All labcourses are suitable for students from L3 to Master levels having a background in mechanics and wishing to reinforce their skills in their field of competences.

Turbulence is a canonical example of multi scale phenomenon. This multi scale character is actually at the very center of the phenomenological theory of turbulence by Kolmogorov.

During this lab course, the trainees will be initiated to two measurement techniques used for the spatial mapping of a flow, that will be illustrated through the study of the wake development behind a cylinder, a classical study case of turbulence. This introduction to major experimental techniques in fluid mechanics (and to their limitations) will be augmented by an initiation to numerical techniques (and the issues associated to them) such as direct numerical simulations, RANS method, or Large Eddy Simulations.

The purpose of this lab course is to give Master students the opportunity to discover high-tech tools and up-to-date methods that are used to study the complex mechanical processes involved in the deformation of granular materials.

The students manipulate model granular materials and carry out experiments on laboratory equipment specifically designed to analyse their behaviour under controlled stress / strain conditions. The proposed approach, coupling experiments and numerical analysis, enables the participants to understand how the medium scale behaviour of such materials is driven by mechanisms occurring at the micro-scale (grains).

Blood primarily consists of red blood cells in suspension in plasma, a Newtonian fluid. The distribution of red blood cells within a given vessel, or from one vessel to another, is far from homogeneous, and the way they split at the vessels junctions is a very complex issue.

This lab-course enables the participant to observe and understand the mechanisms driving the behaviour of red blood cells, particularly their distribution in the complex network of capillaries, through microfluidic experimentations and associated measurements.

In this lab-course, the students will go from the 3D imaging of a simple fibrous material using X ray-tomography, to the computation of its overall permeability and its evolution when deformed, using numerical simulation. 

The participants will experience on a full case study the key steps to collect images in a real situation, digitise and incorporate them into a numerical model to eventually simulate a behaviour and predict the evolution of key physical quantities. In this case study, solid and fluid mechanics are coupled.

Wave turbulence refers to a statistical state that describes a nonlinear, random ensemble of waves, as commonly observed on the ocean’s surface. Since the 1960s, a theoretical framework known as Weak Turbulence Theory has been developed to model cases where nonlinearity is weak. However, whether this theory can accurately describe real-world systems remains an open question.

In this project, we will focus on a solid system that supports elastic waves: a vibrating elastic plate, or more precisely—a gong! The rich and distinctive sound of a gong arises from the nonlinear transfer of energy from low-frequency excited modes to higher-frequency ones, a phenomenon known as the energy cascade of turbulence.

In this lab course, we will introduce a profilometry technique based on high-speed imaging, enabling us to capture the gong’s vibrations with both spatial and temporal resolution. This will allow for an in-depth exploration of the physical properties underlying the gong’s unique sound.

The purpose of this lab course is to give Master/PhD students the opportunity to discover the mechanisms involved in membrane ultrafiltration processes in relation with the rheological behaviour of the aqueous filtered suspensions. During the filtration process under shear flow and pressure forces, the filtered particles accumulate near the membrane surface forming a concentrated layer of a few hundred micrometers. The changes from a dilute phase to a concentrated phase induce a change in the rheological behaviour of the suspensions which control the performance of the process. The proposed approach, is to combine the characterization of the filtration properties of the suspensions, the in-situ visualization of the accumulated layers and the rheometric behaviour of the suspensions. The goal is to understand the principal mechanisms governing the ultrafiltration process used in several industrial applications, bio- and agro-industries, chemical industries, pharmaceutical, nuclear, as well as water and sludge treatment.

Viscoplastic, or yield-stress, fluids are involved in numerous geophysical and industrial processes. These materials can behave as either fluids or solids, depending on the applied loading. The development of accurate numerical models that can represent the propagation and deposition of free-surface viscoplastic surges is crucial for applications, but remains challenging due to the strong non-linearity of the rheology and the coexistence of fluid and solid zones in the flows. The objectives of this lab-course are to: (1) perform well-controlled laboratory experiments in which viscoplastic, gravity-driven surges are generated over a complex topography; and (2) compare the experimental results to the predictions of a hydraulic numerical model. Through this comparison, important assumptions concerning the treatment of the viscoplastic rheology in the numerical model will be tested.

The objective of this lab is to study experimentally a bubble column. A bubble column is a vertical cylindrical vessel containing a liquid phase where a gaseous phase is injected into the bottom by a gas distributor. This gaseous phase rises through the liquid, and finally escapes through the upper free surface. Despite their widespread use in chemical or biological industry, the modelling of such devices remains unsatisfactory due to the lack of reliable physical model describing the interactions between phases. As the void fraction of bubbles is high (up to 50%), these are opaque flows, and the standard optical used in fluid mechanics techniques (such as PIV PTV, etc…) are no longer useful at such regimes. We will therefore use an alternative state-of-the-art technique: the optical probe. This device allows to obtain time resolved 1D time signals and to measure the void fraction and the bubbles size and velocity distributions. We will therefore be able to check the different models available in the literature and to explore the complexity of two-phase flows.

This practical module introduces participants to the principles and use of 2D / 3D additive manufacturing processes. Additive manufacturing can be broadly categorized into 2D and 3D processes that build fully volumetric components directly from digital models. While 2D techniques such as inkjet printing or thin-film deposition typically produce layers only a few micrometers thick, 3D methods can achieve layer heights ranging from hundreds of micrometers to several millimeters—or even centimeters—depending on the process. Both approaches face challenges in material development, compatibility, process control, and dimensional accuracy. In this session, we will examine these processes, compare their capabilities, and discuss the key factors influencing final part quality.

When two solids are pressed together and sheared, frictional forces resist sliding. Sliding occurs when a rupture propagates along the interface between the two solids. The rupture weakens the microcontacts that resist shear, and is the exact analogue of a shear cracks propagating in an intact material. A seismic event is the result of such a rupture propagating along a seismic fault at speed approaching that of sound.

In this lab-course, frictional ruptures will be detected as they propagate along the interface between two solid bodies in contact, based on strain measurements. The strain variations induced by the rupture will be characterized using the analytical tools of fracture mechanics.

Mechanical testing of biological tissues plays a key role in biomechanics research. The tissue mechanical properties (elasticity, stiffness, strength, viscoelasticity) may be then extracted from these data. These mechanical properties are essential to feed numerical models of the human body, whether used in medical simulation, medical device design, or fundamental research. By reproducing physiological or pathological conditions, such tests provide a better understanding of deformation and failure mechanisms. They therefore help improve the accuracy of models, and consequently the reliability of both clinical and industrial applications.

This practical session introduces participants to molecular simulations of adsorption phenomena in nanoporous materials by combining Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) techniques. Using the LAMMPS molecular simulation package, participants will study the adsorption of water molecules inside nanopores.