Sharif Digital Repository

In the present work, the oscillation of a spark-created bubble near a confined water-air interface and the ensuing droplet generation and ejection are studied numerically using the boundary element method. The interface is accorded by the top opening of either one of the following symmetrical configurations, which are distinguished by the value of angle between their vertical symmetry axis and lateral wall (i.e., θ): (i) a centrally perforated horizontal flat plate (θ = 90°) and (ii) vertically placed cylinder (θ = 0°), nozzle (θ > 0°) and diffuser (θ < 0°). Furthermore, the influences of the effective parameters such as the strength parameter (i.e., the intensity of local energy input), the... 

In this paper, the oscillation of two spark-generated bubbles placed on a vertical column in close proximity to a confined free surface is considered. The confined free surface is accorded by the top opening of different configurations. These configurations include (i) a centrally perforated horizontal flat plate (θ = 90∘), (ii) vertically placed cylinder (θ = 0∘) and (iii) nozzle (θ > 0∘). The main objective of the present work is to study the effects of key parameters such as the nozzle geometry, the locations of the energy input (i.e., initial position of the bubbles with respect to each other and relative to the free surface) on the dynamics of the two bubbles and the free surface. It... 

The use of superhydrophobic surfaces is one the most promising methods for reducing the friction and increasing the flow rate in fluid transfer systems. Because in such systems the surface structure plays a key role, in this study, we explore the performance of the hierarchical nanostructures. These nanostructures are inspired by the superhydrophobic surface of the lotus leaf. We consider a flow between two walls with hierarchical nanostructures and simulate the system via the molecular dynamics method. The size of the nanostructures and the distance between them have been studied to find whether a design with a maximum flow rate exists. The nanostructures have two parts, a bigger part on... 

The use of superhydrophobic surfaces is one the most promising methods for reducing the friction and increasing the flow rate in fluid transfer systems. Because in such systems the surface structure plays a key role, in this study, we explore the performance of the hierarchical nanostructures. These nanostructures are inspired by the superhydrophobic surface of the lotus leaf. We consider a flow between two walls with hierarchical nanostructures and simulate the system via the molecular dynamics method. The size of the nanostructures and the distance between them have been studied to find whether a design with a maximum flow rate exists. The nanostructures have two parts, a bigger part on... 

Superhydrophobic surfaces have been used for reducing friction in micro- and nanochannels. In the present work, water flow between two carbon walls with nanostructures made of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) via the molecular dynamics method has been studied. The structure of this polymer can change based on the temperature of the environment, so that by increasing the temperature the structure becomes hydrophobic. This property has been studied and the effect of multiple factors on the slip length is presented. The effects of the number of monomers in the polymer, the distance between the polymers, and the temperature on the flow field are investigated. The results reveal that the slip length... 

Water can be pumped in nanochannels by limiting it between the surfaces with different hydrophobicities and exerting a spinning electric field. The asymmetrical hydrophobicity combined with the spinning electric field and the fact that the water molecules have a dipole moment create a situation in which the angular momentum of water molecules is transformed into a linear momentum and the water is pumped into the nanochannel. The hydrophobicity of the surfaces can be manipulated by using nanostructures to reduce friction. In this study, two types of nanostructures have been used which are hierarchical nanostructures and polymer nanostructures made of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). The walls of... 

Carbon nanotube webs exhibit interesting properties when used as thermo-acoustic projectors. This work studies thermo-acoustic effect of these sound sources both in near and far field regions. Based on two alternative forms of the energy equation, we have developed a straightforward formula for calculation of pressure field, which is consistent with experimental data in far field. Also we have solved full 3-D governing equations using numerical methods. Our three-dimensional simulation and experimental data show pressure waves are highly affected by dimensions of sound sources in near field due to interference effects. However, generation of sound waves in far field is independent of... 

For the 4th IUPAP International Conference of Women in Physics, we report on activities in science and engineering in Iran, and conditions for women in physics, in the three years since the 3rd IUPAP International Conference of Women in Physics was held in 2008. Iran has made prominent advancements and astonishing progress in laser technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, genetics, computer software and hardware, and robotics. Iranian scientists have been very productive in several experimental fields, such as pharmaceutical, organic, and polymer chemistry. Conditions for women in physics have improved greatly in recent years. A project to improve the environment for learning physics, and... 

The lead is a heavy metal with hazardous impacts on environment and human life. Lead-free perovskite solar cells have attracted much attention in recent years, due to eco-friendly characteristics. Meanwhile, Pb-containing cells showed the highest efficiencies among the various types of cells. Hence, designing novel Pb-free solar cells with comparable or better performance than the Pb-containing ones is highly required. In this work, a lead-free methyl-ammonium-germanium-iodide (MAGeI3)-based perovskite solar cell with ITO/TiO2/MAGeI3/Spiro-OMeTAD/Ag multilayer nanostructure has been proposed and its main characteristics including open-circuit voltage (VOC) and power conversion efficiency (η)... 

Core/shell structure of ZnO nanowires coated with a monolayer of TiO 2 is investigated using Density Functional Theory (DFT). The electronic states of the semiconductor is calculated and compared before and after coating of the TiO2 monolayer on a ZnO [101 0] surface. The effect of TiO2 coating induce surface states changes and shifts the conduction and valence band edges to higher energies. Our results, in qualitative agreement with the experimental work of Matt Law et al. (J. Phys. Chem. B, 110, 22652), show an increase in open circuit voltage and a decrease in short circuit current in ZnO/TiO2 core shell dye sensitized solar cells. Regarding the semiconductor density of states (DOS), TiO2... 

Due to the important role of commitment and trust in the relationship marketing, the factors which can directly result in a committed relationship along with the factors which can influence the commitment through influencing trust, according to the model of commitment and trust by (Morgan & Hunt, 1994) have been introduced and their level of importance has been investigated here. The article uses fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) in the proposed model to find the most important paths leading to relationship commitment. The FCM analyzes the responses of a group of 30 people including general practitioners in dentistry, managers of dental departments in some of the public clinics and hospitals who... 

Conventionally, a film of TiO2 particles of 300 nm size is employed in Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) as the back reflector film to enhance the light harvesting. Perfect reflectance of silver in visible and near infrared motivates to investigate its potential as the material for the light back reflector film in DSCs. In this study, light back reflector films consisting of 300 nm-sized silver particles, as well as vacuum evaporated silver flat film, were fabricated and compared to 300 nm-sized rutile-type TiO2 particulate reflector film to study their optical aspects. Conventional TiO2 rutile-type particulate film demonstrates slightly lower performance... 

Monolithic dye-sensitized solar cells are conventionally fabricated using carbon composite layer as the counter electrode. In the current research, the brittle carbon composite layer is replaced with a metal foil, aiming to decrease the device series resistance and using less catalyst material in counter electrode. This metallic structure has also an advantage of mechanical strength and decreases the fabrication complexity. The counter electrode is prepared by electrodepositing Cr film followed by electrodepositing Pt nanoparticles on a metal foil. As the porous spacer layer, different composite layers of SiO2, TiO2, and Al2O3 are investigated and the best results are obtained for TiO2... 

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been a potential green energy source for a long time but one of the problems is that either the technology must be used on a large scale or special equipment have been necessary to keep the fuel cells running such as syringe pumps. Paper-based microbial fuel cells do not need to have a syringe pump to run and can run entirely by themselves when placed in contact with the fluids that are necessary for it to run. Paper-based microbial fuel cells are also more compact than traditional MFCs since the device doesn't need any external equipment to run. The goal of this paper is to develop a microbial fuel cell that does not require a syringe pump to function. This... 

This paper proposes a novel decentralized control approach for islanded direct-current (DC) microgrids (MGs) based on model predictive control (MPC) to regulate the distributed generation unit (DGU) output voltages, i.e. the voltages of the point of common coupling (PCC). A local controller is designed for each DGU, in the presence of uncertainties, disturbances, and unmodeled dynamics. First, a discrete-time state-space model of an MG is derived. Afterward, an MPC algorithm is designed to perform the PCC voltage control. The proposed MPC scheme ensures that the PCC voltages remain within an acceptable range. Several simulation studies have been conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of... 

Sophisticated surgeons are widely indicating the use of surgical robots in order to reject human error, increase precision, and speed. Among well-known robotic mechanisms, parallel robots are broadly more investigated regarding their special characters as higher acceleration, speed, and accuracy, and less weight. Specific surgical procedures confine, and restrict their workspace, while controlling and validating the robots are complicated regarding to their complex dynamic. To this end, in this paper, a 6-DOF robot, with rotary manipulators, is designed and controlled. Addressing nonlinearity of parallel robots, an innovative methodology is formulated to robustly penalize the error of... 

Sophisticated surgeons are widely indicating the use of surgical robots in order to reject human error, increase precision, and speed. Among well-known robotic mechanisms, parallel robots are broadly more investigated regarding their special characters as higher acceleration, speed, and accuracy, and less weight. Specific surgical procedures confine and restrict their workspace, while controlling and validating the robots are complicated based on their complex dynamic. To this end, in this paper, a 6-DOF robot, with linear manipulators, is designed and controlled. Addressing the inherent nonlinearity of the robot mechanism, an adaptive PID manipulator is employed and validated with nonlinear...