• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.647-654
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• 2007

Postulation of flaws, one of the most important areas in RPV integrity assessment, significantly affects the results. In the present work, several parameters, such as orientation, underclad vs. surface cracking, crack depth and shape, etc., are postulated and parametric studies are performed to investigate the influence of the flaw parameters on the structural integrity assessment of the reactor pressure vessel during pressurized thermal shock. The influence of individual parameters describing the crack is evaluated based on sensitivity study results.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.779-789
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• 1998

In this paper, the thermal shock responses of collinear cracks in a layered medium are investigated based on the uncoupled, quasi-static plane thermoelasticity. The medium is modeled as a bonded structure composed of a surface layer and a semi-infinite substrate. Between these two dissimilar homogeneous constituents, a functionally graded interfacial zone exists with the nonhomogeneous features of continuously varying thermoelastic properties. Three cracks are assumed to be present in the layered medium, one in each one of the constituent materials, aligned collinearly normal to the nominal interfaces. A system of singular integral equations is solved, subjected to the forcing terms of equivalent transient thermal tractions acting on the locations of cracks via superposition. Main results presented are the transient thermal stress intensity factors to illustrate the parametric effects of various geometric and amterial combinations of the medium with the thermoelastically graded interfacial zone and the collinear cracks.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.7-11
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• 2015

The present study investigates the impact shear strength of thermal aged Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu lead-free solder joints at impact speeds ranging from 0.5 m/s to 2.5 m/s. The specimens were thermal aged for 24, 100, 250 and 1000 hours at $100^{\circ}C$. The experimental results demonstrate that the shear strength of the solder joint decreases with an increase in the load speed and aging time. The shear strength of the solder joint aged averagely decreased by 43% with an increase in the strain rate. For the as-reflowed specimens, the mode II stress intensity factor ($K_{II}$) of interfacial IMC between Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu and a copper substrate also was found to decrease from $1.63MPa.m^{0.5}$ to $0.97MPa.m^{0.5}$ in the speed range tested here. The degradations in the shear strength and fracture toughness of the aged solder joints are mainly caused by the growth of IMC layers at the solder/substrate interface.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.534-540
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• 2001

One approach to testing the suitability of an adhesive joint for a particular application is to build and test to destruct ion a representative sample of the joint. The nondestructive test will not measure strength directly but will measure a parameter which can be correlated to strength. It is therefore, essential that a suitable nondestructive test is chosen and that its results are correctly interpreted. In this paper, typical defects found in adhesive joints are described together with their significance. The limits and likely success of current physical nondestructive tests are described, and future trends outlined.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.210-216
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• 2003

4-Vinyl-1-cyclohexene diepoxide (VCE)/diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) epoxy blends with benzylquinoxalinium hexafluoroanti-monate were cured using an electron-beam technique. The effect of DGEBA content to VCE on cure behavior, thermal stabilities, and mechanical properties was investigated. The composition of VCE/DGEBA blend system vaned within 100:0, 80:20, 60:40, 40:60, 20:80, and 0:100 wt%. The cure behavior and thermal stability of the cured specimens was monited by near-infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. Also, the critical stress intensity factor ($_{4}$) test of the cured specimens was performed to study the mechanical interfacial properties. As a result, the decreases of short side-chain structure and chain scission were observed in NIR measurements as the DGEBA content increases, resulting in varying the hydroxyl and carbonyl groups. And, the initial decomposition temperature (IDT), temperature of maximum weight loss (T$\_$max/), and decomposition activation energy (E$\_$d/) as thermal stability factors were increased with increasing the DGEBA content. These results could be explained by mean of decreasing viscosity, stable aromatic ring structure, and grafted interpenetrating polymer network with increasing of DGEBA content. Also, the maximum $_{4}$ value showed at mixing ratio of 40:60 wt% in this blend system. in this blend system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.693-700
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• 2004

The probabilistic fracture mechanics(PFM) is a useful analytical tool to assess the integrity of reactor pressure vessel(RPV) at the event of pressurized thermal shock(PTS). In PFM, the probabilities of flaw initiation and propagation are estimated by comparing the applied stress intensity factor with the fracture toughness calculated by the simulation of various stochastic variables. It is known that the results of PFM analyses are dependent on the choice of the stochastic parameters and assumptions. Of the various variables and assumptions, we investigated the effects of the RT$_{NDT}$ shift equations, fracture toughness curves, and flaw distributions on the PFM results for the three PTS transients. The results showed that the combined effects of the RT$_{NDT}$ shift equations and fracture toughness curves are complicated and dependent on the characteristics of the transients, the chemistry of the materials, the fast neutron fluence, and so on.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.951-961
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• 2016

To prevent increasing instances of heat-related illnesses due to heat waves generated by climate change, a customized thermal environment index should be developed for outdoor workers. In this study, we conducted sensitivity analysis of the Masan harbor during a heat wave period (August 9th to 15th, 2013) using the MENEX model with metabolic rate and clothing-insulation data, in order to obtain realistic information about the thermal environment. This study shows that accurate input data are essential to gather information for thermophysiological indices (PST, DhR, and OhR). PST is sensitive to clothing insulation as a function of clothing. OhR is more sensitive to clothing insulation during the day and to the metabolic rate at night. From these results, it appears that when exposed to high-temperature thermal environments in summer, wearing highly insulated clothing and getting enough rest (to lower the metabolic rate) can aid in preventing heat-related illnesses. Moreover, in the case of high-intensity harbor work, quantification of allowed working time (OhR) during heat waves is significant for human health sciences.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.634-648
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• 2005

Performed here is a comparative assessment study for the probabilistic fracture mechanics approach of the pressurized thermal shock of the reactor pressure vessel. A round robin consisting of one prerequisite deterministic study and five cases for probabilistic approaches is proposed, and all organizations interested are invited. The problems are solved by the participants and their results are compared to issue some recommendation of best practices and to assure an understanding of the key parameters in this type of approach, like transient description and frequency, material properties, defect type and distribution, fracture mechanics methodology etc., which will be useful in the justification through a probabilistic approach for the case of a plant over-passing the screening criteria. Six participants from 3 organizations responded to the problem and their results are compiled and analyzed in this study.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.1423-1432
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• 2016

The integrity of a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) related to pressurized thermal shocks (PTSs) has been extensively studied. This paper introduces an integrity assessment of an RPV subjected to a PTS transient based on the French codes. In the USA, the "screening criterion" for maximum allowable embrittlement of RPV material is developed based on the probabilistic fracture mechanics. However, in the French RCC-M and RSE-M codes, which are developed based on the deterministic fracture mechanics, there is no "screening criterion". In this paper, the methodology in the RCC-M and RSE-M codes, which are used for PTS analysis, are firstly discussed. The bases of the French codes are compared with ASME and FAVOR codes. A case study is also presented. The results show that the method in the RCC-M code that accounts for the influence of cladding on the stress intensity factor (SIF) may be nonconservative. The SIF almost doubles if the weld residual stress is considered. The approaches included in the codes differ in many aspects, which may result in significant differences in the assessment results. Therefore, homogenization of the codes in the long time operation of nuclear power plants is needed.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.47-51
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• 2013

In this work, the effect of alumina nanofibers on thermal conductivity and fracture toughness of alumina nanofibers and powder filled epoxy (EP) composites were investigated with varying alumina nanofiber content from 20 to 100 phr. Thermal conductivity was tested using a laser flash analysis (LFA). The fracture toughness of the composites were studied through the critical stress intensity factor ($K_{IC}$) measurement. The mophologies were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). From the results, it was found that the thermal conductivity was enhanced with increasing alumina nanofiber content, which played a key factor to determine the thermal conductivity. The $K_{IC}$ value was increased with increasing alumina nanofiber content, whereas the value decreased above 40 phr alumina nanofiber content. This was probably considered that the alumina nanofiber entangled each other in EP due to an excess of alumina nanofibers.