• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.221-229
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• 2023

This research aimed to conduct an empirical assessment of the penetration of chloride and sulfate ions into mortar sections using an anion exchange membrane(AEM) and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS). The study involved a simultaneous ion chromatography(IC) analysis and LIBS analysis performed on mortars immersed in varying concentrations of chloride and sulfate. The findings revealed that at the wavelengths specific to Chloride(837.59nm) and Sulfur(921.30nm), the LIBS intensity achieved using AEM surpassed that obtained with a paper substrate at equivalent penetration concentrations. A robust correlation was confirmed between LIBS intensity and chloride ion concentration. Furthermore, when juxtaposed with IC analysis concentration outcomes at identical depths, the AEM displayed a higher intensity. The research noted an enhancement in LIBS intensity and a diminution in errors within the low-concentration section when deploying AEM. However, for the Sulfur wavelength of 921.3nm, there remains a need to augment the sensitivity of the LIBS signal within the low-concentration section in future studies. The findings underscore the potential of employing AEM and LIBS for precise analysis of chloride and sulfate ion penetration into mortar sections. This strategy can aid in bolstering assessment precision and mitigating errors, particularly in regions with low concentrations. It is recommended to further research and develop methods to amplify the sensitivity of the LIBS signal for sulfur detection in low-concentration sections. In sum, the study accentuates the significance of employing advanced techniques like AEM and LIBS for efficacious and precise analysis in the domain of mortar section assessment.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.189-194
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• 2021

LIBS has been attracting attention as an analytical method capable of real-time measurement without sample preparation. In this study, a Lab. scale LIBS device was fabricated to examine the applicability and reproducibility of LIBS in the analysis of chloride contents in mortar. The existing analysis method and LIBS analysis were performed simultaneously on the mortar test specimen with the chloride content adjusted. Compared to the chloride content condition of the mortar, the XRF and Potentiometric Titration results also showed a similar trend. As a result of LIBS analysis, chlorine ions were detected at a wavelength of 837.59 nm according to the chloride content condition. In order to improve the precision in various concentration ranges, the LIBS signal amplification of about 50 times through the electric field enhancement was implemented. Through the verification of the aqueous solution-based reproducibility, a high correlation between the LIBS signal strength and the Cl concentration was confirmed, and the possibility of applying LIBS to the durability diagnosis of concrete damage by chloride was confirmed.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.563-574
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• 2007

Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a recently developed analytical technique that is based upon the measurement of emission lines generated by atomic species close to the surface of the sample, thus allowing their chemical detection, identification and quantification. With powerful advantages of LIBS compared to the conventional analytical methodology, this technique can be applied in the detection of heavy metals in the field. LIBS allows the rapid analysis by avoiding laborious chemical steps. LES have already been applied for the determination of element concentration in a wide range of materials in the solid, liquid and gaseous phase with simplicity of the instrument and diversity of the analytical application. These feasibility of rapid multi elemental analysis are appealing proprieties for the in-situ analytical technique in geochemical investigation, exploration and environmental analysis. There remain still some limitations to be solved for LIBS to be applied in soil environment as an in-situ analytical technology. We would like to provide the basic principle related to the plasma formation and laser-induced breakdown of sample materials. In addition, the matrix effect, laser properties and the various factors affecting on the analytical signal of LIBS was dealt with to enhance understanding of LIBS through literature review. Ultimately, it was investigated the feasibility of LIBS application in soil environment monitoring by considering the basic idea to enhance the data quality of LIBS including the calibration method for the various effects on the analytical signal of LIBS.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.73-83
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• 2017

Used small household appliances have a wide variety of product types and component materials, and contain high percentage of black plastics. However, they are not being recycled efficiently as conventional sensors such as near-infrared ray (NIR), etc. are not able to detect black plastic by types. In the present study, an automatic sorting system was developed based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to promote the recycling of waste plastics. The system we developed mainly consists of sample feeder, automatic position recognition system, LIBS device, separator and control unit. By applying laser pulse on the target sample, characteristic spectral data can be obtained and analyzed by using CCD detectors. The obtained data was then treated by using a classifier, which was developed based on artificial intelligent algorithm. The separation tests on waste plastics also were carried out by using a lab-scale automatic sorting system and the test results will be discussed. The classification rate of the radial basis neural network (RBFNNs) classifier developed in this study was about > 97%. The recognition rate of the black plastic by types with the automatic sorting system was more than 94.0% and the sorting efficiency was more than 80.0%. Automatic sorting system based on LIBS technology is in its infant stage and it has a high potential for utilization in and outside Korea due to its excellent economic efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.753-754
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• 2008

• Laser Solutions
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.33-38
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• 2008

Laser micromachining has increasingly been adopted in various advanced industries where the high-precision machining of large-area, high-density and multi-layered components is in a strong demand. To effectively meet the requirements, the laser micromachining process must be carefully monitored. In order to facilitate the development of a new laser micromachining process and/or a new system, we have fabricated a UV laser micromachining platform that is equipped with optical modules for monitoring the process online. They include a laser power stabilizing module, a module for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, and an auto-focusing module.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.4431-4440
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• 2022

An advanced nuclear reactor based on molten salts including a molten salt reactor and pyroprocessing needs a sensitive monitoring system suitable for operation in harsh environments with limited access. Multi-element detection is challenging with the conventional technologies that are compatible with the in-situ operation; hence laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been investigated as a potential alternative. However, limited precision is a chronic problem with LIBS. We increased the precision of LIBS under high temperature by protecting optics using a gas protective layer and correcting for shotto-shot variance and lens-to-sample distance using a laser-induced acoustic signal. This study investigates cerium as a surrogate for uranium and corrosion products for simulating corrosive environments in LiCl-KCl. While the un-corrected limit of detection (LOD) range is 425-513 ppm, the acoustic-corrected LOD range is 360-397 ppm. The typical cerium concentrations in pyroprocessing are about two orders of magnitude higher than the LOD found in this study. A LIBS monitoring system that adopts these methods could have a significant impact on the ability to monitor and provide early detection of the transient behavior of salt composition in advanced molten salt-based nuclear reactors.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.54-61
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• 2013

This paper reports mild steel(SPHC) and stainless steel(STS304) sheets commonly used for railroad cars or commercial vehicles such as in the automobile and shipbuilding industries. The sheets are used in these applications, which are mainly fabricated using the shielded metal arc welding(SMAW) of dissimilar materials. It also reports an interesting application of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy(LIBS) in order to determine the elemental composition diffusion of SPHC and STS304. Arc blow produced by magnetic force during the electric arc welding prevents the formation from a sound weldment. In particular, the mechanical properties of the joint are influenced by not only by geometrical and mechanical factors but also the welding conditions for the arc welded joint. Therefore, the mechanical properties and performance are evaluated by performing a physicochemical component analysis. And they increase in accordance with content of elements and microstructure in mild steel. As results, appropriate range for magnetic fields could be achieved. Therefore, the effect of magnetic force in a butt weld of mild steel plates was investigated by comparing to the measured data.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.341-352
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• 2017

Along with Cs-137 (half-life: 30.17 years), Sr-90 (half-life: 28.8 years) is one of the most important environmental monitoring radioactive elements. Rapid and easy monitoring method for Sr-90 using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) has been studied. Strontium belongs to a bivalent alkaline earth metal such as calcium and has similar electron arrangement and size. Due to these similar chemical properties, it can easily enter into the human body through the food chain via water, soil, and crops when leaked into the environment. In addition, it is immersed into the bone at the case of human influx and causes the toxicity for a long time (biological half-life: about 50 years). It is a very reductive and related with the specific reaction that makes wet analysis difficult. In particular, radioactive strontium should be monitored by nuclear power plants but it is very difficult to be analysed from high-cost problems as well as low accuracy of analysis due to complicated analysis procedures, expensive analysis equipment, and a pretreatment process of using massive chemicals. Therefore, we introduce the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis method that analyzes the elements in the sample using the inherent spectrum by generating plasma on the sample using pulse energy, and it can be analyzed in a few seconds without preprocessing. A variety of analytical plates for samples were developed to improve the analytical sensitivity by optimizing the laser, wavelength, and time resolution. This can be effectively applied to real-time monitoring of radioactive wastewater discharged from a nuclear power plant, and furthermore, it can be applied as an emergency monitoring means such as possible future accidents at a nuclear power plants.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2018

To enhance the recycling rate of used metal resources, it is strongly desired to develop a metal sorting system that can automatically identify metal type from mixed metal scraps and sort them separately. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS) is a technique that enables real time classification of different metals based on multi-elemental and in-air analysis. In this work, we report the results of LIBS elemental analysis of field scrap samples acquired from a recycling company. By applying multivariate analysis, it was found that the LIBS signals of five different metals could be perfectly classified if surface contamination was removed. The classification accuracy degraded for LIBS signals including contaminant emission, which however could be overcome by performing the multivariate analysis using properly selected emission lines of higher correlation only. The significant improvement in classification accuracy and process speed by the selection of proper emission lines demonstrated the feasibility of LIBS technique as an industrial tool for metal scrap sorting.