A bolted–welded hybrid demountable shear connector for use in deconstructable steel–concrete composite buildings and bridges was proposed. The hybrid connector consisted of a partially threaded stud, which was welded on the flange of a steel section, and a machined steel tube with compatible geometry, which was bolted on the stud. Four standard pushout tests according to Eurocode 4 were carried out to assess the shear performance of the hybrid connector. The experimental results show that the initial stiffness, shear resistance, and slip capacity of the proposed connector were higher than those of traditional welded studs. The hybrid connector was a ductile connector, according to Eurocode 4, with slip capacity higher than 6 mm. A nonli

This study presents a practical method for solving fractional order delay variational problems. The fractional derivative is given in the Caputo sense. The suggested approach is based on the Laplace transform and the shifted Legendre polynomials by approximating the candidate function by the shifted Legendre series with unknown coefficients yet to be determined. The proposed method converts the fractional order delay variational problem into a set of (n ＋ 1) algebraic equations, where the solution to the resultant equation provides us the unknown coefficients of the terminated series that have been utilized to approximate the solution to the considered variational problem. Illustrative examples are given to show that the recommended appro

<p>In combinatorial testing development, the fabrication of covering arrays is the key challenge by the multiple aspects that influence it. A wide range of combinatorial problems can be solved using metaheuristic and greedy techniques. Combining the greedy technique utilizing a metaheuristic search technique like hill climbing (HC), can produce feasible results for combinatorial tests. Methods based on metaheuristics are used to deal with tuples that may be left after redundancy using greedy strategies; then the result utilization is assured to be near-optimal using a metaheuristic algorithm. As a result, the use of both greedy and HC algorithms in a single test generation system is a good candidate if constructed correctly. T

: The Aluminium (Al) material emerged as a plasmonic material in the wavelength ranges from the ultraviolet to the visible bands in different on-chip plasmonic applications. In this paper, we demonstrate the effect of using Al on the electromagnetic (EM) field distribution of a compact hybrid plasmonic waveguide (HPW) acting as a polarization rotator. We compare the performance of Al with other familiar metals that are widely used as plasmonic materials, which are Silver (Ag) and Gold (Au). Furthermore, we study the effect of reducing the geometrical dimensions of the used materials on the EM field distributions inside the HPW and, consequently, on the efficiency of the polarization rotation. We perform the study based o

         According to Chandra Survey Observatory Near-Asteroid Belt Comets, the solar wind's contact with the comet produces a variety of spectral characteristics. The study of X-ray spectra produced by charge exchange is presented here. The spectrum of a comet can reveal a lot about its composition. This study has concentrated on the elemental abundance in six different comets, including 17P/Holmes, C/1999T1, C/2013A1, 9p/Temple1, and 103p/Hartley2 (NEAT). Numerous aspects of the comet's dynamics allow it to behave in a unique manner as it gets closer to the Near-Asteroid Belt. These characteristics are being examined, and some studies are still ongoing. The computations allow us to observe, for instance, how the composition of

The present study focuses on the deformation of neutron-rich nuclei near the neutron drip line. The nuclei of interest include 28O, 42Si, 58Ca, 80Ni, 100Kr, 122Ru, 152Ba, 166Sm, and 176Er. The relativistic Hartree - Bogoliubov (RHB) approach with effective density-dependent point coupling is utilized to investigate the triaxial deformation, and Skyrme - Hartree - Fock + Bardeen - Cooper - Schrieffer is used to analyze the axial deformation. The study aimed to understand the interplay between nuclear forces, particle interactions, and shell structure to gain insights into the unique behavior of neutron-rich nuclei. Despite these nuclei containing magic numbers, their shapes are still affected by the nucleons' collective behavior and

Straight tendons in pretensioned members can cause high-tensile stresses in the concrete extreme fibers at end sections because of the absence of the bending stresses due to self-weight and superimposed loads and the dominance of the moment due to prestressing force alone. Accordingly, the concrete tensile stresses at the ends of a member prestressed with straight tendons may limit the service load capacity of the member. It is therefore important to establish limiting zone in the concrete section within which the prestressing force can be applied without causing tension in the extreme concrete fibers. Two practical methods are available to reduce the stresses at the end sections due to the prestressing force. The first method based

Cement-based adhesive (CBA) is used as a bonding agent in Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) applications as an alternative to epoxy-based adhesive due to the drawbacks of the epoxy system under severe service conditions which negatively affect the bond between the CFRP and strengthened elements. This paper reports the results of, an investigation carried out to develop two types of CBA using magnetized water (MW) for mixing and curing. Two magnetic devices (MD-I and MD-II), with different magnetic field strengths (9000 and 6000 Gauss) respectively, were employed for water magnetization. Different water flows with different water circulation times in the magnetizer were used for each device. Compressive and splitting tensile strength te