STAR²-AM

STAR²-AM, Structural Testing and mAterials chaRacteRisation & Additive Manufacturing, is Icam Toulouse’s Research and Innovation platform dedicated to studying and characterising the mechanical behaviour of structures and materials.

For over 25 years, Icam Toulouse campus has a close working relationship with now nearly 50 organisations per a year, from the smallest owner-managed SMEs to the largest national companies; in particular with Aeronautics and Space companies, such as Airbus, Airbus Atlantic (formerly Stelia Aerospace), Thales Alenia Space, CNES, Dassault Aviation, Mecano ID and so on.

During all these years, the development of the STAR²-AM platform has been directly linked to the Research needs of industries in the field of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. The lab skills combine engineering expertise with the use of advanced computational tools and experimental activities in order to develop solutions relevant to industrial needs. The facilities support the testing of metals, composites (thermoplastics and thermosets), elastomers, rubbers, sandwich structures with honeycomb or lattice core, structural joints and adhesives. Note that many of the permanent staff have spent considerable portions of their careers in industry.

Expertise

STAR²-AM staff work on a range of research applications with industrial and academic partners.

Some of our areas of expertise and research include:

Mechanical testing of structures
Materials characterisation: metals, composites (thermoplastics and thermosets), wood, elastomers, rubbers, honeycomb and lattice sandwich structures, adhesives
Structural analysis (analytical and numerical): statics, dynamics, plasticity, contact, large displacements, buckling and post-buckling, composites, homogenisation, behaviour laws, fatigue & damage tolerance, multiscale and multiphysics simulations
Design of structures and components
Topological optimisation of structures
Assemblies: screwed, riveted, welded, Friction Stir Welding, glued
Development of analytical methods and numerical tools for dimensioning structures and experimental validation
Metallographic, fractographic and microscopic analysis for metallic materials and assembly techniques (welding, Friction Stir Welding)
Corrosion analysis

Examples of Projects

Non-linear FE modelling of airplane structural parts, theoretical approach, tests and measurements:
- Pure compression and pure shear buckling and post-buckling of Isogrid TA6V and Aluminium-Lithium panels (Airbus)
- Tension fittings (channel, angle, etc.), pin lug assembly, bolted and riveted lap-joints (Airbus)
- Pure shear buckling of an FSW stiffened panel (Airbus Atlantic)
Thermo-elastic distortion of shaped antenna reflector: measurements of mechanical properties of honeycomb panel (aluminium core and carbon skins), FE modelling guidelines (Thales Alenia Space)
Detection of adherence loss in a bolted joint due to thermal loads (Cnes)
Hemp fibres transformation for technical textile applications: from culture to final products such as individual protective equipment, composite materials or clothes (Fibnatex & Nabitex projects, European Interreg Sudoe Programme)
Study and experimental characterisation of the behaviour of 3D-printed metallic lattice structures produced by LBM process (Thales Alenia Space)
Modelling of Additive Manufacturing processes to predict geometry, distortion and residual stresses in as-built components (L-PBF and WAAM processes)
Influence of defects on mechanical properties of aluminium AS7G06 obtained by Laser Beam Manufacturing: influence of defect sizes, orientations and thermal treatment (as-built, water quenching and annealing T6, HIP+T6), determination of tensile properties of materials (with and without defect), tomography, metallographic analyses of the microstructure, fractography (Cnes)
Measurement of fracture toughness of metallic materials produced by Laser Beam Melting technique: AS7G06 aluminium and TA6V titanium alloys, influence of post-build thermal treatments (stress relief, water quenching and annealing, HIP), tests and measurements (residual stress determination, analysis of the fracture surface topology, metallographic analyses of the microstructure (grain size, orientation, etc.), observation of porosity rate (Cnes)
Characterisation of metallic samples (TA6V, 316L and 2209 DUPLEX steels) prepared by WAAM: control microstructures and general properties depending on the manufacturing parameters, assess the influence of post-processing heat treatments on the metallic parts (ESTIA – Addimadour)

Skills on the platform

Philippe Guy (1), Eng.-PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics of Materials, Researcher Lecturer, Structural Analysis & Mechanical Testing, in charge of STAR²-AM Lab
Olivier Quénard, PhD in Materials Science, Researcher Lecturer, R&D Project Manager, Expert in Metallographic, Fractographic and Microscopic Analysis
Jérôme Cadieux, Eng. in Mech. Engineering, Lecturer, Manager of Materials & Mech. Engineering Dpt and Environmental Science & Energy Dpt
Johann Vancamelbecke, Physical Measurements Technician, installation, calibration, and maintenance of instrumentation and control systems
Sylvain Corveleyn, Eng.-PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics of Composite Materials, Lecturer, R&D Project Manager
Romain Chevalier (1), PhD in Mechanics, Advanced Modelling of Materials and Structures, Researcher Lecturer
Julien Cochet (1), PhD in Science for Engineering, Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering, Researcher Lecturer
(1): researchers associated with ICA, Institut Clément Ader, UMR CNRS 5312.

Facilities

The laboratory contains mechanical and materials testing equipment, and is used for teaching, project support and industry-led research.

Static testing machines

Zwick Z2000E: electromechanical screw driven testing machine with extra-high testing area (3,500 mm) and a maximum load capacity of 2,000kN (200 tonnes). Acquisition software: TestXpert II.
Instron 5587: electromechanical screw driven testing machine, extra-high version (3,162 mm), maximum load capacity of 300 kN (30 tonnes). Four load cells: 5kN, 50kN, 100kN, 300kN. Acquisition software: BlueHill. Accessories: tension fixtures (mechanical wedge action grips), 3- and 4-point bending fixture, fastener holders (tension), fastener shear fixtures, compression platens, peel fixtures.
Zwick PL500: zwickiLine table-top testing machine, load capacity of 500N. Acquisition software: TestXpert II.

Thermal chamber

Eurotherm 3119: operating temperatures range from -150°C (with LN2 cooling) to +350ºC. Internal volume: 400mm × 400mm × 660mm.

Strain and displacement measurement

Strain gauging, used to measure applied or residual stress (through centre hole drilling, Meliad RMSHD40 device)
Digital Image Correlation (DIC): Vic-3D measurement system, high-resolution monochrome cameras 5Mpix (Grasshoper), 75fps, three different lenses (12mm, 28mm and 50mm), Fulcrum module
Non-contact video extensometer
Standard extensometers (clip-on)
Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT)
Crack opening displacement (COD) for fracture toughness measurement
System 5000 StrainSmart® data acquisition system (Vishay MM): 100-channels, input accepted from strain gages and strain-gage-based transducers, thermocouples, sensors with high-level voltage output (0-10V) and LVDT

Dynamics and Vibration Testing

Electromagnetic shaker B&K LDS V650: 1.62kN (sine force peak), 1.09kN (rms random force), 73.7gn acceleration (sine peak), 49.6gn acceleration random (rms), up to 2.5kHz, 3-ch. Input (bridge), 4-Ch. Input (BNC)
LDS® COMETUSB™ vibration controller for random, swept sine and shock testing
Impact hammers (modal analysis): hammer 2,200N PCB type 086C03, hammer 220N B&K type 8204

Software

F.E. Analysis: Msc.Nastran, Abaqus, Ansys, HyperWorks Suite (OptiStruct, HyperMesh), Msc.Patran
CAD Software: Catia v5, SolidWorks
Experimental Design Software: NemrodW

Thermal Behaviour

Two dilatometers: Zeiss apparatus, operating temperatures range from -170°C to +500°C
Two thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) devices (Zeiss apparatus)

Microscopy

Optical microscopy: 2 Zeiss apparatus, 1 microscope type Axiotech (zoom range: 4× to 100×) and 1 stereo microscope type Stemi 2000-C with in-house XY moving table for whole sample imaging (size: 200mm × 200mm), zoom range: 6.5× to 50×, Presiview software
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM): Hitachi TM4000, zoom range: 40× to 250,000×, EDX probe, accelerating voltage: 10kV, 15kV or 20 kV, sample size: h = 50mm × D = 80mm

Additive Manufacturing

Raise3D Pro3 Hyper Speed FDM 3D printer
Sinterit Lisa thermoplastic SLS 3D printer

Miscellaneous

IR camera: FLIR SC7000, high acquisition frequency
Hardness and microhardness device: Mitutoyo HM-200 (Vickers)
Thermal treatment devices: up to 1,600°C

Partners

Institut Clément Ader, UMR CNRS 5312, INSA/UPS/ISAE Sup’Aero/Mines Albi, Université de Toulouse, 3 Rue Caroline Aigle, 31400 Toulouse, France. Research group: Mechanical Systems and Microsystems Modelling (MS2M)
IQS School of Engineering – Universitat Ramón Llull, Via Augusta 390, 08017 Barcelona, Spain. Research group: GAM, Group of Applied Mechanics and Advanced Manufacturing