Sharif Digital Repository

Solar collecting area is one of the most important operating parameters of active solar stills. No experimental work has been performed to investigate the effect of this parameter to date. Furthermore in all of previous theoretical studies the effect of solar collecting area was examined during only the first 24-hour period of the operation of stills with one specified brine depth. However the present work experimentally studies the long-term simultaneous effects of collector area and brine depth on the performance of active solar stills. For this purpose four parallel active solar stills with different collector areas were fabricated and experiments were conducted for 5 consecutive days... 

In this work, the effect of the number of stages on the productivity of a multi-effect active solar still was experimentally investigated for the first time. Moreover, system performances in continuous and non-continuous modes were compared. For this purpose, indoor experiments were conducted on 4 similar solar still devices with different stages (1-4 stages) in order to accurately control the environmental conditions. In addition, water production was hourly measured during the whole 24-h experiment. The results show that with increased number of stages, distillate production can be predicted with a quadratic function. Moreover, adding a maximum of 6 and 10 additional stages can... 

Optical tweezers provide an accurate measurement technique for evaluating mechanical properties of the living cells and many experimental studies have been done to understand the behavior of cells due to external forces. Numerical studies such as finite element methods have been used in order to simulate mechanical behavior of the Red Blood Cells (RBCs). Recent studies have shown that the particle methods are useful tools to simulate the mechanical behavior of living cells. Since in microscopic scales, using discrete models are preferred than continuum methods, a particle-based method is used to simulate the deformation of RBC which is stretched by optical tweezers. The cytoplasm of RBC is... 

Heat transfer is one of the prevalent concepts with many usages in different fields of science, industry and so on. In different applications we need more or less to know about this phenomenon. Control of this phenomenon is too important in some cases and we should be aware how to control it. The importance of heat transfer rate and effect of various parameters on it, is a reason of performing this research. Because of changes of air pressure in different applications, we need to know how heat transfer affected by air pressure. In different places air pressure is higher or lower than atmospheric pressure and we can't use more of experimental equations (e.g. Morgan or Churchill-Chu for a... 

This paper discusses an experimental study of vertical mixing in an aquatic canopy. Vertical variation of physical characteristics of stems is fairly observed in the field and leads to variation in frontal area. This can affect both the flow and the mixing process.We experimentally investigated the effects of vertical density variation on both flow and vertical diffusion at high Reynolds numbers (turbulent flow range). Using rigid cylinders, we simulated step-like density variation in a flume. Vertical mixing coefficient was measured by recording vertical mixing of dye in the flume. The results indicate that vertical mixing coefficient decreases as density increases in depth. Velocity... 

In this study, the partitioning of β-amylase in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) containing polyethylene glycol (PEG) with a molar mass of 6000 and 10 000 and KH 2PO 4 at T = (301.65 and 304.65) K was experimentally studied. In addition, the partitioning of amyloglucosidase in ATPS containing polyethylene glycol with molar mass of 4000, 6000, and 10 000 in the presence of Na 2SO 4 at T = (301.65 and 305.65) K was investigated. The effects of molar mass of PEG, temperature, mass fractions of salt, and the length of the tie line on partition coefficients of the enzymes were also studied. The experimental results showed that while the partition coefficients of enzymes decrease with increasing... 

In this paper, the effects of turbulence on sound generation and velocity fluctuations due to pressure waves in a large subsonic wind tunnel are studied. A trip strip located at different positions in the contraction part or at one position in the diffuser of a large wind tunnel is used to investigate the aforementioned phenomenon, and the results indicate that the trip strip has significant effects on sound reduction. The lowest turbulence intensity and sound are obtained from a trip strip with a diameter of 0.91mm located either at X/L = 0.79 or at X/L = 0.115 in the wide portion of the contraction. Furthermore, the effect of monopole, dipole and quad- rupole sources of aerodynamic noise... 

In primary sedimentation tanks, short-circuiting enlargement of dead zones and high flow mixing problems are caused by circulation regions (dead zones), which can reduce the optimal sedimentation of particles. For proper design of such tanks, the formation of recirculation zones should be avoided. The provision of a baffle as a geometrical modification of a tank may influence the flow field for better sedimentation. Thus, in this study, velocity measurements were performed by a three-dimensional Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) to investigate baffle effects on the velocity distribution in a primary rectangular sedimentation tank, quantitatively. Effects of baffle positioning were also... 

Subsonic wind tunnel experiments were conducted to study the turbulence level in the test section. Measurements were performed by introducing trip strip and/or damping screens on the flow field. The results indicated that the introduction of trip strips not only reduced the turbulence intensity compared to cases without it, but also flattened the variations. Further, the experiments which investigated the impact of the damping screens indicated a similar reduction in turbulence intensity; the pattern, however, remained the same. Furthermore, the results for cases wherein both trip strips as well as damping screens were placed on the contraction and in the settling chamber, respectively,... 

Shot peening is one of the most effective surface strengthening treatment technologies in which compressive residual stresses are induced beneath the specimen surface. Effects of various factors on the distribution of residual stress profile induced by shot peening have been investigated by many researchers. However, initial residual stresses are one of the important factors which affect the shot peening residual stress.This study is aimed to present comprehensive numerical and experimental study on the effect of initial residual stresses on the shot peened specimen. Initial residual stresses were induced using a four-point bending rig and grinding. Incremental center hole drilling (ICHD)... 

Streaming potential measurement is one of the electrokinetic techniques used to determine the average zeta potential of porous rock which can provide reliable information on reservoir flow behavior and wettability state of the rock surface. Streaming potential measurement using electrodes has recently been introduced in the oil reservoirs applications and there are still significant uncertainties during the measurements and interpretation of streaming potential results. The primary purpose of this work is to establish a setup to measure the streaming potential of porous media with low scattering and evaluate voltage measurements based on the paired stabilization and pressure ramping methods.... 

The major objectives of this study are to analytically and experimentally determine the residual resistance factor in the fractured medium based on the polymer solution properties and operational conditions. The parameters considered in this study are the polymer concentration, power law constitutive equation parameter, and salt concentration, sulfonation content of polymer, temperature, and molecular weight of the water soluble polymers which are used in polymer flooding for enhanced oil recovery. The results indicated that residual resistance factor in fractured medium is dependent on the coil overlap parameter and power law equation parameter of polymer. The coil overlap parameter is a... 

The study of water hammer in air-water, two-phase flows in hydraulic structures such as pressurized pipelines and tunnels, siphons, culverts, and junctions is of great importance for design purposes. Water hammer if combined with a periodic slug flow would lead to severe periodic transient pressure fluctuations inside the conduit. Laboratory experiments have been conducted to investigate waterhammer pressure inside a horizontal rectangular conduit carrying a two-phase, air-water slug flow. Tests were performed in an experimental apparatus comprising a 6.8-m-long transparent pipeline 0.06 m wide and 0.1 m high. By rapidly closing a control gate at the end of the conduit, propagating pressure... 

Passive cooling systems such as wind towers or wind catchers can create thermal comfort for building residents in hot and dry regions. This paper introduces an experimental study of a modular design of wind tower called the modular wind tower with wetted surfaces. Air temperature, relative humidity (RH) and airflow velocity parameters were measured at different times and at points when the velocity of the ambient air was zero. The results show that the modular wind tower can decrease the air temperature by an average of 10 °C and increase the relative humidity of airflow in a building by approximately 36% on average. Additionally, the wind tower can create the airflow velocity entering the... 

The aim of this paper is to simulate numerically the airflow induced by a walking visitor and its effects on the contaminant transport and ventilation system effectiveness. To this end, the following models will be used in this study: the Lagrangian Discrete Random Walk (DRW) model to trace the motion of BCPs, the dynamic mesh method to simulate the visitor movement, and the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model to solve the airflow. The validation results of the numerical method are in full agreement with the available experimental data in the literature. The findings of the present study indicate that the visitor's movement has remarkable effect on the basic airflow, and the... 

The effect of porosity in oscillating situations (to the authors' knowledge, for the first time) on a supercritical airfoil (SC0410) has been experimentally investigated. Tests have been carried out in an open circuit suction-type wind tunnel at a free stream Mach number of M = 0:80. Both static and dynamic (pitching) tests have been carried out on the mentioned airfoil. The oscillation frequency for the unsteady tests has been set to 3 and 6 Hz. The amplitude of frequency is ±1 deg. The effect of porosity has been surveyed on the magnitude of pressure fluctuations, phase shift, and lift coefficient loop. The investigations show that increasing porosity in the test section of transonic... 

Elastomeric bearings are becoming a preferred device for isolating bridges, buildings, and sensitive equipment structures. The technical specifications used to procure these isolators are considered as important factors for the consumers. Lack of communication between structural engineers and rubber technologists, causes structural engineers have slight understanding of rubber properties. In the present study, a number of compounds were initially designed and manufactured, based on a previously studied and manufactured isolator compound. The outcome of the experiments indicated the physical and mechanical properties. Afterwards, the targeted improvement led to modification of the compounds... 

An existing hydroelastic model is extended for a flat plate subjected to a compression force with spiral spring boundary conditions during water entry. Both vertical and oblique impacts of the plate into calm water are investigated. A longitudinal strip of the plate is analyzed by fully coupling hydrodynamic pressure with elastic responses. Hydrodynamic pressure is determined by potential flow theory and plate deflections are expressed in terms of dry normal modes. The plate deflections are validated through comparison with available asymptotic models, semi-analytical and experimental results. The effect of compression force on the plate deflection is investigated at the midpoint considering... 

This paper studies the influence of burial depth on slope response and pipe performance under earthquake induced landslide. Three physical models are constructed and tested using 1 g shaking table device. The slope is divided into four sections as toe, lower and upper sections of the slope face and crest. The pips which perpendicularly cross the slope are embedded at these positions in three burial depths to demonstrate burial depth effect in each section. According to the experiments, dynamic slope response which moderately develops at deeper depths at toe and lower section, displays a clear downtrend at upper section and crest. Also, the pipe response depends on pipe route and slope... 

The effects of an obstacle on the suspended load transport rate of supercritical turbidity currents were investigated experimentally. A Vectrino velocity meter was used to measure velocity and sediment concentration profiles. The effects of important parameters including inlet discharge, mean inlet sediment concentration and obstacle height on suspended load transport rate were investigated. In the upstream velocity profiles, the obstacle generates the reflected and the interface regions in addition to the wall and the jet regions. The average amount of suspended load transport rate downstream of the obstacle decreases to about 92%. This confirms the depositional behaviour of turbidity...