The aims of this study are to measure the defect rate and analyze the problems of production of ready concrete mixture plant by using Six Sigma methodology which is a business strategy for operations improvement depending basically on the application of its sub-methodology DMAIC improvement cycle and the basic statistical tools where the process sigma level of concrete production in the case study was 2.41 σ.

Flexible pavements are subjected to three main distress types: fatigue crack, thermal crack, and permanent deformation. Under severe climate conditions, thermal cracking particularly contributes largely to a considerable scale of premature deterioration of pavement infrastructure worldwide. This challenge is especially relevant for Europe, as weather conditions vary significantly throughout the year. Hydrated lime (HL) has been recognized as an effective additive to improve the mechanical properties of asphalt concrete for pavement applications. Previous research has found that a replacement of conventional limestone dust filler using hydrated lime at 2.5% of the total weight of aggregates generated an optimum improvement in the mec

The sorption of Cu²⁺ ions from synthetic wastewater using crushed concrete demolition waste (CCDW) which collected from a demolition site was investigated in a batch sorption system. Factors influencing on sorption process such as shaking time (0-300min), the initial concentration of contaminant (100-750mg/L), shaking speed (0-250 rpm), and adsorbent dosage (0.05-3 g/ml) have been studied. Batch experiments confirmed that the best values of these parameters were (180 min, 100 mg/l, 250 rpm, 0.7 g CCDW/100 ml) respectively where the achieved removal efficiency is equal to 100%. Sorption data were described using four isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, and Radke-Prausnitz). Results proved that the pure ads

Concrete is widely used in construction materials since early 1800's. It has been known that concrete is weak in tension, so it requires some addition materials to have ductile behavior and enhance its tensile strength and strain capacity to improve their uses. In this study reactive powder concrete (RPC) was used with steel fiber by using different types of cement; (Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and/or Portland- Limestone cement (PLC)) with three types of mixtures (OPC at the first mix, 50 % OPC and 50 % PLC at the second mix and PLC at the third mix). The behavior of RPC with steel fibers on compressive strength and tensile strength of concrete with different ages of curing (7, 14, 28 and 60) days and shrinkage have been studied. The clo

This manuscript studied the effect of U-CFRP wrapped sheet anchorage on the flexural performance of unbonded post-tensioned PC members subjected to partial strand damage and strengthened using CFRP Near-Surface Mounting techniques. The program includes six girders as a control girder, a girder with strand damage of 14.2%, and four girders strengthened by CFRP laminates using the NSM technique with and without U-CFRP wrapped sheet anchorages. The testing results show that the strand damage of 14.2% has reduced the flexural strength of the girder by 5.71%. The NSM-CFRP laminate has a significant effect on flexural strength by 17.4%. On the other hand, the application of end U-CFRP wrapped sheet anchorages improves flexural

In the last few years, fiber-coupled diode lasers have shown massive applications in many fields of communication and scientific research. Particularly, the pumping of solid-state lasers is a key application for more powerful diode lasers enabling good solutions in various laser micro methods like metal cutting, sintering, structuring as well as drilling. In this work, a simple beam shaping method is demonstrated for coupling a high-power semiconductor laser diode into multi-mode fiber optic using optical lenses. The optical lenses as beam transformation components are utilized to reshape the asymmetrical irradiation of the diode laser bar and to circularize the laser beam. Using this simple method, compact, high-output-power, and high-b

Under cyclic loading, aluminum alloys exhibit less fatigue life than steel alloys of similar strength and this is considered as Achilles's heel of such alloys. A nanosecond fiber laser was used to apply high speed laser shock peening process on thin aluminum plates in order to enhance the fatigue life by introducing compressive residual stresses. The effect of three working parameters namely the pulse repetition rate (PRR), spot size (ω) and scanning speed (v) on limiting the fatigue failure was investigated. The optimum results, represented by the longer fatigue life, were at PRR of 22.5 kHz, ω of 0.04 mm and at both v's of 200 and 500 mm/sec. The research yielded significant results represented by a maximum percentage increase in the fa

Two different polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinyl chloride (PVA/PVC) hollow fiber composite nanofiltration membranes were prepared after PVC hollow fiber membranes were coated using dip-coating method with PVA aqueous solution, which was composed of PVA, fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (AEO9), and water [PVA/AEO9/water (4:0.5:95.5) wt%]. Effect of two different PVC hollow fiber immersion times in coating solution were studied. Cross-section, internal and external surfaces of the PVC hollow fibers and PVA/PVC composite nanofiltration membranes structures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), pure water permeation flux and solutes rejection. It was found that, the coating layer thickness on the outer surface of the 19 wt% P