Sharif Digital Repository

In this paper we examine how exchange flow in Urmia Lake plays a crucial role in dynamics of the lake. Urmia Lake, a very large hyper-saline lake of high ecological significance, is located in northwest of Iran with a 15-km causeway dividing it into north and south lakes. A 1250-m opening in the causeway near the east coast links the two lakes. The differences in mean water levels and densities of the two lakes increase in spring due to large freshwater inflows into the south lake. High evaporation dominates the lake in summer. By incorporating the results of a two-layer hydraulics theory into a mixing model of the lake, we show that the exchange flow through the opening diminishes the water... 

The influence of Casimir and van der Waals forces on the instability of vibratory micro and nano-bridge gyroscopes with proof mass attached to its midpoint is studied. The gyroscope subjected to the base rotation, Casimir and van der Waals attractions is actuated and detected by electrostatic methods. The system has two coupled bending motions actuated by the electrostatic and Coriolis forces. First a system of nonlinear equations for the flexural-flexural deflection of beam gyroscopes is derived using the extended Hamilton's principle. In modeling, the nonlinearities due to mid-plane stretching, electrostatic forces, including fringing field, Casimir and van der Waals attractions, are... 

In this paper, the dynamic characteristics of skewed bridges are explored analytically. Closed form solutions for translational and torsional periods of free vibration and mode shapes are given for slab-girder skewed bridges. Moreover, the seismic displacement of the deck of skewed bridges is calculated using the response spectrum method and its skew term is compared with the requirement of AASHTO. The effects of seismic force resisting elements, such as elastomeric bearings and end diaphragms are included. It is shown that the skew term in AASHTO's equation can underestimate the seat width requirement for some bridges. A new skew term for the bridge seat width requirement is suggested  

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of implant design on the apex area and on stress and stress patterns within surrounding bone. Methods: Three commercially available implants with the same diameter (3.5 mm), same length (10-11 mm), and same complement abutment were selected for modeling as follows: (1) flat apical design with light tapering degree, (2) dome-shaped apical design with light tapering, and (3) flat apical design with intense tapering in one-third of the apical area. According to human cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), the bone was modeled using a cortical thickness of 2 mm and cancellous bone. Forces of 100 N and 300 N in the vertical and 15°... 

A novel and robust approach is proposed to find the optimum shape of concrete arch dams located on any unsymmetrical shape of a valley. The approach is capable of finding the optimum shape for any given valley type in suitable time, based on abutment stability analysis, against thrust forces from an arch dam. The behavior and stability of a concrete arch dam is strongly dependent on the bedrock on which the dam rests. The stability of the abutment is considered a constraint in the proposed approach. In addition, a new objective function is introduced to decrease the final volume of the arch dam. Furthermore, a computer program was developed, which takes the effect of the dam foundation... 

In high-voltage applications, due to the use of high-ratio step-up transformers, the value of parasitic capacitance of these transformers is large compared to the low-voltage transformers. Moreover In these applications it is prefered to use single-capacitor filters instead of filters with inductors. In this paper a simple electrical model for two-winding high frequency transformer considering all of the parasitic elements is presented. This model is used in a full-bridge based dc-dc converter with capacitive output filter controlled by phase-shifted method. The operation of this converter in DCM is analysed and its analytical relations in different time intervals is derived and confirmed by... 

This paper presents a single-phase Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB) inverter for photovoltaic applications. The proposed control strategy permits the optimum control of each string of PV panels in different insolation conditions. Based on the presented mathematical analysis, an analytic constraint is derived to check the stable operation of the inverter. A modified MPPT control strategy is also proposed based on this new condition. This strategy enhances the stability margins of the system by changing the operating point of some PV arrays. In this approach, the extracted power from high power cell is reduced to prevent instability issue and to avoid injection of highly distorted current into the... 

Multilevel converters are mainly used in high power applications (usually more than a few hundred kW). It is therefore important that they can continue working under faulty condition. In this paper, a new method is proposed to improve performance of CHB inverter under faulty condition. The proposed method will be compared with existing methods in term of voltage availability. The converter is simulated in Simulink and the results are provided. These results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, and are in accordance with the theoretical results  

Multilevel converters are being widely used in a large number of power electronics applications. Due to the increased number of switching devices, they are more likely to have faults in their switches than the conventional converters. In order to have a balanced operation after a short circuit power switch fault occurrence, it is necessary to detect the fault location. In this paper, a fast power switch fault detection method is presented to identify the fault location. This method only needs one additional voltage sensor per phase, and is faster compared to most of the existing methods. Also it is easy for implementation on a FPGA chip. The proposed method is verified by computer... 

Battery and plug-in hybrid vehicles equipped with bidirectional battery chargers are capable of supplying power to the electric grid according to power system demand. This technology is called 'vehicle to grid' or V2G. A bidirectional on-board charger can be used to improve the charge availability. An on-board charger should have small size and light weight. On the other hand, the charger must minimize power quality impact, draw current at high power factor to maximize power from an outlet. In this paper, a new three-phase integrated bidirectional isolated soft-switched battery charger is proposed which is appropriate for vehicle to grid technology. The charger utilizes a 4-switch... 

Using reverse nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations the influence of intermolecular bridges on the thermal conductivity (λ) in carbon nanotube (CNT) bundles has been investigated. The chosen cross linkers (CH 2, O, CO) strengthen the transversal energy transport relative to the one in CNT bundles without bridges. The results showed that λ does not increase linearly with the linker density. The efficiency of the heat transport is determined by the number of linkers in the direction of the heat flux, the type of the linker, and their spatial ordering. The influence of a forced axial stress on the transversal λ has been also studied. The observed λ reduction with increasing axial... 

When a high voltage is applied between two beakers filled with deionized water, a floating bridge of water is formed in between exceeding the length of 2 cm when the beakers are pulled apart. Currently two theories regarding the stability of the floating water bridge exist, one suggesting that the tension caused by electric field in the dielectric medium is holding the bridge and the other suggesting surface tension to be responsible for the vertical equilibrium. We construct experiments in which the electric field and the geometry of the bridge are measured and compared with predictions of theories of the floating water bridge stability. We use a numerical simulation for estimation of the... 

Remote sensing is an effective tool for capturing spatial and temporal variations of water surface temperature (WST) in large lakes. The WST of Urmia Lake in northwestern Iran was examined from 2007 to 2010, using MODIS land surface temperature (LST) products. Spatial and temporal (diurnal, monthly, seasonal and inter-annual) variations of Urmia Lake WST were also investigated. Results indicate that the MODIS-derived WSTs are in a good agreement with the in situ data (R2=0.92 and bias=-0.27). Spatial analysis of WST revealed that there are three thermal zones along the lake: the shallow region in barriers of the causeway, islands and the shoreline; the south part; and the deep north parts.... 

Long-span bridges usually experience different input excitations at their ground supports that emanate from differences in wave arrival times, and soil conditions, as well as loss of coherency in arriving waves. These spatial variations can drastically influence the dynamic response; hence, this phenomenon must be considered in any vibration-based identification method. There are numerous Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) identification techniques that may be applied to data recorded at long-span bridges that experience spatial variations in their input motions. However, inertial soil-structure interaction effects severely reduce the accuracy of these techniques because the actual Foundation... 

This paper presents a control strategy for an islanded medium voltage microgrid to coordinate hybrid power source (HPS) units and to control interfaced multilevel inverters under unbalanced and nonlinear load conditions. The proposed HPS systems are connected to the loads through a cascaded H-bridge (CHB) multilevel inverter. The CHB multilevel inverters increase the output voltage level and enhance power quality. The HPS employs fuel cell (FC) and photovoltaic sources as the main and supercapacitors as the complementary power sources. Fast transient response, high performance, high power density, and low FC fuel consumption are the main advantages of the proposed HPS system. The proposed... 

This paper proposes a control strategy for an islanded microgrid to effectively coordinate hybrid power source (HPS) units and to robustly control individual interfaced inverters under unbalanced and nonlinear load conditions. Cascaded H-bridge (CHB) multilevel inverters are flexibly deployed in order to enhance the power quality and redundancy. The HPS employs fuel cell (FC) as the main and supercapacitors (SC) as complementary power sources. Fast transient response; high performance; and high power density are the main characteristics of the proposed HPS system. The presented control strategy consists of a power management strategy for the HPS units and a voltage control strategy for the... 

Accelerated bridge construction is recognized as an important method for bridge owners to accelerate the delivery of highway bridge projects. While the potential advantages of accelerated bridge construction are recognized, it is difficult for transportation specialists to quantify the risks and benefits of using accelerated bridge construction compared with conventional construction for specific bridge replacement or rehabilitation projects. A tool set, based on the analytic hierarchy process, is prepared for transportation specialists and decision makers to determine whether accelerated bridge construction is more effective than traditional construction for a given bridge replacement or... 

Movements of the wheel loads and their sequential entry onto the bridges are known as the two root causes for the vibrations of the railway bridges. It is possible to reduce the levels of the unwanted bridge deck oscillations by introducing one or more size adjusted wagon(s) in the train configuration. The added wagon(s) are of different size(s) compared with the other cars in the train configuration. This can disturb the periodicity in the wheel loading. Consequently, it can interfere with the resonance phenomena and prevent the bridge from excessive vibrations. The purpose of this research is to calculate proper sizes for the anti-resonance rail vehicles. Such vehicles need to fulfil the... 

Plug-In hybrid electric vehicles could be connected to the electrical grid to be recharged. To ease the charging process, one solution could use an on-board charger to charge the electric vehicle battery. This charger should be able to be connected to a conventional outlet for convenience reasons and moreover, it should be a grid friendly charger in order not to pollute the electrical network. Since most of the electric vehicle related projects are at their initial phases, keeping up with the pace and developing new technologies and proposing innovations and concepts will help growing the industry. In this regard, a new integrated bidirectional isolated soft-switched plug-in hybrid electric... 

Today's technology is going to be switched to power electronics equipment due to their wide applications in industries. Their development is too fast since the electronic and microprocessor technology promoted together, which play a significant role in this issue. In this paper, a novel boost converter with an h-bridge auxiliary LCC resonant circuit which provides soft switching technique to the converter is introduced. Then different modes of its operation are investigated and key parameters of the converter are extracted. Finally, simulation analyses are carried out to validate each mode's equation. In this study, the proposed structure of auxiliary circuit permits converter to work in...