Sharif Digital Repository

The flow through an axisymmetric supersonic mixed-compression air inlet has been simulated numerically to investigate the effects and the necessity of the three-dimensional (3D) modeling in comparison with the axisymmetric one. For this purpose, a supersonic inlet has been simulated numerically via axisymmetric and 3D CFD solvers, using the steady state Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations along with the SST k-ω turbulence model, for a free-stream Mach number of 2.0 and at zero degrees angle of attack. The grid for the 3D cases was a 14.4-degree sector, instead of a 360-degree domain one, with rotational periodic boundary condition for the side boundaries. The results show that both... 

In this study, fabrication of a three-dimensional porous scaffold was performed using freeze gelation method. Recently, fabrication of scaffolds using polymer blends has become common for many tissue engineering applications due to their unique tunable properties. In this work, we fabricated alginate-gelatin porous hydrogels for wound healing application using a new method based on some modifications to the freeze-gelation method. Alginate and gelatin were mixed in three different ratios and the resulting solutions underwent freeze gelation to obtain 3D porous matrices. We analyzed the samples using different characterization tests. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results indicated... 

In recent years, a range of studies have been conducted with the aim to design and characterize delivery systems that are able to release multiple therapeutic agents in controlled and programmed temporal sequences, or with spatial resolution inside the body. This sequential release occurs in response to different stimuli, including changes in pH, redox potential, enzyme activity, temperature gradients, light irradiation, and by applying external magnetic and electrical fields. Sequential release (SR)-based delivery systems, are often based on a range of different micro- or nanocarriers and may offer a silver bullet in the battle against various diseases, such as cancer. Their distinctive... 

The objective of the research is to determine the effect of friction stir processing (FSP) parameters and vibration on the machining behavior of AZ91 alloy. The article displays the state of the art of AZ91 alloy machinability including chip formation, chip morphology, and cutting forces. In this method, the vibration was applied to the process line through the fixture under the workpiece during the FSP. The three-dimensional finite element (FE) modeling was applied for simulating the small-hole drilling process of AZ91 alloy. The large deformation of work and the chip formation in drilling process is realized by incorporating Johnson-Cook material constitutive model and material failure... 

Background and Objective: Blood flow variation during cardiac cycle is the main mechanism of atherosclerotic development which is dependent on. Methods: The present work mainly tends to investigate stenosis effect in dynamic curvature of coronary artery. This paper presents numerical investigations on wall shear stress profiles in three-dimensional pulsatile flow through curved stenotic coronary arteries for both static and dynamic model. In order to do so, three-dimensional models related to the curved arteries with two degrees of stenosis (30% and 50%). Results: Lower amount of wall shear stress is found near the inner wall of artery distal to the plaque region (stenosis) and in both... 

In this paper, the three-dimensional (3D) stress analysis of plate-type structures in instability conditions is presented. The displacement-based and hybrid-mixed four-node quadrilateral elements are developed taking the advantages of the sampling surfaces (SaS) method. The SaS formulation is based on considering inside the plate N not equally spaced SaS parallel to the middle surface to specify the displacements of these surfaces as primary plate unknowns. The displacements, strains and stresses are assumed to be distributed through the thickness using Lagrange polynomials of degree N–1 that lead to a well-set higher-order plate theory. The locations of SaS are based on the use of Chebyshev... 

The early stages of nucleation and growth of nanostructures can control the shape and final size of the fabricated nanostructure. Therefore, the study of the nucleation and growth mechanism of nanostructures is of great importance. The purpose of this study is to investigate the nucleation and growth mechanism of nickel nanocones from a chloride-based bath containing ethylene ammonium dichloride as a crystal modifier. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and chronoamperometry tests were employed to investigate the nucleation and growth mechanism and also the mechanism of crystal modifier performance on the growth of nanocones. Electrochemical studies revealed... 

A novel fault-tolerant model predictive control (MPC)-based trajectory tracking approach for an aerial vehicle is presented in this study. A generalised online sequential extreme learning machine is introduced first to identify the corresponding coefficients of actuator faults. Subsequently, a robust trajectory tracking control is developed based on MPC, where the system constraints can be effectively considered in the designed control scheme. Trajectory tracking control is achieved by controlling only the acceleration of the aerial robot in the MPC structure. This leads to less computational burden and faster closed-loop dynamics. In addition, an effective disturbance observer is employed,... 

Cell survival during the early stages of transplantation and before new blood vessels formation is a major challenge in translational applications of 3D bioprinted tissues. Supplementing oxygen (O2) to transplanted cells via an O2 generating source such as calcium peroxide (CPO) is an attractive approach to ensure cell viability. Calcium peroxide also produces calcium hydroxide that reduces the viscosity of bioinks, which is a limiting factor for bioprinting. Therefore, adapting this solution into 3D bioprinting is of significant importance. In this study, a gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) bioink that is optimized in terms of pH and viscosity is developed. The improved rheological properties... 

A thorough understanding and accurate prediction of non-Newtonian fluid flow dynamics in rotating annular media are of paramount importance to numerous engineering applications. This is in particular relevant to oil and gas industry where this type of flow could occur during, e.g., drilling, well completion, and enhanced oil recovery scenarios. Here, mathematically we report on physical-based (numerical) and data-driven (intelligent) modeling of three-dimensional laminar flow of non-Newtonian fluids driven by axial pressure gradient in annular media that consist of a coaxially rotating inner cylinder. We focus on the dynamics of pressure loss ratio (PLR)—the ratio of total pressure loss in... 

A three-dimensional electrode based on porous Cu2O-Cu1.8S nanowires is prepared by means of a facile fabrication process. In this electrode, nanowires are decorated with Cu1.8S polyhedral nanostructures on the top, which are directly grown on a copper foam, thereby eliminating the need for a polymer binder. As an electrochemical electrode, it exhibits an extrinsic pseudocapacitive charge storage mechanism, which is different from that of battery-like Cu2O-CuO and Cu(OH)2 electrodes. The areal and volumetric capacitances of the Cu2O-Cu1.8S electrode can reach 2.6 F cm-2 and ∼200 F cm-3, respectively, at 2 mA cm-2, which are much higher than those obtained using copper(i, ii) oxide and... 

One of the most important steps towards 3D scene understanding is the semantic segmentation of images. The 3D scene understanding is considered as the crucial requirement in computer vision and robotic applications. With the availability of RGB-D cameras, it is desired to improve the accuracy of the scene understanding process by exploiting the depth along with appearance features. One of the main problems in RGB-D semantic segmentation is how to fuse or combine these two modalities to achieve more advantages of the common and specific features of each modality. Recently, the methods that encounter deep convolutional neural networks have reached the state-of-the-art results in dense... 

Horizontal ground heat exchangers (GHEs) have a lower cost in comparison to vertical ones; however, they require more land area. For the sake of reducing the required land area for horizontal GHEs, flat-panel GHEs have been recently introduced. In this piece of research, a 3-D numerical model has been developed to predict the thermal performance of flat-panel GHEs. In this study, at first, the thermal performance of a flat-panel GHE has been compared with that of linear horizontal ones. The results demonstrate that the flat-panel GHE has a better thermal performance of about 27% in comparison to an arrangement of linear GHEs with a value of 0.5 m for pipe spacing. In the second part of this... 

Multi-turn resolvers are proposed to be used in high accuracy, high-reliability applications that need to have the benefits of absolute measurement and high accuracy, simultaneously. In this paper, the influence of different arrangements of rotary transformer (RT) and resolvers' core on the accuracy of a multi-turn wound rotor (WR) resolver is discussed. Then, an optimal configuration with the aim of reducing the total cost, and the total volume of the sensor is proposed. All the analysis is done using 3-D time-variant finite element method (3-D TVFEM) and the optimal structure is built for experimental tests. Finally, experimental measurements are employed to verify the simulation results.... 

A three-dimensional model has been developed to describe the multiphase release of macromolecular drugs encapsulated in a hydrogel. The heterogeneity of network mesh size was considered by assigning varying diffusion coefficients to the network lattices randomly. Using a stochastic approach, the random nature of diffusion of drug molecules was captured within the network. The simplest form of distribution containing two diffusion coefficients was tested. To generate the drug release profiles for experimental validation under the limitation of computational cost, a simple scaling relationship was employed. Unlike the single-diffusivity model, the dual-diffusivity model showed good agreement... 

Purpose: Spiral-wound heat exchangers (SWHEs) are widely used in different industries. In special applications, such as cryogenic (HEs), fluid properties may significantly depend on fluid temperature. This paper aims to present an analytical method for design and rating of SWHEs considering variable fluid properties with consistent shell geometry and single-phase fluid. Design/methodology/approach: To consider variations of fluid properties, the HE is divided into identical segments, and the fluid properties are assumed to be constant in each segment. Validation of the analytical method is accomplished by using three-dimensional numerical simulation with shear stress transport k-ω model, and... 

This study presents a novel statistical volume element (SVE) for micromechanical modeling of the white matter structures, with histology-informed randomized distribution of axonal tracts within the extracellular matrix. The model was constructed based on the probability distribution functions obtained from the results of diffusion tensor imaging as well as the histological observations of scanning electron micrograph, at two structures of white matter susceptible to traumatic brain injury, i.e. corpus callosum and corona radiata. A simplistic representative volume element (RVE) with symmetrical arrangement of fully alligned axonal fibers was also created as a reference for comparison. A... 

Growing demands for clean and renewable energy technologies have sparked broad research on the development of highly efficient and stable non-noble metal electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this regard, in the present work a three-dimensional Fe2TiO5/nitrogen-doped graphene (denoted as 3D FTO/NG) hybrid electrocatalyst was synthesized via a facile in-situ process using a hydrothermal method. Structural characterization of the prepared nanocomposite is performed by various techniques e.g. field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra (XPS),... 

Spinal posture including thorax/pelvis orientations as well as loads on the intervertebral discs are crucial parameters in biomechanical models and ergonomics to evaluate the risk of low back injury. In vivo measurement of spinal posture toward estimation of spine loads requires the common motion capture techniques and laboratory instruments that are costly and time-consuming. Hence, a closed loop algorithm including an artificial neural network (ANN) and fuzzy logic is proposed here to predict the L5–S1 segment loads and thorax/pelvis orientations in various 3D reaching activities. Two parts namely a fuzzy logic strategy and an ANN from this algorithm; the former, developed based on the... 

Sparse representation can be extended to high dimensions and can be used in many applications, including three-dimensional (3D) Inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging. In this study, the high-dimensional sparse representation problem and a recovery method called high-dimensional smoothed least zero-norm (HDSL0) are formulated. In this method, the theory and computation of tensors and approximating L0 norm using Gaussian functions are used for sparse recovery of high-dimensional data. To enhance the performance of HDSL0, modified regularised high-dimensional SL0 (MRe-HDSL0) algorithm, which benefits from the regularised form of SL0 and an additional hard thresholding step, is...