The quality and quantity of heat treatment in mold processing can vary depending on the skill level of the equipment operator. Therefore, study on ways to overcome these disadvantages are essential. This study aimed to increase the antiwear properties of molds through high-frequency induction heat treatment and laser heat treatment processes. The heat treatment was applied to the surfaces of molds used in car body production using an articulated robot, to achieve long-term use and quality maintenance. Additionally, an articulated robot system based on redundant degrees of freedom suitable for mold heat treatment processes was designed, and its operational efficiency was verified through virtual environment simulations. Furthermore, heat treatment was validated through on-site testing of the robot system. Its effects were analyzed according to mold materials and shape conditions, ultimately deriving the optimal robot heat treatment conditions. Finally, off-line programming (OLP) in virtual processes was proposed to minimize robot setup time and maximize production efficiency. The conditions for articulated robot automated heat treatment obtained in this study can be preapplied in simulation environments when generating heat treatment robot programs based on OLP. They can be utilized for optimizing the quality of mold heat treatment in car body production.

With the increasing interest in research on the development of next-generation technologies such as flexible smartphones, displays, and wearable devices, interest in the development of materials and processes for transparent electrodes constituting them is also increasing. The most widely used material for manufacturing transparent devices is indium tin oxide (ITO). However, ITO is scarce, expensive, and brittle, making it is essential to replace it with new materials. In this study, we successfully fabricated a transparent electrode by electrospinning polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and copper electroless deposition on the polyimide film. Especially, this study suggests a new combined heat treatment that uses both the hot plate and the convection oven. Through the combined heat treatment, the junctions between the nanofibers overlapped removed consequently reducing contact resistance. The mechanical stability of the fabricated electrode was evaluated by using a highly repeated bending test. Also, through the tape-peeling test, we confirmed that the adhesive strength of the electrode was high. This method can be applied to various polymer-based, substrate which are vulnerable to annealing process.

This study performed high-frequency heat treatment experiments and simulations of the park gear of an automobile transmission. The heating temperature and hardening depth were measured during high-frequency heat treatment. Moreover, by applying the resonance RCL circuit, the current value of the coil during high-frequency heat treatment, the electromagnetic and heat transfer material properties dependent on the temperature, and the phase transformation function were all applied to the simulation. In the high-frequency heat treatment experiment, the heating temperature was 977.4℃ and the 1st direction hardening depth was 1.5 mm, the 2nd direction hardening depth was 3 mm, and the 3rd direction hardening depth was 2.5 mm, and the reliability was verified by comparing the simulation heating temperature of 1,097℃ and the 1st direction predicted hardening depth of 1.6 mm, the 2nd direction predicted hardening depth of 2.8 mm, and the 3rd direction predicted hardening depth of 2.7 mm. The error rate of the heating temperature results was 12.2% whereas that of the hardening depth results was 7.1%.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of heat treatment on electrochemical performance of aluminum (Al)-air battery. We prepared a pure Al and an annealed Al under an annealing environment [a mixture gas of Ar (97%) and H2 (3%)] of 400°C for 1 hr. Based on electron backscatter diffraction analysis of Al at the anode, the relative misorientation of the pristine Al was higher than that of the annealed Al. Electrochemical performances of the pristine Al-air and the annealed Al-air were also compared. The annealed Al-air battery showed slightly higher power density than the pristine Alair battery. These results suggest that annealing with heat treatment is an important process to improve the electrochemical performance of aluminum-air battery.