• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.35-41
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• 1988

The optimum test conditions of measuring the crack height were determined for the two-probe ultrasonic diffraction method. The applicability and the accuracy of the two-probe ultrasonic diffraction method on the inclined artificial cracks and the fatigue cracks were evaluated. It us possible to measure the height of the normal and inclined artificial cracks with the maximum error of ${\pm}\;0.5mm$ with the two-probe ultrasonic diffraction method. It was found, however, that the accuracy of this method in meaasuring the height of the fatigue crack depends on the degree of closure of the crack tip. It was desirable to choose a refraction angle as small as possible, but the angle should not be so small that the distortion of the lateral waveform became appreciable.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.7
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• pp.635-643
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the cold reduction rate and an ultrasonic fatigue test (UFT) on the fatigue behaviors of STS 304L. The tensile strength, yield strength, hardness value and fatigue limit in the UFT fatigue test linearly increased as thickness decreased from 1.5 mm to 1.1 mm, as the cold reduction rate of STS 304L increased. As a result of the UFT fatigue test (R = -1) of four specimens, the fatigue limit of the S-N curve formed a knee point in the region of $10^6$, and the 2nd fatigue limit caused by giga cycle fatigue did not appeared. In the case of t = 1.1 mm, the highest fatigue limit was 345 MPa, which was 64.3% higher than the original material (t = 1.5 mm). As a result of the UFT fatigue test of STS 304L, many small surface cracks occurred, grown, coalesced while tearing.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.349-362
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• 2010

Ultrasonic Guided Waves (UGWs) are a useful tool in structural health monitoring (SHM) applications that can benefit from built-in transduction, moderately large inspection ranges and high sensitivity to small flaws. This paper describes a SHM method based on UGWs, discrete wavelet transform (DWT), and principal component analysis (PCA) able to detect and quantify the onset and propagation of fatigue cracks in structural waveguides. The method combines the advantages of guided wave signals processed through the DWT with the outcomes of selecting defect-sensitive features to perform a multivariate diagnosis of damage. This diagnosis is based on the PCA. The framework presented in this paper is applied to the detection of fatigue cracks in a steel beam. The probing hardware consists of a PXI platform that controls the generation and measurement of the ultrasonic signals by means of piezoelectric transducers made of Lead Zirconate Titanate. Although the approach is demonstrated in a beam test, it is argued that the proposed method is general and applicable to any structure that can sustain the propagation of UGWs.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.443-449
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• 2012

Nanoskins were fabricated on a Ti-6Al-4V material by carrying out various surface treatments, i.e., deep rolling, laser shot peening, and ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM). These surface treatments are newly developed techniques and are becoming more popular for industrial applications. Fatigue tests were carried out using material test system (MTS); these tests included the axial loading tension-compression fatigue test (R = -1, RT, 5 Hz, sinusoidal wave) and rotating bending fatigue test (R = -1, RT, 3200 rpm). The analysis of the crack initiation pattern in the UNSM-treated material indicated that the crack was interior originating in the axial loading tension-compression cycle, and was surface originating in the bending fatigue test. UNSM treatment significantly improved the fatigue strength for the regime of above $10^6$ cycles that S-N curve of rotating bending stress clearly show the performance of a 5 mm titanium specimen after UNSM treatment is similar to that of an untreated 6 mm titanium specimen.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.40-45
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• 2008

There exist many types of pipe and component fatigue through vibrations, thermal fatigues or shifting. In some cases of thermal stratification/thermal fatigue, pipes & components are receiving thermal stress by means of material expansion and shrinkage by continuous thermal repetitive variation. Small cracks initially occur on the inside surface by thermal stress. These cracks grow in depth the pipe wall and finally come to a rupture. Pipe parts of susceptibility to thermal stratification and thermal fatigue are now being examined by conventional UT(ultrasonic test) as volumetric examination. It is difficult to fully satisfy the code & standards requirements because 3" weldolet weldments of RCS 16" pipe to 3" branch connection lines have complex structural shape. To solve the problems of conventional UT examination, we made a realistic mock-up and UT calibration block. We performed a simulation of phased array UT utilizing CIVA as NDE(Non-Destructive Examination) simulation software. Also we designed phased array UT transducer and wedge, optimal frequency by using simulation data. We performed phased array UT experiment through mock-up including artificial flaws(notch). The phased array UT technique is finally developed to improve the reliability of ultrasonic test at RCS 16" pipe to 3" branch connection weld.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.779-784
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• 2013

Increased efficiency and improved performance associated with light-weight materials were investigated in this study. Numerous studies have investigated surface treatments to improve the fatigue strength of metals. Laser heat treatment is a promising method because the power and spot size can be easily controlled, allowing a small heat affected zone (HAZ). However, changes in the material properties can result; in particular, the material can become more brittle. In this study, a combination of laser heat treatment and vibration peening was proposed to increase fatigue strength without changing the material characteristics. SCM440H was investigated experimentally, and specimens were tested using a giga-cycle ultrasonic fatigue tester. The results show that the combination of these two processes significantly increased the fatigue strength and, furthermore, different fracture types were observed after a small and large number of cycles.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.345-351
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• 2010

The oblique incidence technique for ultrasonic nonlinear characterization was studied in stainless steel 316L alloy subjected to high cycle fatigue. A dog-bone plate specimen was prepared to make different faitgue-driven deformation at each position where the stress concentration could occur in the middle of specimen. In addition to the normal transmission technique, the oblique incidence technique which is newly suggested in this study, was used to measure ultrasonic nonlinear parameter. The fatigued specimen shows higher ultrasonic nonlinear parameter than the virgin specimen for both techniques. Ultrasonic nonlinear parameter highly increases in the middle of test specimen where the stress concentration existes. Relative nonlinear parameter has strong correlation with fatigue damage. Consequently, the oblique incidence technique with longitudinal wave can be potential to characterize high cycle fatigue damage.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.156-164
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• 2003

STS316L had been used as the structural material for energy environmental facilities, because austenite stainless steels like 316L have superior mechanical properties of which toughness, ductility, corrosion resistant and etc. However, those welded structures are receiving severe damage due to increasing of the aged degradation. Most studies until now have been carried out against fatigue behaviors of weldments, and were not well studied on nondestructive evaluation methods. In this study, the fatigue crack propagation behavior of STS316L weldment usually used for vessels of the nuclear power plant was investigated. Also, the degradation characteristics of 316L stainless steel weldments were evaluated by the ultrasonic parameter such as ultrasonic velocity, attenuation factor and time-frequency analysis. The results of this study can be used as a basic data for the prediction of the fatigue crack life of weldments structures without disjointing or stopping service of structures in service.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.80-85
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• 2011

The Ultrasonic Nanocrystal Surface Modification (UNSM) technology improves the fatigue life of a torsion bar by inducing compressive residual stress on the surface layer. The UNSM is applied to replace the presetting method and shot peening technology. The torsion bar must be changed periodically because of a lack of durability and a phenomenon related to the stress relaxation. The torsion fatigue test specimens were made of DIN17221 material, and the results showed that the fatigue life was 5 times more than under durability test conditions. A comparison test between the commercial vehicles' presetting method and shot peened torsion bar and the UNSM torsion bar showed that the UNSM could replace the presetting method and shot peening.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2015

In this study, we apply an ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM) technique to radial journal bearings (JBs) and disks made of SUJ2 and SCM440, respectively. We investigate frictional properties of untreated and UNSM-treated specimens using a ball-on-disk tester. We construct the Stribeck curve at the boundary, under mixed and full hydrodynamic lubrication conditions for the specimens using friction data obtained from JB tests. The friction at the boundary lubrication condition and the transition period to mixed lubrication condition on the UNSM-treated specimens is reduced, which improves the service life of JBs. The major effects of this reduction in the three lubrication regimes can be explained in the terms of improved mechanical properties and the presence of micro dimples. Moreover, we estimate the friction and fatigue properties of SCM440 specimens using a ball-on-disk specimen under dry and oil-lubricated conditions. Friction test results reveal that the UNSM-treated specimens show lower friction coefficient than the untreated specimens under both dry and oil-lubricated conditions. We evaluate the fatigue properties of SCM440 specimens by calculating the Hertzian stress with respect to the failure cycles. Fatigue tests results also reveal that the UNSM-treated specimens possess a longer fatigue life than the untreated specimens. The improved properties are effective in increasing the energy efficiency of bearings.