• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.479-493
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• 2023

The need for safety management has arisen due to the increasing number of years of operated underground structures, such as tunnels and utility tunnels, and accidents caused by those aging infrastructures. However, in the case of privately managed underground utility ducts, there is a lack of detailed guidelines for facility safety and maintenance, resulting in inadequate safety management. Furthermore, the absence of basic design information and the limited space for safety assessments make applying currently used non-destructive testing methods challenging. Therefore, this study suggests non-destructive inspection methods using ultrasonic and impact-echo techniques to assess the quality of underground structures. Thickness, presence of rebars, depth of rebars, and the presence and depth of internal defects are assessed to provide fundamental data for the safety assessment of box-type general underground structures. To validate the proposed methodology, different conditions of concrete specimens are designed and cured to simulate actual field conditions. Applying ultrasonic and impact signals and collecting data through multi-channel accelerometers determine the thickness of the simulated specimens, the depth of embedded rebar, and the extent of defects. The predicted results are well agreed upon compared with actual measurements. The proposed methodology is expected to contribute to developing safety diagnostic methods applicable to general underground structures in practical field conditions.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.522-529
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to compare the apical leakage of the root canal filled with the System B and the EndoTwinn(the combined application of heat and ultrasonic vibration). Sixty extracted premolars with straight root were cleaned and shaped to size 35. Group SB was obturated using System B and Group ET was filled with EndoTwinn. A size 35 of 0.06 tapered gutta-percha and Adseal were used and the plugger which could be introduced to 4 mm short of working length was selected in the obturation procedure. As the positive control, Group PC was not filled. In Group SB, ET and PC, all external surfaces of each tooth were coated with nail varnish leaving only 1 mm area around the apical foramen. In the negative control of Group NSB and Group NET, all of external tooth surface including apical foramen was coated with the nail varnish. The specimens were immersed in methylene blue dye solution for 2 days. Then the specimens were sectioned at each 1 mm from apex to 5 mm level. The final score of one specimen was given by summing up of the points at all levels. The dye leakage of Group ET was significantly less than that observed in Group SB (p < 0.05). And the frequency of gutta-percha pulling out from root canal when the plugger was removed was more often with the System B than with EndoTwinn but there was no significant difference.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.158-166
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• 2011

In the present study, copper and nickel foams with an open-celled structure as trabecular-bone-mimicking phantoms were used to investigate the dependencies of group velocity and attenuation coefficient on structural properties such as trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) and trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) in trabecular bone. The group velocity and attenuation coefficient of the copper and nickel foams were measured by a through-transmission method in water, using a pair of broadband, unfocused transducers with a diameter of 12.7 mm and a center frequency of 1.0 MHz. The separation of the Biot's fast and slow waves was consistently observed in the ultrasonic signals transmitted through the copper and nickel foams. The group velocities of the copper and nickel foams showed highly positive correlations with Tb.Th and Tb.Sp. The attenuation coefficient of the copper foam showed a highly negative correlation with Tb.Th and Tb.Sp, whereas that of the nickle foam showed a highly positive correlation with Tb.Th and Tb.Sp. These results advance our understanding of those previously reported by other researchers using trabecular bone samples or phantoms.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.1499-1508
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• 2013

Freeze-thaw tests were performed on gneiss samples collected from Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica in order to examine the engineering properties of rocks with slightly weathered (SW) and moderately weathered (MW). The tests were conducted under temperature ranging from $20{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ to $-20{\pm}2^{\circ}C$. A cycle of test consisted of 5 hours of freezing followed by another 5 hours of thawing under full saturation. In this paper, total 200 cycles of freeze-thaw test were performed with measurements of porosity, absorption, ultrasonic velocity, and shore hardness per each 20 cycle and that of uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) per each 50 cycle. The UCS of the SW rocks approximately decreased 0.07 MPa per a single cycle, while that of MW rocks decreased around 0.2 MPa per a single cycle. During the 200 cycles of SW rocks, the absorption increased from 0.23% to 0.39%, the P-wave velocity decreased from 4,054 m/s to 3,227 m/s and S-wave velocity decreased from 2,519 m/s to 2,079 m/s. Similarly, those of MW rocks changed from 0.65% to 1.6%, 3,207 m/s to 2,133 m/s and 2,028 m/s to 1,357 m/s. In conclusion, it was inferred that the properties of SW rocks experienced approximately 200-300 cycles of freeze-thaw process become close to those of MW rocks.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.362-367
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• 2005

Ultrasonic backward radiation profile is frequency-dependent when the incident region has deptional gradient of acoustical properties or multi-layers. Until now, we have measured the profiles of principal frequencies of an used transducers so that it was not easy to characterize the frequency dependence of the SAW(surface acoustic wave) from the backward radiation profile. We tried to measure the spectral backward radiation profiles using DFP(digital filer package) in a Lecroy DSO(digital storage oscilloscope). The measured spectral profiles showed that the steel specimen of #1200 surface treatment have 2% SAW velocity dispersion of the loaded case and the severly rusty steel specimen have the very big changes in the shape and pattern of the spectral profile. It is concluded that the spectral backward radiation profiles could be very effective tool to evaluate the frequency dependence of surface area.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.378-385
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• 2014

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were modified with a water soluble polymer, poly(vinyl alcohol), PVA, using a simple ultrasonic wave in water. Under the irradiation of ultrasound, PVA chains were severed as macroradicals and instantly grafted onto the surface of MWCNTs due to the radical scavenging effect of MWCNTs. To control the grafting PVA onto MWCNTs, the ultrasonication power and irradiation time were changed from 300 to 500 W and from 10 to 50 min, respectively. The grafted PVA onto MWCNTs was confirmed by FTIR, TGA, SEM, and TEM. Dispersion stability of the modified MWCNTs was monitored by Turbiscan. The amount of grafted PVA on MWCNTs increased with the increase in the sonication power and irradiation time. The grafted PVA on MWCNTs induced the improved dispersion stability of the modified MWCNTs in water. These findings exhibit that ultrasound can be readily used for the grafting polymer chains on MWCNTs.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.367-373
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• 2011

Guided waves inspection techniques that are different with inspection technique by bulk waves are widely used in pipe line evaluation due to advantages of long distance inspection. However, most of pipe lines at industrial fields are buried and/or coated. In this case, due to the attenuation effect from soil and/or coating material, there are a lot of difficulty on inspection by conventional ultrasonic technique. In this paper, guided waves propagating patterns are calculated with respect to excitation mode by Normal Mode Expansion(NME). Guided waves patterns based on excited by single transducer and guided wave focusing technique have employed to analyze focusing pattern on a pipe. A longitudinal mode and high order flexural modes are used with various number of transducers to determine sensitivity. Guided waves energy excited by multi transducer with focusing algorithm was successfully focused at a desired point.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.324-329
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• 2014

Purpose: The finite element method (FEM) is advantageous because it can save time and cost by reducing the number of samples and experiments in the effort to identify design factors. In computational problem-solving it is necessary that the exact material properties are input for achieving a reliable analysis. However, in the case of fiber boards, it is difficult to measure their cross-directional material properties because of their small thickness. In previous research studies, the Poisson's ratio was measured by analyzing ultrasonic wave velocities. Recently, the Poisson's ratio was measured using a high-speed digital camera. In this study, we measured the transverse strain of a fiber board and calculated its Poisson's ratio using a high-speed digital camera in order to apply these estimates to a FEM analysis of a fiber board, a corrugated board, and a corrugated box. Methods: Three different fiber board samples were used in a uniaxial tensile test. The longitudinal strain was measured using the Universal Testing Machine. The transverse strain was measured using an image processing method. To calculate the transverse strain, we acquired images of the fiber board before the test onset and before the fracture occurred. Acquired images were processed using the image processing program MATLAB. After the images were converted from color to binary, we calculated the width of the fiber board. Results: The calculated Poisson's ratio ranged between 0.2968-0.4425 (Machine direction, MD) and 0.1619-0.1751 (Cross machine direction, CD). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that measurement of the transverse properties of a fiber board is possible using image processing methods. Correspondingly, these processing methods could be used to measure material properties that are difficult to measure using conventional measuring methodologies that employ strain gauge extensometers.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.343-347
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• 2020

This paper presents the development of a software for tracking the location of objects in the water and for creating a three-dimensional hull map. The objective of this software, as a software for underwater hull cleaning robot, is to map the location of underwater hull cleaning robot and to locate the position of sensor by identifying the shaded area of acoustic communication. For the software designed for mapping the location of cleaning robot in the water, the height and intensity were applied as variables for underwater ultrasonic communication. The software for creating a three-dimensional hull was developed by OpenGL using scanned lines from a blueprint of a ship. This software can help identifying the location of underwater hull cleaning robot without actual visibility and can be used to maintain a stable communication status by locating the position of sensor by easily spotting the shaded area of acoustic communication caused by the curved area of the bottom of the ship.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.19-34
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• 2015

One of the main causes of a limited use of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies in bridge deck assessment is the speed of data collection and analysis. The paper describes development and implementation of the RABIT (Robotics Assisted Bridge Inspection Tool) for data collection using multiple NDE technologies. The system is designed to characterize three most common deterioration types in concrete bridge decks: rebar corrosion, delamination, and concrete degradation. It implements four NDE technologies: electrical resistivity (ER), impact echo (IE), ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and ultrasonic surface waves (USW) method. The technologies are used in a complementary way to enhance the interpretation. In addition, the system utilizes advanced vision to complement traditional visual inspection. Finally, the RABIT collects data at a significantly higher speed than it is done using traditional NDE equipment. The robotic system is complemented by an advanced data interpretation. The associated platform for the enhanced interpretation of condition assessment in concrete bridge decks utilizes data integration, fusion, and deterioration and defect visualization. This paper concentrates on the validation and field implementation of two NDE technologies. The first one is IE used in the delamination detection and characterization, while the second one is the USW method used in the assessment of concrete quality. The validation of performance of the two methods was conducted on a 9 m long and 3.6 m wide fabricated bridge structure with numerous artificial defects embedded in the deck.