A novel demountable shear connector for precast steel‐concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high‐strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents slip of bolts within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes typical construction tolerances issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly, and therefore, can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow, i.e. (i) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (ii) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (iii) steel beams can b

Critical buckling temperature of laminated plate under thermal load varied linearly along the thickness, is developed using a higher-order shape function which depends on a parameter ‘‘m’’, which is improved to obtain results for thin and thick plates. Laminated plates’ equations of motion are obtained using virtual work principle and solved for simply supported boundary conditions. Angle and cross laminates thermal buckled mode shapes with different E1/E2 proportion, number of plies, (α2/α1) proportion, aspect ratios, are investigated. It is observed that this shape function gives thermal buckling for thin and thick plates but with m = 0.05 that agree well with other theories and linear distribution of temperature giv

The aerodynamic and elastic forces may cause an oscillation of the structure such as the high frequency of the airfoil surfaces and the dynamic instability occurring in an aircraft in flight and failure may occur at a speed called flutter speed. In this work, analytical and numerical investigations of flutter limits of thin plates have been carried out. The flutter speed of rectangular plates were obtained and compared with some published results. Different design parameters were investigated such as aspect ratio, thickness and their effects on flutter velocity. It was found that the structural mode shape plays an important role in the determination of the flutter speed and the coupling between the bending and torsional mode is the main

In this study, nanocomposites have been prepared by adding
multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with weight ratios (0, 2, 3,
4, 5) wt% to epoxy resin. The samples were prepared by hand lay-up
method. Influence of an applied load before and after immersion in
sodium hydroxide (NaOH) of normality (0.3N) for (15 days) at
laboratory temperature on wear rate of Ep/MWCNTs
nanocomposites was studied. The results showed that wear rate
increases with increasing the applied load for the as prepared and
immersed samples and after immersion. It was also found that epoxy
resin reinforced with MWCNTs has wear rate less than neat epoxy.
The sample (Ep + 5wt% of MWCNTs) has lower wear rate. The
immersion effect in base so

Background. Material tribology has widely expanded in scope and depth and is extended from the mechanical field to the biomedical field. The present study aimed to characterize the nanocoating of highly pure (99.9%) niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), and vanadium (V) deposited on 316L stainless steel (SS) substrates which considered the most widely used alloys in the manufacturing of SS orthodontic components. To date, the coating of SS orthodontic archwires with Nb, Ta, and V using a plasma sputtering method has never been reported. Nanodeposition was performed using a DC plasma sputtering system with three different sputtering times (1, 2, and 3 hours). Results. Structural and elemental analyses were conducted on the deposited coating

In this research study Hardness (shore D), Water absorption,
Flexural, Impact Test, and Fracture Toughness of polymer nano
composites. The polymer nano composites based on unsaturated
polyester resin reinforced with Kevlar fibers (K.F). The samples are
attended by hand lay – up method according to (Rule mixture) for
various volume fractions of unsaturated polyester resin, fiber and
carbon nanotube. The polyester resin was matrix strengthened with
3% volume fraction from Kevlar fiber and (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%)
volume fractions of carbon nanotube. The water absorption, hardness
(shore D), flexural test, impact test and toughness fracture properties
were studied. Results showed that the water absorption increas

One of the most important parameters determining structural members' durability and strength is the fire flame's influence and hazard. Some engineers have advocated using advanced analytical models to predict fire spread impact within a compartment and considering finite element models of structural components to estimate the temperatures within a component using heat transfer analysis. This paper presented a numerical simulation for a reinforced concrete beam’s structural response in a case containing Water Absorbing Polymer Spheres (WAPS) subjected to fire flame effect. The commercial finite element package ABAQUS was considered. The relevant geometrical and material parameters of the reinforced concrete beam model a

One of the most important parameters determining structural members' durability and strength is the fire flame's influence and hazard. Some engineers have advocated using advanced analytical models to predict fire spread impact within a compartment and considering finite element models of structural components to estimate the temperatures within a component using heat transfer analysis. This paper presented a numerical simulation for a reinforced concrete beam’s structural response in a case containing Water Absorbing Polymer Spheres (WAPS) subjected to fire flame effect. The commercial finite element package ABAQUS was considered. The relevant geometrical and material parameters of the reinforced concrete beam model at elevated t