Sharif Digital Repository

A "general" model of membrane transport was formulated using the mechanistic Maxwell-Stefan approach and generalized driving forces, which included the contribution from the various internal and external driving forces. Transient models of dialysis and pervaporation were developed that used exactly the same general model to describe the transport through the membrane. In this model, the bulk solution/polymer equilibria were described by a modified Flory-Huggins model, and the concentration dependence of ternary Maxwell-Stefan diffusivities was described by a natural extension of the binary Vignes relationship to a multicomponent system. A notable advantage of the general model lies in the... 

The transient measurement of concentration profile within the liquid boundary layer close to the membrane interface and the flux of permeating species across the membrane coupled with transient model of membrane allows a more critical evaluation of membrane transport performance. The experimental procedure for transient measurement of pervaporation fluxes and data obtained for the {ethanol-water}/silicone rubber system and experimental set up for transient dialysis measurement by interferometry technique for the same system was described. A detailed analysis of optical effect accounting for the light deflection in a medium of varying refractive index profile was presented. A numerical... 

The theoretical description of multicomponent transport across nonporous polymeric membranes was investigated using two alternative frameworks: the phenomenological approach of irreversible thermodynamics and the mechanistic Stefan-Maxwell formulation. The transport models developed account for potential equilibrium and/or kinetic coupling of fluxes and the contribution of diffusion induced non-selective flow within the polymer. The models were validated against transient dialysis and pervaporation data for the {ethanol-water}/silicone rubber system. A critical assessment was obtained by recovering the model parameters from the dialysis data and using the same parameters to predict the... 

In this study, a hydrophilic metal-organic framework (MOF) was applied to improve the performance of a cellulosic membrane for forward osmosis (FO) desalination application. The characterization results confirmed that the MOF particles existed within the matrix of the modified membrane. The MOF loading led to adjustment of the membranes in terms of overall porosity, pore inter-connectivity and hydrophilicity. These features caused an improvement in the pure water permeability (72%) and reduce the structural parameter of the modified membrane to 136 μm. The FO water flux of the modified membrane enhanced by about 180% compared to an unmodified membrane, without decreasing its selectivity. FO... 

A molecule within the nonporous polymeric membrane moves in response to the local driving force and has no memory of how it entered the membrane or how the local gradients were generated. This means that a properly formulated model of transport within the membrane should be equally applicable to dialysis, pervaporation or vapour permeation. The phenomenological approach of irreversible thermodynamics was used to develop transient models of dialysis and pervaporation. The model developed in this study were validated against transient dialysis and pervaporation data for ethanol-water/silicone rubber system. A critical assessment was obtained by recovering the model parameters from the dialysis... 

This study considers blood fl ow in Total Cavopulmonary Connection (TCPC) morphology, created in Fontan surgical procedure in patients with single ventricle heart disease. Ordinary process of TCPC operation reduces pulmonary blood fl ow pulsatility; because of right ventricle being bypassed. This reduction may limit the long term outcome of Fontan circulation. There is an idea stating that keeping Main Pulmonary Artery (MPA) partially open, would increase pulmonary fl ow pulsations. MPA gets closed in ordinary TCPC operation. The purpose of current study is to verify effects of Antegrade Flow (AF) coming through stenosed MPA on pulmonary fl ow pulsations, by means of Computational Fluid... 

This paper concerns an understanding of thrust vectoring, in the presence of co-flowing secondary air. An experimental and computational study was performed on a circular-shape nozzle, integrated with a Coanda surface, to investigate the feasibility of multi-directional deflection of the engine exhaust gases. The vectoring angle was controlled by the relative blowing momentum of air that was injected tangentially through the slots, surrounding the main nozzle. A state of the art design that uses a small step, just after the main nozzle to turn the flow into eddy, was also employed to enhance the effectiveness of the method. The secondary section was divided into four identical sections for... 

This paper presents the application of a relatively new technique of fluidic thrust-vectoring (FTV), named Co-flow, for a small gas-turbines. The performance is obtained via experiment and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The effects of a few selected parameters including the engine throttle setting, the secondary air mass-flow rate and the secondary slot height upon thrust-vectoring performance are provided. Thrust vectoring performance is characterised by the ability of the system to deflect the engine thrust with respect to the delivered secondary air mass-flow rate. The experimental study was conducted under static conditions in an outdoor environment at Cranfield University workshop... 

A novel intelligent semi-active control system for an eleven degrees of freedom passenger car's suspension system using magnetorheological (MR) damper with neuro-fuzzy (NF) control strategy to enhance desired suspension performance is proposed. In comparison with earlier studies, an improvement in problem modeling is made. The proposed method consists of two parts: a fuzzy control strategy to establish an efficient controller to improve ride comfort and road handling (RCH) and an inverse mapping model to estimate the force needed for a semi-active damper. The fuzzy logic rules are extracted based on Sugeno inference engine. The inverse mapping model is based on an artificial neural network... 

Using CNG as an additive for gasoline is a proper choice due to higher octane number of CNG enriched gasoline with respect to that of gasoline. As a result, it is possible to use gasoline with lower octane number in the engine. This would also mean the increase of compression ratio in SI engines resulting in higher performance and lower gasoline consumption. Over the years, the use of simulation codes to model the thermodynamic cycle of an internal combustion engine have developed tools for more efficient engine designs and fuel combustion. In this study, a thermodynamic cycle simulation of a conventional four-stroke spark-ignition engine has been developed. The model is used to study the... 

With the declining energy resources and increase of pollutant emissions, a great deal of efforts has been focused on the development of alternatives for fossil fuels. One of the promising alternative fuels to gasoline in the internal combustion engine is natural gas [1-5]. The application of natural gas in current internal combustion engines is realistic due to its many benefits. The higher thermal efficiency due to the higher octane value and lower exhaust emissions including CO2 as a result of the lower carbon to hydrogen ratio of the fuel are the two important feature of using CNG as an alternative fuel. It is well known that computer simulation codes are valuable economically as a cost... 

Gaining insight into possible vibratory responses of dynamical systems around their stable equilibria is an essential step, which must be taken before their design and application. The results of such a study can significantly help prevent instability in closed-loop stabilized systems by avoiding the excitation of the system in the neighborhood of its resonance. This paper investigates nonlinear oscillations of a rotary inverted pendulum (RIP) with a full-state feedback controller. Lagrange’s equations are employed to derive an accurate 2-DoF mathematical model, whose parameter values are extracted by both the measurement and 3D modeling of the real system components. Although the governing... 

A suction-controlled ring device has been developed to continuously measure the coefficient of lateral soil pressure in deformable unsaturated soil samples from the at-rest to the active condition under application of increasing vertical pressure and controlled matric suction. The device incorporates a thin aluminum specimen ring equipped with horizontal strain gages for recording the lateral soil strains. In addition, a sensor recording water volume changes is utilized to continuously monitor the degree of saturation of the soil sample during tests. The matric suction within the soil texture is controlled using the axis translation technique. In order to verify the performance of the ring... 

We introduce a new smooth, non-toxic, biocompatible method for cross-linking of gum tragacanth (GT), a polysaccharide of natural origin, in order to serve as a new supporting matrix for immobilization systems. The modified gum is used as a matrix for the catalysis of the conversion of benzyl penicillin to 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA) by means of Escherichia coli ATCC11105 with penicillin G acylase (PGA) activity. The results show that GT beads can not only serve as a proper matrix for immobilization, but show enhanced hydrolysis rate and stability compared to other immobilization systems used for this reaction. This signifies the potential of GT as a biocompatible matrix for... 

The Class-E power amplifier has been widely studied and formulated in the literature. Although the majority of reported inductive coupling wireless power transfer (WPT) systems use a class-E power amplifier for driving the primary coil, still there is a lack of a comprehensive study on class-E circuit dedicated to WPT, providing a set of closed form design equations for proper class-E operation. This paper presents the required design equations needed to design a 'true' class-E circuit for WPT applications. Equations for the series-tuned secondary coil WPT system are presented, as well as two different design procedures for the parallel-tuned secondary coil. The derived equations have been... 

Pole Side Impact Tes is one out of three crash tests described by Euro NCAP standard for star rating of a vehicle and is required for assessing the Adult Occupant Protection. In this paper the goal is to determine the crashworthiness of side doors and B pillar in a Pole Side Impact Test based on Euro New Car Assessment Program (Euro-NCAP) using computer and simulation method. In this matter, a vehicle model has been prepared and meshed using Hypermesh and CATIA. The velocity of 29 km/h has been assigned to the vehicle which was on top of a cart while the pole has been assigned as a rigid static object based on Euro NCAP requirements specifically. Results show that different amounts of energy... 

To assess a car under the Euro New Car Assessment Program (Euro-NCAP), Adult Occupant Protection is one out of three parameters which need to be calculated with a weight factor of 50% while the other parameters, Child Occupant Protection and Pedestrian Occupant Protection, have a weight factor of 20%. The Pole Side Impact Test, beside two other tests, Side and Front Impact, is also required to calculate the Adult Occupant Protection. It shows how important the Pole Side Impact Test is and what an effective role it has in the car rating assessment. In this paper, the objective is to evaluate the effect of thickness on the energy absorbed by the side doors and the B pillar and its... 

In Euro NCAP standard, adult protection is one of the most important rating scores with 50% weight factor while child protection and pedestrian protection are accounted into consideration with 20% weight factor. For adult protection testing, three tests are required to perform: (1) side impact, (2) pole impact, (3) front impact. In the side impact test, dummy's head, chest, shoulder, thorax, ribs, abdomen, pelvic and femur must be studied to evaluate the rating score. Crashworthiness of a car during side impact can describe the score rated for that car. In this paper the goal is to determine the crashworthiness of side doors and B-pillar in side impact crash est by simulation using LS DYNA...