In this study, a new manufacturing process for a multilayer-clad electrical contact material is suggested. A thin and dense BCuP-5 (Cu-15Ag-5P filler metal) coating layer is fabricated on a Ag plate using a high-velocity oxygen-fuel (HVOF) process. Subsequently, the microstructure and bonding properties of the HVOF BCuP-5 coating layer are evaluated. The thickness of the HVOF BCuP-5 coating layer is determined as 34.8 μm, and the surface fluctuation is measured as approximately 3.2 μm. The microstructure of the coating layer is composed of Cu, Ag, and Cu-Ag-Cu3P ternary eutectic phases, similar to the initial BCuP-5 powder feedstock. The average hardness of the coating layer is 154.6 HV, which is confirmed to be higher than that of the conventional BCuP-5 alloy. The pull-off strength of the Ag/BCup-5 layer is determined as 21.6 MPa. Thus, the possibility of manufacturing a multilayer-clad electrical contact material using the HVOF process is also discussed.

In aluminum brazing processes, corrosive flux, which is used in preventing oxidation, is currently raising environmental concerns because it generates many pollutants such as dioxin. The brazing process involving noncorrosive flux is known to encounter difficulties because the melting temperature of the flux is similar to that of the base material. In this study, a new brazing filler material is developed based on aluminum and non-corrosive flux composite powder. To minimize the interference of consolidation aluminum alloy powder by the flux, the flux is intentionally embedded in the aluminum alloy powder using a mechanical milling process. This study demonstrates that the morphology of the composite powder can be varied according to the mixing process, and this significantly affects the relative density and mechanical properties of the final filler samples.

The filler was one of the structural parts using composite material. The filler manufacturing machine was effectively developed based on the principles of usability by HCI. This machine consisted of an ultrasonic cutter, heater, forming rollers and drawing motor. It applied to separate the disk-shape cutter of ultrasonic cutter in order to remove burning the knife edge of ultrasonic cutter. And the developed machine had the two-stage forming rollers for improved formability which maintained accurately the filler shape.

A 2D axisymmetric numerical analysis was performed to study the characteristics of charge process inside solar thermal storage tank. The porosity and heat transfer coefficient of filler material as well as inlet velocity of heat transfer fluid are selected as simulation parameters. The porosity is varied as 0.2, 0.5, and 0.8 to account for the effect of filler granule geometry. Two levels of the heat transfer coefficient is adopted to assess the heat transfer between heat transfer fluid and filler material. The inlet velocity is varied as 0.00278, 0.0278, and 0.278m/s. As both of the porosity and the heat transfer coefficient increase, the discrepancy of the temperature distributions between the filler and heat transfer fluid decreases. As the inlet velocity increases, the penetration depth of the heat transfer fluid increases proportionally.

A 2D axisymmetric numerical analysis was performed to study the characteristics of charge process inside solar thermal storage tank. The interfacial area density and inertial resistance of filler material are selected as simulation parameters. The interfacial area density is varied as 800, 2000, and 4000 1/m. The inertial resistance is varied as 1, 3, and 5 1/m. When the interfacial area density increases from 800 to 4000 1/m, the discrepancy of the temperature distributions between the filler and heat transfer fluid decreases. As inertial resistance increases from 1 to 5, both of the temperature and fluid flow pattern changes considerably.

Recently, inorganic-organic hybrid materials have attracted much attention not only for their excellent thermal conductivity but also for their flame retardant properties. In this study, the properties of organic-inorganic hybrid insulating materials using inorganic fillers and polyurethane foam with different foaming conditions have been investigated. The addition of 1.5 wt% water to polyurethane as foaming agent shows the best foaming properties. The pore size was decreased in the foaming body with increasing of the CaCO3 addition. The apparent density and thermal conductivity were increased by increasing the CaCO3 addition. With an increasing amount of CaCO3 powder, the flame retardant property is improved, but the properties of thermal conductivity and apparent density tend to decrease. When the addition of fine particles of CaCO3, the apparent density and thermal conductivity were increased and, also, with the addition of coarse particles over 45μm in size, the apparent density and thermal conductivity were increased as well. In this study, the adding of CaCO3 with average particle size of 27μm led to the lowest thermal conductivity and apparent density. After evaluation with different inorganic fillers, Mg(OH)2 showed the highest thermal conductivity; on the other hand, CaCO3 showed the lowest thermal conductivity.