MONI2TEX

To prevent pollution of the environment by effluents, nuclear power plants are equipped with storage and fluid retention structures. In order to guarantee a tightness of these structures, membranes of composite materials are used as reported sealing systems. These membranes act as a bulge for the fluids in case of damage to the concrete structure. The durability and the control of the effectiveness of the sealing systems is therefore a major issue of safety and security. The purpose of the MONI2TEX project, supported by the company Max Perlès, is to develop an in-service control solution for the integrity of membranes made of composite materials, intended to ensure the fluid tightness of storage or retention structures made from concrete, operating in a risk environment, particularly for the nuclear power generation sector. These solutions are today non-existent on the market. The control solution will be obtained from a smart and connected sensor fabric to detect and locate the leakage of composite membranes in which it is inserted. Textile sensors allowing the detection of liquid, gas, or the detection of mechanical stresses will be investigated. A dedicated system for recovery, processing and signal transmission will be developed. This project is part of the « smart objects » axis of the New Industrial France. The contribution of the GEMTEX laboratory in this project lies in the development of a detector filament (liquid, mechanical stresses or gas) that will be made by melt spinning through the insertion of conductive nanocharges in an insulating thermoplastic (polymer composite driver).