• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.690-697
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• 2018

Criticality alarm systems (CASs) are mandatory in nuclear plants for prompt alarm in the event of any criticality incident. False criticality alarms are not desirable as they create a panic environment for radiation workers. The present article describes the design enhancement of the CAS at each stage and provides maximum availability, preventing false criticality alarms. The failure mode and effect analysis are carried out on each element of a CAS. Based on the analysis, additional hardware circuits are developed for early fault detection. Two different methods are developed, one method for channel loop functionality test and another method for dose alarm test using electronic transient pulse. The design enhancement made for the external systems that are integrated with a CAS includes the power supply, criticality evacuation hooter circuit, radiation data acquisition system along with selection of different soft alarm set points, and centralized electronic test facility. The CAS incorporating all improvements are assembled, installed, tested, and validated along with rigorous surveillance procedures in a nuclear plant for a period of 18,000 h.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.345-353
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• 2005

We proposed a new and cost-effective method fer assembling holographic pickup modules without any high resolution vision system. Assembling was accomplished by adjusting photodiode package only, leading to a low cost, holographic pickup module. Focus and tracking error signals were simply determined by comparing spot sizes and by using the 3 beam method, respectively, based on four-sectional holographic optical elements. In experiment, we assembled a hologram module and estimated performance of the proposed method fur a holographic pickup module used in compact disc system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1711-1718
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• 2004

When the tracked vehicle is running on various types of terrain, the physical properties of the interacting ground can be different. In this paper, the interactions between track link and soft soil ground are investigated using static sinkage theory of soil ground. Grouser surfaces of a track link and triangular patches of ground are implemented for contact detection algorithm. Contact force at each segment area of a track link is computed respectively by using virtual work concept. Bekker's static soil sinkage model is applied for pressure-sinkage relationship and shear stress-shear displacement relationship proposed by Janosi and Hanamoto is used for tangential shear forces. The repetitive normal loads of a terrain are considered because a terrain element is subject to the repetitive loading of the roadwheels of a tracked vehicle. The methods how to apply Bekker's soil theory for multibody track system are proposed in this investigation and demonstrated numerically by high mobility tracked vehicle.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.1846-1857
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• 2021

Ultrasonic nondestructive testing is important for monitoring the structural integrity of dissimilar metal welds (DMWs) in pressure vessels and piping in nuclear power plants. However, there is a low probability of crack detection via inspection of DMWs using ultrasonic waves because the grain structures (grain orientations) of the weld area cause distortion and splitting of ultrasonic beams propagating in anisotropic media. To overcome this issue, the grain orientation should be known, and a precise ultrasonic wave simulation technique in anisotropic media is required to model the distortion and splitting of the waves accurately. In this study, a method for nondestructive prediction of the DMW grain orientations is presented for accurate simulation of ultrasonic wave propagation behavior in the weld area. The ultrasonic wave propagation behavior in anisotropic media is simulated via finite-element analysis when ultrasonic waves propagate in a transversely isotropic material. In addition, a methodology to predict the DMW grain orientation is proposed that employs a simulation technique for ultrasonic wave propagation behavior calculation and an optimization technique. The simulated ultrasonic wave behaviors with the grain orientations predicted via the proposed method demonstrate its usefulness. Moreover, the method can be used to determine the focal law in DMWs.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.421-430
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• 2021

The multifocal multiphoton microscopy (MMM) enables high-speed imaging by the concurrent scanning and detection of multiple foci generated by lenslet array or diffractive optical element. The MMM system mainly suffers from crosstalk generated by scattered emission photons that form ghost images among adjacent channels. The ghost image which is a duplicate of the image acquired in sub-images significantly degrades overall image quality. To eliminate the ghost image, the photon reassignment method was established using maximum likelihood estimation. However, this post-processing method generally takes a longer time than image acquisition. In this regard, we propose a novel strategy for rapid noise reduction in the MMM system based upon Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation. Ballistic signal, scattering signal, and scattering noise of each channel are quantified in terms of photon distribution launched in tissue model based on MC simulation. From the analysis of photon distribution, we successfully eliminated the ghost images in the MMM sub-images. If the priori MC simulation under a certain optical condition is established at once, our simple, but robust post-processing technique will continuously provide the noise-reduced images, while significantly reducing the computational cost.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.256-265
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• 2019

Several types of cymbal transducers used for underwater detection have been studied. Representative types are Moonie, convex cymbal, and concave cymbal transducers. In this study, we analyzed the characteristics of these three types of transducers for underwater broadband projectors and compared them together. First, the influence of structural variables on the acoustic characteristics of the transducers was analyzed. Based on this, we derived the structure of each transducer type to have a specific center frequency and the maximum bandwidth. As a result of comparing the performance of the optimized transducers, the convex cymbal transducer turned out to be best in terms of both broad bandwidth and high power.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.297-303
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• 2019

A triple-layered $PMMA/Ni_{64}Zr_{36}/PDMS$ hydrogen gas sensor using hydrogen permeable alloy and flexible polymer layers is fabricated through spin coating and DC-magnetron sputtering. PDMS(polydimethylsiloxane) is used as a flexible substrate and PMMA(polymethylmethacrylate) thin film is deposited onto the $Ni_{64}Zr_{36}$ alloy layer to give a high hydrogen-selectivity to the sensor. The measured hydrogen sensing ability and response time of the fabricated sensor at high hydrogen concentration of 99.9 % show a 20 % change in electrical resistance, which is superior to conventional Pd-based hydrogen sensors, which are difficult to use in high hydrogen concentration environments. At a hydrogen concentration of 5 %, the resistance of electricity is about 1.4 %, which is an electrical resistance similar to that of the $Pd_{77}Ag_{23}$ sensor. Despite using low cost $Ni_{64}Zr_{36}$ alloy as the main sensing element, performance similar to that of existing Pd sensors is obtained in a highly concentrated hydrogen atmosphere. By improving the sensitivity of the hydrogen detection through optimization including of the thickness of each layer and the composition of Ni-Zr alloy thin film, the proposed Ni-Zr-based hydrogen sensor can replace Pd-based hydrogen sensors.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2021

With the recent increase in the number of households raising pets, various engineering studies have been underway for pets. The final purpose of this study is to automatically generate situation-sensitive captions that can express implicit intentions based on the behavior and sound of cats by embedding the already mature behavioral detection technology of pets as basic element technology in the video capturing research. As a pilot project to this end, this paper proposes a high-level capturing system using optical-flow, RGB, and sound information of cat videos. That is, the proposed system uses video datasets collected in an actual breeding environment to extract feature vectors from the video and sound, then through hierarchical LSTM encoder and decoder, to identify the cat's behavior and its implicit intentions, and to perform learning to create context-sensitive captions. The performance of the proposed system was verified experimentally by utilizing video data collected in the environment where actual cats are raised.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2021

In this study, we successfully developed a highly reliable ultrasonic sediment sensor to detect the sediment levels in sewer pipes in harsh environments. The ultrasonic transducer employed in the ultrasonic sediment sensor was designed so as to possess a simple structure. The developed sensor was carefully optimized by simulating the electromechanical characteristics, radiated sound wave pressures, and directivity via finite element analysis. It was also designed to possess a simple mounting structure minimizing the flow disturbance in a 400-mm sewer pipe; additionally, eight ultrasonic transducers were arranged in a four-channel mode, allowing for measurement of the sediment height in five easy steps. Through experimental evaluations, we verified the performance of the ultrasonic sediment-level sensor and its industrial applicability. The results suggested that although the precision value was notably low at 15 mm, the sediment detection performance was adequate; therefore, the developed sensor can potentially be used in industrial applications.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.405-411
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• 2020

In this paper, we designed the COS MEMS system for sensing the falling detection and explosive noise of fuse link in COS (Cut Out Switch) installing on the power distribution. This system analyzed the failure characteristics and an instantaneous breakdown of power distribution. Therefore, our system strengths the industrial competence and guaranties the stable power supply. In this paper, we applied BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology which is suitable protocol for low data rate, low power consumption and low-cost sensor applications. We experimented with LSM6DSOX which is system-in-module featuring 3 axis digital accelerometer and gyroscope boosting in high-performance mode and enabling always-on low-power features for an optimal motion for the COS fuse holder. Also, we used the MP34DT05-A for gathering an ultra-compact, low power, omnidirectional, digital MEMS microphone built with a capacitive sensing element and an IC interface. The proposed COS MEMS system is developed based on nRF52 SoC (System on Chip), and contained a 3-axis digital accelerometer, a digital microphone, and a SD card. In this paper of experiment steps, we analyzed the performance of COS MEMS system with gathering the accelerometer raw data and the PDM (Pulse Data Modulation) data of MEMS microphone for broadcasting the failure of COS status.