Sharif Digital Repository

This study presents the experimental investigation, the effect of cement based chemical materials (Portland cement as a repair material No1. and 2 other cement base chemical materials) to upgrade the structural behavior of reinforced concrete slabs built with low quality (porous) concrete. The main issues focused in this investigation are: (i) the effect of repair on the flexural behavior of RC slabs in terms of ultimate capacity and ultimate mid-span deflection and ductility of specimens, (ii) the influence of repair materials on failure modes and (iii) evaluating the efficiency of different materials on decreasing the porosity of concrete by ultrasonic test. Because materials used in this... 

Artificial neural networks are inspired by biological neural system. These networks show great learning abilities of nonlinear systems. And due to these abilities they are extensively used in scientific modeling. Learning and generalization of ANN can be used in modeling and prediction of nonlinear system behavior. This is done through adjustment of neurons weights in an optimization procedure using training pairs, a well-trained ANN can predict a correct output for untrained input.In this research two adaptive mechanical systems inspired by ANN were introduced. The first system is a nonlinear plate with elements with varying stiffness. The plate is trained to produce desired reactions for... 

Recent investigations on construction engineering have determined that repairing of Reinforced Concrete (RC) by means of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites is an effective method of retrofitting existing columns. The main research in this thesis focuses on the repair of concrete specimens which are damaged and their initial strength has been reduced. To achieve this purpose, through experimental procedures, the effect of confining damaged concrete cylinders by FRP, has been investigated. The experimental program included three parameters: type of fibers (glass or carbon), type of confining (full or partial), and the number of layers. First concrete cylinders were made and loaded to... 

This study presents the experimental investigation, the effect of cement based chemical materials (Portland cement as a repair material No1. and 2 other cement base chemical materials) to upgrade the structural behavior of reinforced concrete slabs built with low quality (porous) concrete. Because materials used in this study are cement base it is expectable to behavior same as base concrete that its result is better compatibility with base structure against external factors. Other advantages of the use of these materials are consideration of economical and construction aspects. A total of four reinforced concrete column (200x200x800 mm) with low quality (porous) concrete have been built,... 

In this thesis, the classical methods of structural optimization were studied and compared. After a comprehensive study on different methods of structural optimization, a reduced number of methods were selected in order to be used in this research. Exterior penalty function method, linear and quadratic extended penalty function methods were the selected constrained optimization methods. For unconstrained optimization, univariate method, Powell method, steepest descent method, Fletcher-Reeves method, and quasi-Newton methods of DFP and BFGS were used. And from different one-dimensional search methods studied, we used the golden section method. The structures which were optimally designed by... 

In recent years considerable effort has been made to advance the hardware Artificial Neural Networks where in most cases, many neurons are placed on a VLSI chip. This research attempts to build individual neurons and connect them to build a hybrid of analog and digital neural network. In fact, every neuron is an AVR microcontroller which has a number of inputs and outputs. The data transfer between neurons are done by both analog (PWM- ADC) and digital (UART). In the first part, the necessary voltage source and programmer and how to build are discussed. Next A\D convertor, PWM technique, UART and their usage in this project are demonstrated. After that, the neurons are calibrated to improve... 

Taking into consideration of optimization methods has been increased recently. Optimization methods in engineering that consumes a lot of time and cost have been developed. Optimal design of structures is a matter that grabbed the attention of civil engineers and due to the deficiency of classical methods the modern approaches are being developed. One of the most important structures that are constructed for industrial and transportation purposes are truss structures.Structural control under support excitation is constraining the structure to some structural limitations. The final target in this paper is to apply the modern methods to get the optimal weight of structure under seismic loads.... 

In the recent years, neural networks have been used to solve many problems in different fields, specifically in engineering problems. Neural networks have different applications in material science and structures including modeling stress-strain relationship of composite materials and static and dynamic analysis of structures. Recently, a new method called neuro-finite element has been developed for nonlinear static analysis of structures manufactured by one-dimensional elements. In this method, by investigating the load-deflection diagram of each element, it is possible to analyze and produce a load-deflection diagram for the whole structure using neural networks. This experimental study... 

Modeling, static and dynamic analyses of structures are main subject of research and application in structural engineering. Also innovative methods gradually substitute for conventional methods in any field of science and technology. Nowadays neural networks have attracted special attention in any branch of science and engineering. Some structural engineering researchers have utilized neural networks as expert systems in field of material modeling, static and dynamic analysis, active control and etc. The neuro-finite element method is a neural network based method for linear and nonlinear static and dynamic analysis of structures with one-dimensional members. In this method neural networks... 

The application of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) as an alternative to conventional/ normal concrete (NC) has grown rapidly in recent years. However, there is limited knowledge on its shear behavior, which is essential for developing design guidelines for structural applications. A detailed parametric study was conducted on 38 beam specimens, half of which were made of UHPC and the other half made of NC. To ensure applicability of findings, two types of UHPC mixes were used, a proprietary and a generic mix. Eighteen of the beams were prepared and tested in Tabriz, Iran, while the other 20 were made and tested in Miami, FL. Test parameters included type of concrete (UHPC and NC),... 

Graphene based photodetectors which are modified with quantum dots, are the new generation of detectors. In these supplies an integration of graphene’s unique characteristics like high conductivity and mobility and the high light absorption of quantum dots, are used.In this research graphene by chemical vapor deposition in centimetric large scales, tungsten disulfide quantum dots, boron nitride and graphene quantum dots and 2D tungsten disulfide have been synthesized. In the next step each of them were characterized to modify the quality of used layers in heterostructure.Based on the characteristic tests, quantum dots aspect ratios were 1 to 5 nanometers. Also tungsten disulfide was obtained... 

Nowadays, storing solar renewable energy in hydrogen (as a clean fuel) is an attractive method for substitution of environmentally pollutant energy resources (fossil fuels) which is applicable through water splitting with the use of semiconductors. Among metal oxide photoanodes, WO3 as a moderate band gap semiconductor with high photo-stability, environmental compatibility, and low cost has attracted significant attention. However, photoelectron conversion efficiency of WO3 is still limited due to poor oxygen evolution reaction kinetics and charge carrier recombination. Herein, two strategies of nanostructuring and compositing with cocatalysts were applied to envisage with these limitations.... 

Energy conversion and storage as well as life sciences are among the areas of our daily life. Interest in carbon nanomaterials for energy storage systems such as supercapacitors has enormously risen due to their attractive electrical conductivity, chemical inertness, and charge storage capacity. Producing these nanomaterials with a simple, scalable, and cost-effective method is the major problem for commercializing them. The reduction of graphitic oxide is a versatile procedure to prepare 3D graphene. Despite many green methods, the dynamics behind ultrafast thermal graphitization have remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate an effort to understand the graphitization mechanism of graphitic... 

In this study, Al6063-Al203 nanocomposite powders were synthesized by reaction mechanical milling method. Nanometric reinforcement particles were formed via high- energy ball milling under a controlled oxygen containing atmosphere. Morphological and microstructural evolutions of nanocomposite powders were investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal analysis (DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods at different milling times. The results showed that mechanical milling stages were accelerated and the time for reaching steady- state condition was decreased by an increase in the oxygen content in the milling atmosphere. The in-situ... 

A simply supported reinforced concrete beam has been built at the concrete laboratory of Sharif University of Technology. The cross section of the beam has been rectangular and all the reinforcing steel bars have been placed at the bottom of the beam. A progressive damage has been applied to the beam first by cutting the concrete cover and then by cutting the reinforcing bars one at a time. The beam has been tested using forced vibration test where an impact hammer has been used to apply the external load. The acceleration of the beam has been recorded based on which the FRFs and then the corresponding modal parameters have been determined. Finally natural frequencies, MAC, COMAC and mode... 

This research is on damage detection in beams using changes in their vibration behavior with respect to damage. The aim of this research is to investigate the sensitivity of strain mode shapes to damage and the feasibility of their using in damage detection. Comparison with displacement mode shapes is another main subject of this research. For this aim, at first an experimental study has been conducted at the structures lab of Sharif University of Technology, to investigate the sensitivity of modal parameters of an Aluminum beam to progressive damage. Then a beam has been modeled numerically sing shell elements. Also a new frequency response function (FRF), here called the strain frequency... 

Implant-associated infections are one of the most serious complications in orthopaedic and trauma surgery as it may result in poor functional outcome, implant failure, chronic osteomyelitis or even death. Great concerns have been taken to reduce implant-associated infections through progressing in operating standards, minimizing the possibility of contamination during surgery, reducing the establishment of infection by perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, and confining of pathogenic strains by patient isolation. In spite of these preventions, the percentage of postoperative infections is still rising. Composite coatings with bone-bioactivity and drug-eluting capacity are considered as... 

In recent years, temporary skin grafts based on natural biopolymers modified with carbon nanostructures has received considerable for wound healing applications. In this study, Nanofibrous structures that mimic the native extracellular matrix and promote cell adhesion have attracted considerable interest for biomedical applications. Chitosan-polyvinylpyrrolidone (CS/PVP) films containing graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets (~1 nm thickness and micrometer length) were prepared by solvent casting methods. Experimental results showed that PVP concentration had a critical role on the water vapor permeability, transparency, hydrophilicity and thermal stability of the nanocomposite films. Antibacterial... 

In recent years utilization of quantum dots for stem cells detection and clean energy production has received intensive attention. Graphene and its derivatives have been widely studied because of their effectiveness on electronical and optoelectronical devices, chemical sensors, nanocomposites, and energy storage. By use of metal nanoparticles, such as AuNPs, we can develop properties of graphene, and control them via shifting the absorption peak wavelength and increasing its biocompatibility. In this research, hybrid nanoparticles of gold-graphene as core-shell and conjugated by polymeric linkers containing amine or thiol functions are synthesized. Our purpose is stabilization the... 

Quite a few methods have been reported to synthesize monolayer MoS2, which has recently attracted scientist attentions. Fully controlled conditions, however, have not been achieved in these methods. In this research, two-dimensional MoS2 nanofilms have been synthesized by Chemical Vaper Deposition (CVD). Layer thickness of synthesized layer and effects of various parameters of used method have been investigated. Although every scientist synthesizes 2D MoS2 at 650°C in the CVD method by using seeds, in this research, it has been proved that MoS2 nanofilms can be produced at 575°C without using any seeds, which leads to lower consumption of time and price and increases the quality of...