Thermal analysis: characterization, instrumentation, simulation

  • Industry, Sea / ​​environment

We characterize and model heat transfer to help you improve your materials, products and manufacturing processes.

Measuring and simulating heat transfers to improve the thermal performance of your product or process is the heart of our expertise. Thanks to tests, analyzes and simulation performed at the level of the constituent, the material or the final product, we guide you in your choices and in the optimization of your forming processes.

Depending on the requirements of your projects or issues, our experts can characterize your products, design original test benches, imagine tailor-made instrumentation campaigns in the laboratory or on site and develop specific simulation tools.

Summary

Advanced thermal characterization of materials

Equipped with a wide range of thermal characterization devices, either commercial instruments or specifically developed experimental benches, our engineers take care to characterize the thermal properties of your solid and liquid materials under the closest conditions of your process, according to actual conditions of manufacture and use of your products.

In a nutshell

Conduction

Calorimetry

Volume evolution

Radiative properties

rheology – degradation

Conduction

  • Thermal conductivity, diffusivity and effusivity
  • Thermal resistance of thin films
  • Anisotropic materials, solid or liquid

Calorimetry

  • Phase change temperatures and enthalpies
  • Identification of polymerization or crystallization kinetics
  • Heat of combustion

Volume evolution

  • Coefficient of thermal expansion
  • PVT diagram – Coefficient of chemical shrinkage / of crystallization
  • Bulk modulus

Radiative properties

  • Absorption, transmission and reflection properties by infrared spectroscopy
  • Specific measurement setup for high temperatures

Rheology and degradation

  • Viscosity of reactive systems
  • Rheological measurements of complex fluids
  • Thermogravimetric analysis

Modelling, Thermal simulation

We offer solutions for modeling heat transfer on processes, taking into account possible couplings with other physics. Our modeling expertise, combined with our thermal experience, allows to size, understand, or even optimize your industrial processes.

In a nutshell

Comparative studies

Design assistance

Thermal phenomena

Prediction of defects

Thermal optimization

Sizing and design assistance

  • Fatal heat recovery network on road asphalt mixes
  • Comparative study of heating systems for bending glass-fiber reinforced composites

Understand thermal phenomena

  • Foaming and thermoforming of a sandwich panel
  • Simulation of the welding of thermoplastic composites
  • Prediction of defects during the extrusion of aluminum tubes

Optimization

  • Topological optimization of the thermal resistance of concrete masonry units
  • Thermo-electrical coupling and heat dissipation of an electronic card
  • Optimization of the thermal homogeneity of a heating tool

Development of integrated metrology solutions

We develop personalized metrology solutions, ranging from on-site thermal instrumentation, to the development of specific sensors or protocols, to the design of original experimental benches. Based on our experience in thermal metrology, we strive to carry out measurements under conditions closest to the actual process, while installing the least intrusive sensors.

In a nutshell

Thermal instrumentation

specific sensors

experimental benches

sizing and instrumentation

Thermal instrumentation

  • Instrumentation by 25µm micro-thermocouples on a cutting blade
  • Measurement of the thermal performance of an air/oil heat exchanger in a wind tunnel

Development of specific sensors and protocols

  • Determination of the heat transfer coefficient on a PET preform
  • Sizing and instrumentation of a hydraulic test stream

Design of original experimental benches

  • Design and production of an apparatus dedicated to the characterization of the thermal resistance of thin films
  • Development of an experimental bench for the determination of the thermal conductivity tensor of composite in both solid and molten states

Composite forming : thermal analysis of processes

From the advanced characterisation of your composite materials to the optimisation of the thermal parameters of your forming processes, we bring to your R&D projects our advanced scientific expertise.

In a nutshell

Conductivity

Thermal expansion

Rheology

Radiative properties

Welding thermoplastic composites

simulation

Laboratoire LTEN
Comsol

Engineering at CAPACITÉS

Our research laboratories

Our materials experts carry out their engineering work directly in the research laboratories of  Nantes Université, notably at LTeN. On a daily basis, they combine technical resources and scientific discoveries to meet your R&D challenges.

Certified Consultant

As certified consultants with COMSOL Multiphysics, we use our experience with this software to provide solutions for a wide range of thermal simulation projects.

Challenges we’ve met

Composites materials: numerical simulation of injection processes

Characterizing the volume shrinkage of composites during the SMC process
Lire plus

Thermal sensors for Airbus Helicopters

Capacités’ experts push the limits of thermal measurement
Lire plus

Modelling the heat transfer of injection moulding processes

Determining the thermal conductivity of an injected composite during moulding
Lire plus
CAPACITES modélise les transferts thermiques des procédés d'injection

Increasing the energy efficiency of industrial processes

Instrumentation and simulation of the elastomer’s curing and shaping process
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Augmenter l'efficacité énergétique des procédés industriels

Contributing to the development of a new aeronautical composite material

A tailor-made strategy and testing resources
Lire plus
nouveau-composite-aeronautique

Determining the properties of a thermal barrier

Characterizing a material layer that is inseparable from its assembly
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Avion-Caractérisation de matériaux - propriétés thermiques

Need an innovative and resourceful partner?

Capacités teams inspire, harness and couple numerous cutting-edge skills covering a wide range of applications and expertise to meet all of your innovation needs with passion and commitment!

or send us a message:






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    Analytical chemistry : NMR, 2D NMR, IRMS

    • Industry, Life science, Sea / ​​environment
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    Our experts in analytical chemistry provide your projects with exceptional technical resources and know-how.

    Our Capacités experts in analytical chemistry have developed an exceptional know-how in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1D NMR and 2D NMR) and in Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS).
    Access to a large pool of equipment allows us to support industrial projects, from sample preparation to characterization.

    We are specialized in very high precision quantification projects and in the analysis of complex matrices. We help our clients to innovate in the study of metabolism, the fight against counterfeiting, the determination of the purity of active molecules, or the monitoring of chemical transformations.

    Summary

    Services

    Strategy and consulting

    Diagnosis and selection

    Process development

    Quality control

    Development of methods

    Metabolomic and lipidomic analyses

    Validate a therapeutic target or refine the description of a pathology through the identification and qualification of biomarkers responsible for changes between two states.

    Our experts master different types of analyses of biological samples. They perform targeted and non-targeted profiling and highlight changes between states of the biological matrices studied.

    In a nutshell

    Targeted analysis

    Metabolomic profiling

    Metabolic Footprint

    Analysis of matrices

    Data processing

    Targeted analysis

    • Structural elucidation by screening of unknowns: NMR, mass spectrometry (low and/or high resolution), mainly in LC-MS: HPLC-MSn base resolution, HPLC-DAD-MSn high resolution, HPLC-UV, HPLC-FLR, GS-MS, UV-vis and NIR
    • On-line monitoring of chemical and biochemical transformations by benchtop NMR
    • Dosing : pigment by spectrometry, proteins by colorimetric method, total bones by colorimetric method
    • Performing statistical analyses such as PCA and PLS-DA

    Metabolomic profiling

    • Compound profiling: polar by GCMS and water-soluble by HPLC
    • Class profiling by HPTLC
    • Family profiling by FTIR
    • One dimensional (1D) and/or two dimensional (2D) NMR profiling of biological matrices. Targeted or non-targeted analyses

    Metabolic Footprint

    • Possible biomarkers identification
    • Targeted quantification of key metabolites in biological samples

    Analysis of matrices

    • Metabolic or lipidomic extracts obtained from animals or plant matrices, bacteria, etc.
    • Biofluids: urine, blood, plasma, culture supernatants, etc.
    • Validation of regulatory status for commercial pure molecules
    • Synthesized or manufactured molecules not available on the market
    • Internal reference substances

    Data processing

    • Pre-processing of NMR and MS spectra for statistical analysis
    • Statistical analysis of mass spectrometry and NMR data

    Quantitative NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance)

    Our expertise is to qualify reference substances, determine the purity of molecules and certify their compliance with international quality standards.

    Our experts assist pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies in certifying the purity of their reference molecules using NMR methods.

    In a nutshell

    NMR acquisition parameters

    NMR processing parameters

    Method validation and parameter verification

    Product origin authentification

    Optimization of the NMR tool

    NMR acquisition parameters

    • Measurement of longitudinal relaxation time
    • Recording of NMR spectra with a very high signal/noise ratio
    • 13C decoupling to avoid the appearance of satellites, etc.
    • Quantitative 1H NMR with very high precision and accuracy (<0.1%)
    • High precision multi-dimensional quantitative NMR

    NMR processing parameters

    • Manual phasing of spectra
    • Baseline correction
    • Spectra deconvolution
    • Score correction if 13C satellites are present

    Method validation and parameter verification

    • Selectivity
    • Repeatability (precision)
    • Uncertainty calculation

    Product origin authentification

    • Non-targeted profiling by high field or benchtop NMR
    • Isotopic analyses on target molecules
    • Quantitative and targeted NMR analysis
    • Development of metabo-isotopomic approaches

    Optimization of the NMR tool

    • Ongoing European Research Council project: SUMMIT (Site-specific Ultrasensitive Magnetic resonance of Mixtures for Isotopic Tracking). Development of an analysis workflow based on two NMR methods: dynamic nuclear polarization by dissolution and ultrafast 2D NMR
    • Development of new rapid multi-dimensional methods for targeted and non-targeted metabolomics studies
    • Development of new methods for real-time monitoring of transformations

    Publication

    Didier G. Diomande, Estelle Martineau, Alexis Gilbert, Pierrick Nun, Ariaki Murata, Keita Yamada, Naoharu Watanabe, Illa Tea, Richard J. Robins, Naohiro Yoshida, and Gérald S. Remaud Position-Specific Isotope Analysis of Xanthines: A 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Method to Determine the 13C Intramolecular Composition at Natural Abundance.v

    Analytical Chemistry 2015 87 (13), 6600-6606. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b00559

    Quantitative 2D NMR (2D nuclear magnetic resonance)

    Development of fast and quantitative 2D NMR acquisition methods.

    Our experts have developed a protocol for the implementation of targeted and non-targeted metabolic and lipidomic studies.

    In a nutshell

    Rapid quantification for metabolomics and lipidomics

    Quantification of polysaccharides by 2D NMR

    • Concentration measuring of the small molecules in complex samples
    • Exploitation of standard addition methods
    • Development of quantitative approaches for polysaccharide analysis
    • Profiling of biological matrices
    • Targeted and non-targeted analyses

    Rapid quantification for metabolomics and lipidomics

    • Production of accurate quantitative data
    • Optimal separation between overlapping resonances
    • Development of fast acquisition methods
    • Representative and complementary experiments: UF COSY, ZF-TOCSY with irregular sampling
    • HSQC with irregular sampling

    Quantification of polysaccharides by 2D NMR

    • Characterization of molecular structures
    • Development of powerful quality control methods
    • Measurement of polysaccharide concentration
    • Molecular behavior studies
    • Development of the quantification method
    • Definition of the optimal analytical workflow

    Publication

    Estelle Martineau, Serge Akoka, Renaud Boisseau, Benoît Delanoue, and Patrick Giraudeau. Fast Quantitative 1H–13C Two-Dimensional NMR with Very High Precision. Analytical Chemistry 2013 85 (9), 4777-4783

    Estelle Martineau, Kamel El Khantache, Marion Pupier, Patricia Sepulcri, Serge Akoka, Patrick Giraudeau, Non-linear effects in quantitative 2D NMR of polysaccharides: Pitfalls and how to avoid them, Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, Volume 108, 2015, Pages 78-85, ISSN 0731-7085

    Estelle Martineau, Jean-Nicolas Dumez, Patrick Giraudeau. Fast quantitative 2D NMR for metabolomics and lipidomics: A tutorial Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry. 04 June 2019

    IRMS (Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry)

    To analyze the 13C, 15N, 2H, 18O and 34S isotopes present in organic matter, for a better understanding of metabolism in the fields of health and nutrition.

    The mastery of compound-specific analysis allows to obtain 13C and/or 15N profiles of different matrices.

    In a nutshell

    Average isotopic composition by EA-IRMS

    GC-IRMS analyse

    Average isotopic composition by EA-IRMS

    • Sample preparation
    • Analysis 13, 15N, 2H, 18O, 34S

    GC-IRMS analyse

    • 15N profiling of amino acids (after hydrolysis of proteins, derivatization, chromatography separation and 15N determination

    Publication

    Tea, I., Martineau, E., Antheaume, I. et al. 13C and 15N natural isotope abundance reflects breast cancer cell metabolism. Sci Rep 6, 34251 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep34251

    Olivier L Mantha, Caroline Goupille, Jean-François Dumas, Richard Robins, Philippe Bougnoux, Régis Hankard, Arnaud De Luca, Natural isotopic abundances as markers of compliance in clinical trials, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 111, Issue 5, May 2020, Pages 1109–1110

    Tea I, Le Guennec A, Frasquet-Darrieux M, Julien M, Romek K, Antheaume I, Hankard R, Robins RJ. Simultaneous determination of natural-abundance δ15N values and quantities of individual amino acids in proteins from milk of lactating women and from infant hair using gas chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2013 Jun 30;27(12):1345-53.

    Engineering at CAPACITÉS

    Our Analytical Chemistry experts perform their engineering duties in the very research laboratories of Nantes Université themselves, most notably at CEISAM. They strive to combine technical resources and scientific discovery to meet your R&D needs.

    Challenges we’ve met

    Quantification of polysaccharides by 2D NMR

    Developing a quick quantitative method in two-dimensional NMR
    Lire plus
    CAPACITES x Sanofi Pasteur_Quantification des polysaccharides par RMN 2D
    All our expertises

    Need an innovative and resourceful partner?

    Capacités teams inspire, harness and couple numerous cutting-edge skills covering a wide range of applications and expertise to meet all of your innovation needs with passion and commitment!

    or send us a message:






      Required fields

      Forming of composites: thermal analysis of processes

      Fully understanding heat transfer in forming processes for polymers and composite materials is a major industrial factor.

      Our work ranges from characterizing your composite materials to optimizing thermal parameters for your manufacturing processes. Throughout the course of our aerospace projects, we have acquired unique know-how for understanding and optimizing the heat transfers involved in welding composite materials.

      Our engineering and R&D services

      Our PhD engineers conduct cutting-edge research in heat transfers and put their scientific expertise to use for your R&D projects. They use innovative techniques to meet your industrial needs: process optimization, maximizing product quality, superior assembly performance.

      Conductivity – Effusivity – Thermal Diffusivity

      Characterizing thermal conduction properties in conditions representative of processes.

      • Measuring the thermal conductivity tensor of an anisotropic composite on reinforcement alone or on cured / uncured composites
      • Measurements on partially crosslinked materials
      • Measuring thermal resistance on thin film

      Volumetric shrinkage – Thermal dilation

      Understanding the coupling between thermal and chemical effects through the precise characterization of volumetric variations of polymers and composites.

      • Alpha-PVT: chemical shrinkage of a thermosetting matrix
      • 3D PVT: anisotropic chemical shrinkage of composites
      • Thermoplastic PVT: PVT Diagrams – crystallization shrinkage – Tait model – crystallization under pressure
      • Thermal expansion coefficients on uncured, rubbery or glass resin
      • Bulk modulus evolution of resin while curing

      Rheology

      Determining resin viscosity in the melted state and understanding temporary or permanent deformations of your composite materials.

      • Viscosity of reactive systems
      • Identifying the relaxation time of polymer chains
      • Measurements of complex and non-Newtonian fluids

      Infra-red heating – Radiative properties

      Mastering infra-red heating processes for polymers and composites in order to reach target temperatures in tools and parts.

      • Characterizing absorption, reflection, and transmission properties
      • Dependence on temperature and the angle of incidence

      Welded composites assembly

      Defining a process window for welding thermoplastic composites

      • Measuring creep time for high-performance matrices
      • Welding tests on composite specimens
      • Associated mechanical tests (G1c, SLS)

      Kinetic models

      Identifying parameters for thermo-kinetic models to predict phase changes

      • Crosslinking a thermosetting resin
      • Crystallization of a semi-crystalline polymer
      • Vulcanization of elastomers
      • Kinetic reactions of glues
      • Glass transition temperature evolution with the degree of cure (Di Benedetto)

      Simulation and thermal modeling

      Predicting heat transfers for sizing, understanding, or optimizing polymer and composite forming processes

      • Sizing of forming tools
      • Thermo-kinetic models to predict a part’s degrees of cure
      • Optimizing heating and cooling cycle time
      • Multiphysics simulations: coupling with the kinetics of polymerization, mechanics, electricity, etc.

      Metrology solutions

      Developing personalized metrology solutions for measuring your composite materials’ thermal behavior and associated processes

      • Instrumentation of on-site composite parts and industrial machines, thermal mapping
      • Developing specialized innovative sensors and measurement protocols
      • Designing and making original test benches

      Support from research laboratories

      Our teams receive support from the laboratories at the University of Nantes and benefit from their technical equipment in order to successfully complete your innovative projects.

      Vincent Sobotka

      Heat transfer of polymers and composites

      Vincent SOBOTKA

      Professor at the University of Nantes, member of the LTeN team for “Thermal Transfers in Materials and at Interfaces,” Scientific manager at Capacités.

      His research activities focus on the thermal science of polymer and composite forming and concern three complementary areas:

      • Thermal characterization of polymers and composites during the transformation process and developing novel apparatuses.
      • Modeling coupled transfers in the forming process (thermoplastic injection, RTM, FFF…).
      • Forming process testing and thermal optimization.
      Know more

      Heat Transfer and Energy Laboratory at Nantes (LTeN)

      LTeN is a heat transfer research unit that is recognized nationally and internationally, as well as in the industrial sector. The laboratory has two research areas: transfers in fluids and energy systems and thermal transfers in materials and at interfaces.

      The Thermal Transfers in Materials and at Interfaces Team

      The main objective of the team’s research is to understand and control heat transfers occurring inside materials and during their development or forming processes.

      Scientific publications

      Our fleet of testing and measurement machines

      More than 220 pieces of industry-specific equipment

      Our team has a rich and varied fleet of machines at its disposal. We make sure to utilize the most suitable technical means for each project. To do so, we design specialized test benches that are tailored to polymers, resins or composites representative of each process.

      • PVT for thermosets or thermoplastics
      • Thermal resistance of thin film
      • Flash DSC
      • IR spectrometers
      • Infrared diode laser 2 kW 1000 nm
      See the catalogue (in FR)

      Our projects

      Modelling the heat transfer of injection moulding processes

      Determining the thermal conductivity of an injected composite during moulding
      Lire plus
      CAPACITES modélise les transferts thermiques des procédés d'injection

      Contributing to the development of a new aeronautical composite material

      A tailor-made strategy and testing resources
      Lire plus
      nouveau-composite-aeronautique

      Need an innovative and resourceful partner?

      Capacités teams inspire, harness and couple numerous cutting-edge skills covering a wide range of applications and expertise to meet all of your innovation needs with passion and commitment!

      or send us a message :






        Required fields