• Composites Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.35-43
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• 2009

In this study, for a radiator hose made of carbon black filled EPDM(ethylene-propylene diene monomer) rubber, a measuring method of crosslink density was established to analyze the aging behaviors under thermo-oxidative stresses. At $125^{\circ}C$, the crosslink density of the rubber specimens decreased slightly in the initial stage, but increased with increasing the aging time. Such variation in crosslink density was similar to that of tensile strength. This might be due to the formation of sulphoxide crosslinks as well as to additional crosslinks made by the reaction of unvalcunized sulfurs. A high temperature aging of rubber specimens at $180^{\circ}C$ caused a slight increase in crosslink density while it did a large decrease in tensile strength and elongation. With aging at high temperature, the formation of carbonyl groups in EPDM molecule chain and formation of sulphoxide crosslink, rather than the crosslink density variation itself, had a large influence on such changes in mechanical property.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.183-190
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• 2007

Injection molding is one of the most common operations in polymer processing. Good quality products are usually obtained and major post-processing treatment is not required. However, residual stresses which exist in plastic parts affect the final shape and mechanical properties after ejection. Residual stresses are caused by polymer melt flow, pressure distribution, non-uniform temperature field, and density distribution. Residual stresses are predicted in this study by numerical methods using commercially available softwares, $Hypermesh^{TM},\;Moldflow^{TM}\;and\;ABAQUS^{TM}$. Cavity filling, packing, and cooling stages are simulated to predict residual stress field right after ejection by assuming an isotropic elastic solid. Thermo-viscoelastic stress analysis is carried out to predict deformation and residual stress distribution after annealing of the part. Residual stresses are measured by the hole drilling method because the automotive part selected in this study has a complex shape. Residual stress distribution predicted by the thermal stress analysis is compared with the measurement results obtained by the hole drilling method. The molded specimen has residual stress distribution in tension, compression, and tension from the surface to the center of the part. Viscoelastic deformation of the part is predicted during annealing and the deformed geometry is compared with that measured by a three dimensional scanner. The viscoelastic stress analysis with a thermal cycle will enable us to predict long term behavior of the injection molded polymeric parts.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.177-182
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• 2014

To stop a high speed train running at the speed of 300 km/h, the disc brake for the train should be able to dissipate enormous kinetic energy of the train into frictional heat energy. Sintered pin-type metals are mostly used for friction materials of high speed brake pads. A pad comprises several friction pins, and the topology, length, flexibility, composition, etc. have a great influence on the tribological properties of the disc brake. In this study, the topology of the friction pins in a pad was our main concern. We presented the optimization of the topology of a railcar brake pad with nine-pin-type friction materials by thermo-mechanical contact analysis. We modeled the brake pad with/without a back plate. To simulate a continuous braking, the pad or friction materials were rotated at constant velocity on the friction surface of the disc. We varied the positions of the nine friction materials to compare the temperature distributions on the disc surface. In a non-optimized brake pad, the distance between two neighboring friction materials in the radial direction from the rotational center of the disc was not equal. In an optimized pad, the distance between two neighboring friction materials in the radial direction was equal. The temperature distribution on the disc surface fluctuated more for the former than the latter. Optimizing the pad reduced the maximum temperature of the brake disc by more than 10%.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.615-636
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• 2014

Aluminium Foam Sandwich (AFS) panels are becoming always more attractive in transportation applications thanks to the excellent combination of mechanical properties, high strength and stiffness, with functional ones, thermo-acoustic isolation and vibration damping. These properties strongly depend on the density of the foam, the morphology of the pores, the type (open or closed cells) and the size of the gas bubbles enclosed in the solid material. In this paper, the vibrational performances of two classes of sandwich panels with an Alulight(R) foam core are studied. Experimental tests, in terms of frequency response function and modal analysis, are performed in order to investigate the effect of different percentage of porosity in the foam, as well as the effect of the random distribution of the gas bubbles. Experimental results are used as a reference for developing numerical models using finite element approach. Firstly, a sensitivity analysis is performed in order to obtain a limit-but-bounded dynamic response, modelling the foam core as a homogeneous one. The experimental-numerical correlation is evaluated in terms of natural frequencies and mode shapes. Afterwards, an update of the previous numerical model is presented, in which the core is not longer modelled as homogeneous. Mass and stiffness are randomly distributed in the core volume, exploring the space of the eigenvectors.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.651-669
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• 2016

The behavior of shear connectors plays a significant role in maintaining the required strength of a composite beam in normal and hazardous conditions. Various types of shear connectors are available and being utilized in the construction industry according to their use. Channel connectors are a suitable replacement for conventional shear connectors. These connectors have been tested under different types of loading at ambient temperature; however, the behavior of these connectors at elevated temperatures has not been studied. This investigation proposes a numerical analysis approach to estimate the behavior of channel connectors under fire and compare it with the numerical analysis performed in headed stud and Perfobond shear connectors subjected to fire. This paper first reviews the mechanism of various types of shear connectors and then proposes a non-linear thermo-mechanical finite element (FE) model of channel shear connectors embedded in high-strength concrete (HSC) subjected to fire. Initially, an accurate nonlinear FE model of the specimens tested at ambient temperature was developed to investigate the strength of the channel-type connectors embedded in an HSC slab. The outcomes were verified with the experimental study performed on the testing of channel connectors at ambient temperature by Shariati et al. (2012). The FE model at ambient temperature was extended to identify the behavior of channel connectors subjected to fire. A comparative study is performed to evaluate the performance of channel connectors against headed stud and Perfobond shear connectors. The channel connectors were found to be a more economical and easy-to-apply alternative to conventional shear connectors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.36-43
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• 2018

A great deal of difficulty is encountered in the thermo-mechanical analyses of nozzle assemblies for solid propellant rocket motors. The main issue in this paper is the modeling of the boundary conditions and the connections between the various components-gaps, relative movements of the components, contacts, friction, etc. This paper evaluates the complex phenomena of nozzle assemblies during burning time with co-simulations that include fluid, thermal surface reaction/ablation, and structural analysis. The validity of this approach is verified via comparison of analysis results with measured strains.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1-9
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• 2023

Recently, as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), communication, and signal surveillance missions of spacecraft have become more advanced, research has been actively conducted on the deployable large mesh antenna system with excellent storage efficiency compared to the deployment area, and light weight. Deployable Mesh antennae are characterized by an increase in the number of Openings Per Inch (OPI), which is a measure of mesh weaving density as the mission frequency band increases, and this OPI change directly affects the thermal optical properties of the mesh antenna, so research on this is required. In this paper, to verify the thermal relationship between the optical properties of the mesh and antenna reflector, thermal sensitivity analysis between the mesh and the antenna reflector is performed by in-orbit thermal analysis with various optical characteristics of the mesh based on existing overseas research cases. In addition, the temperature gradient effect of the mesh reflector is analyzed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.343-350
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• 2012

A planar solid oxide fuel cell (PSOFC) is studied in its application in a high-temperature stationary power plant. Even though PSOFCs with external reformers are designed for application from the distributed power source to the central power plant, such PSOFCs may sacrifice more system efficiency than internally reformed SOFCs. In this study, modeling of the PSOFC with an external reformer was developed to analyze the feasibility of thermal energy utilization for the external reformer. The PSOFC system model includes the stack, reformer, burner, heat exchanger, blower, pump, PID controller, 3-way valve, reactor, mixer, and steam separator. The model was developed under the Matlab/Simulink environment with Thermolib$^{(R)}$ modules. The model was used to study the system performance according to its configuration. Three configurations of the SOFC system were selected for the comparison of the system performance. The system configuration considered the cathode recirculation, thermal sources for the external reformer, heat-up of operating gases, and condensate anode off-gas for the enhancement of the fuel concentration. The simulation results show that the magnitude of the electric efficiency of the PSOFC system for Case 2 is 12.13% higher than that for Case 1 (reference case), and the thermal efficiency of the PSOFC system for Case 3 is 76.12%, which is the highest of all the cases investigated.

• Composites Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.161-168
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• 2020

In this paper, we have studied the mechanical properties of thermoplastic carbon fiber fabric composites with spread technology and compression molding temperature were investigated. Carbon fiber reinforcement composites were fabricated using commercial carbon fiber fabrics and spread carbon fiber fabrics. Mechanical properties of the commercial carbon fiber composites (CCFC) and spread carbon fiber composites (SCFC) according to compression molding temperatures were investigated. Thermal properties of the polypropylene film were examined by rheometer, differential scanning calorimetry, thermal gravimetric analysis. Tensile, flexural and Inter-laminar shear test. Commercial carbon fiber reinforcement composites and spread carbon fiber composites were fabricated at 200~240℃ above the melting temperature of the polypropylene film. Impregnation properties according to compression molding temperature of the polypropylene film were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. As a result, as the compression molding temperature was increased, the viscosity of the polypropylene film was decreased. The mechanical properties of the compression molding temperature of 230℃ spread carbon fiber composite was superior.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.338-344
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• 2018

The lunar surface temperature is important as a environmental parameter for the thermal design of the lunar exploration vehicles such as orbital spacecraft, lander, and rovers. In this study, the temperature is numerically predicted through a simplified lumped system model for the energy conservation. The physical values required for the analysis of the energy equation are derived by considering the geometric shape, and the values presented in the previous research results. The areal specific heat, which is the most important thermo-physical property of the lumped system model, was extracted from the temperature measurements by the Diviner loaded on the LRO, and the value was predicted by calibration of the analytical model to the measurements. The predicted temperature distribution obtained through numerical integration has sufficient accuracy to be applied to the thermal design of the lunar exploration vehicles.