• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.47-70
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• 2012

To enhance cable stiffness, this paper proposed a combined application of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) and steel materials, resulting in a novel type of hybrid stay cable system especially for the cable-stayed bridges with main span lengths of 1400~2800 m. In this combination, CFRP materials can conserve all their advantages such as light weight and high strength; while steel materials help increase the equivalent stiffness to compensate for the low elastic modulus of CFRP materials. An increase of the equivalent stiffness of the hybrid stay cable system could be further obtained with a reasonable increase of its safety factor. Following this concept, a series of parametric studies for the hybrid stay cable system with the consideration of stiffness and cost were carried out. Three design strategies/criteria, namely, best equivalent stiffness with a given safety factor, highest ratio of equivalent stiffness to material cost with a given safety factor, and best equivalent stiffness under a given cost were proposed from the stiffness and cost viewpoints. Finally, a comprehensive design procedure following the proposed design strategies was suggested. It was shown that the proposed hybrid stay cable system could be a good alternative to the pure CFRP or traditional steel stay cables in the future applications of super long span bridges.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.59-60
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• 2009

Steel fibers are recently well recognized for good composite/strengthening materials because of their ductile behavior and good performance on crack control and shear behavior compared to concrete materials. Especially, the great improvement in shear strength by steel fibers led researchers to be involved in many experimental studies. However, our understanding on the complex shear behavior of the steel fiber reinforced concrete(SFRC) members are still very limited, and the fundamental test data are also not enough. In this study, therefore, 4 SFRC specimens were fabricated and tested, from which the effectiveness of steel fibers as shear reinforcement were evaluated. The test results shows that the shear strength of SFRC members increases as the amount of steel fibers increases.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.85-87
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• 2006

The tensile-recoil compressional behavior of the carbon nanotube reinforced mesophase pitch (MP)-based composite carbon fibers (CNT-re-MP CFs) was investigated by using Instron and SEM. The CNT-re-MP CFs exhibited improved, or at least equivalent, compressive strength as compared with commercial MP-based carbon fibers. Particularly, when CNT of 0.1 wt% was reinforced, the ratios of recoil compressive strengths to tensile strength of CNT-re-MPCFs were much higher (the difference is at least 10 % or higher) than those for the commercial counterparts and even than those for PAN-based commercial carbon fibers. FESEM micrographs showed somewhat different fractography from that of a typical shear failure as the CNT content increased.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.136-141
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• 2010

ACF/ZnO photocatalyst was synthesized by a sol-gel method using activated carbon fiber (ACF) and Zn $(NO_3)_2$ as precursors. Samples were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller measurements (BET), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The XRD results showed that ACF/ZnO composites only included a hexagonal phase by heat-treated temperature at $400^{\circ}C$, $500^{\circ}C$, $600^{\circ}C$, and $700^{\circ}C$. The SEM analysis revealed that the ACF/ZnO composites did not exhibit any morphological changes of the catalyst surface according to the different heat-treated temperatures. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was tested for degradation of methylene blue (MB) solutions under ultraviolet (UV) light and ultrasonication respectively. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of ACF/ZnO composites heat-treated at $500^{\circ}C$ was higher than other samples, which is ascribed to the fine distribution of ZnO particles on the surface of the ACF. In addition, an ultrasound of low power (50 W) was used as an irradiation source to successfully induce ACF/ZnO composites to perform sonocatalytic degradation of MB. Results indicated that the sonocatalytic method in the presence of ACF/ZnO composites is an advisable choice for the treatments of organic dyes.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.485-490
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• 2010

In our previous studies, continuous SiC fiber-reinforced SiC-matrix composites ($SiC_f$/SiC) had been fabricated by two different slurry infiltration methods: vacuum infiltration and electrophoretic deposition (EPD). 12 wt% of $Al_2O_3-Y_2O_3$-MgO with respect to SiC powder was used as additives for liquid-phase assisted sintering. After hot pressing at $1750^{\circ}C$ under 20 MPa for 2 h in Ar atmosphere, a high composite density could be achieved for both cases, whereas the problems such as large grain size and non-uniform distribution of liquid phase were observed, which was resulted in the relatively poor mechanical properties of composites. Therefore, efforts have been made to reduce the grain growth during the sintering, including the optimization for hot pressing condition and utilization of spark plasma sintering using a SiC monolith. Based on the results, spark plasma sintering was found to be effective method in decreasing the amount of sintering additive, time and grain growth, which will be explained in comparison to the results of hot pressing in this paper.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.91-97
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• 2013

Pyrolysis and surface recession of charring composites are progressed primarily in the thickness direction. The unmixing-mixing scheme is applied to describe the in-plane and through-thickness behaviors of porous composites. The extended unmixing-mixing equations are based on transverse isotropy of unidirectionally fiber-reinforced composites. The strain components of gas pressure in pores, thermal expansion, and chemical shrinkage are included in the constitutive model. By analyzing micromechanical representative volume elements of porous composites, the validity of the derived equations are examined.

• Composites Research
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.51-56
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• 2001

It is known that the elastic modulus, maximum stress, and maximum strain of fiber-reinforced polymer composites are affected by high pressure. Fracture behavior is also known to be affected by high pressure. In this work, the pressure effect on the compressive fracture toughness of thick quasi-isotropic composites was investigated. Dog-bone type specimens of stacking sequence, [0$^{\circ}$/$\pm$45$^{\circ}$/90$^{\circ}$]$_{11s}$ were used. Compressive fracture tests were conducted under four pressure levels. The pressure levels applied were 0.1 MPa, 100 MPa, 200 MPa, and 300 MPa. Fracture toughness for each pressure level was determined from the compliance method. The results show that the compressive fracture toughness increases with increasing pressure. Specifically, fracture toughness increases 44% as the pressure increases from 0.1 MPa to 300 MPa.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.1416-1425
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• 2002

In this study, the effects of combined environmental factors on mechanical and thermal analysis properties of graphite/epoxy composites were evaluated by the use of an accelerated aging test. Environmental factors such as temperature, moisture. and ultraviolet were considered. A xenon-arc lamp was utilized for ultraviolet light. and exposure times of up to 3000 hours were applied. Several types of specimens - tensile. bending, and shear specimens those are transverse to the fiber direction, and bending specimens those are parallel to the tiber direction - were used to investigate the effects of environmental factors on mechanical properties of the composites. Also, glass transition temperature, storage shear modulus, loss shear modulus, and tan ${\delta}$ were measured as a function of exposure times through a dynamic mechanical analyzer. In addition. a suitable testing method for determining the effect of environmental factors on mechanical properties is suggested by comparing the results from using two different types of strain measuring sensors. Finally, composite surfaces exposed to environmental factors were examined using a scanning electron microscope.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.7-15
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• 2014

Agar-based composite films were prepared with variety of food processing and agricultural processing waste materials in order to screen natural lingo-cellulosic resources for the value-added utilization of the under-utilized materials. The effect of these waste materials (10 wt% based on agar) on mechanical properties, moisture content (MC), water vapor permeability (WVP), water absorption behavior of biocomposite films were investigated. Biocomposite films prepared with various fibers resulted in significant increase or decrease in color and percent transmittance. The MC, WVP, and surface hydrophobicity of biocomposite films increased significantly by incorporation of fibers, while the water uptake ratio and solubility of the film decreased. SEM images of biocomposite film showed better adhesion between the fiber and agar polymer. Among the tested cellulosic waste materials, rice wine waste, onion and garlic fibers were promising for the value-added utilization as a reinforcing material for the preparation of biocomposite food packaging films.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.999-1022
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• 2016

The use of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) to strengthen steel structures has attracted the attention of researchers greatly. Previous studies demonstrated bonding of CFRP plates to the steel sections has been a successful method to increase the mechanical properties. However, the main limitation to popular use of steel/CFRP strengthening system is the concern on durability of bonding between steel and CFRP in various environmental conditions. The paper evaluates the performance of I-section steel beams strengthened with pultruded CFRP plate on the bottom flange after exposure to diverse conditions including natural tropical climate, wet/dry cycles, plain water, salt water and acidic solution. Four-point bending tests were performed at specific intervals and the mechanical properties were compared to the control beam. Besides, the ductility of the strengthened beams and distribution of shear stress in adhesive layer were investigated thoroughly. The study found the adhesive layer was the critical part and the performance of the system related directly to its behavior. The highest strength degradation was observed for the beams immersed in salt water around 18% after 8 months exposure. Besides, the ductility of all strengthened beams increased after exposure. A theoretical procedure was employed to model the degradation of epoxy adhesive.