• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제54권2호
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• pp.81-87
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• 2021

Background: Artificial grafts such as polyethylene terephthalate (Dacron) and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) are used for various cardiovascular surgical procedures. The compliance properties of prosthetic grafts could affect hemodynamic energy, which can be measured using the energy-equivalent pressure (EEP) and surplus hemodynamic energy (SHE). We investigated changes in the hemodynamic energy of prosthetic grafts. Methods: In a simulation test, the changes in EEP for these grafts were estimated using COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS. The Young modulus, Poisson ratio, and density were used to analyze the grafts' material properties, and pre- and post-graft EEP values were obtained by computing the product of the pressure and velocity. In an in vivo study, Dacron and ePTFE grafts were anastomosed in an end-to-side fashion on the descending thoracic aorta of swine. The pulsatile pump flow was fixed at 2 L/min. Real-time flow and pressure were measured at the distal part of each graft, while clamping the other graft and the descending thoracic aorta. EEP and SHE were calculated and compared. Results: In the simulation test, the mean arterial pressure decreased by 39% for all simulations. EEP decreased by 42% for both grafts, and by around 55% for the native blood vessels after grafting. The in vivo test showed no significant difference between both grafts in terms of EEP and SHE. Conclusion: The post-graft hemodynamic energy was not different between the Dacron and ePTFE grafts. Artificial grafts are less compliant than native blood vessels; however, they can deliver pulsatile blood flow and hemodynamic energy without any significant energy loss.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.9-15
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• 2022

In order to reduce the manufacturing costs of the glass lens, it is necessary to manufacture a lens using a UV curable resin or a thermosetting resin, which is a curable material, in order to replace a glass lens. In the case of forming a lens using a thermosetting material, it is necessary to form several lenses at once using the wafer-level lens manufacturing technologies due to the long curing time of the material. When a lens is manufactured using a curable material, an error in the shape of the lens due to the shrinkage of the material during the curing process is an important cause of defects. The major factors for these shape errors and deformations are the shrinkage and the change of mechanical properties in the process of changing from a liquid material during curing to a solid state after complete curing. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the curing process of the material and to examine the shrinkage rate and change of physical properties according to the degree cure. In addition, it is necessary to proceed with CAE for lens molding using these and to review problems in lens manufacturing in advance. In this study, the viscoelastic properties of the material were measured during the curing process using a rheometer. Using the results, Rheological investigation of cure kinetics was performed. At the same time, The shrinkage of the material was measured and simple mathematical models were created. And using the results, the molding process of a single lens was analyzed using Comsol, a commercial S/W. In addition, the experiment was conducted to compare and verify the CAE results. As a result, it was confirmed that the shrinkage rate of the material had a great influence on the shape precision of the final product.

• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제44권1호
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• pp.85-91
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• 2023

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) occurs when abdominal pressure increases, such as sneezing, exercising, and laughing. Surgical and non-surgical treatments are the common methods of SUI treatment; however, the conventional treatments still require continuous and invasive treatment. Laser have been used to treat SUI, but excessive temperature increase often causes thermal burn on urethra tissue. Therefore, the optimal conditions must be considered to minimize the thermal damage for the laser treatment. The current study investigated the feasibility of the laser irradiation condition for SUI treatment using non-ablative 980 nm laser from a safety perspective through numerical simulations. COMSOL Multiphysics was used to analyze the numerical simulation model. The Pennes bioheat equation with the Beer's law was used to confirm spatio-temporal temperature distributions, and Arrhenius equation defined the thermal damage caused by the laser-induced heat. Ex vivo porcine urethral tissue was tested to validate the extent of both temperature distribution and thermal damage. The temperature distribution was symmetrical and uniformly observed in the urethra tissue. A muscle layer had a higher temperature (28.3 ℃) than mucosal (23.4 ℃) and submucosal layers (25.5 ℃). MT staining revealed no heat-induced collagen and muscle damage. Both control and treated groups showed the equivalent thickness and area of the urethral mucosal layer. Therefore, the proposed numerical simulation can predict the appropriate irradiation condition (20 W for 15 s) for the SUI treatment with minimal temperature-induced tissue.

• 센서학회지
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• 제31권5호
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• pp.312-317
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• 2022

Piezoelectric energy harvesting has attracted increasing attention over the last decade as a means for generating sustainable and long-lasting energy from wasted mechanical energy. To develop self-powered wearable devices, piezoelectric materials should be flexible, stretchable, and bio-eco-friendly. This study proposed the fabrication of stretchable piezoelectric composites via dispersing perovskite-structured BaTiO₃ nanoparticles inside an Ecoflex polymeric matrix. In particular, the stretchable piezoelectric sensor array was fabricated via a simple and cost-effective spin-coating process by exploiting the piezoelectric composite comprising of BaTiO₃ nanoparticles, Ecoflex matrix, and stretchable Ag coated textile electrodes. The fabricated sensor generated an output voltage of ~4.3 V under repeated compressing deformations. Moreover, the piezoelectric sensor array exhibited robust mechanical stability during mechanical pushing of ~5,000 cycles. Finite element method with multiphysics COMSOL simulation program was employed to support the experimental output performance of the fabricated device. Finally, the stretchable piezoelectric sensor array can be used as a self-powered touch sensor that can effectively detect and distinguish mechanical stimuli, such as pressing by a human finger. The fabricated sensor demonstrated potential to be used in a stretchable, lead-free, and scalable piezoelectric sensor array.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.183-192
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• 2023

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an alternative treatment for liver cancer to the surgical intervention preferred by surgeons. However, the main challenge remains the use of RF for the ablation of large tumours (i.e., tumours with a diameter of >3 cm). For large tumours, RFA takes a large duration in the ablation process compared with surgery, which increases patient pain. Therefore, RFA for large tumours is not preferred by surgeons. The currently materials used in RF electrodes, such as the nickeltitanium alloy (nitinol), are characterized by low thermal and electrical conductivities. On the other hand, the use of materials that have high thermal and electrical conductivities, such as titanium aluminide alloy (gamma titanium), produces more thermal energy for tumours. In this paper, we developed a cool-tip RF electrode model that uses nickel-titanium alloy and replaced it with titanium aluminide alloy by using the finite element model (FEM). The aim of this paper is to study the effect of the thermal and electrical conductivities of gamma titanium on the ablation volume. Results showed that the proposed design of the electrode increased the ablation rate by 1 cm³ /minute and 6.3 cm³/10 minutes, with a decrease in the required time ablation. Finally, the proposed model reduces the ablation time and damages healthy tissue while increasing the ablation volume from 22.5% cm³ to 62.5% cm³ in ten minutes compared to recent studies.

• 한국군사과학기술학회지
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.335-343
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• 2023

Drone based Magnetic Anomaly Detection measure a magnetic anomaly signal from the ferromagnetic target on the ground. We conduct a magnetic anomaly detection with 9 ferromagnetic targets on the ground. By removing the magnetic field measured in the absence of ferromagnetic targets from the experimental value, the magnetic anomaly signal is clearly measured at an altitude of 100 m. We analyze the signal characteristics by the ferromagnetic target through simulation using COMSOL multiphysics. The simulation results are within the GPS error range of the experimental results.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제40권1호
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• pp.17-23
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• 2024

This study analyzes the thermal effects on the performance of an air foil thrust bearing (AFTB) using COMSOL Multiphysics to approximate actual bearing behavior under real conditions. An AFTB is a sliding-thrust bearing that uses air as a lubricant to support the axial load. The AFTB consists of top and bump foils and supports the rotating disk through the hydrodynamic pressure generated by the wedge effect from the inclined surface of the top foil and the elastic deformation of the bump foils, similar to a spring. The use of air as a lubricant has some advantages such as low friction loss and less heat generation, enabling air bearings to be widely used in high-speed rotating systems. However, even in AFTB, the effects of energy loss due to viscosity at high speeds, interface frictional heat, and thermal deformation of the foil caused by temperature increase cannot be ignored. Foil deformation derived from the thermal effect influences the minimum decay in film thickness and enhances the film pressure. For these reasons, performance analyses of isothermal AFTBs have shown few discrepancies with real bearing behavior. To account for this phenomenon, a thermal-fluid-structure analysis is conducted to describe the combined mechanics. Results show that the load capacity under the thermal effect is slightly higher than that obtained from isothermal analysis. In addition, the push and pull effects on the top foil and bump foil-free edges can be simulated. The differences between the isothermal and thermal behaviors are discussed.

• 한국전자통신학회논문지
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.589-602
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• 2024

열전 발전기(TEG)는 일반적으로 열 변환 효율이 높지 않다. 열전 발전기 모듈의 성능은 재료의 특성, 다리의 개수 외에도 다리의 형상에 따라 달라진다. 본 연구에서는 폐열을 효율적으로 수확할 수 있도록 열전소자의 다리 형상을 원통형, 큐브형 등 다양한 기하학적 구조로 모델링하여 전기적 특성을 수치상으로 비교하였다. 다리 형상에 따른 온도분포 및 발전량을 비교하였고 기존 Cube 모양이 가장 높게 나타났다. 냉각효과를 적용한 발전량을 비교한 결과 자연대류에서는 Cone, 강제대류에서는 Hourglass 모양이 가장 높았다. 본 연구 결과에 따르면 기하학적 구조가 열전 발전기의 효율에 영향을 미칠 수 있음을 확인하였다

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권1호
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• pp.167-179
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• 2024

This study explores the feasibility of employing (U, Th)-based accident tolerant fuels (ATFs), specifically (_0.8UO₂, _0.2ThO₂), (_0.8UN, _0.2ThN), and (_0.8UC, _0.2ThC). The investigation assesses the overall performance of these proposed fuel materials in comparison to the conventional UO₂, focusing on deep neutronic and thermal-hydraulic (Th) analyses. Neutronic analysis utilized the MCNPX code, while COMSOL Multiphysics was employed for thermal-hydraulic analysis. The primary objective of this research is to overcome the limitations associated with traditional UO₂ fuel by exploring alternative fuel materials that offer advantages in terms of abundance and potential improvements in performance and safety. Given the limited abundance of UO₂, long-term sustainable nuclear energy production faces challenges. From a neutronic standpoint, the U-Th based fuels demonstrated remarkable fuel cycle lengths, except (_0.8UN, _0.2ThN), which exhibited the minimum fuel cycle length and, consequently, the lowest fuel burn-up. Regarding thermal-hydraulic performance, (_0.8UN, _0.2ThN) exhibited outstanding performance with significant margins against fuel melting compared to the other materials. Overall, when considering the integrated performance, the most favourable results were obtained with the use of the (_0.8UC, _0.2ThC) fuel configurations. This study contributes valuable insights into the potential benefits of (U, Th)-based ATFs as a promising avenue for enhanced nuclear fuel performance.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.151-163
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• 2020

Grouting method is an effective way of reinforcing cracked rock masses and plugging water gushing. Current grouting diffusion models are generally developed for horizontal cracks, which is contradictory to the fact that the crack generally occurs in rock masses with irregular spatial distribution characteristics in real underground environments. To solve this problem, this study selected a cement-sodium silicate slurry (C-S slurry) generally used in engineering as a fast-curing grouting material and regarded the C-S slurry as a Bingham fluid with time-varying viscosity for analysis. Based on the theory of fluid mechanics, and by simultaneously considering the deadweight of slurry and characteristics of non-uniform spatial distribution of viscosity of fast-curing grouts, a theoretical model of slurry diffusion in an oblique crack in rock masses at constant grouting rate was established. Moreover, the viscosity and pressure distribution equations in the slurry diffusion zone were deduced, thus quantifying the relationship between grouting pressure, grouting time, and slurry diffusion distance. On this basis, by using a 3-d finite element program in multi-field coupled software Comsol, the numerical simulation results were compared with theoretical calculation values, further verifying the effectiveness of the theoretical model. In addition, through the analysis of two engineering case studies, the theoretical calculations and measured slurry diffusion radius were compared, to evaluate the application effects of the model in engineering practice. Finally, by using the established theoretical model, the influence of cracking in rock masses on the diffusion characteristics of slurry was analysed. The results demonstrate that the inclination angle of the crack in rock masses and azimuth angle of slurry diffusion affect slurry diffusion characteristics. More attention should be paid to the actual grouting process. The results can provide references for determining grouting parameters of fast-curing grouts in engineering practice.