Sharif Digital Repository

The deployment of drones for targeted killings in recent years has sparked intense debates regarding the ethical and legal implications of their deployment in contemporary conflicts. Through an examination of the complexities surrounding the application of fundamental international humanitarian law (IHL) principles - such as differentiating targets and ensuring a proportionate response - and their deployment, the article aims to illuminate the potential legal ramifications of using drones in targeted killing. It also highlights challenges arising from the ambiguous distinction between combatants and non-combatants, compounded by the remote nature of drone missions. The inclusion of a few... 

Nomex honeycomb composite (NHC) has been increasingly used in the automotive, aerospace and defence applications due to its excellent thermal and mechanical properties. Its complex cellular hexagonal thin-walled configuration along with heterogeneous, soft and brittle nature pose substantial processing defects such as burr formation, tearing of walls, surface roughness, dimensional inaccuracy and low machining quality during conventional machining (CM). These surface defects have a substantial influence on the operating life and functional performance of its sandwiched structural members. Hybrid ultrasonic vibration assisted machining (HUSVAM) technology has been introduced to overcome such... 

The lateral response of a single degree of freedom (SDOF) structural system containing a rigid circular cylindrical liquid tank, under harmonic and earthquake excitations is considered. The governing differential equations of motion for the combined system is derived considering the first 3 liquid sloshing modes (1,1), (0,1), and (2,1), under horizontal excitation. The system is considered nonlinear due to the convective term of liquid acceleration and the nonlinear surface boundary conditions, both caused by the inertial nonlinearity. The harmonic and seismic response of the system is investigated in the neighborhood of 1:1 and 1:2 internal resonances between the SDOF system and the first... 

This article examines complex legal challenges in prosecuting war crimes and crimes against humanity (CAH) through a comparative analysis of Islamic law and international law. This article argues for the necessity of a multidimensional approach that considers both Islamic and modern international law rule to effectively prosecute war crimes and CAH, advocating for the integration of diverse legal traditions to strengthen global justice mechanisms. It explores these complexities by delving into the foundational legal frameworks of Islamic jurisprudence and international conventions. The article analyses the comprehensive framework for justice and punishment based on principles from the... 

It is shown that in a controlled adiabatic homotopy between two Hamiltonians, H0 and H1, the gap or "anti- crossing" phenomenon can be viewed as the development of cusps and swallow tails in the region of the complex plane where two critical value curves of the quadratic map associated with the numerical range of H0 + i H 1 come close. The "near crossing" in the energy level plots happens to be a generic situation, in the sense that a crossing is a manifestation of the quadratic numerical range map being unstable in the sense of differential topology. The stable singularities that can develop are identified and it is shown that they could occur near the gap, making those singularities of... 

The lateral response of a single degree of freedom structural system containing a rigid circular cylindrical liquid tank under harmonic and earthquake excitations at a 1:2 autoparametric resonance case is considered. The governing nonlinear differential equations of motion for the combined system are solved by means of a multiple scales method considering the first three liquid sloshing modes (1,1), (0,1), and (2,1), under horizontal excitation. The fixed points of the gyroscopic type of governing differential equations are determined and their stability is investigated employing the perturbation method. The obtained results reveal an increase in the stability region for a single-mode... 

This paper proposes a new variable frequency zero voltage switching (ZVS) control method for boost converter operating in boundary conduction mode (BCM). The intended method keeps the converter in BCM despide of the load and input voltage variations. This is done by changing switching frequency in a certain specified range. The proposed method can guarantee circuit performance in BCM via zero-crossing detection of the inductor current and changing the switching frequency. In addition, with a slight modification in control structure, it is possible to achieve a fully ZVS in all cases. This converter control is carried out in analog form without using microprocessors which, compared with the... 

In this study, a nonlinear absorber that works with a negative stiffness mechanism is suggested to mitigate vibration, and its effect on the reduction of vibration is investigated. The negative stiffness, which is inherently nonlinear, creates internal resonance; therefore, the vibration energy can be transmitted from low-frequency to high-frequency vibrating modes, causing vibration suppression. The nonlinear absorber is added to the primary nonlinear system, and when the main system is subjected to external resonance due to harmonic excitation, the negative stiffness parameter of absorber is so adjusted that autoparametric resonance occurs and vibration is reduced. First, the mathematical... 

As a means of achieving soft switching in a boost converter without altering the converter's structure or its variable frequency control, the quasi-resonance method is proposed. The method enables the boost converter to operate in Boundary Conduction Mode (BCM) regardless of variations in input voltage or load by adjusting the switching frequency within a defined range. This high-frequency approach is implemented in analog form, which is a more cost-effective option than digital implementation. Simulation tests using LTspice and stability analysis applied to a bidirectional boost converter demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique. © 2023 IEEE  

In this study, a nonlinear absorber that works with a negative stiffness mechanism is suggested to mitigate vibration, and its effect on the reduction of vibration is investigated. The negative stiffness, which is inherently nonlinear, creates internal resonance; therefore, the vibration energy can be transmitted from low-frequency to high-frequency vibrating modes, causing vibration suppression. The nonlinear absorber is added to the primary nonlinear system, and when the main system is subjected to external resonance due to harmonic excitation, the negative stiffness parameter of absorber is so adjusted that autoparametric resonance occurs and vibration is reduced. First, the mathematical... 

The study aimed to investigate the most effective leadership style that enhances the employees’ performance at the workplace and also evaluate the impact of leadership styles (Laissez-faire leadership, Transformational leadership, Transactional leadership,) on employees’ performance in the textile sector of Pakistan. The study explored the moderating role of Positive psychological capital to examine the relationship between leadership styles and employee performance. A quantitative research technique was used, and Data were collected from the lower to middle-level manager of the textile sector. The findings of this study showed that laissez-faire leadership has a significant but negative... 

This paper investigates the static and dynamic buckling of an anchored cylindrical steel tank subjected to horizontal and vertical ground acceleration. The buckling capacity of the tank is estimated using static pushover (SPO) and incremental dynamic analyses (IDA). Appropriate load patterns due to the horizontal and vertical components of ground excitations are utilized for SPO analyses. The buckling capacity curves and critical buckling loads computed using SPO analyses are compared to those obtained from IDA. A proper vertical to horizontal acceleration ratio (av/ah) for SPO analysis is proposed that leads to good agreement between SPO and IDA results. © 2017  

The structural, electrical, magnetic and high frequency properties of Ni-substituted Zn2W-type hexagonal ferrites were investigated for microwave applications. Ferrite powders with chemical compositions Ba0 · 5Sr0.5NixZn2-xFe16O27 (where Ni-substitution was varied from 0.0 to 1.5 with a step size of 0.5) were prepared using sol-gel auto-combustion at 1300 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the single-phase hexagonal ferrite structure. The lengths of both the axis i.e. minor and major (a, c) obtained from hkl values of XRD peaks were decreased with Ni-substitution due to the difference in ionic radius of the substituted metal ions. DC electrical resistivity obtained by two-point... 

In the current work, the results of full-scale laboratory testing of 114.3 and 168.3 mm in diameter steel gas distribution pipes buried at different depths and in two different soil types under a reverse fault offset of 0.6 m are presented and discussed in terms of longitudinal strain distribution, pipe deformation, and cross-section distortion. Results show that the pipe deformation and accordingly its failure mode, and soil failure planes change with increasing burial depth. It was also found that severe cross-section distortion occurs at about 2.3 times the strain limit for onset of wrinkling suggested by various guidelines. © 2018, © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC  

In the current work, the results of full-scale laboratory testing of 114.3 and 168.3 mm in diameter steel gas distribution pipes buried at different depths and in two different soil types under a reverse fault offset of 0.6 m are presented and discussed in terms of longitudinal strain distribution, pipe deformation, and cross-section distortion. Results show that the pipe deformation and accordingly its failure mode, and soil failure planes change with increasing burial depth. It was also found that severe cross-section distortion occurs at about 2.3 times the strain limit for onset of wrinkling suggested by various guidelines. © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC  

Single phase Ca-substituted W-type hexaferrites Sr1-xCaxZn2Fe16O27(x = 0.00(0.25)1.00) have successfully been synthesized by using sol–gel self-combustion at 1300°C. These hexaferrites are investigated by x-ray difrractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and vector network analysis. XRD analysis confirms the formation of a single W-type hexaferrites phase. The DC electrical resistivity increases with incrementing Ca contents. The morphology of all the hexaferrites shows hexagonal platelet-like structure. The prepared ferrites depict soft magnetic nature with high saturation... 

The aim of present study is to investigate the convective heat and mass transfer in steady MHD boundary layer flow of an electrically conducting micropolar fluid over an inclined surface. Partial differential equations resulting from the mathematical modeling of the phenomenon are reduce to nonlinear ODEs, and a finite difference based scheme has been adopted to iteratively find the numerical solution by employing the successive over-relaxation (SOR) method. A self-developed computer code has been used in the MATLAB environment. Influence of chemical reaction, Brownian motion, thermophoresis, and viscous dissipation on the relevant features of the flow are discussed and analyzed through... 

The aim of present study is to investigate the convective heat and mass transfer in steady MHD boundary layer flow of an electrically conducting micropolar fluid over an inclined surface. Partial differential equations resulting from the mathematical modeling of the phenomenon are reduce to nonlinear ODEs, and a finite difference based scheme has been adopted to iteratively find the numerical solution by employing the successive over-relaxation (SOR) method. A self-developed computer code has been used in the MATLAB environment. Influence of chemical reaction, Brownian motion, thermophoresis, and viscous dissipation on the relevant features of the flow are discussed and analyzed through... 

Permanent ground displacement (PGD) caused by surface faulting is considered as one of the most significant hazards affecting buried pipelines. Pipelines crossing reverse-slip faults are subjected to compressive actions (stresses and strains) which can result in buckling of the pipe. In current work, the results obtained from the full-scale laboratory testing and finite element analyses of 4″ (114.3 mm) and 6″ (168.3 mm) steel gas pipes (without internal pressure) buried inside a split box and subjected to a reverse faulting of 0.6 m (pure dip-slip) are presented. These pipes are commonly used in gas distribution lines and networks. The experimental setup, procedure and instrumentation as...