• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.189-194
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• 2021

A straightforward, yet effective surface modification method of stainless steel mesh and its interesting anti-wetting characteristics are reported in this study. The stainless steel mesh is electrochemically etched, and the specimen has both micro and nano-scale structures on its surface. This process transforms the two types of mesh specimens known as the regular and dense specimens into hydrophobic specimens without applying any hydrophobic chemical coating process. The fundamental wettability of the modified mesh is analyzed through a dedicatedly designed experiment to investigate the waterproof characteristics, for instance, the penetration threshold. The waterproof characteristics are evaluated in a manner that the modified mesh resists as high as approximately 2.7 times the pressure compared with the bare mesh, i.e., the non-modified mesh. The results show that the penetration threshold depends primarily on the advancing contact angles, and the penetration stop behaviors are affected by the contact angle hysteresis on the surfaces. The findings further confirm that the inexpensive waterproof meshes created using the proposed straightforward electrochemical etching process are effective and can be adapted along with appropriate designs for various practical applications, such as underwater devices, passive valves, and transducers. In general, , additional chemical coatings are applied using hydrophobic materials on the surfaces for the applications that require water-repelling capabilities. Although these chemical coatings can often cause aging, the process proposed in this study is not only cost-effective, but also durable implying that it does not lose its waterproof properties over time.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.177-186
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• 2005

The latest concrete structure has showed that the deterioration of durability has been increased by the damage from salt, carbonization, freezing & thawing and the others. Therefore, the measures for the concrete which has deteriorated durability have been taken. Among them, it has been often used that surface treatment which cuts off the deterioration factors of durability by protecting the surface of concrete. However, troubles such as fracture and rupture in the repair layer have been reported as time goes by due to the difference between the organic repair material like epoxy and concrete properties. Researchers have been developing the repair material which can cut off the deterioration factors of durability such as $CO_2$ gas, chloride ion and water by making the formation of concrete elaborate through the reaction with calcium ion when the surface improving agent is coated on the concrete. The main ingredient of that is inorganic substance which is the same as the concrete property. This study was evaluated the surface improving agent for permeability, watertightness, air-permeability, chemical resistance and elution resistance. As a result, it has been reported that the surface improving agent improves watertightness and air-permeability by penetration more than 10mm within concrete. Therefore, it is concluded that the surface improving agent developed in this research prevents deterioration of concrete durability when it is coated on the concrete structure.