Sharif Digital Repository

This paper studies the results of compression diagonal tests conducted on a series of retrofitted and non-retrofitted small-scale masonry walls (which are also known as wallettes). Wallettes with the same characteristics and mechanical properties of large masonry walls were retrofitted by using two arrays of glass fiber reinforcement polymer (GFRP) sheets (grid and diagonal), two arrays of carbon fiber reinforcement polymer (CFRP) sheets (grid and diagonal), and near surface mounted bars (steel and GFRP). FRP sheets were applied to both surfaces of the wallettes, and rebar was mounted onto one of the surfaces in two horizontal and two vertical arrangements. All of the methods significantly... 

This research investigated the long-term environmental effects on bond strength at the interface between fiber- reinforced polymers (FRPs) and timber. A total of 581 timber specimens were bonded with seven types of FRP sheets (unidirectional and bidirectional glass, carbon, aramid, and hybrids) using a wet lay-up technique. The specimens were exposed to acidic, alkaline, fresh water, and sea water solutions with pH of 2.5, 7, 7.25, 10, and 12.5 for 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. A chamber was also used to simulate ultraviolet radiation after 6 months. A series of single-lap shear tests were then conducted to determine the interfacial bond strength reduction. The results showed that bidirectional... 

A novel electrode consisting of 3D porous nickel‒cobalt‒copper sulfide dendritic structures is synthesized, in which, for the first time ternary Ni–Co–Cu foam is constructed through hydrogen bubble template and followed by sulfidization via a hydrothermal reaction in thiourea. The 3D, porous Ni–Co–Cu dendritic sulfide electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 1203.75 F g−1 (0.963 F cm−2) at current of 1.0 mA and excellent cycling stability, excellent ratability along with high cycle stability. An asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) using dendritic sulfide structures and reduced electro-etched carbon fiber paper (RECF) as the positive and negative electrodes, respectively is developed.... 

The phenolic-based brake friction composites containing 0, 1, 2 and 4 vol% carbon fiber were fabricated in this study. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed the adverse impact of carbon fiber on the thermal stability of the composites under air atmosphere. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of the uncured samples indicated the positive impact of carbon fiber on the crosslink density of the phenolic resin. Viscoelastic results drawn from the dynamic-mechanical analysis (DMA) suggested that inclusion of carbon fiber increased the storage modulus and decreased the damping factor of the frictional composites. The tribological behavior of the specimens was assessed with a chase type... 

In this research, the mechanical properties of glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars with epoxy resin matrices embedded in concrete were investigated under an extensive range of elevated temperatures (i.e., 25–800 °C). Embedded FRP bars with various bar diameters were studied in order to determine bar diameter influence on the results. In addition, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the experimental results to investigate the contribution of exposure temperature and bar diameter to the tensile behavior of embedded in concrete FRP bars at elevated temperatures. The results show that the tensile strength of embedded FRP bars generally decreases with increasing... 

Demand increasing for next generation portable and miniaturized electronics has aroused much interest to explore microscale and lightweight energy storage devices. Herein, we demonstrate successful development of flexible wire-shaped micro-supercapacitors (micro-SCs) based on novel CoNi2S4/E-NZP film@Cu wire electrode. The etched Ni-Zn-P (E-NZP) film was synthesized by directly deposition of NZP film on Cu wire, followed by a chemical etching process. Alkaline etching treatment provides a micro- and mesoporous structure with high surface area and facilitates the penetration of electrolyte ions into the electrode matrix. Then, CoNi2S4 nanosheets as electroactive material are electrochemically... 

Wire-shaped micro-supercapacitors attracted extensive attentions in next-generation portable and wearable electronics, due to advantages of miniature size, lightweight and flexibility. Herein, NiMoO 4 nanorods supported on Ni film coated Cu wire are successfully fabricated thorough direct deposition of Ni film onto Cu wire as the conductive substrate, followed by growth of the NiMoO 4 nanorods on Ni film coated Cu wire substrate by means a hydrothermal annealing process. The prepared 3D, porous electrode demonstrates extremely high areal specific capacitance of 12.03F cm −2 at the current density of 4 mA cm −2 and retained capacitance of 8.23 F cm −2 at a much higher current density of 80... 

This research investigates the flexural behavior of a polymer concrete beam/pile encased with carbon fiber sleeve. The mechanical properties of carbon fiber sleeves in tension and cement and polymer concrete in compression were determined. Polymer concrete beams were tested in flexure to determine the bending moment capacity. Then, the test results were compared to the theoretical model results. Finally, a parametric study was conducted to determine the influence of beam/pile parameters on the capacity of the element. Based on the investigation, carbon fiber sleeve filled with polymer concrete exhibits outstanding structural performance including ductility and bending capacity  

To investigate the effect of short carbon fibre on the tribological behavior of phenolic resin-based friction materials, a reference friction composite holding various ingredients without short carbon fibre, and three friction composites holding 1, 2 and 4 vol% carbon fibre were formulated. The dynamic-mechanical and thermogravimetric analyses showed the increase of storage modulus and reduction of thermal stability, respectively, with incorporation of carbon fibre into the brake composites. The tribological characterizations revealed that the coefficient of friction (COF) and specific wear rate of the friction composites dropped with addition of carbon fibre into the composites. Carbon... 

Buckling-restrained braces (BRBs) have been spread widely, especially in high seismic hazard zones due to their excellent energy absorption capacity. BRBs are composed of a main load-carrying steel core restrained with other elements mostly made of concrete and steel casing to preserve it from buckling. Although BRBs provide excellent cyclic behavior, a problem is with their heaviness, which leads to difficulties such as installation and transportation. This study presents a numerical and experimental investigation on a BRB with a new proposed restraining system composed of concrete panels confined with partially carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips to reduce the weight of the... 

In this study, zirconia antistatic coatings were synthesized by a simple dip coating sol-gel route on glass substrates, then applied to polymer-based composites to potentially improve their dust or water repellent capabilities. The coating solution contained a precursor (ZrCl4), solvent (isopropanol) and coupling agent. FTIR spectra confirmed ZrO2 and ZrO compounds in both solution and antistatic coating. FE-SEM images indicated ZrO2 fibers’ thickness was controlled by changing ZrCl4 concentration (150 g–15 g ZrCl4/l) or relative humidity (20%–60%) during coating drying. Fibers grew thicker when decreasing the former or increasing the latter. The surface electrical resistivity for all... 

Flexible and lightweight fiber-shaped micro-supercapacitors have attracted tremendous attention as next-generation portable electronic devices, due to their high flexibility, tiny volume, and wearability. Herein, we successfully fabricated a ternary binder-free nanocomposite of MnO2/PEDOT:PSS-rGO on a carbon fiber substrate for application in high performance fiber-shaped micro-supercapacitors. The synergistic effects of the different components in the fiber-shaped electrode help to deliver a high specific capacitance of 2.9 F cm-2 (194 F cm-3 and 550 mF cm-1) at a current density of 5 mA cm-2 and a long cycle life with 95% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles in 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte. A... 

Following our previous work on morphology, corrosion resistance and thermal properties of unsaturated polyester (UP)/nanoclay composites, the effect of electron beam (EB) irradiation on mechanical properties of UP/nanoclay composites with various nanoclay contents is investigated in this work. Moreover, influence of EB irradiation with doses of 100, 500 and 1000 kGy on tensile properties and hardness of nanocomposite was examined. FTIR spectroscopy was employed to examine the effect of irradiation on chemical structure of polymer. EB irradiation up to 500 kGy led to the improvement of tensile strength and hardness of the samples. The best mechanical properties were observed for the... 

Ammonium polyphosphate (APP) is one of the most widely used halogen-free flame retardant, added in various resins to improve the fire properties, such as flame and smoke spread ratings and LOI, of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. This paper experimentally investigates the effects of using APP, as a fire-retardant filler, on mechanical properties (i.e. ultimate tensile, flexural, and bond strength) of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. Based on two fiber types (i.e. carbon and glass) and three different APP mass fractions in resin (i.e. 0, 20, and 40% of total weight of matrix), six sets of specimens were prepared for each... 

This chapter defines rapid manufacturing (RM) as a technique for manufacturing solid objects by the sequential delivery of energy and/or material to specified points in space. Current practice is to control the manufacturing process by using a computer-generated mathematical model. This chapter compares the large speed and cost advantages of RM to alternative polymer or metal manufacturing techniques such as powder metallurgy manufacturing or die casting. Moreover, the RM as an application of solid freeform fabrication for direct manufacturing of goods is addressed. Unlike methods such as computer numerical control (CNC) milling, these techniques allow the fabricated parts to be of high... 

This study represents an effort to predict the bearing strength, failure modes, and failure load of bolted joints in foam-core sandwich composites. The studied joints have been used in a light full composite airplane. By using solid laminates, a new design for the joint zone is developed. These solid laminates include a number of glass plies with total thickness equal to core thickness. The effect of solid laminate size and interface angle of foam-solid laminate in the bonding zone on the bearing strength, failure loads and type of modes are investigated. The numerical study is performed using 3D FEM in ANSYS commercial code. Tsai-Wu failure criterion is used in the failure analysis. The... 

In this research an intelligent emotional learning controller, Takagi- Sugeno- Kang (TSK) is applied to govern the dynamics of a novel Ionic-Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) actuated manipulator. Ionic-Polymer Metal Composites are active actuators that show very large deformation in existence of low applied voltage. In this research, a new IPMC actuator is considered and applied to a 2-dof miniature manipulator. This manipulator is designed for miniature tasks. The control system consists of a set of neurofuzzy controller whose parameters are adapted according to the emotional learning rules, and a critic with task to assess the present situation resulted from the applied control action in... 

The impact strength of poly(methyl methacrylate)/caibon (long) fibre composites for denture prosthesis applications was improved by fibre surface treatment. The carbon fibre surfaces were modified by Nd:YAG laser irradiation at 1064 nm wavelength. Laser light intensity was adjusted at 100 mj per pulse that only changed the fibre surface roughness and did not lead to fibre rupture, as verified by scanning electron microscopy. Increased surface roughness of the fibres improved the adhesion of poly(methyl methacrylate) to the fibre surface. Adhesion between the fibres and poly(methyl methacrylate) was evaluated by a tear-off method and by scanning electron microscopy. The results also suggest... 

Fiber reinforced materials are widely used in many industrial structures including automotive, aviation, and civil due to their lower weights compared to metal structures. Full-composite body structures, especially in automotive and aviation applications, are becoming a proper replacement for current metal ones. For this reason, damage of such structures subjected to impact is a crucial case study in current research. The typical types of damages are mainly caused during production, repair, maintenance, or by particle crashes during function, and collisions between different structures. In this paper, four different fiber reinforced composite plates are studied after being impacted by a... 

Reinforced concrete columns with insufficient transverse steel reinforcement are not capable to dissipate seismic energy due to lack of necessary ductility. In this research, six RC columns with poor transverse reinforcements are tested under cyclic and axial loads as control columns and retrofitted ones. Prestressed and non-pre-stressed CFRP strips used as external transverse reinforcement to evaluate the benefits of active and passive confinement. Results indicate that additional confinement due to the use of CFRP strips enhances the strength, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of columns. The advantages of active confinement versus passive confinement are demonstrated too. © 2006...