• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.2304-2311
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• 2021

The dislocation density in strain-hardened Alloy 690 was analyzed using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to study the relationship between the local plastic strain and susceptibility to primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) in nuclear power plants. The test material was cold-rolled at various thickness reduction ratios from 10% to 40% to simulate the strain-hardening condition of plant components. The dislocation densities were measured at grain boundaries (GB) and in grain interiors of strain-hardened specimens from STEM images. The dislocation density in the grain interior monotonically increased as the strain-hardening proceeded, while the dislocation density at the GB increased with strain-hardening up to 20% but slightly decreases upon further deformation to 40%. The decreased dislocation density at the GB was attributed to the formation of deformation twins. After the PWSCC growth test of strain-hardened Alloy 690, the fraction of intergranular (IG) fracture was obtained from fractography. In contrast to the change in the dislocation density with strain-hardening, the fraction of IG fracture increased remarkably when strain-hardened over 20%. From the results, it was suggested that the PWSCC growth behavior of strain-hardened Alloy 690 not only depends on the dislocation density, but also on the microstructural defects at the GB.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2019

Use of cement in stabilizing the sulfate-bearing clay soils forms ettringite/ thaumasite in the presence of moisture leads to excessive swelling and causes damages to structures built on them. The development and use of non-traditional stabilisers such as alkali activated ground granulated blast-furnace slag (AGGBS) and enzyme for soil stabilisation is recommended because of its lower cost and the non detrimental effects on the environment. The objective of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of AGGBS and enzyme on improving the volume change properties of sulfate bearing soil as compared to ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The soil for present study has been collected from Tilda, Chhattisgarh, India and 5000 ppm of sodium sulfate has been added. Various dosages of the selected stabilizers have been used and the effect on plasticity index, differential swell index and swelling pressure has been evaluated. XRD, SEM and EDX were also done on the untreated and treated soil for identifying the mineralogical and microstructural changes. The tests results show that the AGGBS and enzyme treated soil reduces swelling and plasticity characteristics whereas OPC treated soil shows an increase in swelling behaviour. It is observed that the swell pressure of the OPC-treated sulfate bearing soil became 1.5 times higher than that of the OPC treated non-sulfate soil.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.263-275
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• 2019

In the present work, Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GBFS) and Fly ash (FA) were used as partial replacement of Natural Sand (NS) and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) by weight. One control mix, one with GBFS, three with FA and three with GBFS-FA combined mixes were prepared. Replacements were 50% GBFS with NS and 20%, 30% and 40% FA with OPC. Preliminary investigation on development of compressive strength was carried out at 7, 28 and 90 days to ensure sustainability of waste materials in concrete matrix at room temperature. After 90days, thermo-mechanical study was performed on the specimen for a temperature regime of $200^{\circ}-1000^{\circ}C$ followed by furnace cooling. Weight loss, visual inspection along with colour change, residual compressive strength and microstructure analysis were performed to investigate the effect of replacement of GBFS and FA. Although adding waste mineral by-products enhanced the weight loss, their pozzolanicity and formation history at high temperature played a significant role in retaining higher residual compressive strength even up to $800^{\circ}C$. On detail microstructural study, it has been found that addition of FA and GBFS in concrete mix improved the density of concrete by development of extra calcium silicate gel before fire and restricts the development of micro-cracks at high temperature as well. In general, the authors are in favour of combined replacement mix in view of high volume mineral by-products utilization as fire protection.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.139-149
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• 2022

In the automobile and shipbuilding industries, various materials and components require superior surface strength, excellent wear resistance and good resistance to repeated loads. To improve the surface properties of the materials, various surface heat treatment methods are used, which include carburizing, nitriding, and so on. Among them, carburizing treatment is widely used for structural steels containing carbon. The effective carburizing thickness required for materials depends on the service environment and the size of the components. In general, however, there is a limit in evaluation of the surface properties with a standardized mechanical test method because the thickness or cross-sectional area of the carburized layer is limited. In this regard, the nanoindentation technique has lots of advantages, which can measure the mechanical properties of the material surface at the nano and micro scale. It is possible to understand the relationship between the microstructural change in the hardened layer by carburizing treatment and the mechanical properties. To be spread to practical applications at the industrial level, in this paper, the principle of the nanoindentation method is described with a representative application for analyzing the mechanical properties of the carburized material.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2823-2834
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• 2023

Austenitic stainless steel welds (ASSWs) of nuclear components undergo aging-related degradations caused by high temperature and neutron radiation. Since irradiation leads to the change of material characteristics, relevant quantification is important for long-term operation, but limitations exist. Although ion irradiation is utilized to emulate neutron irradiation, its penetration depth is too shallow to measure bulk properties. In this study, a systematic approach was suggested to estimate mechanical properties of ion irradiated 308 ASSW. First of all, weld specimens were irradiated by 2 MeV proton to 1 and 10 dpa. Microstructure evolutions due to irradiation in δ-ferrite and austenite phases were characterized and micropillar compression tests were performed. In succession, dislocation density based stress-strain (S-S) relationships and quantification models of irradiation defects were adopted to define phases in finite element analyses. Resultant microscopic S-S curves were compared to verify material parameters. Finally, macroscopic behaviors were calculated by multiscale simulations using real microstructure based representative volume element (RVE). Validity of the approach was verified for the unirradiated specimens such that the estimated S-S curves and 0.2% offset yield strengths (YSs) which was 363.14 MPa were in 10% agreement with test. For irradiated specimens, the estimated YS were 917.41 MPa in 9% agreement.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.482-490
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to analyze microstructural changes and evaluate the mechanical properties of TWIP steel subjected to variations in heat treatment, in order to identify optimal process conditions for enhancing the performance of TWIP steel. For this purpose, a homogenization heat treatment was conducted at 1,200 ℃ for 2 h, followed by hot rolling at temperature exceeding 1,100 ℃ and cold rolling. Annealing heat treatment is achieved using a muffle furnace in the range of 600 ℃ to 1,000 ℃. The microstructure characterization was performed with an optical microscope and X-ray diffraction. Mechanical properties are evaluated using micro Vickers hardness, tensile test, and ECO index (UTS × Elongation). The specimens annealed at 900 ℃ and 1,000 ℃ experienced a significant decrease in hardness and strength due to decarburization. Consequently, the decarburization phenomenon is closely related to the heat treatment process and mechanical properties of TWIP steel, and the effect of the microstructure change during annealing heat treatment.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.335-340
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• 2023

Quinary component of 3㎛ thick Ti-Al-Si-Cu-N films were deposited onto WC-Co and Si wafer substrates by using an arc ion plating(AIP) system. In this study, the influence of copper(Cu) contents on the mechanical properties and microstructure of the films were investigated. The hardness of the films with 3.1 at.% Cu addition exhibited the hardness value of above 42 GPa due to the microstructural change as well as the solid-solution hardening. The instrumental analyses revealed that the deposited film with Cu content of 3.1 at.% was a nano-composites with nano-sized crystallites (5-7 nm in dia.) and a thin layer of amorphous Si₃N₄ phase.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2024

Additive manufacturing with 3XX austenitic stainless steels has been widely investigated during a decade due to its high strength, good corrosion resistance, and fair weldability. However, in recently, Ni price drastically increased due to the high demand of secondary battery for electric mobilities. Thus, it is essential to substitute the Ni with Mn for reducing stainless steels price. Meanwhile, the chemical composition changes in stainless steels not only affect to its properties but also change the optimal processing parameters during additive manufacturing. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the processing parameters of each alloy for obtaining high-quality product using additive manufacturing. After processing optimization, mechanical properties and microstructure of the laser-powder bed fusion processed Fe-15Cr-7Ni-3Mn alloy were investigated in both room (298 K) and cryogenic (77 K) temperatures. Since the temperature reduction affects to the deformation mechanism transition, multi-scale microstructural characterization technique was conducted to reveal the deformation mechanism of each sample.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2009

This study investigated the dependence of the various sputtering conditions (Ar pressure: $2{\sim}10\;mTorr$, Power: $50{\sim}150\;W$) and thickness ($50{\sim}1200\;nm$) of Si thin film on the electrochemical properties, microstructural properties and the capacity fading of a Si thin film anode. A Si layer and a Ti buffer layer were deposited on Copper foil by RF-magnetron sputtering. At 10 mTorr, the 50 W sample showed the best capacity of 3323 mAh/g, while the 100 W sample showed the best capacity retention of 91.7%, also at 10 mTorr. The initial capacities and capacity retention in the samples apart from the 50W sample at 10 mTorr were enhanced as the Ar pressure and power increased. This was considered to be related to the change of the microstructure and the surface morphology by various sputtering conditions. In addition, thinner Si film anodes showed better cycling performance. This phenomenon is caused by the structural stress and peeling off of the Si layer by the high volume change of Si during the charge/discharge process.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.457-461
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• 2009

Recently, metal molding has become essential not only for automobile parts, but also mass production, and has greatly influenced production costs as well as the quality of products. Its surface has been treated by carburizing, nitriding and induction hardening, but these existing treatments cause considerable deformation and increase the expense of postprocessing after treatment; furthermore, these treatments cannot be easily applied to parts that requiring the hardening of only a certain section. This is because the treatment cannot heat the material homogeneously, nor can it heat all of it. Laser surface treatment was developed to overcome these disadvantages, and, when the laser beam is irradiated on the surface and laser speed is appropriate, the laser focal position is rapidly heated and the thermal energy of surface penetrates the material after irradiation, finally imbuing it with a new mechanical characteristic by the process of self-quenching. This research estimates the material characteristic after efficient and functional surface treatment using HPDL, which is more efficient than the existing CW Nd:YAG laser heat source. To estimate this, microstructural changes and hardness characteristics of three parts (the surface treatment part, heat affect zone, and parental material) are observed with the change of laser beam speed and surface temperature. Moreover, the depth of the hardened area is observed with the change of the laser beam speed and temperature.