• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.3855-3863
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• 2022

An evaluation of the radiation shielding performance of high-Z-particle-loaded polylactic acid (PLA) composite materials was pursued. Specimens were produced via fused deposition modeling (FDM) using copper-PLA, steel-PLA, and BaSO₄-PLA composite filaments containing 82.7, 75.2, and 44.6 wt% particulate phase contents, respectively, and were tested under broad-band flash x-ray conditions at the Sandia National Laboratories HERMES III facility. The experimental results for the mass attenuation coefficients of the composites were found to be in good agreement with GEANT4 simulations carried out using the same exposure conditions and an atomistic mixture as a model for the composite materials. Further simulation studies, focusing on the Cu-PLA composite system, were used to explore a shield design parameter space (in this case, defined by Cu-particle loading and shield areal density) to assess performance under both high-energy photon and electron fluxes over an incident energy range of 0.5-15 MeV. Based on these results, a method is proposed that can assist in the visualization and isolation of shield parameter coordinate sets that optimize performance under targeted radiation characteristics (type, energy). For electron flux shielding, an empirical relationship was found between areal density (AD), electron energy (E), composition and performance. In cases where ${\frac{E}{AD}}{\geq}2MeV{\bullet}cm{\bullet}g^{-1}$, a shield composed of >85 wt% Cu results in optimal performance. In contrast, a shield composed of <10 wt% Cu is anticipated to perform best against electron irradiation when ${\frac{E}{AD}}<2MeV{\bullet}cm{\bullet}g^{-1}$.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.310-315
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• 2009

Ultra-fine TiC/Co composite powder was synthesized by the carbothermal reduction process without wet chemical processing. The starting powder was prepared by milling of titanium dioxide and cobalt oxalate powders followed by subsequent calcination to have a target composition of TiC-15 wt.%Co. The prepared oxide powder was mixed again with carbon black, and this mixture was then heat-treated under flowing argon atmosphere. The changes in the phase, mass and particle size of the mixture during heat treatment were investigated using XRD, TG-DTA and SEM. The synthesized oxide powder after heat treatment at 700$^{\circ}C$ has a mixed phase of TiO$_2$ and CoTiO$_3$ phases. This composite oxide powder was carbothermally reduced to TiC/Co composite powder by the solid carbon. The synthesized TiC/Co composite powder at 1300$^{\circ}C$ for 9 hours has particle size of under about 0.4 $\mu$m.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2012

The particle size of MgO was examined as a function of the Na content in $Mg(OH)_2$ powders and the calcination temperature. $Mg(OH)_2$ suspension was obtained by dropwise precipitation of $Mg(NO_3)_2{\cdot}6H_2O$ and NaOH solutions. The suspension was diluted by varying the dilution volume ratio of distilled water to $Mg(OH)_2$ suspension to change the Na salt concentration in the suspension. $Mg(OH)_2$ slurry was filtered and dried at $60^{\circ}C$ under vacuum, and then its $Mg(OH)_2$ powder was calcined to produce MgO with different amount of Na content at $500\sim900^{\circ}C$ under air. Investigation of the physical and chemical properties of the various MgO powders with dilution ratio and calcination temperature variation was done by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, BET specific surface area and thermal gravimetric analysis. It was observed that MgO particle size could depend on the condition of calcination temperature and dilution ratio of the $Mg(OH)_2$ suspension. The particle size of the MgO depends on the Na content remaining in the $Mg(OH)_2$ powder, which powder was prepared by changing the dilution ratio of the $Mg(OH)_2$ suspension. This change increased as the calcination temperature increased and decreased as the dilution ratio increased. The growth of MgO particle size according to the increase of temperature was more effective when there was a relatively high content of Na. The increase of Na content lowered the temperature at which decomposition of $Mg(OH)_2$ to MgO took place, thereby promoting the crystal growth of MgO.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.530-545
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• 1996

The purpose of this study was to investigate by spectrophotometry the changes in color parameters of composite resins after exposure to distilled water, filtered coffee, and artificial saliva. Five kinds of fine particle composite resin in experiment 1, and six kinds of composite resin in experiment 2 were used. In experiment 1, each group of composite resin was stored in distilled water at $4^{\circ}C$, $50^{\circ}C$, and filtered coffee solution at $4^{\circ}C$, $50^{\circ}C$. And then each specimen was measured by spectrophotometer. Measurements were repeated in 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 16 hours, 24 hours, and 48 hours. In experiment 2, all specimens of each brand were stored in distilled water at $37^{\circ}C$, artificial saliva not contained mucin at $37^{\circ}C$, and artificial saliva contained mucin at $37^{\circ}C$. All specimens of each brand were measured by spectrophotormeter in 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and up to 12 weeks. The results were as follows : 1. In cold coffee, five of fine particle composite resins showed ${\Delta}E{^*}_{ab}$ values less than 2. However, in hot coffee ${\Delta}E{^*}_{ab}$ values of Amelogen Universal and Prisma TPH were higher than those of Conquest Crystal, ${\AE}$litefil and Z100. 2. Z100 and ${\AE}$litefil had better cleansibility of extrinsic coffee staining than Amelogen Universal, Conquest Crystal and Prisma TPH. 3. In distilled water and artificial saliva not contained mucin, five of fine particle composite resin showed ${\Delta}E{^*}_{ab}$ values less than 2 up to 12 weeks. However, Silux Plus showed higher than ${\Delta}E{^*}_{ab}$ values of fine particle composite resin. 4. As an immersion solution for discoloration experiment, artificial saliva not contained mucin showed similar appearance as distilled water. However, artificial saliva contained mucin had different appearance from the others. 5. In artificial saliva contained mucin, ${\AE}$litefil, Prisma TPH and Z100 showed ${\Delta}E{^*}_{ab}$ values less than 1 up to 12 weeks. However, Silux Plus, Amelogen Universal and Conquest Crystal showed ${\Delta}E{^*}_{ab}$ values more than 1 up to 12 weeks. But, Conquest Crystal showed different characteristics of chromacity difference value(less chromatic) and lightness difference value(lighter) from Silux Plus and Amelogen Universal.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.42-53
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• 2015

In this study, the influence of Al particle size, as an additive for solid propellant, on the mechanical erosion of the carbon-composite nozzle was evaluated. A new model which can predict the size and distribution of the agglomerated reaction product($Al(l)/Al_2O_3(l)$) was established, and the size of agglomerate were calculated according to the various initial size of Al in the solid propellant. With predicted results of the model, subsequently, the characteristics of mechanical erosion on the carbon-composite nozzle was estimated using a commercial CFD software, STAR CCM+. The result shows that the smaller the initial Al particles are, in the solid propellant, the lower is the mechanical erosion rate of the composite nozzle wall, especially for the nano-size Al particle.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.391-395
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• 2007

MgO enhanced $(Ba_{0.6}Sr_{0.4})$ $TiO_3$ thick films have been fabricated by a tape casting and firing method for tunable devices on the microwave frequency band. In order to improve ferroelectric properties, the composite thick films enhanced with MgO on BST have been asymmetrically annealed by a focused halogen beam method. Dielectric constants of composite thick films are changed from 1050 to 1300 at 100 kHz after 60 s and 150 s annealing by the focused halogen beam. Even though no prominent changes were previously observed from the thick films before and after annealing in terms of chemical composition and surface morphology, it is clear that the average particle size of the thick films calculated by Scherrer's formula were increased by annealing. Furthermore, a strong correlation between particle size and dielectric constant of the composite thick films has been observed; dielectric constant increases with increased particle size. This has been attributed to the increased volume of ferroelectric domain due to increased particle sizes. As a result, the tuning range was improved by halogen beam annealing.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.591-598
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• 2018

The reaction characteristics of aluminum-copper(II) oxide composites initiated by the electrostatic discharge were studied as changing the aluminum particle size. Three different sizes of aluminum particles with nano-size copper(II)-oxide particle were used in the study. These composites were manufactured by two methods i.e. a shock-gel method and a self-assembly method. The larger aluminum particle size was, the less sensitive and less violent these composites were based on the electrostatic test. On the analysis of high speed camera about ignition appearances and burning time, the burning speed was faster when aluminum particle size was smaller.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.525-539
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• 2010

Polymer matrix composites are widely used in many engineering applications as they can be customized to meet a desired performance while not only maintaining low cost but also reducing weight. Polymers can experience viscoelastic-viscoplastic response when subjected to external loadings. Various reinforcements and fillers are added to polymers which bring out more complexity in analyzing the timedependent response. This study formulates an integrated micromechanical model and finite element (FE) analysis for predicting effective viscoelastic-viscoplastic response of polymer based hybrid composites. The studied hybrid system consists of unidirectional short-fiber reinforcements and a matrix system which is composed of solid spherical particle fillers dispersed in a homogeneous polymer constituent. The goal is to predict effective performance of hybrid systems having different compositions and properties of the fiber, particle, and matrix constituents. A combined Schapery's viscoelastic integral model and Valanis's endochronic viscoplastic model is used for the polymer constituent. The particle and fiber constituents are assumed linear elastic. A previously developed micromechanical model of particle reinforced composite is first used to obtain effective mechanical properties of the matrix systems. The effective properties of the matrix are then integrated to a unit-cell model of short-fiber reinforced composites, which is generated using the FE. The effective properties of the matrix are implemented using a user material subroutine in the FE framework. Limited experimental data and analytical solutions available in the literatures are used for comparisons.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1327-1345
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• 2016

$Al_2O_3$/SiC particulate reinforced (Metal Matrix Composites) MMCs which were produced by using stir casting process, bending strength and hardening behaviour were obtained using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique that uses full factorial design. Factor variables and their ranges were: particle size $2-60{\mu}m$; the stirring speed 450 rpm, 500 rpm and the stirring temperature $620^{\circ}C$, $650^{\circ}C$. An empirical equation was derived from test results to describe the relationship between the test parameters. This model for the tensile strength of the hybrid composite materials with $R^2$ adj = 80% for the bending strength $R^2$ adj = 89% were generated from the data. The regression coefficients of this model quantify the tensile strength and bending strengths of the effects of each of the factors. The interactions of all three factors do not present significant percentage contributions on the tensile strength and bending strengths of hybrid composite materials. Analysis of the residuals versus was predicted the tensile strength and bending strengths show a normalized distribution and thereby confirms the suitability of this model. Particle size was found to have the strongest influence on the tensile strength and bending strength.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.797-805
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• 2004

LPD vectors are non-viral vehicles for gene delivery comprised of polycation-condensed plasmid DNA and liposomes. Here, we described a novel anionic LPD formulation containing protamine-DNA complexes and pH sensitive liposomes composed of DOPE and cholesteryl hemisuccinate (Chems). Central composite design (CCD) was employed to optimize stable LPD formulation with small particle size. A three factor, five-level CCD design was used for the optimization procedure, with the weight ratio of protamine/DNA ($X_1$), the weight ratio of Chems/DNA ($X_2$) and the molar ratio of Chems/DOPE in the anionic liposomes ($X_3$) as the independent variables. LPD size ($Y_1$) and LPD protection efficiency against nuclease ($Y_2$) were response variables. Zeta potential determination was utilized to define the experimental design region. Based on experimental design, responses for the 15 formulations were obtained. Mathematical equations and response surface plots were used to relate the dependent and independent variables. The mathematical model predicted optimized $X_1-X_3$ levels that achieve the desired particle size and the protection efficiency against nuclease. According to these levels, an optimized LPD formulation was prepared, resulting in a particle size of 185.3 nm and protection efficiency of 80.22％.