New methods for joining sheet of metal are being sought. One of the most promising methods is MPJ (mechanical press joining). It has been used in thin metal work because of its simple process and relative advantages over other methods, as it requires no fasteners such as bolts or rivets, consumes less energy than welding, and produces less ecological problems than adhesive methods. In this study, the joining process and static behavior of single overlap joints has been investigated. During fixed die type joining process for SPCC plates, the optimal applied punching force was found. The maximum tensile-shear strength of the specimen produced at the optimal punching force was 1.75 kN. The FEM analysis result on the tensile-shear specimen showed the maximum von-Mises stress of 373 MPa under the applied load of 1.7 kN, which is very close to the maximum tensile strength of the SPCC sheet(= 382 MPa). This suggests that the FEM analysis is capable of predicting the maximum tensile load of the joint.

A study on reliability estimation of sequential-ordered multiple failure modes, which are sequentially ordered between failure modes in a considering system, was performed. Especially, an approach to estimate the probabilities of failure modes has been proposed under an assumption that failure modes are mutually exclusive and sequentially ordered by only a critical variable. A feasibility of the proposed approach were studied by a practical example, which is a reliability estimation of passive safety systems for a probabilistic safety assessment(PSA) of a very high temperature reactor(VHTR) that is under development as a future nuclear system with enhanced safety features. It is difficult to define a robust failure state of this nuclear system because of its enhanced radiation release characteristics, so the new approach is a useful concept to estimate not only its safety but also a PSA. A feasibility study applied two failure modes(e.g., small and large release of radioactive materials) with considering the integrated behavior of this nuclear system. It is expected that the multiple release states for a practical estimation can be easily extended to the aforementioned example. It was found out that the proposed approach was a useful technique to cover the unfavorable features of this nuclear system as to performing a VHTR PSA.

Conveyors cause a high serious and fatal injuries in the industry. Every year people are hurt or killed as a result of accidents on conveyors. Most accidents occur during operation and maintenance when employees are working on moving, unguarded conveyors or when the conveyors starts unexpectedly. In 2008 there were 486 reported injures ranging from fatalities to injures. Of these 486 reported accidents, 8 were fatalities, 66.9%(325) of reported accidents occurred in manufacturing company and 43.8%(213) occurred at the belt conveyors. The objective of this study was to invent the remote emergency stop device because industrial accidents mainly occur at blind spots where usually do not have any safety guard or device rather than the normal working places. In principle, this new device will use with the existing safety system. Then, it will be powerful safety system for preventing injuries related with conveyors.

This paper is to investigate noise source for reciprocating type air compressors. The reciprocating type air compressors are widely used in the small and medium sized enterprise and many employees are affected and irritated by their noise during working. The investigation and analysis of the noise source were made according to the ISO 1680/1 and MIL-STD 7410-1 and noise evaluation of each part of compressors was made. Noise emitted from the intake and exhaust valve and the air receiver tank were dominant compared with those from other parts of compressor. Noise from the motor and the revolution of crank mechanism was negligible relatively with the noise sources as mentioned above.

Forensic Engineering is the area covering the investigation of products, structures that fail to perform or do not function as intended, causing personal injury or damage to property. To investigate explosion accident of the centrifugal casting machine in terms of the forensic engineering, in this paper, the computing simulation using ADINA FSI has performed to investigate that the effect of the Check-Pin fracture by the flow phenomena and molten metal weight and the mechanical properties test of the accident Check-Pin has performed using the instrumented indentation technique. Through these studies, the safety accident that may occur in centrifugal casting machine can be minimized by performing specialized and systematic investigation of the accident cause in terms of the forensic engineering.

This paper is purposed to develop an leakage current detecting system(LCDS) which can prevent electrical fires on breaker capacity expansion as well as ruptures of XL(Extra long) pipelines and power failure by operation of ELB(Earth leakage breaker) at auto water machine in winter. In order to develop LCDS, this paper studied field state investigation, field state experiment, development of leakage alarm system and verification experiments. Field states investigation at livestock companies(10 companies) in cheong-won location to deduce the problems of auto water machine is analyzed. The field state experiment is conducted at B livestock company in cheong won location. The field state experiment method is measured with leakage current when ELB tripped by environment factor(fine, cloudy, and rainy day). The LCDS is developed as MCU(Micro Control Unit) part applied leakage current values at B livestock company. Verification experiments for the leakage current detecting system were conducted by two methods of current supply and field test. Results show that LCDS suggested in this paper are valuable and usable in auto water machine based on environment factor, which will prevent severe damage to human beings and properties and reduce the electrical fires in livestock.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the causes of accidents related to the 3 phase 170 kV gas insulated switchgear of a power system collected from accident sites to secure data for the prevention of similar accidents and provide important points of view regarding diagnosis for the prevention of accidents involving gas insulated switchgears. The analysis results of the causes of accidents involving gas insulated switchgears showed deformation of the manipulation lever installed at the S-phase, disconnection of the insulation rod connection, melting of the upper conductor, a damaged tulip, damage to the lower spacer and the spacer at the breaker, etc. It is believed from this result that the potential for accidents has expanded due to accumulated energy as a result of repeated deterioration. The carbonization depth of a GIS was formed near the screw (T2, T3) used to secure the lower pole of the S-phase tulip. It is not known what has caused the screws to be extruded and melted. However, it is thought that an unbalanced electromagnetic force, micro-discharge, surface discharge, etc., have occurred at that point. In addition, even though 16 years have passed since its installation, there was no installation defect, act of arson, accidental fire, etc. General periodical inspection and diagnosis failed to find the factors causing the accidents. As a system contained in a closed metal container, it has a high risk factor. Therefore, it is necessary to design, install and operate a GIS in accordance with the standard operational procedure (SOP). In addition, it is necessary to apply conversion technology for periodical SF6 gas analysis and precision safety diagnosis. It is expected that tracking and managing these changes in characteristics by recording the results on the history card will provide a significant accident prevention effect.

Halogen free intumescent flame retardants(IFRS), such as the mixture of melamine phosphate(MP) and char forming agents(pentaerythritol(PER), di-pentaerythritol(DiPER), tris(2-hydroxyethyl) isocyanurate(THEIC)), were prepared and characterized. Polypropylene(PP)/$IFR_S$ composites were also prepared in the presence of ethylene diamine phosphate(EDAP) as a synergist and used into flame retardant PP powder coatings. Thermoplastic PP powder coatings at 20 wt% flame retardant loading were manufactured by extruded and then mechanical cryogenic crushed to bring them in fine powder form. These intumescent flame retardant powder coatings($IFRPC_S$) were applied on mild steel surface for the purpose of protection and decorative. It is a process in which a $IFRPC_S$ particles coming in contact with the preheated mild steel surface melt and form a thin coating layer. The obtained MP flame retardant was analyzed by utilizing FTIR, solid-state $^{31}P$ NMR, ICP, EA and PSA. The mechanical properties as tensile strength, melt flow index(MFI) and the thermal property as TGA/DTA and the fire safety characteristics as limiting oxygen index(LOI), UL94 test, SEM were used to investigate the effect of $IFRPC_S$. The experimental results show that the presence of $IFR_S$ considerably enhanced the fire retardant performances as evidenced by the increase of LOI values 17.3 vol% and 32.6 vol% for original PP and $IFRPC_S$-3(PP/MP-DiPER/EDAP), respectively, and a reduction in total flaming combustion time(under 15 sec) in UL94 test of $IFRPC_S$. The prepared $IFRPC_S$-3 have good comprehensive properties with fire retardancy 3.2 mm UL94 V-0 level, LOI value 32.6%, tensile strength $247.3kg/cm^2$, surface roughness Ra $0.78{\mu}m$, showing a better application prospect. Through $IFRPC_S$-2(PP/MP-PER/EDAP) and $IFRPC_S$-3 a better flame retardancy than that of the $IFRPC_S$-1(PP/MP/EDAP) was investigated which was responsible for the formed more dense and compact char layer, improved synergy effect of MP and PER/DiPER.

Explosion limit and flash point are the major combustion properties used to determine the fire and explosion hazards of the flammable substances. In this study, in order to predict upper explosion limits(UELs), the upper flash point of n-alkanes and aromatic compounds were measured under the VLE(vapor-liquid equilibrium) state by using Setaflash closed cup tester(ASTM D3278). The UELs calculated by Antoine equation and chemical stoichiometric coefficient tusing the experimental upper flash point were compared with the several reported UELs. From the given results, using the proposed experimental and predicted method, it is possible to research the upper explosion limits of the other flammable substances.

High strength concrete(HSC) has been mainly used in large SOC structures. HSC have superior property as well as improvement in durability compared with normal strength concrete. In spite of durability of HSC, explosive spalling in concrete front surface near the source of fire occurs serious problem in structural safety. It is reported that spalling is caused by the vapor pressure under fire and polypropylene(PP) fiber has an important role in protecting from spalling. The spalling properties of ultra high strength concrete specimens with various contents of PP fiber were investigated in this study. In results, the content of PP fiber for spalling protection increases over 0.2 vol.% as the concrete strength increases to 120 MPa.

This paper proposes a GA-based optimal fuzzy control technique for the vibration control of earthquakeexcited adjacent structures interconnected with semi-active magneto-rheological(MR) dampers. Rule-based fuzzy logic controllers are designed first by implementing heuristic knowledge and the genetic algorithm(GA) is then introduced to optimally tune the fuzzy controllers for enhancing the seismic performance of semi-active control system. For practical implementation, the fuzzy controller simply uses locally measured responses of the dampers involved and directly returns the input voltage to the magneto-rheological dampers in real time through the fuzzy inference mechanism. The local measurement based fuzzy controller provides optimal damping force in a decentralized manner so that it does not require a primary central controller unlike the conventional semi-active control techniques. As a result, it can avoid the unbridgeable discrepancy between the desired control force and the actual damper force that may occur in the conventional control approaches. The validity and effectiveness of the proposed control method are shown numerically on two 20-story earthquake-excited buildings interconnected with MR dampers.

Structural optimization algorithm of steel box girder bridges using improved higher-order approximate reanalysis technique is proposed in this paper. The proposed approximation method is a generalization of the convex approximation method. The order of the approximate reanalysis for each function is analytically adjusted in the optimization process. This self-adjusted capability makes the approximate structural analysis values conservative enough to maintain the optimum design point of the approximate problem. The efficiency of proposed optimazation algorithm, compared with conventional algorithm, is successfully demonstrated in the steel box girder bridges. The efficiency and robustness of proposed algorithm is also demonstrated in practical steel box girder bridges.

The urgent VAI(Vital Area Identification) method development is required since 'The Act of Physical Protection and Radiological Emergency' that is established in 2003 requires an evaluation of physical threats in nuclear facilities and an establishment of physical protection in Korea. The KAERI(Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) has developed the VAI methodology and VAI software called as VIPEX(Vital area Identification Package EXpert) for identifying the vital areas. This study is to demonstrate the applicability of KAERI's VAI methodology to a hypothetical facility, and to identify the importance of information of cable and piping runs when identifying the vital areas. It is necessarily needed to consider cable and piping runs to determine the accurate and realistic TEPS(Top Event Prevention Set). If the information of cable and piping runs of a nuclear power plant is not considered when determining the TEPSs, it is absolutely impossible to acquire the complete TEPSs, and the results could be distorted by missing it. The VIPEX and FTREX(Fault Tree Reliability Evaluation eXpert) properly calculate MCSs and TEPSs using the fault tree model, and provide the most cost-effective method to save the VAI and physical protection costs.

In previous studies, a system was developed for classifying items of uninsured cost and for generating factors and formulas by item for calculating accident loss costs. However, the loss cost of stopped production was not considered when the system was being developed. In addition, the system which was developed in previous studies had problems such as input error and data collection, owing to numerous input items. Therefore, this study developed a Revised system which considers the loss cost of stopped production, and a Simple system for improving the problems in input errors and data collection. In this study, unquantifiable factors were not considered. Further study that takes these factors into consideration is necessary.

For decreasing of the casualties and designing of the smoke control systems in the ultra high-rise building, the programs for analysis of smoke control were developed for prediction of smoke spread and distributions of pressure and temperature in building fire situation. In this study, coupling algorithm between mass and enthalpy conservations was modified for improving the applicability of the CAU_ESCAP which program can consider the energy transfer. The fire situation in ultra high-rise building was applied by using the modified CAU_ESCAP. Results of pressure difference predicted by modified CAU_ESCAP are higher than results of ASCOS as stack effect is generated due to the increasing of stairway temperature. Moreover, theoretically, the result of the neutral plane is more accurate than the result of ASCOS, in fire situation of ultra high-rise building.

This study was designed to provide basic data applicable to fire investigation through consideration of combustion products and propose vulnerability of combustibles through analysis of $CO_2$ emission. In order to achieve these research objectives, characteristics of combustion products such as smoke release rate of each part(raw leaves, branches and barks), $CO_2$ emission and ash production were considered targeting on 6 oak species(Quercus variabilis Blume, Quercus aliena Blume, Quercus serrata, Quercus mongolica Fisch, Quercus dentata Sapling and Quercus acutissima) using cone calorimeter and smoke density tester. As a result, it was found that raw leaves release smoke more relatively than branches and barks, when they burn, and that Quercus variabilis Blume has the highest smoke density. Also, Quercus acutissima released CO and $CO_2$ which are respectively, 6.67 times and 1.43 times more than Quercus variabilis Blume with low $CO_2$ emission. In addition, branches released CO and $CO_2$ more relatively. There was a big difference in ash production among raw leaves(3.1 g), branches(10.5 g) and barks(16.43 g). It was identified that Quercus serrata produces ashes which are nearly 9.95 times more than Quercus variabilis Blume. It demonstrates that Quercus serrata contains relatively higher minerals and that Quercus variabilis Blume can leave lots of traces like stain and carbonization, as it releases smoke a lot and it's difficult to predict visibility, when a forest fire breaks out in its community area. It is also considered that smoke particles containing oil in the air leave strain on the surface of a tree, and that CO and $CO_2$ emission increases, when crown fire to burn branches breaks out.

Under the current law or system, the range of traffic accident on the crosswalk does not reflect the characteristics of traffic accident and the pedestrian's walking pattern. Thus, this study conducted a video recording survey on the 250 spots which are high to traffic accident rate of pedestrian-vehicle to reset the range of traffic accident on or near the crosswalk considering the characteristics of traffic accident and the pedestrian's walking pattern. Based on the collected data through a video recording survey, this study analyzed the pattern of pedestrians and extracted the variables influenced in the pedestrian's walking pattern. After conducting the regression analysis, this study made the model of measuring the range of traffic accident on the crosswalk. Through all processes these, this study reset the range of traffic accident on the crosswalk which could minimize the disadvantages of pedestrian when they have an accident on the crosswalk and ensure the right of way of pedestrian.

A traffic accident which happens in Expressway during dense fog is more likely to cause the sequential accidents and high death rate. So, the preventive measures shall be taken at dangerous areas to enhance the efficiency of roads and minimize the accidents and the resultant damages. So, it is necessary to find out the characteristics of freeway zone which has high risk of fog occurrence and to establish the comprehensive safety strategy on installation and operation of the safety equipment. In this study, I developed a fog forecasting model by using the freeway fog data. This model can be used as the fog forecasting model in dealing with fog problems when new road is planned. The model was developed by using a statistical analysis technique or the regression analysis, focusing on the variables such as geographical features and regional conditions, distances to water sources and the area of water source. I have segmented the models by classifying the area into inland area and coastal area. The distance to water source and area of the water source located around the freeway were found to be main factors causing fog.