Sharif Digital Repository

Electroosmosis is the main mechanism for flow generation in lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices. The temperature rise due to the Joule heating phenomenon, associated with the electroosmosis, may be detrimental for samples being considered in LOCs. Hence, a complete understanding of the heat transfer physics associated with the electroosmotic flow is of high importance in design and active control of LOCs. The objective of the present study is to estimate the temperature rise and the thermal entry length in electroosmotic flow through rectangular microchannels, having potential applications in LOC devices. Along this line, the power-law rheological model is used to account for non-Newtonian behavior... 

This study presents a comprehensive investigation on hydrodynamic and thermal transport properties of mixed electroosmotically and pressure driven flow in microtubes. Particular emphasis is given to investigating the combined consequences of viscous dissipation, non-uniform Joule heating, and variable thermophysical properties. Analytical solutions are obtained using the Debye-Hückel linearization and constant fluid properties assumption, while a numerical solution is presented for variable fluid properties and non-uniform distribution of Joule heating. The results indicate that, viscous heating effect is pronounced significantly when a favorable pressure gradient exists and cannot be... 

An aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) containing polyethylene glycol (PEG) and potassium phosphate (K2HPO4) was used for partitioning and partial purification of alkaline protease produced by Bacillus licheniformis ATCC 21424. The effect of PEG molar mass, pH and concentration of NaCl salt addition on partition coefficient, yield and purification factor (PF) for ATPS were studied. The highest partition coefficient (5.3) was achieved in an ATPS of 25% (w/w) PEG 10,000 (g/mol) and 10% (w/w) NaCl at pH 9. Cation and anion exchange chromatography was employed for purification of alkaline protease from protein mixture and the yield and PF for enzyme fractions were obtained to make a comparison... 

An artificial neural network to predict the fatigue life, residual stress and Almen intensity of shot peened alloy Ti6Al4V ELI was developed. To minimize the prediction error, a feed forward model was used and the neural network was trained with back-propagation learning Algorithm. The results of this investigation show that a neural network with one hidden layer and five neurons in this layer will give the best performance. With this structure the network approaches to the desired error in the least time. Furthermore, it was concluded that there is a good agreement between the experimental data, the predicted values and the well-trained neural network. Therefore, the neural network has a... 

(Liquid + liquid) equilibrium (LLE) data for the ternary systems (heptane + toluene + 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium ethylsulfate) and (heptane + benzene + 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium ethylsulfate) were measured at T = 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure. The selectivity and aromatic distribution coefficients, calculated from the equilibrium data, were used to determine if this ionic liquid can be used as a potential extracting solvent for the separation of aromatic compounds from heptane. The consistency of tie-line data was ascertained by applying the Othmer-Tobias and Hand equations  

The present study considers both the hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of combined electroosmotic and pressure driven flow in a microannulus. Analytical solutions are presented using the Debye-Hückel linearization along with the uniform Joule heating and negligible viscous dissipation assumptions, whereas exact results are achieved numerically. Here, the range of validity for the Debye-Hückel linearization is found to be about two times of that for a parallel plate microchannel. Accordingly, this linearization may successfully be used to evaluate the potential and velocity distributions up to the zeta potentials of 100 mV, provided that the dimensionless Debye-Hückel parameter is... 

This paper presents a stability analysis for fractal cracks. First, the Westergaard stress functions are proposed for semi-infinite and finite smooth cracks embedded in the stress fields associated with the corresponding self-affine fractal cracks. These new stress functions satisfy all the required boundary conditions and according to Wnuk and Yavari's (2003 Eng. Fract. Mech. 70 1659-74) embedded crack model they are used to derive the stress and displacement fields generated around a fractal crack. These results are then used in conjunction with the final stretch criterion to study the quasi-static stable crack extension, which in ductile materials precedes the global failure. The material... 

The 'kern' of a cross-section is the convex region within which any point load applied will produce stresses of the same sign as that of the load throughout the entire cross-section. Based on theorems of Mofid and Yavari [Int. J. Solids Struct. 31 (1998) 2377], an algorithm is presented that can compute the kern of any cross-section numerically. We have developed a program based on this algorithm. A few examples are solved using this program. The results are compared with those of Wilson and Turcotte [Adv. Engng Software 17 (1993) 113] and Mofid and Yavari and excellent agreement is observed. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved  

Identifying and reducing the dominant recombination processes in perovskite solar cells is one of the major challenges for further device optimization. Here, we show that introducing a thin interlayer of poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PVP) between the perovskite film and the hole transport layer reduces nonradiative recombination. Employing such a PVP interlayer, we reach an open-circuit voltage of 1.20 V for the best devices and a stabilized efficiency of 20.7%. The beneficial effect of the PVP interlayer is proven by statistical analysis of various samples, many of those showing an open-circuit voltage larger than 1.17 V, and a 30 mV increase in average compared to unmodified samples. The reduced... 

Simplicity and validity are recognized as important attributes of an effective simulation model. However, some disagreement exists both on the definitions of these concepts and on quantitative measures for them. This paper introduces Enrichment Level (EL) for (simulation) models. The EL is a quantitative measure to compare the effectiveness of alternative models when used in a particular project. While there is no conceptual restriction on expanding the EL, it currently captures the bias, speed, variance, and scope of a model as the main contributing enrichment factors. This paper explores these factors and suggests a utility-based method to combine them according to the relative importance... 

In this paper we first obtain the order of stress singularity for a dynamically propagating self-affine fractal crack. We then show that there is always an upper bound to roughness, i.e. a propagating fractal crack reaches a terminal roughness. We then study the phenomenon of reaching a terminal velocity. Assuming that propagation of a fractal crack is discrete, we predict its terminal velocity using an asymptotic energy balance argument. In particular, we show that the limiting crack speed is a material-dependent fraction of the corresponding Rayleigh wave speed  

Systemic chemotherapy has lost its position to treat cancer over the past years mainly due to drug resistance, side effects, and limited survival ratio. Among a plethora of local drug delivery systems to solve this issue, the combinatorial strategy of chemo-hyperthermia has recently received attention. Herein we developed a magneto-thermal nanocarrier consisted of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) coated by a blend formulation of a three-block copolymer Pluronic F127 and F68 on the oleic acid (OA) in which Curcumin as a natural and chemical anti-cancer agent was loaded. The subsequent nanocarrier SPION@OA-F127/F68-Cur was designed with a controlled gelation temperature of... 

The current article presents conceptual, preliminary and detailed aero-thermal redesign of a typical high pressure turbine nozzle guide vane. Design targets are lower coolant consumption, reduced manufacturing costs and improved durability. These goals are sought by 25% reduction in vane count number and lower number of airfoils per segment. Design challenges such as higher airfoil loading, associate aerodynamic losses and higher thermal loads are discussed. In order to maximize coolant flow reduction and avoid higher aerodynamic losses, airfoil Mach distribution is carefully controlled. There has been an effort to limit design changes so that the proven design features of the original vane... 

All current highest efficiency perovskite solar cells (PSCs) use highly toxic, halogenated solvents, such as chlorobenzene (CB) or toluene (TLN), in an antisolvent step or as solvent for the hole transporter material (HTM). A more environmentally friendly antisolvent is highly desirable for decreasing chronic health risk. Here, the efficacy of anisole (ANS), as a greener antisolvent for highest efficiency PSCs, is investigated. The fabrication inside and outside of the glovebox showing high power conversion efficiencies of 19.9% and 15.5%, respectively. Importantly, a fully nonhalogenated solvent system is demonstrated where ANS is used as both the antisolvent and the solvent for the HTM.... 

This paper presents a new landslide-generated wave (LGW) model based on incompressible Euler equations with Savage-Hutter assumptions. A two-layer model is developed including a layer of granular-type flow beneath a layer of an inviscid fluid. Landslide is modeled as a two-phase Coulomb mixture. A well-balanced second-order finite volume formulation is applied to solve the model equations. Wet/dry transitions are treated properly using a modified non-linear method. The numerical model is validated using two sets of experimental data on subaerial and submarine LGWs. Impulsive wave characteristics and landslide deformations are estimated with a computational error less than 5 %. Then, the... 

Landslide-generated waves (LGWs) are among natural hazards that have stimulated attentions and concerns of engineers and researchers during the past decades. At the same period, the application of numerical modeling has been progressively increased to assess, control, and manage the risks of such hazards. This paper represents an overview of numerical studies on LGWs to explore associated recent advances and future challenges. In this review, the main landslide events followed by an LGW hazard are scrutinized. The uncertainty regarding landslide characteristics and the lack of data concerning generated tsunami properties highlights the necessity of probabilistic analysis and numerical... 

In this work, impulsive wave generation and propagation generated by landslides are studied numerically for a real case. Maku dam reservoir, in the northwestern of Iran is considered as the case study. Generated wave heights, wave run-up, maximum wave height above the dam crest and the probable overtopping volume have been evaluated, using a two-dimensional numerical model (LS3D). This model is validated using available three-dimensional experimental data for simulating impulsive wave caused by sub-aerial landslides. Based on the results, the generated wave height for first and second scenarios are 12 m and 18 m respectively. The wave height of 8 m is observed close to dam body. Because of...