Concrete structures must maintain their shielding abilities and structural integrity over extended operational periods. Despite the widespread use of dry storage systems for spent nuclear fuel, research on the properties of deteriorated concrete and their impact on structural performance remains limited. To address this significant research gap, static and dynamic material testing was conducted on concrete specimens carefully extracted from the outer wall of the High-flux Advanced Neutron Application ReactOr (HANARO), constructed approximately 30 years ago. Despite its age, the results reveal that the concrete maintains its structural integrity impressively well, with static compression tests indicating an average compressive strength exceeding the original design standards. Further dynamic property testing using advanced high-speed material test equipment supported these findings, showing the consistency of dynamic increase factors with those reported in previous studies. These results highlight the importance of monitoring and assessing concrete structures in nuclear facilities for long-term safety and reliability.

From measured thermal conductivity and modeling by simulation, this study suggests that U-factors are highly related to materials used between steel and polymer. The objective and prospective point of this study are to relate the relationship between the U-factor and the thermal conductivity of the materials used. For the characterization, EDX, SEM, a thermal conductive meter, and computer simulation utility are used to analyze the elemental, surface structural properties, and U-factor with a simulation of the used material between steel and polymer. This study set out to divide the curtain wall system that makes up the envelope into an aluminum frame section and entrance frame section and interpret their thermal performance with U-factors. Based on the U-factor thermal analysis results, the target curtain wall system is divided into fix and vent types. The glass is 24 mm double glazing (6 mm common glass +12 mm Argon +6 mm Low E). The same U-factor of 1.45 W/m2·K is applied. The interpretation results show that the U-factor and total U-value of the aluminum frame section are 1.449 and 2.343 W/m2·K, respectively. Meanwhile, those of the entrance frame section are 1.449 and 2.

Curcumin is an active polyphenolic compound with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antitumor properties. Curcumin, however, is highly unstable under physiological conditions due to its low stability in acidic and alkaline conditions. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of enzyme-treated rice starch as a wall material on the stability of curcumin in oil-in-water emulsion under different pH conditions. The rice starch was treated using 4-a-glucanotransferase for different time periods and their molecular weight distribution was measured by HPSEC. Curcumin was encapsulated within lipid droplets of O/W emulsion prepared with Tween 20 and the modified rice starch in the aqueous phase at different concentrations (0, 2.5, 7.5 and 10 wt%). The temperature and pH stability of the system were determined respectively by measuring particle size, zeta potential and retention of the curcumin loaded in the emulsion after one-week storage in the solutions with different pH and temperature conditions. The average molecular weight of the modified starch decreased with treatment time. The 96h treated rice starch had the lowest molecular weight while the 1h treated starch mainly consisted of high molecular weight components. The storage temperature did not significantly influence the stability of curcumin emulsion. However, the particle size of the emulsion with modified starch slightly increased when stored at acidic pH condition, which might be attributed to starch aggregation. The curcumin retention was higher for the samples with the modified starch than the control at all concentrations. The pH stability of the curcumin was also higher than the control at all pH conditions. Specifically, the 1h treated starch showed the best performance regarding curcumin protection in emulsion, which might be attributed to the high viscosity that retarded the curcumin release. Further research needs to be conducted on the mechanism.

The In the experiment on flow using sand walls, when white clay + sand was mixed with glutinous rice, traditional paper and seaweed as adherents and preventive measures for cracks, the flow was higher than other sand wall mortars. This indicates that it is effective in improving flow. Moreover, in terms of strength, a mix of white clay+ sand, traditional paper and flour had a greater strength than a mix of white clay + sand, straws and flour. In the experiment to test for cracks and shrinking during drying, a composition of white clay + sand + traditional paper showed fewer cracks and less shrinking than the walls where straws were mixed in.

In this study, compressive capacity of a new form-block-wall (FBW) was studied through both the prism test and compressive strength test for single form-block. In the experiment, main variables are the difference in mix design of block and in strength of grout concrete. The result of prism test showed that the compressive strength of FBW was largely influenced by the strength of grout concrete while it was not influenced by the block‘s mix design difference.

The objective of this study is to investigate the seismic performance of hybrid coupled shear wall connection with new toughness material, pseudo strain hardening cementitious composites (PSH2C). Test variable of this study is the embedment length of steel coupling in connection region. The results showed that Specimen PSH2C-ST with longer embedment length of steel coupling beam exhibits good seismic performance than Specimen PSH2C-STE.