• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.197-204
• /
• 2016

Concrete walls of neutron generating facilities such as fusion reactors and fission reactors become radioactive by neutron irradiation. Both low-activation and neutron shielding are a critical concern at the dismantling stage after the shutdown of facilities with a requirement of radioactive waste management. To tackle this, two types of additives were investigated in fabricating mortar specimens: synthetic high polymers and boron carbide. It is well known that a hydrogen atom is effective in neutron shielding by an elastic scattering because its mass is almost the same as that of the neutron. And boron is an effective neutron absorber with a big neutron absorption cross section. In this study, the effect of the type, shape, and size of polymers were investigated as well as that of boron carbide. Total 16 mix designs were prepared to reveal the effect of polymers on mechanical properties and neutron shielding performance. The neutron does equivalent of polymers-based mortar for fast neutrons decreased by 36 %, and the count rate of boron carbide-based mortar with regard to thermal neutrons decreased by 90 % compared to conventional mortar. These results showed that a combination of polymers and boron carbide compounds has potential to reduce the thickness of neutron shields as well as radioactive waste from reactors.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.71-79
• /
• 2021

In this study, we have successfully fabricated the Sn-Ni paste and evaluated the bonding properties for high-temperature endurable EV (Electric Vehicle) power module applications. From evaluating of the micro-structural changes in the TLPS (Transient Liquid Phase Sintering) joints with Sn and Ni contents in the Sn-Ni pastes, a lack of Ni powders and Ni particle agglomerations by Ni surplus were observed in the Sn-20Ni and Sn-50Ni joints (in wt.%), respectively. In contrast, relatively dense microstructures are observed in the Sn-30Ni and Sn-40Ni TLPS joints. From differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermal analysis results of the fabricated Sn-Ni paste and TLPS bonded joints, we confirmed that the complete reactions of Sn with Ni to form Ni-Sn intermetallic compounds (IMCs) at bonding temperatures occurred, and there is no remaining Sn in the joints after TLPS bonding. In addition, the interfacial reactions and IMC phase changes of the Sn-30Ni joints under various bonding temperatures were reported, and their mechanical shear strength were investigated. The TLPS bonded joints were mainly composed of residual Ni particles and Ni₃Sn₄ intermetallic phase. The average shear strength tended to increase with increasing bonding temperature. Our results indicated a high shear strength value of approximately 30 MPa at a bonding temperature of 270 ℃ and a bonding time of 30 min.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.247-254
• /
• 2016

Since microzirconia has excellent thermal and mechanical properties with high chemical and electrical resistance, it can be used in various fields. When the surface of zirconia becomes hydrophilic, its dispersibility in water will be improved as well as the resistance to most hydrophobic contaminants will be increased. In this study, we investigated the introduction of a hydrophilic groups on the microzircornia surface through hydrolysis and condensation reactions with two different silanes containing hydrophilic functional groups, such as ${\gamma}$-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APS) and ${\gamma}$-ureidopropyltrimethoxysilane (UPS) at different pH and concentration conditions. A covalent bond formation between the surface hydroxyl groups of zirconia and that of hydrolyzed silanes was confirmed by ninhydrin test and FT-IR spectroscopy. However, the presence of Si on the surfaces of both silane modified microzirconias was unable to detect by SEM/EDS technique. In addition, particle size analysis results provide that the size of microzirconia was changed to smaller or bigger than that of original zirconia due to crushing and aggregation during the modification process. The water dispersibility was improved for only APS modifed zirconia (AS-2 and AS-3) under neutral pH condition, but the water dispersibility and stability for all cases of 0.5~2% UPS modifed zirconia (US series) were much improved.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.21-26
• /
• 2015

Mesoporous ceramic materials were applied in various fields such as adsorbent and gas sensor because of low thermal conductivity and high specific surface area properties. This structure could be divided into open-pore structure and closed-pore structure. Although closed-pore structure mesoporous ceramic materials have higher mechanical property than open-pore structure, it has a restriction on the application because the increase of specific surface area is limited. So, in this work, specific surface area of closed-pore structure $TiO_2$ was increased by anneal time. As increased annealing time, crystallization and grain growth of $TiO_2$ skeleton structured material in mesoporous structure induced a collapse and agglomeration of pores. Through this pore structural change, pore connectivity and specific surface area could be enhanced. After anneal for 24 hrs, porosity was decreased from 36.3% to 34.1%, but specific surface area was increased from $48m^2/g$ to $156m^2/g$. CO gas sensitivity was also increased by about 7.4 times due to an increase of specific surface area.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.255-268
• /
• 2018

Subsea tunnel can be highly vulnerable to seawater intrusion due to unexpected high-water pressure during construction. An artificial ground freezing (AGF) will be a promising alternative to conventional reinforcement or water-tightening technology under high-water pressure conditions. In this study, the freezing energy and required time was calculated by the theoretical model of the heat flow to estimate the total amount of refrigerant required for the artificial ground freezing. A lab-scale freezing chamber was devised to investigate changes in the thermal and mechanical properties of sandy soil corresponding to the variation of the salinity and water pressure. The freezing time was measured with different conditions during the chamber freezing tests. Its validity was evaluated by comparing the results between the freezing chamber experiment and the numerical analysis. In particular, the freezing time showed no significant difference between the theoretical model and the numerical analysis. The amount of refrigerant for artificial ground freezing was estimated from the numerical analysis and the freezing efficiency obtained from the chamber test. In addition, the energy ratio for maintaining frozen status was calculated by the proposed formula. It is believed that the energy ratio for freezing will depend on the depth of rock cover in the subsea tunnels and the water temperature on the sea floor.

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

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.221-229
• /
• 2011

Due to the increase of oil price and the environmental issue such as the emission of volatile organic compounds, the necessity for developing alternative resins of petroleum-based adhesive resins, which have extensively been used for the manufacture of wood-based products, has been speculation since the early 1990. In our study, rapeseed flour (RSF), which is the by-product of bio-diesel produced from rapeseed, were hydrolyzed by enzymes. As a crosslinking agents of the RSF hydrolyzates, phenol-formaldehyde prepolymers (PF) were prepared. The RSF hydrolyzates and PF were mixed to complete the formulation of RSF-based adhesive resins, and the resins were applied to make the laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The physical and mechanical properties of the LVL were measured to examine whether RSF can be used as raw materials of adhesive resins for the fabrication of LVL or not. The average moisture content and soaking delamination rate of the LVL bonded with RSF-based adhesive resins exceeded the minimum requirement of KS standard. Moreover, thermal analysis of the RSF-based resins showed similar tendencies except for the RSF-based adhesive resins formulated with pectinase-hydrolyzed RSF. The bending strengths of the LVL were higher than that of the LVL made with commercial PF resins. These results showed the potential of RSF as a raw material of alternative adhesives for the production of LVL. Further works on the optimal conditions of RSF hydrolysis and spreading characteristics for RSF-based adhesive resins is required to improve the adhesive performance of RSF-based resins.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.42 no.6
• /
• pp.691-699
• /
• 2014

In order to improve the dimensional stability and durability of wood, this study attempted to impregnate bismuth (Bi) - tin (Sn) alloy metal with low melting temperature into solid woods of three species such as radiata pine, red oak and white oak, and investigated to determine an optimum condition of manufacturing the metal alloy-wood composites with natural wood grains. These Bi-Sn alloys were chosen for this study because they were harmless to human and melting at low temperatures. The composites resulted in high dimensional stability and low thickness swelling, and also showed much improved performance such as high bending strength, high hardness, high electric conductivity, and high thermal conductivity as floor materials. A proper impregnating condition of all specimens was determined as 10 minutes of the preliminary vacuum time, and $185^{\circ}C$ of the heating temperature. The proper processing condition for radiata pine wood was 2.5 minutes of the pressuring time at the pressure of $10kgf/cm^2$. For red oak wood, 10 minutes of the pressuring time at the pressure of $30kgf/cm^2$ were the proper condition. The proper manufacture conditions for white oak wood was determined as 10 minutes of the pressuring time at the pressure of $50kgf/cm^2$.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.155-163
• /
• 2011

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have been attracted much attention since they have been expected to be used in various areas by virtue of their outstanding physical, electrical, and chemical properties. In order to make full use of their prominent electric conductivity in some areas such as electron emission sources, device interconnects, and electrodes in energy storage devices, direct growth of CNT with vertical alignment is definitely beneficial issue because they can maintain mechanical stability and high conductivity at the interface between substrates. Here, we report direct growth of vertically aligned CNT (VCNT) on Cu foils using thermal chemical vapor deposition and characterize the field emission property of the VCNT. The VCNT's height was controlled by changing the growth temperature, growth time, and catalytic layer thickness. Optimum growth condition was found to be $800^{\circ}C$ for 20 min with acetylene and hydrogen mixtures on Fe catalytic layer of 1 nm thick. The diameter of VCNT grown was smaller than that of usual multi walled CNT. Based on the result of field emission characterization, we concluded that the VCNT on Cu foils can be useful in various potential applications where high conductivity through the interface between CNT and substrate is required.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.243-260
• /
• 2018

A literature review on the effects of high temperature and radiation on radiation shielding concrete in Spent Fuel Dry Storage is presented in this study with a focus on concrete degradation. The general threshold is $95^{\circ}C$ for preventing long-term degradation from high temperature, and it is suggested that the temperature gradient should be less than $60^{\circ}C$ to avoid crack generation in concrete structures. The amount of damage depends on the characteristics of the concrete mixture, and increases with the temperature and exposure time. The tensile strength of concrete is more susceptible than the compressive strength to degradation due to high temperature. Nuclear heating from radiation can be neglected under an incident energy flux density of $10^{10}MeV{\cdot}cm^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$. Neutron radiation of >$10^{19}n{\cdot}cm^{-2}$ or an integrated dose of gamma radiation exceeding $10^{10}$ rads can cause a reduction in the compressive and tensile strengths and the elastic moduli. When concrete is highly irradiated, changes in the mechanical properties are primarily caused by variation in water content resulting from high temperature, volume expansion, and crack generation. It is necessary to fully utilize previous research for effective technology development and licensing of a Korean dry storage system. This study can serve as important baseline data for developing domestic technology with regard to concrete casks of an SF (Spent Fuel) dry storage system.