Sharif Digital Repository

A genetic-based pore network extraction method from micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) images is proposed in this paper. Several variables such as the number, radius and location of pores, the coordination number, as well as the radius and length of the throats are used herein as the optimization parameters. Two approaches to generate the pore network structure are presented. Unlike previous algorithms, the presented approaches are directly based on minimizing the error between the extracted network and the real porous medium. This leads to the generation of more accurate results while reducing required computational memories. Two different objective functions are used in building the... 

The robots that can move on rough terrains are very important especially in Rescue operation, exploration, etc. In this research, a mechanism is introduced for a ring-like robot with a flexible body. This robot is moved by arms which are placed radially and have Reciprocating motion in this direction. By controlling the contraction and the extension of the arms which contact lhe ground, the robot will be forced to move which is called rolling-creeping motion. The robot is stable in stationary state.; also the maximum angle which it can be stable is determined. Considering the speed of contracted arm is the input parameter, the speed of the extended arm for locomotion of the robot has been... 

Regarding the increasing number of electrical devices in the smart homes that leads to increase in total electricity consumption and cost, it is essential to use energy management methods to reduce the electricity cost. However, this can cause resident's dissatisfaction. Hence, it is important to define a method in which cost and dissatisfaction be optimized simultaneously. Among different services, an electric vehicle is the one that can be used as an energy storage system, so it can reduce the daily cost despite of increasing the total energy consumption. In this paper, we study the effect of the EV on the cost and dissatisfaction in our proposed method. © 2018 IEEE  

In this study, polypropylene/clay nanocomposites were prepared by melt blending method and their thermal conductivity and the thermal conductivity of polypropylene/multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanocomposites were investigated and modeled. It is found that the thermal conductivity of the PP/Clay and PP/MWCNT nanocomposites is increased with increasing temperature. The thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites is improved due to incorporation of nanoclay and MWCNT compared with pure PP matrix  

In this contribution a new approach to perform spatial integration is presented using a dielectric slab. Our approach is indeed based on the fact that the transmission coefficient of a simple dielectric slab at its mode excitation angle matches the Fourier-Green's function of first-order integration. Inspired by the mentioned dielectric-based integrator, we further demonstrate its graphene-based counterpart. The latter is not only reconfigurable but also highly miniaturized in contrast to the previously reported designs [Opt. Commun. 338, 457 (2015)]. Such integrators have the potential to be used in ultrafast analog computation and signal processing. © 2017 Optical Society of America  

In this paper, a new linear theory for bending stress-strain analysis of a cracked beam has been developed. A displacement field has been suggested for the beam strain and stress calculations. The bending differential equation for the beam has been written using equilibrium equations. The required constant for this model is also obtained from fracture mechanics. The bending equation has been solved for a simply supported beam with rectangular cross-section and the results are compared with finite element and empirical results. There is an excellent agreement between theoretical results and those obtained by numerical and empirical methods. The model developed in this research is a simple and... 

In this paper the equation of motion and corresponding boundary conditions has been developed for forced bending vibration analysis of a beam with an open edge crack. A uniform Euler-Bernoulli beam and the Hamilton principle have been used in this research. The natural frequencies and the forced response of this beam have been obtained using the new developed model in conjunction with the Galerkin projection method. The crack has been modeled as a continuous disturbance function in displacement filed which could be obtained from fracture mechanics. The results show that the first natural frequency will reduce when the crack depth ratio increases. Also the rate of this reduction depends on... 

In this paper the equations of motion and corresponding boundary conditions for bending vibration of a beam with an open edge crack has been developed by implementing the Hamilton principle. A uniform Euler-Bernoulli beam has been used in this research. The natural frequencies of this beam have been calculated using the new developed model in conjunction with the Galerkin projection method. The crack has been modeled as a continuous disturbance function in displacement field which could be obtained from fracture mechanics. The results show that the natural frequencies of a cracked beam reduce by increasing crack depth. There is an excellent agreement between the theoretically calculated... 

In the light of the rapid advances in renewable energy technologies, they have become an appropriate option to supply energy with numerous advantages. Besides, the coordination of different energy resources and the proliferation of energy conversion technologies such as Combined Heat and Power (CHP) has facilitated the raising of new energy prosumers called Smart Energy Hub (S.E.Hub). This paper utilizes an innovative model to propose a secured decentralized energy market architecture that consists of S.E.Hubs, energy utility grids, energy consumers, and an aggregator. The interaction among these players is modeled as a bilevel optimization problem. This problem has been transformed into a... 

Automatic cell segmentation has various applications in different parts of science. The development of automated methods for cell segmentation, remains challenging in situations where there are touching cells. In this paper we propose a new method for separating touching cells. As the first step, we use a combination of graph segmentation algorithm and thresholding for segmenting foreground objects and producing a binary image. Next, boundary points of separation zone are selected by using a corner detection algorithm. Finally, the marker controller watershed transform is applied to separate touching cells at selected points. © 2008 IEEE  

Stable control of water level of drum is of great importance for economic operation of power plant steam generator systems. In this paper, a linear model of the boiler unit with time varying parameters is used for simulation. Two transfer functions between drum water level (output variable) and feed-water and steam mass rates (input variables) are considered. Variation of model parameters may be arisen from disturbances affecting water level of drum, model uncertainties and parameter mismatch due to the variant operating conditions. To achieve a perfect tracking of the desired drum water level, two sliding mode controllers are designed separately. Results show that the designed controllers... 

Studying the reliability of cracked structures under different types of failure modes such as a mixture of Mode I and Mode II loadings has been of great importance in many applications. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of different modes of loading, i.e. pure Mode I, pure Mode II and Mixed mode I/II loadings on the reliability of cracked structures via three typical case studies including 1st: through crack in a very wide plate, 2nd: cracked pressurized fuselage and 3rd: cracked fastener holes under actual geometries and loading conditions using the FORM, the fracture toughness and the equivalent SIF for Mixed mode I/II loading which is extracted by the Energy release... 

Novel type of two-impinging-jets loop reactor (TIJLR) has been proposed and tested successfully for the solid-liquid catalytic reactions. The TIJLR was tested using the catalytic reaction of isomerization of D-glucose to D-fructose by immobilized glucose isomerase catalyst as a typical model system of solid-liquid catalytic reactions. The TIJLR is characterized by a high intensity reaction chamber, which is separated by a perforated plate from other parts of the reactor. The perforated plate was used as a filter to keep the catalyst particles within the reaction chamber. A compartment model with two adjustable parameters was considered to describe the pattern of flow within the reaction... 

Simulating signal transduction in cellular signaling networks provides predictions of network dynamics by quantifying the changes in concentration and activity-level of the individual proteins. Since numerical values of kinetic parameters might be difficult to obtain, it is imperative to develop non-parametric approaches that combine the connectivity of a network with the response of individual proteins to signals which travel through the network. The activity levels of signaling proteins computed through existing non-parametric modeling tools do not show significant correlations with the observed values in experimental results. In this work we developed a non-parametric computational... 

A signaling pathway is a sequence of proteins and passenger molecules that transmits information from the cell surface to target molecules. Understanding signal transduction process requires detailed description of the involved pathways. Several methods and tools resolved this problem by incorporating genomic and proteomic data. However, the difficulty of obtaining prior knowledge of complex signaling networks limited the applicability of these tools. In this study, based on the simulation of signal flow in signaling network, we introduce a method for determining dominant pathways and signal response to stimulations. The model uses topology-weighted transit compartment approach and comprises... 

One of the main applications of citation is to find articles that are relevant to a particular article. However, not all citations are equally relevant to the target article. This paper presents an approach to identify the most relevant citation(s). To this end, the Normalized Similarity Index (NSI) is proposed to quantify the similarity between the source and target of a citation base on the co-citations and references shared by them. To validate the method, NSI was calculated for five citation networks and was compared with the peer review grades for the relevancy between the source and the target articles. The results showed a significant correlation between the NSI ranks and those of... 

In this paper, we analyze the performance of code acquisition system in atmospheric optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) communications using optical orthogonal codes. Memory introduced by temporal correlation of optical fading process precludes us from using the Markov chain model for a code acquisition analysis. By considering this issue, we discuss how to extend the applicability of the Markov chain model to the atmospheric OCDMA communications. We analyze and compare the performance of correlator and chip level detector (CLD) structures in the acquisition system. In our analysis, we consider the effects of free space optical channel impairments, multiple access interference, and... 

Transient heat-up of a solid propellant rocket structure during motor burning time is studied, numerically. The solid phase energy equation coupled with unsteady compressible flow equations are used in this simulation. The flow-field equations are discretized and solved using upwind Roe's scheme. The results show that heat transfer from the gas phase boundaries has negligible effect on internal ballistics behavior. On the other hand, the results are suitable for a thermal stresses analysis in the chamber case and are consequently valuable from structural design viewpoints