• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.2968-2976
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• 2021

This paper introduces a method to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) microstructure of two-phase materials, e.g., porous materials such as highly irradiated nuclear fuel, from two-dimensional (2D) sections via a multi-objective optimization genetic algorithm. The optimization is based on the comparison between the reference and reconstructed 2D sections on specific target properties, i.e., 2D pore number, and mean value and standard deviation of the pore-size distribution. This represents a multi-objective fitness function subject to weaker hypotheses compared to state-of-the-art methods based on n-points correlations, allowing for a broader range of application. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated on synthetic data and compared with state-of-the-art methods adopting a fitness based on 2D correlations. The method here developed can be used as a cost-effective tool to reconstruct the pore structure in highly irradiated materials using 2D experimental data.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.598-604
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• 2014

Considerable research efforts have been explored attempting to enhance the thermal durability of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) at the high operating temperatures of gas turbines. In this study, the suspension plasma spray (SPS) process was applied to produce TBCs with a segmented structure by using an yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) suspension. Four different experiment sets were carried out by controlling the ratio between surface roughness of the bond coat and feed stock size ($R_a/D_{50}$) in order to examine the effect of $R_a/D_{50}$ ratio on the microstructure of SPS-prepared coatings. When the $R_a/D_{50}$ had a high value of 11.8, a deposited thick coating turned out to have a cone-type columnar microstructure. In contrast, at the low $R_a/D_{50}$ values of 2.9 and 0.18, a deposited thick coating appeared to have a dense, vertically-cracked microstructure. However, with the very low $R_a/D_{50}$ value of 0.05 the coating was delaminated.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.132-151
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• 2022

The CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy (HEA), which is the most widely known HEA with a single face-centered cubic structure, has attracted significant academic attention over the past decade owing to its outstanding multifunctional performance. Recent studies have suggested that CoCrFeMnNi-type HEAs exhibit excellent printability for selective laser melting (SLM) under a wide range of process conditions. Moreover, it has been suggested that SLM can not only provide great topological freedom of design but also exhibit excellent mechanical properties by overcoming the strength-ductility trade-off via producing a hierarchical heterogeneous microstructure. In this regard, the SLM-processed CoCrFeMnNi HEA has been extensively studied to comprehensively understand the mechanisms of microstructural evolution and resulting changes in mechanical properties. In this review, recent studies on CoCrFeMnNi-type HEAs produced using SLM are discussed with respect to process-induced microstructural evolution and the relationship between hierarchical heterogeneous microstructure and mechanical properties.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.499-503
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• 2012

The present study is intended to comparatively investigate the changes in microstructure and tensile properties at room and elevated temperatures in commercial AM50(Mg-5%Al-0.3%Mn) and 0.3 wt%CaO added ECO-AM50 alloys produced by permanent mould casting. The typical microstructure of AM50 alloy was distinctively characterized using two intermetallic compounds, ${\beta}(Mg_{17}Al_{12})$ and $Al_8Mn_5$, along with ${\alpha}$-(Mg) matrix in an as-cast state. The addition of a small amount of CaO played a role in reducing dendrite cell size and quantity of the ${\beta}$ phase in the AM50 alloy. It is interesting to note that the added CaO introduced a small amount of $Al_2Ca$ adjacent to the ${\beta}$ compounds, and that inhomogeneous enrichment of elemental Ca was observed within the ${\beta}$ phase. The ECO-AM50 alloy showed higher hardness and better YS and UTS at room temperature than did the AM50 alloy, which characteristics can be mainly ascribed to the finer-grained microstructure that originated from the CaO addition. At $175^{\circ}C$, higher levels of YS and UTS and higher elongation were obtained for the ECO-AM50 alloy, demonstrating that even 0.3 wt%CaO addition can be beneficial in promoting the heat resistance of the AM50 alloy. The combinational contributions of enhanced thermal stability of the Ca-containing ${\beta}$ phase and the introduction of a stable $Al_2Ca$ phase with high melting point are thought to be responsible for the improvement of the high temperature tensile properties in the ECO-AM50 alloy.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.29-36
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• 2004

In this paper, a new replication technique for a real 3D microstructure was introduced, in which a master Pattern WES made of photo-curable epoxy using a microstereolithography technology, and then it was transferred onto an epoxy-copper particle composite. A helical gear was selected as one of the real 3D microstructure for this study, and it was replicated from a pure epoxy to an epoxy composite. In addition, the transferability of the microreplication process was evaluated, and the properties of :he epoxy composite were compared to that of the pure epoxy, including hardness, wear-resistance and thermal conductivity.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.125-140
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• 2015

This paper describes the numerical calculation of elastic properties of a simulated microstructure of cement paste from very early age, when most previous models fail to give accurate results. The development of elastic properties of tricalcium silicate pastes was calculated by discretising a numerical resolution-free 3D vector microstructure to a regular cubic mesh. Due to the connections formed in the microstructure as an artefact of the meshing procedure, the simulated elastic moduli were found to be higher than expected. Furthermore, the percolation of the solids was found to occur even before hydration started. A procedure to remove these artefacts, on the basis of the information available in the vector microstructures was developed. After this correction, a better agreement of the experimental results with calculations was obtained between 20% and 40% hydration. However, percolation threshold was found to be delayed significantly. More realistic estimates of percolation threshold were obtained if either flocculation or a densification of calcium silicate hydrate with hydration was assumed.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.349-353
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• 2016

We prepared a number of reaction-bonded silicon carbides (RBSCs) made from various mixing ratios of raw SiC particles, and investigated their microstructure and etch characteristics by Reactive Ion Etch (RIE). Increasing the amount of $9.5{\mu}m$-SiC particles results in a microstructure with relatively coarser Si regions. On the other hand, increasing that of $2.6{\mu}m$-SiC particles produces much finer Si regions. The addition of more than 50 wt% of $2.6{\mu}m$-SiC particles, however, causes the microstructure to become partially coarse. We also evaluated their etching behaviors in terms of surface roughness (Ra), density and weight changes, and microstructure development by employing Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) techniques. During the etching process of the prepared samples, we confirmed that the residual Si region was rapidly removed and formed pits isolating SiC particles as islands. This leads to more intensified ion field on the SiC islands, and causes physical corrosion on them. Increased addition of $2.6{\mu}m$-SiC particles produces finer residual Si region, and thus decreases the surface roughness (Ra.) as well as causing weight loss after etching process by following the above etching mechanism.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.140-145
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• 2023

Although the Ti-6Al-4V alloy has been used in the aircraft industry owing to its excellent mechanical properties and low density, the low formability of the alloy hinders broadening its applications. Recently, laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) has become a novel process for overcoming the limitations of the alloy (i.e., low formability), owing to the high degree of design freedom for the geometry of products having outstanding performance used in high-tech applications. In this study, to investigate the effect of bulk shape on the microstructure and mechanical properties of L-PBFed Ti-6Al-4V alloys, two types of samples are fabricated using L-PBF: thick and thin samples. The thick sample exhibits lower strength and higher ductility than the thin sample owing to the larger grain size and lower residual dislocation density of the thick sample because of the heat input during the L-PBF process.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1243-1250
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• 2003

In the present study, hot forging process for a lower arm connector of an automobile was investigated. An FEM code, DEFORM-3D, was used to analyze the process and the process parameters, such as temperature, strain and strain rate, were obtained. The microstructure of the connector was predicted by applying the Sellars and Yada microstructure evolution models to the process parameters. The method of microstructure prediction used in the present study seems to be effective for the quality assurance of a forged automotive product.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.47-52
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• 2009

The effect of forging start temperature, forging ratio on the microstructure and mechanical properties of B7B4 steel ware investigated. Microstructure of centrifugal casted B7B4 steel consisted of martensite and ferrite phase. The volume fraction of ferrite increased with increase of forging start temperature and decreased with increase of forging ratio. Tensile strength and hardness decreased with higher of forging start temperature, while impact value and elongation increased with higher of forging start temperature. With increase of forging ratio, tensile strength rapidly increased up to the forging ratio of 30%, and then slowly increased, but elongation was decreased. Hardness and impact value rapidly increased with increase of forging ratio.