Industrial partners

The Laboratoire National Des Champs Magnétiques Intenses (LNCMI) specializes in technologies and research in extreme conditions, under intense magnetic fields. It offers its high technological and scientific potential to researchers from all over the world, as well as to industrial users.

The LNCMI provides industrialists with a unique technical infrastructure and know-how to help them carry out their research projects, measurements, characterizations, etc.

Several types of partnership are possible. The relationship between the LNCMI and the industrial partner may take the form of a research service, a research collaboration contract, or a research project funded by a third party, as part of an institutional research collaboration (Horizon Europe, ANR, Region, etc.). Several types of contract exist to govern these relationships, guaranteeing the necessary level of confidentiality and intellectual property protection required by both parties. Contract negotiations are handled by the CNRS Partnerships and Technology Transfer Department.

You can find several examples below of the different possible partnerships.

Find out more about our Skillmap: link to the Skillmap

Contact : direction@lncmi.cnrs.fr

Access to EMFL facilities, of which the LNCMI is a part, is granted via a biannual call for projects, and is open to all qualified personnel, whether academic or industrial. Applications are assessed by a committee of independent experts. If a project is accepted, use of EMFL facilities is free of charge, subject to sharing of results. Paid confidential access can also be negotiated.

In the case of industrial applications, a specific procedure ensuring rapidity and confidentiality is available online: https://emfl.eu/isabel/industry/industrial-access/

The LNCMI boasts facilities that are unique in the world, as well as the expertise and know-how of highly qualified researchers, engineers and technicians, who can provide research services for industry. Whether for measurements, characterization, design, etc., these services can be carried out in total confidentiality, and all results obtained belong to the partner who commissioned the service.

For example, Swiss watchmaker OMEGA trusted the LNCMI to test its watches in a very high magnetic field (16 T) (article).

Since 2013, LNCMI and Toulouse-based company Bmax/I-Cube Research have been working together to design long-life magnetoforming coils. Durability is a crucial issue for the use of electromagnets on an industrial scale, requiring the production of parts in large quantities with extreme precision and at controlled cost. To generate very powerful magnetic fields, it is necessary to use conductors that combine good electrical conductivity with very high mechanical strength. In addition to magnet production, the LNCMI has its own wire-drawing workshop and is able to manufacture the conductors needed to produce coils capable of withstanding long-duration pulsed magnetic fields (several tens of milliseconds) of up to 100 T. It was this expertise that attracted Bmax/I-Cube Research, specialists in magnetoforming. This technique makes it possible to manufacture, at reasonable cost, precise parts whose shape cannot be obtained by other methods. Pulsed electromagnets designed for this purpose generate very short, very strong magnetic field pulses, which induce a current in the metal part to be molded. The part is then projected at very high speed onto a mold, which gives it the desired shape. This technique is called direct magnetoforming, as opposed to indirect magnetoforming, where a punch is set in motion by magnetic forces, strikes the material to be shaped and projects it onto the mold. The operation takes place in a few tens of microseconds, and offers a level of precision in the shape of parts that meets the expectations of highly demanding sectors such as luxury goods, aeronautics or the automotive industry. However, the pulsed electrical currents that make this process possible impose enormous magnetic, mechanical and thermal constraints on the electromagnet. The challenge, therefore, is to produce coils with conductive materials strong enough to withstand these stresses, so that they can be used on industrial production lines without having to be replaced frequently. Until recently, the limit of an electromagnet’s use was around a few hundred pulses. Today, thanks to collaboration between Bmax/I-Cube Research and LNCMI, electromagnets have been optimized to withstand more than 30,000 pulses – a 50-fold increase in service life (article). On the strength of this success, Bmax/I-Cube Research is now in a position to expand its magnetoforming applications and conquer new markets. Initially financed from Bmax/I-Cube Research funds, the partnership with LNCMI has received institutional recognition and is continuing within the framework of local (NEXTMAG, LaBex NANOX), regional (MAG-IC, Région Occitanie), national (SIgMA, ANR) and European (ISABEL, H2020) projects.

ANR – SIgMA Project – 2021-2025

LNCMI is coordinating a consortium of four laboratories (CNRS-LNCMI, UP-PPrime, UT3-CIRIMAT, UBFC-ICB-LERMPS) and the industrial company Bmax/I-Cube Research as part of a research project funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR). This project, called SIgMA, aims to design and prepare nanostructured copper/silver composite conductors combining high electrical conductivity ( >90%IACS) and very high mechanical strength ( >1 GPa). The approach is based on the composite effect and nanostructuring through a combination of powder metallurgy (cold spray or flash sintering) and severe plastic deformation (wire drawing). The coupling of “material” and “process” parameters is essential to adapt micro- and nanostructures, particularly at interfaces. Lifetimes under extreme operating conditions (severe mechanical stress and high strain rates) will be studied. Conductors will be prepared as demonstrators for the manufacture of industrial magnetoforming tools and the generation of record magnetic fields (>100 Tesla). SIgMA will establish a public/private partnership and consolidate the transfer and innovation of a key technology to industry.

Link to the project

Acknowledgements: This program was financially supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR-20-CEO8-0027).

Horizon 2020 – ISABEL – 2020-2025

LNCMI is coordinating a research project funded by the European Union as part of the Horizon 2020 program. The “Improving the Sustainability of the European Magnetic Field Laboratory” (ISABEL) project involves 18 partners, including 6 from industry, and is funded up to €4.9 million.

This project has led to the development of a new access mode to EMFL laboratories, specifically for industrial research projects. Link to Industrial access.

This program has enabled the LNCMI and EMFL to take part in a number of industry trade shows to promote the industrial potential of these technologies. It has led to the creation of an Industrial Partner Club, run at the request of industrialists through a series of webinars highlighting industrial applications derived from intense magnetic field technologies.

Link to the project (EMFL page)

Link to the project (CORDIS)

Acknowledgements : This program was financially supported by the European Union (N° 871106).

LNCMI is committed to valorizing the research results of its scientists. In addition to the research collaborations listed above, we also have a number of patents:

• Method and apparatus for characterizing the magneto-chiral properties of a sample by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy
  Inventors: G. Rikken, M. Donaire
  Link
• Copper-silver composite material
  Inventors: F. Lecouturier, C. Laurent, D. Mesguich, A. Lonjon, S. Tardieu, N. Ferreira, G. Chevallier, C. Estournes
  Link
• Composite conductive cable comprising nanotubes and nanofibers, coaxial microstructure including a copper matrix and said nanotubes and nanofibers and method for manufacturing said microstructure
  Inventeurs : L. Thilly, F. Lecouturier, J-B. Dubois, N. Ferreira, P-O. Renault, P. Olier
  Link