• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.143-155
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• 2020

A juniper pocket rot fungus, Pyrofomes demidoffii is a basidiomycetous fungus responsible for damage of living Juniperus spp. However, its effect on the residual strength and on the extent of decay of juniper's trunk was not determined in any prior studies. The purpose of this study was to study the features of J. procera infected by P. demdoffii, and to estimate the level of strength loss and decay severity in the trunk at D.B.H height using different five formulas. Infected juniper stands were examined in two Ethiopian forests through Visual Tree Assessment (VTA) followed by a slight destructive drilling of the trunk at D.B.H height. The decayed juniper tree is characterized by partially degraded lignin material at incipient stage of decay to completely degraded lignin material at final stage of decay. In the evaluated formulas, results of ANOVA showed that a significantly higher mean percentage of strength loss and decay severity were recorded in the trees of larger D.B.H categories (p<0.001). The strength loss formulas produced the same to similar patterns of sum of ranks of strength loss or decay severity in the trunk, but the differences varied significantly among D.B.H categories in Kruskal Wallis-test (p<0.001). In conclusion, the employed formulas showed similar to different degree of variability in quantification of strength loss or decay severity in the trunk. The findings of our study could be used as the baseline for further study on juniper's strength loss or decays in the trunk of Juniperus spp. and unequivocally helps to design the corresponding management as result of P. demidoffii.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.81-86
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• 1996

This study was performed to evaluate the reduction in bending properties of radiata pine sapwood associated with incipient brown-rot decay. Decayed bending specimens by Tyromyces palustris and Gloeophyllum trabeum for varoious periods were tested destructively. Brown-rot decay by T. palustris and G. trabeum caused serious reduction in bending properties at very early stages of decay, with about 30 percent decrease in bending strength observed for only 1~2 percent weight loss. In general, the reduction in bending properties caused by T. palustris was somewhat greater than that by G. trabeum. Work to maximum load was reduced most severely and rapidly from the onset of decay, while modulus of elasticity showed a much more moderate rate of reduction. Modulus of rupture was affected by decay to a greater extent than was modulus of elasticity. Since a relatively strong correlation between weight loss and bending strength was observed, the residual strength of decayed wood can be predicted by weight loss due to decay. The results of this study indicate that very early stages of brown-rot decay reduce the bending strength significantly. Thus, it is recommended that all load-bearing members in wooden structures, especially those that are periodically wetted, should be inspected regularly to prevent a sudden failure even though there are no definite signs of decay.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.24-32
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• 2008

Artificial brown-rot decay was induced to two wood species, Pinus densiflora and Pinus radiata. A modified direct inoculation method was used and the decay indicators of mass loss and two compressive mechanical properties, maximum compressive strength (MCS) and compressive stiffness, were estimated over the period of 8 weeks of fungal exposure. Measurable mass loss occurred 2 weeks after the fungal attack, with 15% to 22% of the loss occurring 8 weeks after fungal exposure with Fornitopsis palustris and Gloeophyllurn trabeurn. Mechanical properties proved to be far more sensitive than mass loss detection: approximately five to six times by quantity. Of the two mechanical properties, MCS was more sensitive to and consistent with progressive brown-rot decay. An ultrasonic test was performed to determine the feasibility and accuracy of this method for nondestructive detection of brown-rot decay. The ultrasonic test is highly sensitive at qualitative detection of the early stages of brown-rot decay.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.1-6
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• 1996

This study was performed to investigate the feasibility of using sonic stress-wave technique in the longitudinal direction for the assessment of incipient decay of radiata pine wood. Decayed bending specimens by Tyromyces palustris and Gloeophyllum trabeum for varoious periods were tested nondestructively using stress-wave technique in the longitudinal direction and destructively. Decay detection, quantitative assessment of decay, and the prediction of residual strength of decayed wood with less than five percent weight loss can be feasible using stress-wave parameters (wave velocity, wave impedance, stress-wave elasticity) measured by stress-wave technique in the longitudinal direction and their percent reduction due to decay.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.17 no.6 s.90
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• pp.1075-1084
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• 2005

The compressive strength of concrete is commonly used criterion in producing concrete. However, the tests on the compressive strength are complicated and time-consuming. More importantly, it is too late to make improvement even if the test result does not satisfy the required strength, since the test is usually performed at the 28th day after the placement of concrete at the construction site. Therefore, accurate and realistic strength estimation before the placement of concrete is being highly required. In this study, the estimation of the compressive strength of concrete was performed by probabilistic neural network(PNN) on the basis of concrete mix proportions. The estimation performance of PNN was improved by considering the correlation between input data and targeted output value. Improved probabilistic neural network was proposed to automatically calculate the smoothing parameter in the conventional PNN by using the scheme of dynamic decay adjustment (DDA) algorithm. The conventional PNN and the PNN with DDA algorithm(IPNN) were applied to predict the compressive strength of concrete using actual test data of two concrete companies. IPNN showed better results than the conventional PNN in predicting the compressive strength of concrete.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.645-653
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• 2004

Indoor air quality is affected by source strength of pollutants, ventilation rate, decay rate, outdoor level, and so on. Although technologies measuring these factors exist directly, direct measurements of all factors are not always practical in most field studies. The purpose of this study was to develop an alternative method to estimate these factors by application of multiple measurements. For the total duration of 30 days, daily indoor and outdoor $NO_2$ concentrations were measured in 30 houses in Brisbane, Australia, and for 21 days in 40 houses in Seoul, Korea, respectively. Using a box model by mass balance and linear regression analysis, penetration factor (ventilation divided by sum of air exchange rate and deposition constant) and source strength factor (emission rate divided by sum of air exchange rate and deposition constant) were calculated, Sub-sequently, the ventilation and source strength were estimated. In Brisbane, the penetration factors were $0.59\pm0.14$ and they were unaffected by the presence of a gas range. During sampling period, geometric mean of natural ventilation was estimated to be $l.l0\pm1.5l$ ACH, assuming a residential $NO_2$ decay rate of 0.8 hr^{-1}$ in Brisbane. In Seoul, natural ventilation was $1.15\pm1.73$ ACH with residential $NO_2$ decay rate of 0.94 hr^{-1}$ Source strength of $NO_2$ in the houses with gas range $(12.7\pm9.8$ ppb/hr) were significantly higher than those in houses with an electric range $(2.8\pm2,6$ ppb/hr) in Brisbane. In Seoul, source strength in the houses with gas range were $l6.8\pm8.2$ ppb/hr. Conclusively, indoor air quality using box model by mass balance was effectively characterized.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.334-343
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• 2015

This study was carried out to evaluate quantitatively some properties (density, equilibrium moisture content, shrinkage, water vapor adsorption, water absorptivity, compressive strength, bending strength, hardness and decay resistance) of Larix kaempferi lumber which was heat-treated by hot air and has been used commercially in Korea. Equilibrium moisture content of the heat-treated wood was decreased with increase of hydrophobicity. Dimensional stability of the wood was improved with decrease of shrinkage, water vapor adsorption and free water absorptivity. Also, with the thermo-chemical changes of wood component and lower equilibrium moisture content, decay resistance and compressive strength of heat-treated wood were increased. But, bending strength and hardness of wood were decreased.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.2724-2737
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• 1994

The swirl effect on an axisymmetric turbulence has been investigated along its centerline by the hot wire anemometry. Flow facility to generate and conrol the swirl has been built by using the rotating honeycomb and grid. For the case of internal flows, as the strength of the swirl increases the flow tends to be locally isotropic by modifying the radial and the rotational components mainly. In comparison with those of the plain free jet, the decay of the centerline turbulences seems to be delayed substantially even with a slight swirl component.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.183-192
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• 2002

Indoor air quality is affected by source strength of pollutants, ventilation rate, decay rate, outdoor level and so on. Although technologies exist to measure these factors directly, direct measurements of all factors are impractical in most field studies. The purpose of this study was to develop an alternative methods to estimate these factors by multiple measurements. Daily indoor and outdoor NO$_2$concentrations for 21 days in 20 houses in summer and winter, Seoul. Using a mass balance model and linear regression analysis, penetration factor (ventilation divided by sum of air exchange rate and deposition constant) and source strength factor(emission rate divided by sum of air exchange rate and deposition constant) were calculated. Subsequently, the ventilation and source strength were estimated. During sampling period, geometric mean of natural ventilation was estimated to be 1.10$\pm$1.53 ACH, assuming a residential NO$_2$decay rate of 0.8 hr$^{-1}$ in summer. In winter, natural ventilation was 0.75$\pm$1.31 ACH. And mean source strengths in summer and winter were 14.8ppb/hr and 22.4ppb/hr, respectively. Although the method showed similar finding previous studies, the study did not measure ACH or the source strength of the house directly. As validation of natural ventilations, infiltrations were measured with $CO_2$tracer gas in 18 houses. Relationship between ventilation and infiltration was statistically correlated (Pearson r=0.63, p=0.02).

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.04c
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• pp.69-72
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• 2008

Decay processes of accumulated charge in e-beam irradiated polymers during elevating temperature are observed using pulsed electro-acoustic measurement system. Since the polymeric materials have many superior properties such as light-weight, good mechanical strength, high flexibility and low cost, they are inevitable materials for spacecrafts. In space environment, however, the polymers sometimes have serious damage by irradiation of high energy charged particles. When the polymers of the spacecraft are irradiated by high energy charged particles, some of injected charges accumulate and remain for long time in the bulk of the polymers. Since the bulk charges sometimes cause the degradation or breakdown of the materials, the investigation of the charging and the decay processes in polymeric materials under change of temperature is important to decide an adequate material for the spacecrafts. By measuring the charge behavior in e-beam irradiated polymer, such as polyimide or polystyrene, it is found that the various accumulation and decay patterns are observed in each material. The results seem to be useful and be helpful to progress in the reliability of the polymers for the spacecraft.