Sharif Digital Repository

Much efforts have been made in the area of energy security in recent years, but due to its wide scope, it is necessary to review relevant knowledge activities and to analyze the state of knowledge of the field of energy security measurement. The purpose of this article is to present a comprehensive map of knowledge in the field of energy security. For this reason, many documents and articles have been collected during the period 2002–2019 using 7 large and reputable scientific databases as well as 53 different journals, 90% white Q1 quality. There is employed meta-synthesis, scientometrics and network analysis. In the initial survey stage where 1290 articles were found, after analyzing the... 

The accuracy of static neutronic parameters in the nuclear reactors depends upon the determination of group constants of the diffusion equation in the desired geometry. Although several methods have been proposed for calculating these parameters, there is still the need for more reliable methods. In this paper a powerful and innovative method based on Spatial Homogenization and Temperature Variation (SHTV) of physical properties of a WWER-1000 nuclear reactor core for calculating the relative power distribution of Fuel Assemblies (FA) and the hot fuel rod, is presented. The method is based on replacing the heterogeneous lattices of materials with different properties by an equivalent... 

Use of computational modeling with a few experiments is considered useful to obtain the best possible result for a final product, without performing expensive and time-consuming experiments. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) can produce clean electricity, but still require further study. An oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) takes place at the cathode, and carbon-supported platinum (Pt/C) is commonly used as an electrocatalyst. The harsh conditions during PEMFC operation result in Pt/C degradation. Observation of changes in the Pt/C layer under operating conditions provides a tool to study the lifetime of PEMFCs and overcome durability issues. Recently, artificial neural networks... 

This paper addresses scheduling problem of independent tasks in the market-based grid environment. In market-based grids, resource providers can charge users based on the amount of resource requested by them. In this case, scheduling algorithms should consider users' willingness to execute their applications in most economical manner. As a solution to this problem, a hybrid genetic algorithm and variable neighborhood search is presented to reduce overall cost of task executions without noticeable increment in system makespan. Simulation results show that our algorithm performs much better than other algorithms in terms of cost of task executions. Considering the negative correlation between... 

In this paper, a confined infill panel previously experimented under out-of-plane loading is modeled and analyzed by the dynamic explicit method (DEM). This method is shown to have a good estimation of the experimental results, and is thus adopted to investigate the out-of-plane behavior of an infill model. Based on the analytical results, the stress distribution of an infill panel prior to and after cracking, and the effect of an arching mechanism on post-cracking behavior, is studied. A semi-empirical relationship is accordingly developed for predicting the transverse resistance of masonry infills due to one-way arching action, which accounts for the effects of the boundary frame... 

Particulate VC-reinforced high-manganese austenitic steel matrix composites with different vanadium and tungsten contents were synthesized by conventional alloying and casting route. Microstructural characterizations showed that the composites processed by in situ precipitation of the reinforcements were composed of V8C7 particulates distributed in an austenitic matrix. It was observed that addition of tungsten to austenite increases work-hardening rate of subsurface layer during pin-on disk wear test. The maximum abrasive wear resistance was achieved at tungsten content equal to 2 wt pct. However, excessive addition of tungsten promoted the formation of W 3C phase and reduced the abrasive... 

In this investigation, in-situ precipitation of vanadium carbides was employed to reinforce Fe-13Mn and Fe-13Mn-3W alloys by means of conventional melting and casting route. Microstructures were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy techniques.Mechanical properties of the materials were determined by hardness, impact toughness and tension tests. It was observed that tungsten improved the strength of the matrix and the reinforcements as well as tensile properties and work hardening rate of the VC-reinforced composite. Ball mill abrasion test was utilized to simulate impact-abrasion wear condition using two types of abrasive minerals. The results showed that the degree of... 

To address one of the most challenging industry problems, we develop an enhanced training algorithm for anomaly detection in unlabelled sequential data such as time-series. We propose the outputs of a well-designed system are drawn from an unknown probability distribution, U, in normal conditions. We introduce a probability criterion based on the classical central limit theorem that allows evaluation of the likelihood that a data-point is drawn from U. This enables the labelling of the data on the fly. Non-anomalous data is passed to train a deep Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) autoencoder that distinguishes anomalies when the reconstruction error exceeds a threshold. To illustrate our... 

Using stochastic point source and finite fault modeling, the stochastic stress drop is estimated for 52 large shallow earthquakes listed in the 'Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER) Next Generation Attenuation of Ground Motions (NGA)' database. The Pseudo Spectral Acceleration (PSA) of 541 accelerograms, recorded at National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) C-class sites from 52 earthquakes are simulated and compared with the PSA listed in the PEER NGA database. The magnitude of the analyzed earthquakes ranged from M4:4 to M7:6. The stress drop is calibrated by trial and error and based on the analysis of residuals where the residual is defined as the log of the... 

Technology Identification involves developing a list of technologies which are, or may be, incorporated into products or processes. After reviewing Technology Assessment, Technology Strategy, Management of Technology and New Product Development in literature, four methods of Technology Identification are investigated: Value Chain of Technologies, Process-based Approach, Quality Function Deployment and Technology Mapping. A model facilitating decision making process is then proposed by which the most appropriate method to be employed is identified. The proposed model is examined in specific case of fuel cell technologies while preparing the Fuel cell Development Strategic Plan of Iran. 1... 

Tabriz has experienced several large destructive historical earthquakes in the past. Due to the absence of ground motion records in this area, a simulation of future events based on a regional seismicity information and ground motion model is necessary. Based on a maximum likelihood method, earthquake magnitude is estimated for a 10% probability of exceedance within 50 years (475-year return period) and its corresponding strong ground motions have been simulated using stochastic finite fault modeling. Using different stress parameters, suites of ground motions have been simulated for a return period of £75 years and their spectral accelerations have been compared with the corresponding... 

The dependence of the mobility of DNA molecules through an hexagonal array of micropillars on their length and the applied electric field was investigated and it was found that mobility is a nonmonotonic function of their length. Results also revealed that the size dependence of the DNA mobility depends on the applied electric field and there is a crossover around E ≈ 25 V/cm for the mobility of λ-DNA and T4-DNA. These observations are explained in terms of the diffusion process inside the structure affected by the solvent and are modeled using the Langevin and its corresponding Fokker-Planck equations. The phenomenon is generalized under three regimes in a phase diagram relating the... 

Anchored wall system is one of the common methods used for deep excavation stabilization adjacent to sensitive structures in urban areas. A key aspect of the stability analysis of deep excavations is the amount of deformations occurring on the facing wall and the adjacent structures. In this research, a large number of parametric studies considering all aspects of soil-structure interaction is carried out for different excavation geometries to find the optimal design, and the outcome is shown in the form of design tables and charts. Also, by a GA-PSO algorithm and using the large database obtained from the numerical simulations, a simple equation is developed that can predict the deflections... 

In this study, high-vanadium austenitic manganese steel (HV-AMS) alloys and the standard Hadfield steel were investigated. The microstructure of these high-vanadium alloyed Hadfield steels was studied thoroughly using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and was compared to the Hadfield steel. The hardness and unnotched Charpy impact strength of HV-AMS alloys and Hadfield steel were examined at ambient temperature in the as-cast and heat-treated conditions. A pin-on-disk wear test at linear speed of 10. m/min and a 55. N normal load was employed to evaluate the wear behavior of both steel samples. Microstructural results showed that varying... 

An improved and efficient method for the synthesis of 1- & 5-substituted 1Htetrazole derivatives was described in the presence of nano-ordered MCM-41-SO3H as an effective heterogeneous catalyst. This metal-free protocol, [2 + 3] cycloaddition of sodium azide to various nitriles or ethyl N-phenyl formimidate intermediate under mild reaction conditions, provides a wide range of 1H-tetrazoles in good to excellent yields. The catalyst was reused five times without significant loss of catalytic activity. © 2019 Sharif University of Technology. All rights reserved  

An improved and efficient method for the synthesis of 1- & 5-substituted 1Htetrazole derivatives was described in the presence of nano-ordered MCM-41-SO3H as an effective heterogeneous catalyst. This metal-free protocol, [2 + 3] cycloaddition of sodium azide to various nitriles or ethyl N-phenyl formimidate intermediate under mild reaction conditions, provides a wide range of 1H-tetrazoles in good to excellent yields. The catalyst was reused five times without significant loss of catalytic activity. © 2019 Sharif University of Technology. All rights reserved  

Inkjet-printing (IJP) technology is recognized as a significant breakthrough in manufacturing high-performance electrochemical energy storage systems. In comparison to conventional fabrication protocols, this printing technique offers various advantages, such as contact-less high-resolution patterning capability; low-cost, controlled material deposition; process simplicity; and compatibility with a variety of substrates. Due to these outstanding merits, significant research efforts have been devoted to utilizing IJP technology in developing electrochemical energy storage devices, particularly in supercapacitors (SCs). These attempts have focused on fabricating the key components of SCs,... 

Printing technologies are gaining growing attention as a sustainable route for the fabrication of high-performance and flexible power sources such as microsupercapacitors (MSCs). Here, the inkjet printing method is utilized for the fabrication of manganese dioxide (MnO2)-based, flexible all-solid-state MSCs on surface-modified A4 paper substrate. The appropriate rheology of the formulated ethanol-based ink (Fromm number <10) and the proper dimensions of MnO2 nanoflowers (average size ∼600 nm) ensure a reliable inkjet printing process. Moreover, the underlying graphene/Ag nanowire pattern serves as a primer and highly conductive (Rs < 2 Ω sq-1) layer on top of the paper to facilitate the...