Sharif Digital Repository

Cascaded H-Bridge converter has recently been utilized in different high-power applications due to its modular and simple structure. In order to have a balanced operation after a fault occurrence in this converter, it is necessary to detect the switch fault and its location. In this paper, a fast power switch fault detection method is presented to identify the fault and its location. Only one voltage measurement per phase is required by this method, and the fault detection is faster compared to the existing methods. Moreover, it is easy for implementation on an FPGA device, due to the use of simple math, relational and state machine blocks. The proposed method is verified by computer... 

Incremental launching is a widespread bridge erection technique which may offer many advantages for bridge designers. Since internal forces of deck vary perpetually during construction stages, simulation and modeling of the bridge behavior, for each step of launching, are tedious and time consuming tasks. The problem becomes much more complicated in construction progression. Considering other load cases such as support settlements or temperature effects makes the problem more intricate. Therefore, modeling of construction stages entails a reliable, simple, economical and fast algorithmic solution. In this paper, a new Finite Element (FE) model for study on static behavior of bridges during... 

Fault detection is one of the most important tasks in fault tolerant converters. In this paper, a new method is proposed to detect the faulty cell in a cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter. The detection technique is based on comparison of the output voltage with reference voltage made by using switching control pulses and DC-Link voltage. Because of the simplicity of this method, it is possible to use a single field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to implement this method and inverter control. The simulation and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed fault detection technique  

This paper investigates the multiple output full bridge based DC-DC converter and derives the analytical expression for its cross regulation. The effect of input voltage is studied and a topology is proposed that boosts the input voltage by a single stage structure. The proposed converter is based on Z-Source Inverter. In addition, the modulation scheme of the converter is presented. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the analytical study  

Fault tolerant ability is one of the most important tasks in high power converters. In this paper, a comparison between conventional fault tolerant methods is done for four applicable methods. For this purpose, their performance is investigated in specific case study and simulation results are used to illustrate their advantages and disadvantages. The most important features taken into account are maximum available voltage, harmonic distortion of output voltage and input current, and magnitude of common mode voltage. Finally, a decision algorithm based on the results is suggested to select suitable method to control inverter under specific faulty condition  

This paper addresses numerically-derived tsunami wave loads on bridge superstructures using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), which is a type of mesh-free methods. Although there exist some relationships for the case of impinged loads on bridges exerted by regular (sinusoidal) waves, for the case of solitary waves such as tsunamis, no relation has yet been proposed in the literature. This shortcoming is partly due to the lack of understanding the mechanism of wave action on the bridge superstructures. In this study, three water depths, three wave amplitudes and four submergence depths of the deck are considered for the process of numerical investigation of tsunami-induced loads on... 

A three-phase dual active bridge (DAB) topology has been widely applied in high power DC-DC conversion due to its advantages such as bidirectional power transfer, inherent soft switching capability and small filter size. In order to reach the high power density, the volume of the converter must be decreased. The basic idea to reduce the component size is to increase the switching frequency which causes the higher switching loss and reduces the efficiency of the converter. In this paper, the power losses of the three-phase DAB dc/dc converter are formulated and the variation of the efficiency as a function of switching frequency is investigated. In this analysis, the switching loss of the... 

Cascaded H-bridge converter has been utilized recently in different high-power applications due to its modular and simple structure. In order to have a balanced operation after a fault occurrence in this converter, it is necessary to detect the switch fault and its location. In this paper, a fast power-switch fault detection method is presented to identify a fault and its location. Only one voltage measurement per phase is required by this method, and the fault detection is faster compared to the existing methods. Moreover, it is suitable for implementation on an FPGA device due to the use of simple math, relational, and state machine blocks. The proposed method is verified by computer... 

Owing to wide-ranging searches (there are various alignments between two points) as well as complex and nonlinear cost functions and a variety of geometric constraints, the problem of optimal railway alignment is classified as a complex problem. Thus, choosing an alignment between two points is usually done based on a limited number of alignments designed by experts. In recent years, the study of railway alignment optimization has shown the importance of optimization and the introduction of various algorithms and their usefulness in solving different problems. It is expected that applying meta-heuristic optimization algorithms such as methods based on swarm intelligence can lead to better... 

In This paper, a new post-fault control method for symmetric cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverters (CHB-MLIs) is proposed with the aim of the development of CHB-MLIs performance under faulty conditions due to decrease in common mode voltage (CMV). In other words, this technique addresses the exclusive process to select the optimal post-fault state among all available states possess the same amplitude of the output line to line voltages. As a result, this process leads to provide computed phase voltages references to apply to PWM block. Hence, this technique leads to decrease the common mode voltage and eliminate it under some desired output line-line voltages. Finally, the feasibility of... 

In this paper, the influence of the excitation angle on the Endurance Time (TCT) analysis of skewed slab-on-girdcr bridges is studied. The excitation of the structure due to the critical angle produces maximum seismic responses that are sometimes significantly higher than the average. The modeled bridges are of slab-on-girder type that are typically used as highway bridges. The bridge models have skew angles of 0, 15, 30, 45, and CO degrees. The ET excitations exerted on structures cover a broad range of hazard levels. The results provide some insight with regard to choosing multiple excitation angles so as to balance computational costs and retain acceptable accuracy for practical design... 

In this paper, the influence of the excitation angle on the Endurance Time (TCT) analysis of skewed slab-on-girdcr bridges is studied. The excitation of the structure due to the critical angle produces maximum seismic responses that are sometimes significantly higher than the average. The modeled bridges are of slab-on-girder type that are typically used as highway bridges. The bridge models have skew angles of 0, 15, 30, 45, and CO degrees. The ET excitations exerted on structures cover a broad range of hazard levels. The results provide some insight with regard to choosing multiple excitation angles so as to balance computational costs and retain acceptable accuracy for practical design... 

Steel Reinforced Elastomeric Bearings (SREB) are mostly designed and used for providing different supporting conditions under service loads; while recent studies have shown remarkable characteristics which help them as a cost-effective isolation system. However, little investigation has been carried out to indicate the influence of parameters affecting the mechanical properties of the bearings under large shear deformations (i.e., the seismic performance as an isolation system). A comparative parametric study was conducted herein through finite element modeling of SREBs. The implemented model was also verified by experimental test results. The hysteretic behavior was studied in both cases of... 

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 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... 

In this paper application of Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs) in suspension bridge structures for the purpose of vertical vibration improvement is investigated. Functionally graded materials are inhomogeneous composites, which are usually made from a mixture of metal and ceramic. Initially the classical equation of motion is modified based on the FGM model and natural frequencies of structure are extracted by Galerkin method. The material properties of structure vary continuously in the longitude direction according to power law form. In this regard, combination of materials is structured in such a way that the desired frequencies of the bridge are achieved by designing the proper power... 

In this paper an approach was described for determination of direction of sliding block in rock slopes containing planar non-persistent open joints. For this study, several gypsum blocks containing planar non-persistent open joints with dimensions of 15?15?15 cm were build. The rock bridges occupy 45, 90 and 135 cm2 of total shear surface (225cm2 ), and their configuration in shear plane were different. From each model, two similar blocks were prepared and were subjected to shearing under normal stresses of 3.33 and 7.77 kg/cm-2 . Based on the change in the configuration of rock-bridges, a factor called the Effective Joint Coefficient (EJC) was formulated, that is the ratio of the effective...