• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.991-1004
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• 2009

Operating experience of the various components in the nuclear power plants has shown that a variety of degradation mechanisms can occur during operation. Therefore, the accurate lifetime evaluation and systematic management are very important for the safe as well as the economical operation of the nuclear power plants. In this paper, the characteristics of a total of 17 degradation mechanisms were reviewed and the plausible degradation mechanisms such as stress corrosion cracking, fatigue, irradiation embrittlement, and so on, were identified. Also, the lifetime evaluation technologies which have been developed for the application to the domestic nuclear power plants are described. In addition, a total of 48 aging management programs which have been established for the safe operation of the various components are explained.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.152-162
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• 2005

Coolant rubber hoses for automobile radiators can be degraded and thus failed due to the influence of contacting stresses of air and coolant liquid under the thermal and mechanical loadings. In this study, test analysis was carried out for evaluating the degradation and failure mechanisms of coolant hose materials. Two kinds of EPDM rubber materials applicable to the hoses were adopted: commonly-used ethylene-propylene diene monomer(EPDM) rubbers and EPDM rubbers with high resistance against electro-chemical degradation (ECD). An increase of surface hardness and a large reduction of failure strain were shown due to the formation of oxidation layer for the specimens which had been kept in a high temperature air chamber. Coolant ageing effects took place only by an amount of pure thermal degradation. The specimens degraded by ECD test showed a swelling behavior and a considerable increase in weight on account of the penetration of coolant liquid into the skin and interior of the rubber specimens. The ECD induced material softening as well as drastic reduction in strength and failure strain. However EPDM rubbers designed for high resistance against ECD revealed a large improvement in reduction of failure strain and weight. This study finally established a procedure for reliability analysis and evaluation of the degradation and failure mechanisms of EPDM rubbers used in coolant hoses for automobile radiators.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.107-119
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• 2019

In-service reinforced concrete structures are simultaneously subjected to a combination of multi-deterioration environmental actions and mechanical loads. The combination of two or more deteriorative actions in environments can potentially accelerate the degradation and aging of concrete materials and structures. This paper reviews the coupling and synergistic mechanisms among various deteriorative driving forces (e.g. chloride salts- and carbonation-induced reinforcement corrosion, cyclic freeze-thaw action, alkali-silica reaction, and sulfate attack). In addition, the effects of mechanical loads on detrimental environmental factors are discussed, focusing on the transport properties and damage evolution in concrete. Recommendations for advancing current testing methods and predictive modeling on assessing the long-term durability of concrete with consideration of the coupling effects are provided.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.11
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• pp.4111-4124
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• 2022

The control rod drive system is critical to the reactor's reliable operation. The performance of its control system and mechanical system will gradually deteriorate because of operational and environmental stresses, thus increasing the reactor's operational risk. Currently there are few researches on the aging-related degradation of the entire control rod drive system. Because it is difficult to quantify the effect of various environmental stresses and establish an accurate physical model when multiple mechanisms superimposed in the degradation process. Therefore, this paper investigates the aging-related degradation of a control rod drive system by integrating Dynamic Object-Oriented Bayesian Network and Hidden Markov Model. Uncertainties in the degradation of the control system and mechanical system are addressed by using fuzzy theory and the Hidden Markov Model respectively. A system which consists of eight control rod drive mechanisms divided into two groups is used to demonstrate the method. The aging-related degradation of the control rod drive system is analyzed by the Bayesian inference algorithm based on the accelerated life test data, and the impact of different operating schemes on the system performance is also investigated. Meanwhile, the components or units that have major impact on the system's performance are identified at different operational phases. Finally, several essential safety measures are suggested to mitigate the risk caused by the system degradation.

• Composites Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.15-26
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• 2001

Interfacial properties and microfailure degradation mechanisms of the bioabsorbable composites fur implant materials were investigated using micromechanical technique and nondestructive acoustic emission (AE). As hydrolysis time increased, the tensile strength, the modulus and the elongation of poly(ester-amide) (PEA) and bioactive glass fibers decreased, whereas these of chitosan fiber almost did not change. Interfacial shear strength (IFSS) between bioactive glass fiber and poly-L-lactide (PLLA) was much higher than PEA or chitosan fiber/PLLA systems using dual matrix composite (DMC) specimen. The decreasing rate of IFSS was the fastest in bioactive glass fiber/PLLA composites whereas that of chitosan fiber/PLLA composites was the slowest. AE amplitude and AE energy of PEA fiber decreased gradually, and their distributions became narrower than those in the initial state with hydrolysis time. In case of bioactive glass fiber, AE amplitude and AE energy in tensile failure were much higher than in compression. In addition, AE parameters at the initial state were much higher than those after degradation under both tensile and compressive tests. In this work, interfacial properties and microfailure degradation mechanisms can be important factors to control bioabsorbable composite performance.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.18-27
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• 2003

Interfacial properties and microfailure degradation mechanisms of the oxygen-plasma treated biodegradable poly(p-dioxanone) (PPDO) fiber/poly(L-lactide) (PLLA)composites were investigated for the orthopedic applications as implant materials using micromechanical technique and surface wettability measurement. PPDO fiber reinforced PLLA composite can provide good mechanical performance for long hydrolysis time. The degree of degradation for PPDO fiber and PLLA matrix was measured by thermal analysis and optical observation. IFSS and work of adhesion, $W_a$ between PPDO fiber and PLLA matrix showed the maximum at the plasma treatment time, at 60 seconds. Work of adhesion was lineally proportional to the IFSS. PPDO fiber showed ductile microfailure modes at We initial state, whereas brittle microfailure modes appeared with elapsing hydrolysis time. Interfacial properties and microfailure degradation mechanisms can be important factors to control bioabsorbable composites performance because IFSS changes with hydrolytic degradation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics A
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• v.31A no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 1994

Characteristics of hot-electron-induced degradation by AC, DC was investigated for p-MOSFET's(W/L=25/l$\mu$m) with sub-10nm RTP-CVD gate oxides. It was confirmed that the surface channel p-MOSFET of a thinner gate oxide shows less degradation. Mechanisms for this effect were analyzed using a simple MOS Device degradation model. It was found that the number of generated electron traps(fixed charge) is determined by the amount of peak gate current, dependent of the gate oxide thickness, and the major cause of the smaller degradation in the thinner gate oxide devices is the lower hot electron trapping carriers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2002.04b
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• pp.49-52
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• 2002

Degradation characteristics of cathodoluminescence (CL) of ZnS:Ag,Cl phosphor were investigated with measurements of CL and photoluminescence (PL). Phosphoric acid treatment was performed to phosphor particles in order to improve CL degradation of phosphor screen that occurred during panel sealing process, and we will discuss mechanisms of degradation and improvement of luminescence mainly with help of AES (auger electron spectroscopy) analysis.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2003.07b
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• pp.687-690
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• 2003

Experimental results are presented for gate oxide degradation and its effect on device parameters under negative and positive bias stress conditions using NMOSFET's with 3 nm gate oxide. The degradation mechanisms are highly dependent on stress conditions. For negative gate voltage, both hole- and electron-trapping are found to dominate the reliability of gate oxide. However, with changing gate voltage polarity, the degradation becomes dominated by electron trapping. Statistical parameter variations as well as the "OFF" leakage current depend on those charge trapping. Our results therefore show that Si or O bond breakage by electron can be another origin of the investigated gate oxide degradation.gradation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.263-267
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• 2001

The changes of interfacial properties and microfailure degradation mechanisms of bioabsorbable composites with hydrolysis were investigated using micromechanical test and acoustic emission (AE). As hydrolysis time increased, the tensile strength, the modulus and the elongation of PEA and bioactive glass fibers decreased, whereas those of chitosan fiber changed little. Interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of bioactive glass fiber/poly-L-lactide (PLLA) composite was significantly higher than that two other systems. The decreasing rate of IFSS was the fastest in bioactive glass fiber/PLLA composite, whereas that of chitosan fiber/PLLA composite was the slowest. With increasing hydrolysis time, distribution of AE amplitude was narrow, and AE energy decreased gradually.