Study of impact energy propagation phenomenon and modal characteristics of an armored vehicle undergoing high velocity impact

A new manufacturing technology is being employed to build a new type of armored vehicle. While thick panels are welded together in the old manufacturing technology, relatively thin panels are welded to a frame structure in the new manufacturing technology. The structural integrity of the new type of armor vehicles can be maintained mainly by the frame structures while the panel thickness is reduced significantly to reduce the total vehicle weight. Since the dynamic characteristics of a frame-panel hybrid structure are different from those of the old type of structure which consists of only thick panels, they should be identified to achieve a good performance of the vehicle. For this purpose, a proper FE model of the hybrid type of structure needs to be developed. In the present study, FE models are proposed to represent the frame-panel hybrid type structure efficiently. The impact energy propagation, the transient response and the modal characteristics are investigated with the FE models. This paper was presented at the 4th Asian Conference on Multibody Dynamics(ACMD2008), Jeju, Korea, August 20–23, 2008. Hong-Hee Yoo received a B.S. and M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University in 1980 and 1982. He then went on to receive his Ph.D. degree from Michigan State University in 1989. Dr. Yoo is currently a Professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering at Hanyang University in Seoul, Korea. His research interests are in the area of Flexible body dynamics, vibration.     

Transcriptional Profiling of Whisker Follicles and of the Striatum in Methamphetamine Self-Administered Rats

Methamphetamine (MA) use disorder is a chronic neuropsychiatric disease characterized by recurrent binge episodes, intervals of abstinence, and relapses to MA use. Therefore, identification of the key genes and pathways involved is important for improving the diagnosis and treatment of this disorder. In this study, high-throughput RNA sequencing was performed to find the key genes and examine the comparability of gene expression between whisker follicles and the striatum of rats following MA self-administration. A total of 253 and 87 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in whisker follicles and the striatum, respectively. Multivariate and network analyses were performed on these DEGs to find hub genes and key pathways within the constructed network. A total of 129 and 49 genes were finally selected from the DEG sets of whisker follicles and of the striatum. Statistically significant DEGs were found to belong to the classes of genes involved in nicotine addiction, cocaine addiction, and amphetamine addiction in the striatum as well as in Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Alzheimer’s diseases in whisker follicles. Of note, several genes and pathways including retrograde endocannabinoid signaling and the synaptic vesicle cycle pathway were common between the two tissues. Therefore, this study provides the first data on gene expression levels in whisker follicles and in the striatum in relation to MA reward and thereby may accelerate the research on the whisker follicle as an alternative source of biomarkers for the diagnosis of MA use disorder.     

Thermal fluorination effects on carbon nanotubes for preparation of a high-performance gas sensor

A high-performance NO gas sensor was prepared by inducing thermal fluorination of carbon nanotube semiconductors. Thermal fluorination of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was carried out at various temperatures (100 ∼ 1000 °C) to investigate the effects of the reaction temperature. The mechanism of high-performance NO gas sensor electrode was shown to depend on the fluorination temperature in a way that can be divided into three regions, separated at 400 and 1000 °C. In the first temperature region, the induction of fluorine functional groups onto MWCNTs showed the opposite trend in electrical resistance change comparing with traditional p-type MWCNTs. In the second temperature region, the induced fluorine functional groups were attenuated by generated fluorinated carbon gases resulting in the decomposition of MWCNTs and the recovery of traditional p-type gas sensor behavior. In the highest temperature region above 1000 °C, reoriented carbon structure was observed, showing bent nanotubes produced from destruction by fluorination and subsequent reorientation due to the high temperature. The gas sensing responsiveness was significantly improved by the thermal fluorination, which causes electrophilic attraction, creates adsorption sites for target NO gases and improve hydrophobicity for gas sensing stability in humid condition. In conclusion, a high-performance gas sensor was obtained by thermal-fluorination of MWCNTs.     

An in situ infrared study of NO reduction by C3H8 over Fe‐ZSM‐5

The interactions of NO, O₂ and NO₂ with Fe‐ZSM‐5, as well as the reduction of NO by C₃H₈ in the presence of O₂, have been investigated using in situ infrared spectroscopy. The sample of Fe‐ZSM‐5 (Fe/Al =0.56) was prepared by solid‐state ion exchange. NO adsorption in the absence of O₂ produces only mono‐ and dinitrosyl species associated with Fe²⁺ cations. Adsorbed NO₂/NO₃ species are formed via the reaction of adsorbed O₂ with gas‐phase NO or by the adsorption of gas‐phase NO₂. The reduction of NO in the presence of O₂ begins with the reaction of gas‐phase C₃H₈ with adsorbed NO₂/NO₃ species to form a nitrogen‐containing polymeric species. A reaction pathway is proposed for the catalyzed reduction of NO by C₃H₈ in the presence of O₂. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Experimental study on self-excitations in nitrogen-diluted laminar lifted butane flames

Laminar lifted butane flames diluted with nitrogen have been investigated experimentally to determine distinctive self-excitation regimes in the flame stability maps and also to elucidate the individual self-excitation characteristics. Self-excitations of lift-off height are classified into five regimes in laminar free-jet lift-off butane flames diluted with nitrogen: a stationary lifted regime (regime I), a heat-loss-induced self-excitation (regime II), a buoyancy-induced self-excitation due to flame flicker as well as a heat-loss-induced self-excitation (III), a combined form of an oscillation prior to blow-out and a heat-loss-induced oscillation (regime IV), and a combined form of an buoyancy-induced self-excitation and a heat-loss-induced oscillation as well as an additional buoyancy-driven self-excitation due to flame flicker (regime V). Extremely low-frequency (<0.1 Hz) self-excitation is caused by conductive heat loss from the premixed wings to the trailing diffusion flame and can be explained by a proposed mechanism. It is also found that the flame oscillation prior to flame blow-out is also caused by buoyancy and also significantly affected by the conductive heat loss from the premixed wings to the trailing diffusion flame, thereby showing that the frequency with nozzle exit velocity increases in the triple-flame propagation mode and then decreases in the flame-front propagation mode. Characterization of the individual self-excitation mode is presented and also discussed with Strouhal numbers and its relevant parameters through the analysis of power spectrum for temporal variation of lift-off height.     

Thermal hydraulic performance analysis of the printed circuit heat exchanger using a helium test facility and CFD simulations

The thermal-hydraulic performance of the PCHE was investigated using the KAIST helium test loop. Experiments were performed in the helium laminar region with 350 < Re < 1200. The hot/cold side inlet conditions were 25–550 °C/25–100 °C over the operating pressure of 1.5–1.9 MPa, respectively. Mass flow rates were controlled in the range of 40–100 kg/h. Pressure drop and temperature difference were measured at the inlet and outlet of the hot and cold sides. A global Fanning factor correlation and a global Nusselt number correlation were proposed using information only at the inlet and outlet of the hot and cold sides. A three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulation was performed using FLUENT, a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, to compare simulation results to the KAIST helium test data and to obtain the local Nusselt number in the PCHE. CFD predictions showed good agreement with experimental data. A local pitch-averaged Nusselt number correlation was proposed using local temperature, pressure, surface heat fluxes, and properties provided by CFD simulations. The system analysis code, GAMMA, was also utilized to identify which correlation was more applicable for system analysis. It turns out that the proposed local pitch-averaged Nusselt number correlation from CFD simulations is more appropriate than the global Nusselt number correlation developed from experimental data.     

Integrated carbon composite bipolar plate for polymer–electrolyte membrane fuel cells

The electrical resistance of bipolar plates for polymer–electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) should be very low to conduct the electricity generated with minimum electrical loss. The resistance of a bipolar plate consists of the bulk material resistance and the interfacial contact resistance when two such plates are contacted to provide channels for fuel and air (oxygen) supplies.     

Design and performance analysis of structural components for a Korean He Cooled Ceramic Reflector TBM in ITER

Korea has developed a Helium Cooled Ceramic Reflector (HCCR) Test Blanket Module (TBM) testing in ITER, which was considered one of the fusion DEMO-relevant blankets in Korea. The design and performance analysis of the TBM body have been carried out considering the uniqueness of the KO TBM and design requirements by the IO and KO design concept: (1) KO TBM has 4 sub-modules considering a post irradiation test (PIE) and its delivery. (2) A first wall (FW) design was changed into a 15 × 11 rectangular shape and its performance was confirmed by thermal-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical analyses using commercial ANSYS code. The results showed that the revised design model satisfied 1.5S_m and 3S_m of the allowable stress (S_m) in the RCC-MR code at the maximum stress region of the components for mechanical and thermo-mechanical analyses, respectively. (3) Considering the tritium breeding and cooling, a breeding zone (BZ) design was investigated. Three Li and Be layers, and one graphite layer, were proposed by the iteration, and the appropriate temperature distribution was obtained. The design for other components such as a side wall (SW) and back manifold (BM) is on-going considering 9 MPa of channel pressure and its functions of flow distribution as a manifold.     

Evaluation of loss coefficient for an end plug with side holes in dual-cooled annular nuclear fuel

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has been developing a dual-cooled annular fuel for a power uprate of 20% in an optimized pressurized water reactor (PWR) in Korea, OPR1000. The dual-cooled annular fuel is configured to allow coolant flow through the inner channel as well as the outer channel. Several thermal-hydraulic issues exist for the application of dual-cooled annular fuel to OPR1000. One is the hypothetical event of inner channel blockage because the inner channel is an isolated flow channel without the coolant mixing between the neighboring flow channels. The inner channel blockage could cause a departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) in the inner channel that eventually results in fuel failure. A long lower end plug for the annular fuel was invented to provide flow holes by perforating the side surface of the end plug body. The side holes in the lower end plug are expected to supply a minimum coolant in the inner channel to prevent the DNB occurrence in the event of partial or even complete blockage of the inner channel entrance. But due to the very unusual shape of the lower end plug, it is difficult to estimate the flow resistance of the side flow holes using empirical equations available in the open literature. An experiment and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis were performed to investigate the bypass flow through the side holes of the end plug in the case of complete entrance blockage of the inner channel. The form loss coefficient in the side holes was also estimated using the pressure drop along the bypass flow path.     

Effect of the degree of sulfation on the physicochemical and biological properties of Pleurotus eryngii polysaccharides

Polysaccharides extracted from Pleurotus eryngii were chemically modified by sulfation and the effects on the structural and biological properties of the polysaccharides were investigated as a function of the degree of sulfation. ¹³C NMR spectroscopy demonstrated that polysaccharides from P. eryngii were mainly composed of β-(1 → 3)-glucans with β-(1 → 6) branches. The structure of the sulfated polysaccharides was confirmed by FT-IR and their degree of substitution (DS) was determined to be 0.12–0.92. When P. eryngii polysaccharides were sulfated they were shown to be effective in inhibiting cancer cell growth in a dose-dependent way. Furthermore, their DPPH radical quenching effects were improved with increasing degree of sulfation. Thus, it seemed that the chemical modification of P. eryngii polysaccharides by sulfation effectively enhanced their potential biological properties.