A recently reported Nile red (NR) dye conjugated with benzothiadiazole species paves the way for the development of novel organic-based sensitizers used in solar cells whose structures are susceptible to modifications. Thus, six novel NR structures were derived from two previously developed structures in laboratories. In this study, density functional theory (DFT) calculations and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) were used to determine the optoelectronic properties of the NR-derived moieties such as absorption spectra. Various linkers were investigated in an attempt to understand the impact of π-linkers on the optoelectronic properties. According to the findings, the presence of furan species led to the planarity of the molecule and a reduction

Resilient polymeric materials such as silicone elastomers are currently used for maxillofacial prostheses construction but the strength of these materials and their clinical performance need to be optimized with the addition of reinforcing fillers. This study investigates the effect of zirconia nanopowder addition on tear strength, tensile strength, elongation at break, Shore A hardness, surface roughness and cytotoxicity of VST-50 maxillofacial silicone. Silicone base was mixed with different amounts (1%, 2% and 3%) of zirconia nanopowder using a vacuum mixer. Silicone without filler was used as control for comparison. Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy were utilized to assess the efficiency of high-shear vacuum mixin

This paper presents theoretical parametric study of the curvature ductility capacity for reinforced concrete column sections. The study considers the behavior of concrete and reinforcing steel under different strain rates. A computer program has been written to compute the curvature ductility taking into account the spalling in concrete cover. Strain rate sensitive constitutive models of steel and concrete were used for predicting the moment-curvature relationship of reinforced concrete columns at different rate of straining. The study parameters are the yield strength of main reinforcement, yield strength of transverse reinforcement, compressive strength of concrete, spacing of ties and the axial load. The results indicated that hi

This research studies the influence of water source on the compressive strength of high strength concrete. Four types of water source were adopted in both mixing and curing process these are river, tap, well and drainage water (all from Iraq-Diyala governorate). Chemical analysis was carried out for all types of the used water including (pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), Turbidity, chloride, total suspended solid (TSS), and sulfates). Depending on the chemical analysis results, it was found that for all adopted sources the chemical compositions was within the ASTM C 1602/C 1602M-04 limits and can be satisfactorily used in concrete mixtures. Mixture of high strength concrete for compressive strength of (60 MPa) was designed and checked using

        The performance of asphalt concrete pavement has affected by many factors, the temperature is the most important environmental one which has a large effect on the structural behavior of flexible pavement materials. The main cause of premature failure of pavement is the rutting, Due to the viscoelastic nature of the asphalt cement, rutting is more pronounced in hot climate areas because the viscosity of the asphalt binder which is
inversely related to rutting is significantly reduced with the increase in temperature resulting in a more rut susceptible paving mixtures. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of temperatures variations on the permanent deformation parameters (perm

Experimental research was carried out to investigate the performance of CFRP wrapping jackets used for retrofitting twelve square reinforced concrete (CR) column specimens damaged by exposure to fire flame, at different temperatures of  300, 500 and 700ºC, except for two specimens that were not burned. The specimens were then loaded axially till failure after gradual or sudden cooling. The specimens were divided into two groups containing two main reinforcement ratios, ρ= 0.0314 and ρ= 0.0542. This was followed by the retrofitting procedure that included wrapping all the specimens with two layers of CFRP fabric sheets. The test results of the retrofitted specimens showed that the fire damaged RC

This paper presents the application of nonlinear finite element models in the analysis of dappedends pre-stressed reinforced concrete girders under static loading by using ANSYS software. The girder dimensions are (4.90 m span, 0.40 m depth, 0.20 m width, 0.20 m nib depth, and 0.10 m nib length) and the parameters considered in this research are the pre-stress effect, and strand profile (straight and draped). The numerical results are compared with the experimental results of the same girders. The comparisons are carried out in terms of initial prestress effect, load- deflection curve, and failure load. Good agreement was obtained between the analytical and experimental results. Even that, the numerical model was stiffer than the experiment

The present work is concerned with the investigation of the behavior and ultimate capacity of axially loaded reinforced concrete columns in presence of transverse openings under axial load plus uniaxial bending. The experimental program includes testing of twenty reinforced concrete columns (150 × 150 × 700 mm) under concentric and eccentric load. Parameters considered include opening size, load eccentricity and influence of the direction of load eccentricity with respect to the longitudinal axis of the opening. Experimental results are discussed based on load – lateral mid height deflection curves, load – longitudinal shortening behavior, ultimate load and failure modes. It is found that when the direction of load