Sharif Digital Repository

To locate accurately the occurrence of a partial discharge in a power transformer winding, a wide frequency band model of the winding is required. In this paper a wide frequency band Multi Conductor Transmission Line model (MTL) is employed to simulate the propagation of PD signal in transformer windings. The MTL model is briefly reviewed and the related equations of the model are reformulated to easily simulate occurrence of a PD signal along the winding. Software is developed in Matlab to calculate the windings resonance frequencies and the magnitudes of over-voltages occurring between different disks along the winding. Then propagation of PD signal in a power transformer (900MVA, 525kV),... 

In this study, novel chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/SiO2 nanocomposite ENMs were prepared to improve the mechanical strength and permeation properties of ENMs. The effect of various concentrations of SiO2 in the spinning solution (0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 wt %) on the morphology, fiber diameter, porosity, thermomechanical properties, and permeability of the synthesized membranes was investigated. The prepared affinity membranes were utilized for the removal of dye from colored wastewater. Incorporating SiO2, as a reinforcing agent, was found to increase the compaction resistance of the nanocomposite ENMs. With the addition of 0.5 wt % of SiO2, the Young's modulus of the prepared membranes... 

In the present study, simulation of a direct geometry spectrometer for neutron Time-of-Flight (nTOF) is performed based on the Monte Carlo method to calculate the energy spectrum of the neutron source. To this end, the ability to simulate the simultaneous emission (such as the simultaneous emission of the neutron and gamma particles from the241Am-9Be neutron source) and the neutron Pulse Height Distribution (nPHD) were added to the MCNPX computer code. In addition, a post-processing software was developed to analyze the massive amounts of the data in the output of the PTRAC card. The application of the nTOF as a direct method to calculate the neutron spectrum eliminates the error induced by... 

Rolling-element bearing (REB) failure is one of the general damages in rotating machinery. In this manner, the correct prediction of remaining useful life (RUL) of REB is a crucial challenge to move forward the unwavering quality of the machines. One of the main difficulties in implementing data-driven methods for RUL prediction is to choose proper features that represent real damage progression. In this article, by using the outcomes of frequency analysis through the Envelope method, the initiated/existed defects on the ball bearings are identified. Also, new features based on developing faults of ball bearings is recommended to estimate RUL. Early-stage faults in ball bearings usually... 

Over the past decade, the power industry in many countries around the world has been undergoing massive changes to introduce competition. In power systems under transmission open access, an optimal schedule of generation of units to satisfy the demand at the minimum production and transmission costs with consideration of system operation constraints is an important issue. In this paper, a method for centralized economic dispatch in deregulated power systems is presented. The considered constraints are minimum and maximum power generation of units, capacity of transmission lines and ramp rate limits. Genetic algorithm is used to solve a nonlinear objective function. Simulations are performed... 

Homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion has the potential to work with high thermal efficiency, low fuel consumption, and extremely low NOx-PM emissions. In this study, zero-dimensional single-zone and quasi-dimensional multi-zone detailed chemical kinetics models were developed to predict and control an HCCI combustion engine fueled with a natural gas and reformer gas (RG) blend. The model was validated through experiments performed with a modified single-cylinder CFR engine. Both models were able to acceptably predict combustion initiation. The result shows that the chemical and thermodynamic effects of RG blending advance the start of combustion (SOC), whereas dilution... 

In this research, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/chitosan electrospun nanofibrous membrane (ENM) was prepared by electrospinning method in order to investigate its dye removal ability from colored wastewater. The morphology and average fiber diameter of the membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), image analysis and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The chemical characterization was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The permeability of the membranes was evaluated by measuring pure water flux (PWF). In order to investigate the performance of the prepared membranes they were used in the batch adsorption and membrane separation for dye removal from... 

In this paper, pull-in behavior of cantilever micro/nano-beams made of functionally graded materials (FGM) with small-scale effects under electrostatic force is investigated. Consistent couple stress theory is employed to study the influence of small-scale on pull-in behavior. According to this theory, the couple tensor is skew-symmetric by adopting the skew-symmetric part of the rotation gradients. The material properties except Poisson’s ratio obey the power law distribution in the thickness direction. The approximate analytical solutions for the pull-in voltage and pull-in displacement of the microbeams are derived using the Rayleigh–Ritz method. Comparison between the results of the... 

Vanadium supported on spinel cobalt ferrite nanoparticles was synthesized and characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis and transmission electron microscopy. For the first time, the prepared material was used for the catalytic degradation of methylene blue as an organic dye in the presence of hydrogen peroxide as a green oxidant and NaHCO3 as a co-reagent at room temperature. The dependency of removal percentage on various parameters such as amount of catalyst, pH, reaction time and temperature and the effect of radical scavenging agents were studied. Finally, recoverability and reusability of the vanadium supported on... 

In this paper, pull-in behavior of cantilever micro/nano-beams made of functionally graded materials (FGM) with small-scale effects under electrostatic force is investigated. Consistent couple stress theory is employed to study the influence of small-scale on pull-in behavior. According to this theory, the couple tensor is skew-symmetric by adopting the skew-symmetric part of the rotation gradients. The material properties except Poisson’s ratio obey the power law distribution in the thickness direction. The approximate analytical solutions for the pull-in voltage and pull-in displacement of the microbeams are derived using the Rayleigh–Ritz method. Comparison between the results of the... 

In this research, cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) electrospun nanofiber membrane (ENM) was prepared by electrospinning method in order to separate the contaminants of an industrial wastewater. The influence of various electrospinning parameters on morphology and average fiber diameter of the membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and image analysis. The permeability of the membranes was evaluated by measuring pure water flux. In order to investigate the performance of the prepared membranes for tomato wastewater treatment, the rejection of the pollution indices and flux were determined. The results demonstrated the potential of using CAB nanofiber membrane for... 

The photocatalytic degradiation of phenol by nanoTiO2 particles coated on perlite as a new composite nano-catalyst was investigated. Titanium dioxide (Degussa P-25) was immobilized on three different supports (perlite granules, glass plates and steel fiber) by a very simple and inexpensive method. Perlite granules have a porosity of more than 95%, which allows them to stay afloat on water surface. This gives the medium a unique characteristic from the processing point of view, which enables it to get wetted with the polluted solution without requiring any pumping and simultaneously be exposed to the radiation source when coated with the photocatalyst. The photocatalytic activity of prepared... 

Abstract. Structural collapse is the main concern for the existing structures which are built in the seismic-prone regions. Therefore, the primary goal of the seismic provisions in building codes is to prevent the global collapse. Iran is located in the Alpine-Himalayan belt, and has experienced some of the most destructive earthquakes in the past century. To evaluate the extent to which the Iranian building code provisions meet the abovementioned objective, the authors conducted a detailed assessment of collapse risk on a set of moderate moment resisting Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings. While many features might affect the seismic performance of the RC structures, this study considers... 

Computational methods to understand interactions in bio-complex systems are however limited to time-scales typically much shorter than in Nature. For example, on the nanoscale level, interactions between nanoparticles (NPs)/molecules/peptides and membranes are central in complex biomolecular processes such as membrane-coated NPs or cellular uptake. This can be remedied by the application of e.g. Jarzynski's equality where thermodynamic properties are extracted from non-equilibrium simulations. Although, the out of equilibrium work leads to non-conservative forces. We here propose a correction Pair Forces method, that removes these forces. Our proposed method is based on the calculation of... 

Free-energy calculations are crucial for investigating biomolecular interactions. However, in theoretical studies, the neglect of electronic polarization can reduce predictive capabilities, specifically for free-energy calculations. To effectively mimick polarization, we explore a Charge Switching (CS) model, aiming to narrow the gap between computational and experimental results. The model requires quantum-level partial charge calculations of the molecule in different environments, combined with atomistic MD simulations. Studying three different anti-cancer drug molecules with three different phospholipid membranes, we show that the method significantly improves agreement with available... 

A specific structure of doped graphene with substituted silicon impurity is introduced and ab initio density-functional approach is applied for the energy band structure calculation of the proposed structure. Using the band structure calculation for different silicon sites in the host graphene, the effect of silicon concentration and unit cell geometry on the bandgap of the proposed structure is also investigated. Chemically, silicon-doped graphene results in an energy gap as large as 2eV according to density-functional theory calculations. As the authors will show, in contrast to previous bandgap engineering methods, such structure has significant advantages including wide gap tuning... 

Novel montmorillonite (Mt) chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposite electrospun nanofibrous membranes (ENM) were prepared and utilized for the treatment of colored wastewater. The Mt. with different mass percentages (0, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 mass%) was added to the membrane structure, and its effect on morphology, pore size, porosity, mechanical strength, and permeation properties of ENM were investigated. The fabricated membranes were used as affinity membranes for dye removal with ultrafast permeating adsorption. The results showed that incorporating Mt. as a reinforcing agent improved the nanocomposite ENM resistance to compaction. Young's modulus for the prepared membranes increased... 

One of the most important issues in planning the "reservoir" type of hydro-power plants (HPP) is to determine the installation capacity of the HPPs and estimate its annual energy value. In this paper, a method is presented. A computer program has been developed to analyze energy calculation and estimation of the most important economic indices of an HPP using the sensitivity analysis method. Another program, developed by Matlab software, calculates the reliability indices for a number of units of an HPP with a specified load duration curve using the Monte Carlo method. Ultimately, comparing the technical, economic and reliability indices will determine the installation capacity of an HPP. By... 

A glassy carbon electrode was coated with a thin layer of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and subsequently was electro-polymerized with polypyrrole. The prepared electrode was used for the voltammetric determination of olanzapine (OLZ). The peak current of OLZ increases remarkably on the surface of the modified electrode. This is due to the large increase in the microscopic area of the electrode surface along with the strong adsorption of OLZ on the surface of the electrode. The film modifier was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and cyclic voltammetry techniques. Experimental variables, such as deposited amount of nanotube suspension, pH of the supporting... 

A semi-analytical solution for rotating axisymmetric disks made of functionally graded materials was previously proposed by Hosseini Kordkheili and Naghdabadi [1]. In the present work the solution is employed to study thermoelastic creep behavior of the functionally graded rotating disks with variable thickness in to the time domain. The rate type governing differential equations for the considered structure are derived and analytically solved in terms of rate of strain as a reduced to a set of linear algebraic equations. The advantage of this method is to avoid simplifications and restrictions which are normally associated with other creep solution techniques in the literature. The thermal...