Sharif Digital Repository

Insulated rail joints (IRJs) are widely used in signaling and broken rail identification systems. Track deterioration adjacent to IRJ is frequent due to excessive dynamic forces generated at IRJs by the repetitive passage of the ongoing traffic. Hence, they exhibit low service life and are considered high-risk elements and maintained through high standards. With a view to increase operational speed and the annual operational throughput, many improved structural designs have been proposed, of which inclined IRJs are the focus of this paper. To compare noise, vibration, and adjacent sleepers' vertical displacement of square and 30° and 45° cut joints, a series of field tests have been carried... 

In this research, a new method for producing bimetallic rods is introduced. The method is a new application of equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) process. Advantages of using this method can be expressed as; good dimensional control on both the core and clad layer, possibility of performing the process in more than one pass which can result in larger bonding strength, and the possibility of performing the process in different temperatures which is critical for producing most of the bimetallic joints as well as aluminum-copper joint. The shear strength obtained using this method is compared with the same final product produced by general extrusion process. While the shear strength after... 

Stability analysis of machine tool requires determining of frequency response function (FRF) of spindle. Since this response is changed with a change of tool, Receptance coupling sub-structuring analysis may be used to couple the tool and spindle FRFs. A major difficulty in this regard is the determination of joint model between the two sub-structures. In particular, the identification of rotational DOFs at joints is difficult. In this research, a joint model which accounts for rotational DOFs is proposed and verified which does not require any rotational DOF measurement on machine tool. An optimization method based on genetic algorithm is employed to find parameters of the joint model.... 

One of the main problems with a bolted joint is losing its preload. In this situation, it cannot provide the required clamping force needed to keep the joint members together or prevent fluid leakages. Although every effort is usually made at the design stage to prevent such failure, because of the numerous factors present in the problem, these efforts are not always successful. After loosening occurs, the joint should be retightened to regain its preload. However, there are circumstances where the joint is very important but it is not easily accessible and retightening cannot be done manually. The shape memory effect (SME) property can be used in such circumstances to produce the necessary... 

Recently, receptance coupling substructure analysis (RCSA) is used for stability prediction of machine tools through its dynamic response determination. A major challenge is the proper modelling of the substructures joints and determination of their parameters. In this paper, a new approach for predicting tool tip FRF is presented. First, inverse RCSA formulation is extended so that the holder FRFs can be identified directly through experimental modal tests. The great advantage of this formulation is its implementation in arbitrary point numbers along joint length. Therefore, in comparison with previous inverse RCSA approaches, a more realistic joint model can be considered. In addition, due... 

Existing design procedures for steel frames have been modified during the last three decades to incorporate the semi-rigid behavior of the connections into the frame design advancement. Knowledge in initial rotational stiffness of a connection is important for the global elastic analysis of frame structures. This paper presents the results of several parametric analyses on the Initial Rotational Stiffness (IRS or Sini) of Bolted Flush End-plate Beam (BFEB) splice connections using Finite Element Modeling (FEM). The FEMs have taken into account material behavior, geometrical discontinuities and large displacements. The analyses have been calibrated to experimental results that are also... 

A new structural connection, already discussed in previous papers, with very special and, in some respects, unique, features, such as having very high rotational capacity in bending, and high shear deformation capacity under shear, hence high energy-dissipation capacity under either type of loading, was developed. Specimens of either variant of this joint, fabricated with steel components, were already tested under bending and shear in a mainly separate manner. However, due to the particular shape of the connection, and its ability to be extruded in aluminium, in the most recent work the behaviour of its aluminium specimens under shear loading was studied. A series of specimens fabricated... 

In this paper, we analyze a Dynamic Object Manipulation (DOM) problem; throwing upward and catching a disc using two planar manipulators. The manipulators control the disc xy position dynamically and use its angular movement as a free parameter. We use a simple model for the system. Each manipulator has three links and three active joints. In addition, the disc has considerable radius and mass. Therefore, we design a simple mechanism in the palm to damp a portion of the impact. © 2006 IEEE  

In this paper, a novel six degrees-of-freedom (6-DOF) parallel manipulator actuated by three base-mounted partial spherical actuators is proposed. The parallel manipulator consists of a base, a moving platform and three connecting legs. Each leg has spherical (S), prismatic (P) and universal (U) joints (SPU) in serial manner. The spherical joints are partially actuated due to the fact that the actuators of each leg are used only to specify its leg's direction. The inverse and forward pose kinematics as well as the singularity points of the aforementioned mechanism is described in the article. In the inverse pose kinematics, active joint variables could be calculated with no need for the... 

The creep behaviour of adhesively bonded joints is one of the major concerns in modern industry due to their application at relatively high temperature. In this re-search, the effect of added RGO on the creep behaviour of the Araldite 2011 adhesive is investigated. Uni-axial creep tests have been carried out on neat Araldite 2011 and RGO added adhesive at different stress and temperature levels. It has been shown that adhesive with RGO particles demonstrate higher creep resistance. Also, general time hardening models are developed for both materials and their constitutive coefficients have been determined using creep test data. Based on these models, the creep behavior of single lap joints... 

We introduce a clean cluster spin chain coupled to fully interacting spinless fermions, forming an unconstrained Z2 lattice gauge theory (LGT), which possesses dynamical proximity effect controlled by the entanglement structure of the initial state. We expand the machinery of interaction-driven localization to the realm of LGTs such that for any starting product state, the matter fields exhibit emergent statistical bubble localization, which is driven solely by the cluster interaction, having no topologically trivial noninteracting counterpart, and thus is of a pure dynamical many-body effect. In this vein, our proposed setting provides possibly the minimal model dropping all the... 

In this paper, a dynamic-programming approach to the coupled translational and rotational control of thruster-driven spacecraft is studied. To reduce the complexity of the problem, dynamic-programming-based optimal policies are calculated using decoupled position and attitude dynamics with generalized forces and torques as controls. A quadratic-programming-based control allocation is then used to map the controls to actuator commands. To control the spacecraft in the event of thruster failure, both the dynamic programming policies and control allocation are reconfigured to cope with the losses in controls. The control allocation parameters are adjusted dynamically to ensure the satellite... 

A new innovative 'universal' structural joint with multiple applications was devised. The two major conceived contexts for the use of this joint are 'joining beams to columns, ' and 'joining diagonal braces to horizontal ones. ' The main features of this joint are its high rotational capacity, its high shear deformation capacity, its high energy-dissipation capacity, its ability to contain damage, and its repalceability. Due to its geometry, it can well lend itself to protection measures against fire, normally practiced by the involving industries. This makes it a good candidate for being used in structures related to oil and gas industry, offshore or onshore. Through numerical modelling of... 

A new 'universal' structural joint with multiple applications was devised. Its application as a 'beam-to-column joint' was already investigated experimentally, and proven to be promising. The results were reported in previous OMAE conferences and elsewhere. Another fruitful application conceived for this joint is in the context of joining (diagonal) braces to the frame members of a structure. In particular, in chevron (inverted V) bracing systems, where the dominating exchanged forces between the combined diagonal braces and the horizontal brace (beam) are 'shear,' the use of the devised joint as a joining member can substantially improve the overall behaviour of the structure under dynamic... 

A large number of offshore platforms of various types have been installed in deep or shallow waters throughout the world. These structures are mainly made of tubular members which are interconnected by using tubular joints. In tubular frames, joints may exhibit considerable flexibility in both elastic and plastic range of response. The resulting flexibility may have marked effects on the overall behavior of offshore platforms.This paper investigates the effects of joint flexibility on local and global behavior of tubular framed structures in linear range of response. A new joint flexibility element is developed on the basis of flexibility matrix and implemented in a finite-element program to... 

Reduction of stress concentrations in the area of pin-loaded holes is one of the greatest challenges in the design of multilayered fibre-reinforced composite structures. Among many approaches to decrease concentration effects, putting metallic inserts in the holes is a convenient method. In this research, finite element analysis is applied to assess the effects of manufacturing parameters on stress concentration in the vicinity of the holes in composite plates with inserts. Edge and pitch distance, thickness and materials of insert, clearance between insert and composite part, and stiffness of the adhesive filling the gap are studied in this article. Investigations show that the optimum... 

Joining of commercially pure Ti to 304 stainless steel by fusion welding processes possesses problems due to the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds in the weld metal, which degrade the mechanical properties of the joints. Solid-state welding processes are contemplated to overcome these problems. However, intermetallic compounds are likely to form even in Ti-SS joints produced with solid-state welding processes such as friction welding process. Therefore, interlayers are employed to prevent the direct contact between two base metals and thereby mainly to suppress the formation of brittle Ti-Fe intermetallic compounds. In the present study, friction-welded joints between commercially... 

This paper deals with analytical thermomechanical stress analysis of adhesively bonded composite joints in presence of a structural imperfection in the form of an interfacial void within the adhesive layer based on the full layerwise theory (FLWT). The joints are subjected to mechanical tension, uniform temperature change, or steady-state heat conduction. The proposed adhesive joint is divided into three distinct regions along its length and a large number of mathematical plies through its thickness. Three sets of fully coupled governing equilibrium equations are derived employing the principle of minimum total potential energy. The three-dimensional nonlinear interlaminar stress... 

In this work, friction stir soldering (FSS) as a new approach for fabrication of copper/copper lap joints was introduced. This process is principally based on the friction stir processing (FSP) that can be performed using FSP tools with and without pin on the top sheet. In the present study, Pb-Sn foil was used as a solder which would be melted and then extruded in the area between the copper sheets during FSS process. This process was carried out using tools with and without pin at various rotation speeds of 1200, 1400, and 1600 rpm and traverse speed of 32 mm/min. Also, the same joint was fabricated using furnace soldering to compare the mechanical properties obtained with FSS and furnace...