• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.24-35
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• 2002

Recent trend and future prospect of flat rolling of steel has been summarized based on the earlier reports. Key technology in the plate rolling is to have ultra fine microstructure having high resistance against crack propagation during application. Heavy accelerated cooling facility and high power rolling mill will be helpful to develope the high toughness steel. Precise modeling of properly prediction based on deformation and transformation imposed on microstructure of steel during processing is highly anticipated. For the hot strip rolling process, new trend is lies on the production of ultra-thin gauged hot strip to substitute cold rolled strip. For the substitution of cold rolled strip into hot rolled strip widely, high formable property of hot strip is highly required. For the formabilit, the ferritic rolling of extra low carbon steel under high lubricated condition is essential. Recently introduced semi-continuous thin slab and rolling mill line is very plausible to develope those kinds of products easily In the view groin facility combination. New idea to modify the existing continuous hot strip mill line to produce the ultra thin-gauged hot strip in an economic way is suggested in this report.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.893-899
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• 2024

In a secondary cooling system of a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), rapid detection of hydrogen due to sodium-water reaction (SWR) caused by water leakage from a heat exchanger tube of a steam generator (SG) is important in terms of safety and property protection of the SFR. For hydrogen detection, the hydrogen detectors using atomic transmission phenomenon of hydrogen within Ni-membrane were used in Japanese proto-type SFR "Monju". However, during the plant operation, detection signals of water leakage were observed even in the situation without SWR concerning temperature up and down in the cooling system. For this reason, the study of a new hydrogen detector has been carried out to improve stability, accuracy and reliability. In this research, the authors focus on the difference in composition of hydrogen and the difference between the background hydrogen under normal plant operation and the one generated by SWR and theoretically estimate the hydrogen behavior in liquid sodium by using ultra-accelerated quantum chemical molecular dynamics (UA-QCMD). Based on the estimation, dissolved H or NaH, rather than molecular hydrogen (H₂), is the predominant form of the background hydrogen in liquid sodium in terms of energetical stability. On the other hand, it was found that hydrogen molecules produced by the sodium-water reaction can exist stably as a form of a fine bubble concerning some confinement mechanism such as a NaH layer on their surface. At the same time, we observed experimentally that the fine H₂ bubbles exist stably in the liquid sodium, longer than previously expected. This paper describes the comparison between the theoretical estimation and experimental results based on hydrogen form in sodium in the development of the new hydrogen detector in Japan.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.64-64
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• 2009

The use of ultra high strength steels (UTSS) is a natural result with increasing the demands for the lightweight materials and developing an innovative steel technology. Recently it has been used a 1500MPa grade hot stamping steel as automobile bodies, reinforcement parts, and seat frame parts in the automotive industry. It is a quenchenable steel manufactured by hot stamping process. It is well known that UTSS welding has softening in the heat affected zone(HAZ). Because welding is a sort of process applying heat, it should change the heat treated features and degrade the strength. This study was performed to investigate the influence of the heat input on the softening of the HAZ in the GMAW process. Each experiment was compared with that in the conditions having a different current and voltage at a same heat input. In order to analysis characteristics of the HAZ, optical microscope was used to observe microstructure and vickers hardness tests were carried out across the welds. Applying low heat input means a fast cooling rate. It leads to high hardness in the HAZ. It is found that characteristics of the HAZ are determined by microstructure obtained by different cooling rate.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.187-193
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• 2010

The solute carbon content in ferrite is one of the important factors to obtain good formability in low carbon steels. Although most of the carbons are consumed by the formation of grain boundary cementite during coiling after hot-rolling, the carbon content after coiling is normally observed much more than that of equilibrium. In this study, a classical nucleation and growth model is used to simulate the precipitation kinetics of the grain boundary cementite from coiling temperature (CT) to room temperature (RT). The predicted precipitation behaviors depending on the initial carbon content and the cooling rate are compared with the reported. As a result, the lateral growth of thickening of cementite is a major factor for the sluggish reaction of grain boundary cementite. The reduction of solute carbon content after coiling is divided into three regions: a) increase due to no cementite precipitation, b) decrease due to the fast length-wise growth of cementite, c) increase due to the slow thickness-wise growth of cementite.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.678-699
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• 2015

Although the harsh space environment imposes many severe challenges to space pioneers, space exploration is a realistic and profitable goal for long-term humanity survival. One of the viable and promising options to overcome the harsh environment of space is nuclear propulsion. Particularly, the Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) is a leading candidate for nearterm human missions to Mars and beyond due to its relatively high thrust and efficiency. Traditional NTR designs use typically high power reactors with fast or epithermal neutron spectrums to simplify core design and to maximize thrust. In parallel there are a series of new NTR designs with lower thrust and higher efficiency, designed to enhance mission versatility and safety through the use of redundant engines (when used in a clustered engine arrangement) for future commercialization. This paper proposes a new NTR design of the second design philosophy, Korea Advanced NUclear Thermal Engine Rocket (KANUTER), for future space applications. The KANUTER consists of an Extremely High Temperature Gas cooled Reactor (EHTGR) utilizing hydrogen propellant, a propulsion system, and an optional electricity generation system to provide propulsion as well as electricity generation. The innovatively small engine has the characteristics of high efficiency, being compact and lightweight, and bimodal capability. The notable characteristics result from the moderated EHTGR design, uniquely utilizing the integrated fuel element with an ultra heat-resistant carbide fuel, an efficient metal hydride moderator, protectively cooling channels and an individual pressure tube in an all-in-one package. The EHTGR can be bimodally operated in a propulsion mode of $100MW_{th}$ and an electricity generation mode of $100MW_{th}$, equipped with a dynamic energy conversion system. To investigate the design features of the new reactor and to estimate referential engine performance, a preliminary design study in terms of neutronics and thermohydraulics was carried out. The result indicates that the innovative design has great potential for high propellant efficiency and thrust-to-weight of engine ratio, compared with the existing NTR designs. However, the build-up of fission products in fuel has a significant impact on the bimodal operation of the moderated reactor such as xenon-induced dead time. This issue can be overcome by building in excess reactivity and control margin for the reactor design.