Sharif Digital Repository

Density currents (DCs) or gravity currents are driven by gravity in a fluid environment with density variation. Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) has been proved to have capabilities such as free surface modeling and accurate tracking of the immiscible-fluids interface that can be useful in the context of gravity currents. However, SPH applications to gravity currents have been limited to often-coarse simulations of high density-ratio currents. In this work, the SPH projection method is tried to solve currents with very low density-ratios (close to one), at a resolution, that captures the Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities at the fluids interface. Existing implementations of the SPH... 

The network of actin filaments in the lamellipodium (LP) of stationary and migrating cells flows in a retrograde direction, from the membrane periphery toward the cell nucleus. We have theoretically studied this phenomenon in the circular stationary (fully spread) cells. Adopting a continuum view on the LP actin network, new closed-form solutions are provided for the actin-retrograde-flow (ARF) in a polar coordinate system. Due to discrepancy in the mechanical models of the actin network in the ARF regime, solutions are provided for both assumptions of solid and fluid behavior. Other involved phenomena, including polymerizing machine at the membrane periphery, cytosol drag, adhesion... 

Through the activation process of T cells, actin filaments move from the cell periphery toward the cell center. The moving filaments engage with T cell receptors and thus contribute to transportation of the signaling molecules. To study the connection between the moving actin filaments and T cell receptors, an experiment available in the literature has measured filaments flow velocity passing over a region of confined clusters of receptors. It shows that flow velocity decreases in the proximity of the receptors, and then regains its normal value after traversing the region, suggesting a dissipative friction-like connection. In this work, we develop a minimal theoretical model to re-examine... 

In this article, the flow field around NACA0024 airfoil with step at lower and upper surfaces is experimentally investigated. For this purpose, particle image velocimetry technique based on the instantaneous flow structures is used to investigate the flow field around the airfoil at different times. All the experimental measurements in current study are conducted at very low Reynolds number condition based on the chord of the airfoil (Re=2000) and at angles of attack at 0° and 5° where the flow around airfoils is separated. The differences between vortical structures, mean streamlines, sizes of the wake regions, and vortex shedding of the stepped airfoils compared to unmodified airfoil are... 

In growing economic energy systems, the interdependency of various energy infrastructures has led to a change in countries' policies in their expansion planning of energy networks. In this study, a mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) model is proposed for expansion planning of the multi-carrier systems including electricity and gas distribution networks. The optimal planning determines the best location, time, and alternative for network assets in order to minimise investment costs and reduce losses. Also, as another distinctive feature of this study, given the integration of electricity and gas distribution networks and the complexity of the problem, a new MILP model using... 

Recently, the elliptic-braced moment resisting frame (ELBRF) which is a new lateral bracing system installed in the middle bay of the frame in the facade of buildings is introduced. This system not only prevents a solution for opening space problem in view of architectural aspects, but also improves the structural behavior. The main drawback of its using in view of numerical modeling in multistory buildings is lack of curved frame element in design and analysis software. To overcome this shortcoming, in this paper, for the first time, an equivalent element for elliptic brace is presented for ELBRF through a laboratory program and nonlinear finite element analysis, which will contribute to... 

Prior studies were conducted in an isolated manner for the use of glass powder (GP) either as ordinary Portland cement (OPC) replacement material in blended cement or as a precursor in AAM material. There was no reported literature that made a direct comparison on the properties of blended cement and AAM containing GP with an equivalent mix composition. The present study was aimed to evaluate and compare the effects of GP as a partial precursor on properties of both OPC and alkali-activated slag (AAS) mortars. For this purpose, cement and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) was partially replaced with 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% (by weight) GP in OPC and AAS mortars, respectively. The... 

Purpose - A numerical method is developed to capture the interaction of solid object with two-phase flow with high density ratios. The current computational tool would be the first step of accurate modeling of wave energy converters in which the immense energy of the ocean can be extracted at low cost. Design/methodology/approach - The full two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are discretized on a regular structured grid, and the two-step projection method along with multi-processing (OpenMP) is used to efficiently solve the flow equations. The level set and the immersed boundary methods are used to capture the free surface of a fluid and a solid object, respectively. The full... 

A new perspective suitable for understanding the details of nonlinear pumping (formation of traveling shocks) inside a pressurized cavity is constructed in this paper. Full compressible axisymmetric three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are used as the starting point to cover all complexities of the problem that exceedingly increase for particular ranges of Mach, Reynolds and Prandtl numbers. Then a very high-order numerical method is introduced to preserve the user-defined order of accuracy for practical simulations. For removal of spurious waves, higher-order compact filters are derived. All equations are marched in time using the classical Runge-Kutta algorithm which is appropriate... 

Large-stencil schemes which their spectral properties are acceptable in the vicinity of ω = π are analyzed for the first time. A machine independent model for evaluating the efficiency of generalized time-marching finite-difference algorithms over periodic domains is developed. This model which is based on operation count reveals that for small values of Total Computational Cost(TCC), the previous low-order small-stencil schemes are more efficient while for moderate TCC, the efficiency of optimized large-stencil schemes abruptly increases. This important result is the motivation for developing optimized large-stencil schemes. The current schemes are successfully implemented in a full... 

Recently, several high-order accurate methods have been developed for solving nonlinear equations governing in the high-frequency oscillations of a fluid column. If we assume that the value of Reynolds and Prandtl numbers are high enough then it is possible to neglect the effect of Stokes Layer and it has been previously shown that the calculated pressure profile obtained by solving three-dimensional axisymmetric compressible NS (Navier-Stokes) equations is in good agreement with one-dimensional adiabatic model of Ilinskii. For this particular flow which is the typical of engineering flows inside acoustical compressors, it is clear that high-resolution simulation of NS equations in higher... 

A new perspective suitable for understanding the details of nonlinear pumping (formation of traveling shocks) inside a pressurized cavity is constructed in this paper. Full compressible axisymmetric three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are used as the starting point to cover all complexities of the problem that exceedingly increase for particular ranges of Mach, Reynolds and Prandtl numbers. Then a very high-order numerical method is introduced to preserve the user-defined order of accuracy for practical simulations. For removal of spurious waves, higher-order compact filters are derived. All equations are marched in time using the classical Runge-Kutta algorithm which is appropriate... 

Electrochemical anodization is a cost-effective surface modification method that has been used in recent years not only for creating protective layers but also for the fabrication of porosity in biomedical applications. This method allows for the optimized fabrication of self-ordered nanotubular or nanoporous oxide structures. In this study, the structural characteristics, mechanism, adhesion, scratch hardness, wettability, nanoindentation, wear resistance, corrosion behavior, and in-vitro bioactivity of aluminum/alumina (Al/Al2O3) nanotube coating on Ti–6Al–4V (Ti64) were systematically studied. As the primary layer, a thin layer of pure Al was sputtered onto a Ti64 substrate via physical... 

This study reports the successful fabrication of high-performance flexible binder-free lithium-ion battery anode and supercapacitor based on the synthesis of 3D hierarchical MnO2 nanoflakes (NFs) on vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) grown upon stainless steel (SS). The experimental results revealed that the prepared electrodes were well served as supercapacitors with a tremendous specific capacitance of MnO2 NFs VACNT/SS 1131 F/g at 0.25 A/g in 0.5 mol.L−1 Na2SO4, 518.8% more than VACNT/SS (218 F/g). Compared to other MnO2 NFs/CNT composites, as-fabricated binder-free MnO2 NFs/VACNTs electrode achieves outstanding performance with high initial discharge and charge capacities of... 

This study reports the successful fabrication of high-performance flexible binder-free lithium-ion battery anode and supercapacitor based on the synthesis of 3D hierarchical MnO2 nanoflakes (NFs) on vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) grown upon stainless steel (SS). The experimental results revealed that the prepared electrodes were well served as supercapacitors with a tremendous specific capacitance of MnO2 NFs VACNT/SS 1131 F/g at 0.25 A/g in 0.5 mol.L−1 Na2SO4, 518.8% more than VACNT/SS (218 F/g). Compared to other MnO2 NFs/CNT composites, as-fabricated binder-free MnO2 NFs/VACNTs electrode achieves outstanding performance with high initial discharge and charge capacities of... 

The evolution of the organizational attitudes regarding strategic management of system physical assets and the emergence of new technologies call for special attention to maintenance and reliability. State-of-the-art literature suggested a number of techniques and strategies for estimating the equipment failure rates; however, paralyzed by lack of real-world data, existing literature mostly relied on simplifications that may bring about unique challenges and result in low-accuracy estimations. This paper reviews the existing literature in estimating and modeling the failure rate of power system equipment. The review includes the existing models and the ongoing research on degradation,... 

The waist parameter is a particularly important factor for functional expansion in terms of localized orthogonal basis functions. We present a systematic approach to evaluate an asymptotic trend for the optimum waist parameter in truncated orthogonal localized bases satisfying several general conditions. This asymptotic behavior is fully introduced and verified for Hermite - Gauss and Laguerre-Gauss bases. As a special case of importance, a good estimate for the optimum waist in projection of discontinuous profiles on localized basis functions is proposed. The importance and application of the proposed estimation is demonstrated via several optical applications  

The paper aims at understanding solidification phenomena and solid state precipitations during diffusion brazing of Hastelloy X nickel base superalloy using a ternary Ni–4.5Si–3.2 B (in wt-%) filler metal. The joint is featured by the formation of Ni-rich solid solution in an isothermal solidification zone, borides/silicide formation during eutectic-type solidification in an athermal solidification zone, on-cooling precipitation of fine nickel silicides in the joint centerline, in situ precipitation of Mo–Cr-rich borides in the diffusion affected zone and grain growth in the heat affected zone. The implication of the phase transformations on the joint properties is discussed. It is shown... 

The role of quantum tunneling in altering the structure of nucleotides to each other and causing a mutational event in DNA has been a topic of debate for years. Here, we introduce a new quantum mechanical approach for analyzing a typical point-mutation in DNA strands. Assuming each codon as a base state, a superposition of codon states could provide a physical description for a set of codons encoding the same amino acid and there are transition amplitudes between them. We choose the amino acids Phe and Ile as our understudy bio-systems which are encoded by two and three codons, respectively. We treat them as large quantum systems and use double- and triple-well potential models to study the... 

Quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno behaviors of a two-level macroscopic quantum system in interaction with a harmonic environment are studied using the perturbation theory. The system-environment interactions are applied in a successive and step-by-step way. A new expression for the probability of surviving the macrosystem in its initial state, after the Nth interaction step, is derived through a different method of calculation. It is shown that multiple transitions between Zeno and anti-Zeno behaviors can be found in our approach. We have shown that in addition to the environmental parameters like the Ohmicity, the macroscopic trait of the system also has a notable effect on the decay rate Γ(τ)....