Sharif Digital Repository

Endothelial inflammation as a prominent precursor to atherosclerosis elicits a distinct pathological surface expression of particular vascular proteins. To exhibit a site-specific behaviour, micro- and nanoparticles, as carriers of therapeutics or imaging agents, can distinguish and use these proteins as targeted docking sites. Here, a computational patient-specific model capturing the exclusive luminal qualities has been developed to study the transport and adsorption of particles decorated with proper antibodies over an atherosclerotic plaque located in the LAD artery of the patient. Particles, in nano- and micron sizes, have been decorated with Sialyl Lewisx (sLex), P-selectin aptamer... 

The impact behavior of aluminum/epoxy laminates was studied by changing the number of layers and the interface strength. It should be noted that although the overall thickness did not changed, the individual layers decreased in thickness when the number of layers increased. The results indicate that the impact resistance of the laminate increases with the number of layers, while the interface strength has a less pronounced influence (50%) on the impact resistance of the laminate. It is also deducted that if the ratio of layer thickness to plastic zone size is smaller than or equal to 1, the impact behavior of the laminates is sensitive to the interface strength. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All... 

The present paper demonstrates the performance of the radiation grafting technique as a chemically based surface pretreatment method to adhesion modification of polyethylene surfaces toward the metallic layer. Gamma irradiation over a dose range of 4-10 kGy is used for grafting of vinyl monomers including acrylamide (AAm) and 1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (NVP) onto the surface of three different polyethylenes including low density polyethylene (LDPE) and two kinds of high density polyethylenes, namely HDPE-1 and HDPE-2. The grafting yield is evaluated based on the weight increase of the samples. It is found that the grafting yield is dominated by the crystallinity of the polyethylene, so that lower... 

In this paper, an application of the reproducing kernel particle method (RKPM) is presented in plasticity behavior of pressure-sensitive material. The RKPM technique is implemented in large deformation analysis of powder compaction process. The RKPM shape function and its derivatives are constructed by imposing the consistency conditions. The essential boundary conditions are enforced by the use of the penalty approach. The support of the RKPM shape function covers the same set of particles during powder compaction, hence no instability is encountered in the large deformation computation. A double-surface plasticity model is developed in numerical simulation of pressure-sensitive material.... 

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... 

Structural, microstructural and mechanical properties in roll bonding of AA5052 and polypropylene sheets have been evaluated in this study. The surface roughness of the AA5052 sheets, rolling temperature and the surface energy of polymer were selected as the bonding variables. The findings indicated that an increase in the surface energy of polypropylene by grafting maleic anhydride would result in higher bonding strength due to chemical interaction between the AA5052 and the maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MAH). In fact, this reaction caused the formation of an interphase layer at the polymer side of the interface and the diffusion of aluminum into the PP-g-MAH layer. It was... 

Structural, microstructural and mechanical properties in roll bonding of AA5052 and polypropylene sheets have been evaluated in this study. The surface roughness of the AA5052 sheets, rolling temperature and the surface energy of polymer were selected as the bonding variables. The findings indicated that an increase in the surface energy of polypropylene by grafting maleic anhydride would result in higher bonding strength due to chemical interaction between the AA5052 and the maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MAH). In fact, this reaction caused the formation of an interphase layer at the polymer side of the interface and the diffusion of aluminum into the PP-g-MAH layer. It was... 

In this study, lamination as extrinsic mechanism was considered to enhance damage tolerance of three-layer Al6061-5%vol. SiCp/Al1050/Al6061-5%vol. SiCp composites. To fabricate laminates of dissimilar interfacial adhesion, different rolling strains were applied during hot roll-bonding. The discrepancy in interfacial strength of laminates was examined by shear test while toughness values were studied using three-point bending test. It was revealed that both interfacial adhesion and damage tolerance were influenced by rolling strain. Interfacial bonding played the major role in the energy absorption during fracture which was quantified as initiation, propagation and total toughness. The... 

The current investigation was to present composite membranes with strong interfacial adhesion between top polymeric selective layer and the bottom micro-porous support layer with appropriate gas permeation behavior and practically suitable processing characteristics. To this end, a series of acrylate-terminated polyurethanes (APUs) based on poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) with different molecular weights (Mn) of 600, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 4000 g/mol, toluene diisocyanate (TDI), and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) were synthesized. Composite membranes were prepared with UV-curable acrylate-terminated polyurethane/acrylate diluent (APUAs) as selective layer and polyester/polysulfone (PS/PSF) as... 

Asphaltene precipitation is known to be responsible for serious challenges in oil industry such as wellbore damage, oil flow reduction, and plugging of transportation lines. The traditional methods to remove asphaltene deposition are mostly based on chemical solvent. One of the recent proposed green and cost–effect remedial methods is the application of microorganisms capable of consuming the heavy hydrocarbon chains. The cell surface hydrophobicity among others effectively manipulates the efficiency of the microorganism for asphaltene degradation. Besides, surface active agents would affect the microorganism adhesion and cell surface properties, and alters its hydrophobicity. Investigating... 

A finite element model for seismic analysis of concrete arch dams is proposed. Material inelasticity as well as joints nonlinearity is considered. A damage-plastic formulation governs nonlinear behavior of concrete. Degeneration occurring during nonlinear behavior of concrete induces anisotropy into its microstructure. This anisotropy becomes more complex in seismic simulations, in which the state of stress expeditiously changes with time. Thus, anisotropic formulation is preferred over classical isotropic models. Utilizing rate-dependent anisotropic damage-plastic model, irreversible deformations, stiffness degeneration, induced anisotropy, closing/reopening of cracks, and viscous response... 

Asphaltene precipitation is known to be responsible for serious challenges in oil industry such as wellbore damage, oil flow reduction, and plugging of transportation lines. The traditional methods to remove asphaltene deposition are mostly based on chemical solvent. One of the recent proposed green and cost–effect remedial methods is the application of microorganisms capable of consuming the heavy hydrocarbon chains. The cell surface hydrophobicity among others effectively manipulates the efficiency of the microorganism for asphaltene degradation. Besides, surface active agents would affect the microorganism adhesion and cell surface properties, and alters its hydrophobicity. Investigating...