In the Airport Railroad, the Yeongjong Bridge has a length of 4,420 m and connects Yeongjong Island with the mainland of Incheon City. The bridge is a two-level structure, consisting of a six-lane road at the upper level and a combination of a road and railroad at the lower level. The environmental conditions for the electric railway come mainly from the salt injury area and a heavy industry zone, and the maintenance cycles are determined differently depending on these conditions. This study analyzed the deterioration characteristics of long rod insulators produced with a movable ceramic bracket and polymer materials in the Yeongjong Bridge section of the Airport Railway operating in the salt injury area according to the material characteristics. Comparison of the corona measurements when the insulators were cleaned at the same time showed that the polymer insulator had a higher insulation performance than the ceramic insulator.

A shingled PV module is manufactured by dividing and bonding. In this method, the solar cell is divided by lasers and bonded using electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs). Consequently, the manufacturing cost increases because a process step is added. Therefore, we aim to reduce the production cost by reducing the amount of Ag paste used in the solar cell front. Various electrode structures were designed and simulated. The number of fingers was optimized by designing thinner fingers, and the number of fingers with the maximum power conversion efficiency was confirmed. The simulation confirmed the maximum efficiency in the 4-divided electrode pattern. The amount of Ag paste used for each electrode pattern was calculated and analyzed. The number of fingers was optimized by decreasing the width of the finger; this will not only reduce the amount of Ag paste required but also the increase the efficiency.

We investigated the electrical characteristics of amorphous silicon-zinc-tin-oxide (a-SZTO) thin films deposited by RF-magnetron sputtering at room temperature depending on the deposition time. We fabricated a thin film transistor (TFT) with a bottom gate structure and various channel thicknesses. With increasing channel thickness, the threshold voltage shifted negatively from -0.44 V to -2.18 V, the on current (I_on) and field effect mobility (μFE) increased because of increasing carrier concentration. The a-SZTO film was fabricated and analyzed in terms of the contact resistance and channel resistance. In this study, the transmission line method (TLM) was adopted and investigated. With increasing channel thickness, the contact resistance and sheet resistance both decreased.

In this study, we investigated the crystal defects and grain boundary properties in a ZZCCC (ZnO-Zn₂BiVO₆-Co₃O₄-Cr₂O₃-CaCO₃) varistor, with the liquid-phase sintering aid Zn₂BiVO₆ developed by our laboratory. The ZZCCC varistor sintered at 1,200℃ exhibited excellent nonlinear current-voltage characteristics (α=63), with oxygen vacancy (V₀^·; 0.35 eV) as a main defect, and an apparent activation energy of 1.1 eV with an electrically single grain boundary. Therefore, among the various additives to improve the electrical properties of ZnO varistors, if Zn₂BiVO₆ is used as a liquid phase sintering aid, it will be ideal to use Co for the oxygen vacancy and Ca for the electrically single grain boundary. This will allow the good properties of ZnO varistors to be maintained up to high sintering temperatures.

Raman spectra of a-C:H thin films deposited with an unbalanced magnetron sputtering system showed that the G peak shifted to a higher wavenumber as the target power density increased and ID/IG ratio increased from 0.902 to 1.012. Moreover, the transmittance of a-C:H films fabricated at 60 nm tended to decrease with increasing target power density; at 550 nm in the visible light region, the transmittance decreased from 69% to 58%. The rms surface roughness values of the a-C:H thin films decreased with increasing target power density, and varied from 1.11 nm to 0.71 nm. In order to achieve efficient light trapping, the light scattering at the rough interface must be enhanced. Consequently, the surface roughness of the thin film will decrease with the target power density. Further, the refractive index and reflectivity of the a-C:H thin films increased with increasing target power density; however, the Brewster angle decreased with the target power density. Hence, dye-sensitized solar cells using an a-C:H antireflective coating increased the CE, VOC, and JSC by approximately 8.6%, 5.5%, and 4.5%, respectively.

Privacy films are typically manufactured by combining black resin and transparent louver-shaped patterns. The use of black resin results in excellent light-shielding. However, black resin can reduce the transmittance of privacy films at the front viewing angle. In this study, we applied SiO₂/SiON multi-layer thin films on a privacy film to maintain transmittance at the front viewing angle and improve light-shielding at the side viewing angle. We determined the optimum combination of thicknesses of the SiO₂/SiON multi-layer stacks to increase the overall transmittance; the light shielding could be maximized at the side viewing angle.

A multiple-electrode-type electronic paper film can implement a single color and control the transparency, as it has multiple electrodes in one cell. Therefore, it can be used as a transparent display. In this paper, we explain the structure and driving method of a transparent electronic paper display, and then propose a control method of transmittance. Subsequently, we verify the theory by measuring the transmittance via experiment. Thus, by changing the manner of applying the voltage to three lower electrodes and one upper electrode, transmittance in eight cases could be realized. It was confirmed that the transmittance derived from the experiment could be controlled from a minimum of 6.75% to a maximum of 71.18%.

We investigated a solution-derived Y₂O₃ film treated by ion beam (IB) irradiation as a liquid crystal (LC) alignment layer. With IB irradiation, homogeneous LC alignment was achieved irrespective of the annealing temperature. To verify the effect of IB irradiation, we conducted surface analyses such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As Y₂O₃ is a high-k material, the electro-optical properties of the twisted nematic (TN) cells were superior to those of conventional TN cells based on a rubbed polymer, with an LC rising time of 4.1ms and falling time of 2.9ms. The IB-irradiated Y₂O₃ is a good alternative as an alignment layer for fast-switching TN LC displays.

Transient earth voltage (TEV) signals propagate on metal surfaces when partial discharge (PD) occurs due to the deterioration of insulation performance in the operation of gas-insulated switchgears (GIS). A TEV sensor has advantages of high sensitivity and convenient installation for detecting PD defects. However, the TEV sensor depends on imports in domestic and detailed studies have not been conducted. In this study, a sensor was designed and fabricated by the TEV principle and its response characteristics were evaluated for detecting PD defects, which were simulated as protrusion on conductor (POC), protrusion on enclosure (POE), and free moving particle (FMP) defects. Finally, the PD-induced TEV signals were measured and phase-resolved partial discharge (PRPD) patterns were analyzed to identify the type of defect.

Induction motors connected with a three-phase AC system may malfunction due to reverse phase or open phase faults. Conventional overcurrent relays and overheating relays are used to prevent such accidents; however, their drawbacks include a low response speed and false operation. Therefore, in this study, a digital relay for the reverse-open phase was designed and fabricated. This relay can detect the reverse phase and open phase faults and send a trigger signal to the control circuit. The proposed relay was developed based on a microcontroller. The detection times of the reverse phase and open phase were verified as 320ms and 80ms, respectively. Compared with conventional relays that only protect the motor from one type of fault, the proposed relay can detect both, reverse phase and open phase faults. In addition, the fault detection, identification criterion, and trigger signal patterns can be modified by programming according to the requirements of users.

Recently, the application of atmospheric plasma technology in air filtration is increasing. Sterilization by an atmospheric plasma device is very effective. However, ozone gas, which is generated during atmospheric plasma formation, poses a hazard to human health. To reduce the ozone gas during plasma discharge, we fabricated a one-plate hybrid plasma discharge device with a heating element, which can decompose ozone gas effectively by a simple heating action. In this study, we evaluated the plasma discharge characteristics and ozone concentrations with various Ar flow rates and temperatures. With increasing Ar gas flow rate, the ozone concentration and spectrum intensity increased till an Ar gas flow rate of 60 sccm, and decreased thereafter. When discharged in high temperature, the ozone concentration and spectrum intensity decreased. Further, to evaluate the state of the treated surface under various plasma discharge and heating conditions, we measured the variation in the contact angles on the surface. Regardless of the temperature, the contact angle increased with increasing discharge voltage. However, the contact angle increased when discharged at high temperature.

Recently, inverter control systems have attracted immense attention to increase the energy efficiency. However, such systems use repeated on/off high currents for linear operation control, instead of the prevalent step variable current control method. Hence, there arise concerns of personal and property damage, especially due to the durability, explosive characteristics, and operating speed of the fuse, which is responsible for safety and is one of the internal components using current control. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an IEC60127-4 SMD sub-miniature fuse, consisting of Ag-Cu alloys and ceramic powder for arc soothing. The IEC60127-4 SMD sub-miniature fuse has high durability and cut-off capacity, and operates safely in dangerous circumstances caused by the inverter control system.

The effects of compaction methods on the sintering density, microstructures, and mechanical properties were investigated in α-alumina ceramics. α-Alumina powders were granulated with a 10% aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Uniaxially pressed (UAP) and cold isostatic-pressed (CIP) samples were prepared by pressing uniaxially at a pressure of 1 ton for 1 min, and isostatically at 200 MPa for 15 min, respectively. Subsequently, both types of samples were sintered at 1,200℃, 1,300℃, 1,400℃, 1,450℃, 1,500℃, 1,550℃, and 1,600℃ at a rate of 5℃/min for 2 h. The CIP samples were better than the UAP samples for all properties measured, such as the sintering density, Vicker’s hardness, and toughness. The CIP sample sintered at 1,400℃ showed the maximum Vicker’s hardness and toughness; this may be attributed to the competing effects of a decrease in porosity and the growth of grains with increasing sintering temperature.

This paper reports the microstructure and electrochemical properties of Si-Al-Fe ternary amorphous alloys prepared by rapid solidification as an anode for lithium secondary batteries. The microstructure was analyzed using XRD and HR-TEM with EDS mapping. In accordance with DSC analysis, annealing was performed to crystallize the active nano-Si in the amorphous alloy. Thus, nano-Si forms (~80 nm) embedded in the matrix alloy, such as Fe₂Al₃Si₃, FeSi₂, and Fe_0.42Si_2.67, were successfully synthesized. The electrode based on the Si-Al-Fe ternary alloy delivered an initial discharge capacity of approximately 700 mAh ^g-1, and exhibited a high Coulombic efficiency of 99.0~99.6% from the 2^nd to 70^th cycles.

A fire, be it caused intentionally or unintentionally, leads to economic loss and physical damage, and requires digestion. The number of fires is increasing yearly, and electrical fires account for more than 30% among the main causes of fires. Electric wires that catch fire typically employ silicone coatings; silicone has organic as well as inorganic properties. Silicon is a natural, nonexistent, synthetic product with numerous applications. In this study, a silicon rubber for application in wires was prepared by high-temperature vulcanization (HTV) with a Shore A hardness of 70. We report results for the flame retardancy test and the fire safety characteristics via inorganic analysis. For this, a quartz inorganic material was added to the wire specimen, and 18% powdered extinguishing agent ammonium phosphate and expanded vermiculite respectively. Thus, expanded vermiculite showed the best flame retardancy and fire safety characteristics.