The phenomenon of electrical explosion of conductors is considered in the context of the changes in the energy and structural states of the metal at the stages of energy delivery and relaxation of the primary products of EEC. It is shown that these changes are related to the forced interaction of an intense energy flux with matter and to the subsequent spontaneous relaxation processes. The characteristics of nano-sized metal powders are also discussed.

1) Using a developed high-frequency induction heated sintering method, the rapid densification of WC-Co hard materials was accomplished using ultra fine powders with 260 nm size within 1 minute. 2) The relative density of the composite was 99.5% for the applide pressure of 60MPa and the induced current for 90% output of total capacity. 3) The grain size of WC-Co hard materials is about 260nm and the average thickness of the binder phase determined is about 11nm. The fracture toughness and the hardness of this work 12 $MPa{\cdot}nm^2$, respectively. 4) Using pressureless sintering, we produced dense WC-Co hard materials with a relative density of 97% without applying pressure.

Using a developed high-frequency induction heated combustion method. the simultaneous synthesis and densification of WC-xvol.%Co($0{\leq}x{\leq}20$) hard materials was accomplished using elemental powders of W, C and Co. A complete synthesis and densification of the materials was achieved in one step within a duration of 1min. The final relative densities of the composite were over 98.5% for all cases, under the applied pressure of 60 MPa and the induced current. The hardness of the composites decreases and the fracture toughness increases with increasing cobalt content. As the carbon to tungsten ration increases, the hardness increase, but the fracture toughness decreases. The maximum values for the fracture toughness and hardness are 15.1 $MPa{\cdot}m^{1/2}$(at 20vol.%Co, W:C=1:1), and 1928 $kg/mm^{2}$(at 5vol.%Co, W:C=1:1.3), respectively. Therefore we concluded that the HFIHCS method. which can produce WC-xvol.%Co within 1 minute in one step is superior to conventional ones.

The inter-particle distance between diamonds on the segment surface of sawing blade predicted theoretically and measured experimentally followed a Gamma or Weibull function, rather than a normal distribution function. These results suggest that random dispersion of diamond particles in the segment may not be an efficient way of improving cutting efficiency of the blade.

1. The oxidation resistance of $Y_{2}O_{3}$ containing Ni-base alloy is superior to that of the alloy without $Y_{2}O_{3}$. 2. The appearance of oxides of Ni-20Cr-20Fe-5Nb-$1Y_{2}O_{3}$ alloy is similar to that of oxides in commercial PM1000 and MA754 alloy. 3. The oxides in ODS alloy are grown mainly at particle boundaries.

A functionally graded material was produced by laminating green tapes. The lamination resulted in the formation of functionally graded structure and sintering of the materials resulted of FGM. This results demonstrated a possibility of using green tapes in the processing of functionally graded materials.

This work was performed with the financial support of the Center for High Functional Nanoparticulate Materials of the Korea Ministry of Science and Technology.

Titanium carbide nano-tube and fibers were synthesized by self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) method. The average diameters of the nano-tubes and nano-fibers are about 100 and 20 nm in diameter, respectively. the non-stoichiometric numbers of the titanium carbide determined by neutron diffractometry were 0.87 and 0.94.