Sharif Digital Repository

Tinnitus means hearing a sound without an external source. Despite the research done in relation to it, it is still an unknown phenomenon and no method has been introduced to treat it. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is one of the methods that its effectiveness in decreasing tinnitus sound is still under investigation. This technology is a non-invasive method to stimulate the brain, which modulates the activity of neurons by applying successive electromagnetic pulses on the scalp. Most of the studies conducted in this field have used clinical evaluations to investigate the effect of stimulation. Relying on this method alone to evaluate the effect of stimulation cannot take a... 

A 2D simulation has been carried out to study the effect of magnetic field on heat transfer and pressure drop of nanofluid flowing through a pipe filled with porous medium. The nanofluid flow is modeled as a single-phase flow, and Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer equation is employed to model fluid flow in porous media. A constant uniform heat flux was imposed on the walls of the cylinder, and the values of Darcy number, Hartmann number, and volume fraction of the nanoparticles were selected as 0.1, 200, and 0.2, respectively. Effects of parameters such as Reynolds number, the material of the porous medium (conductivity and porosity), and material of nanofluids have been investigated in the... 

This experimental study evaluates the implementation of atmospheric water generator (AWG) apparatus for rural households to supply the needed water. Humid (atmospheric) air is sucked into the condenser and passed through an air filter by a fan; since the temperature of the condenser is lower than the ambient air temperature (dew point temperature), the moist in the atmospheric air is condensed and freshwater is collected which is stored in a tank and after 7 stages of purification will be ready to drink.Data of this project is obtained from Kish Island’s weather station to find the average temperature and humidity. Kish Island is chosen for this project because of its high humidity and... 

Utilization of RAP in HMA reduces the initial costs, conserves natural sources and avoids disposal problems. Aged binder from RAP will have some effects on resultant binder. To date, solvent extraction and recovery is the only method that physically separates the RAP binder from the RAP aggregate for characterization. Time consuming for recovery, altering the physical properties of the recovered asphalt binder like binder hardening and the possibility that Asphalt binder is not completely extracted from the aggregate are the weak points of this method. Addressing the need for non-solvent based RAP binder characterization; procedures for low temperature characterization of RAP binder... 

Increased environmental concerns and high oil prices have encouraged highway agencies to maximize the use of recycled materials like Reclaimed Asphalt Pavements (RAP) in pavement construction. However, utilization of RAP has limited to low percentage, generally less than 25%. This is due aged, stiffer, and less strain tolerant asphalt binder in RAP. As the RAP proportion increases, a large amount of the aged binder will be introduced into the mixture. The excessive stiffness of HMA mixture tends to lead to less workable mixture. Studies were conducted to examine the effect of Sasobit on the workablility of high RAP mixtures. The results indicated while the utilization of Sasobit had improved... 

Asphalt concrete exhibits viscoelastic and viscoplastic behavior which is dependent on rate and temperature. To model this behavior, various mechanical modelshave been presented in which total strain, as the response of the applied stress, is decomposed by various researchers to recoverable and permanent strains.Accumulation and expansion of permanent response result in rutting which is a dominant and prevalent distress in hot mixed asphalt (HMA) in hot climates. The available models are not capable of accurately calculate the viscoplastic strain under cyclic loading.
To close this gap, recovered viscoelastic strain at rest (unloading) period was introduced. This parameter accounted for... 

Composite nature of asphalt mixtures necessitates a micromechanical scheme which depends on distinctive characteristics of various constitutive phases. In this regard, discrete element method was utilized to predict the creep behavior of asphalt mixtures and strain response in primary, secondary and tertiary stages. In this research, a modified mixture modeling procedure was considered to better simulate permanent deformation response of asphalt mixtures under creep loading. A random distribution of mastic and aggregate particles with respect to a typical dense gradation was implemented to reconstruct cylindrical specimens. A bonding model represented the cohesion effect in mastic... 

In this research, path planning in unknown environment is considered. It is assumed that the robot’s sensors are the only tools to collect information from the scene. Volume of the information gathered from the environment depends on the capability of the sensor. So, a detour from the optimal path is unavoidable. In this research, the basic robot is equipped with a minimal sensing system that only detects the iscontinuities in depth information (gaps). We present some online search strategies that guide such a robot to navigate unknown streets from a start point s to reach a target point t. Then, we empower the robot by adding a compass to patrol more general classes of polygons. We present... 

Recycled materials have been very much taken into consideration in recent years due to economic issues and the preservation of natural resources. Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) is also of particular importance due to less energy use in construction and environmental compatibility. This study examines the compressive workability and resistance to low temperature crackings of warm mixt asphalt containing reclaimed asphalt pavement (up to 30% by weight of aggregate). Sasobit was used as an organic additive in 1.5% by weight of bitumen in warm mix asphalt. Two additives of crumb rubber modifiers (9, 15 and 18% by weight of bitumen) and hydrated lime (1.5 and 2% by weight of aggregate) were also used to... 

Low temperature cracking is the most important type of asphalt pavement distress that occurs in cold climates. Up until the development of performance grading (PG) based binder specification, there was no irect indication of low temperature suitability of asphalt binders. PG specification was mainly developed for and validated by neat binders.
With increased use of modified asphalt binders in recent years, some of the limitations and shortcomings of the original PG specifications have surfaced.Considering that low temperature cracking is a fracture failure, it was hypothesized that tests based on the fracture mechanics and fracture energy parameter can lead to better classification of...