Journal of Advanced Materials in Engineering (Esteghlal)

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This paper presents a method based on neural networks to detect broken rotor bars and end rings in squirrel cage induction motors. In the first part, detection methods are reviewed and traditional methods of fault detection as well as dynamic model of induction motors are introduced using the winding function method. In this method, all stator and rotor bars are considered independently in order to check the performance of the motor for any faults in the parts. Then the frequency spectrum of current signals is derived using the Fourier transform and analyzed under various conditions. In the second part of the paper, an analytical discussion of the theoretical principles is presented to arrive at a simple algorithm for fault detection based on neural networks. The neural network has been trained using the information from a 1.1 KW induction motor. Finally, the system is tested with different values of load torque and is found capable of working on-line to detect all normal and ill-performing conditions.

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To assess the performance criteria of the reinforced-concrete, five-storey residential buildings common in Iran, an experimental study in the structural laboratory of the University of Tehran has been conducted. The test program includes cyclic and monotonic load tests of six beams that represent three-to-five storey buildings with rigid frame structures. Using definitions given in FEMA-356 and ATC-40, stages of immediate occupancy, life safety, and collapse prevention have been identified on the drift- force curves of all specimens. Based on the test results, values of the plastic rotation, ductility, strain in concrete cover and in longitudinal bar, crack width, damage index, and length of plastic region at different levels have been determined. It was found that the recommended values of plastic rotation and ductility for reinforced concrete beams by FEMA-356 are conservative. The length of plastic hinge region in the stage of immediate occupancy is about half the plastic hinge length in the stage of life safety and it increases by 20% from life safety to collapse prevention

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There is a demand for reduced power consumption in the vapor compression refrigeration cycle. Coefficient of performance of window-air conditioners considerably decreases and power consumption increases under very hot conditions. These problems have encouragecl studies aimed at improving the performance of window-air-conditioners by enhancing the heat transfer rate in the condenser. In this article, a new design for application of evaporative cooling in the condenser of window-air conditioners is introduced and experimentally investigated. In this design, two pads equipped with a water injection system are located on both sides of the air-conditioner to cool down the air flow passing over the condenser. The experimental results showed that thermodynamic characteristics of the system considerably improved while power consumption decreased by about 15% and the coefficient of performance increased by about 55%.

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In recent years, destructive earthquakes have shown the deficiencies of the existing buildings. One of the most effective mechanisms for dissipating the earthquake energy is inelastic deformation of the steel components. The objective of this research is to study the application of metallic dampers for dissipation of the earthquake energy and to investigate the behavior of concrete structures incorporating these dampers. Therefore, the metallic dampers and the behavior of concrete structures having these dampers are studied first. Afterwards, a typical metallic damper is used in four different types of concrete structure. The required dampers are designed and nonlinear earthquake analysis is applied to investigate the behavior of the structures. Finally, the buildings are subjected to various earthquakes to generalize the results. The results show that the incorporation of the metallic dampers significantly decreases the relative and absolute drift, the structure and the stories damage indices and, finally, the number of plastic hinges. Furthermore, the hysteretic energy dissipation demand also decreases in structural components. Despite the reduction in the inner forces of structural components, story shear forces slightly increase due to increase of lateral stiffness, but much of these forces will concentrate in dampers. Moreover, the combination of moment resisting frame, shear wall, and metallic dampers are studied. The results show a similar trend in the stated parameters- especially the drift and the hysteresis energy dissipation demand.

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Jacketing of reinforced concrete columns is a common and useful strengthening method. This method substantially improves mechanical properties of the column, such as flexural strength as well as shear and ductility. In this paper, the behavior of confined reinforced concrete columns are investigated. The results indicate that the method is more effective for slender columns in the region of their failure zone.

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The continuum mechanic simulation of micro-structural damage process is important in the study of ductile fracture mechanics. In this paper, the continuum damage mechanics model formulation proposed by Lematire has been validated against ductile damage evolution experimentally measured in A533B-C1 steel under stress triaxiality conditions. First, a procedure to identify the model parameters from test was defined. Then, the finite element model was used to simulate the experiment carried out on a notched flat rectangular bar. Good agreement was observed between the experimental results and finite element predictions. Next, the identified parameters on A533B-C1 steel were used to simulate the results from a conventional tensile test by finite element method. The specimen was prepared according to ASTM E08 standard. The stresses at necking stage and ultimate load calculated by the damage based method were compared with those obtained from the test. The comparisons indicate a good agreement between the simulated and the experimental results.

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Carbothermic reduction of Molybdenite in the presence of Magnesium oxide was thermodynamically studied. The stability diagrams for MoS2-MgO and MoS2-MgO-C Systems was prepared. The reduction of MoS2 with Carbon in the presence of Magnesium oxide proceeded through the direct oxidation of MoS2 by MgO to form intermediate molybdenum oxidized Species, MoO2 and MgMoO4. The results showed that the gaseous phase is mainly composed of CO. Stability diagrams for Mo-O-C (Reduction of MoO2 with carbon) and Mo-Mg-C-S-O (Reduction of MgMoO4 with carbon) were also investigated. The results showed that the Reduction of oxidized species leads to the formation of Mo, Mo2C, MoC or MgO products.

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in this research, the kinetics of carbothermic reduction of molybdenite in the presence of sodium carbonate was studied. For this purpose, mixed powder of molybdenite, graphite, and sodium carbonate with 1:4:2 mole ratio was investigated using simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) at the heating rates of 10, 15 and 20 0C /min. The results of thermal analysis were evaluated through Friedman, Kissinger, Ozawa and Coats-Redfern methods. The activation energy of reduction reaction was determined 220 kj/mole, and it was found that the reaction was chemically controlled. To study the reaction mechanism, the mixed powder was heated to 400, 800 and 1100 0C in argon atmosphere at the heating rate of 10 0C/min. X- Ray diffraction of the reaction products and thermodynamic analysis at these temperatures indicated that carbothermic reduction of molybdenite in the presence of sodium carbonate would advance through the formation of intermediate phases, Na2MoO4 and MoO2

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Mullite and alumina are common in high-temperature applications because of their low thermal expansion coefficient and good thermal shock resistance. Evolution of SiC in the matrix and using it as reinforcing phase can improve thermo-mechanical properties of these materials. Also, in-situ formation of the reinforcing phases by using inorganic materials is an economical process. In this work, crystallization of SiC as reinforcing phase in the matrix of mullite-alumina by carbothermal reaction processes of inorganic materials (andalusite and kaolinite) was studied. According to the ratio of C/SiO₂ and process conditions, some properties of the composite such as phase transformation, microstructure and physical and mechanical properties were investigated. The results showed that optimal ratio of C/SiO₂ and firing temperature of densification to form SiC crystals were 3.5 and 1600^°C for andalusite and 5.5 and 1500^°C for kaolinite.

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Sodium molybdate (Na₂MoO₄) as a grain refiner was used to refine the microstructure of Al-0.7Fe alloy. Al-Fe samples with the addition of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 wt.% sodium molybdate were fabricated by casting in sand molds at 750 ͦC. The microstructures of the as-cast samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the present phases were revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The effect of sodium molybdate on the microstructure was examined by measuring the average grain sizes of the alloys, determining the widths of intermetallic compounds and carrying out hardness and tensile tests. The results showed that the addition of sodium molybdate modified the microstructure of Al-Fe alloy by reducing the average grain sizes. Also, it was found that the optimum amount of sodium molybdate to add to Al-0.7Fe alloy melt was 0.3 wt.% in this study.

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Bio-inspired silver nanoparticles were synthesized with the aid of a novel method, using leaves of the plant Nigella sativa. After drying the leaves in air, they were first sweltered in boiling distilled water and the liquid was filtered subsequently. The result was the brothused to reduce solutions including various concentrations of silver nitrate in a proper amount of pH. The displayed UV–visible spectra identified formation of silver nanoparticles whenever the colorless initial acclimated mixture turned brown. The centrifuged powder samples were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy dispersive X-ray diffraction analysis (EDX) methods. The results clearly revealed that the final particles of precipitated powder are high purity agglomerates of silver nanoparticles. Besides, the effects of various amounts of the silver salt on particle size of nano silver were studied, using a particle size analyzer. FTIR results also indicated the role of different functional groups in the synthetic process.

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Presence of nanoscale bainitic ferrites and high carbon retained austenites that are stable at ambient temperature within the microstructures of super strong bainitic steels makes it possible to achieve exceptional strengths and ductility properties in these groups of nanostructured steels. This article aims to study the effect of the dislocation density variations during tensile testing in ambient temperature on deformation behavior of nanostructured low temperature bainitic steels. Results indicate that dislocation absorption from bainitic ferrite subunits by surrounding retained austenite reduces the work hardening and therefore increases the formability of bainitic ferrite during deformation, which in turn results in a suitable combination of strength and ductility.

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The aim of this investigation is obtaining WC-Co composite powder from WO₃ and Co₃O₄ by in-situ and carbothermic reduction method using activated carbon as a reducing agent. In this study, cobalt and tungsten oxide powders with 17% carbon (30% more than stoichiometric value) were mixed by ball-milling under atmosphere of argon for 20 hours. Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) and Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) results on powder mixture show complete reducing of oxides at 1050°C and forming cobalt carbide and tungsten carbide. Compact samples underwent carbothermic reduction at 1050 °C for different times of 1, 2 and 4 hours with protective layer of alumina and carbon powder mixture with ratio of 1:1. Based on X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses, the best holding time in furnace is 4 hours, in which tungsten reduction and carbonization is completed. XRD evaluation of reduced compacted samples in three conditions of atmosphere protective layer of alumina and carbon powder mixture with ratio of 1:1, protective foil of refractory steel and argon, shows that unreduced oxides and extra phases are present in argon atmosphere and protective foil of steel but not in alumina and carbon mixture layer. The measurement results of physical and mechanical properties on the sintered composite sample in heating rate of 5 °C /min to temperature 1500 °C and the holding time of 2 hours under a shielding layer of alumina and carbon shows obtaining the optimal properties (P_r=80%, K_IC=8.1 MPa , MHV=15.67GPa) comparable to that of advanced and costly methods.
 

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In this research, new lithium ion conductor glass-ceramics with NASICON-type structure (Li_1+x+yAl_xCr_yGe_2-x-y (PO₄)₃, x+y=0.5) were synthesized using melt-quenching method and converted to glass-ceramics through heat treatment. Influence of addition of different concentrations of aluminum and chromium in LiGe₂(PO₄)₃ glass-ceramic was investigated for ionic conduction improvement. Substitution of Ge⁴⁺ ions in NASICON structure by Al³⁺ and Cr³⁺ ions induced more Li⁺ ions in A₂ vacant sites to obtain charge balance and also changed the unit cell parameters. These two factors led to ionic conductivity improvement of synthesized glass-ceramics. The glass-ceramics were characterized and the amorth structures were investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Complex Impedance Spectroscopy (CIS). The highest lithium ion conductivity of 8.82×10^-3 S/cm was obtained for x=0.4 and y=0.1 (Li_1.5Al_0.4Cr_0.1Ge_1.5(PO₄)₃) crystallized at 850 ^oC for 8 h with minimum activation energy of 0.267 eV.
 

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