Our history

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For thirty years, Thiot Ingenierie has been building and maintaining our reputation as a global leader. Our company uses initial expertise gained designing light-gas guns to develop a full range of test devices for laboratories and develop our own test laboratory combined with a numerical simulation center. Initially designers, over time we have become essential stakeholders in the knowledge of material behavior subject to fast dynamics for research and industry.

Looking back at our journey and development.

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employees including experts, engineers and specialized researchers

laboratory gas guns
delivered all over the world

private shock physics laboratoryin the world

Key dates

1988

Creation of THIOT INGENIERIE, specialized in the design and manufacture of laboratory launchers.

1992

Creation of the ATHENA two-stage light-gas gun for the DGA. This gun is in operation to this day and is still one of the most powerful in France.

2002

Design and manufacture of the JASPER gas gun for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, world-renowned for its testing quality and reliability.

Jasper, gas gun made by Thiot Ingenierie

2008

Inauguration of the Shock Physics Laboratory, the world’s first private establishment in this cutting-edge sector. Two launchers made available to our clients: TITAN and HERMES.

2012

Installation of VULCAIN in the laboratory, a two-stage light-gas gun with a firing-range chamber.

2013

Arrival of JUPITER in the laboratory, a unique dynamic press able to generate force of 200 metric tons in 3 ms.

2014

Arrival of compression Split-Hopkinson bars.

2015

World speed record with the launch of an aluminum ball projectile at 10.5 km/s (38,000 km/h). This speed nears that of micrometeorites and space debris, which represent the principal threats to the lifespan of satellites in orbit. Design of a modular, single and two-stage laboratory launcher for the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Canberra (Australia).
Three-year R&D partnership as part of the RAPID/DGA/ANR program to study and characterize hailstone impacts on civilian and military aeronautical structures
Three-year partnership as part of the ASTRID/DGA/ANR program to improve the mechanical performance of metal materials subjected to gross dynamic deformation.

2016

Design of a new generation of gas guns.
The laboratory acquires two new items of test equipment: Split-Hopkinson bars for indirect-tensile testing and THOR, a gas gun for projectiles of up to 15 kg.
Extension of a firing range (150 m³), able to house large structures for impact testing.

2017

Installation of CHRONOS in the laboratory, the first high-performance acceleration generator to test embedded electronic systems and components in shell fuses and warheads, up to 100,000 G.

2018

Participation in the ATIHS program, which aims to develop satellite-protection systems that combat the threat of space debris.
Collaboration in the PANTHER program, to characterize a titanium alloy upon impact, with performance suitable for developing lighter, more environmentally friendly aircraft (this project has received funding from the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 820819 ).
For aviation, after years of research, our teams are developing an ice that is
representative of hailstones found in the atmosphere. This is a revolution for aviation structure certification tests and for our ice behavior expertise.
Arrival of direct-tensile Split-Hopkinson bars and torsion bars.

2019

Thiot Ingenierie develops the H3G technology, a powerful new gas gun that can reach up to 3 km/s.
Construction of an “administrative” building to ultimately expand the laboratory’s capabilities.
Development of specific lighting for impact tests to improve video and photographic quality.

2020

Development of a technology allowing the commercialization of impact test campaigns at 9 km/s in our laboratory.
Development of an expertise in “Microstructuration by dynamic plastic deformation of metallic alloys”.

2021

Development of 2 new “standard” detonation containment chambers calibrated respectively at 250 g and 2 Kg TNT eq.
Development of a new gas gun caliber in our laboratory: Ø450mm.