Sharif Digital Repository

In this paper, the capabilities of tuned mass dampers (TMDs) for the mitigation of response of nonlinear frame structures subjected to earthquakes have been studied. To determine the optimal parameters of a TMD, including its mass, stiffness and damping, we developed an optimization algorithm based on the minimization of a performance index, defined as a function of the response of the nonlinear structure to be controlled. Distributed genetic algorithm has been used to solve the optimization problem. For illustration, the method has been applied to the design of a linear TMD for an eight-story nonlinear shear building with bilinear hysteretic material behavior subjected to earthquake. The... 

In this paper, optimal design and assessment of the capability of Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) in improving the seismic behavior of Confined masonry walls, as the main element of historical buildings, has been studied. For this purpose, the design parameters of TMDs have been determined through minimization of wall response using Genetic Algorithms (GAs). To simulate the behavior of Confined masonry wall under earthquake, the triple linear shear beam model has been used. For illustration, the method has been tested on Confined masonry walls equipped with linear TMDs. To study the effects of frequency content and Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) of earthquake records on the performance of TMDs,... 

A new model is proposed to predict the Forming Limit Diagrams (FLDs) of Tailor Welded Blanks (TWBs). This model is derived by modification of the Marciniak and Kuczynski (MK) analysis and imposing the weld constraints to deformation state of each blank at each strain increment. Based on this model, it is possible to predict the strains of both weaker and stronger blanks once necking occurs. By comparison to the experimental results of two laser welded TWBs, it is demonstrated that this model provides a close prediction of FLD of TWBs, when necking occurs far from the weld line at a region out of HAZ (Heat Affected Zone) and close to it so that it is affected by the weld line constraints  

The aim of this work is to produce two layered thin-walled Cu/Al composite tube by the spin-bonding process. The process is utilized to bond the aluminum tube into the copper one at thickness reductions of 20-60% and process temperatures of 25°C, 130°C, and 230°C. The bond strength is measured by T-peeling test, and the bond interfaces are examined by metallography and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that after a threshold thickness reduction of about 30%, the bond strength increased with the amount of deformation. SEM fractography of the peel surfaces confirms that the copper oxide film is broken in a shear manner during deformation. Severe shear strains applied during... 

A novel SPD process for manufacturing of high strength tubes and cylinders by accumulative spin-bonding (ASB) is proposed. It is demonstrated that due to incremental deformation in this process, high strain rate without considerable temperature rise is achieved. This is accompanied with a high value of Zener-Hollomon parameter as a characteristic of this SPD process. ASB was applied to a commercially pure aluminum up to four cycles and its effects on the microstructure and mechanical properties were examined by optical microscopy, TEM, EBSD, microhardness and tension tests. The results show that ultra-fine grains are developed during the process by formation of subgrains at early stages... 

Utilizing the so-called tube spinning, a cold-bonding process entitled as "spin-bonding" is developed to produce seamless thin-walled clad tubes and cylinders. By this method, two layers of AA 1050 tubes were successfully bonded together to form a clad tube at room temperature. Based on mechanical aspects of the tube spinning process, the mechanism of spin-bonding is explained in two stages: surface preparation before occurrence of a stable bond and bond strengthening thereafter. The effects of process temperature, thickness reduction, feed rate and roller attack angle as the parameters of tube spinning on the bond strength are studied. It is shown that the bond strength increases by... 

In this study, ultrafine grained aluminum sheets AA1050 and AA5052 are incrementally cryo-rolled after precooling in liquid nitrogen. Cryogenic deformation is considered as an effective approach to postpone saturation of the grain refinement by conventional severe plastic deformation. However, for a quantitative understanding of the resulted microstructure and mechanical properties, accurate values of the deformation parameters (strain, strain rate and temperature) are needed. The aim of this study is, therefore, to find values of the applied cryo-rolling parameters. As the experimental measurements of parameters such as temperature are infeasible in the thin specimens, a FEM simulation is... 

Strain rate sensitivity (m-value) of ultrafine grain (UFG) AA 1050 and AA 5052 sheets processed by accumulative roll-bonding is investigated versus strain rate by stress relaxation (SR) test at ambient temperature. The results show a weak viscous nature of deformation for AA 5052 specimens as compared to AA 1050 ones. So that much less stress relaxation and negligible strain rate sensitivity are obtained for this material due to dislocation and grain boundary mobility limitation caused by Mg solute atoms. In order to formulate strain rate sensitivity of UFG aluminum as a function of strain rate, three phenomenological and two empirical models are developed and assessed by the experimental... 

Common rail diesel engines with electronic fuel injection can accurately meter the fuel injection quantity with more accurate fuel injection control capability. In this work a common rail fuel injection system of a single cylinder diesel engine has been proposed and the important parameters like injection pressure, energizing time and high pressure pipes diameter and length are designed such that to be compatible with the engine basic design in case of pressure waves and injected mass variations. A one-dimensional approach has been used to model the injector using AMESim code in which Adiabatic models have been used to model injector system. Injected mass quantity has been calculated for... 

By displacing oil in porous media with other fluid, different mechanisms of fluid displacing occur. The importance of understanding the trapping mechanisms like pore body filling is irrefutable. Pore body filling mechanism with a coordination number of four has different events like I0, I1, I2 and I3. Previous studies showed that the event of I0 occurs when the pore is only filled by a compressible non-wetting phase, but this study showed that this event could also occur by an incompressible non-wetting phase. Trapping mechanisms can be examined in a glass micro-model. In this research, a glass micro-model with three different patterns was used. Results showed that at two spots of the... 

In this paper, the effect of various arrangements of displacement, velocity and acceleration related weighting matrices on the performance of active control systems on nonlinear frames has been studied. Different arrangements of weighting matrices and feedback combinations of the response have been considered to design the active controllers using a single actuator for reducing the response of an eight-storey bilinear hysteretic frame under white noise excitations. The nonlinear Newmark-based instantaneous optimal control algorithm has been used, where the distributed genetic algorithm (DGA) is employed to determine the proper set of weighting matrices. For each set of feedback and weighting... 

The novel N2O2 unsymmetrical tetradentate Schiff bases complexes are used as catalysts for the selective aerobic oxidation of cyclohexene. In general, conversion percentages decrease with increasing ΔEp and decreasing Eredox 0′. Catalytic activity increases with decrease of the number of electron-donating groups and the catalytic selectivity varies according to the types of substituents in the ligands. The catalytic system described here is an inexpensive method for selective oxidation of olefins, with advantages of high activity, selectivity, re-usability and short reaction times. Analysing GC and redox potential results shows a moderate correlation between selectivity and activity. © 2004... 

In this study, a new series of thermally stable polyamides and copolyamides are prepared through reaction of oxazolopyridine functional diamine, 2-(3,5-diaminophenyl) oxazolo [4,5-b] pyridine with four commercial dicarboxylic acids: pyridine 2,6-dicarboxylic acid, pyridine 2,5-dicarboxylic acid, 4,4′-dicarboxylic acid diphenyl sulfone and 4,4′-dicarboxylic acid diphenyl ether. The synthesized polymers were characterized by FT-IR and 1HNMR spectroscopy. The physical properties of the polymers including solubility and viscosity were studied. The results displayed good solubility, viscosity and high thermal stability. Their viscosities and glass transition temperatures are in the range of... 

Crystal-size distribution (CSD) is one of the most important parameters in sugar production. The objective is to grow crystals of uniform sizes or narrow CSD. CSD appears to be determined by the growth-rate history of the crystals and the relative supersaturation (SS) of the solution from which crystals growth takes place. Three methods for preparation of nucleation seeds were described and used for industrial crystallization of raw and white sugars; these are wet milling filtered sugar (ML), agitating saturated solution (AS) and powdered sugars (PD). Rosin-Rammler (RR) and mathematical models were adopted to investigate CSD and the uniformity of the produced crystals. Higher uniformity... 

Unfortunately, energy demands and destruction of the environment from uncontrolled manipulation of fossil fuels have increased. Climate change concerns have resulted in the rapid use of new, alternative combustion technologies. In this study, reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) combustion, which can simply be exploited in internal combustion (IC) engines, is investigated. To introduce and identify extra insightful information, an exergy-based study was conducted to classify various irreversibility and loss sources. Multidimensional models were combined with the primary kinetics mechanism to investigate RCCI combustion, incorporating the second law of thermodynamics. The... 

Due to role of polymer in increasing sweep efficiency during oil recovery, much attention has been paid to the using polymer solutions in enhanced oil recovery methods. In spite of the existence of the great researches in this area, the role of nanoparticles in modification of the polymer performance in the presence of salts has not been examined before. Furthermore, there is no information about how the dispersed silica nanoparticles affect the heavy oil recovery during the polymer flooding in the presence of divalent cations. In this study, a series of polymer flooding experiments are performed in a quarter five-spot glass micromodel saturated with heavy oil. Solutions of polyacrylamide... 

In this study, dynamic adsorption behavior of different gaseous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on a new modified M-MIL-101(Cr) was investigated with a great emphasis on gasoline adsorption. The M-MIL-101(Cr) was synthesized, along with comprehensive purification procedures, using a new linker to cluster molar ratio (2:1 instead of 1:1) and different modulators (i.e. HF and HNO3). All prepared adsorbents were characterized by XRD, FTIR, FE-SEM and N2 adsorption-desorption at 77 K. The results showed that surface area and pore volume of the M-MIL-101@Free (i.e. modified MIL-101(Cr) with using any modulator) which were 4293 m2/g and 2.43 cm3/g, greatly elevated up to 37.2% and 71.6% against... 

Introduction: Some tinnitus subjects habituate to their tinnitus but some others do not and complain of its annoyance tremendously. Normal sensory memory and change detection processes are needed for detecting the tinnitus signal as a prediction error and habituation to tinnitus. The purpose of this study was to compare auditory mismatch negativity as the index of sensory memory and change detection among the studied groups to search for the factors involving in the perception of tinnitus and preventing habituation in decompensated tinnitus subjects. Methods: Electroencephalography was recorded from scalp electrodes in compensated tinnitus, decompensated tinnitus, and no tinnitus control... 

In this paper, we introduce and analyze a mathematical model of a viral infection with explicit age-since infection structure for infected cells. We extend previous age-structured within-host virus models by including logistic growth of target cells and allowing for absorption of multiple virus particles by infected cells. The persistence of the virus is shown to depend on the basic reproduction number R0. In particular, when R0 ≤ 1, the infection free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable, and conversely if R0 > 1, then the infection free equilibrium is unstable, the system is uniformly persistent and there exists a unique positive equilibrium. We show that our system undergoes a...