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In recent times, there has been considerable interest in HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene) materials for their use in construction of office equipments, home electronics, housing for electronics appliances, packing containers, etc. However, these materials suffer from problems caused by fatigue fracture. Further, their strength is substantially affected by environmental conditions. Therefore, in this study, the effect of temperature was analyzed by performing a tensile test and a fatigue test. It was observed that the yield strength, the ultimate strength, and the fatigue life decreased relatively with an increase in temperature. Further, an S-N curve can be predicted by using the results of the tensile test and a micro-Vickers hardness test.

The objective of this paper is to apply the load ratio method to the measurement of the crack length of the real scale pipe specimen. The load ratio method was modified and finite element analyses were performed to derive the relationship between the normalized compliance and the normalized crack length for the pipe specimen. In order to measure the crack length, the direct current potential drop method and the modified load ratio method were applied to the pipe test. The applicability of the modified load ratio method was confirmed by comparing the calculated crack length with the measured crack length from the pipe experiment.

The estimation method of the fracture resistance curve for the pipe specimen was proposed using the load ratio method for the standard specimen. For this, the calculation method of the load-CMOD curve for the pipe specimen with the common format equation(CFE) was proposed by using data of the CT specimen. The proposed method agreed well with experimental data. The J-integral value and the crack extension were calculated from the estimated load-CMOD data. The fracture resistance curve was estimated from the calculated J-integral and the crack extension. From these results, it have been seen that the proposed method is reliable to estimate the J-R curve of the pipe specimen.

In this study, we performed thermal stress analyses on a ventilated disk brake with a three-dimensional model for two cases (whether the pressure distribution on a contact surface is uniform or not). A pressure distribution analysis was performed to determine the pressure distribution on the contact surface. Then, by using the results that were obtained from the pressure distribution analyses, we performed thermal stress analyses for each case. Finally, we have found that the spots where the maximum thermal stresses occur in the case with a variable pressure distribution are similar with the region where fatigue cracks exist in an actual disk brake.

It is known that fracture characteristics are changed due to the geometric configuration. Also, it is known that toughness data obtained from the standard specimen test are conservative to predict fracture behavior of the real piping. Thus fracture behavior by tests of pipes would to be applied to the integrity evaluation for the piping system. However, fracture test with real pipe is not only difficult to perform but also very expensive, and requires lots of experience. So an estimation method of pipe’s fracture behavior is necessary to solve this problem. The objective of this thesis is to propose a method to estimate the fracture behavior of a pipe from the result of the standard specimen fracture test. For this, fracture tests for standard specimens and pipes are conducted. The resultant load - load-line displacement record of the standard specimen was transformed to that of a pipe by load separation method. To begin with, the load versus load-line displacement curve of a standard specimen extracted from a pipe is normalized by a geometry function of the CT specimen. Then this normalized curve was converted to pipe’s load versus displacement curve by a geometry function of pipe. To verify the constraint factor and the geometric function of pipe, finite element analyses were performed. To demonstrate the proposed method, experimental results of pipes are compared with predicted results. Calculated results from CT specimens are similar to experimental results of pipes. Therefore the transformability from a CT specimen to a pipe by load separation method is proved. Consequently the applicability of the proposed method was proved.

The fatigue characteristic of a material or a structure is derived from fatigue tests of standard specimens. However, many test results of standard specimens are very different from those of real structures or components because of geometrical effect, surface condition and so on. In this study, fatigue tests with specimens and pipes were carried out to evaluate the fatigue characteristic of a real waterworks pipe. Standard fatigue specimens and non-standard specimens were extracted from a steel pipe used in waterworks system. Also, fatigue tests of real pipes used in water service were carried out. This result was compared with that of standard specimens and non-standard specimens. To evaluate pipe's fatigue characteristics based on life distribution, the statistical analysis method was introduced. Probability density functions of the specimen based on the normal distribution function were obtained from fatigue tests at particular stress levels. These functions were then transformed to probability density functions based on a specific number of cycles to failure. This procedure was also adapted to the pipe's test results. From these results, the fatigue characteristic of waterworks pipe was evaluated.

We compared the fatigue characteristics of weld metal with those of base metal heat-treated and non heat-treated. Also, we examined the influence of bead on fatigue life. From the experimental results of this study, it has been seen that the fatigue characteristics of welded specimens grinded the toe of bead are slightly better than those of welded specimens not grinded. Fatigue life is affected more by the stress concentration due to the profile change in the weld toe rather than by the residual stress, and heat-treatment had almost no influence on the fatigue characteristics.

Generally, the shape of graphite and the contents of elements strongly affect the tensile strength of cast iron. In this study, hardness tests and tensile tests for the two types of gray cast iron were carried out. The test results showed the similarity in the hardness but considerable difference in the tensile strength between two materials. Microstructure analysis and chemical analysis were conducted to determine the cause for the difference in the tensile strength between the two types of cast iron. The experimental results showed differences in the microstructure and chemical composition between the two materials. B-type brake disk material(B-type) that had higher tensile strength includes flake, vermicular and spheroidal graphite, whereas A-type brake disk material (A-type) included only flake graphite in the structure. Nodularity of graphite in the B-type was higher than that in the A-type. Also, the B-type had the higher Si content and lower Mn content. In addition, the B-type had Cu, while the A-type did not. Therefore, we concluded that the difference in the strength between the two types of cast iron was due to the difference in the shape of the graphite and the contents of Cu in the cast irons.

The safety and reliability of industrial machineries and structures used in various, and severe conditions has become an increasing concern. This study proposes ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) evaluation technique by the sub-sized specimen test to prevent cleavage fracture. Four classes of the thermally aged 1Cr-1Mo-0.25V specimens were prepared. The fracture toughness tests were performed on sub-sized specimens both at room and low temperatures. The results of the fracture toughness tests were analyzed to obtain the DBT behaviours of the specimen materials

In order to analyze the elastic-plastic fracture behavior of a structure, the fracture resistance curve of the material should be known. However, it is difficult to evaluate the fracture characteristics with an experiment on the piping system. Instead, the fracture toughness obtained from standard specimen tests is used to analyze the structure and assess the fracture characteristics of the total structure. It is known that toughness data from the standard specimen test are conservative to predict fracture behavior of the real piping. Thus the fracture resistance curve by the fracture test of the real scaled pipe specimen would be applied to the integrity evaluation for the piping system. However, it is not only difficult to perform but also very expensive to perform full-scale pipe tests. The objective of this thesis is to propose a method to estimate the fracture resistance curve of a pipe from the result of standard specimen fracture test. To estimate the fracture resistance curve for a pipe specimen, load – load-line displacement records of a standard specimen were transformed to those of the pipe specimen. The load ratio method was proposed in order to calculate the crack length from load – crack mouth opening displacement records for the pipe specimen. To prove the validity of this estimation results, fracture tests for pipe specimens were performed. Consequently the applicability of the proposed method was investigated by comparing estimated results with tested results.

In order to analyze elastic-plastic fracture behavior of a structure, the materials fracture resistance curve should first be determined. The standard CT specimen was used to obtain fracture resistance curves of a piping system. However, this is known to be very conservative in evaluating the integrity of a structure. In addition, the specimen geometry and dimension due to the constraint effect alters the fracture resistance curve. The objective of this paper is to verify the conservativeness of the fracture resistance curve by the standard CT specimen, subsequently to provide an additional safety margin. To this end, the fracture tests using a real pipe specimen and the standard CT specimen tests were performed. The 4-point bending test method was applied in the pipe test while the direct current potential drop method was used to measure the pipe's crack extension and length. Finite element analyses for J-Q analyses were performed with CT specimens and pipes in order to prove the additional safety margin. From these test results and analyses of both pipe and the standard CT specimen, it was observed that the fracture analysis with the standard CT specimen is conservative and the additional safety margin was proved.

The fatigue characteristic of a material or a structure is derived from fatigue tests of standard specimens. However, many researches have reported that test results of standard specimens are very different from those of real structures or components. One reason for this difference is the constraint effects according to the geometrical difference. Therefore, to calculate more accurate fatigue life, the constraint effect must be considered by comparing test results of standard specimens with those of real structures or components. Another reason for this difference is the surface condition. All surfaces of a standard specimen are polished to obtain similar conditions in a fatigue test. However, in a piping system, surface conditions of components are different from each other and very different from that of a standard specimen. Because fatigue life is effected by a surface condition, to evaluate the fatigue life of a piping system, fatigue tests must be conducted with a specimen extracted from a pipe with the same surface condition. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the fatigue characteristic of a real waterworks pipe by conducting fatigue tests with standard specimens and non-standard specimens of base metal and weld metal. Standard fatigue specimens and non-standard specimens were extracted from a steel pipe used in waterworks. Also, fatigue tests of pipes used in water service were carried out and then compared with those of standard specimens and non-standard specimens. From these results the relation between the S-N diagram of a specimen and that of a pipe specimen was evaluated.

In the case of inner pressurized pipe, the hoop stress mainly causes the failure of pipe. For evaluating the hoop tensile properties of pipes, a ring test is used although it has an inevitable shortcoming of disturbance by the bending. Arsene suggested a central piece-inserted ring test for reducing the bending. At high temperatures, the friction between the specimen and the central piece exerts a serious influence on the results, so an effect on friction should be considered in the analysis. In this study, for the evaluation of the hoop properties using the central piece-inserted ring model of Arsene, we performed the ring tensile tests at several temperatures. From the ring tensile tests and numerical analysis the load-displacement conversion relationship of ring specimen (LCRR) was determined. We could obtain the hoop tensile properties by means of applying the LCRR to the results of the ring tensile test. From the result, it was observed that the strength decreased as the temperature increased, and the elongation dropped a little around 400°C.

In this study the four classes of the thermally aged 1Cr-1Mo-0.25V specimens were prepared using an artificially accelerated aging method. Ultrasonic tests were performed to get the correlation with fracture toughness. The modified theoretical Vary`s equation, considering nonlinear response due to material degradation, was proposed for the correlations between ultrasonic parameters and fracture toughness. Experimental results indicate that ultrasonic attenuation coefficient, velocity and nonlinear parameters produce the correlations with fracture toughness and yield strength.

In order to perform elastic-plastic fracture mechanical analyses, fracture resistance curves for concerned materials are required. A standard CT specimen was used to obtain fracture resistance curves. However the fracture resistance curve by the standard CT specimen was very conservative to evaluate the integrity of the structure. Also the fracture resistance curve was affected by the specimen geometry, crack plane orientation, reverse cyclic loading and dynamic strain aging. The objective of this paper is to be certain the conservativeness of the fracture resistance curve by the standard CT specimen. For these purpose, fracture tests using the real-scale pipe specimen and standard CT specimen test were performed. A 4-point bending jig was manufactured for the pipe test and the direct current potential drop method was used to measure the crack extension and the length for the pipe test. From the result of the pipe and the standard CT specimen tests, it was observed that the fracture resistance curve of the standard CT specimen test was conservative compare to that of the pipe specimen test.

In an effort to obtain soft magnetic materials with excellent high-frequency characteristics, effects of flash annealing on magnetic properties and microstructure in melt-spun Fe-B-Nb-Cu alloy with ultrathin ribbon shape less than 10 μm thickness were investigated. The alloy subjected to optimum annealing treatment showed higher effective permeability and smaller magnetic core loss at 1 MHz than conventionally annealed alloy. The enhanced magnetic properties of the flash-annealed alloy were attributed to the reduced α-Fe phase grain size to 6 nm and the lower remanence ratio of about 0.3 in comparison to the conventionally annealed alloy with the values of 9 nm and 0.7, respectively. The results show that the flash annealing technique was effective in improving the high-frequency soft magnetic properties of Fe-B-Nb-Cu nanocrystalline alloy.