Sharif Digital Repository

The energetics and kinetic energy barriers of vacancy/atom exchange in a 37-atom truncated octahedron Ag-Pt binary cluster in the Ag-rich range of compositions are investigated via a first-principles atomistic approach. The energy of the local minima obtained considering various distributions of a single vacancy and a few Pt atoms within the cluster and the energy barriers connecting them are evaluated using accurate density-functional calculations. The effects of the simultaneous presence of a vacancy and Pt atoms are found to be simply additive when their distances are larger than first-neighbors, whereas when they can be stabilizing at low Pt content due to the release of strain by the... 

This study aims to optimize, design, and predict the MTMDs performance in SDOF systems using spectral analysis, and then apply their results to MDOF structures. Given the importance of spectral analysis in the design of new engineering structures, achieving a method for designing TMDs based on this theory can be of great importance for structural designers. In this study, several convenient combinations of MTMDs in an SDOF system are first considered to minimize the maximum displacement. For calculating the frequency ratios of dampers, an innovative technique is adopted in which the values of different modal responses obtained from the spectral analysis are approached together. This... 

Least squares estimation is a widely-used technique for range-based source localization, which obtains the most probable position of mobile station. These methods cannot provide desirable accuracy in the case with a non line of sight (NLOS) path between mobile station and base stations. To circumvent this drawback, many algorithms have been proposed to identify and mitigate this error; however, they have a large run-time overhead. On the other hand, new positioning systems utilize a large set of base stations, and a practical algorithm should be fast enough to deal with them. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm based on subspace method to identify and eliminate the NLOS error.... 

In this study, the behavior of cold-form steel (CFS) frames equipped with various configurations of steel sheathing, and K-shaped braces are experimentally investigated. Low lateral resistance is a major problem with the CFS shear walls. Despite their advantages, such as being lightweight, ease of fabrication, and an environmentally friendly system, their lack of adequate lateral strength prevents engineers from widely using them, especially in areas with medium to high seismicity or mid-rise buildings. In this regard, a total of seven full-scale specimens with different configurations of steel sheathing and k-braced, with and without cladding, were tested to investigate their seismic... 

We derive some bounds on the Optimum Asymptotic Multiuser Efficiency (OAME) of randomly spread CDMA as extensions of the result by Tse and Verdú. To this end, random Gaussian and random binary antipodal spreading are considered. Furthermore, the input signal is assumed to be Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK). It is shown that in a CDMA system with K-user and N chips when K and N → 8 and the loading factor, K over N, grows logarithmically with K, the OAME converges to 1 almost surely under some condition. It is also shown that a Gaussian randomly spread CDMA system has a performance close to the single user system at high Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) when the loading factor is kept less than... 

In this study, the performance of a spectral-amplitude-coding optical code division multiple access (SAC-OCDMA) system in the asynchronous regime is evaluated using a Gaussian approximation of the decision variable for codes with fixed cross-correlation used in SAC-OCDMA systems. The authors consider the effect of phase-induced intensity noise (PIIN), thermal noise and shot noise. Moreover, the validity of the Gaussian approximation is confirmed by a Kolmogorov-Smirnov fitness test. For sake of comparison, the bit error rate (BER) of the asynchronous SAC-OCDMA system is also plotted numerically in comparison with the BER of the synchronous SAC-OCDMA. They show that a SAC-OCDMA system without... 

We extend the result by Tse and Verdú on the optimum asymptotic multiuser efficiency of randomly spread code division multiple access (CDMA) with binary phase shift keying input. Random Gaussian and random binary antipodal spreading are considered. We obtain the optimum asymptotic multiuser efficiency of a K-user system with spreading gain N when K and N → ∞ and the loading factor, (K/N) , grows logarithmically with K under some conditions. It is shown that the optimum detector in a Gaussian randomly spread CDMA system has a performance close to the single user system at high signal-to-noise ratio when K and N → ∞ and the loading factor, (K/N), is kept less than (log3 K/2). Random binary... 

An operationally simple and entirely green protocol for heteropoly acid catalyst conjugate addition of indoles and pyrrole to unsaturated carbonyl compounds and nitro-alkene in water was investigated. It is important that the products arising from 1,2-addition were not observed under the reaction conditions. Pyrroles also readily underwent Michael addition at Α-positions under the same reaction conditions. Indole and many of its derivatives are present in many substances commonly found in nature. Micheal addition reactions are performed in organic solvents with the reactions in water are relatively scarce. The Michael addition between indole and methyl vinyl ketone in the presence of... 

A highly efficient and simple synthesis of dithiocarbamates is possible based on the one-pot reaction of amines, CS2, and alkyl halides without using a catalyst under solvent-free conditions. The mild reaction conditions, high yields, and broad scope of the reaction illustrate the good synthetic utility of this method. The reaction is a highly atom-economic process for production of S-alkyl thiocarbamates and successfully can be used in high quantities in the pharmaceutical or agrochemical industries  

In this paper, a new disk type variable reluctance (DTVR) resolver is introduced. The proposed resolver works based on the sinusoidal variation of the coupling area between stator and rotor. An analytical model based on winding function theory is proposed for the performance analysis of the sensor. Then, the influence of stator slot shape, radial and peripheral slot width, pole numbers, and slot skewing and harmonic injection into the rotor couture on the accuracy of the proposed resolver is examined. The 3-D time stepping finite element method is used to show the effect of optimizations. Finally, the prototypes of the two-pole, four-pole, and eight-pole DTVR resolvers are constructed and... 

Gold (Au) nanoparticles are widely used in diagnosing cancer, imaging, and identification of therapeutic methods due to their particular quantum characteristics. This research presents different types of aqueous models and potentials used in TIP3P, to study the effect of the particle size and density of Au clusters in aquatic environments; so it can be useful to facilitate future investigation of the interaction of proteins with Au nanoparticles. The EAM potential is used to model the structure of gold clusters. It is observed that in the systems with identical gold/water density and different cluster radii, gold particles are distributed in aqueous environment almost identically. Thus, Au... 

In the current work, synthesis of an environmental-sensitive superabsorbent hydrogel using γ-rays is described. Grafted polyacrylonitrile onto a homogeneous solution of starch and kappa-Carrageenan hybrid backbones created a smart material with reversible behavior. The reaction parameters (i.e. acrylonitrile, starch and kappa-Carrageenan concentration, as well as γ-irradiation time) affecting the. water absorbency of the. hydrogel were optimized using the. Taguchi method, in order to achieve a hydrogel with high swelling capacity. FTIR spectroscopy was used for confirming the. structure of the final product and the morphology of the synthesized hydrogel was examined by a scanning electron... 

A three-dimensional multi-component transport model in a two-phase oil-water system was developed. The model includes separated terms to account for the dispersion, convection, injection, growth and death of microbes, and accumulation. For the first time, effects of both wettability alteration of reservoir rock from oil wet to water wet and reduction in interfacial tension (IFT) simultaneously on relative permeability and capillary pressure curves were included in a MEOR simulation model. Transport equations were considered for the bacteria, nutrients, and metabolite (bio-surfactant) in the matrix, reduced interfacial tension on phase trapping, surfactant and polymer adsorption, and effect... 

The dynamic deformation of a geometrically nonlinear rectangular simply supported plate under a moving lumped mass is evaluated using mode expansion method. The governing differential equations of motion for a largely deformable rectangular plate are derived using Lagrange method based on appropriate in and out-of-plane spatial functions which satisfy the proposed boundary conditions. Although the proposed procedure is applicable for any arbitrary edge boundary conditions, only the simply supported plates are addressed in the present work. On the other hand, all inertial components of the moving mass are included in the derivation of the equations of motion. A numerical example is used to... 

The governing differential equation of motion of a thin rectangular plate excited by a moving mass is considered. The moving mass is traversing on the plate's surface at arbitrary trajectories. Eigenfunction expansion method is employed to solve the constitutive equation of motion for various boundary conditions. Approximate and exact expressions of the inertial effects are adopted for the problem formulation. In the approximate formulation, only the vertical acceleration component of the moving mass is considered while in the exact formulation all the convective acceleration components are included in the problem formulation as well. Parametric studies are carried out to investigate the... 

This study is about the performance assessment of steel moment resisting frame structures under nearfield strong ground motions. A number of 3 and 9-story, 3-D structural models being designed using the strength method, are considered. A set of 7 near-field earthquake records, scaled according to ASCE- 7(05), are considered for nonlinear dynamic time history analyses using OpenSees program. Park and Ang damage index is considered for quantitative measurement of the performance of structural models. Maximum values of inter-story drifts along with the local and global damage indices are determined to be used in the performance assessment process. Considering the average results of different... 

This paper discusses the time-varying characteristics of the output signals resulted from Linear Time Variant (LTV) systems using level-crossing properties. These systems, used for generating synthetic records based on a target record, contain two identification processes: 1) amplitude modulating function; and 2) time-varying Impulse Response Function (IRF) parameters. To track the IRF parameters efficiently, the zerocrossing and positive minima/negative maxima cumulative curves are usually utilized as the measures of the instantaneous spectral power. Using spectral moments, analytic relations for zero-crossing and positive minima/negative maxima cumulative count are developed with respect... 

This article introduces a new time-varying model to generate synthetic non-stationary acceleration records using the modified Kanaii-Tajimi model with time-variant parameters. The proposed method can capture two different dominant frequencies per time which makes it suitable for synthesizing the near-field no-pulse earthquake records. A number of closed-form relationships are developed to describe the frequency dependent time-domain level crossings of the simulated records under white noise excitation. The model parameters are optimized using the crossing and Arias intensity properties of the synthetic and target records. The efficiency of the proposed model is demonstrated using a data base... 

The seismic performance of diagrids equipped with buckling restrained braces (BRBs) is investigated. In that regard, the effects of BRBs on the seismic performance characteristics of diagrids such as response modification factor, R, overstrength factor, Ω0, ductility ratio, μ, and median collapse capacity, S^CT, are evaluated. To this end, 6 three dimensional diagrid structures with various heights and diagonal angles are modeled using OpenSees program and are equipped with BRBs in a novel arrangement. Utilizing nonlinear static analysis, the seismic performance factors of models are evaluated. Subsequently, the median collapse capacity (S^CT) of the models are determined by performing... 

We provide a detailed review of existing object-oriented software development methodologies, focusing on their development processes. The review aims at laying bare their core philosophies, processes, and internal activities. This is done by using a process-centered template for summarizing the methodologies, highlighting the activities prescribed in the methodology while describing the modeling languages used (mainly diagrams and tables) as secondary to the activities. The descriptions produced using this template aim not to offer a critique on the methodologies and processes, but instead provide an abstract and structured description in a way that facilitates their elaborate analysis for...