In this study, three kinds of bainitic steels are fabricated by controlling the contents of vanadium and boron. High vanadium steel has a lot of carbides and nitrides, and so, during the cooling process, acicular ferrite is well formed. Carbides and nitrides develop fine grains by inhibiting grain growth. As a result, the low temperature Charpy absorbed energy of high vanadium steel is higher than that of low vanadium steel. In boron added steel, boron segregates at the prior austenite grain boundary, so that acicular ferrite formation occurs well during the cooling process. However, the granular bainite packet size of the boron added steel is larger than that of high vanadium steel because boron cannot effectively suppress grain growth. Therefore, the low temperature Charpy absorbed energy of the boron added steel is lower than that of the low vanadium steel. HAZ (heat affected zone) microstructure formation affects not only vanadium and boron but also the prior austenite grain size. In the HAZ specimen having large prior austenite grain size, acicular ferrite is formed inside the austenite, and granular bainite, bainitic ferrite, and martensite are also formed in a complex, resulting in a mixed acicular ferrite region with a high volume fraction. On the other hand, in the HAZ specimen having small prior austenite grain size, the volume fraction of the mixed acicular ferrite region is low because granular bainite and bainitic ferrite are coarse due to the large number of prior austenite grain boundaries.

In this study, the effect of tempering on the stretch-flangeability is investigated in 980 MPa grade dual-phase steel consisting of ferrite and martensite phases. During tempering at 300 oC, the strength of ferrite increases due to the pinning of dislocations by carbon atoms released from martensite, while martensite is softened as a consequence of a reduction in its carbon super-saturation. This strength variation results in a considerable increase in yield strength of the steel, without loss of tensile strength. The hole expansion test shows that steel tempered for 20 min (T20 steel) exhibits a higher hole expansion ratio than that of steel without tempering (T0 steel). In T0 steel, severe plastic localization in ferrite causes easy pore formation at the ferrite-martensite interface and subsequent brittle crack propagation through the highly deformed ferrite area during hole expansion testing; this propagation is mainly attributed to the large difference in hardness between ferrite and martensite. When the difference in hardness is not so large (T20 steel), on the other hand, tempered martensite can be considerably deformed together with ferrite, thereby delaying pore formation and hindering crack propagation by crack blunting. Eventually, these different deformation and fracture behaviors contribute to the superior stretch-flangeability of T20 steel.

In this study, effects of carbon and nickel on microstructure and low temperature Charpy impact properties of HSLA (high strength low alloy) steels are investigated. To understand the complex phase transformation behavior of HSLA steels with high strength and toughness before and after welding processes, three kinds of HSLA steels are fabricated by varying the carbon and nickel content. Microstructure analysis, low temperature Charpy impact test, and Vickers hardness test are performed for the base metals and CGHAZ (coarse-grain heat affected zone) specimens. The specimens with the lowest carbon and nickel content have the highest volume fraction of AF, the lowest volume fraction of GB, and the smallest GB packet size. So, the low temperature Charpy absorbed energy of the CGHAZ specimen is the highest. The specimens with increased carbon and nickel content have the lowest volume fraction of AF, the highest volume fraction of GB, and the largest GB packet size. So, the low temperature Charpy absorbed energy of the CGHAZ specimen is the lowest.

In this study, two types of thick steel plates are prepared by controlling carbon equivalent and nickel content, and their microstructures are analyzed. Tensile tests, Vickers hardness tests, and Charpy impact tests are conducted to investigate the correlation between microstructure and mechanical properties of the steels. The H steel, which has high carbon equivalent and nickel content, has lower volume fraction of granular bainite (GB) and smaller GB packet size than those of L steel, which has low carbon equivalent and nickel content. However, the volume fraction of secondary phases is higher in the H steel than in the L steel. As a result, the strength of the L steel is higher than that of the H steel, while the Charpy absorbed energy at -40 °C is higher than that of the L steel. The heat affected zone (HAZ) simulated H-H specimen has higher volume fraction of acicular ferrite (AF) and lower volume fraction of GB than the HAZ simulated L-H specimen. In addition, the grain size of AF and the packet sizes of GB and BF are smaller in the H-H specimen than in the L-H specimen. For this reason, the Charpy absorbed energy at -20 °C is higher for the H-H specimen than for the L-H specimen.

In this study, the correlation between microstructure and Charpy impact properties of FCAW(Flux cored arc welding) HAZ(Heat affected zone) of thick steel plates for offshore platforms was investigated. The 1/4 thickness(1/4t) location HAZ specimen had a higher volume fraction of bainite and finer grain size of acicular ferrite than those of the 1/2 thickness (1/2t) location HAZ specimen because of the post heat effect during the continuous FCAW process. The Charpy impact energy at -20 oC of the 1/4t location HAZ specimen was lower than that of the 1/2t location HAZ specimen because of the high volume fraction of coarse bainite. The Charpy impact energy at -40 and -60 oC of the 1/2t location HAZ specimen were higher than those of the 1/2t location HAZ specimen because the ductile fracture occurred in the fine acicular ferrite and martensite regions. In the ductile fracture mode, the deformed regions were observed in fine acicular ferrite and martensite regions. In the brittle fracture mode, long crack propagation path was observed in bainite regions.

Three kinds of STS304-Zr alloys were fabricated by varying the Zr content, and their microstructure and fracture properties were analyzed. Moreover, we performed heat treatment to improve their properties and studied their microstructure and fracture properties. The microstructure of the STS304-Zr alloys before and after the heat treatment process consisted of α-Fe and intermetallics: Zr(Cr, Ni, Fe)2 and Zr6Fe23. The volume fraction of the intermetallics increased with an increasing Zr content. The 11Zr specimen exhibited the lowest hardness and fine dimples and cleavage facets in a fractured surface. The 15Zr specimen had high hardness and fine cleavage facets. The 19Zr specimen had the highest hardness and large cleavage facets. After the heat treatment process, the intermetallics were spheroidized and their volume fraction increased. In addition, the specimens after the heat treatment process, the Laves phase (Zr(Cr, Ni, Fe) 2) decreased, the Zr6Fe23 phase increased and the Ni concentration in the intermetallics decreased. The hardness of all the specimens after the heat treatment process decreased because of the dislocations and residual stresses in α-Fe, and the fine lamellar shaped eutectic microstructures changed into large α-Fe and spheroidized intermetallics. The cleavage facet size increased because of the decomposition of the fine lamellarshaped eutectic microstructures and the increase in spheroidized intermetallics.

최근 정부는 신재생에너지 연료 혼합 의무화 제도(RFS)와 신재생에너지 공급 의무화제도 (RPS)를 적극 추진하고 있어 신재생에너지 연료의 중요성은 그 어느 때보다도 부각되고 있으며 적극적 인 연구가 필요한 때이다. 이의 일환으로 발전용 바이오중유 시범보급사업과 관련 연구가 활발히 진행 중에 있다. 본 연구에서는 바이오중유의 성능평가기준(안) 마련을 위해 중유와 바이오중유의 연료품질 특성 및 산업용 보일러에서 연소 후 배출되는 먼지, 배출가스의 양을 비교 연구하였다. 연구결과 바이오 중유를 사용할 경우 먼지와 황산화물 등 유해배출가스가 현저히 저감 되는 것이 밝혀졌다.

최근 폐자원에너지를 이용한 신재생에너지의 활용에 대한 관심이 늘고 있는 추세이다. 유기성 폐자원의 경우 생성되는 메탄가스 및 가연성 가스를 이용한 가스발전이 가장 대표적인 활용 예이다. 그러나 폐자원으로부터 생성되는 가스는 생산량 조절이 어려움이 있다. 또한 가스 발전은 계속적으로 가동되어야 하기 때문에 전기사용량이 적은 심야에는 버려지는 가스가 존재한다. Energy Storage System (ESS)은 낭비되는 전기를 저장하였다가 필요한 요구가 있을 때 사용하는 장치로서 폐자원 에너지와 같은 신재생에너지 산업에 없어서는 안될 부분이다. 또한 에너지를 저장하는데 있어 어떠한 환경오염이나 CO2가 발생되지 않는 청정의 에너지 저가 요구된다. 이러한 ESS 중의 하나로, 바나듐 레독스 흐름 전지(Vanadium Redox Flow Batter)는 차세대 에너지 저장장치로서 기존의 리튬전지를 이용한 저장보다 에너지 수명이 10배 이상 길고, 환경에 무해한 물질을 사용하는 친환경적이 물질이다. 그러나 VRFB의 경우 낮은 에너지 밀도와 값비싼 분리막등 보완해야할 점들이 있다. 현재 사용되고 있는 Nafion 계열의 분리막의 경우 값비싼 가격과 활물질의 Crossover 현상을 막아주지 못하는 단점을 가지고 있는데 이를 polybenzimidazole로 구성된 분리막을 사용함으로서 분리막의 표면에 positively charged functional groups을 달아주어 Crossover를 막아주어 에너지효율과 밀도 모두 향상시킬 수 있었다.

지구온난화의 영향으로 전 세계적으로 기후변화가 일어나고 있다. 각국에는 기존의 연료인 석탄 및 석유의 에너지를 줄이고 온실가스 저감 및 저탄소 생활문화에 대한 관심이 높다. 특히 매립되는 폐기물을 재사용하기 위해 폐기물에 저장된 많은 양의 에너지를 활용하여 전기를 생산하는 가스발전소를 가동하고 있다. 이렇게 생산된 전기에너지중 일부는 자체적으로 소모가 되고 일부는 한국전력에 판매하고 있다. 그러나 일부의 가스는 전기에너지로 전환하지 못하여 버려지게 된다. 그 이유는 매립지에서 발생된 가스의 양을 조절하기 어렵고 전기에너지의 다양한를 따라가기 힘들기 때문이다. 그렇기 때문에 일정한 에너지 공급과 잉여전력의 저장을 위해 재생에너지 산업에 꼭 필요한 장치가 에너지저장장치(ESS)이다. 그 중 친환경 적이며 높은 내구성 및 안전성을 갖는 장치가 VRFB이다. VRFB의 경우 바나듐을 활물질로 사용한 2차 전지로서 산화환원 반응을 통해 전기에너지를 화학적에너지로 전환하여 저장하였다가 필요한 순간에 발전하여 전력을 공급할 수 있다. ESS를 사용하면 에너지 공급안전성을 높일 수 있으며 버려지는 에너지를 저장하여 언제든 공급할 수 있게 된다. 많은 장점을 가진 VRFB 이지만 아직 기술적으로 완전하게 정립되어있지 않기 때문에 성능향상에 대한 연구와 관심이 많다. 우리는 VRFB 의 성능을 높이기 위해 촉매에 대한 연구를 중점적으로 진행해 왔다. B과 N은 일반적으로 전기 전도성을 향상시킨다고 알려진 촉매로서 이를 다공성 carbon 인 MSU-FC에 첨가하여 사용하였다. 이 촉매를 사용함으로서 에너지 밀도와 에너지효율에 성능향상을 보였고 또한 Capacity 또한 유지되는 것을 보였다.