• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.133-137
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• 2005

We fabricated the Au/Ni template for YBCO coated conductors and evaluated texture formation and the microstructural evolution. The cube textured Ni substrate was fabricated by rolling and recrystallization annealing, and subsequently Au layer formed on the substrate by electroless-plating method. The texture was evaluated by pole-figure with x-ray goniometer with orientation distribution function (ODF) analysis. The surface roughness and grain boundary morphology of template were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) We observed that Au layer deposited epitaxially on Ni substrate and formed a strong cube texture when plating time was optimized. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) was $8.4^{\circ}$ for out-of-plane and $9.98^{\circ}$ for in-plane texture for plating time of 30 min. Microstructural observation showed that the Au layer was homogeneous and dense without formation of crack/microcrack. In addition, we observed that root-mean-square (RMS) and depth of grain boundary were 14.6 nm and 160 $\AA$ for the Au layer, respectively, while those were 27.0 nm and 800 $\AA$ for the Ni substrate, indicating that the electoless-plated Au layer had relatively smooth surface and effectively mollified grain groove.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.48-57
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• 1996

A study was made to examine the characteristics of base metal and stress relief cracking(SRC) of heat affected zone(HAZ) for HY-100 and Cu-bearing HSLA-100 steels. The Gleeble thermal/mechanical simulator was used to simulate the SRC/HAZ. The details of mechanical properties of base plate and SRC tested specimens were studied by impact test, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The specimens were aged at $650^{\circ}C$ for HSLA-100 steel and at $660^{\circ}C$ for HY-100 steel and thermal cycled from $1350^{\circ}C$ to $25^{\circ}C$ with a cooling time of $\Delta$t_${800^{circ}C/500^{circ}C}$=21sec. corresponds to the heat input of 30kJ/cm. The thermal cycled specimens were stressed to a predetermined level of 248~600MPa and then reheated to the stress relief temperatures of $570~620^{\circ}C$. The time to failure$(t_f)$ at a given stress level was used as a measure of SRC susceptibility. The strength, elongation and impact toughness of base plate were greater in HSLA-100 steel than in HY-100 steel. The time to failure was decreased with increasing temperature and/or stress. HSLA-100 steel was more susceptible to stress relief cracking than HY-100 steel under same conditions. It is thought to be resulted from the precipitation of $\varepsilon$-Cu phase by dynamic self diffusion of solute atoms. By the precipitation of $\varepsilon$-Cu phase, the differential strengthening of grain interior relative to grain boundary may be greater in the Cu-bearing HSLA-100 steel than in HY-100 steel. Therefore, greater strain concentration at grain boundary of HSLA-100 steel results in the increased SRC susceptibility. The activation energies for SRC of HSLA-100 steel are 103.9kcal/mal for 387MPa and 87.6kcal/mol for 437MPa and that of HY-100 steel is 129.2kcal/mol for 437MPa.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.448-454
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• 1996

The microstructural evolution of BaTiO3 ceramics during cubic-hexagonal phase transformation was investiga-ted. In the case of phase transformation from cubic to hexagonal BaTiO3 the hexagonal phase nucleated at the surface region of specimen. On the other hand in the case of that from hexgonal phase to cubic, cubic phase was initiated at the center region of specimen. And fast grain growth and irregular grain boundary shape could be also observed during these transformation processes. Besides low densified hexagonal BaTiO3 specimen was made with low forming pressure. The phase transformation of these specimens toward cubic phase was relatively retarded comparing with dense hexagonal BaTiO3 specimens. was made low forming pressure.. The phase transformation of these specimens toward cubic phase was relatively retarded comparing with dense hexagonal BaTiO3 specimens. These results were explained that hexagonal BaTiO3 had lowder surface energy than cubic phase.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2012

In this study, microstructural evaluation was carried out on secondary hardening type ultrahigh strength steel, Fe-Co-Ni composition. This paper as a first part of whole research presented the microstructural behavior by cyclic heat treatment. The cyclic heat treatment method includes normalizing, stress relieving, solution treatment and aging. Especially, solution treatments performed triple times to get maximized solution hardening. Phase transformation and microstructure were observed by using optical microscope (OM), Electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) and X-ray stress analyzer. During the triple solution treatment, size of grain boundary was dramatically decreased by generating a packet from the martensite transformation of residual austenite in the inner part of grain, whereas the hardness increase was not significant.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.39-52
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• 2007

Quantitative analysis on release behavior of the $^{85}Kr\;and\;^{14}C$ fission gases from the spent fuel material during the voloxidation and OREOX process has been performed. This thermal treatment step in a remote fabrication process to fabricate the dry-processed fuel from spent fuel has been used to obtain a fine powder The fractional release percent of fission gases from spent fuel materials with burn-up ranges from 27,000 MWd/tU to 65,000 MWd/tU have been evaluated by comparing the measured data with these initial inventories calculated by ORIGEN code. The release characteristics of $^{85}Kr\;and\;^{14}C$ fission gases during the voloxidation process at $500^{\circ}C$ seem to be closely linked to the degree of conversion efficiency of $UO_2\;to\;U_3O_8$ powder, and it is thus interpreted that the release from grain-boundary would be dominated during this step. The high release fraction of the fission gas from an oxidized powder during the OREOX process would be due to increase both in the gas diffusion at a temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ in a reduction step and in U atom mobility by the reduction. Therefore, it is believed that the fission gases release inventories in the OREOX step come from the inter-grain and inter-grain on $UO_2$ matrix. It is shown that the release fraction of $^{85}Kr\;and\;^{14}C$ fission gases during the voloxidation step would be increased as fuel burn-up increases, ranging from 6 to 12%, and a residual fission gas would completely be removed during the OREOX step. It seems that more effective treatment conditions for a removal of volatile fission gas are of powder formation by the oxidation in advance than the reduction of spent fuel at the higher temperature.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.119-125
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• 2020

One of the promising candidates for accident-tolerant fuel (ATF), a ceramic microcell fuel, which can be distinguished by an unusual cell-like microstructure (UO₂ grain cell surrounded by a doped oxide cell wall), is being developed. This study deals with the microstructural observation of the constituent phases and the wetting behaviors of the cell wall materials in three kinds of ceramic microcell UO₂ pellets: Si-Ti-O (STO), Si-Cr-O (SCO), and Al-Si-Ti-O (ASTO). The chemical and physical states of the cell wall materials are estimated by HSC Chemistry and confirmed by experiment to be mixtures of Si-O and Ti-O for the STO; Si-O and Cr-O for SCO; and Si-O, Ti-O, and Al-Si-O for the ASTO. From their morphology at triple junctions, UO₂ grains appear to be wet by the Si-O or Al-Si-O rather than other oxides, providing a benefit on the capture-ability of the ceramic microcell cell wall. The wetting behavior can be explained by the relationships between the interface energy and the contact angle.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.576-581
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• 2010

KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) fabricated MOX (Mixed Oxide) fuel pellets as a cooperation project with PSI (Paul Scherrer Institut) for an irradiation test in the Halden reactor. The MOX pellets were fitted into fuel rods that included instrumentation for measurement in IFE (Institutt for Energiteknikk). The fuel rods were assembled into the test rig and irradiated in the Halden reactor up to 50 MWd/kgHM. The irradiated fuel rods were transported to the IFE, where ceramography was carried out. The fuel rods were cut transversely at the relatively higher burn-up locations and then the radial cross sections were observed. Micrographs were analyzed using an image analysis program and grain sizes along the radial direction were measured by the linear intercept method. Radial cracks in the irradiated MOX were observed that were generally circumferentially closed at the pellet periphery and open in the hot central region. A circumferential crack was formed along the boundary between the dark central and the outer regions. The inner surface of the cladding was covered with an oxide layer. Pu-rich spots were observed in the outer region of the fuel pellets. The spots were surrounded by many small pores and contained some big pores inside. Metallic fission product precipitates were observed mainly in the central region and in the inside of the Pu spots. The average areal fractions of the metallic precipitates at the radial cross section were 0.41% for rod 6 and 0.32% for rod 3. In the periphery, pore density smaller than 2 ${\mu}m$ was higher than that of the other regions. The grain growth occurred from 10 ${\mu}m$ to 12 ${\mu}m$ in the central region of rod 6 during irradiation.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1998.07d
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• pp.1282-1284
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• 1998

ZnO Varistor is an electronic ceramic device for controlling the surge voltage from low level to high. In this study, the puncture mechanism occurring in ZnO varistor is investigated, and the simulation for restraining the puncture by formulating the relation between the applied voltage and the increase of the inside temperature of grain is applied. In order to simulate the cause of the current localization which is the primary factor causing the puncture, the localization phenomenon and the temperature distribution induced by the localized current, the Voronoi network is applied, which can realize the structure of the practical varistor better than the established simple network. Using the current through each grain and the voltage applied to the grain boundary obtained from that simulation, the Joule heating energy is calculated and the phenomenon that the puncture occurs can be analyzed quantitatively by simulating the electric and thermal characteristics according to the externally applied pulsed voltage.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.607-611
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• 2015

The microstructural evolution of Grade 91 tempered martensite ferritic steels heat treated at $760{\sim}1000^{\circ}C$ for two hours was investigated using scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy disperse spectroscopy(EDS), electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), and transmission electron microscopy(TEM); a microhardness tester was also employed, with a focus on the grain and precipitate evolution process as well as on the main hardening element. It was found that an evolution of tempered martensite to ferrite($760{\sim}850^{\circ}C$), and to fresh martensite($900{\sim}1000^{\circ}C$), occurred with the increase of temperature. Simultaneously, the parabolic evolution characteristics of the low angle grain boundary(LAGB) increased with the increase of the heating temperature(highest fraction of LAGB at $925^{\circ}C$), indicating grain recovery upon intercritical heating. The main precipitate, $M_{23}C_6$, was found to be coarsened slightly at $760{\sim}850^{\circ}C$; it then dissolved at $850{\sim}1000^{\circ}C$. Besides this, $M_3C$ cementite was formed at $900{\sim}1000^{\circ}C$. Finally, the experimental results show that the hardness of the steel depended largely on the matrix structure, rather than on the precipitates, with the fresh martensite showing the highest hardness value.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.335-343
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• 1999

The effects of N $b_2$ $O_{5}$ and oxygen potential on the densification and grain growth of U $O_2$ fuel have been investigated.0.3 wt% N $b_2$ $O_{5}$ -doped U $O_2$fuel pellets were sintered at 1$700^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours in sintering atmospheres which have various ratios of $H_2O$ to $H_2$ gas. Compared with those of undoped U $O_2$ pellets, the sintered density and grain size of the 0.3 wt% N $b_2$ $O_{5}$ -doped U $O_2$ pellet increase under the $H_2O$/ $H_2$ gas ratio of 5.0$\times$10$^{-3}$ to 1.0$\times$10$^{-2}$ and under the $H_2O$/ $H_2$gas ratio of 5.0$\times$10$^{-3}$ to $1.5\times$10$^{-2}$ , respectively. The sintering of U $O_2$fuel pellets containing 0.1 wt% to 0.5 wt% N $b_2$ $O_{5}$ was carried out at 168$0^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours. The enhancing effect of N $b_2$ $O_{5}$ on the sintered density and grain size becomes larger as the N $b_2$ $O_{5}$ content increases. The solubility limit of N $b_2$ $O_{5}$ in U $O_{2}$ seems to be between 0.3 wt% and 0.5 wt%, and beyond the solubility limit the second phase whose composition corresponds near to N $b_2$U $O_{6}$ is precipitated on grain boundary. The enhancement of densification and grain growth in U $O_2$ is attributed to the increased concentration of a uranium vacancy which is formed by the interstitial N $b^{4+}$ ion in the U $O_2$ lattice.