L’évolution actuelle des exigences en termes de performance énergétique des bâtiments a fait apparaître de nouveaux enjeux et problématiques scientifiques, dont ceux liés à l’humidité. Cette étude s’appuie sur une cellule expérimentale construite sur la technologie des maisons à ossature bois et soumise aux conditions climatiques réelles de Grenoble. L’instrumentation de ce bâtiment et le suivi de l’évolution en température et en humidité dans les différentes couches de l’enveloppe permettent de définir des séquences nécessaires à la validation de modèles numériques. Dans cet objectif, un modèle existant nommé HAM-Tools a été utilisé pour simuler les transferts couplés de chaleur, d’air et d’humidité à l’échelle du bâtiment. La démarche de validation a été décomposée en plusieurs étapes, de manière à cibler des transferts spécifiques et d’en améliorer la modélisation. Ces études localisées concernent les transferts couplés de chaleur et de masse à travers les parois solides, la modélisation des transferts de chaleur à travers une lame d’air ventilée et enfin la modélisation du renouvellement de l’air intérieur en conditions naturelles. Pour estimer la précision globale du modèle, c'est-à-dire à l’échelle du bâtiment, une séquence expérimentale a été simulée en prenant en compte l’ensemble des transferts couplés simultanément. Les performances du modèle sont discutées à partir des mesures locales, c'est-à-dire dans les parois, puis globales. La bonne concordance entre mesures et résultats de simulation permet de conclure sur la validité et la généricité de la démarche mise en œuvre et les hypothèses de simulation. Plus particulièrement, il est apparu que l’outil de modélisation permet de prédire correctement le comportement moyen des parois en humidité et en température. Il est donc envisageable de l’utiliser pour simuler et estimer l’impact des constituants des parois en termes de durabilité, de performances énergétiques et de confort de l’occupant. / As energy saving is so important in buildings nowadays, envelopes performances have to be more efficient and have to deal with more obligations, such as moisture accumulation and mould growth. This study relies on an experimental wooden frame house exposed to the natural conditions of Grenoble, France. It has been widely instrumented so the wall’s temperature and humidity is monitored at different depths. As a consequence, complete dataset are available and can be used to validate numerical model. In this work, an existing numerical model named HAM-Tolls has been used to simulate the heat, air and moisture coupled transfers at the building scale. The method developed here consists in validating the numerical model step by step, with studying specific transfers separately. The first step deals with heat and mass transfers across the walls. Then, the heat transfers across a ventilated air gap and the air change rate under natural conditions have been studied much in detail. The final step of this works consists in simulating simultaneously every transfer at the building scale. This latest simulation’s results were compared both on a local and on a global point of view with the measurements. As they were found to be in good agreement, this allows concluding on the methodology efficiency, the validity of the modelling assumption and gives good hope with extending this methodology to other studies. Specifically, the simulation tool is able to predict correctly the average temperature and humidity content within the walls. Therefore, it should be suitable with estimating the wall components influence on the wall durability, its energy efficiency and its impact on the occupant’s thermal comfort.

Notre investigation porte sur la simulation numérique des échanges thermo-convectifs dans un canal vertical ouvert à flux imposé. Cette étude rentre dans le cadre des recherches sur le rafraîchissement passif des composants PV intégrés au bâtiment. À cet effet, un code numérique en Différences Finies est utilisé pour résoudre les équations de Navier-Stokes et simuler la convection naturelle dans un canal. Ce problème reste difficile à résoudre parce que l'écriture des conditions aux limites d'entrée et de sortie reste un problème ouvert. Notre travail consiste d'abord en étude des différentes conditions aux limites pour le benchmark numérique AMETH. Les travaux réalisés ont permis de faire un premier choix sur les conditions aux limites. L'étude s'oriente ensuite sur la qualification et la quantification numériques et expérimentales pour deux fluides : l'air (convection-rayonnement) et l'eau (convection pure). Les résultats numériques/expérimentaux ont été comparés et les discordances ont été analysées. Plusieurs aspects phénoménologiques (rayonnement entre surfaces, variation des propriétés thermo-physiques, variation du nombre de Prandtl) ont été abordés afin de caractériser leurs influences respectives sur l'écoulement et le transfert thermique. Enfin, dans le but d'apporter des éléments de réponses sur les conditions aux limites dynamiques, nous avons simulé la convection naturelle d'un canal dans une cavité et tenté une modélisation. / The present investigation deals with natural convection flow in a vertical open-ended channel with wall constant heat flux. This study falls under the framework of research on passive cooling of building integrated PV components. For this purpose, a numerical code developed with Finite Differences scheme is used to solve Navier-Stokes equations and simulate the natural convection in a channel. This problem is difficult to solve because the writing of inlet/outlet boundary conditions remains an open problem. First, our work consists of studying different boundary conditions for the the numerical benchmark AMETH. The work carried out has enabled a first choice of boundary conditions. The study then focuses on numerical and experimental quantification and qualification for two fluids : air ( convection - radiation) and water ( pure convection) . Experimental and numerical results were compared and discrepancies were analyzed. Several phenomenological aspects ( surface radiation, thermophysical properties variation, Prandtl number variation ) were discussed in order to characterize their influence on flow and heat transfer. Finally, in order to provide some answers on dynamical boundary conditions, we simulated natural convection of a channel inside a cavity and tried a modeling.

For the last 10 years, silicone-based admixtures have been successfully used for bulk waterproofing treatment of cementitious materials. However, a reduction in mechanical properties of treated materials is rather observed and becomes a major problem for the in-situ application. A new concept of a knowledge-based integral water repellent has been designed in such a way that the negative effect on mechanical properties is significantly reduced. The technology comprises the delayed release of the hydrophobic agent (silicone resin) which is achieved by encapsulation of the resin in SiO2 shell. A multidisciplinary research was conducted in order to propose a model of the delayed release and the silica shell reaction mechanism in cement paste. Therefore, a study on the microcapsules reaction in calcium hydroxide solution was conducted by means of FTIR, DSC-TGA, surface tension measurements and chemical analysis by ICP-OES. It was shown that microcapsules flocculate in presence of Ca2+, what appears to be the main factor that contribute to the delayed release of the resin.The influence of the microcapsules on Ordinary Portland (OPC) and Blast furnace slag (BFS) cement hydration process was compared with the emulsion of silane monomer and silicone resin. It was shown that the emulsion delays the setting and influences the early age hydration by prolonging the dormant period and decreasing the hydration heat. Cement microstructure and hydration products development was observed by SEM/ESEM. Quantitative analysis of hydration products was assessed by Rietveld analysis of XRD diffractograms. Emulsion induced a significant delay in the cement paste setting by changing the amount and morphology of ettringite and portlandite at very early age. Differently, microcapsules didn’t show any effect on these properties. Experimental work on relevant mortars is done in order to prove the concept of a delayed release as a solution towards the decrease in mechanical properties. The influence of the new additive on setting, volume change, dynamic E-modulus and the compressive strength was analysed. New analytical techniques (AutoShrink, Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity and ConSensor) in combination with traditional ones (Penetration resistance test and compressive strength on cubes) were used. Microcapsules have successfully lowered the negative impact of silanes on the compressive strength and dynamic Young’s modulus. Moreover, it was showed that the microcapsules slightly influence autogenous deformation by increasing the shrinkage of mortars.Microencapsulation of the silicone resin proved to be a promising solution for the bulk hydrophobic treatment of cementitious materials with no-influence on cement hydration. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

La fissuration d’éléments minces en béton dès le jeune âge correspond à une réalité observée sur des ouvrages en construction. Cette fissuration concerne des bétons courants de bâtiments, pour lesquels les matériaux de qualité optimale ne sont pas toujours disponibles, en particulier au niveau des granulats. Le but de cette thèse est de définir une approche expérimentale d’étude de ces phénomènes et de proposer des interprétations pour les sensibilités relatives à la fissuration en fonction de la nature des granulats et de leurs taux de saturation initiaux. La sensibilité des moyens de mesures existants conçus pour des bétons spéciaux (BAP et BHP) a d’abord dû être<p>vérifiée. Un nouveau dispositif expérimental a été développé dans le but de mieux décrire l’évolution de la résistance et de la capacité de<p>déformation en traction du béton jeune. Les indicateurs globaux (macroscopiques) apparaissent plus sensibles que les indicateurs de la microstructure pour rendre compte des différences de comportement observées. L’évolution du module élastique, du retrait plastique et endogène corrélées à l’évolution de la capacité de déformation et de la résistance en traction permettent de mieux caractériser le risque<p>potentiel de fissuration par retrait empêché. La fin de prise correspond à une phase critique. L’influence de la saturation des granulats est<p>indirecte, et résulte des variations du rapport Eau d’ajout/Ciment, à rapport Eau efficace/Ciment constant. La nature des granulats intervient au niveau des évolutions relatives de la résistance en traction et du module élastique. La méthodologie peut être appliquée à l’étude d’autres types de bétons et d’autres paramètres de formulation. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Les bâtiments représentent 40 pourcents de la consommation finale d'énergie. Ils sont ainsi le fer de lance des politiques de réduction des dépenses énergétiques. Récemment, des systèmes de modèles climatiques qui incluent un modèle atmosphérique régional et des paramétrisations urbaines sophistiquées ont été développés. Ils considèrent la complexité de l’îlot de chaleur urbain et ses interactions avec les besoins énergétiques des bâtiments. Dans quelle mesure ces systèmes constituent-ils des outils d’aide à la décision pour les autorités locales ? Cette étude menée sur le territoire de l'Eurodistrict (Strasbourg - Kehl) en 2010, puis en 2030, à l’aide du système de modèles de climat WRF/ARW-BEP+BEM a démontré que si le système de modèles estimait de manière fiable les besoins en chauffage des bâtiments, ces derniers étaient davantage sensibles aux caractéristiques intrinsèques des bâtiments qu'aux formes urbaines et à l'îlot de chaleur urbain induit par ces formes. / Buildings represent 40 percent of the end-use energy. Thus, they constitute a key point of the energy saving policies. Recently, climate modeling systems that include a mesoscale atmospheric model, sophisticated urban parameterizations have been developed to account for the complexity of the urban climate and its interactions with the building energy loads. This study aims to assess the capability of such climate modeling systems to provide climate and energy guidelines to urban planners. For this, we used the research collaborative WRF/ARW-BEP+BEM climate modeling system and performed sensitivity tests considering the territory of the Eurodistrict in 2010, and then in 2030. The results reveal that the climate modeling system achieves estimating the building energy needs over the study area, but also indicate that the building energy needs are more sensitive to the building intrinsic properties and occupant behavior than to the urban forms and their induced urban heat island.

The macroscopic behavior of complex heterogeneous materials is strongly governed by the interactions between their elementary constituents within their microstructure. Beside experimental efforts characterizing the behaviors of such materials, there is growing interest, in view of the increasing computational power available, in building models representing their microstructural systems integrating the elementary behaviors of their constituents and their geometrical organization. While a large number of contributions on this aspect focus on the investigation of advanced physics in material parameter studies using rather simple geometries to represent the spatial organization of heterogeneities, few are dedicated to the exploration of the role of microstructural geometries by means of morphological parameter studies.<p>The critical ingredients of this second type of investigation are (I) the generation of sets of representative volume elements ( RVE ) describing the geometry of microstructures with a satisfying control on the morphology relevant to the material of interest and (II) the discretization of governing equations of a model representing the investigated physics on those RVEs domains. One possible reason for the under-representation of morphologically detailed RVEs in the related literature may be related to several issues associated with the geometrical complexity of the microstructures of considered materials in both of these steps. Based on this hypothesis, this work is aimed at bringing contributions to advanced techniques for the generation and discretization of microstructures of complex heterogeneous materials, focusing on geometrical issues. In particular, a special emphasis is put on the consistent geometrical representation of RVEs across generation and discretization methodologies and the accommodation of a quantitative control on specific morphological features characterizing the microstructures of the covered materials.<p>While several promising recent techniques are dedicated to the discretization of arbitrary complex geometries in numerical models, the literature on RVEs generation methodologies does not provide fully satisfying solutions for most of the cases. The general strategy in this work consisted in selecting a promising state-of-the-art discretization method and in designing improved RVE generation techniques with the concern of guaranteeing their seamless collaboration. The chosen discretization technique is a specific variation of the generalized / extended finite element method that accommodates the representation of arbitrary input geometries represented by level set functions. The RVE generation techniques were designed accordingly, using level set functions to define and manipulate the RVEs geometries. <p>The RVE methodologies developed are mostly morphologically motivated, incorporating governing parameters allowing the reproduction and the quantitative control of specific morphological features of the considered materials. These developments make an intensive use of distance fields and level set functions to handle the geometrical complexity of microstructures. Valuable improvements were brought to the RVE generation methodologies for several materials, namely granular and particle-based materials, coated and cemented geomaterials, polycrystalline materials, cellular materials and textile-based materials. RVEs produced using those developments have allowed extensive testing of the investigated discretization method, using complex microstructures in proof-of-concept studies involving the main ingredients of RVE-based morphological parameter studies of complex heterogeneous materials. In particular, the illustrated approach offers the possibility to address three crucial aspects of those kinds of studies: (I) to easily conduct simulations on a large number of RVEs covering a significant range of morphological variations for a material, (II) to use advanced constituent material behaviors and (III) to discretize large 3D RVEs. Based on those illustrations and the experience gained from their realization, the main strengths and limitations of the considered discretization methods were clearly identified. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Modélisation 3D réaliste des bâtiments et d'autres objets de planification urbaine est un domaine de recherche actif dans le domaine de la modélisation 3D de la ville, la documentation du patrimoine, tourisme virtuel, la planification urbaine, la conception architecturale et les jeux d'ordinateur. La création de ces modèles, très souvent, nécessite la fusion des données provenant de diverses sources telles que les images optiques et de numérisation de nuages ​​de points laser. Pour imiter de façon aussi réaliste que possible les mises en page, les activités et les fonctionnalités d'un environnement du monde réel, ces modèles doivent atteindre de haute qualité et la précision de photo-réaliste en termes de la texture de surface (par exemple pierre ou de brique des murs) et de la morphologie (par exemple, les fenêtres et les portes) des objets réels. Rendu à base d'images est une alternative pour répondre à ces exigences. Il utilise des photos, prises soit au niveau du sol ou de l'air, à ajouter de la texture au modèle 3D ajoutant ainsi photo-réalisme.Pour revêtement de texture pleine de grandes façades des modèles de blocs 3D, des images qui dépeignent la même façade doivent être correctement combinée et correctement aligné avec le côté du bloc. Les photos doivent être fusionnés de manière appropriée afin que le résultat ne présente pas de discontinuités, de brusques variations de l'éclairage ou des lacunes. Parce que ces images ont été prises, en général, dans différentes conditions de visualisation (angles de vision, des facteurs de zoom, etc.) ils sont sous différentes distorsions de perspective, mise à l'échelle, de luminosité, de contraste et de couleur nuances, ils doivent être corrigés ou ajustés. Ce processus nécessite l'extraction de caractéristiques clés de leur contenu visuel d'images.Le but du travail proposé est de développer des méthodes basées sur la vision par ordinateur et les techniques de reconnaissance des formes, afin d'aider ce processus. En particulier, nous proposons une méthode pour extraire les lignes implicites à partir d'images de mauvaise qualité des bâtiments, y compris les vues de nuit où seules quelques fenêtres éclairées sont visibles, afin de préciser des faisceaux de lignes parallèles 3D et leurs points de fuite correspondants. Puis, sur la base de ces informations, on peut parvenir à une meilleure fusion des images et un meilleur alignement des images aux façades de blocs. / Realistic 3D modeling of buildings and other urban planning objects is an active research area in the field of 3D city modeling, heritage documentation, virtual touring, urban planning, architectural design and computer gaming. The creation of such models, very often, requires merging of data from diverse sources such as optical images and laser scan point clouds. To imitate as realistically as possible the layouts, activities and functionalities of a real-world environment, these models need to attain high photo-realistic quality and accuracy in terms of the surface texture (e.g. stone or brick walls) and morphology (e.g. windows and doors) of the actual objects. Image-based rendering is an alternative for meeting these requirements. It uses photos, taken either from ground level or from the air, to add texture to the 3D model thus adding photo-realism. For full texture covering of large facades of 3D block models, images picturing the same façade need to be properly combined and correctly aligned with the side of the block. The pictures need to be merged appropriately so that the result does not present discontinuities, abrupt variations in lighting or gaps. Because these images were taken, in general, under various viewing conditions (viewing angles, zoom factors etc) they are under different perspective distortions, scaling, brightness, contrast and color shadings, they need to be corrected or adjusted. This process requires the extraction of key features from their visual content of images. The aim of the proposed work is to develop methods based on computer vision and pattern recognition techniques in order to assist this process. In particular, we propose a method for extracting implicit lines from poor quality images of buildings, including night views where only some lit windows are visible, in order to specify bundles of 3D parallel lines and their corresponding vanishing points. Then, based on this information, one can achieve better merging of the images and better alignment of the images to the block façades. Another important application dealt in this thesis is that of 3D modeling. We propose an edge preserving interpolation, based on the mean shift algorithm, that operates jointly on the optical and the elevation data. It succeeds in increasing the resolution of the elevation data (LiDAR) while improving the quality (i.e. straightness) of their edges. At the same time, the color homogeneity of the corresponding imagery is also improved. The reduction of color artifacts in the optical data and the improvement in the spatial resolution of elevation data results in more accurate 3D building models. Finally, in the problem of building detection, the application of the proposed mean shift-based edge preserving smoothing for increasing the quality of aerial/color images improves the performance of binary building vs non-building pixel classification.

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En Europe, le secteur du bâtiment est le plus énergivore et représente environ 40 % de l’énergie totale consommée. A court terme, la façon la plus efficace de baisser cette consommation est de réduire les déperditions thermiques à travers l’enveloppe du bâtiment en augmentant son isolation thermique, tout en minimisant la perte de surface habitable. Dans ce contexte, les travaux de thèse portent sur l’étude et la mise au point pour pré-industrialisation de matériaux super-isolants composites à base d'aérogel de silice. Le matériau composite étudié fait partie de la famille des blankets aérogels et est obtenu via un procédé de séchage ambiant innovant. Grâce à leur faible conductivité thermique et leurs propriétés mécaniques renforcées, les blankets aérogels sont d’un grand intérêt pour l’isolation thermique qui nécessite de fines épaisseurs d’isolants. Les travaux de thèse visent dans un premier temps à effectuer une analyse des propriétés thermophysiques des blankets aérogels étudiés à la sortie du moule de fabrication et vis-à-vis de leur mise en œuvre lorsqu’ils sont soumis à différentes sollicitations (mécaniques, hygriques ...). Des travaux de modélisation du transfert de chaleur dans le blanket aérogel sont développés afin d’étudier les relations entre le transfert thermique et les paramètres morphologiques du matériau. Dans un second temps, les travaux de thèse portent sur l’étude des performances à attendre d’un système d’isolation basé sur le blanket aérogel mis en œuvre sur un bâtiment, à la fois par l’analyse du comportement thermique d’une cellule test en climat réel, ainsi que par la conduite de simulations numériques de bâtiments prenant en compte plusieurs techniques constructives, configurations de murs, et ce, pour plusieurs climats européens. Les résultats obtenus montrent que les blankets aérogels étudiés ont une très faible conductivité thermique –0,016 W.m-1.K-1– et ont un fort potentiel d’application dans l’isolation thermique du bâtiment. / Buildings are the largest energy end-use sector and account for about 40 % of the total final energy consumption in the EU-28. A short-term strategy to efficiently reduce this consumption is to decrease thermal losses through the building envelope by improving its thermal insulation, while minimizing the reduction of the available indoor living space. In this context, the thesis deals with the study and development for pre-industrialization of super-insulating composite materials based on silica aerogel. The studied material is part of the aerogel blanket family and is obtained by an innovative ambient drying process. With a very low thermal conductivity and reinforced mechanical properties, aerogel blankets are of great interest for applications where they can offer a cost advantage due to a space-saving effect. Firstly, the thesis work aims at performing analyses of the thermo-physical properties of the studied aerogel blankets at the exit of the molding and drying processes, and during application, when they are subjected to different environmental stresses (mechanical, hygric …). Heat transfer modeling is developed to study the relationship between the morphological parameters of the material and thermal transfer within it. Secondly, the thesis work focuses on the study of the expected performances of an insulating system based on the aerogel blanket, by the study of the thermal behavior of an experimental building monitored under actual climate, as well as the use of whole building energy numerical simulations taking into account several constructive techniques, different wall configurations, for various European climates. The results obtained show that the aerogel blankets studied have a thermal conductivity as low as 0.016 W.m-1.K-1 and have promising applications for building thermal insulation needs.

The goal of this thesis is the development of theoretical methods targeting the implementation of topology optimization in structural engineering applications. In civil engineering applications, structures are typically assemblies of many standardized components, such as bars, where the largest gains in efficiency can be made during the preliminary design of the overall structure. The work is aimed mainly at truss-like structures in civil engineering applications, however several of the developments are general enough to encompass continuum structures and other areas of engineering research too. The research aims to address the following challenges:<p>- Discrete variable optimization, generally necessary for truss problems in civil engineering, tends to be computationally very expensive,<p>- the gap between industrial applications in civil engineering and optimization research is quite large, meaning that the developed methods are currently not fully embraced in practice, and<p>- industrial applications demand robust and reliable solutions to the real-world problems faced by the civil engineering profession.<p><p>In order to face these challenges, the research is divided into several research papers, included as chapters in the thesis.<p>Discrete binary variables in structural topology optimization often lead to very large computational cost and sometimes even failure of algorithm convergence. A novel method was developed for improving the performance of topology optimization problems in truss-like structures with discrete design variables, using so-called Kinematic Stability Repair (KSR). Two typical examples of topology optimization problems with binary variables are bracing systems and steel grid shell structures. These important industrial applications of topology optimization are investigated in the thesis. A novel method is developed for topology optimization of grid shells whose global shape has been determined by form-finding. Furthermore a novel technique for façade bracing optimization is developed. In this application a multiobjective approach was used to give the designers freedom to make changes, as the design advanced at various stages of the design process. The application of the two methods to practical<p>engineering problems, inspired a theoretical development which has wide-reaching implications for discrete optimization: the pitfalls of symmetry reduction. A seemingly self-evident method of cardinality reduction makes use of geometric symmetry reduction in structures in order to reduce the problem size. It is shown in the research that this assumption is not valid for discrete variable problems. Despite intuition to the contrary, for symmetric problems, asymmetric solutions may be more optimal than their symmetric counterparts. In reality many uncertainties exist on geometry, loading and material properties in structural systems. This has an effect on the performance (robustness) of the non-ideal, realized structure. To address this, a general robust topology optimization framework for both continuum and truss-like structures, developing a novel analysis technique for truss structures under material uncertainties, is introduced. Next, this framework is extended to discrete variable, multiobjective optimization problems of truss structures, taking uncertainties on the material stiffness and the loading into account. Two papers corresponding to the two chapters were submitted to the journal Computers and Structures and Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization. Finally, a concluding chapter summarizes the main findings of the research. A number of appendices are included at the end of the manuscript, clarifying several pertinent issues. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished