The cutting process, which is a key processing technology in various industrial fields is achieving continuous growth, and the demand for high-quality cutting surfaces is continuously demanded. Plasma cutting continues to be studied for its excellent workability and productivity, but problems with cutting surface quality such as dross formation occur, so research to secure excellent cutting surface quality through appropriate control of process variables is essential. In this study, we propose a method for predicting surface roughness using real-time current and cutting speed data obtained while performing plasma cutting on A106 B steel pipe. Surface roughness was predicted based on the RBF algorithm applicable to prediction and control models. It was shown that the surface roughness of the plasma cutting surface can be predicted with the arc current waveform and process speed data. This study can be used as a basic study to control the surface roughness of the cut surface in real time.

In this study, in order to confirm the machining characteristics of AISI 1020 CD-Bar, cutting was performed after strength measurement, and surface roughness analysis was performed according to cutting conditions. Tensile strength was reduced by about 27.7% compared to AISI 1045 material, and Rockwell hardness HRC was reduced by 46.7%. The surface roughness measurement after cutting was divided into roughing, semi-finishing and finishing turning. In particular, in finishing machining, the best surface roughness was confirmed when the cutting speed was 150m/min and the depth of cut was 0.6mm based on the feed rate of 0.05mm/rev.

Aluminum alloy-based additive manufacturing (AM) has emerged as a popular manufacturing process for the fabrication of complex parts in the automotive and aerospace industries. The addition of an inoculant to aluminum alloy powder has been demonstrated to effectively reduce cracking by promoting the formation of equiaxed grains. However, the optimization of the AM process parameters remains challenging owing to their variability. In this study, the response surface methodology (RSM) was used to predict the crack density of AM-processed Al alloy samples. RSM was performed by setting the process parameters and equiaxed grain ratio, which influence crack propagation, as independent variables and designating crack density as a response variable. The RSM-based quadratic polynomial models for crack-density prediction were found to be highly accurate. The relationship among the process parameters, crack density, and equiaxed grain fraction was also investigated using RSM. The findings of this study highlight the efficacy of RSM as a reliable approach for optimizing the properties of AM-processed parts with limited experimental data. These results can contribute to the development of robust AM processing strategies for the fabrication of highquality Al alloy components for various applications.

Surface free energy is an important parameter in surface and interface properties of fiber reinforced polymer composite. The BET (Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller) surface area and surface energy of the sample can be obtained by Inverse Gas Chromatography (IGC) based on the adsorption principle. In this paper, surface energy of carbon fiber bundle was tested by means of IGC under different conditions to find reliable test parameters. The main parameters involved include length, mass, and packing density of sample, target fractional surface coverage, flow rate, and maximum elution time. It is demonstrated that IGC has the advantages of simple sample preparation, stable test data, high automation, and high sensitivity for carbon fiber. Among all test conditions, packing density and flow rate have the greatest influences on the experimental results. The optimized test parameters are suitable for various kinds of carbon fiber bundles, including polyacrylonitrilebased and pitch-based carbon fibers with different tensile properties and tow sizes. Moreover, IGC can acutely characterize the surface properties of carbon fibers after carbon nanotube modification and heat treatment, which are hard to carry out using contact angle method.

Ammonia is a potential fuel for producing and storing hydrogen, but its usage is constrained by the high cost of the noble metal catalysts to decompose NH3. Utilizing non-precious catalysts to decompose ammonia increases its potential for hydrogen production. In this study, carborundum (SiC)-supported cobalt catalysts were prepared by impregnating Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) on SiC support. The catalysts were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, temperature programmed reduction, etc. The results show that the large specific surface area of SiC can introduce highly distributed Co3O4 NPs onto the surface. The amount of Co in the catalysts has a significant effect on the catalyst structure, particle size and catalytic performances. Due to the interaction of cobalt species with SiC, the 25Co/SiC catalyst provided the optimal ammonia conversion of 73.2% with a space velocity of 30,000 mL gcat −1 h− 1 at 550 °C, corresponding to the hydrogen production rate of 24.6 mmol H2 gcat −1 min− 1. This research presents an opportunity to develop highly active and cost-effective catalysts for hydrogen production via NH3 decomposition.

The operation of nuclear power plants, nuclear waste depositories, and the decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear power plants all have the possibility of generating various kinds of radionuclides that can be formed as gaseous or liquid phases. Among the radionuclides, strontium is considered as most harmful substance due to its abundance in nuclear accident effluent, long half-life, high fission yield, high water solubility, and high mobility in aquatic environment. To remove strontium from aquatic environment, adsorption technique is mainly used with high economic feasibility, efficiency, and selectivity. Previously, we synthesized sodium titanates with mid-temperature hydrothermal method as selective strontium adsorbent in aqueous solution. Moreover, it was demonstrated that synthesized sodium titanates show high strontium adsorption rate with high selectivity with high surface area, pore diameter and volume. Herein, we investigated the surface structure of synthesized sodium titanates before and after strontium adsorption in aqueous solution using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. According to SEM and EDS experimental results, aquatic strontium can be adsorbed as surface precipitation with formation of cube-shaped structure, which is quite similar strontium titanate structure crystals onto the surface of sodium titanates. In addition, XPS experimental results revealed that the titanium ions on the surface of sodium titanates were oxidized during strontium surface precipitation process, and the sodium ion on the surface of sodium titanates were exchanged with aquatic strontium ions via ion exchange process during strontium adsorption process.

Radioactive wastes, including used nuclear fuel and decommissioning wastes, have been treated using molten salts. Electrochemical sensors are one of the options for in-situ process monitoring using molten salts. However, in order to use electrochemical sensors in molten salt, the surface area must be known. This is because the surface area affects the current of the electrode. Previous studies have used a variety of methods to determine the electrode surface area in molten salts. One method of calculating the electrode surface area is to use the reduction current peak difference between electrodes with known length differences. The method is based on the reduction peak and has the benefit of providing long-term in-situ monitoring of surfaces immersed in molten salt. A number of assumptions have been made regarding this method, including that there is no mass transport by migration or convection; the reaction is reversible and limited by diffusion; the chemical activity of the deposit should be unity; and species should follow linear diffusion. For the purpose of overcoming these limitations, a variety of machine learning algorithms were applied to different voltammogram datasets in order to calculate the surface area. Voltammogram datasets were collected from multiarray electrodes, comprising a multiarray holder, two tungsten rods (1 mm diameter) working electrodes, a quasi-reference electrode, and a counter electrode. The multiarray electrode holder was connected to the auto vertical translator, which uses a servo motor, for changing the height of the rod in the molten salts. To make big and diverse data for training machine learning models, various concentrations of corrosion products (Cr, Fe) and fission products (Eu, Sm) in NaCl-MgCl2 eutectic salts were used as electrolyte; electrolyte temperatures were 500, 525, 550, 575, and 600°C. This study will demonstrate the potential of utilizing machine learning based electrochemical in situ monitoring in molten salt processing.

Laser scabbling has the potential to be a valuable technique capable of effectively decontaminating highly radioactive concrete surface at nuclear decommissioning sites. Laser scabbling tool using an optical fiber has a merits of remote operation at a long range, which provides further safety for workers at nuclear decommissioning sites. Furthermore, there is no reaction force and low secondary waste generation, which reduces waste disposal costs. In this study, an integrated decontamination system with laser scabbling tool was employed to test the removal performance of the concrete surface. The integrated decontamination system consisted of a fiber laser, remote controllable mobile cart, and a debris collector device. The mobile cart controlled the translation speed and position of the optical head coupled with 20 m long process fiber. A 5 kW high-powered laser beam emitted from the optical head impacted the concrete block with dimensions of 300 mm × 300 mm × 80 mm to induce explosive spalling on its surface. The concrete debris generated from the spalling process were collected along the flexible tube connected with collector device. We used a three-dimensional scanner device to measure the removed volume and depth profile.

Nuclear weapon generates huge amount of radioactive fallout which is extremely dangerous. The fallout gradually falls to the ground and then covers every surface in city and nature. A hydrogel decontamination medium has been developed to clean the surface polluted by the fallout. The hydrogel is soluble in water so the used hydrogel can be simply removed from the surface by washing. However, significant amount of waste water, containing the radioactive fallout, is generated with this process. In this respect, it is necessary to secure alternative technical options for the used hydrogel recovery. In this study, a steam-suction process was suggested for the used hydrogel recovery. Contaminated stainless steel surface, with fixed simulated fallout particles, was prepared for test. The simulated fallout particles were obtained by high-temperature treatment of a mixture of natural soil, used concrete, and Fe2O3. The hydrogel, composed of poly-vinyl alcohol and borax, was spread onto the contaminated stainless steel surface. The hydrogel was soft at first and it gradually becomes rigid with time. The used hydrogel was recovered by suction with a simultaneous steam spraying to soften the rigid gel. As a result, the clean surface of the stainless steel without the simulated fallout particles was obtained, showing the feasibility of this technique for the used hydrogel recovery.

Concrete radioactive waste is divided into surface-contaminated concrete and activated concrete, and although the generation rate varies depending on the operating conditions of the nuclear power plant, it is reported that the amount of surface-contaminated concrete generated is greater. It is reported in the ‘US-NRC Inventory Report’ that 99% of radionuclides in surface-contaminated concrete are distributed within 1 mm of the surface. Since concrete radioactive waste accounts for a large amount of generation after metal radioactive waste, it is necessary to reduce the amount of radioactive waste disposal by applying appropriate treatment techniques to surface-contaminated concrete. In this study, a similar contamination environment work space with the size of 5.4 (W) × 3.6 (L) × 2.5 (H) [m] in which concrete specimens can be fixed on the wall and floor was established. And an integrated decontamination equipment was verified the automation performance for ‘location accuracy’, ‘radioactive contamination level measurement’ and ‘concrete surface laser scabbling’. It was confirmed that the average was 8.3 [mm] in the evaluation of the ‘location accuracy’ for the remote control and movement of the integrated decontamination equipment. For performance verification of ‘radioactive contamination level measurement’ and ‘laser scabbling’, it were used that size of 30×30×8 [cm] ordinary concrete specimens and concrete radioactively contaminated with Co-60 below the regulatory exemption concentration. ‘Radioactive contamination level measurement’ is measured as much as the set range, divied and display the measured values in different colors on the map of the control program. Ordinary concrete specimens are 0.066~0.089 μ Sv/hr, and contaminated concrete specimens are 0.107~0.121 μ Sv/hr, and it was confirmed that they are expressed in different colors on the map. For ‘laser scabbling’, the performance according to the laser scabbling speed and reproducibility with ordinary concrete specimens was verified. As a result, a weight change of up to 1.48 kg was confirmed. Contaminated concrete specimens were subjected to a direct method using a surface contamination detector and an indirect method using a smear paper to measure surface contamination before and after scabbling, and the debris generated after scabbling was analyzed using HPGe.

Establishing a ship's passage plan is an essential step before it starts to sail. The research related to the automatic generation of ship passage plans is attracting attention because of the development of maritime autonomous surface ships. In coastal water navigation, the land, islands, and navigation rules need to be considered. From the path planning algorithm's perspective, a ship's passage planning is a global path-planning problem. Because conventional global path-planning methods such as Dijkstra and A* are time-consuming owing to the processes such as environmental modeling, it is difficult to modify a ship's passage plan during a voyage. Therefore, the D* algorithm was used to address these problems. The starting point was near Busan New Port, and the destination was Ulsan Port. The navigable area was designated based on a combination of the ship trajectory data and grid in the target area. The initial path plan generated using the D* algorithm was analyzed with 33 waypoints and a total distance of 113.946 km. The final path plan was simplified using the Douglas–Peucker algorithm. It was analyzed with a total distance of 110.156 km and 10 waypoints. This is approximately 3.05% less than the total distance of the initial passage plan of the ship. This study demonstrated the feasibility of automatically generating a path plan in coastal navigation for maritime autonomous surface ships using the D* algorithm. Using the shortest distance–based path planning algorithm, the ship's fuel consumption and sailing time can be minimized.

Surface water temperature of a bay (from the south to the north) increases in spring and summer, but decreases in autumn and winter. Due to shallow water depth, freshwater outflow, and weak current, the water temperature in the central to northern part of the bay is greatly affected by the land coast and air temperature, with large fluctuations. Water temperature variations are large in the north-east coast of the bay, but small in the south-west coast. The difference between water temperature and air temperature is greater in winter and in the south-central part of the bay than that in the north to the eastern coast of the bay where sea dykes are located. As the bay goes from south to north, the range of water temperature fluctuation and the phase show increases. When fresh water is released from the sea dike, the surrounding water temperature decreases and then rises, or rises and then falls. The first mode of empirical orthogonal function (EOF) represents seasonal variation of water temperature. The second mode represents the variability of water temperature gradient in east-west and north-south directions of the bay. In the first mode, the maximum and the minimum are shown in autumn and summer, respectively, consistent with seasonal distribution of surface water temperature variance. In the second mode, phases of the coast of Seosan~Boryeong and the east coast of Anmyeon Island are opposite to each other, bordering the center of the deep bay. Periodic fluctuation of the first mode time coefficient dominates in the one-day and half-day cycle. Its daily fluctuation pattern is similar to air temperature variation. Sea conditions and topographical characteristics excluding air temperature are factors contributing to the variation of the second mode time coefficient.

Performance and safety assessments for deep geological disposal are often conducted over a longterm time scale, such as from hundreds of thousands to a million years. During this period, it is expected that the surface environment will be changed significantly. Uplift-subsidence and erosion-deposition are thought to be included as the main causes of the changes, and it is necessary to evaluate their expected effects. In this study, the conceptual processes of the changes in the surface environment components were to be presented by identifying the uplift-subsidence and erosion-deposition processes and analyzing their effect on the surface environment components. For inferring the long-term change process of the surface environment due to the internal activities of the Earth, the process of uplift and subsidence caused by crustal movements that change the subsurface environment through the deep and sallow underground was briefly presented in the form of a chain flowchart. Uplift-subsidence is mainly caused by diastrophism due to tectonic movement, such as subduction at the boundary of plates. They can change the geomorphology by affecting sealevel change and erosion-deposition. The changed geographical features have an influence on the distribution of surface water and the flow path of groundwater. They also have an impact on the scale and processes of local uplift and erosion, which can be the main factors of pedogenesis and vegetation in the local site. The results of this study can be helpful for formulating scenarios related to long-term evolution in the surface environment required for performance and safety assessments of deep geological disposal.

Carbon steel pipes, which are essentially used in the manufacturing industry, are used in various fields due to the advancement of the industry, and a cutting process is essentially applied to pipes manufactured in a nominal size. The cutting process is the most basic and first process used to obtain a material in a desired shape, and it can affect the quality of subsequent processes such as welding or painting, so high-quality cutting surfaces are essential. Therefore, due to the advantage of improving productivity, it is essential to study to secure the appropriate quality of the cutting surface of the plasma cutting process, which is widely used in the industrial field. In this study, the effect of cut surface quality according to process parameters in the plasma cutting process for carbon steel pipe materials was analyzed. The surface roughness was measured to determine the quality of the cut surface, and the relationship between the surface roughness and the process variables was confirmed by selecting the arc current and cutting speed, which are identified as the main factors forming the surface roughness, as process variables.