Cristian Manuel Ovalle Rodas

Researcher Scientist

Discipline(s): Molecular Chemistry, Polymers, Solid Mechanics
Topic(s): Energy Efficiency, Industrial Sovereignty, Nuclear, Polymer, Super-insulator

Keywords

Team

MEM - Mécanique Expérimentale et Matériaux, SIMS - Simulation des Matériaux et des Structures

Biography

Cristian Manuel Ovalle Rodas is a researcher specializing in the fields of materials mechanics, polymers, and composites, as well as in the development of advanced numerical methods for structural modeling and optimization. His work focuses on the analysis of composite material microstructures, particularly through the use of high-resolution imaging techniques and deep generative models, such as generative adversarial networks (GANs) and probabilistic diffusion models. He also explores failure mechanisms, such as void nucleation and crack propagation, by integrating physical and numerical approaches to improve the durability and mechanical performance of materials. Furthermore, his research addresses thermodynamically consistent constitutive models for materials under large deformations, proposing alternatives to traditional hypoelastoviscoplastic models, as well as methods for accelerating finite element simulations for problems involving localized plasticity. His contributions also include the study of the effects of aging and environmental conditions on the mechanical properties of elastomers and polymers, in relation to various industrial applications.

Publication(s)

2026
Image generation of short glass fibre composite microstructures: From control to optimisation and damage prediction DOI : 10.1016/j.cma.2025.118686
2026
A generic formulation of anisotropic thermo-elastoviscoplasticity at finite deformations for finite element codes DOI : 10.1007/s00466-024-02543-8
2026
Structure and crystallization kinetics of PVDF/organoclay nanocomposites processed by twin-screw extrusion and electrical contact poling DOI : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2025.114535
2025
A plastic correction algorithm for full-field elasto-plastic finite element simulations: critical assessment of predictive capabilities and improvement by machine learning DOI : 10.1007/s00466-024-02561-6
2025
Local measurement on oedometric compression tests: Time and temperature ageing effects on a fluorosilicone DOI : 10.1016/j.mechmat.2024.105193
2025
Antioxidant depletion in polyethylene used in chlorinated seawater: from accelerated ageing to modelling DOI : 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2025.111535
2025
A homogenization technique for materials with periodic lacunar fractal microstructure DOI : https://doi.org/10.5802/crmeca.330
2024
Physics informed self-supervised segmentation of elastic composite materials DOI : 10.1016/j.cma.2024.117355
2024
Mechanisms of void nucleation on neat and Glass Syntactic PolyPropylene using in situ synchrotron radiation tomography DOI : 10.1016/j.compositesb.2024.111696
2024
Dependence on strain rate of the glass and ductile-to-brittle transition temperatures of an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene used at cryogenic temperature DOI : 10.1007/s00161-023-01261-5
2024
Plane–strain condition in plane–strain grooved tensile (PSGT) specimens during traction and creep loading at room and high temperature DOI : 10.1111/str.12467
2024
Effect of fibre concentration on the mechanical properties of welded reinforced polypropylene DOI : 10.1016/j.compositesb.2023.111111
2024
Embrittlement induced by oxidation in polyethylene: Role of initial bimodality DOI : 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2024.111025
2024
Deformation and cavitation at the spherulite scale of an isotactic polypropylene DOI : https://doi.org/10.46298/jtcam.11335
2023
Toward robust scalar-based gradient plasticity modeling and simulation at finite deformations DOI : 10.1007/s00707-022-03411-3
2022
Influence of the compressibility on the mechanical response of a fluorosilicone material DOI : https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003310266-35
2022
Laminated rubber bearings subjected to combined shear and compressive loading: Heterogeneous ageing and crack growth in mode II DOI : https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003310266-9
2022
Modeling the mechanical response of reinforced rubber in taking into account heat build-up and hydrostatic stress DOI : https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003310266-10
2021
Nanocavitation mechanisms in deformed High Density PolyEthylene (HDPE) using synchrotron radiation NanoTomography DOI : 10.1016/j.polymer.2021.123959
2021
Impact speed dependency of the ductile failure threshold temperature for a plasticized polyvinylchloride DOI : 10.1007/s00161-021-01026-y
2021
Ductile crack initiation and growth on a plasticized Polyvinylchloride during air bag deployment DOI : https://doi.org/10.46298/jtcam.7401
2020
Effects of stress triaxiality ratio on the heat build-up of polyamide 11 under loading DOI : 10.1016/j.mechmat.2020.103375
2020
Elastic properties of polychloroprene rubbers in tension and compression during ageing DOI : 10.3390/polym12102354
2020
Microstructure-mechanical properties relationships in vibration welded glass-fiber-reinforced polyamide 66: A high-resolution X-ray microtomography study DOI : 10.1016/j.polymertesting.2020.106454
2019
Modelling of the heat build-up temperature and damage fields in bulk filled-rubber samples during fatigue DOI : 10.1201/9780429324710-66
2019
A constitutive model for rubber bearings subjected to combined compression and shear DOI : 10.1201/9780429324710-45
2019
Hydrostatic pressure effect on the non-linear mechanics of filled rubbers: Experiments and physico-mechanical approach DOI : 10.1201/9780429324710-35
2018
Constitutive modeling of the cyclic dissipation in thin and thick rubber specimens DOI : 10.1002/zamm.201800087
2016
A thermo-visco-hyperelastic model for the heat build-up during low-cycle fatigue of filled rubbers: Formulation, implementation and experimental verification DOI : 10.1016/j.ijplas.2015.01.001
2015
Temperature and filler effects on the relaxed response of filled rubbers: Experimental observations on a carbon-filled SBR and constitutive modeling DOI : 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2014.11.001
2015
Filler effects on the heat build-up of filled rubbers during fatigue: Experimental observations and constitutive modeling
2014
A finite strain thermo-viscoelastic constitutive model to describe the self-heating in elastomeric materials during low-cycle fatigue DOI : 10.1016/j.jmps.2013.10.010
2014
Molecular chain orientation in polycarbonate during equal channel angular extrusion: Experiments and simulations DOI : 10.1016/j.commatsci.2013.12.028
2013
Thermo-visco-hyperelastic modeling of the rubber self-heating under fatigue

Teaching

Materials for Engineers

Lecturer

The in-person component (27 hours) is structured into plenary sessions in a lecture hall (12 hours), small-group sessions (12 hours) with fewer students, and presentations of lab reports to a panel (30 minutes). It also includes a written exam (2 hours and 30 minutes). Students’ independent study (18 hours) includes (in addition to the engine disassembly and reassembly mentioned above): A self-assessment multiple-choice quiz (30 min) on prerequisites. This self-assessment is conducted prior to the first class to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses and then focus on certain aspects during face-to-face instruction. An assignment on phase diagrams (2 hours) An assignment on material aging (2 hours) Laboratory work at the CMAT (6 hours): 13 lab sessions are conducted in groups of 4 to 5 students, supervised by the Center’s engineers and technicians as well as doctoral students, since most lab topics are related to current thesis projects. A 20-minute oral presentation for each lab is given at the end of the day in two parallel sessions. Students therefore complete one of the lab sessions and participate in or attend half of the presentations at the end of the day. Two similar days are organized to accommodate the entire class. Final exam review (5 hours)

Fluid Mechanics (PI MECAERO)

Lecturer

Mechanics of Materials and Structures (PI MECAERO)

Lecturer

Project (PI MECAERO)

Lecturer

Experimental Mechanics

Guest Lecturer

The course has two main objectives. Drawing on examples from industry, the course first aims to help students understand the challenges involved in a mechanical testing campaign and to equip them with the tools needed to design experimental plans for the mechanical characterization of materials. With this in mind, the course will begin with a description of standardized tests to highlight their limitations, followed by a presentation of original or “non-standard” tests that are as well-instrumented as possible. To this end, part of the course will be devoted to the study of non-contact thermomechanical measurement techniques (infrared thermography and digital image correlation). In a second phase, the focus will be on establishing the link between continuum mechanics, thermomechanical behavior equations, and experimental characterization. The concepts of stress and strain analysis will be reviewed to understand the methods for optimizing behavior and damage mechanisms, which we aim to identify through the tests. The in-person component (29 hours) is structured into plenary sessions (12 hours), mini-projects (in pairs or groups of three) (15 hours), and project presentations before a panel (30 minutes). Students’ independent work (6 hours) includes: Understanding the mini-project, literature review, scientific analysis and interpretation of the results obtained, writing a summary, and preparing an oral presentation

PhD supervision

2026 Slow cracking mechanisms and mechanics in aged HDPE base and welded materials HERNANDEZ HAFFNER Brian
2025 The impact of aging on the seismic behavior of glass fiber-reinforced polycarbonate components MARSAUDON Coralie
2025 Industrial recycling of end-of-life fiber-reinforced composite parts JOSHI Atharva
2025 Characterization of the variability of recycled composites and their constituents CHANDRAN Lekhana
2024 Aging and durability of hydrogen pressure vessels and pipelines made of polymer or composite materials JAVEY Quentin
2024 Multi-physics problems in elastoplasticity using heterogeneous local fields PAMBOU IMOGO Darcy
2023 Mechanisms and mechanical modeling of the behavior and high-speed failure of three-layer polymer material systems. LEFAY Gaultier
2022 Deep learning approaches for the analysis and optimization of fiberglass-reinforced polymer matrix composites BASSO DELLA MEA Guilherme
2021 Multi-scale organization of a piezoelectric PVDF/clay nanocomposite obtained by additive manufacturing. Impact of the electric field and evolution during deformation. PONS Nelly
2021 Influence of synthesis and aging on the mechanical properties of fluorosilicones LOGEAIS Clémence
2021 A multi-scale probabilistic methodology to predict the fatigue life of porous alloys from tomographic images PALCHOUDHARY Abhishek
2021 Study of the aging and long-term durability of HDPE piping. LAOT Robin
2020 Conductivity of Contact Interfaces: A Multi-Scale Study BEGUIN Paul
2019 Automatic regularization method for finite element simulation of large deformation plasticity ABATOUR Mohamed
2019 Numerical modeling of the thermal insulation coating of subsea oil pipelines HOURDOU Théophile
2019 Experimental and numerical modeling of the fatigue behavior and durability of Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) at cryogenic temperature ODOU Nathan
2019 The effect of stress heterogeneity on the self-heating of reinforced polymers/elastomers WAN Lili
2017 Ductile-to-brittle transition of plasticized PVC at different impact rates: understanding mechanisms and modeling BERTAUX Clément
2016 Characterization and modeling of uniaxial/multiaxial cyclic fatigue behavior of short-fiber composites: Thermoplastics (PA66) reinforced with glass fibers LU Fang