Contribution to the study of the interactions between residual stresses and oxygen dissolution in a reactive deformable solid

The aim of this PhD work is to highlight the interactions between the mechanical stress and the chemical composition within diffusion of matter process for a reactive solid. The chronological evolution of our work goes from a parametric numerical study to an experimental study and reveals the role of mechanical stresses on the oxygen diffusion process. Different origins of mechanical stress were first numerically analysed from the point of view of their impacts on the process of oxygen diffusion into a metal (Zr) or a ceramic (UO₂) subjected to an oxidizing environment. This approach allowed us: - to identify a surface treatment (shot-peening) able to generate a residual specific stress field, as a starting point for an experimental study implementation in order to validate the numerical study conclusions; - to highlight the ability of the stress field on the stabilisation of the morphology of an undulated metal/oxide interface (case of Zr). In the experimental approach, different techniques were used to characterize the material (GDOS, SEM, TGA, hole-drilling method, micro-hardness tests). They permitted the detection of a strong influence of shot-peening on the oxidation rate. The comparison of experimental and numerical simulation results reveals strong interactions between stress and compositions fields induced by the different treatments (shot-peening and/or pre-oxidation). This study opens up many opportunities in the understanding of multi-physics coupling effects being very useful for the optimization of mechanical and chemical surface-treatments, able furthermore to favour the diffusion (nitriding, cementation) or to slow it down (corrosion). (author)