This research is devoted to study the strengthening technique for the existing reinforced concrete beams using external post-tensioning. An analytical methodology is proposed to predict the value of the effective prestress force for the external tendons required to close cracks in existing beams. The external prestressing force required to close cracks in existing members is only a part from the total strengthening force.
A computer program created by Oukaili (1997) and developed by Alhawwassi (2008) to evaluate curvature and deflection for reinforced concrete beams or internally prestressed concrete beams is modified to evaluate the deflection and the stress of the external tendons for the externally strengthened beams using Matlab

Fatigue cracking is the most common distress in road pavement. It is mainly due to the increase in the number of load repetition of vehicles, particularly those with high axle loads, and to the environmental conditions. In this study, four-point bending beam fatigue testing has been used for control and modified mixture under various micro strain levels of (250 μƐ, 400 μƐ, and 750 μƐ) and 5HZ. The main objective of the study is to provide a comparative evaluation of pavement resistance to the phenomenon of fatigue cracking between modified asphalt concrete and conventional asphalt concrete mixes (under the influence of three percentage of Silica fumes 1%, 2%, 3% by the weight of asphalt content), and (chan

The structural behavior of Segmental Precast Post-tensioned Reinforced Concrete (SPPRC) beams largely depends on the behavior of the joints that connect between the segments. In this research, series of static tests were carried out to investigate the behavior of full-scale SPPRC beams with different types of epoxy-glued joint configurations; multi-key joint, single key, and plain key joint. The reference specimen was monolithically casted beam and the other specimens were segmental beams with five segments for each one. The general theme from the experimental results reflects an approximate similarity in the behavior of the four beams with slight differences. Due to the high tensile strength of the used epoxy in comparison to concr

The topic of urban transformations has attracted the attention of researchers as it is one of the basic issues through which cities can be transformed towards sustainability. A specific level of transformation levels according to a philosophical concept known as a crossing. This article has relied on a specific methodology that aims to find a new approach for urban transformation based on the crossing concept. This concept derives from philosophical entrances based on the concepts of (being, process, becoming, and integration). Four levels have been for the crossing are (normal, ascending, leap, and descending). Each of these levels includes specific characteristics that distinguish it. The results showed that there is no descending

Medium Access Control (MAC) spoofing attacks relate to an attacker altering the manufacturer assigned MAC address to any other value. MAC spoofing attacks in Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) network are simple because of the ease of access to the tools of the MAC fraud on the Internet like MAC Makeup, and in addition to that the MAC address can be changed manually without software. MAC spoofing attacks are considered one of the most intensive attacks in the WiFi network; as result for that, many MAC spoofing detection systems were built, each of which comes with its strength and weak points. This paper logically identifies and recognizes the weak points
and masquerading paths that penetrate the up-to-date existing detection systems. Then the

Today, data security is a major problem concerning organizations and indi- viduals. The confidentiality of information is associated with using reliable and robust encryption algorithms in systems. Cyber-attacks on data and systems have become prevalent and sophisticated, and are increasing rapidly; hence, the need for developing robust encryption algorithms is crucial nowadays. This paper proposes a new encryption algorithm using dynamic symmetric key cryptography to encrypt text files. It utilizes a secret key for encryption and decryption processes, where the key’s length is varied depending on the text size. This presented approach gives a trade-off between speed and security, making it suitable for various applications, such as secur

To obtain the approximate solution to Riccati matrix differential equations, a new variational iteration approach was ‎proposed, which is suggested to improve the accuracy and increase the convergence rate of the approximate solutons to the ‎exact solution. This technique was found to give very accurate results in a few number of iterations. In this paper, the ‎modified approaches were derived to give modified solutions of proposed and used and the convergence analysis to the exact ‎solution of the derived sequence of approximate solutions is also stated and proved. Two examples were also solved, which ‎shows the reliability and applicability of the proposed approach. ‎

Eco-friendly materials are increasingly used in civil engineering to support sustainable development. Conventional concrete relies heavily on Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), the production of which contributes significantly to the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) and fly ash can partially replace OPC, thereby reducing the environmental impact. This study investigates the effect of basalt fiber incorporation on the mechanical properties of geopolymer lightweight concrete. The concrete mixtures consisted of fly ash, slag, pumice aggregate, sand, and an alkaline activator prepared by combining sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate. The mix design included an activator-to-binder ratio of 0.45

Scheduling Timetables for courses in the big departments in the universities is a very hard problem and is often be solved by many previous works although results are partially optimal. This work implements the principle of an evolutionary algorithm by using genetic theories to solve the timetabling problem to get a random and full optimal timetable with the ability to generate a multi-solution timetable for each stage in the collage. The major idea is to generate course timetables automatically while discovering the area of constraints to get an optimal and flexible schedule with no redundancy through the change of a viable course timetable. The main contribution in this work is indicated by increasing the flexibility of generating opti

The performance of composite prestressed concrete beam topped with reinforced concrete flange structures in fire depends upon several factors, including the change in properties of the two different materials due to fire exposure and temperature distribution within the composition of the composite members of the structure. The present experimental work included casting of 12 identical simply supported prestressed concrete beams grouped into 3 categories, depending on the strength of the top reinforced concrete deck slab (20, 30, and 40 MPa). They were connected together by using shear connector reinforcements. To simulate the real practical fire disasters, 3 composite prestressed concrete beams from each group were exposed to high t