Sharif Digital Repository

A damage-plasticity based mixed axial-shear-flexural (PVM) link element for the inelastic analysis of frames is introduced in this paper. The multi-surfaces yield concept is utilized in the definition of the element. The yield surfaces are defined in deformation space and interaction of axial-shear-flexural deformations is considered by defining non-rectangular yield surfaces. The element is capable of considering damage and post-peak softening behavior. The analytical results of introduced element are verified by existing experimental results of steel beam to column connection and it is indicated that the analytical results have reasonable agreement with the test results. Nonlinear dynamic... 

This paper represents new development of a previously introduced mixed shear-flexural (VM) link element, and its application in inelastic analysis of frames with reduced beam sections. The multi-surfaces concept with dissimilar yield surfaces is used in definition of link element. The yield surfaces are defined in deformation space and the element has the capability of modeling interactive axial-flexural-shear yielding. It is able to consider post yield softening behavior as well as flexibility and strength degradations. It is shown that the analysis results of the new mixed axial-shear-flexural (PVM) link have good agreement with the existing experimental and finite element results. Using... 

An integrated approach is presented for predicting granule particle size using Partial Correlation (PC) analysis and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). In this approach, the proposed model is an abstract form from the ANN model, which intends to reduce model complexity via reducing the dimension of the input set and consequently improving the generalization capability of the model. This study involves comparing the capability of the proposed model in predicting granule particle size with those obtained from ANN and Multi Linear Regression models, with respect to some indicators. The numerical results confirm the superiority of the proposed model over the others in the prediction of granule... 

A turn-on fluorometric assay is described for determination of the activity of enzyme telomerase. For this purpose, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) were first modified with the telomeric sequence (5′-amino-AATCCGTCGAGCAGAGTT-3′) via a condensation reaction. Injection of graphene oxide causes instant quenching of the blue fluorescence of the GQDs. Addition of cell extract containing telomerase, triggers the extension of telomer via addition of specific sequence (TTAGGG)n to its 3′ end. Fluorescence, best measured at excitation/emission wavelengths of 390/446 nm, is subsequently restored due to folding of the extended telomeric sequence into G-quadruplex structure. The method was applied to the... 

In this paper the combined optimal feedback-adaptive feedforward controller proposed to attain better performance of active vibration suppression of flexible structures subjected to different type of disturbances. The structure considered here is a cantilever beam actuated with a PZT patch actuator. The proposed controller consists of two individual parts, a filtered-x controller as a feedforward part and an optimal linear controller as a feedback part. Recursive Least Square algorithm (RLS) is used for the adaptive filtering scheme in Filtered-x adaptive feedforward controller. LQG optimal controller is also used in the feedback part of the controller. This research investigates the... 

Multiple description coding (MDC) is one of the promising solutions for live video delivery over lossy networks. In this paper, we present a review of MDC techniques based on their application domain and we explain their functionality, with the objective of giving enough insight to designers to decide which MDC scheme is best suited for their specific application based on requirements such as standard compatibility, redundancy tunability, complexity, and extendibility to n-description coding. The focus is mainly on video sources but imagebased algorithms applicable to video are considered as well. We also cover the well-known and important problem of drift and solutions to avoid it  

Multiple description coding (MDC) is a technique where multiple streams from a source video are generated, each individually decodable and mutually refinable. MDC is a promising solution to overcome packet loss in video transmission over noisy channels, particularly for real-time applications in which retransmission of lost information is not practical. A problem with conventional MDC is that the achieved side distortion quality is considerably lower than single description coding (SDC) quality except at high redundancies which in turn leads to central quality degradation. In this paper, a new mixed layer MDC scheme is presented with no degradation in central quality, and providing better... 

This paper deals with investigation of fracture behavior of steel fiber reinforced high strength concrete (SFRHSC) and compare it to plain high strength concrete (HSC). Based on an experimental program, a series of three point bending tests were carried out on 54 notched beams, as recommended by RILEM. The fracture parameters were measured by two methods: work of fracture method (WFM) and size effect method (SEM). Then the fracture parameters obtained from these two methods were compared. The results showed that with increase of steel fibers, fracture energy of GF in WFM and Gf in SEM increase but this increase in work of fracture method is more significant. The effective size of the process... 

This paper initially deals with the design of a new customized reconfigurable mobile parallel mechanism. This mechanism is called the 'Taar Reconfigurable ParaMobile' (TRPM), consisting of three mobile robots as the main actuators. Then, the kinematics and path planning for this mechanism are presented. The newly proposed mechanism is expected to circumvent some shortcomings of inspection operation in unknown environments with unexpected changes in their workspace, for example, in a water pipe with a non-uniform cross-sectional area. In this paper, 'Artificial Potential Field' (APF) has been assumed to be the path planning algorithm and its resulting attractive and repulsive forces are only... 

Present investigation analyzes the issue of entropy generation in a uniformly heated microchannel heat sink (MCHS). Analytical approach used to solve forced convection problem across MCHS, is porous medium model based on modified Darcy equation for fluid flow and two-equation model for heat transfer between solid and fluid phases. Furthermore, closed form solution of velocity distribution is employed to capture z-direction velocity gradient of flow, which plays a salient role on entropy generation through fluid flow. Analytical expressions for total and thermal entropy generation number (stems from heat transfer), and Bejan number are derived and cast into dimensionless form using velocity... 

In project-based organizations, many practical cases show there is a considerable knowledge gap between project-level and organization level. To bridge such gap, organizations can exploit knowledge intensive human resources, new organizational structures and new information and communication technologies. But all these three dimensions could have trivial effect when there is no central attention toward the content of knowledge that is to be managed. In this paper, we postulated a three layer framework for this problem that its main contribution is that the content of knowledge is at the center of attention, while all other three dimensions of any knowledge management system (HR, Organization... 

Fast charging stations are vital components for public acceptance of electric vehicle (EV). The stations are connected to the electric grid and can recharge an electric vehicle in less than 20. min. Charging station development is highly influenced by the government policy in allocating station development costs. This paper presents a Mixed-Integer Non-Linear (MINLP) optimization approach for optimal placing and sizing of the fast charging stations. The station development cost, EV energy loss, electric gird loss as well as the location of electric substations and urban roads are among the factors included in the proposed approach. Geographic information has been used to determine EV energy... 

In this work, cristobalite crystallization and its effects on mechanical and chemical behaviour of injection moulded silica-based ceramic cores were investigated. In order to simulate casting process condition, the sintered samples at 1220 °C were also heated up to 1430 °C. Flexural strength test was carried out on both sintered and heat treated samples. Chemical resistance of the cores was evaluated by leaching the samples inside 43. wt% KOH solution at its boiling point. Phase evolution and microstructure were investigated by thermal analyses (DTA and DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM). Results showed that cristobalite was... 

This paper considers the problem of digital data transmission through the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM). A data modem is presented that utilizes codebooks of Speech-Like (SL) symbols to transmit data through the GSM Adaptive Multi Rate (AMR) voice codec. Using this codebook of finite alphabet, the continuous vocoder channel is modeled by a Discrete Memory less Channel (DMC). A heuristic optimization algorithm is proposed to select codebook symbols from a database of observed human speech such that the capacity of DMC is maximized. Simulation results show that the proposed data modem achieves higher data rates and lower symbol error rates compared to previously reported... 

This paper considers the problem of digital data transmission through the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) for security applications. A data modem is presented that utilizes codebooks of Speech-Like (SL) symbols to transmit data through the GSM Adaptive Multi Rate (AMR) voice codec. Using this codebook of finite alphabet, the continuous vocoder channel is modeled by a Discrete Memory less Channel (DMC). A heuristic optimization algorithm is proposed to select codebook symbols from a database of observed human speech such that the capacity of DMC is maximized. Using the DMC capacity, a lower bound on the capacity of the considered voice channel can be achived. Simulation results... 

Fermentation systems are often highly nonlinear, with poorly understood dynamic behaviour of the reactor. In this work, mathematical modeling of the fermentation process based on aeration rate control was performed in a semi-batch airlift loop bioreactor. The bioconversion of glucose to gluconic acid by the Aspergillus niger strain was considered in an oxygen consuming system in the liquid phase. The proper kinetic model for the bioconversion of glucose to gluconic acid was investigated using experimental data from a 40 dm3reactor. Kinetic parameter estimation was used from the literature. The model was validated by experimental data and was compared with the Monod kinetic model. The... 

This paper presents a new approach for determining the day-ahead bidding strategies of a large-scale hybrid electric energy company. The company has both energy generation and energy retailing businesses in a competitive electricity market. Demand response programs are also considered in the retail side of the company in order to hedge the risk of participation in wholesale market. This paper introduces a max-min bilevel mathematical programming with equilibrium constraint model for offering a strategy that manages the risk of uncertain forecasted rivals' bids by robust optimization. The max-min bilevel model is converted to its equivalent single-level optimization using Karush-Kuhn-Tucker... 

A family of dibenzodiaza-crown ether macrocyclic host molecules with naphthalene arms (Ln=L1-L4) were synthesized and characterized using IR, fluorescence (FL),1H, 13C NMR spectroscopy, elemental microanalysis, and mass spectrometry. The FL binding constant (KBH) measurements represented prominent selective supramolecular interactions for Ln (host) towards C60 (guest). The comparison of KBH values for (Ln=L1-L4) with C60 was executed, employing DFT calculations using the B97-D3 functional and 6-31G* basis set. These calculations unveiled excellent compatibility between the theoretical and experimental results of the binding constants, wherein the highest supramolecular interaction of L3 with... 

This paper studies the subject of adaptive noise cancelation using the Kalman filtering technique to achieve high precision and fast convergence. It is shown that the Kalman filter can successfully be designed to detect and extract periodic noises which may be constituted of different sinusoidal components with possibly unknown and/or time-varying frequencies. This highlights the feature of Kalman filter in synthesizing periodic noises in the time-domain which is not possible using Fourier-based methods such as DFT. Usefulness of the method is discussed in the context of two examples: active cancelation of periodic noises from audio waveforms and filtering of electrocardiogram measurements.... 

In this paper, a new algorithm for solving the shortest loop design problem is presented. The shortest loop design problem is to find the shortest loop for an automated guided vehicle covering at least one edge of each department of a block layout. In this paper, first it is shown that this problem can be represented as a graph model. The properties of the presented model enable us to design a meta-heuristic based on ant colony system algorithm for solving the shortest loop design problem. Computational results show the efficiency of our algorithm in compare to the other techniques