Sharif Digital Repository

This paper addresses the behavior of confined masonry walls with dominating shear failure mode in walls. For this purpose, failure modes of these walls are classified in details. For each failure mode, complete set of analytical-based relations for deriving parameters related to backbone curves is introduced. Calibrated finite element analyses are utilized as a benchmark for verification of some of the assumptions. The results of the proposed relations are compared with those of several Iranian and non-Iranian experimental data. Sensitivity analysis is performed in order to understand the effects of important behavioral characteristics of these walls. The results of this study indicate that... 

This paper addresses the microstructure-properties relationship during resistance spot welding of martensitic stainless steel (MSS). The effect of the initial base metal microstructure (ferritic microstructure in annealed condition vs. partially tempered martensitic in quench and tempered condition) on the weld microstructure evolution is highlighted. Regardless of the initial base metal microstructure, the fusion zone exhibited a predominantly martensitic structure plus some δ-ferrite. The heat affected zone (HAZ) in the quenched and partially tempered (Q-PT) sheet was featured by formation of martensite and carbide in upper-critical zone and tempering of martensite in sub-critical zone.... 

Failure of basic structures material is usually accompanied by expansion of interior cracks due to stress concentration at the cracks tip. This phenomenon shows the importance of examination of the failure behavior of concrete structures. To this end, 4 types of mortar samples with different amounts of nano-silica (0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%) were made to prepare twelve 50×50×50 mm cubic samples. The goal of this study was to describe the failure and micro-crack growth behavior of the cement mortars in presence of nano-silica particles and control mortars during different curing days. Failure of mortar samples under compressive strength were sensed with acoustic emission technique (AET) at... 

Studying the reliability of cracked structures under different types of failure modes such as a mixture of Mode I and Mode II loadings has been of great importance in many applications. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of different modes of loading, i.e. pure Mode I, pure Mode II and Mixed mode I/II loadings on the reliability of cracked structures via three typical case studies including 1st: through crack in a very wide plate, 2nd: cracked pressurized fuselage and 3rd: cracked fastener holes under actual geometries and loading conditions using the FORM, the fracture toughness and the equivalent SIF for Mixed mode I/II loading which is extracted by the Energy release... 

Tool reliability is one of the most important issues in a flexible manufacturing system. If a tool fails to operate correctly, the performance of the manufacturing system is reduced, the due date may be violated, or the product quality falls behind the standards. This paper develops a bi-objective mathematical model for tool selection in a flexible manufacturing system in order to optimize both reliability and cost. The tools in these environments are considered to have increasing failure rates as they are used over time; a case closer to reality. This paper aims to evaluate the availability of different tools used in a production system, in which the reliability of a tool is dependent on... 

Purpose: Healthcare failure mode and effect analysis (HFMEA) identifies potential risks and defines preventive actions to reduce the effects of risks. In addition, a discrete event simulation (DES) could evaluate the effects of every improvement scenario. Consequently, a proposed integrated HFMEA-DES model is presented for quality improvement in a general hospital. Design/methodology/approach: In the proposed model, HFMEA is implemented first. As any risk in the hospital is important and that there are many departments and different related risks, all defined risk factors are evaluated using the risk priority number (RPN) for which related corrective actions are defined based on experts'... 

System health management based on condition monitoring is of great value and significance for improving system performance and reliability. As more data from condition monitoring is obtained, the efficiency of system health monitoring improves. However, increasing the amount of data by installing new sensors on system components is restricted by a variety of factors such as budget, weight and space allowance. Therefore, sensor selection in the most optimal manner in order to achieve maximum valuable information from system is an important issue. In this study, a novel concept is introduced that can be used in sensor combination optimization problems. This concept employs failure modes and... 

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... 

For a given multicast network problem, there are different solutions. Sometimes some links of a network may be removed by failure and then we will be encountered with link failure in the network. Therefore, one of the objectives of selecting a specific network code solution among different options is to increase the robustness provided by this solution against such failure. In this paper we extend the definition of the minimal subtree graph and replace it with a new definition of minimal subgraph and use it as a basis of a faster method with lower complexity for finding a static network code resistant against all solvable link failure patterns of a network. ©2008 IEEE  

The capability of placing "comments" on the posts makes the blogspaces rather a complex environment. One of the interesting phenomena in blogspace is "blogger failure" when a blogger stops writing after a certain amount of time and will not return to blogspace for a long time, or when a blogger does not get any comment from her audience. In this paper we illustrate our observation on bloggers failure in a unique blogspace. First, we introduce PersianBlog blogspace briefly along with our observations of behaviors of bloggers on placing comments. Next, we will provide our definition of failure, and give a broad future research path to model failure in blogspace  

In the present work, failure analysis of an automatic coupler in railway carriages which failed in service and caused derailment, was carried out. An evaluation of the failed coupler was undertaken to assess its integrity, including visual examination, photo documentation, fractography, chemical analysis, hardness measurement, tensile and charpy impact testing and microstructural characterization. Results show that some casting defects (e.g. mis-run, cold lap, hot crack and inclusion) resulted in poor mechanical properties. Mis-runs were also responsible for fatigue crack nucleation from two different locations. Beach marks can be observed on the fracture surface. According to the results of... 

In the present paper, effects of welding current, welding time, electrode pressure and holding time on the weld nugget size were studied. A failure mechanism was proposed to describe both interfacial and pullout failure modes. This mechanism was confirmed by SEM investigations. In the light of this mechanism, the effect of welding parameters on static weld strength and failure mode was studied. Then, an analytical model was proposed to predict failure mode and to estimate minimum nugget diameter (critical diameter) to ensure pullout failure mode in shear tensile test. On the contrary to existing industrial standards, in this model, critical nugget diameter is attributed to metallurgical... 

Overlay networks have been an active area of research for the past few years. The control overhead and the recovery from failure are the two important issues in the topology aware embedded overlay networks. In this research, we have introduced an enhanced version of the NICE protocol, called resilient NICE (R-NICE) that reduces the control overhead significantly. Furthermore, by saving the join path for an end host, the time and overhead of rejoining for isolated nodes have also been reduced. This will cause the clusters and consequently the overall network to become more stable and the effect of a node failure become localized. Our experimental results have confirmed the superior... 

Purpose: Healthcare failure mode and effect analysis (HFMEA) identifies potential risks and defines preventive actions to reduce the effects of risks. In addition, a discrete event simulation (DES) could evaluate the effects of every improvement scenario. Consequently, a proposed integrated HFMEA-DES model is presented for quality improvement in a general hospital. Design/methodology/approach: In the proposed model, HFMEA is implemented first. As any risk in the hospital is important and that there are many departments and different related risks, all defined risk factors are evaluated using the risk priority number (RPN) for which related corrective actions are defined based on experts'... 

Mooring lines may be damaged under severe conditions during the life of an offshore platform. In the event of a mooring failure, it is possible to break remaining mooring lines in a severe condition, which ultimately leads to the total structural failure; Therefore, the post-failure analysis is very important for the mooring system. In this study, the Amir-Kabir semi-submersible platform has been modeled which is installed in 700 m’ depth of the Caspian Sea, and random waves have been generated towards the structure in the form of the JONSWAP wave spectrum according to the conditions of the Caspian Sea. For analysis, four different mooring configurations have been considered. Then, in each... 

The ongoing COVOD-19(SARS-CoV-2) outbreak has had a devastating impact on the economy, education and businesses. In this paper, the behavior of an epidemic is simulated on different contact networks. Herein, it is assumed that the infection may be transmitted at each contact from an infected person to a susceptible individual with a given probability. The probability of transmitting the disease may change due to the individuals' social behavior or interventions prescribed by the authorities. We utilized simulation on the contact networks to demonstrate how seesaw scenarios of lockdown can curb infection and level the pandemic without maximum pressure on the poor societies. Soft scenarios... 

The ongoing COVOD-19(SARS-CoV-2) outbreak has had a devastating impact on the economy, education and businesses. In this paper, the behavior of an epidemic is simulated on different contact networks. Herein, it is assumed that the infection may be transmitted at each contact from an infected person to a susceptible individual with a given probability. The probability of transmitting the disease may change due to the individuals' social behavior or interventions prescribed by the authorities. We utilized simulation on the contact networks to demonstrate how seesaw scenarios of lockdown can curb infection and level the pandemic without maximum pressure on the poor societies. Soft scenarios... 

Offshore platforms have had diverse applications in the marine industry, for example, oil or gas platforms can provide facilities to store the oil and gas before transport those to refineries. Offshore wind turbines are another well-known use of the offshore platform for generating power. As platforms encounter various strong forces from water and wind currents, the materials used for these structures are mainly steel or concrete. These platforms are classified into different types, according to the depth of water and their applications. In addition, offshore platforms, as artificial reefs may be used for decades at different marine conditions. Consequently, their design and maintenance are... 

Drilled shafts are one of the most important types of pile foundations. Several researchers have suggested different soil failure patterns for driven piles; however, for drilled shafts, this issue is inadequately addressed in the literature. In this paper, a numerical approach was pursued to obtain the location and dimensions of plastic zones around the tip of drilled shafts. The dependence of the suggested failure pattern size on the soil properties and drilled shaft dimensions was investigated. Based on several analyses, a soil jug-shaped failure pattern around the tip of drilled shafts was proposed, and its dimensions were determined using the regression-based and trial and error... 

This paper presents a simulation-based environment to study fault effects in message missing failures in CAN-based systems. A CAN controller is modeled by VHDL at behavioral level and is exploited to set up a network composed of several nodes. A total of 27,000 transient faults of seven types are injected into five critical portions of the system including the bus and four portions of the CAN controller. The experimental results show that the faults affect the message sending in which more than 20% of faults cause the failure. Besides, with a heavy workload, faults that are occurred into the CAN controller and on the bus cause about 90% and 10% of all failures, respectively