Solidification crack initiation and propagation in pulsed laser welding of wrought heat treatable aluminium alloy

The effect of preheating on strain rate and liquid flowrate is analysed to develop a model for solidification cracking in successive laser weld spots in 2024 aluminium alloy. It is shown that the lower tendency for solidification cracking with preheating can be attributed to the lower strain rate but not the feeding rate. It is also shown there is a strong tendency for solidification crack propagation through the fusion lines between the consecutive weld spots where there is already a crack present at the fusion line. This observation can be attributed to the higher local strain rate and lower feeding rate.     

Bending analysis of functionally graded annular sector plates by extended Kantorovich method

The small deflection equation for isotropic and non-homogenous thin annular sector subject to transverse loading is derived in polar coordinate. The Poisson’s ratio of the plate is assumed to be constant, but the Young’s modulus varies continuously through the radial direction according to the power-law function. A closed-form solution with fast convergence rate is obtained using the extended Kantorovich method and the classical theory of thin plates (Kirchhoff theory). The validity and accuracy of results are examined by resolving the problem using commercial finite element code ABAQUS and a good agreement between them is obtained for either deflection or stress resultants.     

Multicarrier constant envelope OFDM signal design for radar applications

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) radar signals have been introduced for high range resolution radars. These signals have prominent properties such as favorable ambiguity function, high bandwidth efficiency, and possibility of use in dual mode radar/communication systems. But the large amplitude fluctuations of the OFDM signal make it susceptible to system nonlinearities. To alleviate this problem, constant envelope OFDM (CE-OFDM) signal has been introduced which combines orthogonal frequency division multiplexing and phase modulation or frequency modulation. Although several works have been reported on OFDM radar signal design, there is no a systematic approach for designing CE-OFDM signals for radar applications. In this paper we will focus on CE-OFDM signal design for radar applications. Two different methods for designing a CE-OFDM signal with favorable ambiguity functions are introduced. The first one is based on modulating a complementary set of sequences on different sub-carriers while the second is based on using a proper single carrier coded signal and then extracting its most similar multicarrier OFDM or CE-OFDM coded signal.     

The Role of Oil Phase in the Stability and Physicochemical Properties of Oil-in-Water Emulsions in the Presence of Gum Tragacanth

Different emulsions based on six types of vegetable oils (sunflower, canola, sesame, olive, coconut, and palm olein) were studied to investigate the role of the oil phase in the stability and physicochemical characteristics of oil-in-water emulsions prepared with gum tragacanth. The results indicated that the stability, rheological parameters, and size distribution of emulsions were dependent on the oil type. Based on the interfacial tension value, the type of oil did not have a significant effect on the gum tragacanth-emulsifying properties. The formulation based on sunflower and coconut oil led to producing more stable emulsion and a sample containing palm olein resulted in an unstable emulsion. Rheological analysis revealed that the sample based on palm olein showed the lowest consistency coefficient (2.10 ± 0.05 Pas ⁿ), elastic modulus (3.90 ± 0.21 Pa), and energy of cohesion (80.87 ± 1.1 J m⁻³). This study revealed that using oils with lower viscosity and higher density led to the higher stability of the emulsion samples.     

Lateral‐Polarity Structure of AlGaN Quantum Wells: A Promising Approach to Enhancing the Ultraviolet Luminescence

Aluminum‐gallium‐nitride alloys (Al _x Ga_{1– x} N, 0 ≤ x ≤ 1) can emit light covering the ultraviolet spectrum from 210 to 360 nm. However, these emitters have not fulfilled their full promise to replace the toxic and fragile mercury UV lamps due to their low efficiencies. This study demonstrates a promising approach to enhancing the luminescence efficiency of AlGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) via the introduction of a lateral‐polarity structure (LPS) comprising both III and N‐polar domains. The enhanced luminescence in LPS is attributed to the surface roughening, and compositional inhomogeneities in the N‐polar domain. The space‐resolved internal quantum efficiency (IQE) mapping shows a higher relative IQE in N‐polar domains and near inversion domain boundaries, providing strong evidence of enhanced radiative recombination efficiency in the LPS. These experimental observations are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations, where both lateral and vertical band diagrams are investigated. This work suggests that the introduction of the LPS in AlGaN‐based MQWs can provide unprecedented tunability in achieving higher luminescence performance in the development of solid state light sources.     

Forecasting the differences between various commercial oil prices in the Persian Gulf region by neural network

In this paper we have investigated the differences between the prices of different commercial oils of the Persian Gulf region. The prices of 7 different crude oils from Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Abu Dhabi and Dubai were compared with the benchmark light oil of Saudi Arabia over the period January 2000-April 2010. A neural network is introduced to forecast the price of any commercial oil in these crude oils, provided that the price of the benchmark light oil of Saudi Arabia is already known or is predicted by another forecasting method. The designed neural network is able to predict the differences in the oil prices with an average error of 8.82% for testing and 7.24% for training data. It is claimed that the present method can promote the forecasting power of existing models to predict the price of any commercial oil instead of an average or benchmark value.     

First-principles study of H2 adsorption on the pristine and oxidized (8,0) carbon nanotube

The effect of oxygen, hydrogen, and (oxygen + hydrogen) molecules adsorption on the structural and electrical properties of (8,0) carbon nanotube (CNT) are investigated through density functional theory. The obtained results indicate endothermical chemisorption of O₂ on the nanotube surface with a large binding energy of about 598 meV and a significant charge transfer of about 0.43 e per molecule. It is discussed that the O₂ chemisorption creates hole carries in the (8,0) carbon nanotube and thus increases the work function of the system. In the case of hydrogen molecule, a weak physisorption on the surface of CNT (∼−5 meV) is identified. The adsorption of H₂ on CNT is also accompanied by hole doping and increment of the work function of the CNT, while the charge transfer between CNT and H₂ is negligible. The band offsets in the H₂-CNT junction are calculated to examine and describe the observed hole doping in this system. The effect of oxygenation of CNT on hydrogen adsorption is also investigated and the most favorable adsorption configuration is found and the related adsorption energy is calculated. It is argued that the oxygenation of CNT enhances the physisorption of hydrogen molecules. It is shown that hydrogen molecule adsorption on the oxidized CNT cancels hole doping and hence decreases the work function of the system.     

Natural Rubber Bearing Incorporated with Steel Ring Damper (NRB-SRD)

The present paper is aimed to investigate the behavior of Natural Rubber Bearing incorporated with steel ring damper (NRB-SRD). These types of dampers are integrated of several steel rings which are considered with two configurations namely, continual steel ring damper and separate steel ring damper and are inserted between top and bottom plates. The performance characteristics of the system such as effective horizontal stiffness, energy dissipation, equivalent viscous damping and residual deformation are calculated and then compared with the results of high damping rubber bearings and also shape memory alloy (SMA)-lead core rubber bearing (SMA-LRB). The results show that the energy dissipation in steel rings are mainly based on plastic deformation due to flexural behavior of the rings. NRB-SRD shows better performance in energy dissipation comparing to SMA-LRB and HDRB. These additional dampers show higher stability and energy dissipation in low shear strains due to developing of link between structure and substructure having desirable initial stiffness under weak earthquakes and wind loads and also in higher shear strains due to creation of higher energy dissipation, stability and secondary stiffening.

     

The Effect of Water Vaporization on the Well Productivity of Gas Condensate Reservoirs

Well productivity is a crucial concern in predicting the performance of many gas condensate reservoirs. Accurate forecasting of gas-condensate well productivity usually requires fine-grid simulation to model the formation of the liquid bank and to account for high-velocity phenomena and changes in relative permeability at high capillary numbers. At early stages of production, the pressure drop in the near-wellbore region builds up the molar content of water in gas. This, in turn, results in water vaporization, and hence a drop in the connate water saturation. When water vaporization occurs, pores that were formerly filled by connate water now becomes occupied by gas and condensate only. This causes a change in gas and condensate saturations near the wellbore that can affect the well productivity. No lucid numerical simulation approach considering this effect is suggested in the literature. The authors investigated the effects of water vaporization on the near-wellbore region by compositional simulator of GEM. Enhancement of gas well productivity is observed.     

Energy provisioning in wireless rechargeable sensor networks with limited knowledge

Internet of Things in many applications depends on Wireless Sensor Networks where the sensors are battery powered. Recent advances in wireless energy transfer and rechargeable batteries provide a new chance for Wireless Rechargeable Sensor Networks when the mobile chargers (MCs) patrol the network field and replenish the power of sensors. We consider multiple MCs and a few charging stations (CSs) in the network. The MCs lose their power too, so they move toward CSs to replenish the energy of themselves. We propose an approach named Limited Knowledge Charging (LKC) where each CS makes a virtual area by using grid cells. Based on the cell’s information, CSs coordinate among themselves to direct MCs in the network. The main design goal of LKC is to prolong the network lifetime, by using many techniques such as balancing the energy of network areas. LKC reduces movements of MCs too as a second goal. LKC is an online approach that adapts itself with situation changes of the network. Many related studies use global knowledge, which is not always satisfied in practice. Instead, LKC is a local knowledge approach. Using exhaustive simulation, the satisfaction of the design goals of LKC is demonstrated.