• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.141-149
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• 2020

The Korea Industrial Standards (KS) stipulates methods and test procedures for measuring the horizontal combustibility of cellular plastics exposed to small flames (KS M ISO 9772:2018) and recommendations regarding the magnetic digestion of extruded polystyrene insulation (XPS) for measurement results (KS M 3808:2020). Although products that are certified to conform to KS standards must have burning characteristics (self-extinguishing), they are incinerated and spread by welds at construction sites, causing significant human and property damages. In this study, XPS produced by five companies, certified by KS, and sold in the market were purchased and tested for ignition and diffusion caused by a weld bullion at a construction site. The results showed that the five products had differences in performance. Three out of the five products were found to be self-saturated, but the other two were easily ignited and diffused, making it difficult for them to be self-extinguishing. Based on the result of this experimental investigation in line with the KS regulations, all the three types of products, including two types of products that were incinerated through weld defects, were found to be non-self-extinguishing, as specified in KS M 3808.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.939-963
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• 2016

According to the new directives about the rational and efficient use of energy, thermal bridges in buildings have to be avoided, and the thermal insulation (TI) layer should run without interruptions all around the building - even under its foundations. The paper deals with the seismic response of multi-storeyed reinforced concrete (RC) frame building structures founded on an extruded polystyrene (XPS) layer placed beneath the foundation slab. The purpose of the paper is to elucidate the problem of buildings founded on a TI layer from the seismic resistance point of view, to assess the seismic behaviour of such buildings, and to search for the critical parameters which can affect the structural and XPS layer response. Nonlinear dynamic and static analyses were performed, and the seismic response of fixed-base (FB) and thermally insulated (TI) variants of nonlinear RC building models were compared. Soil-structure interaction was also taken into account for different types of soil. The results showed that the use of a TI layer beneath the foundation slab of a superstructure generally induces a higher peak response compared to that of a corresponding system without TI beneath the foundation slab. In the case of stiff structures located on firm soil, amplification of the response might be substantial and could result in exceedance of the superstructure's moment-rotation plastic hinge capacities or allowable lateral roof and interstorey drift displacements. In the case of heavier, slenderer, and higher buildings subjected to stronger seismic excitations, the overall response is governed by the rocking mode of oscillation, and as a consequence the compressive strength of the XPS could be insufficient. On the other hand, in the case of low-rise and light-weight buildings, the friction capacity between the layers of the applied TI foundation set might be exceeded so that sliding could occur.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.9-17
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• 2013

This paper describes an experimental program to investigate the shear behavior of insulated concrete sandwich panels (CSPs) with different types of GFRP shear connector. The study included testing of 13 insulated CSP specimens with two types of surface conditions for extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation and various shapes of shear connectors. All specimens were loaded in direct shear by means of push-out and were consist of three concrete panels, two insulation layer and four rows of GFRP shear connectors. Load-relative slip between concrete panel and insulation response of CSP specimens has been established through push-out shear test. Test results indicate that the surface condition of insulation has a significant effect on the bond strength between concrete panel and insulation. The specimen used XPS foam with 10mm deep slot shows higher bond strength than those used XPS foam with meshed surface. Corrugated GFRP shear connectors show equivalent strength to grid GFRP shear connectors. Cross-sectional area and embedded length of shear connector have a notable effect on overall response and inplane shear strength of the CSP specimens.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.360-367
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• 2017

This study was carried out to compare the characteristics of low density fiberboards (LDFs) manufactured with different adhesive types such as melamine urea formaldehyde (MUF), phenol formalehyde (PF), emulsified MDI (eMDI) and latexes resins. As results, hard LDFs were successfully manufactured by MUF, PF and eMDI resins. Thermal conductivities of all LDFs were significantly lower than commercial medium density fiberboard. Especially, all LDFs showed comparable thermal insulation performance with extruded polystyrene foam (XPS). LDF manufactured with eMDI resins showed the highest physical properties such as thickness/length swelling by water absorption and bending strength.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.421-428
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• 2014

This paper describes the experimental results of insulated concrete sandwich wall panels (CSWP) with corrugated glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) shear connectors under in-plane shear loading. Corrugated GFRP shear connectors were used to improve the thermal property of insulated CSWP and to achieve composite action between the interior and exterior concrete wall panels. Test specimens were consist of three concrete panels with two insulation layers between concrete panels and middle concrete panels was loaded in the direction of gravity. To evaluate the effects of insulation types (extruded polystyrene, XPSS and expanded polystyrene, EPS), shear connector pitch (300 and 400 mm) and width (10 and 15 mm) on in-plane shear behavior of insulted CSWP, failure mode and shear flow-average relative slip relationship of specimens were investigated. Test results indicate that the bond stress between concrete panel and insulation is considerable initially. Especially in case of insulated CSWP without shear connector, initial stiffness of CSWP with XPSS is superior to that of CSWP with EPS. The shear connector's contribution to in-plane shear performance of insulated CSWP depends on the type of insulation.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.201-210
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• 2022

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is the most commonly used fresh food refrigeration insulation in Korea and Europe. Moreover, as the use of disposable packaging materials has increased significantly along with non-face-to-face delivery services since the COVID-19 crisis, social issues related to waste disposal are also being raised. Therefore, in this study, the life cycle of EPS boxes for fresh food is focused on the factors that have a large difference between incineration and landfill including recycling in Europe and Korea in the disposal process after use, and raw materials and energy in the manufacturing process, which account for a large portion of the environmental impact value. We tried to compare the environmental impact of evaluation. Overall, the raw material production stage, box manufacturing stage, and packaging stage have similar processes in Europe and Korea, but unlike Europe, Korea, which lacks landfills and incineration facilities, has focused on expanding the recycling rate. It was necessary to do an environmental impact assessment. Data affecting the environment were derived based on 2019 and 2020 data for Korea and 2017 and 2020 data for Europe. In order to predict the future environmental impact assessment, assumptions about the disposal rate in 2025 and 2030 were introduced and evaluated. As a result of this study, it was found that the raw material production stage of EPS boxes, which have similar processes in both Korea and Europe, has the greatest effect on the global warming effect of Korean EPS boxes. However, Korea, which has a relatively high recycling rate in the disposal process compared to incineration and landfill, showed better environmental performance than Europe in most impact indicators except freshwater eutrophication. In particular, Korea has increased the overall recycling rate compared to Europe by replacing various recyclable materials such as building materials and sundries with XPS (extruded polystyrene) recycled materials. In conclusion, it was found that increasing the recycling rate rather than incinerating and landfilling EPS boxes for fresh food in the domestic EPS industry has relatively less environmental load compared to Europe.