutinterrupting or disturbing the operation of the engine. The function of hybrid rocket engines, the technological solutions involved in designing working hybrid rocket engines and the constituent parts of hybrid rocket engines have been studied. The nature of the trade-offs between performance and simplicity that occur when designing a rocket engine are also studied, with a focus on maximizing simplicity, safety and minimizing expenses, while still designing an engine that fulfills basic requirements. The results include a design defnition with a preliminary user’s guide, a feasibility study, and a summary of the results of the hybrid rocket performance model that was used to determine appropriate design parameters.