Sharif Digital Repository

This article presents a new optimization-based approach to determine the class of stabilizing control structures with the necessary set of feedback links for interconnected systems. The proposed approach relies on a graph-theoretic interpretation and its equivalence in terms of binary linear programs (BLPs). To carry out the primary goal, first, the stabilizability of a linear time-invariant (LTI) system under the decentralized control structure is presented in terms of a BLP. Next, two graph-based criteria are proposed to characterize stabilizing control structures with the required feedback links. Finally, all possible stabilizing control structures with the necessary feedback links are... 

In this paper, the V-shape development model approach for designing an automotive floor panel made by laminated structure is investigated to attain the best trade-off between the system and subsystem level requirements while improving the local and global performance of the vehicle. For this purpose, the bending and torsional stiffness of the body structure, as well as mass, strength, and vibration attenuation of the floor panel, are considered as design objectives at the system and subsystem levels. A multi-objective discrete optimization of a laminated configuration is performed using the Taguchi-based grey relational analysis. Material grades and thicknesses of the sandwich panel face... 

Active edge sites of MoS2 nanosheets exhibit promising futures for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), comparable with remarkable performances of highly cost platinum. However, 3D structures of MoS2 suffer from a lack of high mobility and unexposed active sites which lower the electrocatalytic activity. In this study, we show that there is a balance between increasing the active sites on the one hand and managing the charge transfer to facilitate the reaction on the other hand, and achieving this balance increases the efficiency of the electrocatalyst tremendously. For this purpose, we directly attached exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets onto carbon cloth (CC) substrate as a 3D network of conductive... 

The optimum design of reinforced concrete cantilever retaining walls subjected to seismic loads is an extremely important challenge in structural and geotechnical engineering, especially in seismic zones. This study proposes an adaptive sperm swarm optimization algorithm (ASSO) for economic design of retaining structure under static and seismic loading. The proposed ASSO algorithm utilizes a time-varying velocity damping factor to provide a fine balance between the explorative and exploitative behavior of the original method. In addition, the new method considers a reasonable velocity limitation to avoid the divergence of the sperm movement. The proposed algorithm is benchmarked with a set... 

In this paper, the optimal trade-off between control structures and achievable closed-loop performance is addressed. Incorporation of sparsity promoting regularization terms to the primary objective function is a well-suited approach in feature selection and compressed sensing. By the evolving role of distributed and large-scale applications, modern optimal control problems have been equipped with regularization tools as well. However, the system dynamics and convex/nonconvex constraints in optimal control framework limits the effectiveness and applicability of regularization, enforce iterative or non-convex heuristics, and pose extensive exploration. In fact, available regularized feedback... 

The value-based seismic design framework is a new design method that efficiently balances the construction resources and the seismic consequences, through reliable evaluation of the building performance at an affordable computational cost. This paper employs the value-based design approach to optimize the cross-section proportions of the steel wide-flange members. An optimization problem is proposed within the framework of value-based design. Construction cost and seismic consequences are selected as the value components. Moreover, the minimum code requirements are formulated as the design constraints. FEMA-P58 framework is exploited for the prediction of the seismic consequences including... 

The present study examines the performance of three powerful methods including the original differential evolution (DE), the improved differential evolution (IDE), and the winner of the CEC-2014 competition, LSHADE, in addition to the covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMAES) for size optimization of truss structures under natural frequency constraints. Despite the abundant researches on novel meta-heuristic algorithms in the literature, the application of CMAES, one of the most powerful and reliable optimization algorithms, on the optimal solution of the truss structures has received scant attention. For consistent comparison between these algorithms, four stopping criteria... 

This paper presents a new optimization-based approach to determine the class of stabilizing control structures with the necessary set of feedback links for interconnected systems. The proposed approach relies on a graph theoretic interpretation and its equivalence in terms of binary linear programs (BLP). To carry out the primary goal, first, the stabilizability of an LTI system under the decentralized control structure is presented in terms of a BLP. Next, two graph-based criteria are proposed to characterize stabilizing control structures with the required feedback links. Finally, all possible stabilizing control structures with the necessary feedback links are derived via solving a set of... 

Past earthquakes revealed that while fulfilling the requirements of the conventional design codes guarantees the life safety of the occupants, considerable economic losses may still be incurred. This highlights the importance of considering life cycle losses in the design procedure of structures. In this research, the significance of the life cycle seismic risk costs in the optimal design of steel framed tube tall buildings is investigated. Typical 20- and 40-story buildings are optimally designed based on three approaches: the code-based, the cost-based, and the fixed weight approach. The first approach only minimizes the initial cost of the building while in the second and third approaches... 

Active edge sites of MoS2 nanosheets exhibit promising futures for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), comparable with remarkable performances of highly cost platinum. However, 3D structures of MoS2 suffer from a lack of high mobility and unexposed active sites which lower the electrocatalytic activity. In this study, we show that there is a balance between increasing the active sites on the one hand and managing the charge transfer to facilitate the reaction on the other hand, and achieving this balance increases the efficiency of the electrocatalyst tremendously. For this purpose, we directly attached exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets onto carbon cloth (CC) substrate as a 3D network of conductive... 

A coding scheme for transmission of a bit maps a given bit to a sequence of channel inputs (called the codeword associated with the transmitted bit). In this paper, we study the problem of designing the best code for a discrete Poisson channel with memory (under peak-power and total-power constraints). The outputs of a discrete Poisson channel with memory are Poisson distributed random variables with a mean comprising of a fixed additive noise and a linear combination of past input symbols. Assuming a maximum-likelihood (ML) decoder, we search for a codebook that has the smallest possible error probability. This problem is challenging because error probability of a code does not have a... 

A coding scheme for transmission of a bit maps a given bit to a sequence of channel inputs (called the codeword associated to the transmitted bit). In this paper, we study the problem of designing the best code for a discrete Poisson channel with memory (under peak-power and total-power constraints). The outputs of a discrete Poisson channel with memory are Poisson distributed random variables with a mean comprising a fixed additive noise and a linear combination of past input symbols. Assuming a maximum-likelihood (ML) decoder, we find the best codebook design by minimizing the error probability of the decoder over all codebooks. For the case of having only a total-power constraint, the... 

A coding scheme for transmission of a bit maps a given bit to a sequence of channel inputs (called the codeword associated with the transmitted bit). In this paper, we study the problem of designing the best code for a discrete Poisson channel with memory (under peak-power and total-power constraints). The outputs of a discrete Poisson channel with memory are Poisson distributed random variables with a mean comprising of a fixed additive noise and a linear combination of past input symbols. Assuming a maximum-likelihood (ML) decoder, we search for a codebook that has the smallest possible error probability. This problem is challenging because error probability of a code does not have a... 

A coding scheme for transmission of a bit maps a given bit to a sequence of channel inputs (called the codeword associated to the transmitted bit). In this paper, we study the problem of designing the best code for a discrete Poisson channel with memory (under peak-power and total-power constraints). The outputs of a discrete Poisson channel with memory are Poisson distributed random variables with a mean comprising a fixed additive noise and a linear combination of past input symbols. Assuming a maximum-likelihood (ML) decoder, we find the best codebook design by minimizing the error probability of the decoder over all codebooks. For the case of having only a total-power constraint, the... 

This paper develops a novel insight and procedure that includes a variety of algorithms for finding the best solution in a structured multi-agent system with internal communications and a global purpose. In other words, it finds the optimal communication structure among agents and the optimal policy in this structure. First, a unique reinforcement learning algorithm is proposed to find the optimal policy of each agent in a fixed structure with non-linear function approximators like artificial neural networks (ANN) and with eligibility traces. Secondly, a mechanism is presented to perform self-organization based on the information of the learned policy. Finally, an algorithm that can discover... 

In this paper, we study the problem of learning the structure of Bayesian networks from data, which takes a dataset and outputs a directed acyclic graph. This problem is known to be NP-hard. Almost most of the existing algorithms for structure learning can be classified into three categories: constraint-based, score-based, and hybrid methods. The K2 algorithm, as a score-based algorithm, takes a random order of variables as input and its efficiency is strongly dependent on this ordering. Incorrect order of variables can lead to learning an incorrect structure. Therefore, the main challenge of this algorithm is strongly dependency of output quality on the initial order of variables. The main... 

Increasing the lifetime and improving the performance of structures through redesign and optimization are important, especially in marine structures. In general, there are two main groups of marine structures: onshore and offshore structures. Most marine structures are offshore, and these are divided into two categories: floating or sunken. One of the important parameters in the design of sunken structures is the critical load resulting from the buckling of walls, which can cause damage to the structure. In the present paper, three rectangular aluminum and steel compartments of different conditions and sizes were modeled using design analysis methods. Then, different finite element analyses... 

Multi-turn resolvers are proposed to be used in high accuracy, high-reliability applications that need to have the benefits of absolute measurement and high accuracy, simultaneously. In this paper, the influence of different arrangements of rotary transformer (RT) and resolvers' core on the accuracy of a multi-turn wound rotor (WR) resolver is discussed. Then, an optimal configuration with the aim of reducing the total cost, and the total volume of the sensor is proposed. All the analysis is done using 3-D time-variant finite element method (3-D TVFEM) and the optimal structure is built for experimental tests. Finally, experimental measurements are employed to verify the simulation results.... 

Considering electronic skin applications, a pressure sensor based on periodic structure of graphene oxide-reduced graphene oxide (GO-rGO) has been designed and fabricated based on a low cost direct laser writing technique by utilizing the laser diode of DVD drive's pickup head. The optimization of sensor structure has been performed using computational modelling through Finite Element Method (FEM) in the COMSOL environment. The optimized structure is fabricated based on the deposition of thin layer of GO on the surface of Kapton and the pattering is performed by laser irradiation. The fabricated sensor structure has been characterized structurally and functionally. The results show that the... 

Drop motion on different types of new proposed micro-structure surfaces has been numerically investigated to find the optimum structure in view point of ice formation delaying. The droplet automatically moves on the inclined surfaces due to gravity forces. To validate the numerical algorithm, three different bench mark problems have been considered. The results indicate that the present algorithm is trustable for the presented numerical simulations. Then the validated numerical approach has been used to simulate droplet motion on nine proposed superhydrophobic surfaces in the same conditions. Comparison the drop motion on different micro-structure surfaces at different time indicate that...