• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2131-2140
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• 2024

The chloride-induced stress corrosion cracking (CISCC) is one of the major integrity concerns in dry storage canisters made of austenitic stainless steels (ASSs). In this study, an advanced duplex stainless steel (DSS) with a composition of Fe-19Cr-4Ni-2.5Mo-4.5Mn (ADCS) was developed and its performance was compared with that of commercial ASS and DSS alloys. The chemical composition of ADCS was determined to obtain greater pitting and CISCC resistance as well as a proper combination of strength and ductility. Then, the thermomechanical processing (TMP) condition was applied, which resulted in higher strength than ASSs (304L SS and 316L SS) and better ductility than DSSs (2101 LDSS and 2205 DSS). The potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) results represented the better pitting corrosion resistance of ADCS compared to 304L SS and 316L SS by forming a better passive layer. The CISCC tests using four-point loaded specimens showed that cracks were initiated at 24 h for 304L SS and 144 h for 316L SS, while crack was not found until 1008 h for ADCS. Overall, the developed alloy, ADCS, showed better combination of CISCC resistance and mechanical properties as dry storage canister materials than commercial alloys.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.10
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• pp.1018-1024
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• 1999

The effects of operating temperature and stress on degradation of components in high temperature steam generator were investigated. Several 2.25CrlMo tubes which had operated over 20 years and an unused 9CrlMoVNb tube were tested. For the former samples, the amount of $\textrm{M}_{6}\textrm{C}$ carbide and its size are increased with the aging or operating time. The precipitation behavior of carbides ($\textrm{M}_{2}\textrm{O}$, $\textrm{M}_{6}\textrm{C}$) is changed with the operating temperature of the tubes. However, unused 9CrlMoVNb samples show a different carbide precipitation process due to high chromium, vanadium, and niobium contents. The amount of Cr-rich $\textrm{M}_{23}\textrm{C}_{6}$ carbide is significantly increased with aging time, but that of $\textrm{M}_{6}\textrm{C}$ type carbide is rarely changed with aging time at elevated temperatures.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.240-246
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• 2016

In order to improve the high-temperature oxidation stability, sintered 434L stainless steel is studied, focusing on the effect of the addition of metallic oxides to form stable oxide films on the inner particle surface. The green compacts of Fecralloy powder or amorphous silica are added on STS434L and oxidized at $950^{\circ}C$ up to 210 h. The weight change ratio of 434L with amorphous silica is higher than that of 434L mixed with Fecralloy, and the weight increase follows a parabolic law, which implies that the oxide film grows according to oxide diffusion through the densely formed oxide film. In the case of 434L mixed with Fecralloy, the elements in the matrix diffuse through the grain boundaries and form $Al_2O_3$ and Fe-Cr oxides. Stable high temperature corrosion resistance and electrical resistivity are obtained for STS434L mixed with Fecralloy.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.89-96
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• 2001

N- or O-doped STS304 stainless films were synthesized by an unbalanced magnetron sputtering process with various argon and reactive gas ($N_2$, $O_2$) mixtures. These films were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and Knoop microhardness tester. The Results from X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that a STS304 stainless steel film synthesized without reactive gas using a bulk STS304 stainless steel target had a ferrite bcc structure ($\alpha$ phase), while the N-doped STS304 stainless film was consisted of a nitrogen supersaturated fcc structure, which hsa a strong ${\gamma}$(200) phase. In the O-doped films, oxide Phases ($Fe_2$$O_3$ and $Cr_2$$O_3$) were observed from the films synthesized under an excess $O_2$ flow rate of 9sccm. AES analysis showed that nitrogen content in N-doped films increased as the nitrogen flow rate increased. Approximately 43 at.%N in the N-doped film was measured using a nitrogen flow rate of 8sccm. In O-doped film, approximately 15 at.%O was detected using a $O_2$ flow rate of 12sccm. the Knoop microhardness value of N-doped film using a nitrogen flow rate of 8 sccm was measured to be approximately $H_{ k}$ 1200 and this high value could be attributed to the fine grain size and increased residual stress in the N-doped film.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.1972-1981
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• 2022

A typical ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steel sheet was subjected to pulsed laser surface remelting (LSR) and corrosion test in lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) at 550 ℃. There present two modification zones with distinct microstructures in the LSRed specimen: (1) remelted zone (RZ) consisting of both bulk δ-ferrite grains and martensitic plates and (2) heat-affected zone (HAZ) below the RZ, mainly composed of martensitic plates and high-density precipitates. Martensitic transformation occurs in both the RZ and the HAZ with the Kurdjumov-Sachs and Nishiyama-Wassermann orientation relationships followed concurrently, resulting in scattered orientations and specific misorientation characteristics. Hardnesses of the RZ and the HAZ are 364 ± 7 HV and 451 ± 15 HV, respectively, considerably higher than that of the matrix (267 ± 3 HV). In oxygen-saturated and oxygen-depleted LBE, thicknesses of oxide layers developed on both the as-received and the LSRed specimens increase with prolonging corrosion time (oxide layers always thinner under the oxygen-depleted condition). The corrosion resistance of the LSRed F/M steel in oxygen-saturated LBE is improved, which can be attributed to the grain-refinement accelerated formation of dense Fe-Cr spinel. In oxygen-depleted LBE, the growth of oxide layers is very low with both types of specimens showing similar corrosion resistance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2582-2590
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• 2021

The high-energy milling is one of the most extended techniques to produce Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) powder steels for nuclear applications. The consequences of the high energy mill process on the final powders can be measured by means of deformation level, size, morphology and alloying degree. In this work, an ODS ferritic steel, Fe-14Cr-5Al-3W-0.4Ti-0.25Y₂O₃-0.6Zr, was fabricated using two different mechanical alloying (MA) conditions (M_std and M_act) and subsequently consolidated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). Milling conditions were set to evidence the effectivity of milling by changing the revolutions per minute (rpm) and dwell milling time. Differences on the particle size distribution as well as on the stored plastic deformation were observed, determining the consolidation ability of the material and the achieved microstructure. Since recrystallization depends on the plastic deformation degree, the composition of each particle and the promoted oxide dispersion, a dual grain size distribution was attained after SPS consolidation. M_act showed the highest areas of ultrafine regions when the material is consolidated at 1100 ℃. Microhardness and small punch tests were used to evaluate the material under room temperature and up to 500 ℃. The produced materials have attained remarkable mechanical properties under high temperature conditions.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.55-61
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• 2023

With femtosecond (fs) laser pulse irradiation on metals, various types of nano- and micro-scale structures can be naturally induced at the surface through laser-matter interaction. Two notable structures are laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSSs) and cone/spike structures, which are known to significantly modify the optical and physical properties of metal surfaces. In this work, we irradiate fs laser pulses onto various types of metals, cold-rolled steel, pickled & oiled steel, Fe-18Cr-8Ni alloy, Zn-Mg-Al alloy coated steel, and pure Cu which can be useful for precise molding and imprinting processes, and adjust the morphological profiles of LIPSSs and cone/spike structures for clear structural coloration and a larger range of surface wettability control, respectively, by changing the fluence of laser and the speed of raster scan. The periods of LIPSSs on metals used in our experiments are nearly independent of laser fluence. Accordingly, the structural coloration of the surface with LIPSSs can be optimized with the morphological profile of LIPSSs, controlled only by the speed of the raster scan once the laser fluence is determined for each metal sample. However, different from LIPSSs, we demonstrate that the morphological profiles of the cone/spike structures, including their size, shape, and density, can be manipulated with both the laser fluence and the raster scan speed to increase a change in the contact angle. By injection molding and imprinting processes, it is expected that fs laser-induced surface structures on metals can be replicated to the plastic surfaces and potentially beneficial to control the optical and wetting properties of the surface of injection molded and imprinted products.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.6-13
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• 2012

HVOF thermal spray coating of 80%WC-CoFe powder is one of the most promising candidate for the replacement of the traditional hard chrome plating and hard ceramics coating because of the environmental problem of the very toxic $Cr^{6+}$ known as carcinogen by chrome plating and the brittleness of ceramics coatings. 80%WC-CoFe powder was coated by HVOF thermal spraying for the study of durability improvement of the high speed spindle such as air bearing spindle. The coating procedure was designed by the Taguchi program, including 4 parameters of hydrogen and oxygen flow rates, powder feed rate and spray distance. The surface properties of the 80%WC-CoFe powder coating were investigated roughness, hardness and porosity. The optimal condition for thermal spray has been ensured by the relationship between the spary parameters and the hardness of the coatings. The optimal coating process obtained by Taguchi program is the process of oxygen flow rate 34 FRM, hydrogen flow rate 57 FRM, powder feed rate 35 g/min and spray distance 8 inch. The coating cross-sectional structure was observed scanning electron microscope before chemical etching. Estimation of coating porosity was performed using metallugical image analysis. The Friction and wear behaviors of HVOF WC-CoFe coating prepared by OCP are investigated by reciprocating sliding wear test at $25^{\circ}C$ and $450^{\circ}C$. Friction coefficients (FC) of coating decreases as sliding surface temperature increases from $25^{\circ}C$ to $450^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.33-40
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• 2016

The microstructures and the creep rupture properties of dissimilar welds between the Ni-based superalloy Inconel 740H and the non-stabilized austenitic stainless steel TP316H have been characterized. The welds were produced by shielded metal arc (SMA) welding process with the AWS A5.11 Class ENiCrFe-3 filler metal, commonly known as Inconel 182 superalloy. Postweld heat treatment at $760^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours was conducted to form ${\gamma}^{\prime}$ strengthener in Inconel 740H. The austenitic weld metal produced by Inconel 182 had a dendritic microstructure, and grew epitaxially from the both sides of Inconel 740H and TP316H base metals. Since both Inconel 740H and TP316H did not undergo any solid-state transformation during welding process, there were no heat-affected-zone (HAZ) sub-regions and the coarsoned grains near the weld interface were limited to a narrow region. The hardness of Inconel 182 weld metal was ~220 Hv. The gradual hardness decrease was detected at HAZ of TP316H, and the TP316H base metal displayed the lowest hardness value (~180 Hv) whilst the Inconel 740H showed the highest hardness value (~400 Hv). Fracture after creep occurred at the center of weld metal, regardless of creep condition. It was found that during creep the cracks initiated and propagated along interdendritic regions and grain boundaries at which Laves particles enriched in Nb, Si and Cr were present. The appropriate design of weld metal was discussed to suppress the creep-induced cracking of the present dissimilar weld.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.277-283
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• 2016

The influences of cooling pressure of quenching process on the mechanical properties such as hardness, impact endurance and anti-thermal fatigue behaviour of STD61 steel were investigated. The specimens were heat-treated using a vacuum furnace in which they were austenitized at $1,030^{\circ}C$ for 1hour under the pressure of $10^{-3}$ torr and cooled with quenching gas of various pressure, i.e. 1, 2 and 6 bar. According to the observation on the specimens prepared with quenching from austenizing temperature, the mechanical properties of the samples with higher quenching pressure were better than those of prepared at lower quenching pressure. The samples prepared with high quenching pressure showed the more homogeneous microstructure with finer carbides. The size of carbides such as VC and (Fe, Cr)C in quenched specimens decreased with increasing gas quenching pressure. It is considered that the rapid cooling with pressure may restrict the formation and growth of carbide.