Sharif Digital Repository

The purpose of this research is to explain the surface modification of fabricated polyamide reverse osmosis (RO) membranes using UV-initiated graft polymerization at different irradiation times (15, 30, 60, and 90 s) and various acrylamide concentrations (10, 20, and 30 g L−1). Also, coating of membranes surface with various concentrations of TiO2 nanoparticles (10, 20, 30, and 50 ppm) followed by the same UV irradiation times was investigated. After that, the membranes modification was done by grafting of acrylamide blended with TiO2 nanoparticles via UV irradiation. The characterization of membranes surface properties and their performance were systematically carried out. The results... 

In this present research work, a new configuration of the hybrid magnetorheological (MR) brake via T-shaped drum with an arc form surface boundary - the biomechanical geometric design of the hybrid MR brake as a prosthetic knee - is discussed and experimentally tested. The main purpose of this study is to develop a prosthetic knee with one rotary disc to fulfill the desired objective. To achieve this, three steps are considered. In the first step, to model the brake, slab method modeling is used to calculate the braking torque due to the arc surface. In the second step, the biomechanical geometric design is adjusted as an optimization problem to maximize the braking torque, minimize the... 

Modeling uncertainties and oscillatory dynamics are control challenges for flapping vehicles. Flapping-wing aerial vehicles are nonlinear time-varying oscillatory systems with flexible multibody dynamics. As such, accurate modeling of these complex systems considering unsteady aerodynamics is a formidable task. Though adaptive controllers can work well with uncertain approximate models, inherent oscillation of flapping systems can degrade their control performance and create undesired control actuations. This paper addresses improvements of neural adaptive dynamic inversion controller toward efficient performance for flapping flight via effective utility of actuator capacity. In this... 

The capacity of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems in vehicular communication is investigated throughout this paper. The goal is to consider a link between a vehicle-side and a road-side unit in presence of line-of-sight in a way that the road-side end uses all available antennas but the vehicle-side end chooses a subset of available antennas such that the link capacity becomes maximized. In order to maximize the channel capacity a criterion is derived that forces some circumstances about the configuration of antenna array in vehicle-side. If such circumstances are satisfied the channel capacity will be at its maximum. By proposing an antenna selection algorithm, the conditions... 

This paper deals with the study of the small scale effect on the pull-in instability of nano-switches subjected to electrostatic and intermolecular forces. Using Eringen's nonlocal elasticity theory, the nonlocal Euler-Bernoulli beam model is derived through virtual displacement principle. The static governing equation which is extremely nonlinear due to the intermolecular and electrostatic attraction forces is solved numerically by differential quadrature method. The accuracy of the present method is verified by comparing the obtained results with the finite difference method and those in the literatures and very good agreement is obtained. Finally a comprehensive study is carried out to... 

In this paper, a restricted structure of PID controller is proposed for automobile gas turbine by considering a LQG cost function. So PID Controller coefficients are calculated by minimizing this cost function. One of the most important characteristics of this approach, its ability to design various structure PID controllers by solving optimization problem only for one time, moreover it can approximate main optimization problem by a repetitive Quadratic optimization Problem (QP). This approach is convex optimization and has an analytic solution; therefore its calculations are not complicated. In defined cost function, there are two weighting functions, control error and control action; they... 

Dual-phase steels with different morphology and volume fraction of martensite were deformed between 2% and 8% at a high-temperature range of 150-450 °C. Room-temperature tensile properties showed that both yield and tensile stresses depend on the amount of pre-strain, deformation temperature, volume fraction and morphology of martensite. Results show that both YS and UTS increase with increasing the amount of pre-strain at a given temperature. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved  

Considering hydrogen as a future fuel, development of clean approaches based on solar energy conversion is the main human challenge. Here, for the first time, TiO2 photoanodes are decorated with Au-Ag alloy nanoparticles for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting. The photoanodes were synthesized using a one-step co-sputtering method. The single surface plasmon resonance peak at 540 nm and also the observed shifts in photoelectron binding energies are fingerprints of homogenous alloyed nanoparticles. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the formation of nearly 40 nm particles on the surface, which was also verified by the simulation of the film's optical absorption. Photocurrent... 

Spinal posture including thorax/pelvis orientations as well as loads on the intervertebral discs are crucial parameters in biomechanical models and ergonomics to evaluate the risk of low back injury. In vivo measurement of spinal posture toward estimation of spine loads requires the common motion capture techniques and laboratory instruments that are costly and time-consuming. Hence, a closed loop algorithm including an artificial neural network (ANN) and fuzzy logic is proposed here to predict the L5–S1 segment loads and thorax/pelvis orientations in various 3D reaching activities. Two parts namely a fuzzy logic strategy and an ANN from this algorithm; the former, developed based on the... 

Surprise and social influence are linked through several neuropsychological mechanisms. By garnering attention, causing arousal, and motivating engagement, surprise provides a context for effective or durable social influence. Attention to a surprising event motivates the formation of an explanation or updating of models, while high arousal experiences due to surprise promote memory formation. They both encourage engagement with the surprising event through efforts aimed at understanding the situation. By affecting the behavior of the individual or a social group via setting an attractive engagement context, surprise plays an important role in shaping personal and social change. Surprise is... 

In this study, a hybrid search algorithm combining genetic programming with orthogonal least squares (GP/OLS) is utilized to generate prediction models for compressive strength of high performance concrete (HPC) mixes. The GP/OLS models are developed based on a comprehensive database containing 1133 experimental test results obtained from previously published papers. A multiple least squares regression (LSR) analysis is performed to benchmark the GP/OLS models. A subsequent parametric study is carried out to verify the validity of the models. The results indicate that the proposed models are effectively capable of evaluating the compressive strength of HPC mixes. The derived formulas are... 

An age-hardening model has been developed to predict the evolution of the hardness of Al-Mg-Si alloys during non-isothermal ageing before peak age. The concurrent precipitation and dissolution have been considered in the structural model. Then the structural model has been combined with strengthening model to predict the precipitation-hardening behavior of the alloy AA6061. The results indicate that the developed model can be used as a predictive tool to model the mechanical properties evolution of Al-Mg-Si alloys during non-isothermal heat treatment. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved  

Urbanization growth and aging infrastructures necessitate new infrastructure construction projects in congested urban areas. Urban construction projects interrupt the regular on-road vehicle traffic flow that affects air pollution concentration in the adjacent areas. The project schedule, however, is a possible contributor to the air pollution which has been neglected to date. This research proposes a new framework to account for the impact of different urban project schedule alternatives on air pollution emission near the construction zones. The proposed framework uses the capabilities of vehicle traffic simulation to evaluate air pollution emission of different construction schedule... 

In this investigation heat treatment optimization of 17-4PH stainless steel has been carried out by a genetic algorithm. The optimum technique of heat treatment, adaptive to 17-4PH stainless steel, was obtained from the initial data set by the use of genetic algorithms based on modeling with artificial neural network. The results strongly indicate that the presented model has the great ability for heat treatment optimization of 17-4PH stainless steel to yield the highest strength levels in different working temperatures. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved  

Groundwater withdrawal is one of the most important causes of land subsidence all over the world that has caused extremely expensive damages to buildings, walls, roads, railroads, pipelines and casings of the water wells. Rafsanjan Plain has had the most subsidence in Iran. One of the necessary steps to perform a proper analysis for land subsidence is to obtain accurate measurements of actual land subsidence at certain intervals. In this paper, first the latest situation of land subsidence in Rafsanjan plain is described. Secondly the geological, hydrogeological conditions as well as groundwater utilization are explained. Finally the results of two successive measurements carried out... 

The potentiometric response characteristics with respect to salicylate anion of several membrane electrodes based on iron(II) tetraphenylporphyrin chloride (FeTPPCl) and derivatives with electrophilic and nucleophilic substituents, incorporated into plasticized polyvinylchloride (PVC) membranes were investigated. Complexes tetraphenyl porphyrin iron(III) chloride (FeTPPCl; A), tetrakis (4-methoxyphenyl) porphyrin iron(III) chloride (Fe(TOCH 3PP)Cl; B), tetrakis (2,6-dichlorophenyl) porphyrin iron(III) chloride (Fe(TDClPP)Cl; C), tetrakis (4-nitrophenyl) porphyrin iron(III) chloride (Fe(TNO2PP)Cl; D), and tetrakis (pentafluorophenyl) porphyrin iron(III) chloride (Fe(TPFPP)Cl; E) were used as... 

Adsorption and recovery of uranium by nanoporous MCM-41 from aqueous solutions (synthetic solution and uranium conversion facility liquid waste) were investigated by use of a fixed-bed column (1.2 cm diameter and 3.0 cm height). Adsorption was carried out at flow rates 0.2 and 0.5 mL min-1, which correspond to retention times of 10 and 6 min. The maximum breakthrough capacity for uranium ions was achieved by use of nanoporous MCM-41 at the optimum pH of 3.6 and flow rate 0.2 mL min-1 (61.95 μg g-1). The Thomas and Yan models were applied to the experimental data, by use of linear regression, to determine the characteristics of the column for process design. The breakthrough curves calculated... 

Adult cardiomyocytes are terminally differentiated cells that result in minimal intrinsic potential for the heart to self-regenerate. The introduction of novel approaches in cardiac tissue engineering aims to repair damages from cardiovascular diseases. Recently, conductive biomaterials such as carbon- and gold-based nanomaterials, conductive polymers, and ceramics that have outstanding electrical conductivity, acceptable mechanical properties, and promoted cell-cell signaling transduction have attracted attention for use in cardiac tissue engineering. Nevertheless, comprehensive classification of conductive biomaterials from the perspective of cardiac cell function is a subject for... 

Based on series of crude oil rheological properties and asphaltene flocculation confocal microscopy analysis, Najafi et al., (2011) reported the existence of an optimum radiation time at which asphaltenic crude oils reach the minimum kinematic viscosity. Accordingly, they proposed the idea of asphaltene flocculation inhibition due to wave radiation.The present investigation is a continuous effort to provide more information about the process of flocculation inhibition. Confocal microscopy and rheological analyses are performed on different crude oils to prove the repeatability of the observed phenomena. The asphaltene content analysis was done based on IP143 procedure, which provides more...