The conversion of all carbon preforms to dense SiC by liquid infiltration can become a low-cost and reliable method to form SiC-Si composites of complex shape and high density. Reactive sintered silicon carbide (RBSC) is prepared by covering Si powder on top of 0.5-5.0 wt% Y2O3-added carbon preforms at 1,450 and 1,500°C for 2 hours; samples are analyzed to determine densification. Reactive sintering from the Y2O3-free carbon preform causes Si to be pushed to one side and cracking defects occur. However, when prepared from the Y2O3-added carbon preform, an SiC-Si composite in which Si is homogeneously distributed in the SiC matrix without cracking can be produced. Using the Si + C = SiC reaction, 3C and 6H of SiC, crystalline Si, and Y2O3 phases are detected by XRD analysis without the appearance of graphite. As the content of Y2O3 in the carbon preform increases, the prepared RBSC accelerates the SiC conversion reaction, increasing the density and decreasing the pores, resulting in densification. The dense RBSC obtained by reaction sintering at 1,500 oC for 2 hours from a carbon preform with 2.0 wt% Y2O3 added has 0.20% apparent porosity and 96.9% relative density.

The conversion of carbon preforms to dense SiC by liquid infiltration is a prospectively low-cost and reliable method of forming SiC-Si composites with complex shapes and high densities. Si powder was coated on top of a 2.0wt .% Y2O3-added carbon preform, and reaction bonded silicon carbide (RBSC) was prepared by infiltrating molten Si at 1,450oC for 1-8 h. Reactive sintering of the Y2O3-free carbon preform caused Si to be pushed to one side, thereby forming cracking defects. However, when prepared from the Y2O3-added carbon preform, a SiC-Si composite in which Si is homogeneously distributed in the SiC matrix without cracking can be produced. Using the Si + C → SiC reaction at 1,450oC, 3C and 6H SiC phases, crystalline Si, and Y2O3 were generated based on XRD analysis, without the appearance of graphite. The RBSC prepared from the Y2O3-added carbon preform was densified by increasing the density and decreasing the porosity as the holding time increased at 1,450oC. Dense RBSC, which was reaction sintered at 1,450oC for 4 h from the 2.0wt.% Y2O3-added carbon preform, had an apparent porosity of 0.11% and a relative density of 96.8%.

Homogeneous multicomponent indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) ceramics for transparent electrode targets are prepared from the oxides and nitrates as the source materials, and their properties are characterized. The selected compositions were In2O3:Ga2O3:ZnO = 1:1:2, 1:1:6, and 1:1:12 in mole ratio based on oxide. As revealed by X-ray diffraction analysis, calcination of the selected oxide or nitrides at 1200oC results in the formation of InGaZnO4, InGaZn3O6, and InGaZn5O8 phases. The 1:1:2, 1:1:6, and 1:1:12 oxide samples pressed in the form of discs exhibit relative densities of 96.9, 93.2, and 84.1%, respectively, after sintering at 1450oC for 12 h. The InGaZn3O6 ceramics prepared from the oxide or nitrate batches comprise large grains and exhibit homogeneous elemental distribution. Under optimized conditions, IGZO multicomponent ceramics with controlled phases, high densities, and homogeneous microstructures (grain and elemental distribution) are obtained.

PURPOSES :The purpose of this study is to perform a reliability analysis of the proposed wind load combination which governs the design of support structures of subsidiary road facilities, and to evaluate whether the target reliability of the design is satisfied.METHODS :The statistical estimation method is applied and the design period of the support structure is used to obtain the statistical property of the wind load. In addition, the statistical properties of the strength of support structures are obtained from a literature review and simulation study. Actual support structures are designed by the proposed load combination and are used as the examples to examine if the target reliability is obtained.RESULTS :The result of the reliability analysis performed by using the statistical properties of load and resistance for the support structure in this study indicates that the proposed wind load combination satisfied the target reliability index of the design. Also, the convenience of the design is achieved by adopting the same design wind velocity given in the bridge design code by applying the wind velocity ratio defined for the design period of the support structure.CONCLUSIONS :It is presented that the design using the wind load combination proposed in this study achieved the target reliability index and the design wind load for different design periods can be conveniently defined by applying the velocity ratio proposed in this study.

The steel I-girder inserted circular steel pipe is a new structural cable-anchorage system that the circular guide pipe is connected and welded to the web of the I-girder for cable-stayed bridge. This guide pipe-anchor system has many merits of the structural and aesthetic performances. However, there has been little research into the behavior mechanism with respect to anchor angles and the strengthening methods against the sectional area reduction caused by the penetration of guide pipe. Therefore, this paper investigates an experimental behavior of the steel I-girder with circular steel tube which is fabricated 1/3 scale model as fundamental study to examine the flexural behavior and failure mode in the laboratory. Based on the comparison of test results and nonlinear FE analyses, it is found that FEM is suitable to estimate the stiffness of I-girder with circular tube in order to design the cable-stayed bridge.

Waste oyster shells create several serious problems; however, only some parts of them are being utilized currently. The ideal solution would be to convert the waste shells into a product that is both environmentally beneficial and economically viable. An experimental study is carried out to investigate the recycling possibilities for oyster shell waste. Bulk ceramic bodies are produced from the oyster shell powder in three sequential processes. First, the shell powder is calcined to form calcium oxide CaO, which is then slaked by a slaking reaction with water to produce calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2. Then, calcium hydroxide powder is formed by uniaxial pressing. Finally, the calcium hydroxide compact is reconverted to calcium carbonate via a carbonation reaction with carbon dioxide released from the shell powder bed during firing at 550oC. The bulk body obtained from waste oyster shells could be utilized as a marine structural porous material.

The evolution of sinterability, microstructure and mechanical properties for the spark plasma sintered(SPS) Ti from commercial pure titanium(CP-Ti) was studied. The densification of titanium with 200 mesh and 400 mesh pass powder was achieved by SPS at under 10 MPa pressure and the flowing +Ar mixed gas atmosphere. The microstructure of Ti sintered up to consisted of equiaxed grains. In contrast, the growth of large elongated grains was shown in sintered bodies at with the 400 mesh pass powder and the lamella grains microstructure had been developed by increasing sintering temperature. The Vickers hardness of 240~270 HV and biaxial strength of 320~340 MPa were found for the specimen prepared at .

The unique features of spark plasma sintering process are the possibilities of a very fast heating rate and a short holding time to obtain fully dense materials. -SiC powder with 0, 2, 6, 10 wt% of -SiC particles (seeds) and 4 wt% of Al-B-C (sintering aids) were spark plasma sintered at for 10 min. The heating rate, applied pressure and sintering atmosphere were kept at , 40 MPa and a flowing Ar gas (500 CC/min). Microstructural development of SiC as function of seed content and temperature during spark plasma sintering was investigated quantitatively and statistically using image analysis. Quantitative image analyses on the sintered SiC ceramics were conducted on the grain size, aspect ratio and grain size distribution of SiC. The microstructure of SiC sintered up to consisted of equiaxed grains. In contrast, the growth of large elongated SiC grains in small matrix grains was shown in sintered bodies at and the plate-like grains interlocking microstructure had been developed by increasing sintering temperature. The introduction of -SiC seeds into -SiC accelerated the grain growth of elongated grains during sintering, resulting in the plate-like grains interlocking microstructure. In the -SiC seeds added in -SiC, the rate of grain growth decreased with -SiC seed content, however, bulk density and aspect ratio of grains in sintered body increased.

Mechanical alloying using high-energy ball mill and subsequent spark plasma sintering (SPS) process was applied to understand mechanical alloying processing of Al-Fe alloy system. The thermal stability of mechanically alloyed Al-Fe alloy was intended to be enhanced by SPS process. Various analytical techniques including particle size analysis, density measurement, micro-Vickers hardness test, SEM, TEM, and X-ray diffractometry were adopted to find optimum processing conditions for mechanical alloying and subsequent SPS and to estimate thermal stability of the prepared alloy. It was found from the treatment of mechanically alloyed Al-8wt.%Fe powder mixture that needle-shaped precipitates was formed in the Al-Fe matrix, and the alloy compact showed enhanced densification and reached its full density with little loss of its fine microstructure. After heat treatment at , it was also shown that the thermal stability of Al-8wt.%Fe alloy fabricated in the present study was enhanced, which was due to its fine microstructure developed by fast densification of SPS.

Mechanical alloying using high-energy ball mill and subsequent spark plasma sintering (SPS) process was applied to Al-Fe-Cr and Al-Fe-Mo powder mixture to investigate effects of Cr and Mo addition on thermal stability of Al-Fe, and thereby to enhance its thermal stability up to . Various analytical techniques including micro-Vickers hardness test, SEM, TEM, X-ray diffractometry and corrosion test were carried out. It was found that addition of Cr and Mo to Al-Fe system played a role of grain growth inhibitor of matrix Al and some precipitates such as during SPS and subsequent heat treatment. The inhibition of grain growth resulted in increased Vickers hardness and thermal stability up to comparing to those of Al-Fe alloy system.

Two-component ceramic (alumina-zirconia) composites were fabricated by a soft-solution process in which polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used as a polymeric carrier. Metal salts and PEG were dissolved in ethyl alcohol without any precipitation in 1:1 volume ratio of alumina and zirconia. In the non-aqueous system, the flammable solvent made explosive, exothermic reaction during drying process. The reaction resulted in formation of volume expanded, porous precursor powders by a vigorous decomposition of organic components in the precursor sol. The PEG content affected the grain size of sintered composites as well as the morphology of precursor powders. The difference of microstructure in sintered composite was attribute to the solubility and homogeneity of metal cations in precursor sol. At the optimum amount of the PEG polymer, the metal ions were dispersed effectively in solution and a homogeneous polymeric network was formed. It made less agglomerated particles in the precursor sol and affected on uniform grain size in sintered composite.