Sharif Digital Repository

In this paper, a three-invariant cap plasticity model with an isotropic hardening rule is presented for numerical simulation of powder compaction processes. A general form is developed for single-cap plasticity which can be compared with some common double-surface plasticity models proposed for powders in literature. The constitutive elasto-plastic matrix and its components are derived based on the definition of yield surface, hardening parameter and non-linear elastic behaviour, as function of relative density of powder. Different aspects of the new single plasticity are illustrated by generating the classical plasticity models as special cases of the proposed model. The procedure for... 

It is well known that strain localization and indeed displacement discontinuity can arise in materials exhibiting plastic behaviour. Indeed such localization is almost certain to occur if strain softening or non-associated behaviour exists, though it can be triggered even when ideal plasticity is assumed. This study is concerned mainly with the manner in which the numerical discretization process has to be devised so as to capture the localization phenomenon. In this paper, a method is presented for applying the mixed formulation to study the prediction of localization phenomenon in powder-forming processes. This study is focused on the performance of mixed u - π triangular elements to study... 

In this paper, a double-surface plasticity model, based on a combination of a convex yield surface consisting of a failure envelope, such as a Mohr-Coulomb yield surface and, a hardening cap model, is developed for the nonlinear behaviour of powder materials in the concept of a generalized plasticity formulation for the description of cyclic loading. This model reflects the yielding, frictional and densification characteristics of powder along with strain and geometrical hardening which occur during the compaction process. The solution yields details on the powder displacement from which it is possible to establish the stress state in the powder and the densification is derived from... 

A variational principle is established to provide a new formulation for convex Hamiltonian systems. Using this formulation, we obtain some existence results for second-order Hamiltonian systems with a variety of boundary conditions, including nonlinear ones  

Gelatin-based functional films were prepared by the addition of grapefruit seed extract (GSE, 5 wt% based on gelatin) and various amounts of TiO2 (0.5, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 wt% based on gelatin). TiO2 was evenly dispersed in the gelatin film, but the film surface roughness was increased as the concentration of TiO2 increased. The mechanical strength and water contact angle (WCA) of the composite film were the highest, while the water vapor permeability (WVP) was the lowest when 0.5 wt% TiO2 was used. The addition of GSE slightly reduced the UV light transmittance, but the addition of TiO2 almost completely prevented the UV light transmission. The addition of GSE and TiO2 did not significantly... 

As microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology continues to gain momentum toward commercialization, the replacement of traditionally used platinum for oxygen reduction with an inexpensive catalyst becomes more important. A nonprecious nitrogen-doped carbon composite catalyst with previous applications in PEM fuel cells is demonstrated for the first time in a single-chamber air cathode MFC with comparisons to a similar platinum-based MFC. The performance of the MFC is compared with a similar MFC using a platinum catalyst and acetate feed. When the platinum is replaced with the catalyst loaded at the surface of the proton exchange membrane (loading density of 1 mg/cm2), MFC operation outperforms a... 

In this paper, we review recent progress made in the field of epoxy-based binary and ternary nanocomposites containing three-, two-, and one-dimensional (i.e., 3D-, 2D-, and 1D) nano-size fillers with a special focus on their fracture behaviors. Despite investigations conducted so far to evaluate the crack-resistance of epoxy nanocomposites and attempts made to clarify the controlling toughening mechanisms of these materials, some questions remain unsolved. It is shown that silica nanoparticles can be as effective as rubber particles in improving the fracture toughness/energy; but incorporation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or clay platelets in epoxy matrices delays crack growth only modestly.... 

Standard finite element models, i.e. finite element methods that use standard constitutive models, suffer from excessive mesh dependence when strain-softening models are used in numerical analyses and cannot reproduce the size effect commonly observed in quasi-brittle failure. In this paper, an h-adaptive analysis for the mixed finite element solution of solid mechanics problems is presented with special reference to metal powder forming involving localization due to material instability. A remeshing strategy is employed to compute the distribution of required element size using the estimated error distribution. The numerical results are obtained for a Von-Mises yield criterion applied to a... 

Metal manufacturing plants, nuclear power plants (which produce steam, by using thermal energy yielded during the nuclear fission, for spinning enormous turbines to generate electricity), and geothermal power plants are a few in the extensive list of technologies where different processes occur in high temperature environment in the presence of strong magnetic fields. Nanofluids (NFs), on the other hand, have been successful in achieving wide acceptance as the next generation coolant in the above mentioned industries as well as in the automobiles, heat exchangers, and steam boilers, owing to their remarkable thermal performance. These observations motivate the authors to explore the change... 

Motivation: Protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks provide valuable insights into the function of biological systems. Aligning multiple PPI networks may expose relationships beyond those observable by pairwise comparisons. However, assessing the biological quality of multiple network alignments is a challenging problem. Results: We propose two new measures to evaluate the quality of multiple network alignments using functional information from Gene Ontology (GO) terms. When aligning multiple real PPI networks across species, we observe that both measures are highly correlated with objective quality indicators, such as common orthologs. Additionally, our measures strongly correlate with... 

This paper is a continuation of our previous paper (part 1; 10.1021/ef401857t), which discussed the roles of different phenomena effecting the deposition of asphaltene from model oil systems and before the onset of asphaltene precipitation. The study in this paper is to understand the depositional tendency of asphaltene using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) measurements and their corresponding modeling for real crude oil systems with emphasis after the onset of asphaltene precipitation  

In the upstream asphaltene flow assurance community, both academics and industries are actively involved to predict the asphaltene deposit profile in wellbores and pipelines. Essential information for such a study is the amount of asphaltenes that can precipitate and, hence, deposit. In this work, the perturbed chain form of the statistical associating fluid theory (PC-SAFT) is applied to predict the asphaltene precipitation onset condition as well as the amount of precipitate under pressure depletion and high-pressure and high-temperature gas injection conditions. Previous PC-SAFT asphaltene studies in crude oil required the compositional data for both flashed gas and flashed liquid. This... 

Asphaltenes are a polydisperse fraction of the crude oil, the phase behavior of which is significantly affected by the changes in pressure, temperature and composition. The focus of this study is to model the polydisperse asphaltenes' precipitation onset condition and the amount of precipitate from solvent-diluted crude oils using the Perturbed Chain form of the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (PC-SAFT) over a wide range of crude oil density. Heavy oil and bitumen production can involve diluting with paraffinic solvents. Different fractions of the polydisperse asphaltenes thus precipitated are predicted and when compared to the experimental data show a remarkable matching for different... 

Sulfur quantum dots (SQDs) were fabricated using a facile hydrothermal method and used for the preparation of functional food packaging film and compared the properties with other sulfur-based fillers like elemental sulfur (ES) and sulfur nanoparticles (SNP). The SQDs have an average size of 5.3 nm and were very stable in aqueous suspension. Unlike other sulfur-based fillers, the SQD showed high antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal activity, but no cytotoxicity was found for L929 mouse fibroblasts even after long-term exposure of 48 h. When sulfur-based fillers were added to the alginate film, SQD was more evenly dispersed in the polymer matrix than SNP and ES. The addition of SQD to... 

There are mathematical errors in eqn (17) and (19) in the original article and within the text. The corrected equations and text are as given below: (formula presented) where z is the dynamic exponent and F is a scaling function. Additionally, the exponential function on the fifth page of the article, line 43 should read: The Royal Society of Chemistry apologises for these errors and any consequent inconvenience to authors and readers.. © 2021 Royal Society of Chemistry. All rights reserved  

Owing to the local/heterogeneous structures in supercooled liquids, after several decades of research, it is now clear that supercooled liquids are structurally different from their conventional liquid counterparts. Accordingly, an approach based on a local probe should provide a better understanding about the local mechanical properties as well as heterogeneous structures. Recently, the superiority of active microrheology over global rheology has been demonstrated [Yu et al., Sci. Adv., 2020, 6, 8766]. Here, we elaborate this new avenue of research and provide more evidence for such superiority. We report on the results of an extensive molecular dynamics simulation of active microrheology... 

Titanium nanotubes (TNTs) were prepared using TiO2 and decorated with CuO and Cu2O to have photocatalytic efficiency under visible light. TNTs decorated with copper oxides (TNT-CuO and TNT-Cu2O) were confirmed by the elemental mapping and XPS results. Unlike TNT and TiO2, TNT-CuO and TNT-Cu2O showed higher photocatalytic activity, such as antimicrobial and ethylene scavenging activities under visible light. Between the two types of copper oxide-decorated TNTs, TNT-Cu2O showed photocatalytic activity higher than that of TNT-CuO. The ethylene scavenging activity of TNT-Cu2O was about 40% higher than that of TNTs and TNT-CuO. The photocatalytic activity of titanium-based nanoparticles was... 

Within the most recent effort, a non-Newtonian inclination magnetized Carreau nanofluid that has such a cubed autocatalysis impact is detailed. When the flow behavior is moved via a magnetic field, the speed of the fluid is thoroughly investigated under these conditions. The findings about the temperature transparency of the Carreau nanofluid are obtained via the use of temperature-dependent heat transfer, and the measurement of the nanofluid’s amount is accomplished by the utilization of homogeneous heterogeneous chemical processes. The physical model is used to construct partial differential equations (PDEs), which are then processed via variables that are comparable in order to obtain... 

Synthesis of the optimum distillation column sequence (DCS), which incorporates a huge search space composed of both conventional and complex arrangements, is a highly complicated combinatorial problem in the field of chemical process design and optimisation. In this study, a novel procedure for the synthesis of optimum DCS proposed by Boozarjomehry et al. [Boozarjomehry et al., Can. J. Chem. Eng. 87, 477-492 (2009)] is expanded to include the complex distillation arrangements. The method is based on evolutionary algorithms, and the total annual cost (TAC) is the main criterion used to screen alternatives. Efficient procedure has been proposed for encoding mechanism to include and classify... 

For heating, ventilation or air conditioning purposes in massive multistory building constructions, ducts are a common choice for air supply, return, or exhaust. Rapid population expansion, particularly in industrially concentrated areas, has given rise to a tradition of erecting high-rise buildings in which contaminated air is removed by making use of vertical ducts. For satisfying the enormous energy requirements of such structures, high voltage wires are used which are typically positioned near the ventilation ducts. This leads to a consequent motivation of studying the interaction of magnetic field (MF) around such wires with the flow in a duct, caused by vacuum pump or exhaust fan etc....