A look back at activities conducted in 2022

ENSTA Bretagne’s “Pyrotechnical Systems” team, a member of the IRDL mechanical engineering laboratory, is continuing to study the characterization of the effects of explosions and their barriers. 

At the beginning of 2022, Jérémie Tartière defended his CIFRE Airbus thesis on the explosive forming of large metal parts for aircraft. 

Three other theses began in 2022. Aymerick Reinders’ thesis, financed by the Defense Innovation Agency’s COBADI project, sets out to design water-blown foam barriers to reduce blast effects. Baptiste Reynier’s thesis, financed by the CESTA center of the Military Applications Division (DAM) of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), is studying ejecta emitted during impacts at over 18,000 km/h. Lastly, Julie Morand’s thesis, financed by the Le Ripault Center of the CEA DAM, is researching a system for initiating explosives by impact: the latter is generated at high speed thanks to the propulsion of a projectile by the energy of a powerful pulsed laser, the most suitable device for controlling the initiation times of low-sensitivity explosives. 

In addition, ENSTA Bretagne has joined the Aeroballistic Range Association, which studies ballistics, guns and launchers, and brings together leading national and international research centers working in this field, including the CEA. 

On a final note, a new pyrotechnical testing ground opened in 2022, dedicated to studying very small samples of energetic materials. These are tested with a view to determining their thermomechanical properties. To give an example: using Split-Hopkinson-Pressure-Bars, it is possible to study the impact of a shock on an energetic material propelled at very high speed and to analyze the mechanical damage sustained by the material and the effects on its ignition and combustion properties.

 

TRAVID Project (Travail vivant d’innovation de défense)

For this project on defense innovation in action, coordinated by Jean Frances, a sociology professor at ENSTA Bretagne’s FoAP lab, the investigations and analyses were carried out with Violette Larrieu, a post-doctoral student in the team, and Damien Coadour, also a professor at ENSTA Bretagne. 

Violette: “We decided to study how the military get involved in innovation. These innovations developed “by and for” the military are grounded in their own experiences. They often concern their matériel and armaments to improve their working conditions and efficiency on duty.

We focused our research on the Special Forces by traveling to several Units across France and outlining the trajectory of these innovations, from the idea to its scaling up, via the prototyping and certification stages. The report drafted on behalf of the AID presents this innovation work by and for operatives and sets out various recommendations likely to improve the conditions in this regard".

I2DI Project (Innovation de défense, défense de l’innovation)

While the TRAVID project mostly related to the sociology field, the ID2I project initiated in 2023 bears more on the political sciences. 

Jean Francès: “Our goal is to understand how innovation has become a public policy focus and how it is considered. This involves analyzing the systems implemented by the Ministry for the Armed Forces to encourage innovation. Ultimately, the idea is to combine the top-down and the bottom-up approaches.”

In the context of this research, Violette Larrieu has won support from the Foundation for Social Sciences (in the 2023-2024 cohort).

Ingéblue's ambitions

• The IngéBlue Institute is open to all institutions involved in higher education and research in naval engineering.

• IngéBlue aims to provide for close, agile and responsive coordination of all the French players involved in the issues of training and research in naval engineering (companies, public organizations, associations, etc.).

• Their collective action in naval engineering will foster the emergence of larger national and international interdisciplinary programs.

• IngéBlue responds to the need for new knowledge and new skills, and their rapid transfer to companies and public players.

• The IngéBlue banner will make work more multidisciplinary, efficient and visible.

The development of the blue economy has flourished over the last few years.

It has been characterized by an increase in the use of all kinds of naval resources (food, energy, etc.), an increase in naval traffic and an ever-greater consideration for environmental and security issues by civil, military, public and private actors. This development is reflected in increased competition, including a global race for technological advances in naval engineering. It is a crucial sovereignty issue for France, which has the world's second largest naval area.

The Ingéblue Institute is supported by 15 member institutions from all over France:

• Engineering schools, universities and scientific institutions:
  • ENSTA Bretagne
  • ENSTA Paris
  • ENIB
  • Centrale Méditerranée
  • ENSM
  • IMT Atlantique
  • Ecole navale
  • La Rochelle Université
  • UBS
  • UBO
  • University of Toulon
  • the Shom (French national hydrohraphic service).
  • Centrale-Supélec
  • ESTACA
  • Cerema

The Institute aims to grow rapidly with the entry of other members from the academic world. Its supervision has been initiated by ENSTA Bretagne.