This study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From experimental observations, when the girder specimen was cracked and the transverse steel reinforcement bars started straining, the CFRP strips started to work more effectively and contributed together with the transverse steel reinforcement to resist torsion load. Additionally, Finite Element (FE) simulations were developed using Abaqus to model the torsional behavior of the retrofitted girders, the results of which were validated with the experimental data. With the numerical model, the effect of concrete compressive strength, transverse reinforcement spacing, and CFRP strip spacing were examined. The effectiveness of the CFRP strips in enhancing the torsional strength of the girder was found to increase with increasing the spacing between the transverse reinforcement.
novel spectrofluorimetric flow injection analysis (FIA) method was developed for the selective quantification of ascorbic acid via fluorescence quenching of serotonin hydrochloride. The system employs a custom-designed photometric array comprising 16 irradiation sources arranged in a dual-axis matrix—eight aligned horizontally and eight orthogonally, enabling multi-angle excitation and enhanced spectral resolution. Fluorescence signals were captured using a twin-pair solar cell detector, offering high sensitivity and minimal optical interference. The method exhibited a linear calibration range of 0.1–30 limit of detection (LOD) of 0.025 μ μ g/mL with a correlation coefficient (r mol /L, equivalent to 4.403 * 10 4 μ 2 ) of 0.9966, a g
... Show MoreThis review highlights recent advances in the development and use of eco-friendly polymeric membranes made from polymer blends for treating oily wastewater, a major source of environmental pollution. Among treatment options, membrane separation stands out because of its high efficiency and ability to selectively remove oil from water using semi-permeable barriers. The focus of this review is on polymeric membranes derived from polymer blends, which show improved mechanical strength, thermal stability, and resistance to fouling. Additionally, the role of nanomaterials such as titanium dioxide, graphene oxide, and iron nanoparticles is discussed for their ability to boost membrane porosity, permeability, and oil separation efficiency.
... Show MoreBlend solid polymer electrolytes (BSPEs) comprising PVA/HPMC/CuSO4 were prepared using a solution casting approach. BSPEs were synthesized with varying weight percentages of CuSO4 (0, 10, 20, and 30 wt.%). A variety of experimental methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), were used to characterize these BSPE systems. The polymer blend matrix underwent structural alterations, according to the XRD data. The standard data from JCPDS card numbers for copper sulfate matches well with the observed strong peaks of PVA/HPMC+20 wt.% of CuSO4 BSPE. The complex
... Show MoreIn this study, a novel application of lab-scale dual chambered air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been developed for simultaneous bio-treatment of real pharmaceutical wastewater and renewable electricity generation. The microbial fuel cell (MFC) was provided with zeolite-packed anodic compartment and a cation exchange membrane (CEM) to separate the anode and cathode. The performance of the proposed MFC was evaluated in terms of COD removal and power generation based on the activity of the bacterial consortium in the biofilm mobilized on zeolite bearer. The MFC was fueled with real pharmaceutical wastewater having an initial COD concentration equal to 800 mg/L and inoculated with anaerobic aged sludge. Results demo
... Show MoreIn recent years, various methods have been developed to enhance the characteristics of asphalt pavement in order to face the continuous challenges of increasing traffic loads and changing climate conditions. One of the most popular and successful methods is modifying the asphalt mixtures or asphalt binder with the addition of polymers. Therefore, two types of Polyethylene (PE) polymer, High-Density PE (HDPE) and Low-Density PE (LDPE), are used in this research. Two methods were applied to prepare PE-modified asphalt mixtures: Semi-Wet Method (S-WM) and Dry Method (DM). The findings of the investigation indicated that the addition of PE polymer can reduce the wear loss of aggregate. In general, the experimental results revealed that asphalt
... Show MoreOptoelectronic devices, widely used in high energy and nuclear physics applications, suffer severe radiation damage that leads to degradations in its efficiency. In this paper, the influence of gamma radiation (137Ce source) and beta radiation (90Sr source) on the photoelectric parameters of the Si solar cell, based on the I–V characterization at different irradiation exposer, has been studied. The penetrating radiation produces defects in the base material, may be activated during its lifetime, becoming traps for electron–hole pairs produced optically and, this will, decrease the efficiency of the solar cell. The main objective of the paper is to study and measure changes in the I–V characteristics of solar cells, such as efficienc
... Show MoreAb – initio restricted Hartree - Fock method within the framework of large unit cell (LUC) formalism is used to investigate the electronic structure of Si and Ge nanocrystals. The surface and core properties are investigated. A large unit cell of 8 atoms is used in the present analysis. Cohesive energy, energy gap, conduction and valence band widths are obtained from the electronic structure calculations. The results are compared with available experimental data and theoretical results of other investigators. The calculated lattice constant is found to be slightly larger than the corresponding experimental value because we use only 8 atoms and we compared the results with that of the bulk crystals, nanoclusters are expected to have str
... Show MoreThis study aimed to identify the changes in total protein in saliva and sera samples of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma in comparison to those of healthy controls. These changes were followed using electrophoresis (PAGE). Meanwhile, determinations of albumin, globulin and albumin to globulin ratio were carried out on sera samples only.Two groups were the participants in the present study, 18 patients with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC), and 20 ages and gender matched healthy controls.
In this work, thermodynamic efficiency of individual cell and stack of cells (two cells) has been computed by studying the variation of voltage produced during an operation time of 30 min as a result of the affected parameters:- stoichiometric feed ratio, flow field design on single cell and feed distribution on stack of cells. The experiments were carried out by using two cells, one with serpentine flow field and the other with spiral flow field. These cells were fed with hydrogen and oxygen at low volumetric flow rates from 1 to 2 ml/sec and stoichiometric ratios of fuel (H2) to oxidant (O2) as 1:2, 1:1 and 2:1 respectively. The results showed that
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