Patents by Inventor Michel Coster

Michel Coster has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Thermal etching process of a ceramic under oxidizing conditions
    Patent number: 6171511
    Abstract: The invention relates to a process for thermal etching under oxidizing conditions of a ceramic, more particularly with the aim of revealing its grain boundaries and for the study of its granular microstructure. The invention applies to technical and nuclear ceramics and in particular UO2 and to (U, Pu) O2 mixtures. The thermal etching is performed in a furnace or kiln under a controlled atmosphere constituted by an oxidizing gas supplying a chemical oxygen potential of −75 to −125 kJ/mole and comprises the following successive stages: rapid rise in the temperature of the furnace to a rate of 900 to 1500° C./h from the initial temperature to a temperature plateau, maintaining the temperature at said plateau at a value of 1250 to 1450° C. for between 30 and 15 minutes, lowering the temperature to the final temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2001
    Assignees: Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires
    Inventors: François Charollais, Mireille Bauer, Michel Coster, Pascal Piluso, Claude Fort