• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.148-150
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• 2006

In this paper, the applicability of an UET(ultrasound excited thermography) for a defect detection of the welded receptacle is described. An UET(ultrasound excited thermography) is a defect-selective and fast imaging tool for damage detection. A high power ultrasound-excited vibration energy with pulse durations of 280ms is injected into the outer surface of the welded receptacle made of Al material. An ultrasound vibration energy sent into the welded receptacle propagate inside the sample until they are converted into the heat in the vicinity of the defect. The injection of the ultrasound excited vibration energy results in heat generation so that the defect is turned into a local thermal wave transmitter. Its local heat emission is monitored by the thermal infrared camera. And they are processed by the image recording system. Measurement was performed on aluminum receptacle welded by using Nd:YAG laser. The observed thermal image revealed two area of defects along the welded seam.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.40-47
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• 2017

The effects of ultrasound in heterogeneous system were investigated in three kinds of ultrasonic systems including a bath-type system (System #1), a double-bath-type system (System #2), and a double-bath-type system partly filled with glass beads (System #3). The ultrasound energy and its attenuation were quantified using calorimetry and the sound pressure measurement method. The sonochemical effects mainly involved in radical oxidation reactions were quantified using KI dosimetry. It was found that ultrasound energy was significantly attenuated in System #2 and #3 due to the presence of solid materials such as a submerged stainless steel reactor and glass beads. However, in spite of low ultrasound energy status, sonochemical oxidation reactions occurred more violently due to the presence of glass beads in System #3. In addition, calorimetry was more adequate to estimate the total energy status of ultrasound in sonoreactors compared to the sound pressure measurement method.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.532-535
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• 2009

In this study, the fatty acid methyl ester was prepared from the vegetable oil by inducing ultrasound energy. The ultrasound energy was applied to the esterification reaction for heating and stirring effects. Ultrasonic induction results in the shortened reaction time and brings the increase of the methyl ester yield. However, the continuous introduction of ultrasound during the esterification reaction results in temperature increase, then the over-heating of reaction temperature was ineffective. Therefore, the system temperature was controlled at constant temperature state with the cooling circulation. The ultrasound induction reaction had the fatty acid methyl ester yield of 93% at the reaction time was 30 minutes, faster than the traditional esterification process.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.374-379
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• 2018

The piezocomposite transducer is widely used because it is highly efficient in transforming electric energy into mechanical energy, and its frequency range is broader than that of other types of ultrasound transducers. A general piezocomposite transducer is composed of an acoustic lens, impedance matching layers, piezoelectric materials, and backing layers. When an input voltage is applied to a piezoelectric material as an active material, it generates sound waves while vibrating. At that time, an impedance matching layer helps the sound waves to propagate forward while reducing the impedance mismatch that may occur at the interface between the active material and its front material. The impedance mismatch has a negative effect on the signal of an ultrasound transducer; thus, it is important to design a matching layer to overcome the issue. In this study, an optimized feature of a matching layer with gradient properties is studied. An objective function is defined to minimize both the average and the deviation of the reflection coefficients that are functions of the frequencies. As a result, an improvement in the signal characteristics with respect to the sensitivity and bandwidth is reported.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.470-478
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• 2020

Spent coffee grounds (SCG), the residue after brewing coffee beverage, is a promising biodiesel feedstock due to its high oil contents (15-20%). However, SCG should be pretreated to reduce the high free fatty acid content, which hampers transesterification reaction. To overcome this, we explored a direct transesterification reaction of SCG using ultrasound irradiation and identified the optimal sonication parameters. A high fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content, up to 97.2%, could be achieved with ultrasound amplitude of 99.2 ㎛, irradiation time of 10 min, and methanol to oil ratio of 7:1 in the presence of potassium hydroxide concentration of 1.25 wt.%. In addition, we demonstrated that ultrasound irradiation is an efficient method to produce biodiesel from untreated SCG in a short time with less energy than the conventional mechanical stirring method. The physical and chemical properties of the SCG biodiesel met the requirements for an alternative fuel to the current commercial biodiesel.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.297.2-297.2
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• 2016

Photoacoustic generation of ultrasound is an effective approach for development of high-frequency and high-amplitude ultrasound transmitters. This requires an efficient energy converter from optical input to acoustic output. For such photoacoustic conversion, various light-absorbing materials have been used such as metallic coating, dye-doped polymer composite, and nanostructure composite. These transmitters absorb laser pulses with 5-10 ns widths for generation of tens-of-MHz frequency ultrasound. The short optical pulse leads to rapid heating of the irradiated region and therefore fast thermal expansion before significant heat diffusion occurs to the surrounding. In this purpose, nanocomposite thin films containing gold nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), or carbon nanofibers have been recently proposed for high optical absorption, efficient thermoacosutic transfer, and mechanical robustness. These properties are necessary to produce a high-amplitude ultrasonic output under a low-energy optical input. Here, we investigate carbon nanotube (CNT)-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite transmitters and their nanostructure-originated characteristics enabling extraordinary energy conversion. We explain a thermoelastic energy conversion mechanism within the nanocomposite and examine nanostructures by using a scanning electron microscopy. Then, we measure laser-induced damage threshold of the transmitters against pulsed laser ablation. Particularly, laser-induced damage threshold has been largely overlooked so far in the development of photoacoustic transmitters. Higher damage threshold means that transmitters can withstand optical irradiation with higher laser energy and produce higher pressure output proportional to such optical input. We discuss an optimal design of CNT-PDMS composite transmitter for high-amplitude pressure generation (e.g. focused ultrasound transmitter) useful for therapeutic applications. It is fabricated using a focal structure (spherically concave substrate) that is coated with a CNT-PDMS composite layer. We also introduce some application examples of the high-amplitude focused transmitter based on the CNT-PDMS composite film.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.43 no.4 s.287
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• pp.259-263
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• 2006

The applicability of UPT (Ultrasound Pulse Thermography) for real-time defect detection of the ceramic heating plate is described. The ceramic heating plate with superior insulation and high radiation is used to control the water temperature in underwater environment. The underwater temperature control system can be damaged owing to the short circuit, which resulted from the defect of the ceramic heating plate. A high power ultrasonic energy with pulse duration of 280 ms was injected into the ceramic heating plate in the vertical direction. The ultrasound excited vibration energy sent into the component propagate inside the sample until they were converted to the heat in the vicinity of the defect. Therefore, an injection of the ultrasound pulse wave which results in heat generation, turns the defect into a local thermal wave transmitter. Its local emission is monitored and recorded via the thermal infrared camera at the surface which is processed by image recording system. Measurements were Performed on 4 kinds of samples, composed of 3 intact plates and the defect plate. The observed thermal image revealed two area of crack in the defective ceramic heating plate.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.284-290
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• 2012

Infrared thermography uses infrared energy radiated from any objects above absolute zero temperature, and the range of its application has been constantly broadened. As one of the active test techniques detecting radiant energy generated when energy is applied to an object, ultrasound infrared thermography is a method of detecting defects through hot spots occurring at a defect area when 15~100 kHz of ultrasound is excited to an object. This technique is effective in detecting a wide range affected by ultrasound and vibration in real time. Especially, it is really effective when a defect area is minute. Therefore, this study conducted thermography through lock-in signal processing when an actual defect exists inside the austenite STS304 seamless pipe, which simulates thermal fatigue cracks in a nuclear power plant pipe. With ultrasound excited, this study could detect defects on the rear of a pipe by using an aluminium reflector. Besides, by regulating the angle of the aluminium reflector, this study could detect both front and rear defects as a single infrared thermography image.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.129-134
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• 2008

Ultrasonic cavitational energy distributions were measured in a large-scale sonoreator. In application of 110 and 170 kHz of ultrasound, the cavitational energy was just detected near the transducer module. However 35 and 72 kHz ultrasound made good distributions from the module to the end of the sonoreactor, Especially, 72 kHz ultrasound application showed most stable and highest cavitational energy value through the whole length. In the comparison between input power and cavitational energy, linear relationships were obtained in 35 and 72 kHz and it was anticipated that these results would be used for the optimization of input power for the design of sonoreactors. And three dimensional energy distribution was depicted through the mapping of cavitaional energy. Average energy in the large-scale sonoreactor was estimated as 62.8 W, which was about 40 % of input power.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.44
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• pp.279.1-279.16
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• 2018

Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a new emerging neurosurgical procedure applied in a wide range of clinical fields. It can generate high-intensity energy at the focal zone in deep body areas without requiring incision of soft tissues. Although the effectiveness of the focused ultrasound technique had not been recognized because of the skull being a main barrier in the transmission of acoustic energy, the development of hemispheric distribution of ultrasound transducer phased arrays has solved this issue and enabled the performance of true transcranial procedures. Advanced imaging technologies such as magnetic resonance thermometry could enhance the safety of MRgFUS. The current clinical applications of MRgFUS in neurosurgery involve stereotactic ablative treatments for patients with essential tremor, Parkinson's disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, or neuropathic pain. Other potential treatment candidates being examined in ongoing clinical trials include brain tumors, Alzheimer's disease, and epilepsy, based on MRgFUS abilities of thermal ablation and opening the blood-brain barrier. With the development of ultrasound technology to overcome the limitations, MRgFUS is gradually expanding the therapeutic field for intractable neurological disorders and serving as a trail for a promising future in noninvasive and safe neurosurgical care.