• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.125-130
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• 2008

If the properties of artificial lightweight aggregates produced by rotary kiln can be predicted by using a simulator equipped with a small electric furnace and a specially designed device for specimen movement, large amount of raw materials and plenty of test time can be saved to produce test products of lightweight aggregates. In this study a simulator for the accurate prediction of the artificial lightweight aggregates produced by rotary kiln was assembled by our own design and the properties of lightweight aggregates produced by both the simulator and rotary kiln were compared to speculate its usefulness. The average diameter of aggregates was 8 mm and atmosphere in the furnace was controlled by the amount of carbon powders. Specific gravity, absorption rate (%), black-core area in the cross-sectional view of both aggregates were measured and compared. Unlike oxydizing atmosphere, both specific gravity and absorption rate of the aggregates sintered at reducing atmosphere were increased with increasing carbon addition. It is concluded that the sintering atmosphere was the closest to that of the rotary kiln when the carbon addition was 0.7 g to make a reducing atmosphere in the furnace and the properties of both agreggates was also similar to each other.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.301-306
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• 2010

The artificial aggregates were fabricated by using the inorganic wastes, dredged soil produced at a dredging work. The input temperature ($800{\sim}1000^{\circ}C$), output temperature ($1100{\sim}1200^{\circ}C$) and heating rate ($5{\sim}10^{\circ}C$/min) in sintering process were controlled to fabricate the aggregates with various value of density and water absorption, and their properties were analyzed as a function of those factors. The specimens sintered at the lower input temperature showed the higher density and the lower water absorption while those with higher input temperature had many pores inside of the aggregates, lower density and higher water absorption. Also increasing the input temperature accelerated the black core phenomenon in the aggregates. The bloating phenomena which the gigantic pores were generated inside the aggregates were improved as increasing the output temperature, but its effect was lower than that of input temperature. It could be realized that the bloating tendency was improved from the results that the density was increased and water absorption was decreased with increasing heating rate from 5 to $10^{\circ}C$/min. It was found that the artificial aggregates of light or heavy weight with various value of density and water absorption could be fabricated by using dredged soils naturally involving gas and fluxing components by controlling the sintering conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.208-213
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• 2009

Artificial lightweight aggregates were produced by using bottom ashes and dredged soils from coal power plant. The amount of glassy phases on the aggregate surfaces, specific gravities, absorption rates, and observations of cross-sectional surfaces were compared according to the compositions, sintering temperatures, and the amount of coating. It is concluded that surface modification by 10 % $CaCO_3$ coating on the aggregate surfaces enhances the properties of aggregates as follows: Specific gravities were controlled by depressing formation of large pores in the aggregates. Sticking phenomena among aggregates during the sintering process was drastically decreased by reducing glassy phases on the aggregate surfaces. Pumping problems during the application of ready-mix concretes containing lightweight aggregates having high value of absorption rates could be solved by reducing the absorption rate.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.366-370
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• 2007

Silicon nitride ($Si_3N_4$) ceramics have been considered for various components of nuclear power plants such as the mechanical seal of a reactor coolant pump (RCP), the guide roller for a control rod drive mechanism (CRDM), and a seal support, etc. Corrosion behavior of $Si_3N_4$ ceramics in a high-temperature and high-pressure water must be elucidated before they can be considered as components for nuclear power plants. In this study, the corrosion behaviors of $Si_3N_4$ ceramics containing MgO and $Al_2O_3$ as sintering aids were investigated at a hydrothermal condition ($300^{\circ}C$, 9.0 MPa) in pure water and 35 ppm LiOH solution. The corrosion reactions were controlled by a diffusion of the reactive species and/or products through the corroded layer. The grain-boundary phase was preferentially corroded in pure water whereas the $Si_3N_4$ grain seemed to be corroded at a similar rate to the grain-boundary phase in LiOH solution. Flexural strengths of the $Si_3N_4$ ceramics were significantly degraded due to the corrosion reaction. Results of this study imply that a variation of the sintering aids and/or a control (e.g., crystallization) of the grain-boundary phase are necessary to increase the corrosion resistance of $Si_3N_4$ ceramics in a high-temperature water.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.136-141
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• 2010

Bismuth-telluride based $(Bi_{0.2}Sb_{0.8})_2Te_3$ thermoelectric powders were fabricated by two-step planetary milling process which produces bimodal size distribution ranging $400\;nm\;{\sim}\;2\;{\mu}m$. The powders were reduced in hydrogen atmosphere to minimize oxygen contents which cause degradation of thermoelectric performance by decreasing electrical conductivity. Oxygen contents were decreased from 0.48% to 0.25% by the reduction process. In this study, both the as-synthesized and the reduced powders were consolidated by the spark plasma sintering process at $350^{\circ}C$ for 10 min at the heating rate of $100^{\circ}C/min$ and then their thermoelectric properties were investigated. The sintered samples using the reduced p-type thermoelectric powders show 15% lower specific electrical resistivity ($0.8\;m{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$) than those of the as-synthesized powders while Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity do not change a lot. The results confirmed that ZT value of thermoelectric performance at room temperature was improved by 15% due to high electric conductivity caused by the controlled oxygen contents present at bismuth telluride materials.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.716-721
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• 2017

SiAlON-based ceramics are some of the most typical ceramic materials used as cutting tools for HRSA(Heat Resistant Super-Alloys). SiAlON can be fabricated using ceramic processing, such as mixing, granulation, compaction, and sintering. Spray drying is a widely-used method for producing a granular powder of controlled morphology and size with flowability. In this study, we report a systematic investigation aimed at optimizing spherical granule morphology by controlling spray-drying parameters such as gas flow and feed rate. Before spray drying, the viscosities of the raw material slurries were also optimized with the amount of dispersant added.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.446-450
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• 2012

In order to fabricate the porous Mo with controlled pore characteristics, unique processing by using $MoO_3$ powder as the source and camphene as the sublimable material is introduced. Camphene-based 15 vol% $MoO_3$ slurries, prepared by milling at $50^{\circ}C$ with a small amount of dispersant, were frozen at $-25^{\circ}C$. Pores were generated subsequently by sublimation of the camphene during drying in air for 48 h. The green body was hydrogen-reduced at $750^{\circ}C$, and sintered at $1000-1100^{\circ}C$ for 1 h. After heat treatment in hydrogen atmosphere, $MoO_3$ powders were completely converted to metallic W without any reaction phases. The sintered samples showed large pores with the size of about $150{\mu}m$ which were aligned parallel to the camphene growth direction. Also, the internal wall of large pores and near bottom part of specimen had relatively small pores due to the difference in the camphene growth rate during freezing process. The size of small pores was decreased with increase in sintering temperature, while that of large pores was unchanged. The results are strongly suggested that the porous metal with required pore characteristics can be successfully fabricated by freeze-drying process using metal oxide powders.