Experimental study of heat transfer enhancement using water/ethylene glycol based nanofluids as a new coolant for car radiators

Traditionally forced convection heat transfer in a car radiator is performed to cool circulating fluid which consisted of water or a mixture of water and anti-freezing materials like ethylene glycol (EG). In this paper, the heat transfer performance of pure water and pure EG has been compared with their binary mixtures. Furthermore, different amounts of Al₂O₃ nanoparticle have been added into these base fluids and its effects on the heat transfer performance of the car radiator have been determined experimentally. Liquid flow rate has been changed in the range of 2–6 l per minute and the fluid inlet temperature has been changed for all the experiments. The results demonstrate that nanofluids clearly enhance heat transfer compared to their own base fluid. In the best conditions, the heat transfer enhancement of about 40% compared to the base fluids has been recorded.     

Dy2BaCuO5/Ba4DyCu3O9.09 S-scheme heterojunction nanocomposite with enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial activities

Semiconductor heterogeneous photocatalysis has been received much attention from the scientific and researchers in the last decade. The combination of two semiconductors with various energy diagram can dramatically enhance the lifetime and separation of the charge carriers, restrain photogenerated electron-hole recombination, and considerably enhance photocatalytic performance as compared with other single or binary components. In this regard, we introduced the Dy₂BaCuO₅/Ba₄DyCu₃O_9.09 nanocomposites as active photocatalysts below UV radiation. Dy₂BaCuO₅/Ba₄DyCu₃O_9.09 nanocomposites were prepared by a simple hydrothermal method and applied as a catalyst to treat water containing organic pollutions and microorganisms. Dy₂BaCuO₅/Ba₄DyCu₃O_9.09 nanocomposites degraded Methyl Orange (MO) about 87.0% after 120 min. In addition, these nanocomposites show antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive species, including a pathogenic strain of Enterococcus faecalis, and Staphylococcus aureus, and a Gram-negative species, including Klebsiella pneumonia and Escherichia coli.     

Neuro-Adaptive Output Feedback Control for a Class of Nonlinear Non-Minimum Phase Systems

This paper presents an adaptive output-feedback control method for non-affine nonlinear non-minimum phase systems that have partially known Lipschitz continuous functions in their arguments. The proposed controller is comprised of a linear, a neuro-adaptive and an adaptive robustifying control term. The adaptation law for the neural network weights is obtained using the Lyapunov’s direct method. One of the main advantageous of the proposed method is that the control law does not depend on the state estimation. This task is accomplished by introducing a strictly positive-real augmented error dynamic and using the Leftshetz–Kalman–Yakobuvich lemma. The ultimate boundedness of the error signals will be shown analytically using the extension of Lyapunov theory. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme will be shown in simulations for the benchmark problem Translational Oscillator/Rotational Actuator (TORA) system.     

Rheology and morphology study of immiscible linear low‐density polyethylene/poly(lactic acid) blends filled with nanosilica particles

The objectives of this study are to investigate the effect of silica nanoparticles on the morphology and rheological behavior of immiscible linear low‐density polyethylene/poly(lactic acid) (LLDPE/PLA) blends. Melt blending method is applied to prepare the blends and their nanocomposites. Scanning electron microscope and parallel plate rheometer were used to investigate morphology and rheological behavior of the blend nanocomposites. Scanning electron microscope results demonstrated a significant change in morphology behavior by incorporation of silica nanoparticles. A significant reduction in the PLA droplet for LLDPE/PLA (75/25) with 8 wt % silica was observed. The rheological studies illustrated that for all samples storage modulus and complex viscosity of blend nanocomposites are higher than neat blends. Finally, melt rigidity of blend nanocomposites was estimated by measurement of rheological properties using a rotational rheometer through small amplitude oscillatory shear experiments. As a result, through the shear data, a high value quantity as a criteria for melt rigidity is obtained for the LLDPE/PLA (75/25) with 8 wt % silica in comparing to the other samples. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45526.     

Robust adaptive control of nonlinear non-minimum phase systems with uncertainties

This paper, presents a robust adaptive control method for a class of nonlinear non-minimum phase systems with uncertainties. The development of the control method comprises two steps. First, stabilization of the system is considered based on the availability of the output and internal dynamics of the system. The reference signal is designed to stabilize the internal dynamics with respect to the output tracking error. Moreover, a combined neuro-adaptive controller is proposed to guarantee asymptotic stability of the tracking error. Then, the overall stability is achieved using the small gain theorem. Next, the availability of internal dynamics is relaxed by using a linear error observer. The unmatched uncertainty is compensated using a suitable reference signal. The ultimate boundedness of the reconstruction error signals is analytically shown using an extension of the Lyapunov theory. The theoretical results are applied to a translational oscillator/rotational actuator model to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.     

The effect of mechanical stress on permeability of concrete: A review

The presence of aggressive fluids and their transport is by far the most important factor controlling the durability of cement based composites. In structural concrete, the application of mechanical stress leads to cracking, which in turn affects the transport properties adversely, but very little is known of this influence. The paper highlights the vast discrepancy between experimentally determined permeability data, which appear to be largely artifacts of disparate test procedures. In particular, it is not clear if an equilibrium was attained in the fluid flow and further, whether the flow measurements were made in the presence of the applied stress, which together make it very difficult to compare experimental data. Nevertheless it is clear that stress induced cracking leads to a surge in fluid flow and there exists a threshold value for both the applied stress and the resultant crack width associated with fluid permeability in concrete.     

Soliton perturbation theory for a higher order Hirota equation

Solitary wave evolution for a higher order Hirota equation is examined. For the higher order Hirota equation resonance between the solitary waves and linear radiation causes radiation loss. Soliton perturbation theory is used to determine the details of the evolving wave and its tail. An analytical expression for the solitary wave tail is derived and compared to numerical solutions. An excellent comparison between numerical and theoretical solutions is obtained for both right- and left-moving waves. Also, a two-parameter family of higher order asymptotic embedded solitons is identified.     

Studying the magnetic,antibacterial, and catalytic activity properties of DBD/iron oxide nanoparticle-treated cotton fabric

In this study, the cotton fabrics were modified with dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). Untreated and DBD-treated cotton fabrics were printed with magnetic nanoparticles (γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles). Argon was used as the working gas. The crystal structure, morphology, and magnetic nature of printed fabrics were investigated by X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM). The catalytic activity of the treated samples for wastewater treatment was studied. The effect of γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles on the antibacterial activity of DBD-treated cotton fabric was also investigated. The results showed that DBD-treated samples can absorb more nanoparticles than untreated samples. The antibacterial activity of the DBD/γ-Fe₂O_3-treated samples, which was analyzed by the bacteria counting test, was increased considerably.     

Sloshing effects on supersonic flutter characteristics of a circular cylindrical shell partially filled with liquid

This paper aims to revisit the effect of sloshing on the flutter characteristics of a partially liquid-filled cylinder. A computational fluid-structure interaction model within the framework of the finite element method is developed to capture fluid-structure interactions arising from the sloshing of the internal fluid and the flexibility of its containing structure exposed to an external supersonic airflow. The internal liquid sloshing is represented by a more sophisticated model, referred to as the liquid sloshing model, and the shell structure is modeled by Sanders' shell theory. The aerodynamic pressure loading is approximated by the first-order piston theory. The initial geometric stiffness due to prestresses in the initial configuration stemming from the fluid hydrostatic pressure, internal pressure, and axial compression load is also considered. The obtained results reveal that the sloshing of the internal fluid has little influence on the supersonic flutter boundary of a cylinder partially filled with liquid, at least for the case considered here. It is also shown that the critical freestream static pressure predicted by the sloshing model is negligibly larger than that calculated by the hydroelastic model of the internal fluid, which means that the sloshing of the internal fluid slightly overestimates the flutter boundary.     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel thermally stable water dispersible polyurethane and its magnetic nanocomposites

In this work, a novel water dispersible polyurethane (WDPU) was synthesized from the reaction of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB), 2,2 bis(hydroxymethyl) propionic acid (DMPA), and 1,5-naphthalene diisocyanate (NDI) and its magnetic nanocomposites were prepared by incorporation of modified Fe₃O₄ by 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (Fe₃O₄@APTS) nanoparticles (0.5, 1.5, and 3 wt%) via in situ polymerization method. Use of NDI as a high melting point diisocyanate by having the rigid naphthalene structure imparts physical strength as well as thermal stability to the resulted polyurethane. The synthesized WDPU based on NDI was characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) technique. In addition, the morphology, mechanical, and magnetic features of the prepared polyurethane nanocomposites were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), magnetic force microscopy (MFM), thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) methods, respectively. Data from DLS experiment showed that the average particles size of the WDPU nanocomposites increased by increasing the nanoparticle contents in comparison with bare WDPU. AFM and MFM analyses indicated that the magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were well dispersed in the polyurethane matrices via the formation of covalent bonding between the functionalized magnetic nanoparticles and polymer chains. TGA results demonstrated that adding MNPs increased the temperature of the thermal degradation of the polyurethane nanocomposite. VSM analysis showed that the super paramagnetic behavior of the prepared nanocomposites depended on the Fe₃O₄@APTS nanoparticle content, as well.