In this study, the response of ten composite post-tensioned concrete beams topped by a reinforced concrete deck with adequate reinforcing shear connectors is investigated. Depending on the concrete compressive strength of the deck slab (20, 30, and 40 MPa), beams are grouped into three categories. Seven of these beams are exposed to a fire attack of 700 and 800 °C temperature simultaneously with or without the presence of a uniformly distributed sustained static loading. After cooling back to ambient temperature, these composite beams are loaded up to failure, using a force control module, by monotonic static loading in a four-point-bending setup with two symmetrical concentrated loads applied in the middle third of the effective span. The objectives of this study include investigating the behavior of the composite prestressed concrete beams under and after the exposure to a direct fire flame, as well as finding their residual load-carrying capacity. Tests demonstrate significant deteriorations caused by exposure to high temperatures associated with the increase of the member’s camber. The increase of the midspan camber after heating exposure reached approximately 200%. On the other hand, the 1-h steady-state exposure of test specimens to temperatures of 700 and 800 °C led to reduce the load-carrying capacity of the heat-deteriorated beams up to 45% and 54%, respectively.
Rutting has a significant impact on the pavements' performance. Rutting depth is often used as a parameter to assess the quality of pavements. The Asphalt Institute (AI) design method prescribes a maximum allowable rutting depth of 13mm, whereas the AASHTO design method stipulates a critical serviceability index of 2.5 which is equivalent to an average rutting depth of 15mm. In this research, static and repeated compression tests were performed to evaluate the permanent strain based on (1) the relationship between mix properties (asphalt content and type), and (2) testing temperature. The results indicated that the accumulated plastic strain was higher during the repeated load test than that during the static load tests. Notably, temperatur
... Show MoreA nano manganese dioxide (MnO2) was electrodeposited galvanostatically onto a carbon fiber (CF) surface using the simple method of anodic electrodeposition. The composite electrode was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Very few studies investigated the efficiency of this electrode for heavy metals removal, especially chromium. The electrosorption properties of the nano MnO2/CF electrode were examined by removing Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solutions. NaCl concentration, pH, and cell voltage were studied and optimized using the Box-Behnken design (BDD) to investigate their effects and interactions on the electrosorption process. The results showed that the
... Show MoreBackground: Prophylaxis methods are used to mechanically remove plaque and stain from tooth surfaces; such methods give rise to loss of superficial structure and roughen the surface of composites as a result of their abrasive action. This study was done to assess the effect of three polishing systems on surface texture of new anterior composites after storage in artificial saliva. Materials and methods: A total of 40 Giomer and Tetric®N-Ceram composite discs of 12 mm internal diameter and 3mm height were prepared using a specially designed cylindrical mold and were stored in artificial saliva for one month and then samples were divided into four groups according to surface treatment: Group A (control group):10 specimens received no surfa
... Show MoreBackground: The world is in front of two emerging problems being scarceness of virgin re-sources for bioactive materials and the gathering of waste production. Employment of the surplus waste in the mainstream production can resolve these problems. The current study aimed to prepare and characterize a natural composite CaO-SiO2 based bioactive material derived from naturally sustained raw materials. Then deposit this innovative novel bioactive coating composite materials overlying Yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia substrate. Mate-rials and method; Hen eggshell-derived calcium carbonate and rice husk-derived silica were extracted from natural resources to prepare the composite coating material. The manufac-tured powder was characterized
... Show MoreVariable selection is an essential and necessary task in the statistical modeling field. Several studies have triedto develop and standardize the process of variable selection, but it isdifficultto do so. The first question a researcher needs to ask himself/herself what are the most significant variables that should be used to describe a given dataset’s response. In thispaper, a new method for variable selection using Gibbs sampler techniqueshas beendeveloped.First, the model is defined, and the posterior distributions for all the parameters are derived.The new variable selection methodis tested usingfour simulation datasets. The new approachiscompared with some existingtechniques: Ordinary Least Squared (OLS), Least Absolute Shrinkage
... Show MoreIn this research, damping properties for composite materials were evaluated using logarithmic decrement method to study the effect of reinforcements on the damping ratio of the epoxy matrix. Three stages of composites were prepared in this research. The first stage included preparing binary blends of epoxy (EP) and different weight percentages of polysulfide rubber (PSR) (0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%). It was found that the weight percentage 5% of polysulfide was the best percentage, which gives the best mechanical properties for the blend matrix. The advantage of this blend matrix is that; it mediates between the brittle properties of epoxy and the flexible properties of a blend matrix with the highest percentage of PSR. The second stage
... Show MoreBackground: The microhardness of a composite resin is a vital parameter that is used to determine its clinical behavior. Measuring the microhardness of a composite resin has been used as an indirect method to assess its degree of conversion and extent of polymerization. The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of three curing distances (0, 2, and 4 mm) on the microhardness of the top and bottom surfaces of three types of flowable bulk-fill composite resins (smart dentin replacement, Opus bulk fill flow, and Tetric N). Material and method: Sixty-three specimens from the three types of composite resins (n=21) were fabricated using Teflon mold with a 4mm depth and a 5 mm internal diameter and cured for 20 seconds. For e
... Show MoreHeavy metal ion removal from industrial wastewater treatment systems is still difficult because it contains organic contaminants. In this study, functional composite hydrogels with photo Fenton reaction activity were used to decompose organic contaminants. Fe3O4 Nanoparticle, chitosan (CS), and other materials make up the hydrogel. There are different factors that affected Photo-Fenton activity including (pH, H2O2 conc., temp., and exposure period). Atomic force microscopy was used to examine the morphology of the composite and its average diameter (AFM). After 60 minutes of exposure to UV radiation, CS/ Fe3O4 hydrogel composite had degraded methylene blue (M.B.)
... Show MoreProxy-based sliding mode control PSMC is an improved version of PID control that combines the features of PID and sliding mode control SMC with continuously dynamic behaviour. However, the stability of the control architecture maybe not well addressed. Consequently, this work is focused on modification of the original version of the proxy-based sliding mode control PSMC by adding an adaptive approximation compensator AAC term for vibration control of an Euler-Bernoulli beam. The role of the AAC term is to compensate for unmodelled dynamics and make the stability proof more easily. The stability of the proposed control algorithm is systematically proved using Lyapunov theory. Multi-modal equation of motion is derived using the Galerkin metho
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