• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.6-8
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• 2004

A big boom in nanocomposites research has landed also in Japan. As a virtual 'center of excellence' in composites technology there, ACE TeC of ISTA/JAXA has led pioneering portions of nanocomposites research particularly in mechanical properties oriented applications. An overview of research activities based on nano-technologies in ACE TeC/JAXA will be given first and some remarkable results will be introduced briefly.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.1007-1015
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• 1999

The Si3N4 composites reinforced with carbon-coated SiC whiskers were fabricated by hot-pressing at 180$0^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours to examine the effects of carbon-coated whiskers on the mechanical properties of SiC whisker reinforced Si3N4 composites. The flexural strength of the Si3N4 composites and Si3N4 monolith respectively. The weak interfacial bond between carbon-coated SiC whiskers and Si3N4 matrix which enhances the crack deflection and whisker pull-out could contribute to the improvement of mechanical properties of the composites.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.243-249
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• 1993

Coated type Al2O3-SiC composite powders were synthesized by surface modification method. Transformation temperature to $\alpha$-Al2O3 of Al2O3 monolith was 115$0^{\circ}C$ whereas increased to 1200, 1250, 130$0^{\circ}C$ with increment of SiC content to 5, 15, 25wt%. Transformation temperature to $\alpha$-Al2O3 was lowered by $\alpha$-Al2O3 seeding. FTIR data analysis and electron micrographs showed that Al2O3 particles were effectively coated on SiC particles.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1259-1264
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• 1994

$\beta$-Sialon has been regarded as one of promising materials showing high strength, fracture toughness, corrosion resistence and wear resistence. The improvement of the fracture toughness and tribological properties of $\beta$-Sialon (Z=1) has been attempeted by fabricating the $\beta$-Sialon/ SiC whisker composite. Each of green body composed of following ingredients, i.e., Si3N4, AlN, Y2O3 nd SiC, respectively, was first fired at 178$0^{\circ}C$ for 3hrs in N2 atmosphere and then post-HIPed at 173$0^{\circ}C$ for 1 hr under 170 MPa for N2 gas pressure. The fracture toughness, flexural strength and tribological properties increased with increasing SiC whisker content, despite the reduction of the relative density and hardness. $\beta$-Sialon/15 vol% SiC whisker showed a significant enhancement of wear resistance compared to the monolithic $\beta$-Sialon. The addition of SiC whisker caused the reduction of the density and hardness, but induced the increment of wear resistance.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.385-394
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• 2007

In this study, the effect of molding condition on the tensile properties for plain woven hemp fiber reinforced green composite was examined. The tensile properties of the composite were compared with those of the plain woven jute fiber composite fabricated by the same process. Emulsion type biodegradable resin or polypropylene sheet was used as matrix. The composites were processed by the compression molding where the molding temperature and its heating time were changed from 160 to $190^{\circ}C$ and from 15 to 25 min, respectively. The following results were obtained from the experiment. The tensile property of hemp fiber reinforced polypropylene is improved in comparison with polypropylene bulk. The strength of composite is about 2.6 times that of the resin bulk specimen. Hemp fiber is more effective than jute fiber as reinforcement for green composite from the viewpoint of strength. The molding temperature and time are suitable below $180^{\circ}C$ and 20 min for hemp fiber reinforced green composite. Hemp fiber green composite has a tendency to decrease its tensile strength when fiber content is over 50 wt%.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.549-555
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• 2012

Silicon carbide(SiC) exhibits many unique properties, such as high strength, corrosion resistance, and high temperature stability. In this study, a SiC-fiber web was prepared from polycarbosilane(PCS) solution by employing the electrospinning process. Then, the SiC-fiber web was pyrolyzed at $1800^{\circ}C$ in argon atmosphere after it was subjected to a thermal curing. The SiC-fiber web (ground web)/phenolic resin (resol) composite was fabricated by hot pressing after mixing the SiC-fiber web and the phenolic resin. The SiC-fiber web composition was controlled by changing the fraction of filler (filler/binder = 9:1, 8:2, 7:3, 6:4, 5:5). Thermal conductivity measurement indicates that at the filler content of 60%, the thermal conductivity was highest, at 6.6 W/mK, due to the resulting structure formed by the filler and binder being closed-packed. Finally, the microstructure of the composites of SiC-fiber web/resin was investigated by FE-SEM, EDS, and XRD.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.170-179
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• 1997

A noble technique has been developed for fabricating in situ formed $TiC_p/Al$ composites. In this process, fairly stable TiC particles were in situ synthesized in liquid aluminum by the interfacial reaction between an Al-Ti melt and SiC, which is a comparatively unstable carbide from the view-point of thermodynamics. It is possible in the present process to generate TiC particles of nearly 1 ${\mu}m$ in diameter, even utilizing SiC of 14 ${\mu}m$ as raw material. However, the dispersion behavior of TiC particles in the matrix depends on the size of the raw material SiC. Decomposing finer SiC makes the dispersion of TiC particles more uniform and the mechanical properties of composites are improved accordingly. The structure of in situ composites and their mechanical properties are affected by the fabrication temperature and the stirring time. It has been found that the most suitable condition for fabrication should be applied depending on the size of the raw material, even if the same kinds of carbide are used. Furthermore, although Al-Ti-Si system intermetallic compounds are detected in a $TiC_p/Al-Si$ composite which is fabricated by conventional melt-stirrng method, these compounds can not be observed in a $TiC_p/Al-Si$ composite made by this in situ production method. Hence the mechanical properties of the in situ $TiC_p/Al-Si$ composite are superior to those of the conventional $TiC_p/Al-Si$ composites.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2008

The composite membrane for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) was developed using $H_3O^+-{\beta}"-Al_2O_3$ powder and perfluorosulfonylfluroride copolymer (Nafion) resin. The perfluorosulfonylfluroride copolymer (Nafion) resin was mixed with $H_3O^+-{\beta}"-Al_2O_3$ powder and it was made to sheet form by hot pressing. The electrodes were prepared with 60 wt% PtRu/C and 60wt% Pt/C catalysts for anode and cathode, respectively. The morphology and the chemical composition of the composite membrane have been investigated by using SEM and EDXA, respectively. The composite membrane and $H_3O^+-{\beta}"-Al_2O_3$ were analyzed by using FT-IR and XRD. The methanol permeability of the composite membranes was also measured by gas chromatography (GC). The performance of the MEA containing the composite membrane (2wt% $H_3O^+-{\beta}"-Al_2O_3$) was higher than that of normal pure Nafion membrane at high operating temperature (e.g. $110^{\circ}C$), due to the homogenous distribution of $H_3O^+-{\beta}"-Al_2O_3$, which decreased the methanol permeability through the membrane and enhanced the water contents in the composite membrane.

• Composites Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.93-97
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• 2012

Carbon nano fibers (CNFs) reinforced magnesium alloy (AZ91) matrix composites have been fabricated by liquid pressing process. In order to improve the dispersibility of CNFs and the wettability with magnesium alloy melt, CNFs were mixed with submicron sized SiC particles ($SiC_p$). Also, the mixture of CNFs and $SiC_p$ were coated with Ni by electroless plating. In liquid pressing process, AZ91 melts have been pressed hydrostatically and infiltrated into three reinforcement preforms of only CNFs, the mixture of CNFs and $SiC_p$ (CNF+$SiC_p$), and Ni coated CNFs and $SiC_p$ ((CNF+$SiC_p$)/Ni). Some CNFs agglomerates were observed in only CNFs reinforced composite. In cases of the composites reinforce with CNF+$SiC_p$ and (CNF+$SiC_p$)/Ni, CNFs were dispersed homogeneously in the matrix, which resulted in the improvement of mechanical properties. The compressive strengths of CNF+$SiC_p$ and (CNF+$SiC_p$)/Ni reinforced composites were 38% and 28% higher than that of only CNFs composite.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2014

The corrosion resistance of submerged entry nozzle (SEN) materials were investigated for high-class steel manufacturing. Composite samples were fabricated by mixing $ZrO_2$, $Al_2O_3$, MgO, mullite, spinel, and carbon. The raw materials were mixed with attrition milling, compacted in a uniaxial pressure of 200MPa and calcined at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 3 h in $N_2$ atmosphere. The bulk density and apparent porosity of the calcined samples were measured by the liquid displacement method in water using Archimedes's principle. The corrosion resistance of the samples were measured by cup test with mold powder at $1550^{\circ}C$ for 2 h. The microstructure and elemental analysis of samples were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrum (EDS), and X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD). The XRD result shows that the starting raw materials were crystalline phase. The microstructure of fabricated specimen was investigated before and after corrosion tests at $1000^{\circ}C$ and $1550^{\circ}C$ for 2h. $ZrO_2$-C composite showed good resistance in the slag corrosion test. Among the composite oxide materials, $ZrO_2-Al_2O_3$-C and $ZrO_2$-MgO-C showed better resistance than $ZrO_2$-C in the slag corrosion test. The diameter variation index of $ZrO_2$-C refractory was 16.1 at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 2 h. The diameter variation index of the $ZrO_2-Al_2O_3$-C refractory was larger than that of the $ZrO_2$-C refractory at $1550^{\circ}C$ for 2 h.