• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.637-645
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• 2011

It is well known that high strength concrete with compressive strength higher than 50 MPa shows severe material and structural damages under fire due to spalling. To understand degradation of structural capacity of fire damaged high strength concrete structures, not only thermo-mechanical behavior needs to be defined, but also structural behavior of high strength concrete member under high temperature needs to be investigated. In this study, structural tests are performed by applying axial loads on high strength concrete columns exposed at elevated temperatures for assigned amount of time. The tested columns are prepared to have different concrete strength and polypropylene fiber percentage. The test results show that structural capacity of the columns decreased with increased compressive strength of concrete under same heating condition. Especially, it is interesting to note that high strength concrete columns with polypropylene fiber for spalling proof did not improve structural capacity compared to the columns without polypropylene fiber. The findings from the test are able to improve fire proof design of high strength concrete structural members and predicting structural performance of fire damaged structural members.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.353-362
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• 2019

Thermodynamic analysis of cascade refrigeration systems has attracted considerable research attention. On the other hand, a system evaluation based on thermodynamic analyses of the individual parts, including the evaporator, condenser, intercooler, expansion valve, etc., has received less attention. In this study, performance analysis was conducted on a cascade refrigeration system, which has an individual cooling and refrigeration evaporator, and equips the intercooler and air-cooled condenser in a series in a lower cycle. The thermo-fluid design was then performed on the major components of the system - upper condenser, lower condenser, cooling evaporator, refrigeration evaporator, intercooler, compressor, electronic expansion valve - of 15 kW refrigeration, and 8 kW cooling capacity using R-410A. A series of simulations were conducted on the designed system. The change in outdoor temperature from 26 C to 38 C resulted in the cooling capacity of the lower evaporator remaining approximately the same, whereas it decreased by 9% at the upper evaporator and by 63% at the intercooler. The COP decreased with increasing outdoor temperature. In addition, the COP of the cycle with the intercooler operation was higher that of the cycle without the intercooler operation. Furthermore, the increase in the upper condenser size by two fold increased the upper evaporator by 4%. On the other hand, the lower evaporator capacity remained the same. The COP of the upper cycle increased with increasing upper condenser size, whereas that of the lower cycle remained almost the same. When the size of the lower condenser was increased 2.8 fold, the intercooler capacity increased by 8%, whereas those of upper and the lower evaporator remained approximately the same. Furthermore, the COP of the lower cycle increased with an increase in the lower condenser. On the other hand, the change of the upper condenser was minimal.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.30-58
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• 2022

The deep geological repository for high-level radioactive waste disposal is a multi barrier system comprised of engineered barriers and a natural barrier. The long-term integrity of the deep geological repository is affected by the coupled interactions between the individual barrier components. Erosion and piping phenomena in the compacted bentonite buffer due to buffer-rock interactions results in the removal of bentonite particles via groundwater flow and can negatively impact the integrity and performance of the buffer. Rapid groundwater inflow at the early stages of disposal can lead to piping in the bentonite buffer due to the buildup of pore water pressure. The physiochemical processes between the bentonite buffer and groundwater lead to bentonite swelling and gelation, resulting in bentonite erosion from the buffer surface. Hence, the evaluation of erosion and piping occurrence and its effects on the integrity of the bentonite buffer is crucial in determining the long-term integrity of the deep geological repository. Previous studies on bentonite erosion and piping failed to consider the complex coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical behavior of bentonite-groundwater interactions and lacked a comprehensive model that can consider the complex phenomena observed from the experimental tests. In this technical note, previous studies on the mechanisms, lab-scale experiments and numerical modeling of bentonite buffer erosion and piping are introduced, and the future expected challenges in the investigation of bentonite buffer erosion and piping are summarized.