Sharif Digital Repository

Different structures of TiO2 photoelectrodes are fabricated with various arrangement modes of the layers. TiO2 nanoparticles, synthesized by stabilizing agent free non-hydrolytic sol–gel method, are employed as the under layer, whereas carbon-doped TiO2 hollow spheres, prepared by hydrothermally grown carbon template, are used as the scattering layer of solar cells. The nanoparticles (22 nm) have anatase structure, while 300–700 nm hollow spheres show mixtures of anatase and rutile phases. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirms that carbon is doped into TiO2 hollow spheres, resulting in a decrease in band gap energy in the range 2.96–3.13 eV compared with 3.04 eV band gap energy for the... 

Advanced gas turbine cycles use advanced blade cooling technologies to reach high turbine inlet temperature. Accurate modeling and optimization of these cycles depend on blade cooling model. In this study, different models have been used to simulate gas turbine performance. The first model is the continuous model and the second is stage-by-stage model with alternative methods for calculating coolant, stagnation pressure loss and SPR. Variation of specific heat and enthalpy with temperature are included in both models. The composition of gas stream in turbine is changed step by step due to air cooling. These models are validated by two case study gas turbine results, which show good agreement... 

The exact calculation of point kinetic parameters is very important in nuclear reactor safety assessment, and most sophisticated safety codes such as RELAP5, PARCS, DYN3D, and PARET are using these parameters in their dynamic models. These parameters include effective delayed neutron fractions as well as mean generation time. These parameters are adjoint-weighted, and adjoint flux is employed as a weighting function in their evaluation. Adjoint flux calculation is an easy task for most of deterministic codes, but its evaluation is cumbersome for Monte Carlo codes. However, in recent years, some sophisticated techniques have been proposed for Monte Carlo-based point kinetic parameters... 

The process of scanning the events occurring in a computer system or network and analyzing them for warning of intrusions is known as intrusion detection system (IDS). This paper presents a new intrusion detection system based on tabu search based fuzzy system. Here, we use tabu search algorithm to effectively explore and exploit the large state space associated with intrusion detection as a complicated classification problem. Experiments were performed on KDD-Cup99 data set which has information about intrusive and normal behaviors on computer networks. Results show that the proposed method obtains notable accuracy and lower cost in comparison with several renowned algorithms  

During the past decade, the CANDLE burnup strategy has been proposed as an innovative fuel cycle and reactor design for complete utilization of uranium resources. In this strategy the shapes of neutron flux, nuclide densities and power density distribution remain constant but the burning region moves in axial direction. The feasibility of this strategy has been demonstrated widely by using the diffusion technique in conjunction with nuclide transmutation equations. On the other hand since the Monte Carlo method provides the exact solution to the neutron transport, the Monte Carlo technique is becoming more widely used in routine burnup calculations. The main objective of this work is startup... 

The analysis of core composition changes is complicated by the fact that the time and spatial variation in isotopic composition depend on the neutron flux distribution and vice versa. Fortunately, changes in core composition occur relatively slowly and hence the burnup analysis can be performed by dividing the burnup period into some burnup spans and assuming that the averaged flux and cross sections are constant during each step. The burnup span sensitivity analysis attempts to find that how much the burnup spans could be increased without any significant deviation in results. This goal has been achieved by developing a new MCNP-ORIGEN linkage program named as MOBC (MCNP-ORIGEN Burnup... 

Advanced gas turbine cycles use advanced blade cooling technologies to reach high turbine inlet temperature. Accurate modeling and optimization of these cycles depend on blade cooling model. In this study, different models have been used to simulate gas turbine performance. The first model is the continuous model and the second is stage-by-stage model with alternative methods for calculating coolant, stagnation pressure loss and SPR. Variation of specific heat and enthalpy with temperature are included in both models. The composition of gas stream in turbine is changed step by step due to air cooling. These models are validated by two case study gas turbine results, which show good agreement... 

This paper presents a dynamic programming methodology for finding the optimum preventive maintenance schedule of generating units of a GENCO in open power systems. The objective function for the GENCO is to sell electricity as much as possible, according to the market price forecast. Various constraints such as generation capacity, duration of maintenance and maintenance crew are taken into account. In a case study, introducing a GENCO with six generating units, and implementing dynamic programming, we obtain the optimal maintenance schedule over the planning period. © 2002 IEEE  

In this paper, the use of simulated annealing (SA) metaheuristic for constructing a fuzzy classification system is presented. In several previous investigations, the capability of fuzzy systems to solve different kinds of problems has been demonstrated. Simulated annealing based fuzzy classification system (SAFCS), hybridizes the learning capability of SA metaheuristic with the approximate reasoning method of fuzzy systems. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the ability of SA to develop an accurate fuzzy classifier. The use of SA in classification is an attempt to effectively explore and exploit the large search space usually associated with classification problems, and find the... 

A comprehensive investigation of historical hydro-climatic changes at a county level is an essential prerequisite of developing any adaptation or mitigation strategies to deal with the destructive impacts of climate change. In this study, spatial distributions and trends in thirty-seven hydro-climatic mean and extreme indices across Iran were analyzed based on the state-of-the-art reanalysis datasets (ERA5-Land and AgERA5) at the county level from 1986 to 2015 using several nonparametric approaches such as multiple modified Mann–Kendall statistical tests and Sen’s Slope estimator. Their interannual oscillations were also examined using continuous wavelet transform to portray a complete... 

The environmental impact of asbestos fibers on human health and their consequent safety-related problems indicate that there is a significant need to replace this material in all asbestos-containing products. Many different types of fibers have been introduced to replace asbestos fibers. In this study, the performance of silica nano-particles combined with waste paper pulp fibers (sulfite fibers) has been investigated. Different mechanical (compressive and flexural strengths and bending performance), durability (water absorption), physical (bulk density and flowability), and microstructural (scanning electron microscopy) tests were conducted to examine the properties of manufactured green... 

The production of high-purity aluminum nanoparticles (Al-NPs) is challenging due to the highly reactive nature of Al metals. Electromagnetic levitation gas condensation (ELGC) is a promising method to produce high-purity metallic particles as it avoids the interaction between molten metal and refractory-lined, which guarantees the removal of impurities such as oxygen (O). In this research, high-purity Al-NPs were successfully fabricated via ELGC process and fully characterized. The effects of power input and gas flow rate on particle size and distribution were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and dynamic light... 

Over the last decades, several approaches have been proposed in the literature to incorporate users' perceptions of travel costs, their bounded rationality, and risk-taking behaviors into network equilibrium modeling for traffic assignment problem. While theoretically advanced, these models often suffer from high complexity and computational cost and often involve parameters that are difficult to estimate. This study proposes an alternative approach where users' imprecise perceptions of travel times are endogenously constructed as fuzzy sets based on the probability distributions of random link travel times. Two decision rules are proposed accordingly to account for users' heterogeneous... 

Zeolitic imidazole frameworks (ZIFs) provide an exciting platform to design and fabricate non-precious-metal carbon-based catalysts for oxygen reduction/evolution reaction (ORR/OER). Herein, we elaborately design a facile enzyme-assisted synthetic strategy that enables to tailor the ZIFs precursors into structural stable decussation shape, which derived Co nanoislands grafted on decussate N-doped carbon nanoleaves (D-Co@NC) can well retain the interpenetrating nanostructure. Benefiting from the combined advantages of compositions and interpenetrating nanostructures, D-Co@NC possesses 5.2 times higher exposed electrochemical active area than the conventional dodecahedral one, thus endowing... 

In this paper, the interaction between various window specifications and different climate conditions is investigated. For this purpose, simultaneous effects of several aspects including glazing system, glass type, filling gas, glass thickness, window frame fraction, and interior shading are considered under three different climatic conditions. To evaluate the energy performance of various considered alternatives, the energy simulation of a base case building is evaluated in a computer environment. Using the validated model, the energy analysis is quantitatively performed, and cost-benefit analyses from the viewpoints of both residents and government are carried out based on the domestic and...