• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.70-74
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• 2023

The Small Punch Test (SPT) was developed to evaluate the softening and embrittlement of materials such as power plants and nuclear fusion reactors by taking samples in the field. Specimens used in the SPT are very thin and small disk-shaped compared to specimens for general tensile test, and thus have economic advantages in terms of miniaturization and repeatability of the test. The cryogenic SPT can also be miniaturized and has a significantly lower heat capacity than conventional universal test machines. This leads to reduced cooling and warm-up times. In this study, the cryogenic SPT was developed by modifying the existing room temperature SPT to be cooled by liquid nitrogen using a super bellows and a thermal insulation structure. Since the cryogenic SPT was first developed, basic experiments were conducted to verify the effectiveness of it. For the validation, aluminum alloy 6061- T6 specimens were tested for mechanical properties at room and cryogenic temperature. The results of the corrected tensile properties from the SPT experiment results were compared with known room temperature and cryogenic properties. Based on the correction results, the effectiveness of the cryogenic SPT test was confirmed, and the surface fracture characteristics of the material were analyzed using a 3d image scanner. In the future, we plan to conduct property evaluation according to the development of various alloy materials.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.140-145
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• 2024

In modern times, when a change in the energy paradigm is required, hydrogen is an attractive energy source. Among these hydrogen purification technologies, technology using a membrane is attracted attention as a technology that can purify high purity hydrogen at low cost. However, palladium(Pd), which is mostly used because of its excellent hydrogen separation performance, is very expensive, so a replacement material is needed. In this study, a alloy membrane was manufactured from an alloy of niobium (Nb), which has high hydrogen permeability but is weak to hydrogen embrittlement, and nickel (Ni) and zirconium (Zr), which have low hydrogen permeability but are highly durable. Hydrogen permeation characteristics were confirmed under conditions of 350~450 ℃ at 1 to 4 bar. The maximum hydrogen permeation flux was 0.69 ml/cm²/min for the Ni₄₈Nb₃₂Zr₂₀ alloy membrane without Pd coating, and 13.05 ml/cm²/min for the Pd coated alloy membrane.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.4 no.8
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• pp.906-914
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• 1994

Plastic behavior of two-phase intermetallic compounds based on $LI_{2}$-type $(Al, Cr)_3$ Ti was investigated using compression test at R.T. and 77K. $LI_{2}$ single phase alloys and two-phase alloys consisting of mainly $LI_{2}$ phase and a few or 20% second phases were selected from AI-Ti-Cr phase diagram. In general, compared with Llz single phase, two-phase alloys consisting of 20% second phase showed relatively high yield strength and poor ductility. Among the alloys, however, AI-21Ti-23Cr alloy consisting of 20% $Cr_{2}Al$ phase showed available ductility as well as high yield strength. Plastic behavior of $LI_{2}$ single phase alloys and two-phase alloys consisting of a few% $Cr_{2}Al$ was also investigated. Homogenization of arc melted ingots substantially reduced the amount of second phases but introduced extensive pore. When Cr content increased in $Ll_{2}$ single phase alloys after the homogenization, the volume fraction of pore in the alloys decreased, and no residual pore was observed in two-phase alloys consisting of a few% $Cr_{2}Al$ phase. Environmental effect on the ductility of the alloys was investigated using compression test at different strain rates($1.2 \times 10^{-4}/s$ and $1.2 \times 10^{-2}/s$). Environmental embrittlement was least significant in A1-25Ti-10Cr alloy consisting of LIZ single phase among the alloys tested in this study. However, based on the combined estimation of the pore formation, environmental embrittlement and ingot cast structure, AI-21Ti-23Cr alloy consisting of 20% $Cr_{2}Al$ as the second phase is expected to show the best tensile elongation behavior.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.218-227
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• 1986

Studies were conducted to determine the extent of oxidation and same of the mechanical property changes of Zircaloy-4 fuel cladding after it was exposed to hot steam environment. The purpose of these tests was to provide some informations on the embrittlement behavior of CANDU type fuel cladding, which could be experienced under the loss-of-coolant accident conditions. The Zircaloy fuel cladding tubes were exposed in a steam environment at the temperature of 90$0^{\circ}C$, 1,00$0^{\circ}C$. The growth of the ZrO$_2$ layer combined with an oxygen rich $\alpha$-phase layer into the Zircaloy tube material was found as a function of time t and temperature of steam exposure, E=1.1√Dt+0.002 where D is a temperature dependent diffusion coefficient. The tensile strength of the specimens exposed for a short period increased but decreased continuously with further exposure. The circumferential elongation was drastically changed with the exposure time while the hoop strength did't decrease greatly. The X-ray measurement of preferred orientation of the Zircaloy tube material indicated that grains in the as received tube were oriented such that the poles of the basal (0001) planes were predominantly radial, while the poles of the basal plane in the tube materials heattreated at 1,00$0^{\circ}C$ were oriented tangentially. It appears that this reoriented texture may contribute to lessening the decrease of the hoop strength of the heat treated Zircaloy tube material.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.7-7
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• 2011

Quantum beam technology has been expected to develop breakthroughs for nanotechnology during the third basic plan of science and technology (2006~2010). Recently, Green- or Life Innovations has taken over the national interests in the fourth basic science and technology plan (2011~2015). The NIMS (National Institute for Materials Science) has been conducting the corresponding mid-term research plans, as well as other national projects, such as nano-Green project (Global Research for Environment and Energy based on Nanomaterials science). In this lecture, the research trends in Japan and NIMS are firstly reviewed, and the typical achievements are highlighted over key nanotechnology fields. As one of the key nanotechnologies, the quantum beam research in NIMS focused on synchrotron radiation, neutron beams and ion/atom beams, having complementary attributes. The facilities used are SPring-8, nuclear reactor JRR-3, pulsed neutron source J-PARC and ion-laser-combined beams as well as excited atomic beams. Materials studied are typically fuel cell materials, superconducting/magnetic/multi-ferroic materials, quasicrystals, thermoelectric materials, precipitation-hardened steels, nanoparticle-dispersed materials. Here, we introduce a few topics of neutron scattering and ion beam nanofabrication. For neutron powder diffraction, the NIMS has developed multi-purpose pattern fitting software, post RIETAN2000. An ionic conductor, doped Pr2NiO4, which is a candidate for fuel-cell material, was analyzed by neutron powder diffraction with the software developed. The nuclear-density distribution derived revealed the two-dimensional network of the diffusion paths of oxygen ions at high temperatures. Using the high sensitivity of neutron beams for light elements, hydrogen states in a precipitation-strengthened steel were successfully evaluated. The small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) demonstrated the sensitive detection of hydrogen atoms trapped at the interfaces of nano-sized NbC. This result provides evidence for hydrogen embrittlement due to trapped hydrogen at precipitates. The ion beam technology can give novel functionality on a nano-scale and is targeting applications in plasmonics, ultra-fast optical communications, high-density recording and bio-patterning. The technologies developed are an ion-and-laser combined irradiation method for spatial control of nanoparticles, and a nano-masked ion irradiation method for patterning. Furthermore, we succeeded in implanting a wide-area nanopattern using nano-masks of anodic porous alumina. The patterning of ion implantation will be further applied for controlling protein adhesivity of biopolymers. It has thus been demonstrated that the quantum beam-based nanotechnology will lead the innovations both for nano-characterization and nano-fabrication.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.195-204
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• 2012

In the construction of high-rise buildings, bent re-bars are manually straightened to connect slabs to core-walls, which are usually cast before floor structures. During cold bending and straightening of re-bars, plastic deformation causing work hardening, Bauschinger effect and aging hardening is unavoidable. Tensile tests of coldly bent and straightened re-bars were conducted with test parameters of grade, diameter, and bend radius of re-bars as well as age between bending and straightening. Test results showed that proportional limits were lower and strain hardening occurred without yield plateaus. Inside and outside of re-bars with compression and tension deformations, respectively, during bending showed lower yield points due to Bauschinger effect and no yield plateaus due to work hardening, respectively. When re-bar grade was higher, yield point became significantly lower where Grade 400 re-bars had yield strengths lower than specified yield strength of 400 MPa. Because the surface of re-bar has higher strength than the core of re-bar, Bauschinger effect was more obvious for higher-grade re-bars. When age between bending and straightening was greater, yield strength increased and elongation decreased (i.e. embrittlement occurs). Using measured data, stress-strain relationship for straightened re-bars was developed based on Ramberg-Osgood model, which can be used to evaluate stiffness of joints when straightened re-bars are applied.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.160-165
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• 2006

A Pd-Cu-Ni alloyed hydrogen membrane has fabricated on porous nickel support formed by nickel powder. Porous nickel support made by sintering shows a strong resistance to hydrogen embrittlement and thermal fatigue. Plasma surface modification treatment is introduced as pre-treatment process instead of conventional HCl wet activation. Nickel was electroplated to a thickness of $2{\mu}m$ in order in to fill micropores at the nickel support surface. Palladium and copper were deposited at thicknesses of $4{\mu}m$ and $0.5{\mu}m$, respectively, on the nickel coated support by DC sputtering process. Subsequently, copper reflow at $700^{\circ}C$ was performed for an hour in $H_2$ ambient. And, as a result PdCu-Ni composite membrane has a pinhole-free and extremely dense microstructure, having a good adhesion to the porous nickel support and infinite hydrogen selectivity in $H_2/N_2$ mixtures.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.1240-1244
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• 1999

In order to assess the effects on the magnetic properties due to the defect in the material irradiated by fast neutron ranging $10^0-10^{18}n/cm^2$, the magnetic properties such as maximum magnetic induction, coercivity, remanence, Barkhausen Noise Amplitude(BNA), Barkhausen Noise Energy(BNE) and hardness were measured. It is shown that the magnetic properties and hardness do not change by the fast neutron irradiation under $10^{17}n/cm^2$. Therefore, in this experiment, it is understood that the magnetic properties decrease by the increase of hardness. This measurement method can be used to evaluate the neutron irradiation embrittlement nondestructively since the magnetic properties and hardness do change by the neutron irradiation over $10^{17}n/cm^2$ consistently.