Tel qu’il a été formulé par Georges Bataille dans Documents, dans les premières décennies du XXe siècle, l’informe s’est avéré être un puissant moteur de réflexion. Il a fait naître des œuvres qui disent s’en inspirer, et motivé un âpre débat théorique sur le véritable sens à lui donner. Qu’est-ce que l’informe, en effet ? Cette catégorie complexe et paradoxale s’avère très fructueuse dans l’analyse des œuvres théoriques, plastiques et littéraires de la Renaissance qui s’intéressent à la naissance des formes. L’utilisation d’une notion anachronique permet de réunir dans un même ensemble les préoccupations concernant les origines de l’œuvre d’art, celles sur la bonne composition, ainsi que celles concernant la Matière et l’Être. Ce travail dégage ainsi ce qui serait une poétique de la forme en devenir, poétique se réclamant de la philosophie néo-aristotélicienne de l’époque mais opérant un élargissement d’horizons et une refonte conceptuelle très éloignés de la pensée antique. / From the early XXth century the Formless, as defined by Georges Bataille in Documents, has revealed itself to be a powerful tool for reflection. It has inspired art works and triggered an ongoing debate about its true meaning, for what is the formless exactly? In search for its essence, this category has proven to be of great value when analyzing theoretical, artistic and literary Renaissance works dealing with the birth of form. The anachronic notion of Formless permits an intertwining of questions regarding the origins of the piece of art, good composition, matter and being. Through this essay we will discuss the poetics of art in the making, so-called (neo)Aristotelian in the XVIth century – poetics in a constant and fluid definition of the Aristotelian meaning enlarged by non-Aristotelian concepts, and categories distant to those attributed to it in classical times.

Au cours de ce travail, l’objectif est d’étudier les liens entre les paramètres du procédé de séchage, la microstructure et les propriétés d’usage du matériau telles que la conductivité thermique et le module d’Young. L’étude a été effectuée sur des matériaux poreux à base d’alumine, oxyde modèle, et à base de bentonite, minéral argileux. Le procédé de séchage utilisé est le procédé de coulage-congélation, qui permet d’obtenir une microstructure orientée et de fabriquer des matériaux anisotropes. L’origine de cette anisotropie provient de la microstructure des échantillons, essentiellement la forme des pores. Les résultats obtenus ont permis de souligner l’importance des paramètres de séchage sur l’anisotropie et les propriétés d’usage du matériau considéré. Par exemple, des valeurs très faibles de la conductivité thermique (0,045 W.m-1.K-1 pour 98 % de porosité) ont été obtenues pour les matériaux à base de bentonite, tout en étant manipulables. / The aim of this thesis is to correlate the shaping process parameters, the microstructure and the material properties, like thermal conductivity and Young modulus. The materials used in this study are alumina and a bentonite, a clay material. The shaping process used is the freeze-casting, which permit to obtain a textural microstructure and anisotropic materials. The origin of this anisotropy is the samples microstructure, in particularly the pores shape. The results highlight the importance of the freeze-casting parameters on the anisotropy and on materials properties. For example, very low values for the thermal conductivity (0,045 W. m-1.K-1 for a porosity of 98 %) are obtained for bentonite material, and they are handleable.

Please read the abstract (Summary) in the section, 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Electronic Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / PhD / unrestricted

La fabrication de prothèses dentaires à base de titane a connu un réel essor ces dernières années. Cependant, la production de ces produits reste assez coûteuse, et le choix de producteurs est encore restreint. Les partenaires du projet de recherche Européen Den-ticast® ont identifié un fort potentiel pour la création d'une machine innovante, capable de produire ces pièces à un coût réduit et à un niveau de qualité élevé. Le projet est axé sur le domaine de la production de pièces de métal pour l'usage dentaire, avec comme objectif, le développement d'un nouveau système polyvalent de coulée des alliages, qui doit permettre de couler l'ensemble des alliages dentaires actuellement commercialisés (NiCr, CoCr), mais aussi le titane et ses alliages. Le prototype Denticast® associe, pour la première fois, la fusion par induction et l'injection par centrifugation à haute vitesse, sous vide secondaire. Entièrement programmable, cette machine doit pouvoir évoluer en fonction du développement de nouveaux alliages sur le marché dentaire.Ce projet réunit des partenaires européens de 3 pays différents (France, Allemagne, Italie) et 3 secteurs d'activité : industriel, académique et odontologique, de sorte que chacun ap-porte un aspect complémentaire au projet. Il comporte 3 phases principales : une phase d'étude, une phase de conception et une phase d'évaluation du prototype.Nos résultats montrent que Denticast® est capable de produire des pièces à usage dentaire de qualité, à grains fins et homogènes, avec un niveau de contrainte résiduelle relativement bas, et une fraction volumique de porosité faible. Les caractéristiques mécaniques sont globalement supérieures ou équivalentes aux systèmes commerciaux du marché. / Although the manufacture of titanium dental prostheses has experienced a real rise in the last years, the production of those products remains quite expensive, and the choice of pro-ducers is still limited. The partners of the European research project Denticast® have identi-fied a high potential for the creation of an innovative machine that can produce those dental parts at low cost and high quality level. The aim of this research is the development of a new, innovative and versatile system of casting alloys, which can cast all dental alloys (NiCr, CoCr) as well as titanium and its alloys. The prototype Denticast® associates for the first time the melting by induction and the injection by centrifugation with high speed under vacuum. Totally preset, this machine should be able to evolve according to the devel-opment of new dental materials.The project combines European partners from 3 different countries (France, Germany and Italy) and three sectors: industrial, academic and dental, so that each of them contributes to the project. It presents three main phases: a study phase, a phase of design and the evalua-tion phase of the prototype.Our results show that Denticast® is able to produce quality parts for dental use with a ho-mogeneous and fine grain, with a low level of residual stress and a relatively low volume of fraction porosity. In most cases, the mechanical characteristics are equal or even greater than other systems on the market at present.

The demand for higher quality steel and higher production rates in the production of steel slabs is ever increasing. These slabs are produced using a continuous casting process. The molten steel flow patterns inside the components of the caster play an important role in the quality of these products. A simple yet effective design method that yields optimum designs is required to design the systems influencing the flow patterns in the caster. The tundish is one of these systems. Traditionally, experimental methods were used in the design of these tundishes, making use of plant trials or water modelling. These methods are both costly and time consuming. More recently, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has established itself as a viable alternative to reduce the number of experimentation required, resulting in a reduction in the time scales and cost of the design process. Furthermore, CFD provides more insight into the flow process that is not available through experimentation only. The CFD process is usually based on a trial-and-error basis and relies heavily on the insight and experience of the designer to improve designs. Even an experienced designer will only be able to improve the design and does not necessarily guarantee optimum results. In this thesis, a more efficient design methodology is proposed. This methodology involves the combination of a mathematical optimiser with CFD to automate the design process. The methodology is tested on a four different industrial test cases. The first case involves the optimisation of a simple dam-weir configuration of a single strand caster. The position of the dam and weir relative to inlet region is optimised to reduce the dead volume and increase the inclusion removal. The second case involves the optimisation of a pouring box and baffle of a two-strand caster. In this case, the pouring box and baffle geometry is optimised to maximise the minimum residence time at operating level and a typical transition level. The third case deals with the geometry optimisation of an impact pad to reduce the surface turbulence that should result in a reduction in the particle entrainment from the slag layer. The last case continues from the third case where a dam position and height is optimised in conjunction with the optimised impact pad to maximise the inclusion removal on the slag layer. The cases studies show that a mathematical optimiser combined with CFD is a superior alternative compared to traditional design methods, in that it yields optimum designs for a tundish in a continuous casting system. / Thesis (PhD (Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

In modern times continuous casting is the preferred way to convert molten steel into solid forms to enable further processing. At Columbus Stainless the continuous casting machine cast slabs of constant thickness with varying width. One important aspect of the continuously cast strand that must be controlled, is the strand width. The strand width exiting from the casting machine, has a direct influence on the product yield which in turn influences the profitability of the company. In general, the strand width control on the austentic and ferritic type steels achieved is excellent with the exception of the 12% chrome non stabilised ferritic steel. This steel type exhibited different strand width changes when a sequence of different heats was cast. The strand width changes corresponded to the different heats in the sequence. Each heat has a unique chemistry and a relationship between the austenite and ferrite fraction at high temperature and the resulting strand width change was explained by Siyasiya[27]. The relationship between the heat composition and width change has in the past resulted in the development of a model that enabled the prediction of the expected width change of a specific heat before it is cast to enable preventative action to be taken. This model has been implemented as an on-line prediction model in the production environment with very encouraging results. This study was initiated because it was uncertain if the implemented model was the most accurate for this application. This study is concerned with the development of more models based on different techniques in an attempt to implement a more accurate model. The data mining techniques used include statistical regression, decision trees and fuzzy logic. The results indicated that the existing model was the most accurate and it could not be improved upon. / Dissertation (MEng (Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / MEng / unrestricted

Les alliages aluminium-silicium sont les alliages d’aluminium de moulage les plus couramment employés en raison de leur faible poids, de leurs caractéristiques mécaniques et de leur fluidité. Leurs propriétés mécaniques, en particulier leur résistance, peuvent être améliorées par l’affinage des grains et la modification des précipités de silicium. Par contre, la précipitation de composés intermétalliques riches en fer, comme la phase dite beta, a un effet néfaste sur la tenue en traction et la ductilité de ces alliages. Bien que diverses méthodes aient été proposées pour atténuer les effets de la phase beta, la compréhension des mécanismes de sa croissance pourrait s’avérer utile pour réduire ses effets néfastes. L’objectif de cette étude est d’établir la relation entre la vitesse de refroidissement et les caractéristiques microstructurales des alliages Al-Si hypoeutectiques. Dans une pièce coulée réelle, la vitesse de refroidissement locale peut grandement changer d’un point à l’autre du fait de la géométrie de la pièce mais aussi du fait des paramètres de coulée. Les variations de vitesse de refroidissement affectent le processus de solidification, et ceci est rendu évident par les changements des températures caractéristiques des courbes de refroidissement enregistrées en différents endroits d’une pièce. Les relations entre ces températures caractéristiques et la taille des grains et la modification du silicium eutectique sont présentées. Cette étude a aussi porté sur l’effet de la vitesse de refroidissement sur la morphologie de la phase beta dans le cas d’un alliage ternaire Al-Fe-Si. La croissance de la phase beta a été caractérisée par tomographie post-mortem et in-situ. Enfin, certains écarts par rapport aux caractéristiques de solidification usuelles, telles que la précipitation en écriture chinoise de la phase beta et la formation de rosettes, ont été observés et sont discutés. / Aluminum-silicon alloys are the most common aluminum casting alloys produced due to their fluidity characteristic and mechanical and light weight properties. However, there are several issues concerning application of Al-Si hypoeutectic alloys such as strength, which may be improved by refining grain size of the alloy and modifying silicon precipitates. Furthermore, precipitation of Fe-bearing intermetallics such as the so-called beta phase has a detrimental effect on tensile and ductility properties of Al-Si hypoeutectic alloys. Although various methods have been proposed to mitigate the effect of beta phase, the understanding of the mechanism of growth may be useful to reduce its detrimental effects. The objective of this study is to establish the relationship between the cooling rate and morphology features in Al-Si hypoeutectic alloys. In real casting condition, cooling rate is one of the factors that is not easy to predict, because it is related to the geometry of the parts and to the casting process itself. Changes in cooling rate affect the solidification process, and this is made apparent by the changes in the characteristic temperatures of cooling curves recorded in different locations of a part. The relation between these characteristic temperatures and grain size and eutectic silicon modification are presented. Furthermore, the present study also includes the effect of cooling rate on the morphology of beta phase in the case of a ternary Al-Fe-Si alloy. An attempt to characterize the growth of beta phase was performed through post-mortem and in-situ tomography. In addition, some variations from usual solidification features such as script monoclinic phase and rosettes were observed and are discussed.

The purpose of this thesis is to assess the current state of production of ceramic shells in MESIT Foundry, a.s. and optimize it. The shells are evaluated in terms of their bending strength, gas permeability and microstructure. Subsequently, castings produced using the shells are evaluated with regard to number of non-conforming products and presence of defects. The final part seeks to compare different shells and outlines a possible new approach to the development of ceramic shells.

The master’s thesis deals with the analysis of casting technology of the selected aluminium casting. It is a casting of a part of CNC milling machine and it is cast by gravity casting into a permanent mold. The defects which are the cause of a high percentage of nonconforming production were analyzed. Furthermore, the master’s thesis includes a complete analysis of filling and solidification of this casting in the ProCast simulation program. Numerical simulation results are verified and improved. Then the causes of problematic casting defects are proven on several calculated variants. Measures are proposed to minimize the tendency to produce castings with defects leading to nonconforming production.

This master's thesis deals with the effects of the cooling rate on the grain size of magnesium alloys based on Mg–Al (AZ91E) and Mg–Zr–RE (WE43B and Elektron21). The effects of the cooling rate are analyzed on samples of varying thickness for different cooling methods (forced–air–cooling, cooling into polymer, natural air cooling). We also evaluated the final microstructure, porosity, hardness, and mechanical properties for investment castings. Based on the evaluated grain sizes, we demonstrated a significant difference in the cooling rate influence on the grain size for the alloy AZ91E. Compared to Zirconium-based alloys (WE43B and Elektron21), for which the zirconium content influences grain size the most. For the alloys based on Mg–Zr–RE, it is possible to prefer casting conditions, without negative enlarging of the grain size.