Sharif Digital Repository

This paper presents an analysis of the combined electro-osmotic and pressure-driven axial flows of viscoelastic fluids in a rectangular microchannel with arbitrary aspect ratios. The rheological behavior of the fluid is described by the complete form of Phan-Thien–Tanner (PTT) model with the Gordon–Schowalter convected derivative which covers the upper convected Maxwell, Johnson–Segalman and FENE-P models. Our numerical simulation is based on the computation of 2D Poisson–Boltzmann, Cauchy momentum and PTT constitutive equations. The solution of these governing nonlinear coupled set of equations is obtained by using the second-order central finite difference method in a non-uniform grid... 

In the present study, the preconditioned incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with the artificial compressibility method formulated in the generalized curvilinear coordinates are numerically solved by using a high-order compact finite-difference scheme for accurately and efficiently computing the incompressible flows in a wide range of Reynolds numbers. A fourth-order compact finite-difference scheme is utilized to accurately discretize the spatial derivative terms of the governing equations, and the time integration is carried out based on the dual time-stepping method. The capability of the proposed solution methodology for the computations of the steady and unsteady incompressible... 

In the present study, a high-order compact finite-difference lattice Boltzmann method is applied for accurately computing 3-D incompressible flows in the generalized curvilinear coordinates to handle practical and realistic geometries with curved boundaries and nonuniform grids. The incompressible form of the 3-D nineteen discrete velocity lattice Boltzmann method is transformed into the generalized curvilinear coordinates. Herein, a fourth-order compact finite-difference scheme and a fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme are used for the discretization of the spatial derivatives and the temporal term, respectively, in the resulting 3-D nineteen discrete velocity lattice Boltzmann equation to... 

One of the most important problems facing structural engineers is the analysis of dynamic behavior of bridges subjected to moving vehicles. In addition, viscoelastic supports under bridges change their dynamic behavior under passing traffic loads. This paper presents how to model a bridge with viscoelastic supports and how the maximum dynamic stress of bridges changes during the passing of moving vehicles. Furthermore, this paper presents an algorithm to solve the governing equation of the bridge with viscoelastic supports as well as the equation of motion of a real European truck with different speeds, simultaneously. Using viscoelastic supports with appropriate characteristics can make a... 

The present research is devoted to theoretical study of the pull-in performance of double-sided and paddle-type NEMS actuators fabricated from cylindrical nanowire operating in the Casimir regime and in the presence of the centrifugal force. D'Alembert's principle was used to transform the angular velocity into an equivalent static, centrifugal force. Using the couple stress theory, the constitutive equations of the actuators were derived. The equivalent boundary condition technique was applied to obtain the governing equation of the paddle-type actuator. Three distinct approaches, the Duan-Adomian Method (DAM), Finite Difference Method (FDM), and Lumped Parameter Model (LPM), were applied... 

We introduce a theoretical method for simultaneous measurement of refractive index and thickness of multilayer systems using Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) without any auxiliary arrangement. The input data to the formalism are the FD-OCT measured optical path lengths (OPLs) and properly selected spectral components of FD-OCT interference spectrum. The outputs of the formalism can be affected significantly by uncertainty in measuring the OPLs. An optimization method is introduced to deal with the relatively large amount of uncertainty in measured OPLs and enhance the final results. Simulation result shows that by using the optimization method, indices can be extracted... 

In this paper, we propose a new packet prioritization scheme in order to exploit the full-duplex (FD) capability of the access point (AP) more efficiently, in an asymmetric IEEE 802.11-based WLAN, i.e., only the AP has the in-band FD communications capability. In this respect, we consider a modified version of IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol such that at any transmission opportunity in which AP has the role of the transmitter or the receiver, it does the best to select a partner packet to be simultaneously received or transmitted, respectively. The key feature of our proposed partner packet selection scheme is to reduce the idle time intervals that in an FD transmission opportunity, due to... 

Mesh point positions in Finite Difference Method (FDM) of discretization for the neutron diffusion equation can remarkably affect the averaged neutron fluxes as well as the effective multiplication factor. In this study, by aid of improving the mesh point positions, an enhanced finite difference scheme for the neutron diffusion equation is proposed based on the neutron importance function. In order to determine the neutron importance function, the adjoint (backward) neutron diffusion calculations are performed in the same procedure as for the forward calculations. Considering the neutron importance function, the mesh points can be improved through the entire reactor core. Accordingly, in... 

The secondary flow of PTT fluids in rectangular cross-sectional plane of microchannels under combined effects of electroosmotic and pressure driving forces is the subject of the present study. Employing second-order central finite difference method in a very refined grid network, we investigate the effect of electrokinetic and geometric parameters on the pattern, strength and the average of the secondary flow. In this regard, we try to illustrate the deformations of recirculating vortices due to change in the dimensionless Debye–Hückel and zeta potential parameters as well as channel aspect ratio. We demonstrate that, in the presence of thick electric double layers, significant alteration... 

SnO2-CuO is one the most promising systems for detection of detrimental H2S gas. Although previous experimental research has suggested a sulfidation reaction to explain selectivity toward H2S, little is known about the origin of change of electrical response of this system by changing the H2S gas concentration. In this study the relation between sensing response of continuous SnO2-CuO bilayer thin film and H2S gas concentration is computed based on changeability of chemical composition of covellite CuxS. For this purpose, chemical activity of sulfur as a function of atomic fraction in covellite copper sulfide is estimated using Gibbs energies of formation and chemical thermodynamics. By... 

The particle shape is an important factor playing critical role in evaluation of the interactions between particles in high-concentration particle-fluid flows. In this paper, the well-known multisphere (MS) approximation approach and the novel rolling resistance approach are utilized to examine their performance in order to simplify the generalized shaped particle’s interactions within the framework of discrete element method (DEM) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The performance of two approaches are compared with the perfect particle’s shape geometry, for the limited cases of cubic-shaped and disk-shaped particle flows in a horizontal well drilling process as a reference scenario.... 

A high-order compact finite-difference lattice Boltzmann method (CFDLBM) is extended and applied to accurately simulate two-phase liquid-vapor flows with high density ratios. Herein, the He-Shan-Doolen-type lattice Boltzmann multiphase model is used and the spatial derivatives in the resulting equations are discretized by using the fourth-order compact finite-difference scheme and the temporal term is discretized with the fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme to provide an accurate and efficient two-phase flow solver. A high-order spectral-type low-pass compact nonlinear filter is used to regularize the numerical solution and remove spurious waves generated by flow nonlinearities in smooth regions... 

In this study, a coupled numerical approach based on Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) and Discrete Element Method (DEM) is employed for two-dimensional simulation of fluid flow in deformable particulate media comprising of movable circular particles. The developed LB-DE code is validated against the results of a bi-axial shear test as well as two well-known benchmark problems including settling of a circular particle under gravity force inside a viscous fluid, and motion of a neutrally buoyant particle released in a Poiseuille flow. The verified code is then utilized for simulation of "Sand Production" phenomenon which is of importance for oil producing wells in weakly cemented sandstone... 

The main goal of this study is to assess the application of high-order compact finite-difference schemes for the solution of the Euler equations in conjunction with the compressible vorticity confinement method on both uniform Cartesian and curvilinear grids. Here, the spatial discretization of the governing equations is performed by the fourth-order compact finite-difference scheme and the temporal term is discretized by the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. To stabilize the numerical solution, appropriate dissipation terms are applied and a detail assessment is performed to study the effects of the values of confinement and dissipation coefficients on the solution to reasonably preserve the... 

Bridge behavior under passing traffic loads has been studied for the past 50 years. This paper presents how to model congestion on bridges and how the maximum dynamic stress of bridges change during the passing of moving vehicles. Most current research is based on mid-span dynamic effects due to traffic load and most bridge codes define a factor called the dynamic load allowance (DLA), which is applied to the maximum static moment under static loading. This paper presents an algorithm to solve the governing equation of the bridge as well as the equations of motions of two real European trucks with different speeds, simultaneously. It will be shown, considering congestion in eight case... 

Neutron noise induced by propagating disturbances in VVER-type reactor core is addressed in this paper. The spatial discretization of the governing equations is based on the box-scheme finite difference method for triangular-z geometry. Using the derived equations, a 3-D 2-group neutron noise simulator (called TRIDYN-3) is developed for hexagonal-structured reactor core, by which the discrete form of both the forward and adjoint reactor dynamic transfer functions (in the frequency domain) can be calculated. In addition, both types of noise sources, namely point-like and traveling perturbations, can be modeled by TRIDYN-3. The results are then benchmarked in different cases. Considering the... 

Neutron noise induced by propagating thermal-hydraulic disturbances (propagation noise for short) in pressurized water reactors is investigated in this paper. A closed-loop neutron-kinetic/thermal-hydraulic noise simulator (named NOISIM) has been developed, with the capability of modeling the propagation noise in both Western-type and VVER-type pressurized water reactors. The neutron-kinetic/thermal-hydraulic noise equations are on the basis of the first-order perturbation theory. The spatial discretization among the neutron-kinetic noise equations is based on the box-scheme finite difference method (BSFDM) for rectangular-z, triangular-z and hexagonal-z geometries. Furthermore, the finite... 

Exploiting of the nanostructure arrays as a promising candidate for excitation of neural cells has been analyzed. Based on the importance of the coupling effect between electrode and neuron, a multiphyscis modeling approach has been proposed. The model incorporates theoretically both structural effects (size, geometry) and electrophysiological effects. The system of equations for proposed model has been solved numerically using Finite Element Method for Poisson equation and Finite Difference Method for Cable equation. In this regards we have combined the system of equations in COMSOL platform with Matlab interface accordingly. We have analyzed the effect of excitation of neuron with an extra... 

In this study, the nonlinear partial differential equations governing two phase flow through porous media are solved using two different methods, namely, finite difference and finite element. The capillary pressure term is considered in the mathematical model. The numerical results on a 2-D test case are then compared with the experimental drainage process and water flooding performed on a glass type micromodel. Based on the obtained results, finite difference technique needs less computational time for solving governing equations of two phase flow, but findings of this method show less agreement with the experimental data. The finite element scheme was found to be more adequate and its... 

Fast fault detection (FD) and reconfiguration is necessary for fault tolerant power electronic converters in safety critical applications to prevent further damage and to make the continuity of service possible. The aim of this study is to minimize the number of the used additional voltage sensors in a fault tolerant three-phase converter. In this paper, first a practical implementation of a very fast FD scheme with reduced sensor number is discussed. Then, an optimization in this scheme is also presented to decrease the detection time. For FD, special time and voltage criterion are applied to observe the error in the estimated phase-to-phase voltages for a specific period of time. The...