Concrete structures are exposed to aggressive environmental conditions that lead to corrosion of the embedded reinforcement and pre-stressing steel. Consequently, the safety of concrete structures may be compromised, and this requires a significant budgets to repair and maintain critical infrastructure. Prediction of structural safety can lead to significant reductions in maintenance costs by maximizing the impact of investments. The aim of this paper is to establish a framework to assess the reliability of existing post-tensioned concrete bridges. A time-dependent reliability analysis of an existing post-tensioned involving the assessment of Ynys-y-Gwas bridge has been presented in this study. The main cause of failure of this bridge was corrosion of tendons, making it a relevant case study to evaluate the effect of corrosion on bridge safety. Uncertainties associated with material properties, geometry, loads and corrosion parameters are taken into account. The probabilistic models of the uncertainties are combined with a non-linear finite element analysis to study the effect of tendons pitting corrosion on the post-tensioned concrete bridge. The limit state function considered is flexural strength. The Monte-Carlo simulation (MCS) method is used to compute the statistical parameters of the resisting bending moment through a MATLAB code running ABAQUS. It was found that the reliability index for the first year of bridge service life is below the minimum value acceptable for structures. The study confirmed that this bridge was a high risk structure due to its design and location. The proposed framework can be used by engineers and researchers as a tool to support decision for segmental post-tensioned (PT) bridges maintenance since they need for a regular inspection due to their risk to corrosion.
Self-compacting concrete (SCC) has undergone a remarkable evolution recently based on the results from several studies that have indicated the chain of benefits SCC provides. Micro and nano materials used as mineral additives in SCC offer several high-performance properties, and this research studies the effects of micro silica (MS) (10%, used as a reference) and colloidal nano-silica (CNS) (2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10%) on the fresh and hardened properties of SCC. All mixtures were estimated using flow, L-box, and V-funnel tests to examine workability and compressive strength, modulus of elasticity and tensile strength as hardened properties. The use of CNS increased the overall compressi
Background: Obesity typically results from a variety of causes and factors which contribute, genetics included, and style of living choices, and described as excessive body fat accumulation of body fat lead to excessive body, is a chronic disorder that combines pathogenic environmental and genetic factors. So, the current study objective was to investigate the of the FTO gene rs9939609 polymorphism and the obesity risk. Explaining the relationship between fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) rs9939609 polymorphism and obesity in adults. Methods: Identify research exploring the association between the obesity risk and the variation polymorphisms of FTO gene rs9939609. We combined the modified odds ratios (OR) as total groups and subgro
... Show MoreIn spite of economic importance of sugar cane and sugar beet as they described as industrial crops they still face decreasing rates of production and productivity in Iraq , and their production was not able to satisfy the local industrial demands for sugar . Thus this study aimed at studying and analyzing, production and productivity of sugar cane and sugar beet in Iraq and this has been done by using non serial data that can be obtained from official offices in Iraq . The area and production of sugar cane in Iraq recorded positive annual growth rates during 1970- 1978 which were 6% and 5% consequently , while the productivity of sugar cane recorded at the same duration of time negative annual growth rate which was 1% , while they recorded
... Show MoreThe aim of the current study was to investigate endosulfan effects on the Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme and gene in albino mice. Thirty selected male albino mice were randomly divided into 3 groups. The first group was control group (G1), while the other two treated groups were injected intraperitoneally twice per week with two doses of endosulfanG2 (3 mg/kg) and G3 (17 mg/kg) for 21 and 45 days respectively. The results recorded a significant decrease in AChE enzyme in the group treated with 17 mg/kg b.wt. (3986.67 ±170.32 U/L),compared to the control (5584.33 ±140.35 U/L)and treatment group with 3 mg/kg b.wt.(5556.00 ±341.01) U/L for 21 days. Also, there was a significant decrease in the enzyme level
... Show MoreBackground: Dental implants provide a unique treatment modality for the replacement of a lost dentition .This is accomplished by the insertion of relatively an inert material (a biomaterial) into the soft and hard tissue of the jaws, there by providing support and retention for dental prostheses. Low level laser therapy (LLLT) is an effective tool used to prompt bone repair and remodeling, this has referred to the biostimulation effect of LLLT. The Aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of inflammatory cells on osseointegration of CpTi implant irradiated by low level laser. Materials and Methods: thirty two adult New Zealand white rabbits, received titanium implants were inserted in the tibia. The right side is considered as experime
... Show MoreThe application of low order panel method with the Dirichlet boundary condition on complex aircraft configuration have been studied in high subsonic and transonic speeds. Low order panel method has been used to solve the case of the steady, inviscid and compressible flow on a forward swept wing – canard configuration with cylindrical fuselage and a vertical stabilizer with symmetrical cross section. The aerodynamic coefficients for the forward swept wing aircraft were calculated using measured wake shape from an experimental work on same model configuration. The study showed that the application of low order panel method can be used with acceptable results
Al-Yusifia river was assessed at three sampling stations with study period from Autumn 2010 to the end of Summer 2011. The present investigation was carried out on diversity of fungi and bacteria from Al-Yusifia river, Baghdad city. During the study, a total of 12 fungal genus and 6 bacterial genus were isolated during the year seasons. The dominant fungus at the three stations were Penicillium sp., then Rhizopus and Trichophyton megninii while the dominant bacteria was Escherichia coli and Klebsiella sp.
The higher
... Show MoreThis paper aims to identify the approaches used in assessment the credit applications by Iraqi banks, as well as which approach is most used. It also attempted to link these approaches with reduction of credit default and banks’ efficiency particularly for the Gulf Commercial Bank. The paper found that the Gulf Bank widely relies on the method of Judgment Approach for assessment the credit applications in order to select the best of them with low risk of default. In addition, the paper found that the method of Judgment Approach was very important for the Gulf Bank and it driven in reduction the ratio of credit default as percentage of total credit. However, it is important to say that the adoption of statistical approaches for
... Show MoreIn view of this work, plasma nitriding was executed on Ti-6Al-4V and the effect of nitriding by using glow discharge with 2 mbar of Ar+N2 gas on corrosion resistance with different nitriding time and studied. The structure properties and the external appearance for alloys were performed with x-ray diffraction and optical microscopic. The investigation of XRD indicates the Ti alloys are polycrystalline with a cubic type (bcc). When the external appearance of the surface indicates was of β+α structure which have been better technical properties on biomedical application. The biocompatibility investigation of nitride alloys in vitro medium containing human body fluid: we showed a layer of hydroxyapatite HAP which might
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