La technologie de micro indentation est un des moyens de caractérisation (à partir de petits échantillons) qui s'est imposé ces derniers temps dans différents domaines (pharmaceutique, génie civil, industrie pétrolière etc.). Il répond à un certain nombre d'exigences en matière de solution au problème d'échantillonnage. Cette thèse est consacrée à la caractérisation des propriétés mécanique des géomatériaux, et spécialement pour les roches pétrolières comme l'argilite, le grès, la craie ... qui ont été utilisées pour les différentes études expérimentales menées au cours de la thèse. Après avoir présenté la méthode de dépouillement du test d'indentation pour un milieu isotrope, nous avons développé une méthode semi-analytique basée sur la fonction de Green pour caractériser le milieu isotrope transverse en déterminant les cinq paramètres élastique de ce milieu. L'influence des différentes sollicitations (mécaniques, thermiques, hydriques) sur les propriétés mécaniques des roches a été étudiée en utilisant la technologie de micro indentation avec la méthode de dépouillement isotrope transverse. Nous avons essayé de caractériser les paramètres de rupture (C et f) à l'aide du test d'indentation et d'un test de micro compression simple (MCS) effectué par la même machine d'indentation. Par l'essai d'indentation et une méthode d'analyse inverse, nous avons identifié les paramètres d'une loi de comportement élastoplastique (Drucker Prager). En l'absence d'une solution directe du problème d'indentation en régime plastique, nous avons eu recours à une modélisation numérique par un code de calcule élément finis (ABAQUS) pour déterminer la courbe d'indentation calculée. Cette détermination s'est révélée tout à fait probante et a été de plus validée par une simulation d'essais de compression triaxiale sur le même matériau. / The technology of micro indentation is one of the techniques ofmateriaJ characterization (by using small specimens) in various fields (mechanical engineering, civil engineering, oil industry, and pharmaceutical industry). Its main advantage lies in a certain number of practical requirements as regards the solution to the problem of small specimens. The present study is devoted the characterization of the mechanical properties of geomaterials, especially rocks involved in petroleum engineering. After having presented the methodology of the indentation test for isotropic rocks, we developed a semi-analytical method based on the use of Green function to characterize transverse isotropic rocks (five elastic parameters of these rocks). The influence of the various loadings (mechanical, thermal, hydrous) on the rock mechanics properties was studied by using the technology of micro indentation and the methodology proposed for isotropic transverse were used. Moreover, we characterize the failure parameters (C and f) by a combined approach of the indentation test and a test of micro compression (MCS) carried out the indentation device. Finally, we use inverse analysis in order to identify the parameters of a Drucker Prager mode!. ln the absence of a direct solution of the problem of indentation (in plastic regime), we had recourse to a numerical modelling by a finite element code (ABAQUS) to determine the calculated curve of indentation. This determination appeared completely convincing and moreover was validated by a simulation of triaxial compression tests on the same material

Les propriétés mécaniques (dureté et module d’élasticité) peuvent s’étudier à différentes échelles en fonction de la composition et de la microstructure des matériaux (nombre de phases, répartition des constituants, diamètre des grains…). Dans ce travail nous étudions ces comportements aux échelles nano, micro et macroscopiques, grâce à une gamme d’appareils expérimentaux en indentation instrumentée qui permettent d’appliquer des forces variant de 1 mN à 2,5 kN et de provoquer des enfoncements mesurables de 10 nm à 3 mm. Une première partie consiste à optimiser les conditions expérimentales, dépouiller et interpréter les données en suivant une démarche métrologique rigoureuse, dans le but d’effectuer le raccordement entre les résultats obtenus aux trois échelles de mesure étudiées. Ces essais sont effectués sur des matériaux métalliques industriels mais suffisamment homogènes (aciers et alliage d’aluminium). Nous proposons par exemple une méthode alternative à celle d’Oliver et Pharr pour estimer le module d’élasticité à partir de la courbe de décharge en indentation. Cette méthodologie est ensuite appliquée à l’étude du comportement sous indentation d’un matériau composite, hautement hétérogène, utilisé pour la fabrication de semelles de freinage dans le domaine ferroviaire. Les données obtenues (répartition spatiale en surface et en volume de la dureté et des modules d’élasticité) sont destinées à être utilisées dans les modèles simulant le bruit de crissement au freinage, afin d’en atténuer les effets. / The mechanical properties (hardness and elastic modulus) can be studied at different scales as a function of the composition and microstructure of materials (number of phases, constituent distribution, grain size…). In this work, we studied this mechanical response at the nano, micro and macroscopic scales, through different instruments that allow to apply loads ranging from 20 mN up to 2 kN generating penetrations depths between 100 nm up to 2.5 mm. The first stage consisted in the improvement of the experimental conditions, developing and interpreting the experimental data, following a rigorous metrological methodology, in order to achieve the connection between the results obtained at the three studied scales. These tests were performed in metallic industrial materials, which are sufficiently homogeneous at the tested penetration depths (steels and aluminum alloy). For example, we had proposed an alternative approach to the Oliver and Pharr method to fit the unloading curve to estimate the elastic modulus. Afterwards, this methodology is applied to the study of the response obtained by indentation in a composite material, which is highly heterogeneous, used in the fabrication of brake pads in the railway industry. The obtained results (spatial distribution on the surface and through the volume of hardness and elastic modulus) are going to be valuables in the applications of models to study the squeal noise during braking, looking to reduce its effects.

Introduction: Lumbar spine stability programs have been advocated to prevent and rehabilitate low back injury. Specifically, abdominal ‘drawing in’ has been used to train motor control deficits in individuals with low back pain. This technique requires differential activity within deep and superficial lumbar multifidus fibres, yet the ability of these fibres to act differentially has not been extensively examined. Deep fibres are hypothesized to act as spinal stabilizers while superficial fibres are hypothesized to act as global movers of the trunk. Objective: To investigate differential excitation of deep and superficial lumbar multifidus fibres during segmental indentation loads to the lumbar spine. Methods: Posterior-anterior indentation loads were applied to individual lumbar spinous processes of prone participants at three different velocities and three different indentation displacements. Indentations consisted of an initial downward displacement that was subsequently held for 500 milliseconds. Intramuscular electromyography (EMG) of deep and superficial lumbar multifidus fibres at L3, L4 and L5 was recorded. EMG was quantified by “average” root mean square (RMS), peak RMS of a sliding RMS window and time-to-peak RMS over the indentation phase and 500 millisecond hold phase. Results: Increased indentation displacement at the slowest velocity resulted in increased “average” RMS of only the L5 superficial multifidus fibres. Increased indentation velocity produced differential effects in deep and superficial multifidus fibres. “Average” RMS and peak RIVIS significantly increased with increasing indentation velocity in most deep fibre recording sites, yet superficial fibre excitation did not significantly increase. In most EMG recording sites, the time-to-peak RMS increased with increasing indentation displacement and decreased with increasing indentation velocity. Conclusion: Differential excitation of superficial and deep multifidus fibres was found with increasing indentation velocity; however, the result was opposite to that hypothesized. This result is clinically relevant because it suggests deep multifidus fibre excitation may increase in response to increased perturbation magnitude, possibly to restore vertebral body position. Differential excitation effects may also be related to different mechanical stimuli experienced by deep and superficial fibres due to vertebral body movement during indentation loads. 11

A spherical indentation test is considered to be invalid if there is presence of a visible mark on the side of the sheet metal facing the anvil and exactly below the indentation. With the available standard loads of the conventional testers such as Brinell and Rockwell hardness testers, it is difficult to avoid this anvil effect while dealing with the sheet metals. The penetration depth increases when the thickness of the sheet is reduced at constant indentation pressures. The reason behind this is the change in mode of deformation. When the thickness of the sheet metal is reduced, and the indentation test is carried out on it, then the sheet metal experiences first indentation, then bending, followed by lifting of the sheet from the anvil which leads to a forging mode of deformation. The modes of deformation were identified using a finite element simulation of the indentation process. Plots of normalized depth against normalized thickness were created for the same indentation pressure, and a second order polynomial curve was fitted to the data points. The equation of this curve quantifies the anvil effect. The anvil effect was identified as a function of sheet thickness, indenter radius, indentation load and two material constants. A method to correct this anvil effect was also developed using the equation representing the anvil effect. It is possible to obtain the equivalent geometry of indentation without anvil effect. A MATLAB program is developed to obtain the parameters defining the curve for the anvil effect. Indentation test on a sheet using three different indenters and corresponding loads is required for this method. For accurate prediction of the equivalent depth of indentation, a lower limit of 10 % and upper limit of 80 % for penetration depth (ratio of depth of indentation and thickness of sheet metal) was identified for the spherical indentation testing on the sheet metals. Verification of the curve fitting model was carried out with the indentation experiments on commercially available Niobium, Al2024-T3, Al7075-T6 and 1020 low carbon steel sheets. These tests show good agreement between fit, prediction, and experiments for the anvil effect.

Thèse de doctorat : Science et ingénierie des matériaux : INPL : 2009. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre.

Introduction: Lumbar spine stability programs have been advocated to prevent and rehabilitate low back injury. Specifically, abdominal ‘drawing in’ has been used to train motor control deficits in individuals with low back pain. This technique requires differential activity within deep and superficial lumbar multifidus fibres, yet the ability of these fibres to act differentially has not been extensively examined. Deep fibres are hypothesized to act as spinal stabilizers while superficial fibres are hypothesized to act as global movers of the trunk. Objective: To investigate differential excitation of deep and superficial lumbar multifidus fibres during segmental indentation loads to the lumbar spine. Methods: Posterior-anterior indentation loads were applied to individual lumbar spinous processes of prone participants at three different velocities and three different indentation displacements. Indentations consisted of an initial downward displacement that was subsequently held for 500 milliseconds. Intramuscular electromyography (EMG) of deep and superficial lumbar multifidus fibres at L3, L4 and L5 was recorded. EMG was quantified by “average” root mean square (RMS), peak RMS of a sliding RMS window and time-to-peak RMS over the indentation phase and 500 millisecond hold phase. Results: Increased indentation displacement at the slowest velocity resulted in increased “average” RMS of only the L5 superficial multifidus fibres. Increased indentation velocity produced differential effects in deep and superficial multifidus fibres. “Average” RMS and peak RIVIS significantly increased with increasing indentation velocity in most deep fibre recording sites, yet superficial fibre excitation did not significantly increase. In most EMG recording sites, the time-to-peak RMS increased with increasing indentation displacement and decreased with increasing indentation velocity. Conclusion: Differential excitation of superficial and deep multifidus fibres was found with increasing indentation velocity; however, the result was opposite to that hypothesized. This result is clinically relevant because it suggests deep multifidus fibre excitation may increase in response to increased perturbation magnitude, possibly to restore vertebral body position. Differential excitation effects may also be related to different mechanical stimuli experienced by deep and superficial fibres due to vertebral body movement during indentation loads. 11

No description available.

This thesis presents an atomic-scale study of nanoindentation, with carbon materials and both bcc and fcc metals as test specimens. Classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using Newtonian mechanics and many-body potentials, are employed to investigate the elastic-plastic deformation behaviour of the work materials during nanometresized indentations. In a preliminary model, the indenter is represented solely by a non-deformable interface with pyramidal and axisymmetric geometries. An atomistic description of a blunted 90° pyramidal indenter is also used to study deformation of the tip, adhesive tip-substrate interactions and atom transfer, together with damage after adhesive rupture and mechanisms of tip-induced structural transformations and surface nanotopograpghy. To alleviate finite-size effects and to facilitate the simulation of over one million atoms, a parallel MD code using the MPI paradigm has also been developed to run on multiple processor machines. The work materials show a diverse range of deformation behaviour, ranging from purely elastic deformation with graphite, to appreciable plastic deformation with metals. Some qualitative comparisons are made to experiment, but available computer power constrains feasible indentation depths to an order of magnitude smaller than experiment, and over indentation times several orders of magnitude smaller. The simulations give a good description of nanoindentation and support many of the experimental features.

Introduction: Lumbar spine stability programs have been advocated to prevent and rehabilitate low back injury. Specifically, abdominal ‘drawing in’ has been used to train motor control deficits in individuals with low back pain. This technique requires differential activity within deep and superficial lumbar multifidus fibres, yet the ability of these fibres to act differentially has not been extensively examined. Deep fibres are hypothesized to act as spinal stabilizers while superficial fibres are hypothesized to act as global movers of the trunk. Objective: To investigate differential excitation of deep and superficial lumbar multifidus fibres during segmental indentation loads to the lumbar spine. Methods: Posterior-anterior indentation loads were applied to individual lumbar spinous processes of prone participants at three different velocities and three different indentation displacements. Indentations consisted of an initial downward displacement that was subsequently held for 500 milliseconds. Intramuscular electromyography (EMG) of deep and superficial lumbar multifidus fibres at L3, L4 and L5 was recorded. EMG was quantified by “average” root mean square (RMS), peak RMS of a sliding RMS window and time-to-peak RMS over the indentation phase and 500 millisecond hold phase. Results: Increased indentation displacement at the slowest velocity resulted in increased “average” RMS of only the L5 superficial multifidus fibres. Increased indentation velocity produced differential effects in deep and superficial multifidus fibres. “Average” RMS and peak RIVIS significantly increased with increasing indentation velocity in most deep fibre recording sites, yet superficial fibre excitation did not significantly increase. In most EMG recording sites, the time-to-peak RMS increased with increasing indentation displacement and decreased with increasing indentation velocity. Conclusion: Differential excitation of superficial and deep multifidus fibres was found with increasing indentation velocity; however, the result was opposite to that hypothesized. This result is clinically relevant because it suggests deep multifidus fibre excitation may increase in response to increased perturbation magnitude, possibly to restore vertebral body position. Differential excitation effects may also be related to different mechanical stimuli experienced by deep and superficial fibres due to vertebral body movement during indentation loads. 11 / Education, Faculty of / Kinesiology, School of / Graduate

Various aspects of localised fracture events in glass-ceramic matrices (calcium alumino-silicate (CAS) and barium magnesium alumino-silicate (BMAS)) reinforced with continuous SiC fibres (Nicalon(TM) and Tyranno(TM)) have been examined. An analytical model has been developed which enables the residual thermo-elastic stresses that are present in the composites at room temperature (as a result of the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between the fibres and the surrounding matrix) to be calculated. A simple consideration of the effect of introducing a free surface coupled with experimental results has shown that a portion of the fibre/matrix interface is likely to be debonded in the vicinity of the free surface. Quasi-static indentation loading of the composites has shown that lateral cracks are the predominant fracture event. The technique of confocal scanning laser microscopy has been used to provide quantitative data relating to the size of these lateral cracks as well as their sensitivity to the local fibre volume fraction. In a CAS/Nicalon composite, where the CTE of the matrix is greater than that of the fibres, lateral cracks have been found to form preferentially in regions of relatively high local fibre volume fraction. This behaviour is consistent with residual stress calculations, in that matrix in regions of high fibre volume are in a state of axial tension, which promotes lateral cracking. The converse has been found to be true in a BMAS/Tyranno system with a CTE mismatch in the opposite sense. Experiments where contact is by single particle impact have shown similar fracture patterns, suggesting that dynamic fracture follows mechanisms observed during quasi-static indentation. Utilisation of data acquired from quasi-static indentations has facilitated an upper bound prediction of the erosion wear rate. The mechanism of material removal and the estimate of wear rate have been shown to be consistent with results acquired from a limited study of erosive wear in one of the composite systems.