Sharif Digital Repository

The polysaccharide, kappa-carrageenan (κC) was chemically modified to achieve a novel superabsorbent hydrogel via graft copolymerization of methacrylamide (MAM) onto the substrate followed by alkaline hydrolysis. Ammonium persulfate (APS) and N,N′-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) were used as a free-radical initiator and a crosslinker, respectively. The saponification reaction was carried out using sodium hydroxide aqueous solution. Either κC-g-PMAM or hydrolyzed κC-g-PMAM (PMAM: polymethacrylamide) was characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy. The effect of grafting variables (i.e. concentration of MBA, MAM, and APS) and alkaline hydrolysis conditions (i.e. NaOH concentration, hydrolysis time and... 

To synthesize a novel biopolymer-based superabsorbent hydrogel, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS) was grafted onto kappa-carrageenan (KC) backbones. The graft copolymerization reaction was carried out in a homogeneous medium and in the presence of ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator, N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl ethylenediamine (TMEDA) as an accelerator, and N,N'-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker. A proposed mechanism for KC-g-AMPS formation was suggested and the hydrogel structure was confirmed using FTIR spectroscopy. The affecting variables on swelling capacity, i.e., the initiator, the crosslinker, and the monomer concentration, as well as reaction temperature,... 

In this article, the state estimation for Automotive Slip Angle considering the measurement noise in sensor is addressed. Realtime measurement of the slip angle is applicable to many active vehicle safety applications, such as rollover prevention and yaw stability control. As the sensors that measure slip angle directly are expensive, the method to extract slip angle from other available sensors in vehicle is considered. First from the simplified nonlinear dynamic system of vehicle, a Piecewise Affine (PWA) model with calculated uncertainties is obtained. The uncertainties are the result of nonlinear system deviation from PWA model. Then using the PWA model, a Stochastic Robust Hybrid... 

Solid-state joining of powder-metallurgy processed (P/M) Al-2vol% Al2O3 (15nm) nanocomposite by friction stir welding (FSW) was studied. The nanocomposite was prepared via high-energy mechanical milling followed by hot consolidation processes. The microstructure, mechanical properties and fracture behavior of the welds were evaluated and compared with FSWed wrought 1050 aluminum sheets (WAS). We have found that unlike WAS that can processed at various FSW conditions, the working window for the solid-state joining of P/M nanocomposite is narrow and only feasible at relatively high heating inputs. Microstructural studies showed the formation of melted zones with high hardness at the advancing... 

Molybdenum disilicide (ModSi 2) is an attractive structural material due to its unique combination of properties, namely excellent oxidation resistance, high melting point (2030°C) and relatively low density (6.3g.cm -3). The present work investigates joining of two MoSi 2 parts through Cusil/Zr/Cusil interlayer with Cusil being a commercial eutectic of Cu-Ag alloy. The joining operation was implemented in an inert gas tube furnace by brazing. The brazing temperature ranged at 830-930°C while the operation lasted for 1hr. Interfacial microstructure was studied by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques. Applying the... 

Because of technological restrictions, it is actually impossible to fabricate smooth microchannels. Therefore, exploring the roughness effects on the flow characteristics at microscale is of great importance for scientific communities. The present investigation deals with the effects of corrugated roughness on the fully developed slip flow forced convection in micropipes. The governing equations subject to first-order slip boundary conditions are solved by means of the straightforward perturbation method. Closed-form expressions are obtained for the dimensionless velocity and temperature distributions, for the friction coefficient and pressure drop, and finally for the Nusselt number. The... 

Isothermal solidification is a key feature of transient liquid phase bonding which prevents the formation of deleterious intermetallic phases in the joint centerline and results in bonds with improved mechanical performance. This paper discusses the metallurgical characteristics and mechanical properties of an as-cast IN718 superalloy bonded by diffusion-induced isothermal solidification of Ni-7Cr-4.5Si-3.2B-3Fe (wt%) filler metal. After transient liquid phase bonding of as-cast IN718 at 1000 C for 60 min, a bond exhibiting a solid solution microstructure with joint efficiency of 72% in terms of shear strength was obtained. The joining process was effectively able to prevent the formation of... 

Dynamic modeling of piezo-driven compliant mechanisms is necessary to predict dynamic behavior of nanopositioning systems, and also to optimize their controlling methods. Dynamic tests on a real system or dynamic analyses on a FEM model is very time consuming when they must be carried out iteratively. According to previous works, obtaining static specifications of model is possible within a reasonable error margin. But all geometric dimensions and mass distribution details of the whole moving parts should be considered to calculate dynamic specifications of the model. In this paper, a functional method is described to obtain dynamic specifications of an planar compliant mechanism, by means... 

An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model has been designed for predicting the effects of alloying elements (Fe, Si, Al, Mn) on the recrystallization behavior and microstructural changes of 70/30 brass. The model introduced here considers the content of alloying elements, temperature, and time of recrystallization as inputs while percent of recrystallization is presented as output. It is shown that the designed model is able to predict the effect of alloying elements well. It is also shown that all alloying elements strongly affect the recrytallization kinetics, and all slow down the recrystallization process. The effect of alloying elements on the activation energy for recrystallization has... 

Surfaces of cast 1100 aluminum were treated by multi-pass friction stir processing (MP-FSP), which is a solid-state microstructural modification technique using frictional heat and stirring action. An improvement in the mechanical properties was accomplished due to the microstructural modification and reduction of porosities. The yield strengths of the MP-FSPed specimens were significantly increased to about 1.4 times versus that of the base metal. The elongation of MP-FSP sample is about 30% higher than that of the base metal. Also the ultimate tensile strength and hardness of MP-FSPed specimens are improved. Moreover the effect of tool rotation rate and tool travel speed on the mechanical... 

This paper presents an analytical model to predict the residual stress distribution induced by Shot peening. The analytical approach is based on the work of Shen and Atluri (2006) [18] with some modifications. The modifications are related to the elasto-plastic unloading of shot impingements, friction coefficient effect and the fraction of kinetic energy transmitted to the treated material. In order to predict more realistic residual stresses, the elasto-plastic unloading phase of shot impacts is modeled using two nonlinear kinematic hardening models considering the Bauschinger effect. Moreover, the effect of the Coulomb friction between target surface and shots is evaluated. For this... 

Strain gauge balances (SGBs) are efficient and accurate means of static force measurement. However, due to their inherent elastic characteristics, they lack desired performance when used in dynamic loading conditions. In this paper, a novel technique is presented that remedies their inherent weakness in measuring dynamic periodic forces. The proposed method produces a correction factor to compensate the measured loading in dynamic situations. For this purpose, first an analytical investigation is performed to determine the structural dynamic behavior of a typical SGB system via the modal approach. This analytical investigation leads to identification of the structural interference effects... 

Microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a new bio-electrochemical technique which converts chemical energy into electrical energy, and at the same time desalinates water and treats wastewater. In this study, MDC performance and water biofouling conditions were tested as an efficient pretreatment desalination process of reverse osmosis (RO). The experiments were designed in a three-chamber reactor to compare the performance of batch and continuous fed modes, using bio-cathode and synthetic wastewater in four different hydraulic retention times and 17 and 35 g/L NaCl concentrations. According to the results, maximum salt removal of about 52.3% was obtained in the continuously fed MDC at 35 g/L... 

Stent placement has been a main approach to treat gastrointestinal diseases during past decade. Nitinol superelastic stents have been considered as a solution to such difficulties as restenosis after implantation, low twisting ability, inadequate radial mechanical strength and inappropriate dynamic behaviors associated with the ducts. In this paper, effects of Af temperatures on mechanical performance of z-shaped Nitinol wire stent under crimping test for clinical applications are investigated by finite element simulation. Having 60% crimping and high radial resistive strength, favorable superelastic behaviors are attained at Af temperature of 22°C. The performance of the stent is seen to be... 

Synthesis of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) coated ultrasmall Gd2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) with enhanced T1-weighted signal intensity and r2/r1 ratio close to unity is performed by a microwave-assisted polyol process. PVP coated Gd2O3NPs with spherical shape and uniform size of 2.5 ± 0.5 nm have been synthesized below 5 min and structure and morphology confirmed by HRTEM, XRD and FTIR. The longitudinal (r1) and transversal relaxation (r2) of Gd2O3NPs is measured by a 3 T MRI scanner. The results showed considerable increasing of relaxivity for Gd2O3NPs in... 

Accurate prediction of the PVT properties of reservoir oil is of primary importance for improved oilfield development strategies. Experimental determination of these properties is expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, new empirical models for universal reservoir oils have been developed as a function of commonly available field data. In this communication, more than 750 experimental data series were gathered from different geographical locations worldwide. Successive linear programming and generalized reduced gradient algorithm as two constrained multivariable search methods were incorporated for modeling and expediting the process of achieving a good feasible solution. Moreover,... 

High molecular mass of naphthalene make it non-biodegradable and the biological methods for treated the pollutant are much time consuming. In this paper, two methods of ozonation and aeration are used to remove naphthalene. Because of the industrial wastewater has a great range of pH, in this study different concentrations of soluble naphthalene are placed in variable pH conditions, different contact times and changes in amount of aeration and ozonation. ANOVA results indicated a significant difference between two methods. The average removal of naphthalene by use of ozonation is 55 % and 37 % for aeration. As results, the best conditions that naphthalene are removed is in acidic environment... 

In this research, numerical optimization of the rear part of a gas turbine, consisting of a single stage axial turbine is carried out. Automated aerodynamic shape optimization is performed by coupling a CFD flow simulation code with the Genetic Algorithm. An effective multi-point optimization method to improve efficiency and/or pressure ratio of the axial turbine is performed. Some variations of optimization parameters such as lean and sweep angels of stator and rotor blades are accomplished. Furthermore, during the optimization process, three-dimensional and turbulent flow field is numerically investigated using a compressible Navier-Stokes solver. The gas turbine experimental... 

In this work, examinations on the microstructure and mechanical properties of plain carbon steel and AISI 430 ferritic stainless steel dissimilar welds are carried out. Welding is conducted in both autogenous and using ER309L austenitic filler rod conditions through gas tungsten arc welding process. The results indicate that fully-ferritic and duplex ferritic-martensitic microstructures are formed for autogenous and filler-added welds, respectively. Carbide precipitation and formation of martensite at ferrite grain boundaries (intergranular martensite) as well as grain growth occur in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of AISI 430 steel. It is found that weld heat input can strongly affect grain... 

Simultaneous reductions in inventory of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished items have recently become a major focus in supply chain management. Vendor-managed inventory is a well-known practice in supply chain collaborations, in which manufacturer manages inventory at the retailer and decides about the time and replenishment. In this paper, an integrated vendor-managed inventory model is presented for a two-level supply chain structured as a single capacitated manufacturer at the first level and multiple retailers at the second level. Manufacturer produces different products where demands are assumed decreasing functions of retail prices. In this chain, both the manufacturer and...