Sharif Digital Repository

This paper presents a decentralized adaptive control design for a class of large-scale nonlinear systems with unknown subsystems. When the subsystems are modeled by affine equations, a direct adaptive controller is devised based on the Lyapunov theory, so that the stability of the closed-loop system is guaranteed by introducing a suitably driven adaptive rule. A neuro-based structure is proposed when the subsystems are nonaffine, and the stability analysis is also performed based on the Lyapunov theory. Moreover, the unknown interactions among the subsystems are considered as having a nonlinear function against the simple form considered for the affine case. The proposed controllers are... 

Asphaltic concrete has been used as waterproofing core in embankment dams, since 1948. In this application, the asphaltic core is surrounded by granular filter materials. The interaction of the asphaltic concrete and the granular materials has not been sufficiently investigated. In this paper the mechanical behavior of the interface between a natural smooth sand filter and asphaltic concrete at different levels of normal stresses and a constant shear strain rate has been studied. Small scale direct shear test has been conducted in this study, in which the shear surface is considered as the interface. Asphalt concrete specimens used in the shear test were cut in square shape (10×10×2.5 cm)... 

Distributed generation (DG) units are often interfaced to the main grid using power electronic converters including voltage-source converters (VSCs). A VSC offers dc/ac power conversion, high controllability, and fast dynamic response. Because of nonlinearities, uncertainties, and system parameters’ changes involved in the nature of a grid-connected renewable DG system, conventional linear control methods cannot completely and efficiently address all control objectives. In this paper, a nonlinear adaptive control scheme based on adaptive backstepping strategy is presented to control the operation of a grid-connected renewable DG unit. As compared to the popular vector control technique, the... 

Distributed generation (DG) units are often interfaced to the main grid using power electronic converters including voltage-source converters (VSCs). A VSC offers dc/ac power conversion, high controllability, and fast dynamic response. Because of nonlinearities, uncertainties, and system parameters’ changes involved in the nature of a grid-connected renewable DG system, conventional linear control methods cannot completely and efficiently address all control objectives. In this paper, a nonlinear adaptive control scheme based on adaptive backstepping strategy is presented to control the operation of a grid-connected renewable DG unit. As compared to the popular vector control technique, the... 

Trim control mechanisms such as interceptors and trim flaps have been widely used in recent years in highspeed crafts for ride and trim control. In spite of their extensive application, a few studies investigating the impact of interceptors on planing craft performance, have been published. In the present study, the impact of interceptors on planing crafts hydrodynamic quality is investigated through application of an experimental method. Two scaled-down models of high-speed planing mono-hull and catamaran are tested with and without interceptors in calm water at different heights of the interceptors to investigate the effect of interceptors on drag reduction of the models. The first one is... 

The controllable flaps and interceptors in planing crafts not only may reduce the resistance, but also could be designed to make a boat run at or near optimum attitude in various environments, which results in a reduction in both resistance and vertical motion in waves. Planing vessels suffer from porpoising instability and violent vertical motion at high forward speeds. The controllable flaps and interceptors can be used to control and reduce the vertical motion of planing crafts. In the present study, the impact of controlled interceptors on a planing craft seakeeping quality is investigated through application of experimental and theoretical methods. In the experimental part of the study,... 

A simple and environmentally benign procedure for the synthesis of 14-alkyl- or aryl-14H-dibenzo[a,j]xanthenes is described through a one-pot condensation of 2-naphthol with aryl or alkyl aldehydes in the presence of sodium hydrogen sulfate as a catalyst under solvent-free conditions. © 2008 Springer-Verlag  

The ideas of creatio ex nihilo of the universe and creatio continua of new matter out of nothing entered the arena of natural science with the advent of the Big Bang and the steady-state theories in the mid-twentieth century. Adolf Grünbaum has tried to interpret the steady-state theory in such a way, to show that the continuous formation of new matter out of nothing in this theory can be explained purely physically. In this paper, however, it will be shown that Grünbaum's interpretation encounters at least three problems: not distinguishing between material and efficient causes, inconsistency, and misconceiving the law of density conservation  

In this paper, the thermal conductivity of water-based hematite Fe2O3 and magnetite Fe3O4 nanofluids have been investigated in the absence and presence of a uniform magnetic field. The experiments have been performed in the volume concentration range of 0 % to 4.8 % and the temperature range of 20∘C to 60∘C. The effects of the particle volume fraction, temperature, and magnetic field strength on the thermal conductivity have been analyzed. Results show that the thermal conductivity of iron oxide nanofluids has a direct relation with the particle volume fraction and temperature, without the presence of a magnetic field. But surprisingly, when the magnetic field is applied, it is observed that... 

In this paper a strategy is proposed for compressing the test data while using concurrent hybrid-BIST methodologyfor testing SoCs. In the proposed method, in addition tousing BIST strategy for testing cores with deterministic sequential test patterns in an SoC( Without using scan chains), (ATE) is used for testing cores with deterministic test patterns through Test Access Mechanism (TAM) or functional bus. As will be shown in experimental results, this process compresses hybrid-BIST overall test patterns considerably that affects the overall Test Application Time (TAT) in comparison with pure deterministic, pure pseudo random, and combination of deterministic and pseudo random test patterns  

Acidizing of carbonate oil-wet rocks saturated with oil and saline formation water is subjected failure in some cases due to acid-induced damage such as sludge and emulsion formations. This condition may also lead to mineral precipitation, oil film barrier between acid and rock and diversion chemical malfunctions. Therefore, pre-flush process has been proposed as one of the most efficient stage for oil-wells matrix acidizing to reduce these challenges significantly. Besides, the pre-flush stage would result in more clean rock as the reservoir fluids are pushed back from the near wellbore regions, restoring rock wettability to more water wet state, preventing direct acid-oil contact and... 

Electric Vehicles (EVs) will be used rampantly in future transportation system. Although the uncontrolled charging of these EVs will be threatening for the stability of the grid, a compatible energy trading policy may provide beneficial services to the grid as well as preserving the sustainability of the system. In this paper, by taking advantage of block rate tariff, a wholesale pricing policy is introduced. A multi-objective approach is utilized to address the cost reduction and load leveling services concurrently. Due to the high computational complexity of a centralized problem, a game theoretic approach is exerted in order to design decentralized controllers for EVs. Moreover, an MPC... 

This paper presents mathematical modelling of joint lot sizing and scheduling problem in job shop environment under a set of working conditions. The main feature of the problem is to deal with flexible machines able to change their working speeds, known as process compressibility. Furthermore, produced items should be assembled together to make final products. In other words, the products have a multilevel structure, shown with bill of materials. As the problem is proved to be strongly NP-hard, it is solved by a memetic algorithm here. Computational experiences on the data of Mega Motor company are reported. Also, further experiences on random test data confirm the performance of the... 

Background While several studies have investigated the traditional linear measures in patients with knee osteoarthritis, no study has yet reported the non-linear structure of postural sway in these patients. Methods We used two non-linear methods, recurrence quantification analysis (percent of determinism-%DET) and central tendency measure, to respectively investigate differences in the complexity and variability of sway dynamics between two groups of knee osteoarthritis patients (n = 27) and healthy controls (n = 27) under different conditions of postural and cognitive tasks. The experimental conditions included standing on (1) rigid surface with open eyes; (2) rigid surface with closed... 

Diffusivity equation which can provide us with the pressure distribution, is a Partial Differential Equation (PDE) describing fluid flow in porous media. The quadratic pressure gradient term in the diffusivity equation is nearly neglected in hydrology and petroleum engineering problems such as well test analysis. When a compressible liquid is injected into a well at high pressure gradient or when the reservoir possess a small permeability value, the effect of ignoring this term increases. In such cases, neglecting this parameter can result in high errors. Previous models basically focused on numerical and semi-analytical methods for semi-infinite domain. To the best of our knowledge, no... 

Increasing grid integration of intermittent renewable energy sources (RESs) and plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) with uncertain behaviours have necessitated enhancing the flexibility requirements of distribution networks. Thus, in the state-of-The-Art distribution network expansion planning (DNEP) models, both flexibility requirements and high penetration of RESs and PEVs should be taken into consideration. In this respect, a novel collaborative planning model for power distribution network (PDN) and plug-in Electric Vehicle Parking Lots (EVPLs) is proposed in this paper, which leverages sizing, siting, and operation of EVPLs to enhance the distribution network flexibility. Also, to model... 

This paper presents mathematical modeling of joint lot sizing and scheduling problem in a job shop environment under a set of realistic working conditions. One main realistic assumption of the current study is dealing with flexible machines able to change their working speeds, known as process compressibility. The production schedules should be subject to limited available time in every planning period. Also, the model assumes that periodical sequences should be determined in a way that they obey from a fixed global sequence. Another complicating aspect of the problem is about consideration of precedence relationships for the needed processes of an item type over the corresponding machines.... 

Anaerobic digestion processes and the conductive electron transfer approach were used to describe the bioenergy production processes in a microbial fuel cell (MFC), respectively. The present model is a far more completed form of conduction-based modeling which is able to predict performance of an MFC fed with complex substrates and inoculated with multi-population culture. One-dimensional spatial distributions of the different microorganisms, as biocatalysts of processes and intermediates produced in the different steps of the anaerobic digestion processes in the biofilm, as well as the dynamic behavior of the anolyte including syntropic interactions among different groups of microorganisms... 

In this study, a new model of microbial fuel cell (MFC) was obtained for the first time. The modeled MFC was made using a combination of two approaches; the conduction-based method and two-step anaerobic digestion. Performance of the MFC was based on calculations for current evolution and polarization curves with different subsequent variables of the biofilm and anolyte. The model was able to make predictions for performance of the MFC for a simple substrate to more complex ones. The model was successfully validated with a variety of substrates (acetate, glucose and dairy wastewater) and the results were compared with previously published measurements. The model polarization results showed... 

In this study, a blind steganalysis approach which accurately discloses low rate data hiding schemes is proposed. The absolute values of neighbouring joint density (absNJ) are used for feature extraction. In this way, the intra- and inter-block situations are employed providing a variety of different features. Aside from the absolute values of discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients, the differential DCT coefficients are also exploited to extract the features. Moreover, the absNJ features will be extended and used over differential DCT coefficients. It is shown that applying the Pth power of the DCT coefficients instead of their first power gains more discriminative features. Then,...