• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2024

Stainless 630 (or 17-4PH) is a precipitation-hardening martensitic stainless steel that has excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. These characteristics make the STS630 to be used as a consisting material for various components such as spider, pin, spring, and spring retainer, of the control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). In general, it is well known that the oxide layer of stainless steel consists of a duplex layer, a compact inner layer of FeCr₂O₄ spinel, and a coarse-grained outer layer of Fe₃O₄ spinel in PWR primary coolant condition. However, the characteristics of the oxide layer can be sensitively influenced by various water chemistry conditions such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, dissolved hydrogen, pH, pH adjuster type, and exposure time. In this work, we investigate the corrosion properties of the STS630 as a function of coolant temperature in an NH3 alkaline solution for its boron-free application in a small modular reactor, to confirm the feasibility for usage as a boron-free SMR structural material. As a result, oxide layer of corroded STS630 is consist of double-layer oxides consisting of a Cr-rich dense inner oxide and a Fe-rich polyhedral outer particles like as that in commercial PWR primary coolant. The corrosion rate of STS630 increases with increase in test time and temperature and the corrosion rate-time model equation was developed based on experimental data. Overall, it is expected that the results in this study provides useful data for the corrosion behavior of STS630 in alkaline environments, contributing to the development of selecting suitable materials for SMRs.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.56-65
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• 2024

Cast austenitic stainless steels (CASS) and austenitic stainless steel weldments with a ferrite-austenite duplex structure are widely used in nuclear power plants, incorporating ferrite phase to enhance strength, stress relief, and corrosion resistance. Thermal aging at 290-325℃ can induce embrittlement, primarily due to spinodal decomposition and G-phase precipitation in the ferrite phase. This study evaluates the effects of thermal aging by collecting and analyzing various mechanical properties, such as Charpy impact energy, ferrite microhardness, and tensile strength, from various literature sources. Different model expressions, including hyperbolic tangent and phase transformation equations, are applied to calculate activation energy (Q) of room-temperature impact energies, and the results are compared. Additionally, predictive models for Q based on material composition are evaluated, and the potential of machine learning techniques for improving prediction accuracy is explored. The study also examines the use of ferrite microhardness and tensile strength in calculating Q and assessing thermal embrittlement. The findings provide insights for developing advanced prediction models for the thermal embrittlement behavior of CASS and the weldments of austenitic steels, contributing to the safety and reliability of nuclear power plant components.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2024

Hydrogen-based electricity and transportation systems are widely recognized as sustainable power sources. However, the low ignition energy of hydrogen, only 1/10th that of conventional fossil fuels, poses a safety concern involving the risk of ignition due to electrostatic discharge from facility workers. Therefore, anti-static systems are imperative for hydrogen-based electricity facilities. To address this, we propose a reliable conductive rubber mat (CRM) to ensure the safety of these facilities. Unlike conventional anti-static floors that utilize conductive paint (CP), the CRM features a uniform distribution of conductive components in chemically and mechanically stable rubber. As a result, the CRM is unyielding to polar solvents (such as ethanol and hydrosulfuric acid) and non-polar solvents (like mineral oil) without increasing its resistance. Moreover, the CRM can withstand mechanical stress. Consequently, the human-body voltage of workers on the CRM would be sufficiently low enough to protect them from hydrogen explosions, thereby enhancing overall safety.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.321-335
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• 2023

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of photo-crosslinked gelatin methacryloyl (GelMa) hydrogel containing calcium phosphate nanoparticles (CNp) when applying different fabrication methods for bone regeneration. Methods: Four circular defects were created in the calvaria of 10 rabbits. Each defect was randomly allocated to the following study groups: 1) the sham control group, 2) the GelMa group (defect filled with crosslinked GelMa hydrogel), 3) the CNp-GelMa group (GelMa hydrogel crosslinked with nanoparticles), and 4) the CNp+GelMa group (crosslinked GelMa loaded with nanoparticles). At 2, 4, and 8 weeks, samples were harvested, and histological and micro-computed tomography analyses were performed. Results: Histomorphometric analysis showed that the CNp-GelMa and CNp+GelMa groups at 2 weeks had significantly greater total augmented areas than the control group (P<0.05). The greatest new bone area was observed in the CNp-GelMa group, but without statistical significance (P>0.05). Crosslinked GelMa hydrogel with nanoparticles exhibited good biocompatibility with a minimal inflammatory reaction. Conclusions: There was no difference in the efficacy of bone regeneration according to the synthesized method of photo-crosslinked GelMa hydrogel with nanoparticles. However, these materials could remain within a bone defect up to 2 weeks and showed good biocompatibility with little inflammatory response. Further improvement in mechanical properties and resistance to enzymatic degradation would be needed for the clinical application.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.330-340
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• 2024

Al-Mg-Si alloys are light weight and have excellent corrosion resistance, and are attracting attention as a liner material for high-pressure hydrogen containers in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Because it has excellent plastic hardening properties, it is also applied to car body panel materials, but it is moderate in strength, so research to improve the strength by adding Si-rich or Cu is in progress. So far, the authors have conducted research on the intergranular fracture of alloys with excessive Si addition from the macroscopic mechanical point of view, such as specimen shape. To evaluate their impact tensile properties, the split-Hopkinson bar impact test was performed using thin plate specimens of coarse and fine grain alloys of Al-Mg-X (X = Cr,Si) alloy. The effect of the shape of the specimen on the characteristics was studied through finite element method (FEM) analysis. As a result, it was found that the intergranular fracture of the alloy with excessive Si depended on the specimen width (W)/grain size (d), which can be expressed by the specimen size and grain size. As W/d decreases, the intergranular fracture transforms into a transgranular fracture. As the strain rate increases, the fracture elongation decreases, and the fracture surface of the intergranular fracture becomes more brittle. It was confirmed that intergranular fracture occurred in the high strain rate region even in materials with small grain sizes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.515-529
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• 2024

Cold-formed steel (CFS) is a popular choice for construction due to its low cost, durability, sustainability, resistance to high environmental and seismic pressures, and ease of installation. The beam-column connections in residential and medium-rise structures are formed using self-drilling screws that connect two CFS channel sections and a gusset plate. In order to increase the moment capacity of these CFS screwed beam-column connections, stiffeners are often placed on the web area of each single channel. However, there is limited literature on studying the effects of stiffeners on the moment capacity of CFS screwed beam-column connections. Hence, this paper proposes a new test approach for determining the moment capacity of CFS screwed beam-column couplings. This study describes an experimental test programme consisting of eight novel experimental tests. The effect of stiffeners, beam thickness, and gusset plate thickness on the structural behaviour of CFS screwed beam-column connections is investigated. Besides, nonlinear elasto-plastic finite element (FE) models were developed and validated against experimental test data. It found that there was reasonable agreement in terms of moment capacity and failure mode prediction. From the experimental and numerical investigation, it found that the increase in gusset plate or beam thickness and the use of stiffeners have no significant effect on the structural behaviour, moment capacity, or rotational capacity of joints exhibiting the same collapse behaviour; however, the capacity or energy absorption capacities have increased in joints whose failure behaviour varies with increasing thickness or using stiffeners. Besides, the thickness change has little impact on the initial stiffness.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.343-356
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• 2024

This paper presents an analytical solution for correctly predicting the Lateral-Torsional Buckling critical moment of simply supported castellated beams, the solution covers uniformly distributed loads combined with compressive loads. For this purpose, the castellated beam section with hexagonal-type perforation is treated as an arrangement of double "T" sections, composed of an upper T section and a lower T section. The castellated beam with regular openings is considered as a periodic repeating structure of unit cells. According to the kinematic model, the energy principle is applied in the context of geometric nonlinearity and the linear elastic behavior of materials. The differential equilibrium equations are established using Galerkin's method and the tangential stiffness matrix is calculated to determine the critical lateral torsional buckling loads. A Finite Element simulation using ABAQUS software is performed to verify the accuracy of the suggested analytical solution, each castellated beam is modelled with appropriate sizes meshes by thin shell elements S8R, the chosen element has 8 nodes and six degrees of freedom per node, including five integration points through the thickness, the Lanczos eigen-solver of ABAQUS was used to conduct elastic buckling analysis. It has been demonstrated that the proposed analytical solution results are in good agreement with those of the finite element method. A parametric study involving geometric and mechanical parameters is carried out, the intensity of the compressive load is also included. In comparison with the linear solution, it has been found that the linear stability underestimates the lateral buckling resistance. It has been confirmed that when high axial loads are applied, an impressive reduction in critical loads has been observed. It can be concluded that the obtained analytical solution is efficient and simple, and offers a rapid and direct method for estimating the lateral torsional buckling critical moment of simply supported castellated beams.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.13 no.1 s.53
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• pp.179-185
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• 2009

In recent, the investigations related to the FRP(Fiber Reinforced Polymers) have been increased due to their superior material and mechanical properties such as environmental resistance, high specific strength and stiffness. Considering these advantages, the FRP tube may be proper for strut on the PSC box girder bridge that can maximize the efficiency of cross section and are effective on economics and aesthetics of bridges. In this research, the specimen tests of the FRP tube and compression tests of the concrete member enclosed with the FRP were performed in order to evaluate the suitability of the FRP tubes, which are applied to the PSC box girder bridge with strut. The specific strength of concrete and the energy absorbing capacity as well as ductility were increased according to the experimental results, and it was found that FRP tubes have sufficient safety as strut member.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2018

Recently, there has been rapid development in the field of flexible electronic devices, such as organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic solar cells and flexible sensors. Encapsulation process is added to protect the flexible electronic devices from exposure to oxygen and moisture in the air. Using numerical simulation, we investigated the effects of the encapsulation layer on mechanical stability of the silicon chip, especially the fracture performance of center crack in multi-layer package for various loading condition. The multi-layer package is categorized in two type - a wide chip model in which the chip has a large width and encapsulation layer covers only the chip, and a narrow chip model in which the chip covers both the substrate and the chip with smaller width than the substrate. In the wide chip model where the external load acts directly on the chip, the encapsulation layer with high stiffness enhanced the crack resistance of the film chip as the thickness of the encapsulation layer increased regardless of loading conditions. In contrast, the encapsulation layer with high stiffness reduced the crack resistance of the film chip in the narrow chip model for the case of external tensile strain loading. This is because the external load is transferred to the chip through the encapsulation layer and the small load acts on the chip for the weak encapsulation layer in the narrow chip model. When the bending moment acts on the narrow model, thin encapsulation layer and thick encapsulation layer show the opposite results since the neutral axis is moving toward the chip with a crack and load acting on chip decreases consequently as the thickness of encapsulation layer increases. The present study is expected to provide practical design guidance to enhance the durability and fracture performance of the silicon chip in the multilayer package with encapsulation layer.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.492-507
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• 2010

This article reviews the papers published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering during 2009. It is intended to understand the status of current research in the areas of heating, cooling, ventilation, sanitation, and indoor environments of buildings and plant facilities. Conclusions are as follows. (1) Research trends of thermal and fluid engineering have been surveyed as groups of general thermal and fluid flow, fluid machinery and piping, and new and renewable energy. Various topics were covered in the field of general thermal and fluid flow such as an expander, a capillary tube, the flow of micro-channel water blocks, the friction and anti-wear characteristics of nano oils with mixtures of refrigerant oils, etc. Research issues mainly focused on the design of micro-pumps and fans, the heat resistance reliability of axial smoke exhaust fans, and hood systems in the field of fluid machinery and piping. Studies on ground water sources were executed concerning two well type geothermal heat pumps and multi-heat pumps in the field of new and renewable energy. (2) Research works on heat transfer area have been reviewed in the categories of heat transfer characteristics and industrial heat exchangers. Researches on heat transfer characteristics included the heat transfer in thermoelectric cooling systems, refrigerants, evaporators, dryers, desiccant rotors. In the area of industrial heat exchangers, researches on high temperature ceramic heat exchangers, plate heat exchangers, frosting on fins of heat exchangers were performed. (3) In the field of refrigeration, papers were presented on alternative refrigerants, system improvements, and the utilization of various energy sources. Refrigeration systems with alternative refrigerants such as hydrocarbons, mixed refrigerants, and $CO_2$ were studied. Efforts to improve the performance of refrigeration systems were made applying various ideas of suction line heat exchangers, subcooling bypass lines and gas injection systems. Studies on heat pump systems using unutilized energy sources such as river water, underground water, and waste heat were also reported. (4) Research trend in the field of mechanical building facilities has been found to be mainly focused on field applications rather than performance improvements. In the area of cogeneration systems, papers on energy and economic analysis, LCC analysis and cost estimating were reported. Studies on ventilation and heat recovery systems introduced the effect on fire and smoke control, and energy reduction. Papers on district cooling and heating systems dealt with design capacity evaluation, application plan and field application. Also, the maintenance and management of building service equipments were presented for HVAC systems. (5) In the field of architectural environment, various studies were carried to improve indoor air quality and to analyze the heat load characteristics of buildings by energy simulation. These studies helped to understand the physics related to building load characteristics and to improve the quality of architectural environment where human beings reside in.