• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.23-29
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• 2011

The renewed global interest in nuclear power has arisen from the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to provide sufficient electricity for a growing global population before the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan. In spite of the safety issues of nuclear power plants raised by the ongoing Japanese nuclear crisis, many countries with nuclear power plants (NPPs) are still implementing license extensions of 10~20 years, and even consideration is being given to the concept of life-beyond-60, a further period of license extension from 60 to 80 years. To solving the materials aging problem is integral to its success. To evaluate the plant aging phenomena, a lot of background information such as materials and environment of the parts of the reactor and plant systems is needed by the experts. Information on degradation mechanisms is also used. In this paper, a materials degradation evaluation program called OnMDE-SYS (On-line Materials Degradation Evaluation System) is introduced. The developed program provides a variety of information on the materials and stressors as well as operational experience to the experts. It is also anticipated that the experts can perform materials degradation assessment on the web directly by referring to domestic and international information about the degradation of a nuclear power plants through OnMDE-SYS.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.419-428
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• 2023

Seawater has been used to cool devices in nuclear power plants. However, the pipes used to transport seawater are vulnerable to corrosion; hence, the inner side of pipelines is coated with an epoxy layer as prevention. Upon coating damage, the pipe becomes exposed, and corrosion progresses. The major cause is widely known as cavitation corrosion, causing the degradation of mechanical properties. In this study, corroded specimens were prepared using cavitation and immersion methods to clarify the degradation trend of mechanical properties with corrosion. Three different types of epoxy coatings were used, and accelerated cavitation procedures were composed of amplitudes of 15 ㎛, 50 ㎛, and 85 ㎛ for 2 h, 4 h, and 6 h. The immersion periods were 3 and 6 weeks. We conducted instrumented indentation tests on all degradation samples to measure mechanical properties. The results showed that higher cavitation amplitudes and longer cavitation or immersion times led to more degradation in the samples, which, in turn, decreased the yield strength. Of the three samples, the C coating had the highest resistance to cavitation and immersion degradation.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.325-330
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• 2021

Bi₂MoO₆ (BMO) via the structure-directing role of CO(NH₂)₂ is successfully prepared via a facile solvothermal route. The structure, morphology, and photocatalytic performance of the nanoflake BMO are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fluorescence spectrum analysis (PL), UV-vis spectroscopy (UV-vis) and electrochemical test. SEM images show that the size of nanoflake BMO is about 50 ~ 200 nm. PL and electrochemical analysis show that the nanoflake BMO has a lower recombination rate of photogenerated carriers than particle BMO. The photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) by nanoflake BMO under visible light is investigated. The results show that the nanoflake BMO-3 has the highest degradation efficiency under visible light, and the degradation efficiency reached 75 % within 120 min, attributed to the unique hierarchical structure, efficient carrier separation and sufficient free radicals to generate active center synergies. The photocatalytic reaction mechanism of TC degradation on the nanoflake BMO is proposed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.676-680
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• 2006

The biodegradable $\beta$-tricalcium phosphate ($\beta$-TCP)/poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) composites were synthesized by in situ polymerization with microwave energy. The degradation behavior of $\beta$-TCP/PLGA composite was investigated by soaking in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 4 weeks. The molecular weight of the $\beta$-TCP/PLGA composites decreased with soaking time until week 2, whereas the loss rate of molecular weight reduced after week 2. The incubation time was needed for the degradation of the $\beta$-TCP, indicating that the $\beta$-TCP should be detached from the PLGA matrix and then degraded into SBF solution. The studies of mass loss of the composites with the soaking time revealed that the degradation behavior of PLGA would be processed with the transformation from the polymer to the oligomer followed by the degradation. Morphological changes, whisker-like, due to transformation and degradation of polymer in the composites were observed after week 2. On the basis of the results, it found that the degradation behavior of $\beta$-TCP/PLGA composites was influenced by the $\beta$-TCP content in the composites and the degradation rate of the composites could be controlled by the initial molecular weight of PLGA in the composites.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.318-322
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• 2006

Short-term high temperature degradation test was conducted on Hastelloy X, a candidate tube material for high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR), to evaluate the variation of microstructure and mechanical property in air at $1050^{\circ}C$ during 2000 h. The dominant oxide layer was Cr-oxide and a very shallow Cr-depleted region was observed below the oxide layer. At the beginning of degradation, the island shape $M_6C$ precipitate (M=Mo-rich, Fe, Ni, Cr) was observed in matrix region. After 2000 h degradation, precipitate shape was changed to the chain shape and increased amount of precipitate. These results influenced mechanical property of the specimen which exposed in high temperature. Yield strength was decreased from 115MPa to 89 MPa after 24 h and 2000 h exposure, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.22.2-22.2
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• 2011

Reliability and degradation mechanism of conventional phosphor-converted white GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were investigated. Under electro-thermal stress condition, the optical output degraded rapidly at the initial stress time accompanied by the change of chromatic properties. This could be attributed to the optical degradation of packaged materials, in particular, the browning of encapsulants and the darkening of reflective packages. At longer stress times, the optical output gradually decreased according to the degree of the reverse leakage currents, namely, the generation ofnonradiative recombination defects. This indicates that the optical degradation of white LEDs are dominated by the darkening of packaged materials and the generation of defects depending on the injection current and ambient temperatures. Using analyses of electroluminescence spectra, optical microscopy, electrical, optical, and thermal properties, optical degradations of white LEDs are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 2012

Degradation of performance and life time of a functional material or device thereof is induced, to a great extent, by mass transfer in the material that is driven by various thermodynamic forces imposed intentionally or accidentally during its operation or service. The forces are any gradient of intensive thermodynamic variables, component chemical potentials, electrical potential, temperature, stresses, and the like. This paper reviews electric-field induced degradation phenomena in ionic solid compounds including insulation resistance degradation, crystal shift, microstructural alterations, compositional unmixing, and compound decomposition. Their inner workings are also discussed qualitatively.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.103-111
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• 2017

Purpose: Accelerated degradation tests can speed time to market and reduce the test time and costs associated with long term reliability tests to verify the required service life of a product or material. This paper proposes a service life prediction method for components or materials using an accelerated degradation tests based on the relationships between temperature and the rate of failure-causing chemical reaction. Methods: The relationship between performance degradation and the rate of a failure-causing chemical reaction is assumed and least square estimation is used to estimate model parameters from the degradation model. Results: Methods of obtaining acceleration factors and predicting service life using the degradation model are presented and a numerical example is provided. Conclusion: Service life prediction of a component or material is possible at an early stage of the degradation test by using the proposed method.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.305-309
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• 2014

When sunlight irradiates a boron-doped p-type solar cell, the formation of BsO2i decreases the power-conversion efficiency in a phenomenon named light-induced degradation (LID). In this study, we used boron-doped p-type Cz-Si solar cells to monitor this degradation process in relation to irradiation wavelength, intensity and duration of the light source, and investigated the reliability of the LID effects, as well. When halogen light irradiated a substrate, the LID rate increased more rapidly than for irradiation with xenon light. For different intensities of halogen light (e.g., 1 SUN and 0.1 SUN), a lower-limit value of LID showed a similar trend in each case; however, the rate reached at the intensity of 0.1 SUN was three times slower than that at 1 SUN. Open-circuit voltage increased with increasing duration of irradiation because the defect-formation rate of LID was slow. Therefore, we suppose that sufficient time is needed to increase LID defects. After a recovery process to restore the initial value, the lower-limit open-circuit voltage exhibited during the re-degradation process showed a trend similar to that in the first degradation process. We suggest that the proportion of the LID in boron-doped p-type Cz-Si solar cells has high correlation with the normalized defect concentrations (NDC) of BsO2i. This can be calculated using the extracted minority-carrier diffusion-length with internal quantum efficiency (IQE) analysis.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.2271-2279
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• 1993

In the case of life prediction on the structures and machines after long service, it is natural to consider a degradation problems. Most of degradation data form practical structures are isolated data obtained at the time of periodical inspection or repair. From such data, it may be difficult to obtain the degradation curve available and necessary for life prediction. In this paper, for the purpose of obtaining a degradation curves, developed the simulate degradation method and fatigue test and Charpy impact test were conducted on the degraded, simulate degraded and recovered materials. Fatigue life prediction were conducted by using the relationship between fracture transition temperature (DBTT : vTrs) obtained from the Charpy impact test through the degradation process and fatigue crack growth constants of m and C obtained from the fatigue test.