• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.122-132
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• 2010

Higher strength and fracture toughness of reactor pressure vessel steels can be obtained by changing the material specification from that of Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steel (SA508 Gr.3) to Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steel (SA508 Gr.4N). However, the operation temperature of the reactor pressure vessel is more than $300^{\circ}C$ and the reactor operates for over 40 years. Therefore, we need to have phase stability in the high temperature range in order to apply the SA508 Gr.4N low alloy steel for a reactor pressure vessel. It is very important to evaluate the temper embrittlement phenomena of SA508 Gr.4N for an RPV application. In this study, we have performed a Charpy impact test and tensile test of SA508 Gr.4N low alloy steel with changing impurity element contents such as Mn and P. And also, the mechanical properties of these low alloy steels after longterm heat treatment ($450^{\circ}C$, 2000hr) are evaluated. Further, evaluation of the temper embrittlement by fracture analysis was carried out. Temper embrittlement occurs in KL4-Ref and KL4-P, which show a decrease of the elongation and a shifting of the transition curve toward high temperature. The reason for the temper embrittlement is the grain boundary segregation of the impurity element P and the alloying element Ni. However, KL4-Ref shows temper embrittlement phenomena despite the same contents of P and Ni compared with SC-KL4. This result may be caused by the Mn contents. In addition, the behavior of embrittlement is not largely affected by the formation of $M_3P$ phosphide or the coarsening of Cr carbides.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.122-131
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• 1995

The effects of cooling rate on the microstructures, precipitation of Cu-cluster, .epsilon.-Cu and impact toughness of high strength low alloy(HSLA) steel were studied using hardness tester, impact tester, DSC(differential scanning calorimetry), AES(auger electron spectroscopy) and TEM(transmission electron microscopy). Not only the Cu-precipitates but also the segregation of Cu, As, Sb, P, S, N, Sn along grain boundary were not observed at the specimens heat treated from 800.deg. C to 300.deg. C with the cooling time of 12-125 sec. The Cu-cluster, .epsilon.-Cu are formed by introducing ageing after cooling and the effect of precipitates on hardening increase after cooling was the same in all cooling rate. The peak hardness was obtained at an ageing of 500.deg. C in all cooling conditions. The impact energy become higher as the cooling time increases. This fact can be explained to be due to the tempering effect applied on the cooling stage since the present alloy has a relatively high Ms temperature and the local high concentration of the retained austenite.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.319-323
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• 2001

In significant number of energy-related facilities for like thermal power plant or petro-chemical industry, CrMo steels are widely used energy conversion industries. However, these materials undergo precipitation of carbides or intermetallic compounds into grain boundary and change of internal microstructure such as coarsening of precipitation, decrease of solute elements and impurity segregation under more severe service conditions, which results in deterioration of inherent superior material characteristics. In this study, it was verified experimentally the feasibility of the aging degradation evaluation for degraded 2.25Cr-lMo steel specimens prepared by isothermal aging heat treatment at 63$0^{\circ}C$ by high frequency longitudinal ultrasonic and surface SH wave investigating the change of attenuation coefficient analyzed by spectral analysis. Attenuation coefficient had a tendency to increase as degradation proceeded.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.411-419
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• 1999

It has been well recognized that a long term service at elevated temperature of $350^{\circ}C{\sim}550^{\circ}C$ induces embrittlement damage due to carbide precipitation and/or P, Sb and Sn segregation at grain boundaries and thereby deteriorates the grain boundary strength of heat resisting components in the energy-related plants. Therefore, it is very important to assess quantitatively the extent of embrittlement damage of heat resisting components to secure the reliable and efficient service condition and to prevent brittle failure in service. However, because fracture tests are limited in size and number of specimen obtained from the structural components, nondestructive test method is required. In this study, the optimum electrochemical parameters are investigated and discussed to evaluate nondestructive embrittlement damage for aged 2.25Cr-1Mo steels by means of electrochemical polarization test method (ECPTM) in proper corrosive environment. In addition, the electrochemical test results are compared with embrittlement degree evaluated by semi-nondestructive SP test.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.203-211
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• 1992

Fracture behavior and martensite substructure of Ni-36.5at.%Al alloy were investigated with the addition of vanadium which is known as scavenging element of grain boundary. The fracture surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy and the EDX spectrometer was applied for composition analysis of fracture surfaces. The substructure of martensite was studied by transmission electron microscopy. By addition of vanadium, fracture surfaces show mixed modes of intergranular and transgranular fracture and more Al content is found on the grain boundaries. For Ni-36.5at.%Al alloy, the planar faults observed in the martensite plates are the internal twins. By increasing the vanadium content, the modulated structure with stacking faults and dislocations dominates while the twinned martensite disappears. The stacking fault is determined to be extrinsic due to the substitution of V for Al. It is concluded that the segregation of sulfur on the high-energy state stacking fault area suppresses the intergranular fracture.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2000

A quaternary alloy film of $CoCr_{16.2}Pt_{10.8}Ta_4$was investigated for its magnetic properties and c-axis orientation with and without Ti underlayer. Additional elements such as Ta, Pt have been frequently introduced in CoCr alloy film for perpendicular recording as a means of improving magnetic performance. It has been reported that the addition of Pt and Ta in CoCr increase the coercivity and the magnetic isolation of columnar grains, respectively. However, CoCrPtTa perpendicular magnetic layer should be more increased its perpendicular magnetic anisotropy than at present for the application of ultrahigh recording density. The improvement of underlayers and substrate materials is one of the promised schemes to intensify the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. In this study, the insertion of Ti underlayer shows the remarkable improvement of c-axis orientation compare with the direct deposition on the bare glass. The mechanism about this effect of Ti underlayer on CoCrPtTa is not to be clarified yet. Meanwhile, it is found that the magnetic domain of CoCrPtTa on 20 nm Ti underlayer has the continuous stripe pattern but the one of CoCrPtTa on 90 nm Ti underlayer shows the discrete mass type from the results of MFM investigation. This phenomenon is to be a distinct evidence that the improvement of perpendicular anisotropy by the adoption of Ti underlayer is originated from the reinforcement of the grain boundary segregation in CoCrPtTa alloy. Moreover, the transition of the M-H hysteresis pattern with the thickness of Ti underlayer indicates that the major contribution of Ti underlayer is not the magnetocrystalline anisotropy but the shape anisotropy due to the formation of uniform columnar grains by the nonmagnetic alloy segregation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.6 s.177
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• pp.1398-1407
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• 2000

The structural steels of power plant show the decrease of mechanical properties due to degradation such as temper embrittlement, creep damage and softening during long-term operation at high temper ature. The typical causes of material degradation damage are the creation and coarsening of carbides(M23C6, M6C) and the segregation of impurities(P, Sb and Sn) to grain boundary. It is also well known that material degradation induces the cleavage fracture and increases the ductile-brittle transition temperature of steels. So, it is very important to evaluate degradation damage to secure the reliable and efficient service condition and to prevent brittle failure in service. However, it would not be appropriate to sample a large test piece from in-service components. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a couple of new approaches to the non-destructive estimation technique which may be applicable to assessing the material degradation of the components with not to influence their essential strength. The purpose of this study is to propose and establish a new electrochemical technique for non-destructive evaluation of material degradation damage for Cr-Mo steels which is widely used in the high temperature structural components. And the electrochemical anodic polarization test results are compared with those of semi-nondestructive SP test.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.86-94
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• 2000

This study was performed to investigate types and formation mechanism of cracks in two Al alloy welds, A5083 and A7N01 spot-welded by pulse Nd : YAG laser, using SEM, EPMA and Micro-XRD. In the weld zone, three types of crack were observed : center line crack({TEX}$C_{C}${/TEX}), diagonal crack({TEX}$C_{D}${/TEX}), and U shape crack({TEX}$C_{U}${/TEX}). Also, HAZ crack({TEX}$C_{H}${/TEX}) was observed in the HAZ region, furthermore, mixing crack({TEX}$C_{M}${/TEX}) consisting of diagonal crack and HAZ crack was observed. White film was formed at th hot crack region in the fractured surface after it was immersed to 10% NaOH water. In the case of A5083 alloy, white films in {TEX}$C_{C}${/TEX} crack and {TEX}$C_{D}${/TEX} crack region were composed of low melting phases, {TEX}$Fe_{2}SiAl_{8}${/TEX} and eutectic phases, $Mg_2$Al$_3$ and $Mg_2$Si. Such films observed $CuAl_2$, {TEX}$Mg_{32}(Al,Zn)_{3}${/TEX}, MgZn$_2$, $Al_2$CuMg and $Mg_2$Si were observed in the whitely etched films near {TEX}$C_{C}${/TEX} crack and {TEX}$C_{D}${/TEX} crack regions. The formation of liquid films was due to the segregation of Mg, Si, Fe in the case of A5083 alloy and Zn, Mg, Cu, Sim in the case of A7N01 alloy, respectively. The {TEX}$C_{C}${/TEX} and {TEX}$C_{D}${/TEX} cracks were regarded as a result of the occurrence of tensile strain during the welding process. The formation of {TEX}$C_{M}${/TEX} crack is likely to be due to the presence of liquid film at the grain boundary near the fusion line in the base metal as well as in the weld fusion zone during solidification. The {TEX}$C_{U}${/TEX} crack is considered a result of the collapsed keyhole through incomplete closure during rapid solidification.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.158-168
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• 2021

Austenitic 316 stainless steel was irradiated with protons accelerated by an energy of 2 MeV at 360 ℃, the various defects induced by this proton irradiation were characterized with microscopic equipment. In our observations irradiation defects such as dislocations and micro-voids were clearly revealed. The typical irradiation defects observed differed according to depth, indicating the evolution of irradiation defects follows the characteristics of radiation damage profiles that depend on depth. Surface oxidation tests were conducted under the simulated primary water conditions of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) to understand the role irradiation defects play in surface oxidation behavior and also to investigate the resultant irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) susceptibility that occurs after exposure to PWR primary water. We found that Cr and Fe became depleted while Ni was enriched at the grain boundary beneath the surface oxidation layer both in the non-irradiated and proton-irradiated specimens. However, the degree of Cr/Fe depletion and Ni enrichment was much higher in the proton-irradiated sample than in the non-irradiated one owing to radiation-induced segregation and the irradiation defects. The microstructural and microchemical changes induced by proton irradiation all appear to significantly increase the susceptibility of austenitic 316 stainless steel to IASCC.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.463-469
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• 2023

Aluminum alloys, known for their high strength-to-weight ratios and impressive electrical and thermal conductivities, are extensively used in numerous engineering sectors, such as aerospace, automotive, and construction. Recently, significant efforts have been made to develop novel aluminum alloys specifically tailored for additive manufacturing. These new alloys aim to provide an optimal balance between mechanical properties and thermal/electrical conductivities. In this study, nine combinatorial samples with various alloy compositions were fabricated using direct energy deposition (DED) additive manufacturing by adjusting the feeding speeds of Al6061 alloy and Al-12Si alloy powders. The effects of the alloying elements on the microstructure, electrical conductivity, and hardness were investigated. Generally, as the Si and Cu contents decreased, electrical conductivity increased and hardness decreased, exhibiting trade-off characteristics. However, electrical conductivity and hardness showed an optimal combination when the Si content was adjusted to below 4.5 wt%, which can sufficiently suppress the grain boundary segregation of the α-Si precipitates, and the Cu content was controlled to induce the formation of Al₂Cu precipitates.