The effects of annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Si alloys fabricated by high-energy ball milling (HEBM) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) were investigated. The HEBM-free sintered alloy primarily contained Mg2Si, Q-AlCuMgSi, and Si phases. Meanwhile, the HEBM-sintered alloy contains Mg-free Si and θ-Al2Cu phases due to the formation of MgO, which causes Mg depletion in the Al matrix. Annealing without and with HEBM at 500oC causes partial dissolution and coarsening of the Q-AlCuMgSi and Mg2Si phases in the alloy and dissolution of the θ-Al2Cu phase in the alloy, respectively. In both alloys, a thermally stable α-AlFeSi phase was formed after long-term heat treatment. The grain size of the sintered alloys with and without HEBM increased from 0.5 to 1.0 μm and from 2.9 to 6.3 μm, respectively. The hardness of the sintered alloy increases after annealing for 1 h but decreases significantly after 24 h of annealing. Extending the annealing time to 168 h improved the hardness of the alloy without HEBM but had little effect on the alloy with HEBM. The relationship between the microstructural factors and the hardness of the sintered and annealed alloys is discussed.

Radish is an important root vegetable in the world, and many cultivars have been developed with various molecular marker systems to identify these cultivars. Recently developed markers for radish cultivar identification require only 11 primer pairs, but they still use conventional PCR with different annealing temperatures and time-consuming gel electrophoresis. To improve the genotyping method, we applied touchdown PCR with 11 primers with M13 tails among 105 radish cultivars. Touchdown PCR successfully generated amplicons in all 11 M13-tailed primers with a condition of annealing temperature starting from 55℃, decreased by 1°C and 33 cycles at 53°C. The 11 M13-tailed primers followed by fragment analysis produced 71 amplicons, which produced more amplicons than gel electrophoresis that produced 23 amplicons. Especially, simple sequence repeats produced more amplicons, 12 on average, than the other marker types. The present study requires less effort and provides more accurate results compared to genotyping using gel electrophoresis. Besides, a database can be established using digitized genotyping results among radish cultivars.

Changes in the mechanical properties and microstructure of an IN 939 W alloy according to the sintering heating rate were evaluated. IN 939 W alloy samples were fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The phase fraction, number density, and mean radius of the IN 939W alloy were calculated using a thermodynamic calculation. A universal testing machine and micro-Vickers hardness tester were employed to confirm the mechanical properties of the IN 939W alloy. X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, Cs-corrected-field emission transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry were used to evaluate the microstructure of the alloy. The rapid sintering heating rate resulted in a slightly dispersed γ' phase and chromium oxide. It also suppressed the precipitation of the η phase. These helped to reinforce the mechanical properties.

A typical trade-off relationship exists between strength and elongation in face-centered cubic metals. Studies have recently been conducted to enhance strength without ductility reduction through surface-treatment-based ultrasonic nanocrystalline surface modification (UNSM), which creates a gradient microstructure in which grains become smaller from the inside to the surface. The transformation-induced plasticity effect in Fe-Mn alloys results in excellent strength and ductility due to their high work-hardening rate. This rate is achieved through strain-induced martensitic transformation when an alloy is plastically deformed. In this study, Fe-6%Mn powders with different sizes were prepared by high-energy ball milling and sintered through spark plasma sintering to produce Fe-6%Mn samples. A gradient microstructure was obtained by stacking the different-sized powders to achieve similar effects as those derived from UNSM. A compressive test was performed to investigate the mechanical properties, including the yielding behavior. The deformed microstructure was observed through electron backscatter diffraction to determine the effects of gradient plastic deformation.

An alternative fabrication method for carburizing steel using spark plasma sintering (SPS) is investigated. The sintered carburized sample, which exhibits surface modification effects such as carburizing, sintered Fe, and sintered Fe–0.8 wt.%C alloys, is fabricated using SPS. X-ray diffraction and micro Vickers tests are employed to confirm the phase and properties. Finite element analysis is performed to evaluate the change in hardness and analyze the carbon content and residual stress of the carburized sample. The change in the hardness of the carburized sample has the same tendency to predict hardness. The difference in hardness between the carburized sample and the predicted value is also discussed. The carburized sample exhibits a compressive residual stress at the surface. These results indicate that the carburized sample experiences a surface modification effect without carburization. Field emission scanning electron microscopy is employed to verify the change in phase. A novel fabrication method for altering the carburization is successfully proposed. We expect this fabrication method to solve the problems associated with carburization.

This study examines the effect of microstructural factors on the strength and deformability of ferrite-pearlite steels. Six kinds of ferrite-pearlite steel specimens are fabricated with the addition of different amounst of Mn and V and with varying the isothermal transformation temperature. The Mn steel specimen with a highest Mn content has the highest pearlite volume fraction because Mn addition inhibits the formation of ferrite. The V steel specimen with a highest V content has the finest ferrite grain size and lowest pearlite volume fraction because a large amount of ferrite forms in fine austenite grain boundaries that are generated by the pinning effect of many VC precipitates. On the other hand, the room-temperature tensile test results show that the V steel specimen has a longer yield point elongation than other specimens due to the highest ferrite volume fraction. The V specimen has the highest yield strength because of a larger amount of VC precipitates and grain refinement strengthening, while the Mn specimen has the highest tensile strength because the highest pearlite volume fraction largely enhances work hardening. Furthermore, the tensile strength increases with a higher transformation temperature because increasing the precipitate fraction with a higher transformation temperature improves work hardening. The results reveal that an increasing transformation temperature decreases the yield ratio. Meanwhile, the yield ratio decreases with an increasing ferrite grain size because ferrite grain size refinement largely increases the yield strength. However, the uniform elongation shows no significant changes of the microstructural factors.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various crack inducers to be used in the advanced reinforced concrete pavement (ARCP) by conducting yard tests. Some of cracks are induced in ARCP to reduce the stresses in steel bars and to form more uniformly spaced cracks so that the required steel bar amount can be decreased and at the same time the pavement performance can be improved. In this study, an experimental ARCP was constructed for the length of 22.4 m, width of 1.12 m, and thickness of 0.26 m. The anchor lugs were placed at both ends of ARCP to pretend continuities of the system. 8 crack inducers with a uniform spacing of 2.8 m were installed in different manners when placing concrete, so the test length of the experimental ARCP was 19.6 m. The variables of crack inducers included the shape, material, installed depth, and installing method. The basic shape of the crack inducer represented a round face and a flat opposite face with a height of 50 mm and a width of 10 mm. The slightly different shaped crack inducers were installed for inducing cracks at both ends of ARCP. The crack inducers were primarily made of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) but a crack was induced using a polyethylene sheet inducer. The installed depths of the crack inducers were 30, 40 and 70 mm to the top of the crack inducer from the pavement surface. Most crack inducers were preinstalled on the transverse steel bar locations before concrete pouring, but 2 crack inducers were installed just after concrete placement when concrete was still fresh. The temperature measurement sensors of i-Buttons and thermocouples were installed at the top, middle and bottom of slab to measure the temperature variations of slab. The displacement transducers were also installed at the crack locations to measure the crack width movements. The experimental results showed that the cracks were induced at all the locations where the crack inducers were placed. In addition to the induced cracks, just one crack was formed naturally. The crack patterns on the surface of pavement were all comparable. The crack width measurement data showed that there were slight differences in the crack width movements among the cracks but all the cracks including both the induced and naturally formed cracks moved little within a 0.1 mm range. Therefore, any type of the crack inducers employed in this study can be used to initiate cracks in ARCP.

DXA 검사는 작은 골량의 변화로 발생하는 생물학적 변화를 가장 잘 반영할 수 있어 임상에서 우수한 성능을 발휘하는 골밀도 검사 장치이다. 검사의 정확도와 정밀도의 유지를 위하여 정도관리가 필수적으로 수행되어야 하지만 팬텀의 제작이 어렵고 상대적으로 고가의 가격이기 때문에 병원마다 보유하지 않고 있는 경우가 많다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 3D 프린터 및 시중에서 손쉽게 구할 수 있는 필라멘트의 내부채움 정도의 변화를 이용하여 교차보정 팬텀을 개발하고 상용화된 팬텀과의 비교 평가를 통해 유용성을 평가하였다. 팬텀의 개발을 위해 ABS, TPU, PLA, 30% Cu-PLA, 30% Al-PLA의 HU을 평가하였으며 각각 내부 채움 10 0%에서 -149.74±2.36, -55.62±7.14, -7.68±3.82, 87.53±1.07, 1795.20±16.15의 HU를 나타내었다. 선형회귀분석이 적용된 3D 프린팅 팬텀의 L1, L2, L3 골밀도는 0.620±0.010 g/cm2, 1.092 ±0.025 g/cm2, 1.554±0.026 g/cm2으로, 기존 팬텀과 통계적으로 높은 관련성을 보였다. 이를 활용한다면, DXA 장치의 적절한 정도관리가 가능할 것이며, FDM 3D 프린팅을 이용한 다양한 의료용 팬텀 제작에 기초 자료로 활용될 것으로 사료된다.

This study was conducted to determine physico-chemical properties and degree of heavy metal contamination of sediments collected at Tongyong channel. From XRF and XRD analyses, all samples consisted of similar oxides and minerals. TOC ranged between 1.73 and 2.79%. Ignition loss ranged between 9.31 and 12.28%. Degree of heavy metal contamination of sediments was performed based on standards proposed by USEPA, Ontario sediment quality guidelines, index of geoaccumulation and total enrichment factor. In summary, sediment T9 was classified as moderately contaminated region based on standards of USEPA, index of geoaccumulation and total enrichment factor. In addition, T7 and T8 were classified as moderately contaminated region based on only USEPA standard. However, concentrations of Cu and Zn of T7 and T8 gradually increased to the level of T9 where it was close to Tongyong harbor. Therefore, the regions of T7, T8 and T9 need to be monitored and if possible required to remediate contaminated sediments.