• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.235-243
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• 2023

This paper presents the fabrication process of water-lubricated plastic bearings. Plastic bearings require good mechanical properties and tribological properties as well as elasticity and shock resistance, especially when lubricated in dirty water conditions. In this study, sleeve-type plastic bearings are produced by winding a prepreg sheet, which primary contains nitrile rubber (NBR)-modified epoxy, self-lubricating fillers, and various types of lattice-structured reinforcing fibers such as carbon, Aramid, and polyethylene terephthalate. A thermosetting epoxy is chemically modified with NBR to impart elasticity and low-friction characteristics in water conditions. Experimental investigations are conducted to examine the mechanical and tribological characteristics of the developed bearing materials, and the results are compared with the characteristics of a commercial plastic bearing (Thordon SXL), well known as a water-lubricated bearing. A Thordon bearing (mainly composed of polyurethane) exhibits an extremely low load-bearing capacity and is thus only suitable for medium loading (1~10MPa). The tribological characteristics of the test materials are evaluated through Falex block-on-ring (LFW-1) friction and wear tests. The results indicate that friction exhibited by the carbon-fiber-reinforced NBR-10wt.%-modified epoxy composite material, incorporated with the addition of 20wt.% UHMWPE and 6wt.% paraffin wax, is lower than that of the Thorden bearings, whereas its wear resistance surpass that of Thorden ones. Because of these features, the load carrying capacity of the fabricated composite (>10MPa) is higher than that of the Thorden bearings. These results confirm the applicability of water-lubricated plastic bearing materials developed in this study.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.259-263
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• 2010

Carbon fibers are used as a reinforcement material in an epoxy matrix in advanced composites due to their high mechanical strength, rigidity and low specific density. An important aspect of the mechanical properties of composites is associated to the adhesion between the surface of the carbon fiber and the epoxy matrix. This paper aimed to evaluate the effects of electron beam irradiation on the physicochemical properties of carbon fibers to obtain better adhesion properties in resultant composite. Chemical structure and surface elements of carbon fiber were determined by FT-IR, elemental analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, which indicated that the oxygen content increased significantly with increasing the radiation dose. Thermal stability of the carbon fibers was studied via the thermalgravimetric analysis. Surface morphology of carbon fiber was analyzed by scanning electron microscope. It was found that the degree of surface roughness was increased by electron beam irradiation.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.596-601
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• 2008

Larger amount of composite materials are used for light train. These days even the body structure of the coach was made by composite materials. In this study, we made the fire simulation with FDS by HRRPUA method for the passenger coach of carbon-epoxy composite material body structure. For the body structure fire resistance verification, 1.8 liters of gasoline were selected for fire source. For the interior fire case, 4.0 liters of gasoline fire source was selected as Daegu fire accident case.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1514-1519
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• 2001

This paper is concerned with design, manufacturing and performance test of LIPCA ( Lightweight Piezo- composite Curved Actuator) using a top carbon fiber composite layer with near -zero CTE(coefficient of thermal expansion), a middle PZT ceramic wafer and a bottom glass/epoxy layer with high CTE. The main point of this design is to replace the heavy metal layers of THUNDER by thigh tweight fiber reinforced plastic layers without losing capabilities to generate high force and large displacement. It is possible to save weight up to about 30% if we replace the metallic backing material by the light fiber composite layer. We can also have design flexibility by selecting the fiber direction and the size of prepreg layers. In addition to the lightweight advantage and design flexibility, the proposed device can be manufactured without adhesive layers when we use epoxy resin prepreg system. Glass/epoxy prepregs, a ceramic wafer with electrode surfaces, and a graphite/epoxy prepreg were simply stacked and cured at an elevated temperature (177 $^{circ}C$ after following an autoclave bagging process. It was found that the manufactured composite laminate device had a sufficient curvature after detached from a flat mold. The analysis method of the cure curvature of LIPCA using the classical lamination theory is presented. The predicted curvatures are fairly in agreement with the experimental ones. In order to investigate the merits of LIPCA, a performance test of both LIPCA and THUNDE$^{TM}$ were conducted under the same boundary conditions. From the experimental actuation tests, it was observed that the developed actuator could generate larger actuation displacement than THUNDERT$^{TM}$.

• Composites Research
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.20-25
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• 2007

Cyclic heating method is useful method for measuring the thermal diffusivity of porous materials. The main object of this paper is to develop and verify the thermal diffusivity measuring system of porous materials under vacuum condition. To verify this method, thermal diffusivities of the alumina ($Al_2O_3$) specimen and polystyrene foam were measured. Thermal diffusivities of these specimens were agreed with reference values. Thermal diffusivities of carbon/epoxy and porous insulation material were measured at atmospheric room temperature condition and vacuum condition respectively. Thermal diffusivities of carbon/epoxy and porous insulation material under vacuum are reduced by 66.4% and 64.9% compared to the thermal diffusivities under the atmospheric condition. These differences are considered the effect of the porous insulation material with an air.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.296-302
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• 2010

If the fiber reinforced plastic is exposed to the moisture for a long period of time, most of moisture absorption occurs on the resin place, thus dropping cohesiveness between the molecules as the water molecules permeated between high molecular chains grant high molecular mobility and flexibility. Also as the micro crack occurs due to the permeation of moisture on the interface of glass fiber and epoxy resin, it is developed to the overall damage of interface place. Hence, the study on absorption is essential as the mechanical and physical properties of fiber reinforced composites are reduced. However, the study on absorption has the inconvenience needing to expose composite materials to fresh water or seawater for 1 month or up to 1 year. Therefore, this study has exposed fiber reinforced composites to fresh water and has developed a model with an accuracy of 98% after comparing the analysis value obtained by using ANSYS while basing on the experimental value of property decline by absorption and the basic properties of glass fiber and epoxy resin used in the experiment.

• Composites Research
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.28-36
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• 2004

Micro-tow deformation during forming of PVC foam-fabric composite sandwich structure is investigated to find out the correlation between forming condition and material deformation. The foams used in this research are PVC foams which have 4 different densities and the fabric composite is Carbon/epoxy prepreg which is plain weave (3k) as a skin material. Tow parameters such as crimp angle and tow amplitude are measured using microscope and a proper image tool and are compared with each other. In order to find out the effect of foam deformation during forming on tow deformation the compressive tests of foams are performed in three different environmental temperatures ($25^{\circ}C$, $80{\circ}C$, $125^{\circ}C$). The microscopic observation results show that the micro tow deformations are quite different from each other with respect to the foam density and forming pressure.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.39-46
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• 2006

The fuel cell is one of promising environment-friendly energy sources for the next generation. The bipolar plate is a major component of the PEM fuel cell stack, which takes a large portion of stack cost. In this study, as alternative materials for bipolar plate of PEM fuel cells, graphite composites were fabricated by compression molding. Graphite particles mixed with epoxy resin were used as the main substance to provide electric conductivity To achieve desired electrical properties, specimens made with different mixing ratio, processing pressure and temperature were tested. To increase mechanical strength, one or two layers of woven carbon fabric were added to the graphite and resin composite. Thus, the composite material was consisted of three phases: graphite particles, carbon fabric, and epoxy resin. By increasing mixing ratio of graphite, fabricated pressure and process temperature, the electric conductivity of the composite was improved. The results of tensile test showed that the tensile strength of the two-phase graphite composite was about 4MPa, and that of three-phase composite was increased to 57MPa. As surface properties, contact an91e and surface roughness were tested. Graphite composites showed contact angles higher than $90^{\circ}$, which mean low surface energy. The average surface roughness of the composite specimens was $0.96{\mu}m$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.243-246
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• 2005

The weight reduction of carbody stl1lctures is of great concern in developing high speed tilting train for the normal operation of tilting system. The use of composite materials for the carbody structures has many advantages due to their excellent material propel1ies. In this paper, finite element analysis was conducted to verify the safety of the composite structures of Tilting Train eXpress(TTX). A train prototype with carbon/epoxy composite carbody was manufactured to perform static loading tests according to JIS E 7105. The loading tests were simulated by FE analysis to compare with the test results. To obtain more accurate and detailed result of stress distribution in local region of carbody, the submodeling approach was used. The submodeling analysis results showed the high levels of stress concentration occured on window frame part of TTX as the loading test results did.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.769-776
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• 2013

The dynamic compliance characteristics of a prosthetic foot midgait are very important for natural performance in an amputee's gait and should be in a range that provides natural, stable walking. In this study, finite element analysis (FEA) and classical laminate theory were used to examine the mechanical characteristics of a carbon-epoxy composite laminate prosthetic foot as a function of variation in the lamination composition. From this analysis, an FEM model of a prosthetic keel, made from the composite material, was developed. The lamination composition of the keel was designed for improved stiffness. The prototype product was fabricated using an autoclave. Vertical loading response tests were performed to verify the simulation model. The results of the experiments were similar to those from simulations below the loading level of the gait, suggesting use of the proposed simulation model for prosthetic keel design.