Four simply supported reinforced concrete (RC) beams were test experimentaly and analyzed using the extended finite element method (XFEM). This method is used to treat the discontinuities resulting from the fracture process and crack propagation in that occur in concrete. The Meso-Scale Approach (MSA) used to model concrete as a heterogenous material consists of a three-phasic material (coarse aggregate, mortar, and air voids in the cement paste). The coarse aggregate that was used in the casting of these beams rounded and crashed aggregate shape with maximum size of 20 mm. The compressive strength used in these beams is equal to 17 MPa and 34 MPa, respectively. These RC beams are designed to fail due to flexure when subjected to load as a two-point loading. To model the coarse aggregate realistically, the aggregate must distributed randomly according to the gradient and amount actually used in the mix design. This property is not found in the ABAQUS program that resulted in the use of an alternate program to represent the aggregate randomly. Next, the random representation of the aggregate were transfered to the ABAQUS program by using commands and instructions that the program can understand, to draw as a sketch. The comparison between experimental and numerical results showed that the XFEM is a good method used to simulate the non-smooth behavior in RC beams such as discontinuitiy and singularity. While a mesoscale model can be simulated the non-homogeneity in the concrete.
Wellbore instability is one of the major issues observed throughout the drilling operation. Various wellbore instability issues may occur during drilling operations, including tight holes, borehole collapse, stuck pipe, and shale caving. Rock failure criteria are important in geomechanical analysis since they predict shear and tensile failures. A suitable failure criterion must match the rock failure, which a caliper log can detect to estimate the optimal mud weight. Lack of data makes certain wells' caliper logs unavailable. This makes it difficult to validate the performance of each failure criterion. This paper proposes an approach for predicting the breakout zones in the Nasiriyah oil field using an artificial neural network. It
... Show MoreThe high cost of chemical analysis of water has necessitated various researches into finding alternative method of determining portable water quality. This paper is aimed at modelling the turbidity value as a water quality parameter. Mathematical models for turbidity removal were developed based on the relationships between water turbidity and other water criteria. Results showed that the turbidity of water is the cumulative effect of the individual parameters/factors affecting the system. A model equation for the evaluation and prediction of a clarifier’s performance was developed:
Model: T = T0(-1.36729 + 0.037101∙10λpH + 0.048928t + 0.00741387∙alk)
The developed model will aid the predictiv
... Show MoreNo-fine concrete (NFC) is cellular concrete and it’s light weight concrete produced with the exclusion of sand from the concrete. This study includes the mechanical properties of lightweight reinforced by steel fiber, containing different proportions of steel fiber. This study was done using number of tests. These tests were density, compressive strength, flexural strength and absorption. These tests of the molds at different curing time. The results of tests that implication of fiber to No. fine concrete did not affect significantly on the compressive strength, While the flexural strength were gets better. Results explained that, the flexural strength of (1%) fiber No- fine concrete molds are four times that of the reference mold
... Show MoreDuring the last quarter century, many changes have taken place in the tanks industry and also in the materials that used in its production، while concrete is the most suitable material where concrete tanks has the benefits of strength, long service life and cost effectiveness. So, it is necessary improvement the
conventional concrete in order to adapt the severe environment requirements and as a result high
performance concrete (HPC) was used. It is not fundamentally different from the concrete used in the past, although it usually contains fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag and silica fume, as well as
superplasticizer. So, the content of cementitious material is high and the water/cement ratio is low. In this
stu
The study investigated the behaviour of asphalt concrete mixes for aggregate gradations, according to the Iraqi specification using the Bailey method designed by an Excel spreadsheet. In mixing aggregates with varying gradations (coarse and fine aggregate), The Bailey method is a systematic methodology that offers aggregate interlocking as the backbone of the framework and a controlled gradation to complete the blends. Six types of gradation are used according to the bailey method considered in this study. Two-course prepared Asphalt Concrete Wearing and Asphalt Concrete binder, the Nominal Maximum Aggregate Sizes (NMAS) of the mixtures are 19 and 12.5 mm, respectively. The total number of specimens was 240 for both layers (15 samp
... Show MorePortland cement is considered the most involved product in environmental pollution. It is responsible for about 10% of global CO2 emissions [1]. Limestone dust is a by-product of limestone plants and it is produced in thousands of tons annually as waste material. To fulfill sustainability requirements, concrete production is recommended to reduce Portland cement usage with the use of alternative or waste materials. The production of sustainable high strength concrete by using nanomaterials is one of the aims of this study. Limestone dust in 12, 16, and 20% by weight of cement replaced cement in this study. The study was divided into two parts: the first was devoted to the investigation of the best percentage of replacement of waste
... Show MoreThis paper demonstrates an experimental and numerical study aimed to compare the influence of openings of different configurations on the flexural behavior of prestressed concrete rafters. The experimental program consisted of testing six simply supported prestressed concrete rafters; 5 rafters are perforated, and the other one is solid as a reference. All rafters were tested under monotonic midpoint load. The variable which has been investigated in this work was the opening’s configuration (quadrilateral or circular) with the same upper and lower chords depths. The results indicate improvement in the beam flexural behavior using the circular openings compared to the quadrilateral o
Self-compacted concrete (SCC) is a highly flowable concrete, with no segregation which can be spread into place by filling the structures framework and permeate the reinforcement without any compaction or mechanical consolidation ACI 237R-14. One of the most important problems faced by concrete industry in Iraq and Gulf Arab land is deterioration due to internal sulfate attack (ISA) that causes damage of concrete and consequently reduces its compressive strength, increases expansion and may lead to its cracking and destruction. The experimental program was focused to study two ordinary Portland cements with different chemical composition with (5, 10 and 15) % percentage of high reactivity metakaoline (HRM)
... Show MoreOne of the most important problems that faces the concrete industry in Iraq is the deterioration due to internal sulfate attack , since it reduces the compressive strength and increases the expansion of concrete. Consequently, the concrete structure may be damage .The effects of total and total effective sulfate contents on high strength concrete (HSC) have been studied in the present study.
The research studied the effect of sulfate content in cement , sand and gravel , as well as comparing the total sulfate content with the total effective SO3 content. Materials used were divided into two groups of SO3 in cement ,three groups of SO3 in sand ,and two groups of SO
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