Sharif Digital Repository

It is well-known that the behavior of soil-structure systems can be well described using a limited number of nondimensional parameters. This is the outcome of researches based on the premise that the foundation is bonded to the ground. Here, it is shown the concept can be extended to systems with foundation uplift. A set of non-dimensional parameters are introduced which controls the main features of uplifting systems. The effect of foundation uplift on response of soil-structure systems are investigated parametrically through time history analysis for a wide range of systems subjected to ground motions recorded on different soil types. In particular, the effects of uplift on displacement... 

This study was a prototype segmentation of Iran's inbound tourism market with a concentration on culture. The focus of this paper was to introduce a step by step description of the methodology used to segment Iran's inbound tourism market. In the first phase, cluster analysis was employed to segment the entire market based on two dimensions of tourists' expenditure and cultural traits. In the second phase, the resulting clusters were divided into further subgroups using a common sense approach. Additional variables were utilised to profile the segments, and finally, the segmentation process was verified through outcome analysis  

In most of researches on soil-structure systems, it is assumed that the foundation is bonded to the ground where no foundation uplift is allowed. Uplifting makes changes in force–displacement behavior of the soil-structure systems, which in turn alters structural demands. In this research, a set of non-dimensional parameters is considered which controls the behavior of uplifting systems. The effects of foundation uplift on response of soil-structure system are investigated parametrically through time history analysis for a wide range of systems subjected to harmonic excitation and also ground motions recorded on soft soil with predominant period. It is seen that the response of systems with... 

Recently, the traditional strength-based design (SBD) philosophy is being replaced by more relevant displacement-based design (DBD) approach. As a main step, DBD method requires a simplified procedure to estimate the inelastic displacement demands of the structure. This step is usually done by either replacing the non-linear system by an equivalent linear system or employing the well-known concepts of inelastic design spectra. The application of different DBD procedures and their deficiencies, thus, have been the subject of numerous researches during the recent years. However, the effect of soil is usually ignored. On the other hand, it is well-known that soil affects the structural behavior... 

In this article, we proposed an active learning method for the direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation based on uniform linear array (ULA) antennas with very low computational complexity. In particular, an adaptive fuzzy sampling strategy was used to make a model and refine it according to the snapshot data collected by multiple antennas to estimate the DOA angles. The proposed gridless fuzzy pipeline sequential design zero-forcing (PLSD-ZF) sampling can reduce complexity by dividing the angle space into subsets and using the measurements of the appropriate subsets to obtain more accurate DOA estimates. Our simulation and experiment results demonstrate that the proposed fuzzy PLSD-ZF scheme... 

In this paper, a cost-effective and high-accuracy precoding technique based on ϵ-Fuzzy pareto active learning (FPAL) is proposed for millimeter wave (mmWave) massive MIMO communications. The proposed method achieves a low iteration convergence with low complexity. Two practical structures, namely fully-connected and partially-connected structures are considered for hybrid precoding. Furthermore, the effect of high and low-resolution quantization in the digital-to-analog converter, phase shifter, and imperfect channel state information are discussed. The performance results of the proposed technique and alternating minimization methods beside fully digital techniques are compared and... 

In this paper, a reconfigurable patch antenna with Circular Polarization (CP) diversity with theoretical discussion and verification is proposed for fifth generation (5G) of mobile communication systems. The proposed antenna contains two PIN diodes, which are correctly placed on the ground plane to obtain polarization diversity. By switching between two ON/OFF modes in the PIN diodes, the proposed antenna can support either the RHCP mode or the LHCP mode. An antenna with the well-matched impedance bandwidths (S11 ≤ −10 dB) of 2.5 GHz (27 ∼ 29.5 GHz) and 3 GHz (36 ∼ 39 GHz) and the dual-band 3-dB axial ratios of 6% (27.3–29 GHz) and 8.4% (35–38.2 GHz) operates in both the RHCP and LHCP modes.... 

In this article, a compact, wideband Yagi-Uda antenna and its phased array antenna is optimized by a multi-objective antenna for the millimeter-wave (mmWave) band of fifth generation (5G) communication systems. Ten geometrical parameters of a single Yagi-Uda antenna are selected to widen the 5G operating bandwidth (BW) and increase the gain together using the Kriging model builder and pipeline sequential design (PLSD) in combined sampling strategy. The single antenna element provides a wide impedance bandwidth (IBW) from 26 to 34 GHz with 20% and a peak measured gain of 5.5 dBi at frequency 28 GHz. The optimized antenna provides a high growth of 27.7% and a 2 dB increase in peak gain over... 

The main purpose of this paper is to present a novel procedure for accelerating a multi-objective optimization method of designing a 5G antenna. The optimization method was chosen after comparing four learning optimization algorithms. The Kriging algorithm was found to be superior to the Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Rational algorithms. Our methodology is creatively correlated to exploit some cost functions of height, the Dielectric constant of the substrate, and meta-material design variables, with a view to reducing the return loss and increasing the gain in learning from the Kriging model builder techniques. This was fully achieved in the present... 

In this article, a novel microstrip antenna for the new industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band (24-25 GHz) with a flexible substrate is proposed. This antenna has a small dimension, high gain, and large bandwidth (BW) in the ISM band. Several tests such as bending tests and gas environment tests are performed to show the potential of the antenna in body area networks' (BANs) applications. The design procedure starts with a simple monopole antenna with a simple ground plane. Then, to change the effective permittivity of the substrate, an array of half circles is subtracted from the ground plane. To avoid increasing the dimension of the antenna, a triangular part and a shunt are added... 

A novel intelligent semi-active control system for an eleven degrees of freedom passenger car's suspension system using magnetorheological (MR) damper with neuro-fuzzy (NF) control strategy to enhance desired suspension performance is proposed. In comparison with earlier studies, an improvement in problem modeling is made. The proposed method consists of two parts: a fuzzy control strategy to establish an efficient controller to improve ride comfort and road handling (RCH) and an inverse mapping model to estimate the force needed for a semi-active damper. The fuzzy logic rules are extracted based on Sugeno inference engine. The inverse mapping model is based on an artificial neural network... 

Using CNG as an additive for gasoline is a proper choice due to higher octane number of CNG enriched gasoline with respect to that of gasoline. As a result, it is possible to use gasoline with lower octane number in the engine. This would also mean the increase of compression ratio in SI engines resulting in higher performance and lower gasoline consumption. Over the years, the use of simulation codes to model the thermodynamic cycle of an internal combustion engine have developed tools for more efficient engine designs and fuel combustion. In this study, a thermodynamic cycle simulation of a conventional four-stroke spark-ignition engine has been developed. The model is used to study the... 

With the declining energy resources and increase of pollutant emissions, a great deal of efforts has been focused on the development of alternatives for fossil fuels. One of the promising alternative fuels to gasoline in the internal combustion engine is natural gas [1-5]. The application of natural gas in current internal combustion engines is realistic due to its many benefits. The higher thermal efficiency due to the higher octane value and lower exhaust emissions including CO2 as a result of the lower carbon to hydrogen ratio of the fuel are the two important feature of using CNG as an alternative fuel. It is well known that computer simulation codes are valuable economically as a cost... 

Gaining insight into possible vibratory responses of dynamical systems around their stable equilibria is an essential step, which must be taken before their design and application. The results of such a study can significantly help prevent instability in closed-loop stabilized systems by avoiding the excitation of the system in the neighborhood of its resonance. This paper investigates nonlinear oscillations of a rotary inverted pendulum (RIP) with a full-state feedback controller. Lagrange’s equations are employed to derive an accurate 2-DoF mathematical model, whose parameter values are extracted by both the measurement and 3D modeling of the real system components. Although the governing... 

A suction-controlled ring device has been developed to continuously measure the coefficient of lateral soil pressure in deformable unsaturated soil samples from the at-rest to the active condition under application of increasing vertical pressure and controlled matric suction. The device incorporates a thin aluminum specimen ring equipped with horizontal strain gages for recording the lateral soil strains. In addition, a sensor recording water volume changes is utilized to continuously monitor the degree of saturation of the soil sample during tests. The matric suction within the soil texture is controlled using the axis translation technique. In order to verify the performance of the ring... 

We introduce a new smooth, non-toxic, biocompatible method for cross-linking of gum tragacanth (GT), a polysaccharide of natural origin, in order to serve as a new supporting matrix for immobilization systems. The modified gum is used as a matrix for the catalysis of the conversion of benzyl penicillin to 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA) by means of Escherichia coli ATCC11105 with penicillin G acylase (PGA) activity. The results show that GT beads can not only serve as a proper matrix for immobilization, but show enhanced hydrolysis rate and stability compared to other immobilization systems used for this reaction. This signifies the potential of GT as a biocompatible matrix for... 

The Class-E power amplifier has been widely studied and formulated in the literature. Although the majority of reported inductive coupling wireless power transfer (WPT) systems use a class-E power amplifier for driving the primary coil, still there is a lack of a comprehensive study on class-E circuit dedicated to WPT, providing a set of closed form design equations for proper class-E operation. This paper presents the required design equations needed to design a 'true' class-E circuit for WPT applications. Equations for the series-tuned secondary coil WPT system are presented, as well as two different design procedures for the parallel-tuned secondary coil. The derived equations have been... 

Pole Side Impact Tes is one out of three crash tests described by Euro NCAP standard for star rating of a vehicle and is required for assessing the Adult Occupant Protection. In this paper the goal is to determine the crashworthiness of side doors and B pillar in a Pole Side Impact Test based on Euro New Car Assessment Program (Euro-NCAP) using computer and simulation method. In this matter, a vehicle model has been prepared and meshed using Hypermesh and CATIA. The velocity of 29 km/h has been assigned to the vehicle which was on top of a cart while the pole has been assigned as a rigid static object based on Euro NCAP requirements specifically. Results show that different amounts of energy...