Sharif Digital Repository

This paper studies simultaneous lot sizing and scheduling problem in a job shop environment over a finite number of periods. The machines are flexible such that the production manager is able to change their working speeds. Also, the production schedule of the items over machines should be in consistence with technological precedence relationships. The problem is formulated as an integer linear program. Then, a number of valid inequalities are developed based on the problem structures. The proposed valid inequalities are added to the problem formulation in a "cut and branch" manner to accelerate the search process by common solvers. Finally, performance of the valid inequalities is... 

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.... 

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... 

Demand response (DR) and flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices can be effectively used for congestion management in power transmission systems. However, demand response program (DRP) implementation can itself affect the optimum location of FACTS devices, which is one of the main issues in power system planning. This paper investigates the impact of DRPs on unified power flow controller (UPFC) placement. The harmony search algorithm is employed to determine the optimum locations and parameter setting of UPFC in a long-term framework. The optimization problem is solved with different objectives including generation and congestion cost reduction, as well as loss reduction. In this... 

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... 

Rapid and selective detection of biomarkers at trace levels is a highly coveted objective in the early diagnosis of cancer. Herein, we disclose the design and synthesis of a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) substituted perylene diimide. This compound is fully characterized in solution by multi nuclear NMR, as well as in gas state by ESI-MS. Surprisingly, solid-state characterization revealed an unusual cubic morphology with particle dimensions of 80–160 nm. Fluorescence studies indicate that the bulky POSS units effectively prevent perylene's aggregation caused quenching, yielding quantum yields as high as 92%. Exposing the sensor droplet-cast on quartz to anline and o-toluidine,... 

In this paper, GyroSym, a compact highly-stable single-wheel robot is introduced. Symmetrical flywheels have been used as its stabilization mechanism to keep the wheel upright. Thanks to the type of the flywheel used, the dynamic equations of the robot is simplified, the torque needed to tilt the spin axis is reduced, and the space is drastically minimized. Besides, a centrifugal clutch is used to smooth the motion of the robot in forward motion. Two controllers, fuzzy and fuzzy-Padé, were implemented based on their ability to stabilize the robot. Although both prevented the GyroSym from falling over, neither can entirely cancel out the effects of nonlinear behaviors that is present in the... 

The objective of this study is to develop and apply an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian unstructured finite-volume lattice-Boltzmann method (ALE-FVLBM) for solving two-dimensional compressible inviscid flows around moving bodies. The two-dimensional compressible form of the LB equation is considered and the resulting LB equation is formulated in the ALE framework on an unstructured body-fitted mesh to correctly model the body shape and properly incorporate the mesh movement due to the body motion. The spatial discretization of the resulting system of equations is performed by a second-order cell-centered finite-volume method on arbitrary quadrilateral meshes and an implicit dual-time stepping... 

In this work, a central difference unstructured finite volume lattice Boltzmann method (FVLBM) in an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) framework is applied to effectively simulate the compressible viscous flows over moving bodies. Here, the two-dimensional compressible LB equation based on the multispeed Watari model is formulated in the ALE framework on an unstructured body-fitted mesh and the resulting equation is discretized by using the cell-centered finite volume method in which a central averaging scheme is made to calculate the numerical fluxes. A suitable dissipation term is added to the formulation to ensure the stability of the numerical scheme applied. The time integration is... 

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... 

Electrospray technique is one of the commonly used methods for generating nanoparticles. In this method, the chemical solution which consists of a polymer and its solvent are injected into an electric field via a nozzle. At the end of this nozzle, due to electric forces, a certain part of this liquid is separated. Then, the separated part is divided into smaller particles and the solvent is evaporated and hence, the nanoparticles are acquired. Produced nanoparticales are collected in deionized water placed under the certain distant from nozzle. However, construction of this method is generally based on practical results. In this paper, modeling and performance evaluation of high voltage... 

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  

High frequency transformer is an important component in lots of modern power electronic circuits. In order to analyze the behavior of these transformers, equivalent circuit models containing parasitic elements have been proposed. But most of them are complicated and not appropriate to use in processes in which high speed analysis is crucial. In this paper, a second-order simplified model for high frequency transformers is obtained. Besides, the frequency ranges in which the proposed model has enough precision, are calculated and examined. To validate the simplified circuit model, some simulations are carried out. During the simulation, the effects of transformer equivalent circuit parameters... 

The self-supported CuxNi0.6-xMn0.4Fe2O4 oxygen carrier (x = 0.1–0.5) is synthesized to be applied in the chemical looping steam methane reforming (CL-SMR) process through the synthesized co-precipitation method. The response surface methodology (RSM) based on the Box–Behnken model is adopted to evaluate the effects of independent variables on the functionality of responses as well as predicting the best response volume. In this method, the variables consisting of reaction temperature (550–700°C), oxygen carrier (OC) loading percentage (0.1–0.5), steam-to-CH4 ratio (S/C), (1.5–3.5), and redox cycles’ count (10–24) and the responses consisting of hydrogen (H2) production yield, CH4 conversion... 

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)... 

Azotobacter beijerinckii DSMZ 1041 strain was used for production of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and the optimum glucose concentration, as the carbon source and ammonium chloride, as the nitrogen source were obtained 60gr/lit and 0.5gr/lit respectively. The resulting optimum PHB production was investigated 2.95gr/lit. The obtained yield of PHB with respect to glucose (Yp/s) and PHB productivity (Qp) were 0.202 g/g and 0.123 g/lit.hr, respectively. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to verify the accuracy of the designed experiments. azotobacter beijerinckii microorganism from Deutsch sammlung von microorganismen und zellkulturen(DSMZ) bank is used for production of Poly Hydroxy... 

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  

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... 

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...