• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.153-159
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• 2023

This paper presents the optimal design of a heating system using radiant heating elements for application in smart farms. Smart farming, an advanced agricultural technology, is based on artificial intelligence and the internet of things and promotes crop production. Temperature and humidity regulation is critical in smart farms, and thus, a heating system is essential. Radiant heating elements are devices that generate heat using electrical energy. Among other applications, radiant heating elements are used for environmental control and heating in smart farm greenhouses. The performance of these elements is directly related to their electrical energy consumption. Therefore, achieving a balance between efficient electrical energy consumption and maximum heating performance in smart farms is crucial for the optimal design of radiant heating elements. In this study, the size, electrical energy supply, heat generation efficiency, and heating performance of radiant heating elements used in these heating systems were investigated. The effects of the size and electrical energy supply of radiant heating elements on the heating performance were experimentally analyzed. As the radiant heating element size increased, the heat generation efficiency improved, but the electrical energy consumption also increased. In addition, increasing the electrical energy supply improved both the heat generation efficiency and heating performance of the radiant heating elements. Based on these results, a method for determining the optimal size and electrical energy supply of radiant heating elements was proposed, and it reduced the electrical energy consumption while maintaining an appropriate heating performance in smart farms. These research findings are expected to contribute to energy conservation and performance improvement in smart farming.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.239-246
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• 2023

To reduce the forming load due to the temperature drop, during the hot forging process, a reheating hot forging process design is required that to repeat heating and forging. However, if the critical strain required for recrystallization is not induced during forging and grain growth becomes dominant due to the reduction in dislocation density due to repeated heating, the mechanical properties may deteriorate. Therefore, in this study, Inconel 706 alloy was applied, and the grain refinement behavior was comparatively analyzed according to the number of reheating times and effective strain during reheating hot forging process. Reheating was carried out with a total compression rate of 40% up to 4 times. The Inconel 706 compression test specimens heated once showed finer grains as the effective strain increased due to the dynamic recrystallization phenomenon. However, as the number of heating increases, grain refinement was observed even in a low effective strain distribution of 0.43 due to static recrystallization during reheating. Moreover, grain growth occurs at a relatively low effective strain of 0.43 when the number of reheating is four or more. Therefore, it was effective to apply an effective strain of 0.43 or more during hot forging to Inconel 706 in order to induce crystallization through grain refinement and improve the properties of forged products. In addition, we could notice that up to three reheating times condition was appropriate to prevent grain growth and maintain fine grain size.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.465-469
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• 2003

Microlens arrays were fabricated using a novel fabrication technology based on the exposure of a PMMA (Polymethylmethacrylate) sheet to deep X-rays and subsequent thermal treatment. X-ray irradiation causes the decrease of molecular weight of PMMA, which in turn decreases the glass transition temperature and consequently causes a net volume increase during the thermal cycle resulting in a swollen microlens. A new physical modeling and analyses for microlens formation were presented according to experimental procedure. A simple analysis based on the new model is found to be capable of predicting the shapes of microlens which depend on the thermal treatment. For the replication of microlens arrays having various diameters with different foci on the same surface, the hot embossing and the microinjection molding processes has been successfully utilized with a mold insert that is fabricated by Ni-electroplating based on a PMMA microstructure of microlenses. Fabricated microlenses showed good surface roughness with the order of 1 nm.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.160-166
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of combined addition of Ca and Y on the precipitation and age-hardening behavior of an extruded AZ91 alloy by conducting the aging treatment at 200 ℃ for hot-extruded AZ91 and AZ91-0.3Ca-0.2Y alloys. In the AZ91 alloy, many Mg₁₇Al₁₂ discontinuous precipitate (DP) bands formed during air cooling immediately after extrusion are present, whereas in the AZ91-0.3Ca-0.2Y alloy, a few DP bands and numerous Al₂Y, Al₈Mn₄Y, and Al₂Ca phase particles are distributed along the extrusion direction. The peak-aging time of the AZ91-0.3Ca-0.2Y alloy is 16 hours, twice that of the AZ91 alloy. Although both alloys have similar hardness before aging treatment, the hardness after peak-aging treatment (i.e., peak hardness) of the AZ91-0.3Ca-0.2Y alloy is higher than that of the AZ91 alloy, as 93.1 and 88.7 Hv, respectively. The microstructures of both peak-aged alloys comprise DPs and continuous precipitates (CPs). However, the peak-aged AZ91-0.3Ca-0.2Y alloy has a smaller amount of DPs and a larger amount of CPs than the peak-aged AZ91 alloy. Additionally, the inter-particle spacings of DPs and CPs in the former are significantly narrower than those in the latter. These results demonstrate that the addition of small amounts of Ca and Y to a commercial AZ91 alloy considerably affects the formation rate, size, and amount of CPs and DPs during aging and resultant age-hardening behavior.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.173-179
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• 2023

In this study, the age-hardening behavior and tensile properties of a cast AZ91-0.3Ca-0.2Y (SEN9) alloy are investigated and compared with those of a commercial AZ91 alloy. Even after homogenization heat treatment, the SEN9 alloy contains numerous undissolved secondary phases, Al₈Mn₄Y, Al₂Y, and Al₂Ca, which results in a higher hardness value than the homogenized AZ91 alloy. Under aging condition at 200 ℃, both the AZ91 and SEN9 alloys exhibit the same peak-aging time of 8 h, but the peak hardness of the latter (86.8 Hv) is higher than that of the former (83.9 Hv). The precipitation behavior of Mg₁₇Al₁₂ phase during aging significantly differs in the two alloys. In the AZ91 alloy, the area fraction of Mg₁₇Al₁₂ discontinuous precipitates (DPs) increases up to ~50% as the aging time increases. In contrast, in the SEN9 alloy, the formation and growth of DPs during aging are substantially suppressed by the Ca- or Y-containing particles, which leads to the formation of only a small amount of DPs with an area fraction of ~4% after peak aging. Moreover, the size and interparticle spacing of Mg₁₇Al₁₂ precipitates of the peak-aged SEN9 alloy are smaller than those of the peak-aged AZ91 alloy. The homogenized AZ91 alloy exhibits a higher tensile strength than the homogenized SEN9 alloy due to the finer grains of the former. However, the peak-aged SEN9 alloy has a higher tensile elongation than the peak-aged AZ91 alloy due to the smaller amount of brittle DPs in the former.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2023

The armature core is a part responsible for the skeleton of the steering wheel. Currently, in the case of commercial trucks, the main parts of the parts are manufactured separately and then the product is produced through welding. In the case of this production method, quality and cost problems of the welded parts occur, and an integrated armature core made of magnesium alloy is used in passenger vehicles. However, in the case of commercial trucks, there is no application case and research is insufficient. Therefore, this study aims to develop an all-in-one armature core that simultaneously applies a magnesium alloy material and a die casting method to reduce the weight and improve the quality of the existing steel armature core. The product was modeled based on the shape of a commercial product, and finite element analysis (FEA) was performed through Ls-dyna, a general-purpose analysis program. Through digital image correlation (DIC) and uniaxial tensile test, the accurate physical properties of the material were obtained and applied to the analysis. A total of four types of compression were applied by changing the angle and ground contact area of the product according to the actual reliability test conditions. analysis was carried out. As a result of FEA, it was confirmed that damage occurred in the spoke area, and spoke thickness (t_spoke), base thickness (t_base), and rim and spoke connection (R) were designated as design variables, and the total weight and maximum equivalent stress occurring in the armature core We specify an objective function that simultaneously minimizes . A prediction function was derived using the sequential response surface method to identify design variables that minimized the objective function, and it was confirmed that it was improved by 22%.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.81-86
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• 2023

The hot stamping process is widely used for high strength of vehicle parts, with heating 900 ℃ or higher in a furnace and in-die quenching to achieve strength above 1.5 GPa of the quenchable boron alloyed steel 22MnB5. First of all, the hot stamping process consisted of heating, forming, quenching and trimming. In the trimming process case, the laser method has been conventionally adopted. For laser trimming process, it has the problems pertaining to low productivity and high cost while the hot stamping process, accordingly the trimming process need to investigate the research for alternative method. In order to overcome these issues, many research groups have studied the mechanical trim solution on the hot stamped parts at high temperature. In this study, the mechanical piercing was performed during the hot stamping process at the high temperature for overcome the disadvantages of laser cutting. Also, the process parameters such as piercing time after die closing, clearances of between die and punch were controlled for obtaining the reasonable shear characteristics.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.124-128
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• 2022

NdFeB magnets have been positioned as the core materials in advanced technologies such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), FA (factory automation system), robot, motors, and so on based on the highest magnetic properties. To effectively improve the refined microstructure, the plastic deformation has been known as the good alternatives by the recrystallization. However, it has been regarded as being impossible because of the few slip systems in the RE-Fe-B magnets at room temperature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of control of grain refinement and magnetic anisotropy of NdFeB alloy powder by the severe plastic deformation. The NdFeB magnet powder was fabricated by gas atomization process, and the powder was pre-compacted at high temperature. The pre-compacted billets were deformed by HPT (high pressure torsion), and then the deformed billets were observed microstructure and magnetic properties. After the HPT process at room temperature, the grain size decreased with increasing because of the melted Nd-rich phase, and the anisotropy of Nd₂Fe₁₄B phase was formed after the HPT process.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.129-135
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the influence of hardness of tool materials on wear resistance in the sheet metal forming process. Punches used in the wear test were made of STD-11 and K340 tool material, and the tempering temperature was set to 530℃ and 500℃, respectively, to control the hardness of the tool materials. The punches mimic the shape of stamping tool of automotive body component to reflect its plastic deformation, and are designed to concentrate wear on the curvature region of punches. Progressive die and coil sheet were used to save time, cost, and raw sheet materials. By quantitatively measuring the wear depth of the punches, the wear behavior and mechanism of the punches were investigated, and characteristics of hardness and wear resistance according to tool materials and tempering temperatures were evaluated. Testing results indicate that the punch made of K340 tool steel with higher hardness had better wear resistance than that of STD-11 tool steel, and the hardness and wear resistance of tool steel were significantly impacted by the tempering temperature.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.344-351
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• 2023

The use of Zn-Al-Mg alloy coatings for enhancing the corrosion resistance of steel sheets is gaining prominence over traditional Zn coatings. There is a growing demand for the development of thermal spray wires made from Zn-Al-Mg alloys, as a replacement for the existing wires produced using Al and Zn. This is particularly crucial to secure corrosion resistance and durability in the damaged areas of coated steel sheets caused by deformation and welding. This study focuses on the casting and extrusion processes of Zn-2Al-1Mg alloy for the fabrication of such spray wires and analyzes the changes in microstructure during the extrusion process. The Zn-2Al-1Mg alloy, cast in molds, was subjected to a heat treatment at 250 ℃ for 3 hours prior to extrusion. The extrusion process was carried out by heating both the material and the mold up to 300 ℃. Microstructural analysis was conducted using FE-SEM and EDS to differentiate each phase. The mechanical properties of the cast specimen were evaluated through compression tests at temperatures ranging from 200 to 300 ℃, with strain rates of 0.1 to 5 sec^-1. Vickers hardness testing was utilized to assess the inhomogeneity of mechanical properties in the radial direction of the extruded material. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was employed to understand the inhomogeneity in stress and strain distribution during extrusion, which aids in understanding the impact of heterogeneous deformation on the microstructure during the process.