• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.10
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• pp.609-616
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• 2008

Conventional bake-hardenable(BH) steels should be annealed at higher temperatures because of the addition of Ti or/and Nb which forms carbides and raises recrystallization start temperature. In this study, the development of new BH steels without Ti or Nb addition has been reviewed. The new BH steels have nearly same mechanical properties as the conventional BH steels even though it is annealed at lower temperature. The steels also show smaller deviation of the mechanical properties than that of the conventional BH steels because of the conarol of solute carbon content during steel making processes. The deviation of mechanical properties in conventional BH steels is directly dependent on the deviation of solute carbon which is greatly influenced by the amount of the carbide formers in conventional BH steels. Less alloy addition in the newly developed BH steels gives economical benefits. By taking the advantage of sulfur and/or nitrogen which scarenge in Interstitial-Free or conventional BH steels, fine manganese sulfides or nano size copper sulfides were designed to precipitate, and result in refined ferrite grains. Aluminum nitrides used as a precipitation hardening element in the developed steels were also and resull in fine and well dispersed. As a result, the developed steels with less production cost and reduced deviation of mechanical properties are under commercial production. Note that the developed BH steels are registered as a brand name of MAFE(R) and/or MAF-E(R).

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.10
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• pp.634-645
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• 2008

In this study, surface composites were fabricated with Fe-based amorphous alloy powders and VC powders by high-energy electron beam irradiation, and the correlation of their microstructure with hardness and fracture toughness was investigated. Mixture of Fe-based metamorphic powders and VC powders were deposited on a plain carbon steel substrate, and then electron beam was irradiated on these powders without flux to fabricate surface composites. The composite layers of 1.3~1.8 mm in thickness were homogeneously formed without defects and contained a large amount (up to 47 vol.%) of hard $Cr_2B$ and $V_8C_7$ crystalline particles precipitated in the solidification cell region and austenite matrix, respectively. The hardness of the surface composites was directly influenced by hard $Cr_2B$ and $V_8C_7$ particles, and thus was about 2 to 4 times greater than that of the steel substrate. Observation of the microfracture process and measurement of fracture toughness of the surface composites indicated that the fracture toughness increased with increasing additional volume fraction of $V_8C_7$ particles because $V_8C_7$ particles effectively played a role in blocking the crack propagation along the solidification cell region heavily populated with $Cr_2B$ particles. Particularly in the surface composite fabricated with Fe-based metamorphic powders and 30 % of VC powders, the hardness and fracture toughness were twice higher than those of the surface composite fabricated without mixing of VC powders.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.285-292
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• 2012

Hot ductility behavior of precipitation-hardened low-carbon iron alloys containing 0.02 wt% Ti and 0.05 wt% Nb was characterized by a hot tensile stress test. Carbon (0.05, 0.1, 0.25 wt%) and boron (0.002 wt%) contents were varied to study the effect of precipitates on the high-temperature embrittlement of the alloys in the temperature range of $600{\sim}800^{\circ}C$. Ductility loss was observed at $700^{\circ}C$ for the tested alloys. The cause of the ductility loss was mainly attributed to the carbides and ferrite films formed at the grain boundaries during deformation. Although the carbon content tended to raise the total fraction of Nb (C, N), the precipitates were formed mostly in the grain interior as the precipitation temperature was raised above the deformation temperature by the high carbon content. Hence, carbon in excess suppressed the hot ductility loss. Meanwhile, boron addition improved the hot ductility of the alloys. The improvement is likely due to the boron atoms capturing carbon atoms and thus retarding the carbide formation.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.8
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• pp.477-481
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• 2008

The secondary hardening and fracture behavior in P/M high speed steels bearing V content of 9 to 10 wt% have been investigated in terms of austenitizing temperature and precipitation behavior. Austenitizing was conducted at 1,100 and $1,175^{\circ}C$ of relatively low and high temperatures. Coarse primary carbides retained after austenitization were mainly V-rich MC type. They give a significant influence on hardeness and toughness, as well as wear resistance. Tempering was performed in the range of $500{\sim}600^{\circ}C$. The peak hardness resulting from the precipitation of the fine MC secondary carbides was observed near 520, irrespective of austenitizing temperature. Aging acceleration(or deceleration) did not occur with increasing austenitizing temperature because it mainly influences contents of V and C of matrix through the dissloution of coarse primary MC containing lots of V and C. The precipitation of secondary MC carbides, which also contain V and C, did not change the aging kinetics itself. In the 10V alloy containing much higher C content, the impact toughness was lower than 9V alloy, because of the larger amount of primary carbide and high hardness.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.406-415
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• 2009

A study was conducted on the effects of carbon, tungsten, and vanadium on the wear properties and surface roughness of four High Speed Steel (HSS) rolls manufactured by the centrifugal casting method. Hot-rolling simulation tests were carried out using a high-temperature wear tester capable of controlling speed, load, and temperature. HSS rolls contained a large amount (up to 25 vol.%) of carbides such as MC, $M_{2}C$, $M_{7}C_{3}$, and $M_{6}C$ carbides formed in the tempered martensite matrix. The matrix consisted mainly of lath tempered martensite when the carbon content in the matrix was small, and contained a considerable amount of plate tempered martensite when the carbon content increased. The high-temperature wear test results indicated that the wear properties and surface roughness of the rolls improved when the amount of hard MC carbides formed inside solidification cells increased. The rolls distribution was also homogeneous. The best wear properties and surface roughness were obtained from a roll where a large amount of MC carbides was homogeneously distributed in the lath tempered martensite matrix. The proper contents of carbon equivalent, tungsten equivalent, and vanadium were 2.0~2.3%, 9~10%, and 5~6%, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.241-245
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• 2022

In this study, we measured and comparatively analyzed the characteristics of MPS (Merged Pin Schottky) diodes in 4H-SiC by changing the areal ratio between the Schottky and PN junction region. Increasing the temperature from 298 K to 473 K resulted in the threshold voltage shifting from 0.8 V to 0.5 V. A wider Schottky region indicates a lower on-resistance and a faster turn-on. The effective barrier height was smaller for a wider Schottky region. Additionally, the depletion layer became smaller under the influence of the reduced effective barrier height. The wider Schottky region resulted in the ideality factor being reduced from 1.37 to 1.01, which is closer to an ideal device. The leakage saturation current increased with the widening Schottky region, resulting in a 1.38 times to 2.09 times larger leakage current.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.2792-2800
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• 2022

In the core of the WWR-K reactor, a long-term irradiation of tristructural isotopic (TRISO)-coated fuel particles (CFPs) with a UO₂ kernel was carried out under high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR)-like operating conditions. The temperature of this TRISO fuel during irradiation varied in the range of 950-1100 ℃. A fission per initial metal atom (FIMA) of uranium burnup of 9.9% was reached. The release of gaseous fission products was measured in-pile. The release-to-birth ratio (R/B) for the fission product isotopes was calculated. Aspects of fuel safety while achieving deep fuel burnup are important and relevant, including maintaining the integrity of the fuel coatings. The main mechanisms of fuel failure are kernel migration, silicon carbide corrosion by palladium, and gas pressure increase inside the CFP. The formation of gaseous fission products and carbon monoxide leads to an increase in the internal pressure in the CFP, which is a dominant failure mechanism of the coatings under this level of burnup. Irradiated fuel compacts were subjected to electric dissociation to isolate the CFPs from the fuel compacts. In addition, nondestructive methods, such as X-ray radiography and gamma spectrometry, were used. The predicted R/B ratio was evaluated using the fission gas release model developed in the high-temperature test reactor (HTTR) project. In the model, both the through-coatings of failed CFPs and as-fabricated uranium contamination were assumed to be sources of the fission gas. The obtained R/B ratio for gaseous fission products allows the finalization and validation of the model for the release of fission products from the CFPs and fuel compacts. The success of the integrity of TRISO fuel irradiated at approximately 9.9% FIMA was demonstrated. A low fuel failure fraction and R/B ratios indicated good performance and reliability of the studied TRISO fuel.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.3095-3105
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• 2022

Solid Microencapsulated Fuel (SMF) is a type of solid fuel rod design that disperses TRISO coated fuel particles directly into a kind of matrix. SMF is expected to provide improved performance because of the elimination of cladding tube and associated failure mechanisms. This study focused on the neutronics and some of the fuel cycle characteristics of SMF by using OpenMC. Two kinds of SMFs have been designed and evaluated - fuel particles dispersed into a silicon carbide matrix and fuel particles dispersed into a zirconium matrix. A 7×7 fuel assembly with increased rod diameter transformed from the standard NHR200-II 9×9 array was also introduced to increase the heavy metal inventory. A preliminary study of two kinds of burnable poisons (Erbia & Gadolinia) in two forms (BISO and QUADRISO particles) was also included. This study found that SMF requires about 12% enriched UN TRISO particles to match the cycle length of standard fuel when loaded in NHR200-II, which is about 7% for SMF with increased rod diameter. Feedback coefficients are less negative through the life of SMF than the reference. And it is estimated that the average center temperature of fuel kernel at fuel rod centerline is about 60 K below that of reference in this paper.

• Composites Research
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.161-174
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• 2022

SiC fiber-reinforced SiC matrix composite is a promising accident-tolerant fuel cladding material to improve the safety of light water nuclear reactors. Compared to the current zirconium alloy fuel cladding as well as metallic accident-tolerant fuel cladding, SiC composite fuel cladding has exceptional accident-tolerance such as excellent structural integrity and extremely low corrosion rate during severe accident of light water nuclear reactors, which reduces reactor core temperature and delays core degradation processes. In this paper, we introduce the concept, technical issues, and properties of SiC composite accident-tolerant fuel cladding during operation and accident scenarios of light water nuclear reactors.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.138-143
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• 2022

We analyzed the influence of post-annealing on Ga₂O₃/n-type 4H-SiC heterojunction diode. Gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃) thin films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) sputtering. Post-deposition annealing at 950℃ in an Oxygen atmosphere was performed. The material properties of Ga₂O₃ and the electrical properties of the diodes were investigated. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), X-Ray Diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images show a significant increase in the roughness and crystallinity of the O₂-annealed films. After Oxygen annealing X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) shows that the atomic ratio of oxygen increases which is related to a decrease in oxygen vacancy within the Ga₂O₃ film. The O₂-annealed diodes exhibited higher on-current and lower leakage current. Moreover, the ideality factor, barrier height, and thermal activation energy were derived from the current-voltage curve by increasing the temperature from 298 - 434K.