Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d'Acoustique

What Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d'Acoustique does

Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d'Acoustique (LMFA) is a French public research laboratory operating as a Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR 5509) jointly administered by CNRS, École Centrale de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, and INSA Lyon. Founded in 1962 and headquartered in Écully (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), the laboratory conducts fundamental and applied research in fluid mechanics and acoustics, serving the academic research community and a portfolio of industrial partners in the automotive, energy, nuclear, and pharmaceutical sectors. Its stakeholder base is institutional: primary funding flows from French public research grants and supervisory-body allocations, supplemented by industrial research contracts.

The laboratory's core technical capabilities span experimental fluid dynamics, theoretical analysis, and direct numerical simulation. Its experimental infrastructure includes the Eiffel wind tunnel, hydrodynamic tunnels, the THI turbulence box, holography systems, and PIV/LDV/PDA measurement systems. Computational outputs include research software for atmospheric dispersion modeling — SIRANE, SIRANERISK, and SLAM — distributed as deployable tools for environmental and risk analysis. Scientific output is anchored in peer-reviewed publication in top-tier physics and fluid mechanics journals, with cover features in Physical Review Letters (2016) and Journal of Fluid Mechanics (2024), and academic recognition including an Académie de l'Air et de l'Espace medal (2017) and a Best Poster Award (2023).

LMFA operates as a non-commercial public-sector research institution. Its funding model is built on French government research grants (including ANR), institutional allocations from CNRS and its partner universities, and industrial research contracts with named partners including Michelin, EDF, Framatome, CEA, Air Liquide, Roche, Renault, and PSA, supplemented by international academic collaborations with institutions such as Université de Maryland and Université de Lanzhou. The laboratory does not monetize its capabilities through commercial product sales; instead, it converts research expertise into collaborative agreements, doctoral training (e.g., CIFRE programs), and patented industrial applications arising from long-running partnerships such as the Michelin collaboration.

Name

Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d'Acoustique

Legal name

Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d'Acoustique - UMR 5509

Website

https://lmfa.ec-lyon.fr

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

French public research laboratory (UMR 5509) jointly run by CNRS and three Lyon universities, conducting fundamental and applied research in fluid mechanics and acoustics for academic and industrial partners across automotive, energy, nuclear, and pharmaceutical sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Écully

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

LMFA is a public research laboratory (UMR 5509) that conducts fundamental and applied experimental, numerical, and theoretical research in fluid mechanics and acoustics. It operates experimental platforms (wind tunnels, hydrodynamic channels, holographic systems) and develops numerical simulation codes (DNS, LES) alongside atmospheric dispersion modeling software (SIRANE, SIRANERISK, SLAM). Its research covers turbulence, multiphase flows, aeroacoustics, turbomachinery, and environmental fluid mechanics, with collaborative research contracts granted to industrial partners and academic institutions.

Product overview

Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d'Acoustique (LMFA) is a research laboratory (UMR 5509) affiliated with CNRS and major French engineering schools. Rather than a commercial product company, LMFA's offerings consist of research software tools (SIRANE, SIRANERISK, SLAM) developed for atmospheric dispersion modeling, experimental facilities including wind tunnels and specialized measurement platforms, and scientific expertise in fluid mechanics and acoustics. The laboratory conducts fundamental and applied research across multiple teams covering acoustics, environmental flows, multiphase flows, turbomachinery, and turbulence.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AIR - Atmosphere, Impact & Risk: A research team within LMFA focused on Environmental Fluid Mechanics, including atmospheric boundary layer, hydraulics, and natural/technological risks.
• Free surface flows / Hydrodynamique à surface libre
• Ecoulements Polyphasiques et Interfaces
• Mélange turbulent de scalaires passifs, denses ou réactifs

Products and services

• SIRANE Atmospheric dispersion modeling software developed by the AIR team for studying pollutant dispersion in the atmospheric boundary layer. For researchers and engineers working on air quality and pollutant dispersion.
• SIRANERISK Industrial risk assessment dispersion software for modeling pollutant dispersion in atmospheric conditions. Targeted at industrial risk analysts and environmental safety evaluators.
• SLAM Atmospheric dispersion software for studying flow and pollutant dispersion in complex environments. Used by researchers and environmental modeling practitioners.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MichelincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on tire-related fluid mechanics including aquaplaning studies, water flow inside tire grooves, and fragmenting lubricant films. Includes FUI HydroSafeTyre project and joint research with LHEEA. Michelin and LMFA developed PIV measurement techniques adapted to industrial constraints, resulting in a patent.
• EDFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on plunging jets research relevant to hydroelectric infrastructure. Joint numerical-experimental investigation on air entrainment and impact dynamics of large-scale jets up to 10-meter scale.
• FramatomeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCIFRE PhD thesis collaboration on numerical simulation and modeling of nucleate boiling at local scale in high-pressure water flow, conducted at CETHIL, INSA Lyon.
• CEAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on pollutant dispersion in shallow rivers and nuclear containment aspersion studies. Joint research including PhD thesis supervision.
• RocheminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry collaboration on rheology research for multimodal suspension studies.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• LadHyX (Laboratoire d'Hydrodynamique de l'X): CNRS UMR research lab at École Polytechnique focused on fluid mechanics, soft matter, and biomechanics. Highly comparable as a French elite-engineering-school-affiliated fluid mechanics research unit with similar team structure and research themes in turbulence and complex fluids.
• PMMH (Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes): ESPCI Paris research lab (UMR 7636) studying fluid mechanics of complex media including granular flows, suspensions, and bubbles — overlapping directly with LMFA's EM3 multiphase flows work (e.g., Soundar Jerome's granular suspension and bubble cloud research).
• IRPHE (Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Équilibre): Aix-Marseille Université/CNRS/École Centrale Marseille UMR laboratory covering nonlinear physics of fluids. Direct peer comparable in scale and scope; Soundar Jerome was previously affiliated with IRPHE before joining LMFA, illustrating the tight French fluid-mechanics lab network.
• IUSTI (Institut Universitaire des Systèmes Thermiques Industriels): Aix-Marseille Université/CNRS UMR laboratory specializing in thermal-fluid mechanics with strong multiphase flow expertise. Directly comparable peer for joint research unit collaboration and overlapping scientific programs in multiphase and reactive flows.
• FAST (Fluides, Automatique et Systèmes Thermiques): Paris-Saclay University CNRS UMR lab studying fluid mechanics, reactive flows, and granular media. Closely aligned with LMFA's turbulence and multiphase flows research teams and comparable in institutional structure as a French public research unit.
• LEGI (Laboratoire des Écoulements Géophysiques et Industriels): French CNRS UMR laboratory at Université Grenoble Alpes specializing in geophysical and industrial fluid flows. Directly comparable to LMFA as a peer public research lab with shared CNRS tutelle, overlapping themes in turbulence and multiphase flows, and similar experimental/numerical dual approach.
• LHEEA (Laboratoire de recherche en Hydrodynamique, Énergétique et Environnement Atmosphérique): CNRS UMR at École Centrale Nantes covering hydrodynamics, energetic, and atmospheric environment. Directly comparable as a peer école centrale-affiliated lab; LHEEA is co-collaborator on the Michelin FUI HydroSafeTyre project alongside LMFA.

Broad incumbents

• ONERA (Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales): French national aerospace research lab covering aeroacoustics, aerodynamics, and propulsion. Comparable as a larger established French public research entity with overlapping themes in aerodynamic noise (Bailly's medal-winning work) and turbomachinery, but broader in scope and focused on aerospace applications.
• DLR Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology: German Aerospace Center's largest aerodynamics institute. Comparable to LMFA's aeroacoustics and turbomachinery work at significantly larger scale, serving as a European public-research benchmark with broader industrial and aerospace orientation.

Regional players

• Institut P' (Institut Pprime): CNRS UPR at Université de Poitiers/ENSMA covering fluid mechanics, thermal and combustion sciences. Comparable in research themes (turbulence, multiphase flows, aeroacoustics) but primarily serves a different French regional academic cluster than LMFA's Lyon hub.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lmfa-umr5509

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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