• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.218-225
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• 2022

For hydrogen-vehicle applications (air pressure control valve housing, APCVH), an investigation was conducted to determine how micro-defects in a high- pressure die-casted Al alloy (industrial code: ALDC12) could be controlled by means of a post-treatment using an organic-based impregnation solution in order to improve the air- tightness of the die-casted Al sample. Two different impregnation solutions were proposed and its test results were compared to a imported product from Japan with respect to the processing variables used. A structural investigation of the components under study was conducted by means of computer tomography and 3D X-ray micro-CT. These observations revealed that the use of the impregnation treatment to seal micro-defects led to highly significant and beneficial changes which were attributed mainly to interconnections among inherent micro-pores. A leak test after impregnation revealed that the performance improvement rate of the die-casted Al sample was ~70% for INNO-01. Therefore, the developed impregnation solutions offer an effective strategy to control the micro-defects found in various vehicle parts via die-casting.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.155-165
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• 2022

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not completely reversible and requires long-term management with appropriate treatment. This study aimed to analyze trends in treatment regimens and medication costs for COPD patients using a national claims database. Methods: We conducted this analysis using National Patient Sample data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service covering the period from 2015 to 2018. We have constructed a dataset comprising COPD disease classification codes J43.x and J44.x (based on KCD-7 code, J43.0 was excluded) and compiled a list of drugs fitting current guidelines. To identify trends, we calculated frequency, ratio, and compound annual growth rate (CAGR) using the numbers of prescriptions and patients. Results: The number of COPD patients was 7,260 in 2018, slightly decreased from 2015. Most of these COPD patients were aged 60 or older and included a high proportion of males (72.2%; 2018). The number of patients prescribed inhaled medications increased gradually from 2015 to 2018 (9,227 (47.1%); 2015, 9,285 (51.5%); 2018), while the number of patients prescribed systemic beta-agonists and Xanthines has decreased since 2015 (CAGR -14.7; systemic beta-agonist, -5.8; Xanthines). The per capita cost of medication has increased by 0.4% (KRW 206,667; 2018, KRW 204,278; 2015) annually during the study period. Conclusion: This study showed that treatment with inhaled medications had continuously increased in accord with changing guidelines, but oral medications were still widely used. It is necessary to emphasize the importance of inhaled medications in treating COPD to reduce additional economic burden through appropriate medication use.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.191-198
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• 2022

With the world's fast expanding energy usage comes a slew of new issues. Because one-third of energy is lost in overcoming friction, tremendous effort is being directed into minimizing friction. Surface texturing is the latest surface treatment technology that uses grooves and dimples on the friction surface of the machine to significantly reduce friction and improve wear resistance. Despite the fact that many studies on this issue have been conducted, most of them focused on parallel surfaces, with relatively few cases of converging films, as in most sliding bearings. This study investigated the lubrication performance of surface-textured inclined slider bearings. We analyzed the continuity and Navier-Stokes equations using a commercial computational fluid dynamics code, FLUENT. The results show the pressure and velocity distributions and the lubrication performance according to the number and orientation of rectangular dimples. Partial texturing somewhat improves the lubrication performance of inclined slider bearings. The number of dimples with the maximum load-carrying capacity (LCC) and minimum friction is determined. When the major axis of the dimple is arranged in the sliding direction, the LCC and friction reduction are maximized. However, full texturing significantly reduces the LCC of the slider bearing and increases the flow rate. The results have the potential to improve the lubrication performance of various sliding bearings, but further research is required.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.147-165
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• 2023

The paper contrasts conventional seismic design with a design that incorporates buckling-restrained bracing in three-dimensional reinforced concrete buildings (BRBs). The suboptimal structures may be found using the multi-objective chimp optimization algorithm (MEN-ChOA). Given the constraints and dimensions, ChOA suffers from a slow convergence rate and tends to become stuck in local minima. Therefore, the ChOA is improved by niching and evolutionary operators to overcome the aforementioned problems. In addition, a new technique is presented to compute seismic and dead loads that include all of a structure's parts in an algorithm for three-dimensional frame design rather than only using structural elements. The performance of the constructed multi-objective model is evaluated using 12 standard multi-objective benchmarks proposed in IEEE congress on evolutionary computation. Second, MEN-ChOA is employed in constructing several reinforced concrete structures by the Mexico City building code. The variety of Pareto optimum fronts of these criteria enables a thorough performance examination of the MEN-ChOA. The results also reveal that BRB frames with comparable structural performance to conventional moment-resistant reinforced concrete framed buildings are more cost-effective when reinforced concrete building height rises. Structural performance and building cost may improve by using a nature-inspired strategy based on MEN-ChOA in structural design work.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2023

Background: Aptamers are currently being used in various fields including medical treatments due to their characteristics of selectively binding to specific molecules. Due to their special characteristics, the aptamers are expected to be used to remove radionuclides from a large amount of liquid radioactive waste generated during the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. The radiological effects on the aptamers should be evaluated to ensure their integrity for the application of a radionuclide removal technique. Materials and Methods: In this study, Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code version 6 (MCNP6) and Monte Carlo damage simulation (MCDS) codes were employed to evaluate the radiological effects on the aptamers. MCNP6 was used to evaluate the secondary electron spectrum and the absorbed dose in a medium. MCDS was used to calculate the DNA damage by using the secondary electron spectrum and the absorbed dose. Binding experiments were conducted to indirectly verify the results derived by MCNP6 and MCDS calculations. Results and Discussion: Damage yields of about 5.00×10^-4 were calculated for 100 bp aptamer due to the radiation dose of 1 Gy. In experiments with radioactive materials, the results that the removal rate of the radioactive ⁶⁰Co by the aptamer is the same with the non-radioactive ⁵⁹Co prove the accuracy of the previous DNA damage calculation. Conclusion: The evaluation results suggest that only very small fraction of significant number of the aptamers will be damaged by the radioactive materials in the liquid radioactive waste.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.207-221
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• 2023

In this investigation, the interaction between opening space and neighboring joint has been examined by experimental test and Particle flow code in two dimension (PFC2D) simulation. Since, firs of all PFC was calibrated using Brazilian experimental test and uniaxial compression test. Secondly, diverse configurations of opening and neighboring joint were provided and tested by uniaxial test. 12 rectangular sample with dimension of 10 cm*10 cm was prepared from gypsum mixture. One quarter of tunnel and one and or two joint were drilled into the sample. Tunnel diameter was 5.5 cm. The angularities of joint in physical test were 0°, 45° and 90°. The angularities of joint in numerical simulation were 0°, 30°, 60°, -30°, -45°, -60° and its length were 2cm and 4cm. Loading rate was 0.016 m/s. Tensile strength of material was 4.5 MPa. Results shows that dominant type of crack which took place in the model was tensile cracks and or several shear bands develop within the model. The Final stress is minimum in the cases where oriented angle is negative. The failure stress decrease by decreasing the joint angle from 30° to 60°. In addition, the failure stress decrease by incrementing the joint angle from -30° to -60°. The failure stress was incremented by decreasing the number of notches. The failure stress was incremented by decreasing the joint length. The failure stress was incremented by decreasing the number of notches. Comparing experimental results and numerical one, showed that the failure stress is approximately identical in both conditions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.259-266
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• 1989

An improved version of RELAP5/MOD2 Cycle 36.04 code is assessed for LOFI LBLOCA Test L2-5. Minor modifications to the original version have been done to avoic reflood related errors. Based on the modified version, one base case and two cases for sensitivity study on downcomer and core channel modelling are calculated. The calculation results are compared with the experimental data for primary system pressure, break mass How rate and cladding temperature at hot spot According to the comparison, it is found that the hydraulic system behaviors are well predicted, excessive core cooling exist in blowdown phase for a single core channel and a combined downcomer case, and a better result can be obtained for a two core channel case.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.126-142
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to develop unmanned traffic enforcement equipment and standard specifications for the prevention of traffic accidents and violations of the two-wheeled vehicle laws. To this end, we conducted a review of the problems and new technologies of the currently operating unmanned traffic enforcement equipment on two-wheeled vehicles. And through a survey, the feasibility of introducing unmanned traffic enforcement equipment for two-wheeled vehicles and the current status of technology were investigated. In addition, the two-wheeled vehicle enforcement function was implemented through field tests of the development equipment, and the addition of enforcement targets and the number recognition rate were improved through performance improvement. Based on the results of field experiments and performance evaluation, performance standards for unmanned two-wheeled vehicle traffic enforcement equipment were prepared, and in the communication protocol, two-wheeled vehicle-related matters were newly composed in the vehicle classification code and violation items to develop standards.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.1
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• pp.81-91
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• 2022

The effects of interaction between concrete-gypsum interface and edge crack on the failure behavior of the specimens in senicircular bend (SCB) test were studied in the laboratory and also simulated numerically using the discrete element method. Some quarter circular specimens of gypsum and concrete with 5 cm radii and hieghts were separately prepared. Then the semicircular testing specimens were made by attaching one gypsum and one concrete sample to one another using a special glue and one edge crack is produced (in the interface) by do not using the glue in that part of the interface. The tensile strengths of concrete and gypsum samples were separately measured as 2.2 MPa and 1.3 MPa, respectively. during all testing performances a constant loading rate of 0.005 mm/s were stablished. The proposed testing method showed that the mechanism of failure and fracture in the brittle materials were mostly governed by the dimensions and number of discontinuities. The fracture toughnesses of the SCB samples were related to the fracture patterns during the failure processes of these specimens. The tensile behaviour of edge notch was related to the number of induced tensile cracks which were increased by decreasing the joint length. The fracture toughness of samples was constant by increasing the joint length. The failure process and fracture pattern in the notched semi-circular bending specimens were similar for both methods used in this study (i.e., the laboratory tests and the simulation procedure using the particle flow code (PFC2D)).

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.213-221
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• 2023

The demand for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers and LNG-fueled ships has significantly increased in recent years due to the sulfur-oxide emission regulations by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The main goal of this paper is to introduce the process for the Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA) of IMO independent type-B cargo tanks made from 9% nickel alloy. A methodology proposed by the British Standard was used to conduct ECA for any structure with initial flaws. Based on this standard, a Matlab code was developed to perform ECA. Coarse mesh Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed on an independent type-B LNG cargo tank with a capacity of 15,000 m³. The location with the highest development of maximum principal stress was identified at the bottom of the cargo tank. Fine mesh FEA was performed to obtain the stress range required for ECA. The dynamic cargo tank loads used for FEA were determined using some ship rules presented by Det Norske Veritas. As a result of performing a 20-year long-term crack propagation analysis with a semi-elliptical surface crack, the fracture-to-yield ratio exceeded the Fracture Assessment Line (FAL) and some structural reinforcement was necessary. Performing a 15-day short-term crack propagation analysis, the fracture-to-yield ratio remained within the FAL, and no significant LNG leaks were expected. This paper is believed to provide a guide for performing ECA of LNG cargo tanks in the future by providing the basic theory and application sample necessary to perform ECA.