Sharif Digital Repository

Controlling inverters with LC output filters in order to achieve a high quality desired output voltage or current is a challenging problem in power electronics. The LC filter and the binary nature of switch state variables increase the difficulty of achieving a single comprehensive model for the system. In this paper, a hybrid model is presented for a three-phase inverter with an LC output filter and a three-phase RL load. Then, the Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithm is applied to the model and a geometrical approximate method is used to fit the answers to the binary values. Simulation results for a sample system verify the usability of the method and the quality of the answers  

A new central differencing finite volume scheme is investigated for solution of unsteady hydraulic problems as water hammer in pipe systems. Special time stepping procedure similar to Runge-Kutta algorithm is used to stabilize this second order scheme. It is monotonized by adding dissipative terms including second and fourth derivatives of the conserved variables, with coefficients proportional to derivatives of pressure or volumetric flow, which keeps the second order of accuracy in smooth flow regions. The one-dimensional unsteady incompressible equations are solved for a water hammer situation, and results are compared to existing analytical solutions. Results are also compared with... 

Gas turbine hot-section parts can be very expensive components with a finite lifetime. Their durability is strongly dependent on the operating service conditions which control the maintenance intervals and associated expenses. Blade damage is the most frequent reason for failures in gas turbine engines and also oxidation is one of the most critical degradation mechanisms when the power system operates in partially loading condition. This paper describes the methodology of oxidation life assessment for uncoated and coated blades with various metallic coatings in the first stage of a typical gas turbine engine. The resultant weight-change curves were validated by comparing them with the... 

The authors demonstrate efficient direct electron transfer from the enzyme glucose oxidase to vertically aligned gold nanorods with a diameter of ~160 nm and a length of ~2 μm that are covalently linkage to a 3-dimensional network of reduced graphene oxide nanosheets. The assembly can be prepared by a 2-step electrochemical procedure. This hybrid structure holds the enzyme in a favorable position while retaining its functionality that ultimately provides enhanced performance for enzymatic sensing of glucose without utilizing mediators. The nanorod assembly was applied to the voltammetric detection of glucose. Figures of merit include an electrochemical sensitivity of 12 μA·mM−1·cm−2... 

We present a novel hybrid electrode based on reduced graphene oxide/nickel/zinc oxide heterostructures. The sensor was fabricated by template-free hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorod arrays on conductive glass substrates (FTO) followed by conformal electrodeposition of nickel nanoparticles with an average size of 18 nm. Then, in-situ reduction and electrophoretic deposition of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets on the structured ZnO/Ni electrode was performed. The prepared three-dimensional nanostructure exhibited fast electrocatalytic response (<3 s) towards glucose oxidation due to the large surface area and high electro-activity. The prepared biosensor possessed a wide linear range over... 

Here we have optimized shape and location of cooling passages of a C3X turbine blade using a multi-objective strategy. The objective functions is selected to be the maximum temperature gradient and the maximum temperature through the three dimensional blade. Shape of cooling channels is modeled using a new method based on the Bezier curves and using forty design variables. The optimized channel shapes are found to be smooth and without corners. To reduce the computational time, parallel processing and the reduced conjugate heat transfer methodology RCHT is used. Using RCHT, the heat transfer between channels and blade are coupled, while the experimental data is used for heat transfer... 

The current study develops a 3D constitutive model for photo-thermal sensitive hydrogels based on free energy decomposition. The hydrogel under study is PNIPAM network with copper chlorophyllin nanoparticle agents attached to the network. The effect of light intensity is considered as a rise in temperature since chlorophyllin nanoparticle agents absorb light irradiation and convert it to heat. Moreover, it is necessary to consider the effect of dissociation of these agents on the hydrogel’s free energy function; therefore, a term is added to the free energy function. After introducing the model, some problems, including the free swelling and uniaxial loading problems, are studied, and the... 

As balance is the foundation for all voluntary motor skills, considerable research has been conducted to evaluate postural control in patients with low back pain (LBP). Although reliability is a population-specific property, to the authors' knowledge, there has been no study to determine the test-retest reliability of the center of pressure (COP) measures in the general population of LBP patients. As many as 11 patients with a history of nonspecific LBP randomly completed postural measurements with three levels of difficulty (rigid surface-eyes open, rigid surface-eyes closed, and foam surface-eyes closed) in two sessions. The COP data were used to calculate standard deviation of amplitude,... 

A previous review concluded that postural sway is increased in patients with low back pain (LBP). However, more detailed analysis of the literature shows that postural deficit may be dependent on experimental conditions in which patients with LBP have been assessed. The research question to be answered in this review was: " Is there any difference in postural sway between subjects with and without LBP across several sensory manipulation conditions?" A literature search in Pubmed, Scopus, Embase and PsychInfo was performed followed by hand search and contact with authors. Studies investigating postural sway during bipedal stance without applying external forces in patients with specific and... 

The 2D hypersonic real gas flow has been analyzed on an adaptive unstructured grid using Roe's Flux Difference Splitting and AUSM schemes. In high temperature and hypersonic regime, the flow is extremely compressible and ideal gas assumption is not valid. In fact in these flows, due to changes in the flow properties, composition of fluid elements will also change. To solve steady and unsteady 2D Euler' equations for real gases, assumption of a general equation of state for real gases in equilibrium is considered. We use an unstructured Delaunay triangulation and adapt it in high gradient areas. Results are compared with known numerical and exact solutions. The scheme is convergent, and... 

Abstract A system designer needs to estimate the behavior of a system interconnection based on different patterns of switching which happen around an interconnect. Two different scenarios are supposed to estimate the effect of interconnect issues on system performance. First, based on a normalization technique for decreasing the number of a transfer function variables, a definitive environment for one interconnect is considered and an optimized look-up-table for the wire time delay is generated. Using some sampling methods, fast accessible look-up-tables are proposed for CAD tools in very simple and small one. A 4×4×4 table for the wire delay is introduced which results in very fast... 

A pH-responsive drug delivery system based on core shell structure of mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) and chitosan-PEG copolymer was prepared and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and high-resolution transmission microscope (HR-TEM) techniques. In order to improve compatibility MSN and drug, mesoporous nanosilica was modified by 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane. The release of erythromycin (a macrolide antibiotic) as a model drug was investigated in two pHs, 7.4 and 5.5  

Recurrence quantification analysis (RQA), a nonlinear method of postural analysis, was used to explore the effects of dual-tasking on postural performance in people with nonspecific low back pain (LBP) compared with healthy participants. Postural performance was quantified by RQA % recurrence, % determinism, entropy and trend. People with nonspecific LBP (n = 22) and unimpaired individuals (n = 22) randomly performed quiet standing tasks with three levels of difficulty (rigid-surface eyes open, rigid-surface eyes closed and foam-surface eyes closed). These tasks were performed in isolation or concurrently with an easy or difficult cognitive task. Increasing postural difficulty was associated... 

Although the application of nonlinear tools including recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) has increasingly grown in the recent years especially in balance-disordered populations, there have been few studies which determine their measurement properties. Therefore, a methodological study was performed to estimate the intersession and intrasession reliability of some dynamic features provided by RQA for nonlinear analysis of center of pressure (COP) signals recorded during quiet standing in a sample of patients with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) including low back pain (LBP), anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and functional ankle instability (FAI). The subjects completed postural... 

Unpredictable occurrence of natural disasters in modern power systems has significantly increased the attentions to the outage management of multi-microgrid (MMG) systems. In this regard, a multi-objective two-stage outage management scheme is presented in this paper to protect undamaged microgrids (MGs) against load curtailment and minimize the curtailed loads simultaneously. Considering the importance of power system economic, this scheme is designed in a privacy-preserved transactive energy (TE) market and enables all MGs to participate in outage management voluntarily. In detail, a DC optimization is autonomously operated in the first stage in each MG to supply its demand loads. Then,... 

Increased electricity demand coupled with investment in renewable-based generating units has resulted in problems such as transmission congestion and load shedding in modern power systems. In this situation, transmission expansion planning (TEP) studies plays a key role in dealing with the aforementioned problems. On the other hand, deployment of energy storage systems (ESSs) has been regarded as a viable solution for effective exploitation of renewable resources. In this context, this paper develops a novel framework to investigate the impacts of storage facilitates on the transmission expansion planning problem. The presented framework is decomposed to investment and operation subproblems... 

Recently, power system operators have initiated procurement of a new service in electricity markets named flexibleramping product (FRP). With the main goal of enhancing the grid flexibility, this product can provide a remarkable opportunity foran enhanced short-term profitability. Energy storage systems (ESSs) with high ramping capability can leverage their profitabilitywhen properly participating in this market. This study introduces a stochastic optimisation framework for participation of ESSs inthe FRP market. The proposed model formulates the optimal bidding strategy of ESSs considering the real-time energy, flexibleramp-up and ramp-down marginal price signals and the associated... 

In this paper a new measurement technique suitable for Time Modulated Array antennas is proposed, which utilizes a low-cost, small form factor, versatile Software Defined Radio (SDR). Performance of the SDR is compared to a spectrum analyzer and the difference is extracted for further calibration. Radiation pattern of a TMA with a defined switching sequence is measured by the SDR, and compared to the simulated array factor. The measured and simulation results are in good agreement, which confirms the accuracy and reliability of the proposed measurement technique. © Institution of Engineering and Technology.All Rights Reserved  

Recently, renewable energy sources (RESs) have increasingly being integrated into the power grids as a result of environmental and governmental perspectives. In this regard, the installation of RESs as potential power sources in active distribution systems would benefit the grid by decreasing the power losses, as well as addressing the fossil fuel shortages, and their environmental aspects. Nevertheless, the high-level integration of RESs as well as the development of distributed formations in local systems could challenge the reliable operation of the grid. In this context, conventional approaches could not optimally mitigate the regulation-voltage issue; therefore, utilities have to... 

Graphene oxide (GO)–chitosan composite layers with stacked layer structures were synthesized using chemically exfoliated GO sheets (with lateral dimensions of ∼1 μm and thickness of ∼1 nm), and applied as antibacterial and flexible nanostructured templates for stem cell proliferation. By increasing the GO content from zero to 6 wt%, the strength and elastic modulus of the layers increased ∼80% and 45%, respectively. Similar to the chitosan layer, the GO–chitosan composite layers showed significant antibacterial activity (>77% inactivation after only 3 h) against Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Surface density of the actin cytoskeleton fibers of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) cultured...