• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.56-65
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• 2024

Cast austenitic stainless steels (CASS) and austenitic stainless steel weldments with a ferrite-austenite duplex structure are widely used in nuclear power plants, incorporating ferrite phase to enhance strength, stress relief, and corrosion resistance. Thermal aging at 290-325℃ can induce embrittlement, primarily due to spinodal decomposition and G-phase precipitation in the ferrite phase. This study evaluates the effects of thermal aging by collecting and analyzing various mechanical properties, such as Charpy impact energy, ferrite microhardness, and tensile strength, from various literature sources. Different model expressions, including hyperbolic tangent and phase transformation equations, are applied to calculate activation energy (Q) of room-temperature impact energies, and the results are compared. Additionally, predictive models for Q based on material composition are evaluated, and the potential of machine learning techniques for improving prediction accuracy is explored. The study also examines the use of ferrite microhardness and tensile strength in calculating Q and assessing thermal embrittlement. The findings provide insights for developing advanced prediction models for the thermal embrittlement behavior of CASS and the weldments of austenitic steels, contributing to the safety and reliability of nuclear power plant components.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.78-89
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• 2001

Morphological changes of unsaturated polyester/polyvinylacetate semi-IPN were studied while the phase separation and the cure reaction occurred in a competing fashion. The light scattering and thermal analysis techniques were used to investigate the phase separation rates and mechanical properties resultantly induced by molecular diffusion of thermoplastic polymer during the curing process of thermosetting polymer. The reaction activation energy was calculated by using Flynn-Wall method and the semi-IPN structure exhibited various phase-separation morphological characteristics. When PVAc composition was 10 wt%, the phase separation was not observed during the curing reaction, but the phase separation occurred in a similar fashion to nucleation and growth(NG) mechanism at room temperature. On the other hand, when PVAc composition was over 11.65 wt%, the phase separation was generated in the middle of the curing process. Consequently, the phase separation seemed to influence the curing reaction rate, which was also supported by the changing activation energy with conversion and PVAc composition. Finally, the total scattered intensity was measured at various temperature, and subsequently the diffusion rates of phase separation R(${\beta}m$) were evaluated.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.958-964
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• 2008

In this work, micro-sized dextran particles, which have recently been focused as one of the candidate materials for the Drug Delivery System(DDS), were prepared by means of the Supercritical Antisolvent (SAS) process with $CO_2$. With dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO) as the solvent, effects of the operating variables such as temperature (308.15~323.15 K), pressure(90~130 bar), solute concentration(10~20 mg/ml), and the molecular weight of the solute(Mw=37,500, 450,000) on the size and morphology of the resulting particles were thoroughly observed. The higher solute concentration led to the larger particles, however, the injection velocity of the solution and pressure did not show significant effects on the resulting particle size. With dextran of the lower molecular weight, the smallest particles were obtained at 313.15 K. On the other hand, the size of the particles from the high molecular weight dextran ranged between $0.1{\sim}0.5{\mu}m$ with an incremental effect of the temperature and pressure. For the solute concentration of 5 mg/ml, the lower molecular weight dextran did not form discrete particles while aggregation of the particles appeared when the solute concentration exceeded 15 mg/ml for the higher molecular weight dextran. It is believed that if the solute concentration is too low, the degree of the supersaturation in the recrystallization chamber would not be sufficient for initiation of the nucleation and growth mechanism. Instead, the spinodal decomposition mechanism leads to formation of the island-like phase separation which appears similar to aggregation of the discrete particles. This effect would be more pronounced for the smaller molecular weight polymer system due to the narrower phase-splitting region.