• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.196-200
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• 2016

We have developed new electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection devices with, bidirectional flip chip transient voltage suppression. The devices differ in their epitaxial (epi) layers, which were grown by reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD). Their ESD properties were characterized using current-voltage (I-V), capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurement, and ESD analysis, including IEC61000-4-2, surge, and transmission line pulse (TLP) methods. Two BD-FCTVS diodes consisting of either a thick (12 μm) or thin (6 μm), n-Si epi layer showed the same reverse voltage of 8 V, very small reverse current level, and symmetric I-V and C-V curves. The damage found near the corner of the metal pads indicates that the size and shape of the radius governs their failure modes. The BD-FCTVS device made with a thin n- epi layer showed better performance than that made with a thick one in terms of enhancement of the features of ESD robustness, reliability, and protection capability. Therefore, this works confirms that the optimization of device parameters in conjunction with the doping concentration and thickness of epi layers be used to achieve high performance ESD properties.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.67-81
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• 1992

Lots of physical phenomena which deteriorate the faithfulness of radiological images exist. The most common types of degradation are a loss of resolution and an increase in noise. This article deals with resolution. factors that influence it. and its characterisation. The problem of resolution failure due to a generic blurring phenomenum is described diagramatically and mathematically. for both one dimensional and two dimensional signals. The definition of the point spread function. the line spread function. the convolution integral and the modulation transfer function are made. The concept of frequency domain operations using the Fourier Transform is also discussed.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.63-68
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• 2014

In recent years, discoloration defects, called as snail trail, have been observed at many crystalline photovoltaic modules after a period of time ranging from several months to several years after initial installation. It has been reported that this phenomenon doesn't impact on the performance of photovoltaic modules, but it can be detected through simple visual inspection. The origin and detailed mechanism for the formation have not been identified. In this study, non-destructive analysis by Raman spectroscopy has been carried out to investigate the origin of this phenomenon. In parallel, destructive analysis by scanning electron microscopt and transmission electron microscopy was also performed in order to confirm the results from non-destructive method. Through the extensive analysis, it was found that the main cause for discoloration is the formations of $Ag_2CO_3$ and $AgC_2H_3O_2$. Detailed mechanism for the formation of these particles was indentified through systematic studies.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate electrical and structural degradation of flexible CIGS sollar cell exposed to high temperature and humid atmosphere. Method: Accelerated degradation was performed for various time under $85^{\circ}C/85%RH$ and then electrical and structural properties were analyzed by 4-point probe method, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results: Sheet resistance of the top ITO layer increased with exposure time to the high temperature and humid atmosphere. Blunting of the protrusion morphology of ITO layer was observed for the degraded specimen, while no phase change was detected by XRD. Oxygen was detected at the edge area after 300 hours of exposure. Conclusion: Increase in electrical resistance of the degraded CIGS solar cell under high temperature and humid environment was attribute to the oxygen or water absorption.

• Nonlinear Functional Analysis and Applications
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.793-800
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• 2023

In this paper, we propose a generalization of Lindley distribution (GLD) via a special structure that is concern with progressively Type-II right censoring and time failure data. We study the modern properties that we have built by such combination, for example, survival function, hazard function, moments, and estimation by non-Bayesian methods. Application on some selected data related to Lindley distribution (LD) and (ED) have been employed to find out the best distribution that can fit data comparing with the GLD.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.78-82
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate failure characteristic and mechanism of four commercial water-repellent coatings for elevated temperature machinery applications. Method: Thermal degradation was performed for up to 64 thermal cycles. 1 cycle consists of 15 minute holding at 523K under 300rpm revolution and 15 minute-natural cooling. Contact angle was measured and microstructure of the coating layer was observed by using a scanning electron microscope. Results: Four kinds of commercial repellent coating showed hydrophobic or super-hydrophobic property implying that all coatings are suitable for room temperature application. Contact angle of three kinds of commercial coatings decreased rapidly after thermal exposure, while only one specimen having hydrophobic surface showed extremely slow degradation. Conclusion: Observed decrease in contact angle of the coatings were attributed to formation of macro-sized pores and disappearance of micro-protrusion during thermal exposure. Optimum water-repellent coating needs to be selected under the consideration of initial contact angle as sell as service temperature.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.1379-1385
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• 2014

Even the rough prediction of the product test time before the lifetime test of mechanical component begins would be of use in estimating cost and deciding how to keep up with the test. The reliability predictions of mechanical components are difficult because failure or degradation mechanisms are complicated, and few plausible databases are available for lifetime prediction. Therefore, this study conducted lifetime predictions of elastomeric U seals that were respectively installed in a hydraulic actuator and a pneumatic actuator using lifetime models and a field database based on failure physics and an actual test database obtained from the NSWC handbook. To validate the results, the predicted failure rates were compared with the actual lifetime test results acquired in the lab durability tests. Finally, this study discussed an engineering procedure to determine the coefficients in the failure rate models and analyzed the sensitivity of each influential parameter on the seal lifetime.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.75-92
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• 2015

This paper presents the application of the bond valence method to estimate the valence charge distribution in several perovskite systems: $La_{{\tilde{1}}x}Pb_xMnO_3$ (x=0.1-0.5), $La_{0.6}Sr_{0.{\tilde{4}}x}Ti_xMnO_3$ (x=0.0-0.25) and $La_{{\tilde{1}}x}Sr_xCoO_3$ (x=0.1-0.5); the reviewing of their crystal structures is also incorporated. The results showed the failure of the elastic bonding mechanism in all studied systems and revealed the general deficit of the valence charge in their unit cells. This valence deficit was not associated with the structural defects and was not equally localized in all coordination spheres. As the content of substitution increased, the charge deficit declined systematically from balanced level, signifying the transfer of valence charge from the ${\tilde{B}}O_6$ to ${\tilde{A}}O_{12}$ spheres. This transfer depended on the valence deviation of spheres and the average reached near 2 electron per unit cell. The possible impact of the limitted accuracy of the available structural data on the bond valence results has also been considered.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2024

Widespread damages from extreme winds have attracted lots of attentions of the resilience assessment of power distribution systems. With many related environmental parameters as well as numerous power infrastructure components, such as poles and wires, the increased challenge of power asset management before, during and after extreme events have to be addressed to prevent possible cascading failures in the power distribution system. Many extreme winds from weather events, such as hurricanes, generate widespread damages in multiple areas such as the economy, social security, and infrastructure management. The livelihoods of residents in the impaired areas are devastated largely due to the paucity of vital utilities, such as electricity. To address the challenge of power grid asset management, power system clustering is needed to partition a complex power system into several stable clusters to prevent the cascading failure from happening. Traditionally, system clustering uses the Binary Decision Diagram (BDD) to derive the clustering result, which is time-consuming and inefficient. Meanwhile, the previous studies considering the weather hazards did not include any detailed weather-related meteorologic parameters which is not appropriate as the heterogeneity of the parameters could largely affect the system performance. Therefore, a fragility-based network hierarchical spectral clustering method is proposed. In the present paper, the fragility curve and surfaces for a power distribution subsystem are obtained first. The fragility of the subsystem under typical failure mechanisms is calculated as a function of wind speed and pole characteristic dimension (diameter or span length). Secondly, the proposed fragility-based hierarchical spectral clustering method (F-HSC) integrates the physics-based fragility analysis into Hierarchical Spectral Clustering (HSC) technique from graph theory to achieve the clustering result for the power distribution system under extreme weather events. From the results of vulnerability analysis, it could be seen that the system performance after clustering is better than before clustering. With the F-HSC method, the impact of the extreme weather events could be considered with topology to cluster different power distribution systems to prevent the system from experiencing power blackouts.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.12
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• pp.842-851
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• 2009

The long-term reliability of Sn-0.3wt%Ag-0.7wt%Cu solder joints was evaluated and compared with Sn-3.0wt%Ag-0.5wt%Cu under thermal shock conditions. Test vehicles were prepared to use Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu and Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder alloys. To compare the shear strength of the solder joints, 0603, 1005, 1608, 2012, 3216 and 4232 multi-layer ceramic chip capacitors were used. A reflow soldering process was utilized in the preparation of the test vehicles involving a FR-4 material-based printed circuit board (PCB). To compare the shear strength degradation following the thermal shock cycles, a thermal shock test was conducted up to 2,000 cycles at temperatures ranging from $-40^{\circ}C$ to $85^{\circ}C$, with a dwell time of 30 min at each temperature. The shear strength of the solder joints of the chip capacitors was measured at every 500 cycles in each case. The intermetallic compounds (IMCs) of the solder joint interfaces werealso analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed that the reliability of Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu solder joints was very close to that of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu. Consequently, it was confirmed that Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu solder alloy with a low silver content can be replaced with Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu.