Sharif Digital Repository

In this paper, an innovative seismic lateral force resisting system for tall buildings is introduced. In this system, a novel supplemental part, ribbed bracing system (RBSyst), is attached to Braced Tube System, creating a modified BTS. RBSyst is a supplemental part which is attached to the conventional bracing members to eliminate buckling problem. The behavior of RBSyst under tensile force is similar to that of the conventional braces. However, in compression, it prevents the braces from buckling by length reduction. In order to evaluate the efficiency of this new BTS system by performance- based assessment, two typical 40-story tall buildings with different story modules equipped with... 

The interface behavior of rock and concrete and between layers of concrete highly affects the performance of concrete dam structures. In this investigation, a modified direct shear test was implemented in the laboratory to evaluate the interface behavior between (1) rock and conventional vibrated concrete (CVC), (2) rock and roller compacted concrete (RCC), (3) CVC and RCC and (4) two layers of RCC. Series of in situ shear tests were also performed between rock and concrete. The friction angle and cohesion for all tested interface were determined and analyzed. The effect of uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of concrete on the interface behavior was determined. Additionally, the effect of... 

The diagrid structural systems are mainly used for their structural capabilities and architectural aesthetic possibilities which are provided by the unique geometric configurations of these systems. However, the seismic performance factors of these structural systems are not yet explicitly recommended in the existing building codes. In this study, the seismic performance factors (SPFs) of 6- to 24-story steel diagrid structures are determined considering the post-buckling behavior of diagonal members in compression. Also, the effect of change in span length and the diagonal angles on the SPFs of diagrid structures is studied. The ATC-19 coefficient method is used for calculating the SPFs... 

In this work Halloysite nanotubes were used to synthesis a series of modified acrylamide/Quince seeds-based hydrogels (Poly (AAm-co-QS)/Haln). The as-prepared Poly (AAm-co-QS)/Haln hydrogels displayed improved performance as adsorbent in elimination of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution. The structures of the prepared Poly (AAm-co-QS)/Haln hydrogels were identified by XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM, BET, TGA and EDX. Effect of pH value on the swelling behavior and dye adsorption performance of as-prepared hydrogels was explored. The adsorption MB results suggested that the adsorption kinetics fitted the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption experiments at various pH condition indicated that... 

Modified bitumen enhances the performance properties of asphalt mixtures. A number of studies in the last decade have evaluated the performance properties of modified binders at different service temperatures. It is however possible to evaluate some modified binder time-temperature characteristics and performance properties through their rheological master curves. In this research, styrene butadiene styrene, ethylene vinyl acetate, polyphosphoric acid and crumb rubber were used to modify a PG58-22 base binder. Rheological master curves for |G∗| and phase angles of these binders were generated using data from the dynamic shear rheometer and bending beam rheometer at temperatures ranging from... 

Due to demands for the economical operations of power plants and environmental awareness, performance control of a boiler-turbine unit is of great importance. In this paper, a nonlinear Multi Input-Multi Output model (MIMO) of a utility boilerturbine unit is considered. Drum pressure, generator electric output and drum water level (as the output variables) are controlled by manipulation of valves position for fuel, feedwater and steam flows. After state space representation of the problem, two controllers, based on gain scheduling and feedback linearization, are designed. Tracking performance of the system is investigated and discussed for three cases of 'near', 'far' and 'so far' setpoints.... 

A closed-loop control methodology is investigated for stabilization of a vibrating non-classical micro-scale Euler-Bernoulli beam with nonlinear electrostatic actuation. The dimensionless form of governing nonlinear Partial Differential Equation (PDE) of the system is introduced. The Galerkin projection method is used to reduce the PDE of system to a set of nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE). In non-classical micro-beams, the constitutive equations are obtained based on the non-classical continuum mechanics. In this work, proper control laws are constructed to stabilize the free vibration of non-classical micro-beams whose governing PDE is derived based on the modified strain... 

Over the past decades, Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAIDs) have been configured based on mechanical characteristics of Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). With the advent of Solid-State Drives (SSDs), configurations such as stripe unit size can be far from the characteristics of SSDs. In this paper, we investigate the effect of stripe unit size on the endurance and the overall I/O performance of an SSD-based RAID array and compare the optimal stripe unit size with the suggested stripe unit sizes for HDD-based RAID. To this end, we first examine the number of extra page reads and writes imposed by write requests, and then observe the corresponding impact on the overall throughput and the... 

In many situations, the quality of a process can be characterized better by a relationship, known as a profile, between a response variable and one or more predictors. Almost all research efforts assume that response variable is continuous and follows a normal distribution, while there are instances in which the response is a binary variable, and methods such as logistic regression are commonly used. In this paper, four control schemes namely Hotelling T2, MEWMA, Likelihood Ratio Test (LRT) and LRT/EWMA are proposed to monitor binary response profiles in phase II. The performance of the proposed control charts is evaluated and compared by simulation experiments for different shift values in... 

Redundancy Allocation Problem (RAP) is one way to increase system reliability. In most of the models developed so far for the RAP, system components are considered to have a binary state consisting of "working perfect" or "completely failed". However, to suit the real-world applications, this assumption has been relaxed in this paper, such that components can have three states. Moreover, a Bi-Objective RAP (BORAP) is modeled for a system with serial subsystems, in which non-repairable tri-state components of each subsystem are configured in parallel and the subsystem works under k-out-of-n policy. Furthermore, to enhance system reliability, technical and organizational activities that can... 

Shock Control Bump (SCB) reduces the wave drag in transonic ight. To control the boundary layer separation and to reduce the wave drag for two transonic airfoils, RAE-2822 and NACA-64A010, we investigate the application of two flow control methods, i.e. suction and blowing, to add them to the SCB. An adjoint gradient-based optimization algorithm is used to find the optimum shape and location of SCB. The performance of both Hybrid Suction/SCB (HSS) and Hybrid Blowing/SCB (HBS) is a function of the sucked or injected mass flow rate and their position. A parametric study is performed to find the near optimum values of the aerodynamic coefficients and efficiency. A RANS solver is validated and... 

One of the methods of force/moment exertion on micro beams is utilizing piezoelectric actuators. In this paper, considering the effects of the piezoelectric actuator on asymptotic stability achievement, the boundary control problem for the vibration of a clamped-free micro-cantilever Timoshenko beam is addressed. To achieve this purpose, the dynamic equations of the beam actuated by a piezoelectric layer laminated on one side of the beam are extracted. The control law was implemented so that vibrations of the beam could be decayed. This control law was achieved based on feedback of time derivatives of boundary states of the beam. The obtained control was applied in the form of piezoelectric... 

This paper is concerned with the stability of nonlinear Lipschitz systems subject to bounded process and measurement noises when transmission from sensor to controller is subject to distortion due to quantization. A stabilizing technique and a sufficient condition relating transmission rate to Lipschitz coefficients are presented for almost sure asymptotic bounded stability of nonlinear uncertain Lipschitz systems. In the absence of process and measurement noises, it is shown that the proposed stabilizing technique results in almost sure asymptotic stability. Computer simulations illustrate the satisfactory performance of the proposed technique for almost sure asymptotic bounded stability... 

Nonlinear filtering techniques are used to fuse the Global Positioning System (GPS) with Inertial Navigation System (INS) to provide a robust and reliable navigation system with a performance superior to that of either INS or GPS alone. Prominent nonlinear estimators in this field are Kalman Filters (KF) and Particle Filters (PF). The main objective of this research is the comparative study of the well-established filtering methods of EKF, UKF, and PF based on EKF and UKF in an INS-GPS integrated navigation system. Different features of INS-GPS integrated navigation methods in the state estimation, bias estimation, and bias/scale factor estimation are investigated using these four filtering... 

The performance of an HTPB/N2O hybrid motor was experimentally investigated. A hybrid motor was designed and manufactured in a laboratory with the purpose of studying the effects of various parameters on the motor's performance, including fuel regression rate and specific impulse. A series of tests were conducted to find a correlation between the fuel regression rate and the oxidizer's mass flux. The effects of chamber's pressure on the regression rate as well as other performance parameters were investigated. While the burning rate did not change dramatically, both the efficiency and ISP of the motor increased. The local fuel regression rate and the fuel port were also calculated. In... 

Currently, the HIFU (High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound) therapy method is known as one of the most advanced surgical techniques of tumor ablation therapy. Simulation of the non-linear acoustic wave and tissue interaction is essential in HIFU planning to improve the usefulness and efficiency of treatment. In this paper, linear, thermoviscous, and nonlinear equations are applied using two different media: liver and water. Transducer power of 8.3-134 Watts with the frequency of 1.1 MHz is considered as the range of study to analyze the interaction of wave and tissue. Results indicate that the maximum focal pressure of about 0.5-4.3 MPa can be achieved for transducer power rates of 8.3 to 134 W.... 

In this research, 19 specimens of ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced concrete rectangular beams were made and their shear resistance was determined experimentally. The results were compared with estimations by ACI 318, RILEM TC 162-TDF, Australian guideline, and Iranian national building regulations. To compare the code estimations, the ratio of experimental shear strength to predicted shear strength was calculated for each code. This ratio is in fact a measure of safety factor on the one hand and a measure of precision of the estimation on the other hand. Based on the results of both studies, the authors concluded that the Australian guideline, with the amount of 2.5, provided the... 

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are a promising solution for reducing the impacts of passenger vehicles on the environment. However, their driving range is restricted due to the limitations of battery technologies. This range can be extended by adoption of multiple-speed transmissions. Most of the comparisons in the related studies are based on non-optimal designs or limited to modal driving cycles. Furthermore, the impact of Power-Split. Continuously Variable Transmission (PS-CVT) layout with type III power How on the power consumption of BEVs has never been examined. In this paper, single-, two-, and three-speed transmissions along with PS-C'VTs with type I and III power flows are... 

In this research, 19 specimens of ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced concrete rectangular beams were made and their shear resistance was determined experimentally. The results were compared with estimations by ACI 318, RILEM TC 162-TDF, Australian guideline, and Iranian national building regulations. To compare the code estimations, the ratio of experimental shear strength to predicted shear strength was calculated for each code. This ratio is in fact a measure of safety factor on the one hand and a measure of precision of the estimation on the other hand. Based on the results of both studies, the authors concluded that the Australian guideline, with the amount of 2.5, provided the... 

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are a promising solution for reducing the impacts of passenger vehicles on the environment. However, their driving range is restricted due to the limitations of battery technologies. This range can be extended by adoption of multiple-speed transmissions. Most of the comparisons in the related studies are based on non-optimal designs or limited to modal driving cycles. Furthermore, the impact of Power-Split. Continuously Variable Transmission (PS-CVT) layout with type III power How on the power consumption of BEVs has never been examined. In this paper, single-, two-, and three-speed transmissions along with PS-C'VTs with type I and III power flows are...