General information
Organisation
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation in four main areas :
• defence and security,
• nuclear energy (fission and fusion),
• technological research for industry,
• fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences.
Drawing on its widely acknowledged expertise, and thanks to its 16000 technicians, engineers, researchers and staff, the CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners.
The CEA is established in ten centers spread throughout France
Reference
SL-DES-25-0142
Thesis topic details
Category
Condensed Matter Physics, chemistry, nanosciences
Thesis topics
Multi-scale modeling of hydrogen diffusion in Ni polycristals
Contract
Thèse
Job description
In many applications metallic structural materials face hydrogen-containing environment and at some point the hydrogen enters the metal leading to mechanical properties deterioration and eventually to rupture. The mechanisms of hydrogen embrittlement have been widely studied. Yet, a general, predictive and quantitative model of these phenomena is still missing. This thesis focuses on hydrogen segregation at grain boundaries which is one of the mechanisms identified in hydrogen embrittlement. We aim at modeling the kinetics of the segregation process starting down from the atomic scale. In order to do this, we need to find the equilibrium structures of grain boundaries, identify the segregation sites for each grain boundary and then quantify how each grain boundary affects the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen. All this data will then be fed to a finite element model whose purpose is to compute hydrogen distribution in a polycristalline sample as a function of time, accounting for the specific properties of each grain boundary. These results will be compared with hydrogen permeation experiments which give access to an effective diffusion coefficient, as well as measures localized around a single grain boundary (PANI and SKPFM methods).
University / doctoral school
Sciences, Ingénierie, Santé (EDSIS)
Saint-Etienne
Thesis topic location
Site
Saclay
Requester
Position start date
01/10/2024
Person to be contacted by the applicant
SCHULER THOMAS
thomas.schuler@cea.fr
CEA
DES/DRMP/S2CM/SRMP
Section de Recherches de Métallurgie Physique
CEA – Centre de Saclay
DEN/DANS/DMN/SRMP – bât. 520 p.123
91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex
0169083635
Tutor / Responsible thesis director
CHRISTIEN Frédéric
frederic.christien@mines-stetienne.fr
Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint Etienne
SMS/MPI
École des mines de Saint-Étienne 158, cours Fauriel F-42000 Saint-Étienne
04 77 42 00 18
En savoir plus
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thomas-Schuler-3
https://www.pluginlabs-universiteparissaclay.fr/fiche/service-de-recherches-de-metallurgie-physique-srmp/