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Staffing services: a win-win solution

Publication Date

15 September 2023

Provision of personnel

Meeting with Quentin Bausière

What motivated you to join this scheme at ISAE-SUPAERO?

The pandemic compromised many research and development projects at Airbus, including the one I was involved in, which was stopped in December 2020. As a result, I started looking for a new technical challenge. The opportunity to take part in a 2-year academic research project came along at the same time and was just what I was looking for. Above and beyond a project specific to ISAE-SUPAERO, I wanted to take part in an exciting, ambitious project with real added value for my personal and professional development.

What project have you been working on?

I worked on the VIRTUOSE (VIRTUal testing of aeronautical compoSite structurEs) project on the study of composite aeronautical structures under complex loading. The project is being led by the Institut Clément Ader (ICA) and Joël Serra, a research engineer and winner of the Lopez-Loretta prize for excellence in academic research and a former student and doctoral student at ISAE-SUPAERO.

The aim of this research is to develop mechanical dimensioning methods to reduce the number of tests to be carried out during the development of a composite material aircraft structure. The aim is to combine numerical analyses with highly instrumented tests in order to improve the prediction of structural behaviour, so as to optimise structures and be more reactive in the design process.
I worked on both the development of the tests and their operation and modelling techniques. Working on all aspects of the project, from planning to carrying out the tests and using the results, was very valuable.

What have you gained from this collaboration in scientific and human terms?

This collaboration has enabled me to be in contact and exchange ideas with researchers of a high scientific and technical level. The testing equipment at the ICA is at the cutting edge of experimental techniques and enabled me to combine technical and scientific aspects. What’s more, the proximity of the researchers and the exchanges in various fields gave me an insight into fascinating research topics. Collaboration is really the key and the source of progress within the laboratory.

This collaboration will continue with your project. Do you think that this scheme could be extended to other research projects?

I will continue to be part of the VIRTUOSE project, in which Airbus is a major partner, until its end in May 2024. The test campaigns are underway and the participation of an Airbus employee means that we can work together to achieve the set objective and use these tests in companies.

These systems can be applied in other institutes or other academic research laboratories. In my opinion, it is in the interests of industry to work closely with researchers, so that they can continue to innovate. Researchers also have an interest in being in contact with manufacturers to understand their problems and their environment, so that they can support them in their technical and scientific challenges. The aeronautics industry is facing a number of technical and environmental challenges, and this is the ideal field in which to tackle them.

On a more personal note, what have you gained from working with us?

I’m very pleased with this collaboration and I’d like to thank both institutions for giving me this opportunity. I hope to maintain links with my partners at ISAE-SUPAERO, the Department of Mechanics and Structure of Materials (DMSM) and, more generally, the ICA, in the future to exchange ideas and make the most of this collaboration.

A multi-tutorial collaboration

Christophe Bouvet is a professor at ISAE-SUPAERO. He teaches the mechanics of aeronautical structures and materials, and in particular the dimensioning of composite structures. He is the ISAE-SUPAERO referent and has been working closely with Quentin Bausière for the past 2 years as part of the Virtuose project (VIRTUal testing of aeronautical composiSite structurEs) on the study of composite aeronautical structures under complex loading.

This is the project carried out thanks to Joël Serra’s winning of the Lopez Loreta prize, worth €1m, in 2019. This prize follows on from the ANR VERTEX award obtained in 2013 by Bruno Castanié, following his thesis, defended in 2000, during which he developed a multiaxial testing machine for composite sandwich structures.

This project is being carried out within the Institut Clément Ader, with contributions from the laboratory’s various supervisory bodies.

The main participants in this project are Joël Serra, ISAE-SUPAERO research engineer, Bruno Castanié, INSA Toulouse professor, Christophe Bouvet, ISAE-SUPAERO professor, Jean-Noël Périé UPS research professor, Quentin Bausière, Airbus engineer, Jean-Charles Passieux, INSA Toulouse professor and numerous students and doctoral students. It is therefore an example of the complementarity that a multi-tutored CNRS laboratory like the ICA can provide!