Sharif Digital Repository

This paper presents a new point-to-face contact algorithm for contacts between two polyhedrons with planar boundaries. A new discrete numerical method called three-dimensional discontinuous deformation analysis (3-D DDA) is used and formulations of normal contact submatrices based on the proposed algorithm are derived. The presented algorithm is a simple and efficient method and it can be easily coded into a computer program. This approach does not need to use an iterative algorithm in each time step to obtain the contact plane, unlike the ‘Common-Plane’ method applied in the existing 3-D DDA. In the present 3-D DDA method, block contact constraints are enforced using the penalty method.... 

Electrochemical potential noise analysis was used to investigate corrosion behavior of copper electrodes in presence of 0.001, 0.005, 0.01 and 0.02 M benzotriazole (BTA) inhibitor. Energy distribution of the potential noise was obtained from wavelet transformation using the 4th order Daubechies pattern. Two lowest frequencies were added-up and fitted to the impulse response of the first order circuit to achieve the time-constant vs. concentration (T-C) diagram. T-C diagram can be used either as a conventional diagram of inhibition efficiency or a tool for evaluation of the surface film dielectric constant. The assumptions made in this treatment were confirmed by EIS method. © 2009 Elsevier... 

FePt nanoparticles were synthesis via high-temperature solution phase. Monodispersed 3.5 nm FePt nanoparticles were first obtained by reduction of FeCl2.4H2O and Pt(acac)2. These preformed FePt nanoparticles were then combined with NaCl to prevent from sintering after annealing. The 1 micron salt particles were fabricated by ultra-sonic vibration method and used as the separating media. Annealing studies show that these salt-matrix FePt nanoparticles are stable after annealing at 700 °C for 4 h. The annealed FePt particles diameter increases from 4 to 25 nm as observed by TEM. The magnetic properties are largely affected by annealing temperature. The role of these salt particles on sintering... 

In this paper, electrical wire explosion (EWE) was used as a simple, clean, in situ method to synthesise nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) particles in liquid mediums. The structural and physical properties of the synthesised nZVI particles were characterised by x-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The synthesised spherical nanoparticles, at a specific size of 10–50 nm, possessed large surface areas of approximately 13.27 m2/g, reinforcing the significant advantages of EWE, that is, less aggregation and in situ production of nanoparticles with enhanced removal efficacy, for groundwater treatment.... 

We used two digital methods—rise time discrimination (RTD) and an artificial neural network (ANN)—to simultaneously discriminate alpha particles and gamma rays detected by a phoswich detector (50 μm BC-400 coupled to 3 mm CsI(Tl)). The results for 10,000 pulses discriminated by the RTD method showed that the rise time distribution of the pulses is rather vast (between 200 and 800 ns for gamma rays and less than 40 ns for alpha particles). The same result was also observed in the dual-parameter diagram (pulse rise time versus area under the pulse) for an 241Am source. Then, as another approach, three pulse features—rise time, pulse height ratio, and charge ratio—were extracted from 2000... 

Electrical discharge machining is a non-traditional machining method broadly employed in industries for machining of parts that have typical profiles and require great accuracy. This paper investigates the effects of electrical parameters: pulse-on-time and current on three performance measures (material removal rate, microstructures and electrode wear rate), using distilled water and kerosene as dielectrics. A comparison between dielectrics for the machining of aluminum 6061 T6 alloy material in terms of performance measures was performed. Aluminum 6061 T6 alloy material was selected, because of its growing use in the automotive and aerospace industrial sectors. The experimental sequence... 

This paper provides a novel bad data detection processor to identify false data injection attacks (FDIAs) on the power system state estimation. The attackers are able to alter the result of the state estimation virtually intending to change the result of the state estimation without being detected by the bad data processors. However, using a specific configuration of an artificial neural network (ANN), named nonlinear autoregressive exogenous (NARX), can help to identify the injected bad data in state estimation. Considering the high correlation between power system measurements as well as state variables, the proposed neural network-based approach is feasible to detect any potential FDIAs.... 

This study addresses optimal walking pattern generation for SURENA III humanoid robot in a stair-climbing scenario. To this end, the kinematic configuration of the 31-DOF humanoid robot is studied. Integrating the detailed dynamic properties of the robot, a comprehensive and precise dynamic model is developed for its lower-limb. In order to generate the optimal walking pattern for the considered humanoid robot, trajectories for feet and pelvis are first designed, and then joint angles are derived by means of inverse kinematics. Such a complete model provides the designer with the necessary tools to optimize the trajectory generation. Using two different types of objective functions, namely... 

Due to the devastating ecological effects and constrained reserves of fossil fuels, renewable energies are now globally accepted as viable alternative sources of energy. Among renewable energy sources, wind energy has become globally popular, primarily because wind farms can be rapidly built and easily maintained at a relatively low cost. Wind-powered hydrogen production is an effective solution for storing the excess energy output of wind farms. The hydrogen produced in this way can be used not only in fuel cells but also in cooling, oil, gas, and petrochemical fields. As a country devastated by war and instability, Afghanistan has major energy generation challenges and a substantially... 

In this study, an automotive air conditioning system is simulated by considering HFO-1234yf (2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene) as the drop-in replacement of HFC-134a. The simulated air conditioning system consists of a multi-louvered fin and flat-plate type evaporator, a wobble-plate type compressor, a mini-channel parallel-flow type condenser and a thermostatic expansion valve. The thermodynamic properties of the refrigerants are extracted from the REFPROP 8.0 software, and a computer program is simulated for the thermodynamic analysis. Two different conditions have been considered in this program for the cycle analysis: for the first state, the cooling capacity is taken as constant, and for the... 

The main challenge in many applications of acetic acid is acid dehydration and its recovery from wastewater streams. Therefore, the performance of polyamide thin film composite is evaluated to separate acetic acid from water. To reach this goal, the formation of polyamide layer on polysulfone support membrane was investigated via interfacial polymerization (IP) of meta-phenylenediamine (MPD) in water with trimesoyl chloride (TMC) in hexane. Also, the effect of synthesis conditions, such as concentration of monomers and curing temperature on separation of acetic acid from water were investigated by reverse osmosis process. Moreover, the separation mechanism was discussed. The solute... 

This article presents a study on the capability of the time domain OMA method, NExT-ERA, to identify closely spaced structural dynamic modes. A survey in the literature reveals that few experimental studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of the NExT-ERA methodology in case of closely spaced modes specifically. In this paper we present the formulation for NExT-ERA. This formulation is then implemented in an algorithm and a code, developed in house to identify the modal parameters of different systems using their generated time history data. Some numerical models are firstly investigated to validate the code. Two different case studies involving a plate with closely spaced modes and... 

Integrated transmission expansion planning (TEP) and generation expansion planning (GEP) with Wind Farms (WFs) is addressed in this paper. The optimal number of expanded lines, the optimal capacity of WFs installed capacity, and the optimal capacity of wind farms lines (WFLs) are determined through a new TEP optimization model. Furthermore, the optimum capacity additions including conventional generating units is obtained in the proposed model. The Benders decomposition approach is used for solving the optimization problem, including a master problem and two sub-problems with internal scenario analysis. In order to reduce the computational burden of the multi-year and multi-objective... 

Microdialysis-based continuous glucose measuring systems are desirable candidates for accurate and biologically safe monitoring of glucose level in diabetic patients. However, it is necessary to improve these systems by utilizing highly reliable non-enzymatic sensors instead of enzymatic ones, while lowering the size and lessening the dialysis fluid consumption. Our purpose is to design an implantable integrated microfluidic device for regular nonenzymatic microdialysis-based glucose measurement. We report a novel nonenzymatic microfluidic glucose sensor based on Pt-Ni nanoparticles - multiwalled carbon nanotubes/screen-printed carbon electrode (Pt-Ni NPs-MWCNTs/SPE). Devised microfluidic... 

High temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFC) are polymeric fuel cells that can operate at 120°-200°C). Preparation of new heat-resistant HT-PEMFC materials, e.g., membrane and electrodes, is the most challenging problem for these kinds of fuel cells. A discussion covers the benefits of HT-PEMFC; challenges in developing novel materials for membranes preparation; polymeric membranes of HT-PEMFC; improvement of high temperature membranes; high temperature membranes characteristics and types; and importance of electrodes porosity for HT-PEMFC. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 18th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering (Prague, Czech... 

Micro motion stages are one of the essential components in field of micro robotics and ultra fine positioning systems. This research presents the optimum design of a 3-DOF micro motion stage and its position control using FEM simulation. This stage to be studied uses a 3 RRR flexure hinge base compliant mechanism driven by three piezoelectric stack actuators to provide micro scale planar motion. First of all parametric modeling of the stage will be fulfilled in ANSYS environment utilizing a commercial piezostack and different types of flexure hinges. Hence the Jacobian matrix will be achieved for each case. The optimum selection of the hinge form will be achieved upon results of the previous... 

A mesophilic iron oxidizing bacterium, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, has been isolated (33 °C) from a typical chalcopyrite copper concentrate of the Sarcheshmeh copper mine in the region of Kerman located in the south of Iran. In addition, a thermophilic iron oxidizing bacterium, Sulfobacillus, has been isolated (60 °C) from the Kooshk lead and zinc mine near the city of Yazd in central Iran. Effects of some variable parameters such as solids concentration, temperature and pH on the bioleaching of chalcopyrite obtained from Sarcheshmeh copper mine were investigated. Bioleaching experiments were carried out in two batch airlift bioreactors with a recycling stream. The results indicate that... 

In this comment, it is shown that there are some non-negligible big mistakes in the analyses and stability proof of the proposed controller in the quoted paper, which makes the main results of this paper to be incorrect. The main unavoidable mistakes in the stability analysis of the main theorem (Theorem 1) are stated and some remarks are also mentioned to fix some of them. © 2022 Chinese Automatic Control Society and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd  

One of the main issues in Solid State Drive (SSD)-based storage systems is endurance which is directly affected by the number of Program/Erase (P/E) cycles. The increment of P/E cycles increases the bit error rate threatening the reliability of SSDs. Erasure codes are used to leverage the reliability of storage systems but they also affect the number of P/E cycles based on their code pattern. A lower dependency between data and parities in the code pattern may lead to smaller number of P/E cycles providing better endurance. This paper introduces an Endurance Aware EVENODD (EA-EO), which minimizes the dependency between data and parities in the coding pattern. A simulation environment is used...