• Composites Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.33-40
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• 2003

In order to overcome one of the most pronounced shortcomings of conventional laminated composites, such as the low damage tolerance due to delamination, the thermoplastic materials and 3D (three-dimensional) preforms have been utilized in the manufacture of composite materials. From the newly developed process termed as the co-braiding, hybrid yarns of the thermoplastic fibers (PEEK) and reinforcing fibers (carbon) have been fabricated. In order to further enhance the delamination suppression, through thickness fibers have been introduced by way of 3D weaving technique in the fabrication of textile preforms. The preforms have been thermoformed to make composite materials. Complete impregnation of the PEEK into the carbon fiber bundles has been confirmed. For the comparison of mechanical performance of 3D woven composites, quasi-isotropic laminates using APC-2/AS4 tapes have been fabricated. Tensile and compressive properties of both the composites have been determined. Furthermore. the open hole, impact and CAI(Compression After Impact) tests were also carried out to assess the applicability of 3D woven textile reinforced thermoplastic composites in aerospace structures.

• Composites Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.269-276
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• 2022

In this paper, a composite stiffened panel was fabricated using a three-dimensional weaving method that can reduce the risk of delamination, and mechanical properties such as buckling load and natural frequency were investigated. The preform of the stringer and skin of the stiffened panel were fabricated in one piece using T800 grade carbon fiber and then, resin (EP2400) was injected into the preform. The compression test and natural frequency measurement were performed for the stiffened panel, and the results were compared with the finite element analyses. In order to compare the performance of 3D weaving structures, the stiffened panels with the same configuration were fabricated using UD and 2D plain weave (fabric) prepregs. Compared to the tested buckling load of the 3D woven panel, the buckling loads of the stiffened panels of UD prepreg and 2D plain weave exhibited +20% and -3% differences, respectively. From this study, it was confirmed that the buckling load of the stiffened panel manufactured by 3D weaving method was lower than that of the UD prepreg panel, but showed a slightly higher value than that of the 2D plain weave panel.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.259-275
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• 2008

This study aims to optimize the mechanical and electrical properties of electrically conductive polymer composites (CPCs) for use as a material of bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells. The thin CPCs consisting of conductive fillers and polymer resin were fabricated by a preform molding technique. Expanded graphite (EG), flake-type graphite (FG) and carbon fiber (CF) were used as conductive fillers. This study tested two types of CPCs, EG/FG filled CPCs and EG/CF filled CPCs, to optimize the material properties. First, the characteristics of EG/FG filled CPCs were investigated according to the FG ratio for 7 and $100{\mu}m$ sized FG. CPCs using $100{\mu}m$ FG showed optimal material properties at 60 wt% FG ratio, which were an electrical conductivity of 390 S/cm and flexural strength of 51 MPa. The particle size was an important parameter to change the mechanical and electrical behaviors. The flexural strength was sensitive to the particle size due to the different levels of densification. The electrical conductivity also showed size-dependent behavior because of the different contributions to the conductive network. Meanwhile, the material properties of EG/CF filled CPCs was also optimized according to the CF ratio, and the optimized electrical conductivity and flexural strength were 290 S/cm and 58 MPa, respectively. The electrical conductivity of this case decreased similarly to the EG/FG filled case. On the other hand, the behavior of the flexural strength was more complicated than the EG/FG filled case, and the reason was attributed to the interaction between the strengthening effect of CF and the deterioration of voids.

• Composites Research
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.296-301
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• 2020

Laminated composite materials have excellent in-plane properties, but are vulnerable in thickness directions, making it easy to delamination when bending and torsion loads are applied. Thickness directional reinforcement methods of composite materials that delay delamination include Z-pinning, Stitching, Tufting, etc., and typically Z-pinning and Stitching method are commonly used. The Z-pinning is reinforcement method by inserting metal or carbon pin in the thickness direction of prepreg, and the conventional stitching process is a method of reinforcing the mechanical properties in the thickness direction by intersecting the upper and lower fibers on the preform. In this paper, I-fiber stitching method, which complement and improve weakness of Z-pinning and Stitching method, was proposed, and the static strength of composite single-lap joints using I-fiber stitching process were evaluated. The single-lap joints were fabricated by a co-curing method using an autoclave vacuum bag process. The thickness of the composite adherend was fixed, and 5 types of specimens were manufactured with varying the stitching pattern (5×5, 7×7) and angle (0°, 45°). From the test, the failure load of the specimen reinforced by the I-fiber stitching process was increased by up to 143% compared to that of specimen without reinforcement.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.97-105
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• 1999

In the binary system of SiC and carbon, porosity and pore size distribution of green body was controlled by varying pH, by the addition of polyelectrolyte dispersants, and by using different particle size of starting powders. The preforms having different green microstructure were fabricated by slip casting from suspensions having different dispersion condition. The reaction bonding process was carried out for these preforms. The condition of reaction bonding was 1600$^{\circ}C$ and 20 min. under vacuum atmosphere. The analyses of optical and SEM were studied to investigate the effect of green microstructure on that of reaction bonded silicon carbide and subsequently the mechanical properties of sintered body was investigated. Different green microstructures were obtained from suspensions having different dispersion condition. It was found that the pore size could be remarkably reduced for a fine SiC(0.5$\mu\textrm{m}$). The bimodal microstructure was not found in the present study, which is frequently observed in the typical reaction bonded silicon carbide. It is considered that the ratio between SiC and C was responsible for the formation of bimodal microstructure. For the preform fabricated from the well dispersed suspension, the 3-point bending strength of reaction-bonded silicon carbide was 310${\pm}$40 MPa compared to the specimen fabricated from relatively agglomerated particles having lower value 260${\pm}$MPa.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.95-101
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• 2020

The wind turbine blades should be designed to possess a high stiffness and should be fabricated with a light and high strength material because they serve under extreme combination of lift and drag forces, converting kinetic energy of wind into shaft work. The goal of this study is to understand the basic knowledge required to curtail the process time consumed during the construction of small wind turbine blades using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) prepeg composites. The configuration of turbine rotor was determined using the QBlade freeware program. The fluid dynamics module simulated the loads exerted by the wind of a specific speed, and the stress analysis module predicted the distributions of equivalent von Mises stress for representing the blade structures. It was suggested to modify the shape of test specimen from ASTM D638 to decrease the variance in measured tensile strengths. Then, a series of experiments were performed to confirm that the bladder compression molded CFRP prepreg can provide sufficient strength to small wind turbine blades and decrease the cure time simultaneously.

• Composites Research
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.322-327
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• 2022

Composite lap joints have been extensively used due to their excellent properties and the demand for light structures. However, due to the weak mechanical properties in the thickness direction, the lap joint is easily fractured. various reinforcement methods that delay fracture by dispersing stress concentration have been applied to overcome this problem, such as z-pinning and conventional stitching. The Z-pinning is reinforcement method by inserting metal or carbon pin in the thickness direction of prepreg, and the conventional stitching process is a method of reinforcing the mechanical properties in the thickness direction by intersecting the upper and lower fibers on the preform. I-fiber stitching method is a promising technology that combines the advantages of both z-pinning and the conventional stitching. In this paper, the static and fatigue strengths of the single-lap joints reinforced by the I-fiber stitching process were evaluated. The single-lap joints were fabricated by a co-curing method using an autoclave vacuum bag process and I-fiber reinforcing effects were evaluated according to adherend thickness and stitching angle. From the experiments, the thinner the composite joint specimen, the higher the I-fiber reinforcement effect, and Ifiber stitched single lap joints showed a 52% improvement in failure strength and 118% improvement in fatigue strength.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.74-83
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• 2022

The entire process, from the raw material to the final system qualification test, has been developed to fabricate a large-diameter, lightweight reflective-telescope system for a satellite observation. The telescope with 3 anastigmatic mirrors has an aperture of 700 mm and a total mass of 66 kg. We baked a silicon carbide substrate body from a carbon preform using a reaction sintering method, and tested the structural and chemical properties, surface conditions, and crystal structure of the body. We developed the polishing and coating methods considering the mechanical and chemical properties of the silicon carbide (SiC) body, and we utilized a chemical-vapor-deposition method to deposit a dense SiC thin film more than 170 ㎛ thick on the mirror's surface, to preserve a highly reflective surface with excellent optical performance. After we made the SiC mirrors, we measured the wave-front error for various optical fields by assembling and aligning three mirrors and support structures. We conducted major space-environment tests for the components and final assembly by temperature-cycling tests and vibration-shock tests, in accordance with the qualifications for the space and launch environment. We confirmed that the final telescope achieves all of the target performance criteria.