• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.301-308
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• 2022

Since nanoporous silica aerogel was first synthesized in 1931, its potential as an ultra-lightweight superinsulation material has been steadily attracting attention. Silica aerogel is the best thermal insulation material to date. However, the potential applications of this lightweight material have so far been hindered by its inherent fragibility and brittleness arising from its ultra-porous nature. Although the monolithic form of silica aerogel has the best ultra-lightweight superinsulation properties, it cannot be used in this form. Instead it is used in the form of powders, particles, and blankets. However, these forms still have shortcomings. Silica aerogel is most widely applied in the form of a fiber-reinforced aerogel blanket, but this form is likely to generate dust when handled. Although silica aerogel particles have been proven to be non-toxic to humans, dust formation remains a major barrier to the widespread application of silica aerogel blankets. This paper will investigate the unique properties of silica aerogel and determine what fields it can be used in or potentially be used in due to its unique properties. In addition, we will review the important advances in silica aerogel synthesis technology and its commercialization so far, and then consider the problems that exist for its widespread commercialization in the future and how to overcome them.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.2A
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• pp.301-310
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• 2006

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CRFP) materials are well suited to the rehabilitation of civil engineering structures due to their corrosion resistance, high strength to weight ratio and high stiffness to weight ratio. Their application in the field of the rehabilitation of concrete structures is increased due to the vast number of bridges and buildings in need of strengthening. However, RC members, strengthened with externally bonded CFRP plates, happened to collapse before reaching the expected design failure load. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the new strengthening method to overcome the problems of previous bonded strengthening method. This problems can be solved by prestressing the CFRP plate before bonding to the concrete. In this study, a total of 21 specimens of 3.3 m length were tested by the four point bending method after strengthening them with externally bonded CFRP plates. The CFRP plates were bonded without prestress and with various prestress levels ranging from 0.4% to 0.8% of CFRP plate strain. All specimen with end anchorage failed by a plate fracture regardless of the prestress levels while the specimen without end anchorage failed by the separation of the plate from the beam due to premature debonding. The cracking loads was proportionally related to the prestress levels, but the maximum loads of specimens strengthened with prestressed CFRP plates were insignificantly affected by the prestress levels.

• Composites Research
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.170-178
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• 2024

This study proposes a hybrid composite where a thin copper film (Cu film) is embedded in carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), and quantum annealing is applied to derive the combination of Cu film placement that maximizes the through-thickness thermal conductivity. The correlation between each ply of CFRP and the Cu film is analyzed through finite element analysis, and based on the results, a combination optimization problem is formulated. A formalization process is conducted to embed the defined problem into quantum annealing, resulting in the formulation of objective functions and constraints regarding the quantity of Cu films that can be inserted into each ply of CFRP. The formulated equations are programmed using Ocean SDK (Software Development Kit) and Leap to be embedded into D-Wave quantum annealer. Through the quantum annealing process, the optimal arrangement of Cu films that satisfies the maximum through-thickness thermal conductivity is determined. The resulting arrangements exhibit simpler patterns as the quantity of insertable Cu films decreases, while more intricate arrangements are observed as the quantity increases. The optimal combinations generated according to the quantity of Cu film placement illustrate the inherent thermal conductivity pathways in the thickness direction, indicating that the transverse placement freedom of the Cu film can significantly affect the results of through-thickness thermal conductivity.

• Composites Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.86-93
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• 2024

The inner foam structure plays an important role in the performance of the carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) rear spoiler used in automobiles. However, there is still a lack of studies for the CFRP-based rear spoiler according to the type of inner foam, especially under the high-speed driving condition. With this motivation, we numerically analyze the performance of the CFRP rear spoiler using various cases of the inner foam under the highspeed driving condition. Here, polymethacrylimide (PMI), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) resins are employed as the inner foams in this work. The performances are evaluated using the deformation aspects and vibration characteristics when the driving condition is a high-speed condition (200 km/h). Furthermore, to specifically verify the importance of the inner foam in the high-speed condition, we additionally investigate the performance of the CFRP rear spoiler without the inner foam structure (i.e., hollow type). As a result, it is confirmed that among the types of inner foams utilized in this work, the PMI and PVC inner foams have the best deformation aspect and vibration characteristic, respectively. Note that the hollow-type inner foam has inferior performances compared to other inner foams invoked in this study. Consequently, through this study, it can be confirmed that the inner foam structure can significantly improve the performance of the CFRP spoiler under high-speed driving condition (200 km/h), and also that the strengths of the CFRP spoiler can manifest differently depending on the types of inner foam core.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.111-120
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of surface treatment and composition of reinforcement material on fracture strength of fiber reinforced composite inlay bridges. The materials used for this study were I-beam, U-beam TESCERA ATL system and ONE STEP(Bisco, IL, USA). Two kinds of surface treatments were used; the silane and the sandblast. The specimens were divided into 11 groups through the composition of reinforcing materials and the surface treatments. On the dentiform, supposing the missing of Maxillary second pre-molar and indirect composite inlay bridge cavities on adjacent first pre-molar disto-occlusal cavity, first molar mesio-occlusal cavity was prepared with conventional high-speed inlay bur. The reinforcing materials were placed on the proximal box space and build up the composite inlay bridge consequently. After the curing, specimen was set on the testing die with ZPC. Flexural force was applied with universal testing machine (EZ-tester; Shimadzu, Japan). at a cross-head speed of 1 mm/min until initial crack occurred. The data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA/Scheffes post-hoc test at 95% significance level. Groups using I-beam showed the highest fracture strengths (p<0.05) and there were no significant differences between each surface treatment (p>0.05) Most of the specimens in groups that used reinforcing material showed delamination. 1. The use of I-beam represented highest fracture strengths (p<0.05) 2. In groups only using silane as a surface treatment showed highest fracture strength, but there were no significant differences between other surface treatments (p>0.05). 3. The reinforcing materials affect the fracture strength and pattern of composites inlay bridge. 4 The holes at the U-beam did not increase the fracture strength of composites inlay bridge.