Sharif Digital Repository

In this article, a multiscale modeling procedure is implemented to study the effect of interphase on the Young's modulus of CNT/polymer composites. For this purpose, a three-phase RVE is introduced which consists of three components, i.e., a carbon nanotube, an interphase layer, and an outer polymer matrix. The nanotube is modeled at the atomistic scale using molecular structural mechanics. Moreover, three-dimensional elements are employed to model the interphase layer and polymer matrix. The nanotube and polymer matrix are assumed to be bonded by van der Waals interactions based on the Lennard-Jones potential at the interface. Using this Molecular Structural Mechanics/Finite Element... 

In this article, a Molecular Structural Mechanics/Finite Element (MSM/FE) multiscale modeling of carbon nanotube/polymer composites with viscoelastic (VE) polymer matrix is introduced. The nanotube is modeled at the atomistic scale using structural molecular mechanics. The matrix deformation is analyzed by nonlinear finite element method considering VE behavior. The nanotube and matrix are assumed to be bonded by van der Waals interactions based on the Lennard-Jones potential at the interface. Using the MSM/FE multiscale model, we investigate the effect of carbon nanotube (CNT) on the improvement of mechanical stability of the nanocomposite. Also, the buckling behavior of these... 

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced polymer composites have attracted great attention due to their exceptionally high strength. Their high strength can be affected by the presence of defects in the nanotubes used as reinforcements in practical nanocomposites. In this article, a new three-phase molecular structural mechanics/finite element (MSM/FE) multiscale model is used to study the effect of CNT vacancy defects on the stability of single-wall (SW) CNT-polymer composites. The nanotube is modeled at the atomistic scale using MSM, whereas the interphase layer and polymer matrix are analyzed by the FE method. The nanotube and polymer matrix are assumed to be bonded by van der Waals interactions... 

CNT-reinforced polymer composites have attracted attention due to their exceptional high strength. The high strength can be affected by the presence of defects in the nanotubes used as reinforcements in the practical nanocomposites. In this paper, a Molecular Structural Mechanics / Finite Element (MSM/FE) multiscale modeling is used to study the effect of carbon nanotube geometrical defects on the stability of SWCNT-polymer composites. Here, two types of representative volume elements (RVEs) for these nanocomposites are considered with perfect and defected CNT. These RVEs have the same dimensions. The nanotube is modeled at the atomistic scale using molecular structural mechanics whereas the... 

In the past decade, making the cities green and environmentally friendly is becoming a major issue for many countries around the world. The green city is an urban environment in which the parklands and natural habitats are integrated into the living and the working space of the communities. This significant increase in the scale of parklands in the green cities requires autonomous landscaping. In this paper, a computer vision system for an autonomous landscaping robot which is capable of seeding various types of grass and designing patterns in the lawns is developed. The proposed robotic platform uses deep convolutional neural networks for finding the required patches for the replanting of... 

The optical implementation of mathematical spatial operators is a critical step toward achieving practical high-speed, low-energy analog optical processors. In recent years, it has been shown that using fractional derivatives in many engineering and science applications leads to more accurate results. In the case of optical spatial mathematical operators, the derivatives of the first and second orders have been investigated. But no research has been performed on fractional derivatives. On the other hand, in previous studies, each structure is dedicated to a single integer order derivative. This paper proposes a tunable structure made of graphene arrays on silica to implement fractional... 

The graphitic carbon nitride/tin oxide (g-C3N4/SnO2) nanocomposite synthesized under microwave irradiation was used for adsorptive removal of sulfur-containing dibenzothiophene (DBT) from Tehran vehicular gasoline. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy techniques determined the adsorbent characteristics, and gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector determined the DBT concentration of the samples. Application of the experimental data into the solid/fluid kinetic models indicated a chemisorption... 

The objective of this work is to design electrostatic actuators for a CMOS-MEMS nano-newton capacitive force sensor to suppress vertical vibrations disturbances. Electrostatic actuators are selected because the movable part of this force sensor is anchored to the fixed parts. In the first step, we propose a framework for simulation of the force sensor based on finite element method. The proposed model is modified utilizing comparison between the simulation and experimental models to improve the performance of the model. Then, 14 pairs of electrostatic actuators are designed for applying the control algorithm and their pull-in voltage is calculated. In next step, Modal Analysis is applied to... 

This paper presents the fuzzy logic computing for the design and implementation of fuel controller for gas turbine engines. For this purpose, a fuzz controller is designed in order to be implemented on an electronic control unit where it is used to drive a servo operated fuel control valve. The fuzzy logic computing approach for different parts of the controller including fuzzification, rule base, inference engine and defuzzification are then described. Finally, computer simulation of the fuzzy controllers integrated with the engine model is performed to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy controller on the performance of a turbojet engine. The results are provided to show... 

Neural activity is very important source for data mining and can be used as a control signal for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Particularly, Magnetic signals of neurons are enriched with information about the movement of different part of the body such as wrist movement. In this paper, we use MEG (Magneto encephalography) signals of two subjects recorded during wrist movement task in four directions. Data were prepared for BCI competition 2008 for multiclass classification. Our approach for this classification problem consists of PCA as a noise reduction method, ULDA for feature reduction and various linear classifiers such as Bayesian, KNN and SVM. Final results (58%-62% for subject 1... 

Cascaded split-source inverter (CSSI) is a new single-stage modular multilevel topology. Each cell of this converter converts dc to ac power in the buck or boost operation mode without any additional power switch. This article develops a design method based on a detailed model for CSSI. This model shows that energy storage elements experience double-fundamental frequency ripples besides high-frequency ones. It accurately calculates voltage gains and capacitor voltage and inductor current ripples. On the other hand, common carrier-based multilevel modulations have been modified in terms of both reference and carrier signals to control the inverter under symmetric and asymmetric conditions.... 

An improved version of the V2f turbulence model has been examined in this paper. The objective was to overcome the convergence problem encountered in the original V2f model. The convergence problem is due to the commonly-used wall boundary condition, which therefore has been modified in the proposed model. To test the soundness of the new model, several two-dimensional cases such as Poiseuille flow, channel flow, and backward-step flow has been analyzed and the results are compared with the standard k - ε model, DNS, and in case of the backward flow problem, also with the original V2f model. Based on the comparison, the new model presents a promising approach both with respect to convergence...