Sharif Digital Repository

Maximal strength measurements of the trunk have been used to evaluate the maximum functional capacity of muscles and the potential mechanical overload or overuse of the lumbar spine tissues in order to estimate the risk of developing musculoskeletal injuries. A new triaxial isometric trunk strength measurement system was designed and developed in the present study, and its reliability and performance was investigated. The system consisted of three main revolute joints, equipped with torque sensors, which intersect at L5-S1 and adjustment facilities to fit the body anthropometry and to accommodate both symmetric and asymmetric postures in both seated and standing positions. The dynamics of... 

In this paper, an analytical approach for the reliability modeling of large wind farms is presented. A systematic method based on frequency and duration approach is utilized to model a wind farm like a multistate conventional unit, where the probability, frequency of occurrence, and departure rate of each state can be obtained using the regional wind regime of wind farm and wind turbine characteristics. The proposed method is capable of finding both annual frequency and average time of load curtailment analytically in the presence of wind power. A wind farm in the northern region of Iran with the wind speed registration of one year is studied in this paper. To accommodate time-varying... 

The main purpose of this study is to offer a new method for transient analysis of availability and survivability of a system with the identical components and one repairman and with every combination of components either standard system for example series systems, parallel systems, stand-by systems and K out of N systems or complex system. This method is a technique for fault tree evaluation too. The considered system is supposed to consist of n components and there are some composition of them that systems the failure occurs when one of its composition occur. Some concepts such as fault tree, Markov models, Eigen vectors and Eigen values are employed for analyzing the transient availability... 

This paper evaluates the reliability impact of UPFC application in power system. The paper proposes a new reliability model for the UPFC which is capable of considering different operating states of UPFC. The model is then applied to a test system to study the reliability impacts of UPFC. The impacts of operating points of different states of the model on the system reliability are analyzed. The role of model parameters in reliability impacts of UPFC is analyzed through the sensitivity analysis. A comparative study is finally conducted to illustrate the applicability of the proposed model compare to that of existing UPFC reliability models. The abilities and deficiencies of the proposed... 

In a deregulated electric power utility industry in which a competitive electricity market can influence system reliability, market risks cannot be ignored. This paper (1) proposes an analytical probabilistic model for reliability evaluation of competitive electricity markets and (2) develops a methodology for incorporating the market reliability problem into HLII reliability studies. A Markov state space diagram is employed to evaluate the market reliability. Since the market is a continuously operated system, the concept of absorbing states is applied to it in order to evaluate the reliability. The market states are identified by using market performance indices and the transition rates... 

Considering the high level of interactions between energy and reserve markets, simultaneous clearing of these markets has been shown to provide more efficient solutions, than a sequential market clearing process. In addition, determining reserve requirements based on probabilistic approaches results in more economical efficiency, while maintaining an acceptable level of reliability, compared to deterministic approaches. This paper proposes a new method for clearing energy and spinning reserve markets simultaneously, while at the same time, spinning reserve requirements are determined based on a cost/benefit analysis as a probabilistic-based approach. This cost/benefit analysis considers both... 

The impact of an interline power-flow controller (IPFC) on composite system delivery point and overall system reliability indices is examined in this paper. In this application, the IPFC with dc transmission lines is employed in a system for coordinated control of line impedances of two, distance away, transmission lines with the objective of managing power flows on the two lines. It is also used to balance the real power being transferred between the compensated lines. For this purpose, the reliability model associated with a converter station has been developed and incorporated in an IPFC reliability model. A number of reliability indices are calculated at both the loadpoint and system... 

Since the term was coined in the Brundtland report in 1987, the issue of sustainable development has been challenged in terms of quantification. Different policy options may lend themselves more or less to the underlying principles of sustainability, but no analytical tools are available for a more in-depth assessment of the degree of sustainability. Overall, there are two major schools of thought employing the sustainability concept in managerial decisions: those of measuring and those of monitoring. Measurement of relative sustainability is the key issue in bridging the gap between theory and practice of sustainability of water resources systems. The objective of this study is to develop a... 

AC drive users with sophisticated applications are demanding greater reliability to avoid process interruptions. AC motor drive systems are susceptible to sensors failure. A novel fault tolerant Field Oriented Control system for induction motors is introduced. The system maintains speed control in the event of sensors malfunction and adverse signal conditions, providing enhanced reliability. Different motor models are combined by a Fuzzy aggregation system in order to give a reliable estimate of flux vector. The proposed control system is an effective and easy to implement method giving a potential for motor drive reliability enhancement. © 2006 IEEE  

In this research, theory of fuzzy sets is used to deal with the uncertain nature of soil parameters and the inaccuracy involved in the analysis simultaneously. Soil parameters are defined using suitable fuzzy sets and the uncertainty inherent in the value of factor of safety is assessed. It is believed that this approach accounts for the uncertainty in soil parameters more realistically compared to the conventional probabilistic approaches reported in the literature. The proposed method is applied to a case study and the results are discussed subsequently  

One of the most important aspects in evaluating system reliability is to have a complete understanding of the engineering implications of the system and its associated components. The next step involved in reliability assessment is to appropriately model the system components to represent their characteristics and functions in the overall system. The unified power flow controller (UPFC) is an important flexible AC transmission system controller that can be used to enhance power system reliability. A complete reliability model of a UPFC is developed. A UPFC consists of three subsystems, and a reliability model associated with each subsystem is developed. The individual equivalent models are... 

Substations and switching stations are critical segments in an electric power system. Their impacts on system operation and the consequential effects of their components failure are usually more dominant in overall power system reliability. There is always a degree of uncertainty in the practical input data used in reliability analysis. This paper presents a conceptual possibilistic approach using fuzzy set theory to manage the uncertainties in the reliability input data such as failure rate, repair time and operation of protective devices. Suitable fuzzy numbers are proposed for components reliability data. Load of feeders are also represented by fuzzy numbers and their impact on ENS... 

Fault tree analysis is one of the key approaches used to analyze the reliability of critical systems. Fault trees are usually analyzed using mathematical approaches or Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). This paper presents a Fuzzy-Monte Carlo simulation (FMCS) approach in which the uncertain data is generated by the MCS approach. The FMCS approach is applied to the Weibull probability distribution which is widely been used in the analysis of reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS). Using the fuzzy arithmetic, times to failure (TTF) of the components are generated. These results are processed by a kind of fault tree (e.g. time-to-failure tree) to produce the TTF of the whole...