• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.205-237
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• 2014

Last 50 years there were a lot of space subjects launched by space activities of many states and these activities also had created tremendous, significant space debris contaminating the environment of outer space. The large number of space debris which are surrounding the earth have the serious possibilities of destroying a satellite or causing huge threat to the space vehicles. For example, Chinese anti-satellite missile test was conducted by China on January 11, 2007. As a consequence a Chinese weather satellite was destroyed by a kinetic kill vehicle traveling with a speed of 8 km/s in the opposite direction. Anti-satellite missile tests like this,contribute to the formation of enormous orbital space debris which can remain in orbit for many years and could interfere with future space activity (Kessler Syndrome). The test is the largest recorded creation of space debris in history with at least 2,317 pieces of trackable size (golf ball size and larger) and an estimated 150,000 debris particles and more. Several nations responded negatively to the test and highlighted the serious consequences of engaging in the militarization of space. The timing and occasion aroused the suspicion of its demonstration of anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities following the Chinese test of an ASAT system in 2007 destroying a satellite but creating significant space debris. Therefore this breakup seemed to serve as a momentum of the UN Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines and the background of the EU initiatives for the International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities. The UN Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines thus adopted contain many technical elements that all the States involved in the outer space activities are expected to observe to produce least space debris from the moment of design of their launchers and satellites until the end of satellite life. Although the norms are on the voluntary basis which is normal in the current international space law environment where any attempt to formulate binding international rules has to face opposition and sometimes unnecessary screening from many corners of numerous countries. Nevertheless, because of common concerns of space-faring countries, the Guidelines could be adopted smoothly and are believed faithfully followed by most countries. It is a rare success story of international cooperation in the area of outer space. The EU has proposed an International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities as a transparency and confidence-building measure. It is designed to enhance the safety, security and sustainability of activities in outer space. The purpose of the Code to reduce the space debris, to allow exchange of the information on the space activities, and to protect the space objects through safety and security. Of the space issues, the space debris reduction and the space traffic management require some urgent attention. But the current legal instruments of the outer space do not have any binding rules to be applied thereto despite the incresing activities on the outer space. We need to start somewhere sometime soon before it's too late with the chaotic situation. In this article, with a view point of this problem, focused on the the Chinese test of an ASAT system in 2007 destroying a satellite but creating significant space debris and tried to analyse the issues of space debris reduction.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.53-62
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• 2018

Follofwing the accelerating speed-up of trains and rising demand for large-volume transfer capacity, not only in Korea, but also around the world, track structures for trains have been improving consistently. Precast concrete slab track (PST), a concrete structure track, was developed as a system that can fulfil new safety and economic requirements for railroad traffic. The purpose of this study is to provide the information required for the development and design of the system in the future, by analyzing the behavior of each structural member of the PST system. The stress distribution result for different combinations of appropriate loads according to the KRL-2012 train load and KRC code was analyzed by conducting a three-dimensional finite element analysis, while the result for different thicknesses of the grouting layer is also presented. Among the structural members, the largest stress took place on the grouting layer. The stress changed sensitively following the thickness and the combination of loads. When compared with a case of applying only a vertical KRL-2012 load, the stress increased by 3.3 times and 14.1 times on a concrete panel and HSB, respectively, from the starting load and temperature load. When the thickness of the grouting layer increased from 20 mm to 80 mm, the stress generated on the concrete panel decreased by 4%, while the stress increased by 24% on the grouting layer. As for the cracking condition, tension cracking was caused locally on the grouting layer. Such a result indicates that more attention should be paid to the flexure and tension behavior from horizontal loads rather than from vertical loads when developing PST systems. In addition, the safety of each structural member must be ensured by maintaining the thickness of the grouting layer at 40 mm or more.