• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.5
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• pp.607-619
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• 2023

This study, it was tried to evaluate the asphalt behavior under tensile loading conditions through indirect Brazilian and direct tensile tests, experimentally and numerically. This paper is important from two points of view. The first one, a new test method was developed for the determination of the direct tensile strength of asphalt and its difference was obtained from the indirect test method. The second one, the effects of particle size and loading rate have been cleared on the tensile fracture mechanism. The experimental direct tensile strength of the asphalt specimens was measured in the laboratory using the compression-to-tensile load converting (CTLC) device. Some special types of asphalt specimens were prepared in the form of slabs with a central hole. The CTLC device is then equipped with this specimen and placed in the universal testing machine. Then, the direct tensile strength of asphalt specimens with different sizes of ingredients can be measured at different loading rates in the laboratory. The particle flow code (PFC) was used to numerically simulate the direct tensile strength test of asphalt samples. This numerical modeling technique is based on the versatile discrete element method (DEM). Three different particle diameters were chosen and were tested under three different loading rates. The results show that when the loading rate was 0.016 mm/sec, two tensile cracks were initiated from the left and right of the hole and propagated perpendicular to the loading axis till coalescence to the model boundary. When the loading rate was 0.032 mm/sec, two tensile cracks were initiated from the left and right of the hole and propagated perpendicular to the loading axis. The branching occurs in these cracks. This shows that the crack propagation is under quasi-static conditions. When the loading rate was 0.064 mm/sec, mixed tensile and shear cracks were initiated below the loading walls and branching occurred in these cracks. This shows that the crack propagation is under dynamic conditions. The loading rate increases and the tensile strength increases. Because all defects mobilized under a low loading rate and this led to decreasing the tensile strength. The experimental results for the direct tensile strengths of asphalt specimens of different ingredients were in good accordance with their corresponding results approximated by DEM software.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.65-70
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• 2023

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) has attracted much attention due to its process simplicity, excellent patternability, process scalability, high productivity, and low processing cost for pattern formation. However, the pattern size that can be implemented on metal materials through conventional NIL technologies is generally limited to the micro level. Here, we introduce a novel hard imprint lithography method, extreme-pressure imprint lithography (EPIL), for the direct nano-to-microscale pattern formation on the surfaces of metal substrates with various thicknesses. The EPIL process allows reliable nanoscopic patterning on diverse surfaces, such as polymers, metals, and ceramics, without the use of ultraviolet (UV) light, laser, imprint resist, or electrical pulse. Micro/nano molds fabricated by laser micromachining and conventional photolithography are utilized for the nanopatterning of Al substrates through precise plastic deformation by applying high load or pressure at room temperature. We demonstrate micro/nanoscale pattern formation on the Al substrates with various thicknesses from 20 ㎛ to 100 mm. Moreover, we also show how to obtain controllable pattern structures on the surface of metallic materials via the versatile EPIL technique. We expect that this imprint lithography-based new approach will be applied to other emerging nanofabrication methods for various device applications with complex geometries on the surface of metallic materials.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.71-77
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• 2023

With the continuous industrial development, not only natural resource depletion, waste generation, but also various weather conditions are becoming more frequent. Efforts are continuing to recycle industrial by-products to overcome the climate crisis and save resources. Slag is a representative by-product generated in the steel industry, and it is characterized by improving rutting resistance and moisture sensitivity by increasing strength and reducing deformation when used as a material for asphalt concrete. On the other hand, slag has expansion properties so it is used as a relatively low-value-added material such as embankment and refilling materials. In order to expand the application of slag, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the crack resistance of slag asphalt concrete pavement. As a result of the indirect tensile strength test, it was found that the asphalt mixture using slag aggregate showed a value 1.13 times higher than that of the general HMA with the same particle size, and the toughness was 1.17 units, improving crack resistance. In addition, it was found that the failure number of the 4-point beam fatigue experiment and the slag asphalt mixture was 20,409, which was more than doubled compared to the general HMA. Furthermore, Overlay Test showed a tensile load residual rate of 4 times or more, improving crack resistance to repeated fatigue. Accordingly, the use of slag aggregate will likely have various advantages in improving the performance of asphalt concrete pavement.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.6A
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• pp.789-798
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• 2008

The stiffness method provides a framework to calculate the structural deformations directly from solving the equilibrium state. However, to use the displacement shape functions leads to approximate estimation of stiffness matrix and resisting forces, and accordingly results in a low accuracy. The conventional flexibility method uses the relation between sectional forces and nodal forces in which the equilibrium is always satisfied over all sections along the element. However, the determination of the element resisting forces is not so straightforward. In this study, a new fiber finite element mixed method has been developed for nonlinear anaysis of steel-concrete composite structures in the context of a standard finite element analysis program. The proposed method applies the Newton method based on the load control and uses the incremental secant stiffness method which is computationally efficient and stable. Also, the method is employed to analyze the steel-concrete composite structures, and the analysis results are compared with those obtained by ABAQUS. The comparison shows that the proposed method consistently well predicts the nonlinear behavior of the composite structures, and gives good efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.527-534
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• 2023

This paper conducted a study on the application of ceramic materials for bridge bearing that can complement the durability of PTFE, a conventional bridge bearing friction material, and exhibit low coefficient of friction and friction behavior without lubricant. The ceramic material was zirconia (ZrO₂), and the friction behavior was evaluated according to the roughness coefficient. The roughness coefficient was divided into 0.8 and 0.027, and the average coefficient of friction was calculated to be 0.16 under 15 MPa surface pressure. Afterward, ceramic was made into friction material and applied to the bridge bearing, and performance comparison with PTFE bridge bearing was conducted through compression test and friction test. In the compression test, the ceramic and PTFE bridge bearing showed ideal compression behavior depending on the load. No fractures or defects were observed in the ceramic bridg bearing, but lubricant loss was observed in the PTFE bridge bearing. The average coefficient of friction of the ceramic bridge bearing analyzed through friction behavior was 0.16. The inherent material properties of the physical and chemical properties of ceramics, the excellent mechanical properties derived from the performance evaluation, and the coefficient of friction of 0.16 suggest that it can be considered as a friction material.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.638-648
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• 2022

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the diurnal variation in cervical disc hydration and its relationship with cervical degeneration. Materials and Methods: C3-C7 discs of 86 prospectively enrolled participants (37 males, 49 females; mean age ± standard deviation, 23.5 ± 2.5 years) were assessed using T2 mapping in the morning and evening. All discs were stratified by Miyazaki grade or C2-C7 Cobb angle and T2 values (T2). The degree of diurnal T2 variation (T2-DDV), defined as (morning T2 - evening T2)/morning T2 x 100%, was measured for the entire disc, annulus fibrosus (AF), nucleus pulposus (NP), and endplate zones. Results: T2 of the entire disc decreased significantly after the daytime load (p < 0.001), with a T2-DDV of 13.3% for all discs and 16.0%, 12.2%, and 13.0% for healthy (grade I), mild degenerative (grade II), and advanced degenerative (grade III/IV) discs, respectively. T2 of regional NPs and AFs decreased significantly from morning to evening (p ≤ 0.049) except in the healthy anterior inner AF (p = 0.092). Compared with healthy discs, mild degenerative discs displayed lower T2 and T2-DDV in regional NPs (p < 0.001). Advanced degenerative discs showed higher T2-DDV in the anterior inner AF compared with healthy discs (p = 0.050). Significant diurnal T2 changes in the endplate zones were observed only in healthy discs (p = 0.013). Cervical discs in the low Cobb angle group showed higher T2-DDV in the anterior AFs and anterior NP and lower T2-DDV in the posterior AF than those in the high Cobb angle group (p ≤ 0.041). Conclusion: This study characterized the diurnal variation in hydration of the cervical discs as assessed using T2 mapping and revealed early chemo-mechanical coupling dysfunction in degenerating discs. Cervical sagittal alignment on MRI can affect the diurnal stress patterns of the cervical discs. T2 mapping is sensitive to disc biomechanical dysfunction and offers translational potential from biomechanical research to clinical application.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.129-141
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• 2024

Amidst the acceleration of digital transformation across various sectors, the financial market is increasingly focusing on the development of digital and electronic payment methods, including currency. Among these, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) are emerging as future digital currencies that could replace physical cash. They are stable, not subject to value fluctuation, and can be exchanged one-to-one with existing physical currencies. Recently, both domestic and international efforts are underway in researching and developing CBDCs. However, current CBDC systems face scalability issues such as delays in processing large transactions, response times, and network congestion. To build a universal CBDC system, it is crucial to resolve these scalability issues, including the low throughput and network overload problems inherent in existing blockchain technologies. Therefore, this study proposes a solution based on reinforcement learning for handling large-scale data in a CBDC environment, aiming to improve throughput and reduce network congestion. The proposed technology can increase throughput by more than 64 times and reduce network congestion by over 20% compared to existing systems.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.43-52
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• 2024

In this study, we evaluated the seismic performance of a masonry building that was not designed to be earthquake-resistant and attempted to improve the seismic performance by adopting a seismic reinforcement method on the exterior of the building. In addition, the building seismic design standards and commentary(KDS 41 17 00:2019) and existing facility(building) seismic performance evaluation methods were applied to evaluate seismic performance, and a pushover analysis was performed using non-linear static analysis. As the result of this study, it was determined that seismic reinforcement was urgent because the distribution rate of earthquake-resistant design of houses in Korea was low and masonry structures accounted for a large proportion of houses. When reinforcing the steel beam-column+brace frame in a masonry building, the story drift angle was 0.043% in the X direction and 0.047% in the Y direction, indicating that it satisfied the regulations. The gravity load resistance capacity by performance level was judged to be a safe building because it was habitable in both X and Y directions. In conclusion, it is believed that the livability and convenience of the house can be secured by reinforcing the exterior of the building and the seismic performance and behavior of the structure can be clearly predicted.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.184-191
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• 2007

Background: For the diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of pleural effusion specimens has shown very low sensitivity, which might be due to the small number of bacilli in the samples. The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether the sensitivity of PCR testing can be improved when increasing the amount of pleural effusion specimens. Methods: We prospectively analyzed pleural effusion specimens obtained from 53 patients for whom the exclusion of the possibility of tuberculous pleural effusion was necessary. We performed Mycobacterium tuberculosis PCR testing using the Cobas Amplicor MTB test (Roche Diagnostic Systems) with three different amounts (10ml, 25ml, and 50ml) of pleural effusion specimen in each patient. Pleural tuberculosis was defined as having one of the following: culture-positive pleural fluid sample, histopathologic finding consistent with tuberculosis on pleural biopsy, culture-positive sputum specimen, and/or positive response to anti-tuberculous medication without other possible causes of pleural effusion. Results: Of the 53 patients, 26 received the diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis. The sensitivities of AFB smearing, Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture of pleural effusion specimen, pleural biopsy, and measurement of ADA were 3.8%, 15.4%, 84.6%, and 88.5%, respectively. The results of PCR testing were positive for 3 (11.5%), 4 (15.4%), and 3 (11.5%) of the 26 patients when using 10ml, 25ml, and 50ml of pleural effusion specimens, respectively. These results did not show a statistically significant difference in the sensitivity of PCR testing when increasing the amount of pleural effusion samples (p>0.05, symmetry exact test). Conclusion: For specimens such as pleural effusion, in which the bacillary load is very low, the clinical utility of PCR testing seems highly limited with the kits designed for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. An increased amount of pleural effusion sample does not improve the sensitivity of PCR testing.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.16-34
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• 2015

Impervious covers(IC) are artificial structures, such as driveways, sidewalks, building's roofs, and parking lots, through which water cannot infiltrate into the soil. IC is an environmental concern because the pavement materials seal the soil surface, decreasing rainwater infiltration and natural groundwater recharge, and consequently disturb the hydrological cycle in a watershed. Increase of IC in a watershed can cause more frequent flooding, higher flood peaks, groundwater drawdown, dry river, and decline of water quality and ecosystem health. There has been an increased public interest in the institutional adoption of LID(Low Impact Development) and GI(Green Infrastructure) techniques to address the adverse impact of IC. The objectives of this study were to construct the modeling site for a samll urban watershed with the Storm Water Management Model(SWMM), and to evaluate the effect of various LID techniques on the control of rainfall runoff processes and non-point pollutant load. The model was calibrated and validated using the field data collected during two flood events on July 17 and August 11, 2009, respectively, and applied to a complex area, where is consist of apartments, school, roads, park, etc. The LID techniques applied to the impervious area were decentralized rainwater management measures such as pervious cover and green roof. The results showed that the increase of perviousness land cover through LID applications decreases the runoff volume and pollutants loading during flood events. In particular, applications of pervious pavement for parking lots and sidewalk, green roof, and their combinations reduced the total volume of runoff by 15~61 % and non-point pollutant loads by TSS 22~72 %, BOD 23~71 %, COD 22~71 %, TN 15~79 %, TP 9~64 % in the study site.