• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.503-504
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• 2006

The MIM technology is an alternative process for fabricating near net shape components that usually uses gas atomised powders with small size $(<\;20\;{\mu}m)$ and spherical shape. In this work, the possibility of changing partially or totally spherical powder by an irregular and/or coarse one that is cheaper than the former was investigated. In this way, different bronze 90/10 components were fabricated by mixing three different types of powder, gas and water atomised with different particle sizes, in order to evaluate how the particle shape and size affect the MIM process.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.262-268
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• 2011

In order to investigate the microstructure and mechanical properties of WC-10 wt% Co insert tool alloy fabricated by PIM (Powder Injection Molding) process, the feedstock of WC-10 wt% and wax used as a kind of binder were mixed together by two blade mixer. After injection molding, the debinding process was carried out by two-steps. First, solvent extraction, in which the binder was eliminated by putting the specimen into normal hexane for 24 hrs at $60^{\circ}C$, and subsequently thermal debinding which was conducted at $260^{\circ}C$ and $480^{\circ}C$ for 6 hrs in the mixed gas of $H_2/N_2$, respectively. Meantime, in order to compensate the decarburization due to hydrogen, 1.2~1.8% of carbon was added to ensure the integrity of the phase. Finally, the specimens were sintered in vacuum under different temperatures, and the relative density of 99.8% and hardness of 2100 Hv can be achieved when sintered at $1380^{\circ}C$, even the TRS is lower than the conventional sintering process.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.151-156
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• 2011

This study examined the casting analysis of fuel pressure regulator of LPI vehicles. We aims to predict all the phenomenon accompanied by flow and solidification in die casting, and maximize productivity and quality through optimal casting design. As a result of comparing Types A and B of casting design, it was found that the number of overflow affected flow, flowspeed and solidification temperature. And there was a minute difference between solidification temperatures at thick section of the spare parts. Solidification began at temperatures of $624^{\circ}C{\sim}630^{\circ}C$ but after the casting was completed, temperatures at the center of the parts were $600^{\circ}C{\sim}614^{\circ}C$ Temperature of molten metal showed optimal flow at temperature of $680^{\circ}C$. It began to solidity around at $650^{\circ}C$ and to be cooled between $580^{\circ}C{\sim}550^{\circ}C$ in high speed. When the process was analysed through a computer simulation, it was found that hardness of regulators manufactured through Type B of overflow was above $H_R60$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.34-35
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• 2006

The development of Micro MIM as a new manufacturing process for metallic micro parts made of advanced functional materials has been the subject of considerable research over the last years. This paper addresses important quality aspects on processing of new materials by Micro-MIM. Three examples of new functional materials that can be processed are reviewed in this paper. The first example is two-component-Micro-MIM to obtain multi-functional devices. A micro positioning encoder consisting of a magnetic / non-magnetic material combination is presented. The second issue is series production of the replicate of the smallest human bone in the ear (stapes) from Titanium as an example of medical application. Quality assurance and reproducibility in terms of injection moulding parameters are addressed. In the third part, first results on the processing of the shape memory alloy NiTi by Micro-MIM are presented. Potential applications include biocompatible devices and transportation, for example automotive and aerospace. Processing routes and initial microstructures obtained are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.896-905
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• 2012

Recently, the application of the plastic material to automotive components and structures has steadily increased to satisfy demands on the saving of overall weight and the improvement of energy efficiency. The objective of this paper is to investigate the development of a bumper back-beam using a thermoplastic olefin (TPO). The bumper back-beam was designed to be manufactured from the injection molding process. In order to obtain a proper design of the bumper back-beam, three-dimensional finite element analyses were performed for various design alternatives. Stress-strain curves for different strain rates were measured by high speed tensile tests of the TPO to consider strain rate effects in the FEA. The influence of the sectional shape and the rib formation on the contact force-intrusion curves, the deflection and the energy absorption rate of the bumper back-beam was examined. From the results of the examination, a proper design of the bumper back-beam was acquired. The bumper back-beam consisting of TPO was fabricated from the injection moulding process and the vibration welding. Pendulum crash tests were carried out using the fabricated bumper back-beam. The results of the tests showed that the designed bumper back-beam can satisfy requirements of the federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS). Through the comparison of the previously designed bumper back-beam with the newly designed bumper back beam, it was noted that the weight of the designed bumper back-beam is lighter than that of the previously designed bumper back beam by nearly 16 %. In addition, it was considered that the newly designed bumper back beam can improve recycling of the bumper back-beam.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.1647-1653
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• 2011

The cycle time in injection moulding greatly depends on the cooling time of the plastic part that is controlled by cooling channels. Cooling channels are required to facilitate the heat transfer rate from the die to the coolant without reducing the strength of the die. Employing layered manufacturing techniques (LMT), a die embedding conformal cooling channels can be fabricated directly while conventional cooling channels are usually made of straight drilled hole. Meanwhile, H13 tool steel is widely used as the die material because of its high thermal resistance and dimensional stability. However, H13 with a low thermal conductivity is not efficient for certain part geometries. In this context, the use of functionally graded materials (FGMs) between H13 and copper may circumvent a tradeoff between the strength and the heat transfer rate. This paper presents a method for modeling of conformal cooling channels made of FGMs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.7-7
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• 1997

During sintering of very porous green bodies, as obtained by compaction of hard powders - such as tungsten carbide or ceramics - or by injection moulding, important shrinkage occurs. Due to heterogeneous green density field, gravity effects, friction on the support, thermal gradients, etc., this shrinkage is often non-uniform, which' may induce significant shape changes. As the ratio of compact dimension to powder size is very high, the mechanics of continuum is relevant to model such phenomena. Thus numerical techniques, such as the finite element method can be used to simulate the sintering process and predict the final shape of the sintered part. Such type of simulation has much been developed in the last decade firstly for hot isostatic pressing and next for die compaction. Finite element modelling has been recently applied to free sintering. The simulation of sintering should be based on constitutive equations describing the thermo-mechanical behaviour of the material under any state of stress and any temperature which may arise within the sintering body. These equations can be drawn either from experimental data or from micromechanical models. The experiments usually consist in free sintering and sinter-forging tests. Indeed applying more complex loading conditions at high temperature under controlled atmosphere is delicate. Micromechanical models describe the constitutive behaviour of aggregates of spheres from the deformation of two-sphere contact either by viscous flow or grain boundary diffusion. Such models are not able to describe complex microstructure and mechanisms as observed in real materials but they can give some basic information on the formulation of constitutive equations. Practically both experimental and theoretical approaches can be coupled to identify the constitutive equations. Such procedure has been performed for modelling the sintering of compacts obtained by die pressing of a mixture of tungsten carbide and cobalt powders. The constitutive behaviour of this material during sintering has been described by a linear viscous constitutive model, whose functions have been fitted from results of free sintering and sinter-forging experiments. This model has next been introduced in ABAQUS finite element code to simulate the sintering of heterogeneous green compacts of various geometries at constant temperature. Examples of simulations are shown and compared with experiments.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.227-231
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• 2005

We have developed a microsystem with a capillary electrophoresis (CE) and an electrochemical detector (ECD). The microfabricated CE-ECD systems are adequate for a disposable type and the characteristics are optimized for an application to the electrochemical detection. The system was realized with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-glass chip and indium tin oxide electrode. The injection and separation channels (80 um wide$\ast$40 um deep) were produced by moulding a PDMS against a microfabricated master with relatively simple and inexpensive methods. A CE-ECD systems were fabricated on the same substrate with the same fabrication procedure. The surface of PDMS layer and ITO-coated glass layer was treated with UV-Ozone to improve bonding strength and to enhance the effect of electroosmotic flow. For comparing the performance of the ITO electrodes with the gold electrodes, gold electrode microchip was fabricated with the same dimension. The running buffer was prepared by 10 mM 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES) titrated to PH 6.5 using 0.1 N NaOH. We measured olectropherograms for the testing analytes consisted of catechol and dopamine with the different concentrations of 1 mM and 0.1 mM, respectively. The measured current peaks of dopamine and catechol are proportional to their concentrations. For comparing the performance of the ITO electrodes with the gold electrodes, electropherograms was measured for CE-ECD device with gold electrodes under the same conditions. Except for the base current level, the performances including sensitivity, stability, and resolution of CE-ECD microchip with ITO electrode are almost the same compared with gold electrode CE-ECD device. The disposable CE/ECD system showed similar results with the previously reported expensive system in the limit of detection and peak skew. When we are using disposable microchips, it is possible to avoid polishing electrode and reconditioning.

• Composites Research
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.53-64
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• 1999

Microstructural morphology and bending strengths of moulded composites of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer(LCP) and polyamide 6 (PA6) have been studied as a function of epoxy fraction. Injection-moulding of a composite plaque at a temperature below the melting point of the LCP fibrils generated a multi-layered structure: the surface skin layer with thickness of $65\;-\;120{\mu\textrm{m}}$ exhibiting a transverse orientation; the sub-skin layer with an orientation in the flow direction; the core layer with arc-curved flow patterns. The plaques containing epoxy 4.8vol% exhibited superior bending strength and large fracture strain. With an increase of epoxy fraction equal to and beyond 4.8vol%, geometry of LCP domains was changed from fibrillar shape to lamella-like one, which caused a shear-mode fracture. An analysis of the bending strength of the composite plaques by using a symmetric layered model beam suggested that addition of epoxy component altered not only the microstructural geometry but also the elastic moduli and strengths of the respective layers.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.101-111
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• 1993

Many processes such as machining, injection-moulding and metal-forming are usually operated by hydraulic servo-systems. The dynamic characteristics of these systems are complex and highly non-linear and are often subjected to the uncertain external disturbances associated with the processes. Consequently, the conventional approach to the controller design for these systems may not guarantee accurate tracking control performance. An effective neuro-fuzzy controller is proposed to realize an accurate hydraulic servo-system regardless of the uncertainties and the external disturbances. For this purpose, first, we develop a simplified fuzzy logic controller which have multidimensional and unsymmetric membership functions. Secondly, we develop a neural network which consists of the parameters of the fuzzy logic controller. It is show that the neural network has both learning capability and linguistic representation capability. The proposed controller was implemented on a hydraulic servo-system. Feedback error learning architecture is adopted which uses the feedback error directly without passing through the dynamics or inverse transfer function of the hydraulic servo-system to train the neuro-fuzzy controller. A series of simulations was performed for the position-tracking control of the system subjected to external disturbances. The results of simulations show that regardless of inherent non-linearities and disturbances, an accuracy tracking-control performance is obtained using the proposed neuro-fuzzy controller.