• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.8
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• pp.777-783
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• 2003

The mechanical properties of B$_4$C/Al composites normally depend on the species and quantity of reaction products between B$_4$C and Al and then the control of reaction products is necessary to make desirable composites for lightweight advanced or armor materials. TiB$_2$ is chemically inert with aluminum and has a lower contact angle (85$^{\circ}$ at 100$0^{\circ}C$) to liquid aluminum than B$_4$C. Thus, TiB$_2$ coating on B$_4$C may lower infiltration temperature of aluminum when the B$_4$C/Al composites is fabricated by infiltration process. In this study, the effects of TiB$_2$ on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the B$_4$C/Al composites have been investigated. TiB$_2$ coated B$_4$C powder was prepared using the sol-gel technique. It was found that the B$_4$C surface is homogeneously covered with TiB$_2$ having a particles size of 20-50 nm. While the B$_4$C/Al composites prepared by infiltration after TiB$_2$ coating had 17 wt% of unreacted Al, on the other hand, the B$_4$C/Al composites without coating included 14 wt% of Al. As a result, the composites infiltrated after the coating showed higher fracture toughness and lower hardness. This strongly suggests that TiB$_2$ not only lowers the infiltration temperature, but also inhibits the reaction between B$_4$C and Al.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.38 no.9
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• pp.834-838
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• 2001

Attempts were made to improve mechanical properties of zirconia-based electrolyte by preparing yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia/alumina composite. It was performed by precipitating Yag precursor in aqueous m-zirconia slurry. The powder was separated and then followed by heat treatment with expecting yttria to react with m-$ZrO_2$ to give yttria stabilized zirconia and alumina to be dispersed homogeneously. When 17.8wt% Yag(6.3mol% $Y_2O_3$) was used, fracture toughness and strength were substantially improved from 1.44MPa${\cdot}m^{1/2}$ and 270Mpa for YZ8Y to 3.62MPa${\cdot}m^{1/2}$ and 447MPa respectively, but electrical conductivity at $^{\circ}$C in air was decreased from 0.126 to 0.057${\Omega}^{-1}cm^{-1}$. It seemed due to the presence of small amount of tetragonal zirconia. But when 21.58wt% Yag(8.0mol% $Y_2O_3$) was added, fracture toughness of 2.93MPa${\cdot}m^{1/2}$ and flexural strength of 388MPa were obtained with electrical conductivity of ${\Omega}^{-1}cm^{-1}$.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.9
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• pp.909-915
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• 2003

Anodic oxide films on aluminum play an important role as a dielectrics in aluminum electrolytic capacitor. In order to obtain the high capacitance, ZrO$_2$ films were coated on aluminum foils by sol-gel method and then, the properties of anodized films were studied. The coating and drying of the films were repeated 4-10 times and annealed at 300～$600^{\circ}C$ and the triple layer of ZrO$_2$/Al-ZrO$_{x}$ /Al$_2$O$_3$ was formed onto aluminum substrates after anodizing of ZrO$_2$/Al film. The thickness of $Al_2$O$_3$ layer was decreased with increasing the annealing temperature due to the densification of ZrO$_2$ film. The ZrO$_2$ films were crystallized even at 30$0^{\circ}C$ and showed nanocrystalline structure. The. capacitance of aluminum foil annealed at low temperature was higher than that at high temperature. The increase of capacitance was due to the high capacitance of ZrO$_2$ film annealed at low temperature. The capacitance of ZrO$_2$ coated aluminum increased about 3 times compared to that without a ZrO$_2$ layer after anodizing to 400 V. From these results, the aluminum foils with composite oxide layers are found to be applicable to the aluminum electrolytic capacitor.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.9
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• pp.874-880
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• 2003

The effect of h-BN content on microstructure, mechanical properties, and machinability of AlN-BN based machinable ceramics were investigated. The relative density of sintered compact decreased with increasing h-BN content. The four-point flexural strength also decreased from 238 MPa of monolith up to 182 MPa by the addition of 30 vol％ h-BN. Both low Young's modulus and residual tensile stress, formed by the thermal expansion coefficient difference between AIN and h-BN, might cause the strength drop in AlN-BN composite. The crack deflection, and pull-out phenomena increased by the plate-like h-BN. However, the fracture toughness decreased with h-BN content. The second phases, consisted of YAG and ${\gamma}$-Al$_2$O$_3$, were formed by the reaction between Al$_2$O$_3$ and Y$_2$O$_3$. During end-milling process, feed and thrust forces measured for AlN-(10～30) vol％ BN composites decreased with increasing h-BN particles, showing excellent machinability. Also, irrespective of h-BN content, relatively good surfaces with roughness less than 0.5 m (Ra) could be achieved within short lapping time.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.39 no.9
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• pp.851-856
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• 2002

Tribological behavior of plasma-sprayed $Cr_2O_3$-based coatings containing $MoO_3$ at 450$^{\circ}C$ was investigated to understand the influence of $MoO_3$. A reciprocal disc-on-plate type tribo-tester was employed to examine fricition and wear behavior of the specimens. The microstructure and phase composition of the coating was characterized with Transmission Electron Microscopy(TEM). The TEM analysis indicated that $MoO_3$ was dispersed into the grain boundary, resulting in the increase of the hardness and density of the coating. Worn surfaces were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and chemistry of the worn surfaces was analyzed using a X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer(XPS). The results showed that the friction coefficient of the $MoO_3$-added coatings was lower than that without $MoO_3$ addition. The larger protecting layers were observed at the worn surface of plasma spray coated specimens with $MoO_3$ composition in the protecting layer appears to be more favorable in reducing the friction.

• Composites Research
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.209-214
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• 2024

Graphene oxide (GO), known for its high stiffness, thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity, is being utilized as a reinforcement in nanocomposite materials. This study evaluates the mechanical properties of epoxy nanocomposites incorporating GO and edge modified GO (E-GO), which has hydroxyl groups substituted only on its edges. GO/E-GO was uniformly dispersed in epoxy resin using ultrasonic dispersion, and mechanical properties were assessed through tensile testing. The results showed that the addition of nanoparticles increased both tensile strength and toughness. The tensile strength of the epoxy without nanoparticles was 74.4 MPa, while the highest tensile strength of 90.7 MPa was observed with 0.3 wt% E-GO. Additionally, the modulus increased from 2.55 GPa to 3.53 GPa with the addition of nanoparticles. Field emission scanning electron microscopy of the fracture surface revealed that the growth of cracks was impeded by the nanoparticles, preventing complete fracture and causing the cracks to split in multiple directions. E-GO, with surface treatment only on the edges, exhibited higher mechanical properties than GO due to its superior dispersion and surface treatment effects. These results highlight the importance of nanoparticle surface treatment in developing high-performance nanocomposite materials.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.231-239
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• 1999

The microstructure of ceramic composite has been found to be governed by the type and amount of the secondary phase, the sintering aid, and the sintering conditions such as sintering temperature, pressure and holing time. Moreover, tribological properties are strongly dependent on microsturcture of composite and operating conditions. In this study, silicon nitride with various amount of magnesia as a sintering aid were prepared and sintered by a hot pressing (HP) technique. Microstructure, mechanical properties (hardness, strength, and fracture toughness), and tribological properties in different environments of $Si_{3}N_{4}$ (in air, water, and paraffine oil) were investigated as a function of MgO content in $Si_{3}N_{4}$. As increasing the amount of MgO in $Si_{3}N_{4}$, the glassy phase in the grain boundaries enlarged the $\beta$-phase elongated grains, and also degraded the Hertzian contact damage resistance. Tribological behaviors in air was seemed to be determined by fracture toughness of $Si_{3}N_{4}$, and those in water and paraffin oil was seemed to be determined by hardness as well as strength. Since glassy grain-boundary phase (MgO) in $Si_{3}N_{4}$ expected to be reacted with water during sliding, such tribochemical reaction reduced wear. In paraffin oil under a higher applied load, the initial sliding dominated wear rate because of Hertzian contact damage.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.23-28
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• 2002

This paper describes the machining characteristics of the $MoSi_2$ based composites by electric discharge drilling with various tubular electrodes, besides, Hardness characteristics and microstructures of $Nb/MoSi_2$ laminate composites were evaluated from the variation of fabricating conditions such as preparation temperature, applied pressure and pressure holding time. $MoSi_2$ -based composites has been developed in new materials for jet engine of supersonic-speed airplanes and gas turbine for high- temperature generator. Achieving this objective may require new hard materials with high strength and high temperature-resistance. However, With the exception of grinding, traditional machining methods are not applicable to these new materials. Electric discharge machining (EDM) is a thermal process that utilizes a spark discharge to melt a conductive material, the tool electrode being almost non-unloaded, because there is no direct contact between the tool electrode and the workpiece. By combining a nonconducting ceramics with more conducting ceramic it was possible to raise the electrical conductivity. From experimental results, it was found that the lamination from Nb sheet and $MoSi_2$ powder was an excellent strategy to improve hardness characteristics of monolithic $MoSi_2$. However, interfacial reaction products like (Nb, Mo)$SiO_2$ and $Nb_2Si_3$ formed at the interface of $Nb/MoSi_2$ and increased with fabricating temperature. $MoSi_2$ composites which a hole drilling was not possible by the conventional machining process, enhanced the capacity of ED-drilling by adding $NbSi_2$ relative to that of SiC or $ZrO_2$ reinforcements.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.1756-1763
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• 2020

The paper studies spark plasma sintering (SPS) of industrially used UO₂-based fuel containing integral fuel burnable absorber (IFBA) of neutrons Gd₂O₃. Densification dynamics of pristine UO₂ powder and the one added with 2 and 8 wt% of Gd₂O₃ under ultrasonication in liquid has been studied under SPS conditions at 1050, 1250, and 1450 ℃. Effect of sintering temperature on phase composition as well as on O/U stoichiometry has been investigated for UO₂ SPS ceramics. Sintering of uranium dioxide added with Gd₂O₃ yields solid solution (U,Gd)O₂, which is isostructural to UO₂. SEM with EDX and metallography were implemented to analyze the microstructure of the obtained UO₂ ceramics and composite UO₂-Gd₂O₃ one, particularly, open porosity, defects, and Gd₂O₃ distribution were studied. Microhardness, compressive strength and density were shown to reduce after addition of Gd₂O₃. Obtained results prove the hypothesis on formation of stable pores in the system of UO₂-Gd₂O₃ due to Kirkendall effect that reduces sintering efficiency. The paper expands fundamental knowledge on pros and cons of fuel fabrication with IFBA using SPS technology.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.91-100
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• 1996

Condensed ethyl silicate(CES) solutions were prepared from $SiCl_4$ and ethanol which is different in water content(2.5, 5.0 and 7.0wt.% ). To investigate the sol-gel transition behaviors of CES and PHT(partially hydrolyzed TEOS) solutions, the measurement of volume change, density, $SiO_2$ content, intrinsic viscosity and number average molecular weight were conducted with elapsed time. The polymer shapes of CES were discussed from the relation between the intrinsic viscosity[$\eta$] and the number average molecular weight($\bar{Mn}$). CES-3 prepared from ethanol containing 7.0wt.% $H_2O$ had different sol-gel transition behaviors from CES-1 (2.5wt.% $H_2O$) and CES-2(5.Owt.% $H_2O$), but similar behaviors to those of PHT which is used for controlling the hydrolysis rata of TEOS when composite ceramic materials were manufactured from silicon alkoxides. On the basis of Mark-Hawink relation, $[{\eta}]=K\bar{Mn}^{{\alpha}}$, the polymer shape of CES solutions were determined linear siloxane polymers because all solutions had ${\alpha}$ values in the range from 0.53 to 0.84. Especially, CES-3 showed to be a favorable raw materials for composite ceramics due to its similar properties to those of PHT.