• KSTLE International Journal
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2003

Abrasion in fretting wear mechanism is studied experimentally with the specimens of two different shapes of spacer grid spring and fuel tubes of a nuclear fuel. Reciprocating sliding wear test has been carried out in the environment of air and water at room temperature. Especially, third body abrasion is referred to for explaining the wear region expansion found during the slip displacement increase with constant normal contact farce. It is found that the expansion behaviour depends on the contact shape. The small clearance between the tube and spring seems to be the preferable region of the wear particle accumulation, which causes third body abrasion of the non-contact area. Even in water environment the third body abrasion occurs apparently. Since the abrasion on the clearance contributes wear volume, the influence of the contact shape on the severity of third body abrasion should be considered to improve the grid spring design in the point of restraining wear damage of a nuclear fuel.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.291-299
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• 2001

Recently, severe wear on the shutdown rod cladding of Ulchin Nuclear Power Plant #1, #2 were observed by the Eddy Current Test(E.C.T.). In particular, the wear at the sixth card location was up to 75%. The test results indicated that the Flow Induced Vibration(F.I.V.) might be the cause of the fretting wear resulting from the contact between Rod Cluster Control Assemblies(RCCAs) and their spacing cards(guide plates) arranged in the guide tube. From reviewing RCCAs fretting wear repots and analyzing the general characteristics of F.I.V. mechanism in the reactor, geometric layout and flow conditions around the control rod, it is concluded that the turbulence excitation is the most probable vibration mechanism of RCCA. To identify the governing mechanism of RCCA vibration, an experiment was performed for a representative rod position in which the most serious fretting wear experienced among the six rod positions. The experimental rig was designed and set up to satisfy the governing nondimensional numbers which are Reynolds number and mass damping parameter. The vibration amplitude measurement by the non-contact laser displacement sensor showed good agreements in the frequency and the maximum wearing(vibration) location with Ulchin E.C.T. results and Framatome report, respectively. The sudden increase in the vibration amplitude was sensed around the 6th guide plate with mass flow rate variation. Comparing the similitude rod behaviour with the idealized response of a cylinder in flow induced vibration, it was found that he dominant mechanism of vibration was transferred from turbulence excitation to periodic shedding at the mass flow ate 90ι/min. Also the critical velocity of the vibration in RCCAs was determined and the vibration can be prevented by reducing the bypass flow rate below the critical velocity.

• KSTLE International Journal
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.60-67
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• 2002

Wear on the tube-to-spring contact is investigated experimentally, The vibration of the tube causes the wear while the springs support it As for the supporting conditions, the contacting normal farce of 5 N,0 N and the gap of 0.1 mm are applied. The gap condition is for considering the influence of simultaneous impacting and sliding on wear. The wear volume and depth decreases in the order of the 5 N,0 N and the gap conditions. This is explained from the contact geometry of the spring, which is convex of smooth contour, The contact shear force is regarded smaller in the case of the gap existence compared with the other conditions. The wear mechanism is considered from SEM observation of the worn surface. The variation of the normal contact traction is analysed using the finite element analysis to estimate the slip displacement range on the contact with consulting the fretting map.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.63-70
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• 2002

Wear on the tube-to-spring contact is investigated experimentally. The wear is caused by the vibration of the tube while the springs support it. As for the supporting conditions, applied are the contacting normal force (P) of 5 N, just-contact (P = 0 N) and the gap of 0.1 mm. The gap condition is tried far considering the influence of simultaneous impacting and sliding on wear. Results show that the wear volume increases in the order of the gap, the just-contact and the 5 N conditions. This is explained from the contact geometry of the spring, which is convex of smooth contour. The contact shear force is regarded smaller in the case of the gap existence compared with the other conditions. Wear mechanism is considered from SEM observation of the worn surface. The variation of the normal contact traction is analysed using the finite element analysis to estimate the slip displacement range on the contact with consulting the fretting map previously obtained.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.545-551
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• 2012

In semiconductor manufacturing, the circuit integrity of packaged BGA devices is tested by measuring electrical resistance using test sockets. Test sockets have been reported to often fail earlier than the expected life-time due to high contact resistance. This has been attributed to the formation of Sn oxide films on the Au coating layer of the probe pins loaded on the socket. Similar to contact failure, and known as "fretting", this process widely occurs between two conductive surfaces due to the continual rupture and accumulation of oxide films. However, the failure mechanism at the probe pin differs from fretting. In this study, the microstructural processes and formation mechanisms of Sn oxide films developed on the probe pin surface were investigated. Failure analysis was conducted mainly by FIB-FESEM observations, along with EDX, AES, and XRD analyses. Soft and fresh Sn was found to be transferred repeatedly from the solder bump to the Au surface of the probe pins; it was then instantly oxidized to SnO. The $SnO_2$ phase is a more stable natural oxide, but SnO has been proved to grow on Sn thin film at low temperature (< $150^{\circ}C$). Further oxidation to $SnO_2$ is thought to be limited to 30%. The SnO film grew layer by layer up to 571 nm after testing of 50,500 cycles (1 nm/100 cycle). This resulted in the increase of contact resistance and thus of signal delay between the probe pin and the solder bump.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.10 no.4 s.37
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• pp.589-600
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• 1998

This study was planned to verify the usefulness of Latin square design method in fatigue tests of cables and to see the axial fatigue behavior of wire ropes being used as hangers in suspension bridges. Three parameters : mean stress, stress range. and specimen length, were adopted for verification. The effects of these parameters are in argument except for stress range. Three classes in each parameter were used. Triple replication was performed in each cell to increase the number of replication (or degree of freedoms). The major cause of fatigue failure was fretting fatigue at trellis contact point. Three chosen parameters were proved to be significant. It was verified that the effect of stress range was in agreement with expectation, but the effect of specimen length was contrary to the expectation. It was also observed that the effect of mean stress depended upon the chosen level. Therefore Latin square design method is effective for verifying the parameters that affect fatigue behaviour under orthogonality conditions.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.828-835
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• 2006

Spacer grid springs support the fuel rods in a nuclear fuel system. The spacer grid is a part of a fuel assembly. Since a spring has repeated contacts with the fuel rod, fretting wear occurs on the surface of the spring. Design is usually performed to reduce the wear. The conceptual design process for the spring is defined by using the Independence of axiomatic design and the design is carried out based on the direction that the design matrix indicates. For detailed design an optimization problem is formulated. In optimization, homologous design is employed to reduce fretting wear. The deformation of a structure is called homologous if a given geometrical relationship holds for a given number of structural points before, during, and after the deformation. In this case, the deformed shape of the spring should be the same as that of the fuel rod. 1bis condition is transformed to a function and considered as a constraint in the optimization process. The objective function is minimizing the maximum stress to allow a local plastic deformation. Optimization results show that the contact occurs in a wide range. Also, the results are verified by nonlinear finite element analysis.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.179-188
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• 2021

Reputed for their low friction coefficient and wear protection effect, diamond-like carbon (DLC) materials are considered amongst the most important lubricant coatings for tribological applications. In this framework, this investigation aims to elucidate the effect of a few operating parameters, such as applied stress and sliding amplitude on the friction lifetime of DLC coatings. Fretting wear tests are conducted using a 12.7 mm radius counterpart of 52100 steel balls slid against a substrate of the same material coated with a 2 ㎛ thickness DLC. Approximately, 5 to 57 N force is applied, generating a maximum Hertzian contact pressure of 430 to 662 MPa, corresponding to the applied force. The coefficient of friction (CoF) generates three regimes, first a running-in period regime, followed by a steady-state evolution regime, and finally a progressive increase of the CoF reaching the steel CoF value, as an indicator of reaching the substrate. To track the wear scenario, interrupted tests are performed with analysis combining scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), 3D profilometer and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The results show two endurance values: one characterizing the coating failure (Nc₁), and the other (Nc₂) indicating the friction failure which is situated where the CoF reaches a threshold value of μ_th = 0.3 in the third regime. The Archard energy density factor is used to determine the two endurance values (Nc₁, Nc₂). Based on this approach, a master curve is established delimitating both the coating and the friction endurances.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.497-502
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• 2008

BGA test sockets failed earlier than the expected life-time due to abnormal signal delay, shown especially at the low temperature ($-50^{\circ}C$). Analysis of failed sockets was conducted by EDX, AES, and XRD. A SnO layer contaminated with C was found to form on the surface of socket pins. The formation of SnO layer was attributed to the repeated Sn transfer from BGA balls to pin surface and instant oxidation of fresh Sn. As a result, contact resistance increased, inducing signal delay. Abnormal signal delay at the low temperature was attributed to the increasing resistivity of Sn oxide with decreasing temperature, as manifested by the resistance measurement of $SnO_2$.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.409-416
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• 2012

Recently, surface modification technology is of importance to improve the wear resistance and the corrosive resistance for high accurate mechanical parts such as LM guide, Ball Screw and Roller Bearing etc., Those has generally featured on rolling contact mechanism to improve not only the wear and the friction, but also the accuracy and the corrosion performances. For surface modifications of high accurate mechanical parts, normally thermal spray, PVD, CVD and E.P. processes have been used with many materials such as DLC, raydent, W, Ni, Ti etc. Diamondlike carbon (DLC) films possess a combination of attractive properties and have been largely employed to modify the tribological behaviors such as friction, wear, corrosion, fretting fatigue, biocompatibility, etc. However, for rolling contact mechanism mechanical parts DLC films are needed to study for commercial benefit. Rolling contact mechanism has features on effects of cyclic motions and stresses, and also not simply sliding motions. The papers focused on the performance test of wear and corrosive resistance according to Me-DLC film thickness. And also, its thickness effect of wear analysis was carried out through the simulation of the maximum shear stress under the rolling contact surface. As the results, Me-DLC films have more potential to improve the wear resistance for high precision mechanical parts than raydent films.