Sharif Digital Repository

Coupled fluid–solid phase continuum problems associated with large deformation as geotechnics experts encounter in slope stability problems have been extensively reviewed. This has been done with a view to exploring the most efficient numerical approach to solving them for the sake of our environment. Decades ago, analytical solutions known as the limit equilibrium methods (LEM), e.g., Navier–Stokes and the likes were celebrated with the level of mathematical solutions they offered. To overcome the limitations of the LEM in handling more complex slope failure problems, numerical solutions were born, which solved these problems by method of mesh discretization. However, mesh discretization... 

The soil water retention curve (SWRC) or soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC) is a fundamental feature of unsaturated soil that simply shows the relationship between soil suction and water content (in terms of the degree of saturation and volumetric or gravimetric water content). In this study, the applications of the SWRC or SWCC have been extensively reviewed, taking about 403 previously published research studies into consideration. This was achieved on the basis of classification-based problems and application-based problems, which solve the widest array of geotechnical engineering problems relevant to and correlating with SWRC geo-structural behavior. At the end of the exercises, the... 

The concept of a nonlinear transfer function of a fibre-optic communication link is reviewed. Also an approximation of the nonlinear transfer function is introduced, which allows to define an equivalent single-span model of a dispersion-managed multi-span system. In this paper we will show its limits of validity and try to extent these limits by enhancing the theoretical model. In this respect we will discuss the impact of dispersion precompensation and show the influence of residual dispersion per span, number of spans and local dispersion on transmission systems with on-off keying and differential phase-shift keying modulation formats. This approach allows fast assessment of the... 

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the biomechanical impact of laminectomy on cervical intersegmental motion and load sharing using a parametric patient-specific finite element (FE) model towards providing clinicians with a viable quantitative tool for informed decision-making and improved surgical planning. Methods: Ten subject-specific nonlinear osteo-ligamentous cervical spine (C3–C7) FE models were developed using X-ray image-based algorithms. The models were used to evaluate the effect of laminectomy on lower cervical spine biomechanics for two-level (C3–C4) and three-level (C3–C5) laminectomy procedures. Results: The average cervical spine ranges of motion (ROM) for the pre-op... 

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the biomechanical impact of laminectomy on cervical intersegmental motion and load sharing using a parametric patient-specific finite element (FE) model towards providing clinicians with a viable quantitative tool for informed decision-making and improved surgical planning. Methods: Ten subject-specific nonlinear osteo-ligamentous cervical spine (C3–C7) FE models were developed using X-ray image-based algorithms. The models were used to evaluate the effect of laminectomy on lower cervical spine biomechanics for two-level (C3–C4) and three-level (C3–C5) laminectomy procedures. Results: The average cervical spine ranges of motion (ROM) for the pre-op... 

A state-of-the-art review has been conducted in this work on soil constitutive modeling, which has emphasized on: soil type, ground-water conditions, loading conditions, structural behavior, constitutive relation discipline, and dimensions. By extension also, the soil constitutive applications were reviewed on the bases of: single discipline dealing with soil mechanical properties constitutive modeling which included slope stability problems, bearing capacity, settlement of foundations, earth pressure problems, soil dynamics, soil structure interaction, thermal and hydrological conditions; bi-discipline (coupled problems) which solve problems related to thermomechanical (freeze/thaw... 

A geometric method for separating PNL mixtures, for the case of 2 sources and 2 sensors, has been presented. The main idea is to find compensating nonlinearities to transform the scatter plot of observations to a parallelogram. It then results in a linear mixture which can be separated by any linear source separation algorithm. An indirect result of the paper is another separability proof of PNL mixtures of bounded sources for 2 sources and 2 sensors  

A geometric method for separating PNL mixtures, for the case of 2 sources and 2 sensors, has been presented. The main idea is to find compensating nonlinearities to transform the scatter plot of observations to a parallelogram. It then results in a linear mixture which can be separated by any linear source separation algorithm. An indirect result of the paper is another separability proof of PNL mixtures of bounded sources for 2 sources and 2 sensors. © 2002 EUSIPCO  

In this paper, Joint Score Function (JSF) and Marginal Score Function (MSF) are first defined. It is then pointed out that their difference (SFD) can be treated as the stochastic gradient of mutual information and, hence, can be used in minimizing the mutual information with gradient-based methods. An estimator for SFD is then presented, based on nonlinear regression by means of spline smoothing. It is shown that SFD can be used to obtain a new non parametric algorithm for source separation in Post Non-Linear (PNL) mixtures. The method is very general and can be extended to convolutive mixtures, which is currently being studied  

In this letter, we compute the variation of the mutual information, resulting from a small variation in its argument. Although the result can be applied in many problems, we consider only one example: the result is used for deriving a new method for blind source separation in linear mixtures. The experimental results emphasize the performance of the resulting algorithm  

In this paper, a new algorithm for blind source separation in convolutive mixtures, based on minimizing the mutual information of the outputs, is proposed. This minimization is done using a recently proposed Minimization-Projection (MP) approach for minimizing mutual information in a parametric model. Since the minimization step of the MP approach is proved to have no local minimum, it is expected that this new algorithm has good convergence behaviours  

Blind Source Separation (BSS) is a basic problem in signal processing. In this paper, we present a new method for separating convolutive mixtures based on the minimization of the output mutual information. We also introduce the concept of joint score function, and derive its relationship with marginal score function and independence. The new approach for minimizing the mutual information is very efficient, although limited by multivariate distribution estimations. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2001  

Shock Control Bump (SCB) reduces the wave drag in transonic ight. To control the boundary layer separation and to reduce the wave drag for two transonic airfoils, RAE-2822 and NACA-64A010, we investigate the application of two flow control methods, i.e. suction and blowing, to add them to the SCB. An adjoint gradient-based optimization algorithm is used to find the optimum shape and location of SCB. The performance of both Hybrid Suction/SCB (HSS) and Hybrid Blowing/SCB (HBS) is a function of the sucked or injected mass flow rate and their position. A parametric study is performed to find the near optimum values of the aerodynamic coefficients and efficiency. A RANS solver is validated and... 

Sheet-like NiCo2O4 and ZnCo2O4 spinels were prepared by metal-organic framework (MOF) as sacrificial template to derive into porous microwave absorber materials. The NiCo and ZnCo MOFs obtained by using 2-methylimidazole linker were decomposed to the sheet-like NiCo2O4 and ZnCo2O4 powders, respectively, with the similar specific surface area of 75 m2/g and the pore volume of 0.31 cm3/g. However, the NiCo2O4 and ZnCo2O4 absorbers had the distinct microwave absorption performance on account of their various physicochemical properties caused by the nature of Ni and Zn elements. From the practical viewpoint, the MOF-derived NiCo2O4 sample had the broader effective absorption bandwidth (>3 GHz)... 

Unfortunately, in the original online publication of the article, the quantity ω was incorrectly typeset as w in Eqs. (40) and (41). In Eq. (40), the subscript K was incorrectly typeset as k. The original publication of the article has been updated to reflect these changes  

H2O-assisted atmospheric pressure chemical vapor synthesis is a modern economical process for the gas-phase synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles. In the present work, the influence of synthesis temperatures (100-800 °C) on the phase structure, nanoparticle size, morphology, and agglomeration is investigated by transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry, and differential thermal analysis. Down to 400 °C, crystalline TiO2 nanoparticles are synthesized and at 200 °C amorphous nanoparticles are formed. Therefore, a decrease in minimum synthesis temperature by more than 500 °C is achieved. In addition, the paper investigates the hypothesis... 

Wind turbine size has increased to megawatt capacity, and the related technologies and facilities have improved, including the cooling systems. Currently, all of the heat generated by wind turbine components is wasted to the environment. This study presents a conceptual design of a novel method for waste heat recovery of a wind turbine using an organic Rankine cycle (ORC). An organic Rankine cycle is implemented to the wind turbine as a part of the cooling system. The proposed system is thermodynamically modeled to evaluate the amount of recovered energy. Seven working fluids are chosen and investigated in the simulations to estimate the working fluid effect. The results revealed that the... 

In this paper, an adaptive algorithm for blind source separation in linear instantaneous mixtures is proposed, and it is shown to be the optimum version of the EASI algorithm. The algorithm is based on minimization of mutual information of outputs. This minimization is done using adaptive estimation of a recently proposed non-parametric "gradient" for mutual information. © Springer-Verlag 2004  

A depleted naturally fractured gas condensate reservoir with extremely tight matrix permeability in the center of Iran is used for gas storage. Due to the tightness of the matrix, simulation of this process may present a unique challenge in terms of the importance of diffusion process in flow behavior of the injected gas in matrix blocks. This article presents a multimechanistic (Darcian-type flow and Fickian-type flow) mathematical model to investigate the importance of diffusion process as a function of important rock and fluid parameters. The authors' approach consists of the following steps: (a) development of a 1-D governing equations for a single matrix block consists of a gas... 

At harsh conditions of high pressure high temperature (HPHT), polymers undergo thermal degradation leading to serious loss in fluid rheological and filtration properties. Nanoparticles are the most promising additives proposed to address this challenge. The stability of nanofluids is perused from various facets including rheological and filtration properties, shale stability, and zeta potential. The presence of nanoparticles could amazingly reduce the filtration at high temperatures even by 95%, and it also had a conspicuous effect on shale stability, thermal conductivity, and zeta potential. Experimental data were fit to rheological models to determine the best models describing the...