• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.164-174
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• 2023

Electropolishing technology uses an electrochemical reaction and improves surface roughness, glossiness, and corrosion resistance. In this investigation, electropolishing was performed to improve the corrosion resistance of super austenitic stainless steel. As a result of electropolishing, surface roughness (0.16 ㎛) was improved by about 76.5% compared to mechanical polishing (0.68 ㎛). In addition, the electropolished surface was smooth because the average and variance values of the depth histogram were small. Tafel analysis was performed after a potentiodynamic polarization experiment with seawater temperature, and the microstructure was compared and analyzed. The corrosion current density at 30 ℃, 60 ℃, and 90 ℃ was reduced by 0.083 ㎂/cm², 0.296 ㎂/cm², and 0.341 ㎂/cm², respectively. Pitting occurred in the mechanical polished specimen at 30 ℃, but partial intergranular corrosion was observed in the electropolished specimen, and pitting occurred predominantly at both 60 ℃ and 90 ℃. In addition, the damage depths of the electropolished specimen were shallower than those of mechanical polishing at 30 ℃ and 60 ℃, but the opposite result was seen at 90 ℃.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.471-476
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• 2019

Additively manufactured metallic components contain high surface roughness values, which lead to unsatisfactory high cycle fatigue resistance. In this study, high cycle fatigue properties of selective laser melted Ti-6Al-4V alloy are investigated and the effect of dry-electropolishing, which does not cause weight loss, on the fatigue resistance is also examined. To reduce the internal defect in the as-built Ti-6Al-4V, first, hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is conducted. Then, to improve the mechanical properties, solution treatment and aging are also implemented. Selective laser melting (SLM)-built Ti64 shows a primary α and secondary α+β lamellar structure. The sizes of secondary α and β are approximately 2 ㎛ and 100 nm, respectively. On the other hand, surface roughness Ra values of before and after dry-electropolishing are 6.21 ㎛ and 3.15 ㎛, respectively. This means that dry-electropolishing is effective in decreasing the surface roughness of selective laser melted Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The comparison of high cycle fatigue properties between before and after dry-electropolished samples shows that reduced surface roughness improves the fatigue limit from 150 MPa to 170 MPa. Correlations between surface roughness and high cycle fatigue properties are also discussed based on these findings.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.69-73
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• 2004

Ni alloy tape is electropolished to be used as a metal substrate for fabrication of IBAD (ion-Beam Assisted Deposition)-MgO texture template fur HTS coated conductor. Electropolishing is needed to obtain a very smooth surface of Ni alloy tape because the in-plane texture of templates is sensitive to the roughness of metal substrate. The critical current of YBCO coated conductor depends on the texture of YBCO that depends on the texture of the IBAD MgO layer. And so the smoothness of the metal substrate is directly related to the superconducting properties of the coated conductor. In this study, we have prepared a reel-to-reel electropolishing apparatus to polish the Ni alloy tapes for IBAD. Various electropolishing conditions were investigated to improve the surface roughness. Hastelloy tape is continuously electropolished with high polishing current density (0.5 ∼ 2 A/$\textrm{cm}^2$) and fast processing time (1 ∼ 3 min). Polished hastelloy tapes have surface roughness(RMS) of below 1 nm on a 5 ${\times}$ 5 $\mu\m^2$ from AFM and SEM.

• 한국초전도학회:학술대회논문집
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• v.14
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• pp.92-92
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• 2004

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.368-374
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• 2009

Nickel titanium shape memory alloys (NiTi) have been investigated for applications in the biomedical industry. However, little is known about the influences of surface modifications on the propertise of these alloys. The effect of electropolishing and heat treatments was found to exhibit significant surface roughness. Change of phase was B2, r-phase and B19' by heat treatments. In this study, effect of the electropolishing conditions on surface roughness is investigated in Ni-Ti alloys (Nitinol). Variation in phases with heat treatment temperature is investigated for a Ni-Ti alloy by X-ray diffraction and DSC. Characteristic of the microstructure have been observed by SEM. Surface roughness have been measured by AFM. The results clearly show that significant different in surface property to heat treated at $500^{\circ}C$ (R-phase). $TiO_2$ phases preciritated all of the specimens. It is not good effect of surface roughness because made to surface relief. The surface roughness appears to be important in the property of Ni-Ti alloys for biomedical applications.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.221-224
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• 2024

The 304 stainless steel has good corrosion resistance, so it is used in various industries. However, in an environment like seawater, stainless steel can be damaged by chloride ions, resulting in surface corrosion such as pitting and crevice corrosion. Electropolishing is a technique that smooths the surface and creates a passivation layer that can resist corrosion. In this study, electropolishing was applied as a surface finish to increase the smoothness of the metal surface and its corrosion resistance. We confirmed the topology of the electropolished surface of stainless steel by optical microscope and evaluated the corrosion resistance characteristics of electropolished stainless steel through a potentiodynamic experiment.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.722-727
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• 2016

In this study, we attempted to reduce the generation of waste acids in the electropolishing process by improving the current efficiency. The optimum conditions of the electropolishing process when using the round bus bar were determined by the Taguchi method. The current density, polishing time, electrolyte temperature and flow rate were selected as the control factors for the current efficiency in the electropolishing process. An orthogonal array was created by considering three levels for each factor and experiments were carried out. The larger-the-better SN ratios were calculated by the Taguchi method. The current density was the most important factor affecting the current efficiency and the polishing time was the least important one. The optimum conditions to minimize the generation of waste acids were a current density of $45A/dm^2$, polishing time of 4 min, electrolyte temperature of $65^{\circ}C$ and flow rate of 7 L/min. The results of the ANOVA confirmed that the effects of the current density, electrolyte temperature and flow rate are significant at the 95% confidence level. The increase in the contact area and contact force afforded by using the round bus bar improved the current efficiency which, in turn, reduced the amount of waste acids generated. Further research is planned to investigate the effect of the type of bus bar on the current efficiency.

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.37-39
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• 2000

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.279-282
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• 2001

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1992

Three chemical precleaning methods-degreasing, electropolishing and acidic etching-suitable for stainless steel vacuum chamber have been studied and compared. The techniques used in evaluating and comparing the three treatments include Auger analysis and the measurement of the outgassing rate. The obtained outgassing rates (N2 equivalent) are 1.1 $\times$ 10-10torr l/s cm2 and 3.9 $\times$ 10-11torr l/s cm2 for degreasing electropolishing, and etching method, respectively, after 48 hours from the initial pumpdown at room temperature. A simple model is introduced to analyze the pumpdown curve. Some surface parameters, such as surface coverage, mean residence time, and desorption energy, are calculated from corresponding equations derived from this model.