Nowadays, mechanical production is faced with many requirements. It is necessary to perform and continuously improve the quality of manufactured products, as well as to have a good competitiveness. This dual challenge is essential to meet the growing demand of functional products and enable the development of local industrial production. The production by machining is essential; although it has existed for centuries it is always one of the processes which permits the surfaces generation with tight geometrical tolerances. Machining techniques with cutting tools are brought to always evolve and modernize themselves. In one century, productivity has increased by a factor greater than 100, with much better common quality. The considerable progress of machining has always been supported by research works, both in terms of tools and cutting material, work materials and their machinability and machining means, i.e. machines. To ensure progress, LaBoMaP Arts & Métiers ParisTech Cluny laboratory and the Saint Jean Industries company (STJI, ETI) would like to unite their skills in a joint laboratory dealing high performance machining techniques. LaBoMaP the laboratory specializes in the field of cutting and machining, and its contribution on High Speed Machining is widely recognized. The STJI Company manufactures mechanical components for automotive industry and the aerospace one. This firm fully integrates the process technologies it needs, from raw work pieces and their machining, through the manufacturing of molds and dies, and cutting tools. The scientific objective of the joint laboratory is the overall control of the machining and the development of new cutting tools ultra-hard material (including mono and poly crystalline diamond MCD and PCD) and complex geometries. This includes the life cycle stages of the cutting tool (from its design to its use through its manufacturing), and the problems of machinability and obtained surface qualities. Applications include machining aluminum, light alloys and widespread in STJI automotive business, and titanium alloys with low machinability widely uses in aerospace and energy. The research is organized in three topics: • Topic 1 - Design and production of special tools: development new tools with improved functionalities • Topic 2 - Cutting and machinability: characterization and optimization of the machining behavior, method development and prediction simulator • Topic 3 - Quality and control of machining processes: defining criteria and methodologies for process monitoring These three topics are linked together, and this organization reflects the industrial machining sequencing process. STJI firm and LaBoMaP lab have complementary skills to drive these research activities. On one hand, the LaBoMaP has strong skills in cutting and machinability of metallic materials, and secondly STJI firm has extensive expertise in the production of cutting tools, but now have no R&D activity on it. Partners are both members of the High Speed Machining Association (AUTGV) and technical frameworks of these two entities are known for several years. The desire to develop joint work is effective, and can be achieved by the proposed project by a Labcom, and furthermore we have the desire to define topics CIFRE in support / additions for the life of Labcom or later.

Wood is a material that must contribute to achieving the European objectives fixed by 2020 in terms of sustainability, environmental quality buildings, (20 % reduction in consumption), energy saving materials and renewable fuels (20 %) and especially against climate change (20 % reduction of greenhouse gas emissions) usage. No other traditional construction material has these qualities. In France, it has been also highlighted all the interest which represents a larger utilization of timber in the construction industry. For these reasons, the development of the use of wood in the building is worn by a political will of the European Union and the States. In order to allow a homogenization of wood structures sizing methods, European codes (Eurocode 5 in the case of timber) permanently replace national rules from 1 March 2010. However the Eurocode 5 obliges prescribers to use wood which has been classified visually or mechanically. Processes and standards of classification, mainly developed by the leading Northern European countries are not adapted to deliver the highest value for the French softwood species. The challenge is first to acquire the knowledge necessary to classify optimally the sawn from the national resource, i.e. without downgrade them. This project focuses primarily on the douglas fir which harvest availability will be very important in the coming years, but also discusses the spruce, fir, oak and will lead to development of a methodology that can then be applied to other species. According to standard EN 338, the classification of a lumber requires to assess its density, its Young modulus, its bending strength (MOR), and to compare them to the limits defined by the standard and then to infer the resistance class. The non-destructively MOR estimate is the main technological lock. The accuracy of the assessment of the MOR by current machines remains little accurate. This is why we want to improve the effectiveness of these methods by adding several parameters such as wire slope, water content or wood compression. The development of classification machines that are more reliable and more efficient than the visual ranking, which can reach industrial rates and remain in reasonable price scales represents a very important issue. There are already optical or x-ray scanners to obtain information about the nodes or local density, but many optimizations remain to be carried out by a detailed analysis. There are a number of machines in the market but their prices are too expensive for small or medium-sized structures which will never be able to finance such systems. Demand is strong and in France mainly, since as a significant amount of softwood planted in the after war is currently to be mature. The visual classification limits the utilisation of these wooden structures for building parts although they have very good mechanical characteristics. An alternative to visual ranking is therefore imperative to get the most from these wood. It is essential to conduct an ambitious research program in France in this area to control measuring parameters and their treatment to predict more accurately actual mechanical skills of the wood to optimize the most this material.