Sharif Digital Repository

In this paper the behavior of steel pipes, filled and unfilled with concrete, is studied under cyclic shear to examine the possibility of their use as a seismic damper. Two specimens of steel pipes filled inside with concrete are tested under monotonic and cyclic shear. Four other specimens ofbare steel pipes are tested under fully reversed cyclic shear loading. The results show that the bare steel pipes are capable of absorbing a great amount of energy under a severe cyclic shear loading with a stable hysteretic behavior. This behavior is also simulated using the finite element method. Then, parametric studies are performed to investigate the effects of variations in geometrical properties... 

By locating a steel shear panel on the intersection point of the X-braces, concentrically or eccentrically braced shear panel (CBFSP or EBFSP) is formed. In this paper, to perform parametric study, 1-story CBFSP and EBFSP models with span length greater or less than height are considered. Using linear static analyses, the effects of size and location of the shear panel on the lateral stiffness of the frame with respect to the moment resisting frame with the same member sections are investigated. Next, for 1- And 3-story models, maximum displacement, along with base shear, and the ratio between the dissipated energy and input energy are examined under 4 ground motion records. Behavior of the... 

This paper discusses the necessity of considering the concurrent effects of uniform temperature and earthquake loadings in the design of cable-stayed bridges. This load combination is not foreseen in current design standards such as AASHTO and Eurocode. Three-dimensional finite element models of cable-stayed bridges are employed for nonlinear time history analyses. A load combination is proposed that adds uniform temperature loading to the existing extreme event load combination. The proposed combination is compared with existing extreme event load combination and the changes in forces and displacements are noted. A parametric study is then conducted by varying a number of properties of the... 

In this paper, a passive microfluidic device for continuous real time blood plasma separation has been studied and optimized. A numerical model is used to solve both the fluid flow and the particles confined within it. Red blood cells are considered as particles with diameter of 7μm. A parametric study is performed in order to characterize the effect of different parameters on separation and purity efficiency. In this study, four different variables were introduced to design the microfluidic device for blood plasma separation including: the angle between the daughter channels and the main channel, the widths, the diffuse angle and the number of daughter channels. Results show that the... 

This paper presents an effective approach for the seismic design of off-center bracing systems (OBSs). The nonlinear behavior of an OBS can be specified by evaluation of two yielding stages representing tensile yielding of different bracings. This can be achieved when stiffness of the corner brace member is deliberately considered less enough to act as a fuse-like component. An accurate two-dimensional finite element modeling for the geometric and material nonlinearity of such systems considering buckling behavior of the brace members is developed. Through an extensive parametric study, the optimal ratios of the influential parameters of OBS are obtained, and their effects on the nonlinear... 

Braces are one of the retrofitting systems of structure under earthquake loading. Buckling restrained braces (BRBs) are one of the very efficient braces for lateral loads. One of the key needs for a desirable and acceptable behavior of buckling-restraining brace members under intensive loading is that it prevents total buckling until the bracing member tolerates enough plastic deformation and ductility. This paper presents the results of a set of analysis by finite element method on buckling restrained braces in which the filler materials within the restraining member have been removed. These braces contain core as the conventional BRBs, but they have a different buckling restrained system.... 

The application of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) as an alternative to conventional/normal concrete (NC) has grown rapidly in recent years. However, there is limited knowledge on its shear behavior, which is essential for developing design guidelines for structural applications. A detailed parametric study was conducted on 38 beam specimens, half of which were made of UHPC and the other half made of NC. To ensure applicability of findings, two types of UHPC mixes were used, a proprietary and a generic mix. Eighteen of the beams were prepared and tested in Tabriz, Iran, while the other 20 were made and tested in Miami, FL. Test parameters included type of concrete (UHPC and NC), shear... 

In this study, a cryogenic distillation column has been designed and simulated via a computer code based on the theta method of convergence. The required thermodynamic properties are determined from the enhanced predictive Peng-Robinson (E-PPR 78) equation of state which has a good accuracy in predicting the corresponding thermodynamic properties of natural gas components. The combined code of distillation column/equation of state has been verified with that of another study. In the present study, the results are achieved by the constant molar over-flow and inclusion of energy equations assumptions. In order to have more accuracy in the results, the energy equations were considered in the... 

Natural convection heat transfer in a concentric horizontal annulus with annular fins is numerically studied. Due to the low thermal conductivity of water, CuO-water and Al2O3-water nanofluids were used as heat transfer fluids. The effect of three different parameters, including fin spacing, fin eccentricity, and fin thickness at different fin diameters and Rayleigh number range of 104 to 9 (Formula presented.) 105, were studied. The obtained results revealed that Al2O3-water nanofluid has the highest heat transfer rate. The calculated heat transfer rates for Al2O3-water nanofluid for Rayleigh numbers of 9 (Formula presented.) 105, 105, and 104 were respectively up to 12.1%, 26.2%, and 31.6%... 

This paper is concerned with the development of buckling-restrained knee bracing frames for seismic design and retrofit of steel frame structures. Analytical models based on the new nonlinear finite element modeling of the system for the moment and shear yielding mode were developed in a structure with buckling-restrained knee-braces. Parametric study was performed with new and practical parameters of the system describing the specification of the system in elastic and inelastic behavior; and the results are shown in form of the appropriate graphs and charts. This study makes an offer to a simple design technique for this type of structure with a bilinear approach, using a nonlinear finite... 

Natural convection heat transfer in a concentric horizontal annulus with annular fins is numerically studied. Due to the low thermal conductivity of water, CuO-water and Al2O3-water nanofluids were used as heat transfer fluids. The effect of three different parameters, including fin spacing, fin eccentricity, and fin thickness at different fin diameters and Rayleigh number range of 104 to 9 (Formula presented.) 105, were studied. The obtained results revealed that Al2O3-water nanofluid has the highest heat transfer rate. The calculated heat transfer rates for Al2O3-water nanofluid for Rayleigh numbers of 9 (Formula presented.) 105, 105, and 104 were respectively up to 12.1%, 26.2%, and 31.6%... 

Saddle connections are semi-rigid connections that are widely used in Iran. Many existing buildings contain this type of connection. The present study conducted full-scale experiments and used extensive numerical modeling to study the mechanical characteristics of saddle connections. The mechanical characteristics examined were the moment-transfer mechanism, initial stiffness, yield moment, maximum moment, and fracture rotation. The configuration and dimensions of the experimental and numerical specimens were chosen to be similar to those of saddle connections in existing buildings. A parametric study was conducted to determine the factors affecting the mechanical characteristics of these... 

Radial forging is an open die forging process used for reducing the diameters of shafts, tubes, stepped shafts and axles, and for creating internal profiles in tubes. Due to very large forging loads, the tool should withstand high stress and wear. Therefore, the success of the forging process depends upon recognition of the die failure factors and optimization of the tool working conditions that enhance tool life. In this study, the effect of process parameters on tool life in the cold radial forging process is investigated using nonlinear three dimensional finite element modeling. Wear and mechanical fatigue are considered as the main modes of tool failure, and a parametric study on the... 

The potential application of SWCNTs as mass nanosensors is examined for a wide range of boundary conditions. The SWCNT is modeled via nonlocal Rayleigh, Timoshenko, and higher-order beam theories. The added nano-objects are considered as rigid solids, which are attached to the SWCNT. The mass weight and rotary inertial effects of such nanoparticles are appropriately incorporated into the nonlocal equations of motion of each model. The discrete governing equation pertinent to each model is obtained using an effective meshless technique. The key factor in design of a mass nanosensor is to determine the amount of frequency shift due to the added nanoparticles. Through an inclusive parametric... 

The concept of equivalent linearization, in which the actual nonlinear structure is replaced by an equivalent linear single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system, is extended for soil-structure systems in order to consider the simultaneous effects of soil-structure interaction (SSI) and inelastic behavior of the structure on equivalent linear parameters (ELP). This is carried out by searching over a two-dimensional equivalent period-equivalent damping space for the best pair, which can predict the earthquake response of the inelastic soil-structure system with sufficient accuracy. The super-structure is modeled as an elasto-plastic SDOF system whereas the soil beneath the structure is considered... 

In this analytical study, it has been desired to develop a practical and simple control mechanism to control, at a given point and its neighborhood, the sound arriving from a distant source, assuming that a primary pure-tone sound pressure is propagated from a relatively far distance. The control model consists of a microphone as a sensor for measuring the sound pressure and a loud speaker for applying the control force. Corresponding equations have been developed to determine an optimum control force, and afterwards a parametric study on the factors affecting the control results has been performed. The results show that the control system can significantly reduce low frequency sound... 

One of the most important subsystems in the air-breathing engines is the atomizers, which break the fuel into many droplets. It is well known that atomization quality has a significant influence on combustion characteristics such as stability limits, efficiency, and pollutant emission. Both jet and swirl injectors are applicable in gas turbine engines. The latter have been widely used for combustion chambers and the former are usually employed for fuel injection in the afterburner part. Since experimental and numerical study of atomizers could be complex and costly, a design methodology of atomizers based on empirical relations is still very advantageous and effective in reducing... 

In this article, mixed-convective heat transfer of nanofluids in a vertical channel partially filled with highly porous medium was studied. In the porous region, the Brinkman-Forchheimer extended Darcy model was used to describe the fluid flow pattern. Different viscous dissipation models were also applied to account for viscous heating. At the porous medium-fluid interface, interfacial coupling conditions for the fluid velocity and temperature were used to derive the analytical solution using a two-parameter perturbation method. The model used for the nanofluids incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. With constant wall temperature, velocity and temperature profiles...