• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.128-139
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• 1998

The effect of UO$_2$ powder property and oxygen potential on characteristics of sintered UO$_2$-Gd$_2$O$_3$ fuel pellets has been investigated. Two types of powder, mixture of AUC-UO$_2$ and Gd$_2$O$_3$powders (type I) and mixture of ADU-UO$_2$ and Gd$_2$O$_3$powders (type II), have been prepared, pressed, and sintered at 168$0^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours. Four sintering atmospheres with different mixing ratios of $CO_2$to H$_2$ gas ranging from 0 to 0.3 have been used. UO$_2$-Gd$_2$O$_3$ fuel has lower sintered density than UO$_2$ fuel, and the density drop is larger for powder type I than for powder type II. As the oxygen potential increases, the sintered density of UO$_2$-2wt% Gd$_2$O$_3$pellets increases but that of UO$_2$-10wt% Gd$_2$O$_3$ pellets decreases. It is found that pores are newly formed in UO$_2$-10wt% Gd$_2$O$_3$ pellets in accordance with the decrease in density. The grain size of UO$_2$-Gd$_2$O$_3$ fuel increases and a short range G4 distribution becomes homogeneous as the oxygen potential increases. A long range ed distribution and grain structure are inhomogeneous for powder type II. The lattice parameter of (U,Gd)O$_2$solid solution decreases linearly with Gd$_2$O$_3$ content. The dependence of UO$_2$-Gd$_2$O$_3$fuel characteristics on powder type and sintering atmosphere have been discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.245-251
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• 2018

Recently, as the importance of structural maintenance has been increased, studies on self - healing concrete technology are being actively carried out. On the other hand, test for evaluating the self-healing performance is not standardized yet. Although visual test is used as a basic method for measuring crack widths, it is difficult to observe the crack width inside the specimen, and there is a disadvantage that only the local measurement of the surface can be measured due to the inhomogeneous cracking characteristics. Although permeability test has been widely used as an indirect method for measuring crack width, there is a problem due to the viscosity of water, and also a possibility that the internal material of the specimen may be eluted during the test. In this study, we propose a crack width evaluation method using gas diffusion characteristics. Idealized straight cracks were fabricated by acrylic and the diffusion coefficients of specimens were analyzed with respect to crack width and thickness. The experimental results show that the crack width and the diffusion coefficient are in a linear relationship and that the thickness and diffusion coefficient are inversely related.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.353-362
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• 2019

Soil-rock mixture (S-RM) is an inhomogeneous geomaterial that is widely encountered in nature. The mechanical and physical properties of S-RM are important factors contributing towards different deformation characteristics and unstable modes of the talus slope. In this paper, the equivalent substitution method was employed for the preparation of S-RM test samples, and large-scale triaxial laboratory tests were conducted to investigate their mechanical parameters by varying the water content and confining pressure. Additionally, a simplified geological model based on the finite element method was established to compare the stability of talus slopes with different strength parameters and in different excavation and support processes. The results showed that the S-RM samples exhibit slight strain softening and strain hardening under low and high water content, respectively. The water content of S-RM also had an effect on decreasing strength parameters, with the decrease in magnitude of the cohesive force and internal friction angle being mainly influenced by the low and high water content, respectively. The stability of talus slope decreased with a decrease in the cohesion force and internal friction angle, thereby creating a new shallow slip surface. Since the excavation of toe of the slope for road construction can easily cause a landslide, anti-slide piles can be used to effectively improve the slope stability, especially for shallow excavations. But the efficacy of anti-slide piles gradually decreases with increasing water content. This paper can act as a reference for the selection of strength parameters of S-RM and provide an analysis of the instability of the talus slope.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.492-500
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• 2019

Equal channel angular pressing(ECAP) is a severe plastic deformation technique capable of introducing large shear strain in bulk metal materials. However, if an ECAPed material has an inhomogeneous microstructure and anisotropic mechanical properties, this material is difficult to apply as structural components subjected to multi-axial stress during use. In this study, extruded oxygen-free copper(OFC) rods with a large diameter of 42 mm are extruded through ECAP by route Bc up to 12 passes. The variations in the microstructure, hardness, tensile properties, and microstructural and mechanical homogeneity of the ECAPed samples are systematically analyzed. High-strength OFC rods with a homogeneous and equiaxed-ultrafine grain structure are obtained by the repeated application of ECAP up to 8 and 12 passes. ECAPed samples with 4 and 8 passes exhibit much smaller differences in terms of the average grain sizes on the cross-sectional area and the tensile strengths along the axial and circumferential directions, as compared to the samples with 1 and 2 passes. Therefore, it is considered that the OFC materials, which are fabricated via the ECAP process with pass numbers of a multiple of 4, are suitable to be applied as high-strength structural parts used under multi-axial stress conditions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.228-237
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• 2019

The crack growth responses of as-received and as-welded Alloy 600/182 and Alloy 690/152 welds to constant loading were measured by a direct current potential drop method using compact tension specimens in primary water at $325^{\circ}C$ simulating the normal operating conditions of a nuclear power plant. The as-received Alloy 600 showed crack growth rates (CGRs) between $9.6{\times}10^{-9}mm/s$ and $3.8{\times}10^{-8}mm/s$, and the as-welded Alloy 182 had CGRs between $7.9{\times}10^{-8}mm/s$ and $7.5{\times}10^{-7}mm/s$ within the range of the applied loadings. These results indicate that Alloys 600 and 182 are susceptible to cracking. The average CGR of the as-welded Alloy 152 was found to be $2.8{\times}10^{-9}mm/s$. Therefore, Alloy 152 was proven to be highly resistant to cracking. The as-received Alloy 690 showed no crack growth even with an inhomogeneous banded microstructure. The cracking mode of Alloys 600 and 182 was an intergranular cracking; however, Alloy 152 was revealed to have a mixed (intergranular + transgranular) cracking mode. It appears that the Cr concentration and the microstructural features significantly affect the cracking resistance and the cracking behavior of Ni-base alloys in PWR primary water.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.474-487
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• 2011

Bars of OFHC Cu with the diameter of 45 mm were processed by equal channel angular pressing up to 16 passes via route $B_c$, and homogeneity of their microstructures and mechanical properties was examined at every four passes which develop the equiaxed ultrafine grains. In general, overall hardness, yield strength and tensile strength increased by 3, 7, and 2 times respectively compared with those of unECAPed sample. Cross-sectional hardness exhibited a concentric distribution. Hardness was the highest at the center of bar and it decreased gradually from center to surface. After 16 passes, overall hardness decreased due to recovery and partial recrystallization. Regardless of the number of passage, yield strength and tensile strength were quite uniform at all positions, but elongation showed some degree of scattering. At 4 passes, coarse and ultrafine grains coexisted at all positions. After 4 passes, uniform equiaxed ultrafine grains were obtained at the center, while uniform elongated ultrafine grains were manifested at the upper half position. At the lower half position, grains were equiaxed but its size were inhomogeneous. It was found that inhomogeneity of grain morphology and grain size distribution at different positions are to be attributed to scattering in elongation but they did not affect strength. The present results reveal the high potential of practical application of equal channel angular pressing on fabrication of large-sized ultrafine grained bars with quite homogeneous mechanical properties.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.28-38
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• 2010

High temperature high cycle and low cycle fatigue deformation behavior of automotive heat resistant aluminum alloys (A356 and A319 based) were investigated in this study. The microstructures of both alloys were composed of primary Al-Si dendrite and eutectic Si phase. However, the size and distribution for eutectic Si phase varied: a coarse and inhomogeneous distributed was observed in alloy B (A319 based). A brittle intermethallic phase of ${\alpha}-Fe\;Al_{12}(Fe,Mn)_3Si_2$ was detected only in B alloy. Alloy B exhibited high fatigue life only under a high stress amplitued condition in the high cycle fatigue results, whereas alloy A showed high fatigue life when stress was lowered. With regard to the low-cycle fatigue result ($250^{\circ}C$) showing higher fatigue life as ductility increased, alloy A demonstrated higher fatigue life under all of the strain amplitude conditions. Fractographic observations showed that large porosities and pores near the outside surface could be the main factor in the formation of fatigue cracks. In alloy B. micro-cracks were formed in both the brittle intermetallic and coarse Si phasese. These micro-cracks then coalesced together and provided a path for fatigue crack propagation. From the observation of the differences in microstructure and fractography of these two automotive alloys, the authors attempt to explain the high-temperature fatigue deformation behavior of heat resistant aluminum alloys.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.330-342
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• 2020

Since the original report on ferroelectricity in Si-doped HfO2 in 2011, fluorite-structured ferroelectrics have attracted increasing interest due to their scalability, established deposition techniques including atomic layer deposition, and compatibility with the complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor technology. Especially, the emerging fluorite-structured ferroelectrics are considered promising for the next-generation semiconductor devices such as storage class memories, memory-logic hybrid devices, and neuromorphic computing devices. For achieving the practical semiconductor devices, understanding polarization switching kinetics in fluorite-structured ferroelectrics is an urgent task. To understand the polarization switching kinetics and domain dynamics in this emerging ferroelectric materials, various classical models such as Kolmogorov-Avrami-Ishibashi model, nucleation limited switching model, inhomogeneous field mechanism model, and Du-Chen model have been applied to the fluorite-structured ferroelectrics. However, the polarization switching kinetics of fluorite-structured ferroelectrics are reported to be strongly affected by various nonideal factors such as nanoscale polymorphism, strong effect of defects such as oxygen vacancies and residual impurities, and polycrystallinity with a weak texture. Moreover, some important parameters for polarization switching kinetics and domain dynamics including activation field, domain wall velocity, and switching time distribution have been reported quantitatively different from conventional ferroelectrics such as perovskite-structured ferroelectrics. In this focused review, therefore, the polarization switching kinetics of fluorite-structured ferroelectrics are comprehensively reviewed based on the available literature.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2021

In this paper, an analytical model is proposed for assessing the natural frequency of barrettes subjected to vertical loading. The differential equation governing the free vibration of rectangular friction piles embedded in inhomogeneous soil is derived. The governing equation is numerically integrated by Runge-Kutta technique and the eigenvalue of natural frequency is computed by Regula-Falsi method. The numerical solutions for the natural frequency of barrettes compare well with those obtained from finite element analysis. Illustrated examples show that the natural frequencies increase with an increase of the cross-sectional aspect ratio, the friction resistance ratio and the soil stiffness ratio, and decrease with an increase of the friction aspect ratio, the slenderness ratio and the load factor, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.122-129
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• 2021

This study focuses on the microstructural development of 99% magnesium alloy sheet manufactured using twin roll casting (TRC) process. Herein, a plate with a thickness of 5 mm was manufactured using the TRC process, homogenization heat treatment was performed at 400℃ for 2-32 h, and finally, the change in microstructure was evaluated via optical microscopy and textural analysis. The results suggest that the plate manufactured using the TRC process was not destroyed and was successfully rolled into a plate. Microscopic observation suggested that the dendritic cast structure was arranged along the rolling direction. And the central layer of the rolled plate, where was present in a liquid state at the beginning of rolling, solidified later during the TRC process to form central segregation. The initial cast structure and inhomogeneous structure of the plate were recrystallized by homogenization heat treatment for only 2 h, and it was confirmed that the segregated part of the central layer became homogeneous and recrystallization occurred. Grain growth occurred as the heat treatment time increased, and secondary recrystallization occurred, wherein only some grains were grown. The textural analysis, which was conducted via X-ray diffraction, confirmed that the relatively weak basal plane texture developed using the TRC process was formed into a random texture after heat treatment.