[en] Water-soluble conducting poly(2-(3thienyloxy)ethanesulfonic acid) (PTOESA)/V₂O₅ nanocomposite, (PTOESA)_xV₂O₅, was prepared by simply mixing PTOESA with V₂O₅ wet gel at room temperature. XRD data showed that the interlayer spacings of (PTOESA)_xV₂O₅ films are 14.0±1.5 A and increased as the polymer content increased. These values are consistent with the insertion of polythiophene chains into the V₂O₅ layer gallery. The formation of alternative layers of PTOESA and V₂O₅ was further supported by depth profile SIMS analyses. Cyclic voltammograms of (PTOESA)_xV₂O₅ film showed two pairs of redox peaks with colors varying from orange, yellowish green, green, to purple blue, depending on the stoichiometry of the nanocomposites. Moreover, a synergetic effect was observed on the electrochromic properties of these nanocomposites. It was found that the optical contrast (ΔOD) of the composites is better than those of PTOESA and V₂O₅ at the film thickness from 150 to 500 nm. The oxidation optical response time of (PTOESA)_xV₂O₅ is independent of the stoichiometry and falls in between those of PTOESA and V₂O₅. At higher polymer content (x>0.5), the reduction optical response time of (PTOESA)_xV₂O₅ is smaller than those of PTOESA and V₂O₅. Variable temperature conductivity data showed that the conductivity of (PTOESA)_xV₂O₅ films increased as temperature increased, characteristic of thermal activated behavior, which was dominated by the interparticle contact resistance. The room-temperature conductivity of water-soluble (PTOESA)_xV₂O₅ films was in between those of PTOESA and V₂O₅ xerogel and higher conductivity was found in the composite with lower polymer content. The anomalous conductivity of (PTOESA)_xV₂O₅ with high PTOESA content may be due to the reason that the higher the polymer content, the bigger the grain size of (PTOESA)_xV₂O₅ film as revealed with scanning electron microscopy and AFM micrographs

[en] The necessity of ultrasonic inspection to detect the cracks in turbine blade is being increased as the forced outage of nuclear power plants have been occurred due to blade failure in turbine components. However, the complex blade root geometry causes the ultrasonic inspection technique not to be established yet and much effort is required to set up a more reliable inspection. In this paper, the ultrasonic inspection technique for flaw detectability, skew angle effect, identification of flaw and geometric signal have been investigated with a test block and discussed the interpretation of ultrasonic signal through the acquisition and analysis of RF waveform. The experimental results show that the proper examination procedure can be established. It is required that the skew angle is essential to decrease the effect of signals from the complex blade geometry. The present results of this study can be applied to the site inspection without blade disassembly

[en] Burst-and-coast swimming performance in fish-like locomotion is studied via two-dimensional numerical simulation. The numerical method used is the collocated finite-volume adaptive Cartesian cut-cell method developed previously. The NACA00xx airfoil shape is used as an equilibrium fish-body form. Swimming in a burst-and-coast style is computed assuming that the burst phase is composed of a single tail-beat. Swimming efficiency is evaluated in terms of the mass-specific cost of transport instead of the Froude efficiency. The effects of the Reynolds number (based on the body length and burst time), duty cycle and fineness ratio (the body length over the largest thickness) on swimming performance (momentum capacity and the mass-specific cost of transport) are studied quantitatively. The results lead to a conclusion consistent with previous findings that a larval fish seldom swims in a burst-and-coast style. Given mass and swimming speed, a fish needs the least cost if it swims in a burst-and-coast style with a fineness ratio of 8.33. This energetically optimal fineness ratio is larger than that derived from the simple hydromechanical model proposed in literature. The calculated amount of energy saving in burst-and-coast swimming is comparable with the real-fish estimation in the literature. Finally, the predicted wake-vortex structures of both continuous and burst-and-coast swimming are biologically relevant.

[en] For the successful design of nuclear reactor, it is very important to investigate thermal-hydraulic characteristics of fuel rod bundle. Fluid and flow and heat transfer in the non-circular cross-section of nuclear fuel rod bundle are different from those found in common circular tube. And complex three dimensional flow including secondary and vortex flow, is formed around the bundles. The purpose of this research is to examine how geometries and flow conditions affect heat transfer in fuel rod bundle. Design data for nuclear fuel rod bundle and structure are surveyed, and 3X3 sub-channel model is adopted in this study. Computational results are compared with the heat transfer data measured by naphthalene sublimation method, and numerical analysis and evaluation are performed at various design conditions and flow conditions

[en] To establish evaluation and verification guideline for the APR1400, thermal-hydraulic characteristics for fuel rod bundle, reactor vessel and fluidic device is analyzed using FLUENT. Scope and major results of research are as follows : Thermal-hydraulic characteristics for nuclear fuel rod bundle: design data for nuclear fuel rod bundle and structure are surveyed, and 3 x 3 sub-channel model is adopted to investigate the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in fuel rod bundle. Computational results are compared with the heat transfer data measured by naphthalene sublimation method, and numerical analysis and evaluation are performed at various design conditions and flow conditions. Thermal-hydraulic characteristics for reactor vessel: reactor vessel design data are surveyed to develop numerical model. Porous media model is applied for fuel rod bundle, and full-scale, three dimensional simulation is performed at actual operating conditions. Distributions of velocity, pressure and temperature are discussed. Flow characteristics for fluidic device: three dimensional numerical model for fluidic device is developed, and numerical results are compared with experimental data obtained at KAERI in order to verify numerical simulation. In addition, variation of flow rate is investigated at various elapsed times after valve operating, and flow characteristics is analyzed at low and high flow rate conditions, respectively

[en] The eddy current probe was designed for the test of fin tubes that have uneven outer and inner surfaces to enhance the efficiency of heat emission. Because of the surface roughness of the fin tube, it needs much care to detect flaws in the tube employing eddy current test(ECT). We made ECT probes with different coil lengths and performed eddy current test using these probes for artificially flawed specimens. By the fast Fourier transform and digital filtering, signals from these probes were processed to characterize frequency spectra. From the analysis of eddy current signals and their frequency spectra, we concluded that, for the effective testing of the tubes with the fins of 1mm pitch, 4mm coil length gave the highest S/N ratio

[en] Turbine rotor disc consists of disc, bore, keyway, hub, and rim in which the typical defects are located. And these part of disc has very complicated geometry, therefore proper transducer selection, wedge design, fabrication, classification and evaluation of the signal identification are required. In this research, test block with the artificial flaws at keyway and boresurface parts have been used in order to establish the ultrasonic inspection technique for flaw detectability on disc. The analysis of the signals from the test blocks was performed. The wedges were designed according to the curvature from the discs. All the ultrasonic signals were collected and identified for evaluation. The ultrasonic inspection technique for the flaw-detection was established from this research. And it is proved that the result of this research can be applicable in the field inspection

[en] In this work, color/luminance tunable organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) (ITO glass/naphthyl phenyl benzidine (NPB; 80 nm)/4,4'-bis(diphenylvinylenyl)-biphenyl (ADS082BE; 35 nm)/1,3-bis[2-(2,2'-bipyridine-6-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazo-5-yl]benzene (Bpy-OXD; 20 nm)/tris-[8-hydroxy-quinoline]aluminum (Alq₃; 50 nm)/lithium fluoride (LiF; 3 nm)/aluminum (Al, 80 nm)) with low turn-on voltage (3 V) and high luminance (4850 cd/m² at 9 V) have been successfully manufactured. The experimental results reveal that their electroluminescent properties (e.g. hue, luminescent intensity, etc.) can be modulated by the manipulation for the layer thickness of NPB/ADS082BE/Bpy-OXD and the applied voltages. In addition, we have also demonstrated lab-made UV-curable silicone-acrylate encapsulating resin exhibits excellent gas barrier capability so that the half-lifetimes of OLEDs reach 98 h whereas those without encapsulation are only 9 h