Sharif Digital Repository

The number of humidity outputs on the cap of a cylindrical capacitance sensor is optimized by designing three different probes with direct and indirect windows. The time interval is measured within which 30- 70 % humidity can influence the dielectric constant and conductivity of the capacitance when exposed to a range of relative humidity. It is then compared with a simple set-up including a simplified equivalent circuit. The direct probes had four and double outputs on the window of the cylindrical capacitive sensor while the indirect probe had a thin plastic layer only. We observed that the dielectric constant and its conductivity depend closely to the humidity outgoing pathway and also to... 

In this study, the effect of protection methods regarding the corrosion decrement of steel in concrete was simulated by artificial neural networks (ANNs) and fuzzy logic (FL) approaches. Hot dip galvanizing as a protective coating, Ferrogard 901 corrosion inhibitor, a pozzolanic component, such as fly ash (FA) and micro-silica (MS), and eventually rebar AISI-304 were employed in concrete. Reinforced concrete samples were held under impressed voltage of 30 V in 3.5 % NaCl electrolyte for 350 hours toward a stainless-steel auxiliary electrode. Corrosion currents have been modelled using feed forward back propagation ANNs and FL methods. The results demonstrate good consistency between... 

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the galvanic corrosion of nitinol orthodontic wires with six dental alloys in artificial saliva and consider the effect of initiated localized corrosion and real surfaces of anode and cathode on galvanic current. Design/methodology/approach: Linear polarization and cyclic polarization curves for each alloy in de-aerated Duffo and Castillo's artificial saliva are obtained. Galvanic corrosion investigation is conducted by polarization curve intersection and mixed potential theory methods. In order to verify the initiation of localized corrosion, scanning electron microscopy is used. Findings: Initiation of localized corrosion on the anode... 

We study the spectrum of tensor perturbations on extremal BTZ black holes in topologically massive gravity for arbitrary values of the coefficient of the Chern-Simons term, μ. Imposing proper boundary conditions at the boundary of the space and at the horizon, we find that the spectrum contains quasi-normal modes  

In this research, we simulate the corrosive behavior of steel reinforcements on 5 different mixtures to investigate the effect of two powerful protective methods, including pozzolanic additives and corrosion inhibitor on concrete, by artificial neural networks (ANNs). Related to this model, fly ash (FA), micro silica (MS), and slag were used as pozzolanic materials at an optimum 25%, 10%, and 25% of cement weight, respectively. Moreover, Ferrogard 901 as an inhibitor was also utilized. The producer recommends using12 kg/m3 to get the best possible results. The non-linear corrosion of concrete into a marine solution (3.5% NaCl) was simulated by the feed forward back propagation (FFBP)... 

In this research, we simulate the corrosive behavior of steel reinforcements on 5 different mixtures to investigate the effect of two powerful protective methods, including pozzolanic additives and corrosion inhibitor on concrete, by artificial neural networks (ANNs). Related to this model, fly ash (FA), micro silica (MS), and slag were used as pozzolanic materials at an optimum 25%, 10%, and 25% of cement weight, respectively. Moreover, Ferrogard 901 as an inhibitor was also utilized. The producer recommends using12 kg/m3 to get the best possible results. The non-linear corrosion of concrete into a marine solution (3.5% NaCl) was simulated by the feed forward back propagation (FFBP)... 

In this paper a single stage structure is proposed for realizing a three-phase unity power factor rectifier. This topology utilizes a forward/flyback transformer to allow the high-frequency isolation. The principle of the operation and the applied control concept is discussed. Space vector modulation is used in order to achieve unity power factor and to have the output voltage be regulated. Furthermore, the system transient is analyzed during turn-on and a novel method is applied to the control system in order to limit inrush current during startup. The proper operation of the soft-start method is confirmed by numerical simulation of a 6KW, 380V/48Vdc. The stability of the closed-loop as... 

In trasformerless grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems, common-mode voltage (CMV) fluctuations cause leakage current flow through the stray capacitance of the PV panels. Shoot-through (SH) states in a quasi-Z-source inverter (q-ZSI), increase the amplitude of high order harmonics of CMV. In this paper, by using the modulation technique based on odd PWM (OPWM) and minor change in the Z network of the three-phase q-ZSI, the leakage current is blocked. No extra semiconductor element is added. By the proposed technique, CMV is kept nearly constant during switching cycles. The experimental results for CMV analysis in a 1kW prototype are presented to verify the theoretical analysis. IEEE  

In trasformerless grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems, common-mode voltage (CMV) fluctuations cause leakage current flow through the stray capacitance of the PV panels. Shoot-through states in a quasi-Z-source inverter (q-ZSI) increase the amplitude of high-order harmonics of CMV. In this paper, by using the modulation technique based on odd pulse width modulation and minor change in the Z network of the three-phase q-ZSI, the leakage current is blocked. No extra semiconductor element is added. By the proposed technique, CMV is kept nearly constant during switching cycles. The experimental results for CMV analysis in a 1kW prototype are presented to verify the theoretical analysis. ©... 

Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to both estimate the solubility of nonelectrolyte solids, such as acetanilide, acetaminophen, phenacetin, methylparaben, and lidocaine, in supercritical carbon dioxide and understand the underlying molecular-level driving forces. The solubility calculations involve the estimation of the solute's limiting activity coefficient, which may be computed using conventional staged free-energy calculations. For the case of lidocaine, wherein the infinite dilution approximation is not appropriate, we demonstrate how the activity coefficient at finite concentrations may be estimated without additional effort using the dilute solution approximation and how... 

In this paper a novel soft switching isolated buck rectifier is proposed. Various switching state sequences of a three-phase three-switch buck-type unity power factor rectifier are reviewed and the value of switching power loss in each state transition is investigated. The switching power loss of the converter is decreased by using zero current switching (ZCS) method. The operation modes of the converter are explained and analyzed. By using an auxiliary circuit with a simple method of energy recovery, the current is diverted away from the main power switches before they are turned off; so, switching losses in the converter are reduced. In this topology, the power transformer has only the... 

In this letter, the problem of source localization using time difference of arrival (TDOA) is investigated. Then, a closedform two-stage solution is proposed based on estimation of the range nuisance parameter in the first stage and refinement of initial solution in the next stage. The proposed solution is shown analytically and verified by simulations to be an efficient estimate, which can attain the CRLB performance under mild Gaussian noise assumption. This method is able to locate the source with the minimum number of sensors required for N-dimensional localization. Numerical simulations demonstrate significant performance improvement of the proposed method compared with the... 

In this study, an algebraic closed-form method for jointly locating the target and refining the antenna positions in multiple-input-multiple-output radar systems is proposed. First, a set of linear equations is formed by non-linear transformation and nuisance parameters elimination, and then, an estimate of the target position is obtained by employing a weighted least-squares estimator. To jointly refine the target and antenna positions, the associated error terms are estimated in the sequence. The proposed method is shown analytically and confirmed by simulations to attain the Cramér-Rao lower bound performance under small-error conditions. Numerical simulations are given to support the... 

In this paper, a novel solution for the problem of joint moving target and antenna localization in the distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar systems is proposed. The localization problem in the presence of antenna location uncertainty is formulated as a maximum likelihood (ML) estimation problem, which is then recast into convex form by defining some auxiliary variables and applying semidefinite relation (SDR) technique. Next, an algebraic closed-form estimator is proposed to jointly estimate the target and the antennas error terms and refine their uncertain values. The proposed method is shown analytically and verified by the numerical simulations to be an efficient... 

The leakage current originated from the fluctuations of the common-mode voltage (CMV) is an issue in a transformerless grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system. In this paper, a modified space vector modulation based on the Fourier transform analysis is proposed to reduce the leakage current in a three-phase quasi-Z-source inverter (qZSI). The CMV harmonic content in a qZSI contains low and high-frequency harmonics which cause safety and EMI problems respectively. By implementing the proposed modulation in a three-phase qZSI, the low-frequency harmonics of the CMV are mainly reduced. The distribution of the high-frequency harmonics is also modified in a way they can be simply filtered.... 

New advances in technology of mobile computers along with advent of wireless and mobile networking bring new capabilities, applications and concerns to the computer world. In this paper, we discussed on file sharing requirements in a mobile environment. Then, we proposed an architecture that supports mobility of hardware, data and software over the environment. Finally a sample implementation of the suggested architecture is presented. © 2005 by Knowledge Systems Institute Graduate School  

Corrosion of steel rebars in concrete can reduce the durability of concrete structures in coastal environments. The corrosion rate of these concrete structures can be reduced by using suitable concrete additives and coating on rebars. This paper investigates the corrosion resistance of steel rebars by the addition of pozzolanic materials including fly ash, silica fume, polypropylene fibers, and industrial 2-dimethylaminoethanol (FerroGard 901) inhibitors to the concrete mixture. Three different types of rebars including mild steel rebar st37, and two stainless steel reinforcements, AISI 304 and AISI 316, were used. Various types of primer and coating including alkyd based primer, hot-dip... 

In this paper a novel soft switching three-phase pulse width modulation (PWM) rectifier is proposed. Various switching state sequences of a three-phase three-switch buck-type unity power factor rectifier are reviewed and the operation modes of the converter are explained and analyzed. The converter operates under zero current switching (ZCS) condition. By using an auxiliary circuit with a simple method of energy recovery, the current is diverted away from the main power switches before they are to be turned off; so, switching losses in the converter are reduced. The auxiliary circuit consists of two auxiliary switches and a resonant inductance-capacitance circuit connected to the auxiliary...