Les effets capillaires sont très courant dans la Nature. Dans le contexte du séchage de milieux poreux dont la taille de pore est dans la gamme micromètre-millimètre, ils jouent un effet dominant en contrôlant la répartition des phases (liquide-vapeur) dans l’espace poral, au fur et a` mesure que le séchage se produit. L’idée du présent travail est d’étudier le séchage d’un fluide pur et mouillant dans des micromodèles, c’est-à-dire des milieux poreux modèles quasi-2D et micro-fabriqués. Nous présentons des résultats obtenus pour différentes géométries. Typiquement, les micromodèles utilisés sont constitués de réseaux de cylindres pris en sandwich entre deux plaques. La distribution des phases et le taux d’évaporation dans de tels micromodèles peuvent être aisément mesurés par visualisation directe puis traitement d’images.En jouant sur l’arrangement spatial des cylindres, on obtient dans un premier temps des micromodèles pour lesquels le taux de séchage est quasi-constant, depuis le début de l’expérience de séchage jusqu’à l’évaporation totale du liquide saturant initialement le système. Typiquement, cette situation est obtenue quand la taille des pores décroît en allant du centre du micromodèle vers sa périphérie (les micromodèles sont axisymmétriques). Au contraire, quand la taille des pores croît du centre vers la périphérie, l’invasion d’un front de séchage stable est observée, d’ou` un temps de séchage total bien supérieur.Nous avons aussi réalisé un autre type de microsystèmes, au sein duquel les cylindres sont arrangés en spirale de Fibonacci, en nous inspirant de motifs observés en phillotaxie. Dans de tels systèmes, des films liquides épais se développent le long des spirales, au cours du séchage, et jouent un rôle crucial dans la cinétique d’évaporation. Cette situation rappelle celle déjà étudiée par Chauvet dans des tubes capillaires de section carrée. Cependant, elle est plus complexe, de par la nature poreuse du micromodèle (alors qu’un tube capillaire, tel qu’étudié par Chauvet, peut être vu comme un pore unique) et parce que les films liquides y ont une forme plus complexe. Pour de tels systèmes, nous présentons des résultats expérimentaux quantifiant l’effet des films liquides sur la cinétique de séchage, en lien avec des prédictions théoriques issues d’un modèle de séchage visco-capillaire. Un tel modèle nécessite l’utilisation du logiciel Surface Evolver pour modéliser la forme des films liquides, couplée avec des simulations directes de l’écoulement de Stokes dans les films liquides, pour y calculer la résistance visqueuse a` l’écoulement induit par l’évaporation.Enfin, dans un dernier chapitre, plusieurs expériences d’évaporation sont conduites sur des micromodèles déformables. Des effets élasto-capillaires peuvent en effet induire des changements de géométrie de l’espace poral en cours d’évaporation, ce qui, comme vu précédemment, peut affecter la distribution des phases et la cinétique de séchage. / Capillarity is a common phenomenon encountered in Nature. In the context of the drying of porous media with pore size in the micrometer-millimeter size range, capillary effects play a dominant role in controlling the phases (liquid or vapor) distribution in the pore space as drying occurs. The basic idea of the present work is to study the drying of pure, wetting fluids in micro-fabricated, quasi-2D, model porous media (hereafter called micromodels). We present results obtained for different micromodel geometries. Typically, the micromodels used consist of arrangements of cylinders sandwiched between a top and bottom plate. Phases distribution and evaporation rates in such micromodels can easily be measured by direct visualizations and subsequent image processing.By tuning the cylinders pattern, one can first obtain micromodels for which the drying rate is almost constant, from the beginning of the drying experiment to the total evaporation of the liquid initially filling the system. Typically, this situation is obtained when the pores size decreases from the micromodel center to the periphery (the micromodels are axisymmetric). On the contrary, when the pores size increases from the center to the periphery, invasion of a stable drying front is observed, resulting in a much longer total drying time.We also designed another type of micromodel where the cylinders are arranged in a Fibonacci spiral pattern, a design inspired by phyllotaxic structure. In such systems, thick liquid films develop along the spirals during drying and play a key role in the drying kinetics. This situation is reminiscent of that already studied by Chauvet in capillary tubes with square cross-sections. However, it is more complex because of the porous nature of the micromodel (whereas a single capillary tube, as studied by Chauvet, can be viewed as a unique pore), and because of the much more complex liquid films shapes. For such systems, we present some experimental results on the liquid films effects on the drying kinetics, together with theoretical prediction, based on a visco-capillary drying model. Such a modelling requires the use of the Surface Evolver software to model the film shape, coupled with DNS simulations of the Stokes flow within the liquid films to compute the viscous resistance to the evaporation-induced flow.Finally, as a last part of this thesis, several evaporation experiments performed on deformable micromodels are presented. This preliminary work aims at reaching a situation where elasto-capillary effects modify the pore space geometry during evaporation. This, as seen above, should in turn alter the phase distribution during evaporation and the drying kinetics.

Ce travail de thèse est consacré à l'étude des milieux granulaires humides. On étudie principalement le cas de faibles teneurs en eau. L'influence du phénomène de capillarité sur la rétention d'eau et sur le comportement mécanique du milieu est analysée. A chaque état d'équilibre, la distribution d'eau dans le milieu granulaire est obtenue en appliquant une succion homogène dans un volume élémentaire représentatif. La méthode multi-échelles utilisée se nourrit d'expérimentations/modélisation à l'échelle des interactions entre les grains, et produit des simulations en éléments discrets du comportement macroscopique qui sont comparées aux résultats d'expérimentation. A l'échelle des interactions capillaires, une étude expérimentale du pont liquide pilotée en succion permet la validation d'un modèle basé sur l'approximation toroïdale du profil du pont liquide. A l'échelle macroscopique, les courbes de rétention d'eau simulées sont proches des courbes de rétention d'eau expérimentales réalisées sur des milieux modèles composés de billes de verre. Enfin, le comportement mécanique macroscopique est simulé. On note une fragilisation du matériau en fonction de la succion dans le domaines des faibles teneurs en eau qui s'explique par une diminution de la densité des ponts liquides. La prise en compte d'une rugosité des grains permet une meilleure description de la transition entre un état humide et un état sec. L'analyse des contraintes montre la pertinence du tenseur des contraintes associé aux interactions attractives dans l'étude de l'évolution de la contrainte à la rupture (compression simple) et de la compressibilité (compression oedométrique) en fonction de la succion. / This work deals with study of humid granular media. Weak water percent media are mainly studied. The influence of capillarity on water retention and mechanical behaviour is analyzed. At each state of equilibrium, water distribution is obtained by applying a homogeneous suction in the entire elementary representative volume. The multi-scale approach used, is based on experimental/modelling at the local scale (interaction between grains) and produce discrete elements simulation of the macroscopic behaviour which are compared to experimental results. At the scale of the interactions, an experimental study of the liquid bridge piloted by suction validates a model based on the toroidal approximation of the liquid bridge shape. At the macroscopic scale, simulated water retention curves are near of experimental water retention curves made on a model sample composed of glass beads. Then, the mechanical behaviour is simulated. We notice a loss of cohesi on in function of suction because of a reduction of the liquid bridge density. The introduction of a roughness allows a best representation of the transition between the non saturation state and the dry state. The analysis of the stress reveal the pertinence of the stress tensor associated with attractives interactions in the evolution of rupture stress (simple compression) and compressibility (oedometric compression) in function of suction.

O fenômeno de molhamento, estudo de como um líquido se deposita em um sólido, apresenta problemas ainda em aberto, dos pontos de vista da modelagem física e da simulação numérica. O maior interesse acadêmico neste tipo de escoamento é a linha tríplice (ou linha de contato) formada da interação sólido-líquido-gás. A condição de contorno clássica de não escorregamento na interface líquido-sólido leva a uma singularidade no tensor de tensões nesta linha. Além disso, ainda não está estabelecido qual o melhor modelo para descrever o ângulo de contato formado entre a superfície livre e o substrato (o sólido). Neste trabalho, são discutidos métodos numéricos para a simulação de linhas de contato dinâmicas. Os efeitos da tensão superficial são estudados com a abordagem do princípio do trabalho virtual, o qual leva o problema à equações na formulação variacional, linguagem natural para o tratamento numérico com o método dos elementos finitos (FEM). O domínio é discretizado por uma malha não-estruturada de forma que as interfaces separadoras são explicitamente representadas pela malha. As derivadas temporais são tratadas em uma abordagem Lagrangeana-Euleriana arbitrária (ALE). Finalmente, são apresentados os resultados numéricos obtidos com o método ALE-FEM, discutindo alguns aspectos da sua convergência temporal e espacial. / Wetting phenomena, study of how of a liquid spreads out on a solid substrate, presents challenges both in physical modeling and in numerical simulation. The triple line (or contact line) formed by the solid-liquid-gas interaction has increasingly attracted the attention of the fluid dynamic community. The classical no-slip boundary condition on the liquid-solid interface leads to a singularity in the stress tensor at contact lines. Furthermore, there is no consensus on what the best model to describe the dynamics of the contact angle formed by the solid substrate and free surface. In this work, numerical methods for simulating dynamic contact lines are considered. The capillarity effects are studied in the approach of the virtual-work principle, which describes the problem in the variational formulation, natural language for numerical treatment with the finite element method (FEM). The domain is discretized by a dynamic unstructured mesh, where the separating interfaces are explicit represented by the mesh. Time derivatives present in the governing equations are treated with the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) framework. Finally, we discuss some temporal and spatial convergence issues ofthe ALE-FEM method.

Micro-assembly processes suffer from some breaches due to the continuing trend towards an increase in the production capabilities as well as in the size reduction of the components manipulated. Usual manipulating schemes have reached their limit and capillary forces constitute a valuable alternative strategy.<p><p>The goal of this work is to describe the dynamics of liquid bridges in the application of micro-assembly processes. The description is obtained using the Kelvin-Voigt model, with a spring, a damper, and a mass connected in parallel, supported by numerical simulations, analytical approximations and experiments.<p><p>The works is divided into three parts. First we present important aspects of microfluidics, as well as the constitutive equations and an overview of numerical approaches used to describe fluid flow problems with moving interfaces.<p><p>The second part is devoted to the capillary rise case, intended to validate and to compare the numerical approaches to analytical laws and experimental results. The implementation of the slipping and the dynamic contact angles is discussed.<p><p>The last part focuses on the dynamics of the liquid bridge. The liquid bridge is confined between two circular and parallel plates and presents an axial symmetry. The description reveals that the stiffness depends on the surface tension and on the shape of the air/liquid interface, the damping coefficient depends on the viscosity and the volume of liquid and the equivalent mass depends on the density and the volume.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

[pt] O escoamento de fluidos imiscíveis em tubos ocorre em diferentes processos industriais, como a extração de óleo em meios porosos, a cimentação de poços de petróleo e o revestimento de superfícies internas de tubos. Para uma boa compreensão e otimização destes processos, é extremamente relevante o estudo da influência da capilaridade, da inércia e da razão de viscosidades no padrão de escoamento. Além disso, os materiais envolvidos são frequentemente polímeros de moléculas flexéveis, portanto, o estudo dos efeitos dos parâmetros reológicos faz-se igualmente importante. Os diferentes padrões de escoamento são caracterizados pela fração de massa depositada na parede do tubo, pelo perfil da frente da interface e pela presen¸ca de recirculações. Analisa-se o problema através de uma abordagem experimental e outra numérica. A comparação dos resultados obtidos pelas duas abordagens mostra uma boa concordância para o caso com fluidos Newtonianos e qualitativamente boa para o caso não Newtoniano. / [en] There are many important processes in industry that use liquid displacement of imiscible fluids in tubes. Some practical applications include enhanced oil recovery, ce- mentation of drilling wells and coating of internal surfaces of the tubes. For a good understanding of these problems, it is extremely important to study the effect of cap-illarity,inertia and viscosity ratio in these flows. Furthermore, the materials used are frequently flexible polymer molecules. Hence, the study of rheological properties is very important as well. The focus of the thesis is to analyze the fractional mass deposited on the tube wall and the configuration of the interface. The analysis followed two approaches: theoretical and experimental study. The comparison of the two approaches shows a good agreement for Newtonian fluids and a qualitatively good agreement for Non-Newtonian.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude des propriétés des transports diphasiques au sein des couches de diffusions (Gas Diffusion Layer = GDL) des piles à combustible PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells). La GDL est faite d'une structure fibreuse (dont l'épaisseur est de quelques centaines de micromètres) traitée généralement avec une matière hydrophobe. Des images numériques de la GDL réelle obtenues par tomographie X sont d'abord analysées afin d'étudier des propriétés telles que la porosité, la perméabilité, ou le tenseur de diffusion. L'écrasement de la GDL est ensuite simulé en utilisant un algorithme comprimant les fibres dans un plan transversal. Les transports diphasiques (invasion quasi statique d'eau liquide) sont modélisés dans des réseaux de pores, milieux représentatifs de l'espace poreux de la GDL, en relation avec le problème de la gestion de l'eau dans les piles PEMFC. Deux algorithmes d'invasion, dénommés algorithmes séquentiel et cinétique, sont développés et comparés pour analyser les distributions de phases au sein des GDL. Un point clé est que l'eau rentre dans la couche poreuse par divers points d'injection indépendants, conduisant à la possibilité de multiples points de percée. Des expériences sur un système microfluidique sont conduites pour valider les algorithmes utilisés. Une étude statistique est menée pour caractériser le nombre de points de percée, les profils de saturation, l'accès au gaz, le transport diffusif, de même que l'influence du piégeage et de la mouillabilité mixte. / This thesis is devoted to the study of transport properties and two-phase flow in the Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC). A GDL is a thin fibrous structure (a few hundreds μm thick) treated generally with a hydrophobic agent. Numerical images obtained from X-ray computed tomography X are first exploited to study properties such as the porosity, permeability and diffusion tensors of a real GDL microstructure. The effect of GDL compression is also investigated using an algorithm mimicking the compression in GDL through plane direction. Then two phase flow (quasi-static water invasion) is studied in relation with the water management problem in PEMFC, using a structured pore network representation of the pore space. Two invasion algorithms, referred to as the sequential and the kinetic algorithm respectively, are developed and compared to study the fluid distributions within the GDL. A key point is that water enters the porous layer through multiple independent inlet injection points, leading to the possibility of many breakthrough points. Experiments are conducted on a microfluidic device to validate the algorithms. A numerical statistical study is performed to characterize the breakthrough point statistics, saturation profiles, gas access, diffusion transport as well as the influence of trapping and mixed wettability.

The design of fluid management systems requires accurate models for fluid transport. In the low gravity environment of space, gravity no longer dominates fluid displacement; instead capillary forces often govern flow. This thesis considers the redistribution of fluid along an interior corner. Following a rapid reduction of gravity, fluid advances along the corner measured by the column length z = L(t), which is governed by a nonlinear partial differential equation with dynamical boundary conditions. Three flow types are examined: capillary rise, spreading drop, and tapered corner. The spreading drop regime is shown to exhibit column length growth L ~ t2/5, where a closed form analytic solution exists. No analytic solution is available for the capillary rise problem. However, a perturbed power law similarity solution is pursued to approximate an analytic solution in the near neighborhood of the exact solution for the spreading drop. It is recovered that L ~ t1/2 for the capillary rise problem. The tapered corner problem is not analytically understood and hence its corresponding L is undocumented. Based on the slender corner geometry, it is natural to hypothesize the tapered corner column length initially behaves like the capillary rise regime, but after sufficient time has elapsed, it transitions into the spreading drop regime. This leads to a conjecture that its column length growth L is restricted to t2/5 < L < t1/2. To verify this conjecture an explicit finite difference numerical solution is developed for all three regimes. As will be shown, the finite difference scheme converges towards the analytic solutions for the spreading drop and capillary rise regimes. From this we assume the finite difference scheme is accurate for corner flows of similar geometries, and thus apply this scheme the more onerous criteria of the tapered corner. Numerical results support the conjectured L behavior for the tapered corner. Understanding the dynamics of such flows and responses to various geometries offers design advantages for spacecraft waste-management systems, fuel control, hydration containment, cryogenic flows, and a myriad of other fluid applications.

Nanometric thin films are used widely throughout various industries and for various applications. Metallic thin films, specifically, are relied upon extensively in the microelectronics industry, among others. For example, alloy thin films are being investigated for CMOS applications, tungsten films find uses as contacts and diffusion barriers, and copper is used often as interconnect material. Appropriate metrology methods must therefore be used to characterize the physical properties of these films. Xray scattering experiments are well suited for the investigation of nano-scaled systems, and are the focus of this doctoral dissertation. Emphasis is placed on (1) phase identification of polycrystalline thin films, (2) the evaluation of the grain size and microstrain of metallic thin films by line profile analysis, and (3) the study of morphological evolution in solid/solid interfaces. To illustrate the continued relevance of x-ray diffraction for phase identification of simple binary alloy systems, Pt-Ru thin films, spanning the compositional range from pure Pt to pure Ru were investigated. In these experiments, a meta-stable extension of the HCP phase is observed in which the steepest change in the electronic work function coincides with a rapid change in the c/a ratio of the HCP phase. For grain size and microstrain analysis, established line profile methods are discussed in terms of Cu and W thin film analysis. Grain sizes obtained by x-ray diffraction are compared to transmission electron microscopy based analyses. Significant discrepancies between x-ray and electron microscopy are attributed to sub-grain misorientations arising from dislocation core spreading at the film/substrate interface. A novel "residual" full width half max parameter is introduced for examining the iv contribution of strain to x-ray peak broadening. The residual width is subsequently used to propose an empirical method of line profile analysis for thin films on substrates. X-ray reflectivity was used to study the evolution of interface roughness with annealing for a series of Cu thin films that were encapsulated in both SiO2 and Ta/SiO2. While all samples follow similar growth dynamics, notable differences in the roughness evolution with high temperature ex-situ annealing were observed. The annealing resulted in a smoothing of only one interface for the SiO2 encapsulated films, while neither interface of the Ta/SiO2 encapsulated films evolved significantly. The fact that only the upper Cu/SiO2 interface evolves is attributed to mechanical pinning of the lower interface to the rigid substrate. The lack of evolution of the Cu/Ta/SiO2 interface is consistent with the lower diffusivity expected of Cu in a Cu/Ta interface as compared to that in a Cu/SiO2 interface. The smoothing of the upper Cu/SiO2 interface qualitatively follows that expected for capillarity driven surface diffusion but with notable quantitative deviation.

On s'intéresse plus particulièrement à la modélisation du comportement d'un matériau hétérogène méso-fissuré (béton, roche,...), soumis à une sollicitation thermo-hydro-mécanique avec prise en compte du couplage géométrique. Pour conduire cette étude, on s'appuie notamment sur les approches micro-mécaniques du comportement des milieux méso-fissurés non saturés développées depuis quelques années au Laboratoire des Matériaux et des Structures du Génie Civil - Ur Navier - Université Paris Est. Le milieu fissuré non saturé traité ici est constitué d'une matrice solide homogène élastique linéaire et de fissures connectées saturées par deux fluides immiscibles : un liquide et un gaz séparés par une surface capillaire. La fissure est traditionnellement considérée comme une cavité ellipsoïdale (cas 3D) ou elliptique (cas 2D) dont le rapport d'aspect tend vers zéro. Deux morphologies typiques de matériau sont considérés dans ce travail : la situation où les fissures sont toutes orientées dans la même direction et la situation où les fissures possèdent des orientations aléatoires. Dans une première étape, on rappelle brièvement les résultats disponibles concernant la modélisation des fissures non saturées par des cavités ellipsoïdales aplaties. A la fin de cette première partie, on complète les résultats déjà disponibles en étudiant l'influence de l'histoire de chargement sur la réponse de matériau. Dans une deuxième étape, on s'attache à valider une partie des résultats obtenus en utilisant une description des efforts capillaires dans les fissures par une précontrainte homogène en seréférant aux solutions analytiques exactes disponibles dans la littérature permettant de décrire le comportement d'une fissure isolée au sein d'une matrice élastique. Dans une troisième étape, on s'intéresse aux phénomènes de propagation des fissures en condition non saturée. Les lois de propagation sous critique et le phénomène de branchement des fissures sont également prises en compte dans cette approche. La dernière partie de la thèse concerne l'influence de la température sur le comportement des milieux poreux non saturés / The main topic of my work is the development of a micromechanical model for the behaviour of unsaturated mesocracks in media (concrete, rock...) in which the thermo-hydro-mechanical loadingsand thermo-hydro-mechanical couplings are taken into account. For this, we used the micromechanical approach model of behaviour of cracked porous media recently developed at LMSGC. My thesis is focused on the equilibrium configurations of a porous material whose pore space is saturated by a vapour and a liquid phase. The behaviour of an elastic medium containing unsaturated mesocracks is studied in the framework of a micromechanical approach. The cracks are filled by two immiscible fluids, namely a liquid and a gas, separated by a capillary interface. Furthermore, it is assumed that the set of cracks constitutes a connected network ; the capillary pressure is uniform over a representative elementary volume. The cracks are modelled as flat oblate spheroid cavities. Several geometrical configurations of cracks in porous media are considered in the framework of Eshelby-based homogenization methods (parallel cracks, randomly oriented cracks). First, a previously developed model showed that when coupling between the deformation of the cracks and the capillary forces is taken into account, there is no more a one-to-one relationship between the loading parameters and the state-variables. Thus, we describe the loading history prescribed to the material in order to compute its response. Second, we validate these results referring to the exact solutions available in the literature to describe the behaviour of a unsaturated crack within an elastic matrix. Third, the description of crack propagation in unsaturated media is considered in the framework of linear elastic fracture mechanics. The phenomenon of subcritical crack growth due to stress corrosion cracking is taken into account in this approach. Mixed mode fracture in the plane is also examined. Finally, we are interested in the influence of the temperature on the behavior of unsaturated porous media in the framework of the micromechanical approach

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions comment la présence de parois affecte les ondes de surface. La dissipation associée au mouillage, objet central des premiers chapitres, est abordée expérimentalement. Nous mesurons son évolution avec la taille du ménisque et montrons qu’en mouillage total des non-linéarités apparaissent dès que l’oscillation du ménisque atteint l’épaisseur des couches limites. Dans un deuxième temps, nous quantifions les échanges d’énergie ayant lieu lors de laréflexion d’une onde de surface sur une paroi oscillante, appelés effet Doppler généralisé. Après une mise en évidence expérimentale, une approche théorique les évalue et illustre comment leurs effets cumulatifs peuvent mener à des spectres en compétition avec ceux de la turbulence d’ondes. Finalement, nous traitons les interactions entre paquets d’ondes. En géométrie confinée, nous montrons que des résonances à trois ondes gravitaires sont autorisées. Dépassant la problématique des parois, nous caractérisons les interactions entre ondes gravitaires en milieu infini, puis décrivons les grandes échelles de la turbulence d’ondes capillaire. / In this thesis, we study the impact of solid boudaries on surface waves. We first consider the dissipation caused by dynamical wetting. We experimentally show how the damping of surface waves evolves with the size of the meniscus and demonstrate that in perfect wetting it leads to a nonlinear behavior as soon as the meniscus oscillation amplitude compares to the thickness of the boundary layer. Secondly, we investigate energy exchanges through scales occuring when a surface wave reflects on an oscillating wall, the so-called generalized Doppler effect. We evidence the creation of Doppler-shifted waves, compute their amplitudes and illustrate how the continuous bouncing of surface waves on wavemakers may lead to self-similar spectra competing with the ones of wave turbulence. Finally, we focus on nonlinear interaction between surface waves. We prove that gravity waves can undergo triad resonances in confined geometry. Going beyond the consequencies of solid boundaries, we perform experiments on four-wave interactions in the gravity regime and describe large scales in capillary wave turbulence.