The use of Near-Surface Mounted (NSM) Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) strips is an efficient technology for increasing flexural and shear strength or for repairing damaged Reinforced Concrete (RC) members. This strengthening method is a promising technology. However, the thin layer of concrete covering the NSM-CFRP strips is not adequate to resist heat effect when directly exposed to a fire or at a high temperature. There is clear evidence that the strength and stiffness of CFRPs severely deteriorate at high temperatures. Therefore, in terms of fire resistance, the NSM technique has a significant defect. Thus, it is very important to develop a set of efficient fire protection systems to overcome these disadvantages. This paper presents a numerical study that investigates the fire behavior of thermally insulated RC beams flexurally strengthened with NSM-CFRP strips and subjected to fire exposure according to the ISO 834 standard. The numerical study considered three-dimensional finite element models in the ABAQUS software that have been developed to simulate and predict the performance (thermal and structural response) of fire endurance tests on strengthened, uninsulated strengthened, and thermally insulated beams strengthened with NSM-CFRP strips, which were exposed to fire and had different fire insulation schemes. The insulation used was plaster from local material with a thickness range of 25 to 50mm. The variation of the thermal and mechanical properties with the temperature of the constituent materials was considered. All beams' mechanical and thermal responses were adequately simulated using numerical models. The results of the numerical simulations were in good agreement with the experimental data. The fire behavior of the NSM-CFRP strengthened RC beams was examined and particularly the efficiency of the NSM strengthening system during the fire. The behavior in the fire of the NSM-CFRP strengthening system on the RC beams thermally protected with different fire insulation schemes was assessed. Finally, the effectiveness of fire insulation was studied.
Measurement of construction performance is essential to a clear image of the present situation. This monitoring by the management team is necessary to identify locations where performance is exceptionally excellent or poor and to identify the primary reasons so that the lessons gained may be exported to the firm and its progress strengthened. This research attempts to construct an integrated mathematical model utilizing one of the recent methodologies for dealing with the fuzzy representation of experts’ knowledge and judgment considering hesitancy called spherical fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (SFAHP) method to assess the contractor’s performance per the project performance pa
Soil wetted pattern from a subsurface drip plays great importance in the design of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) system for delivering the required water directly to the roots of the plant. An equation to estimate the dimensions of the wetted area in soil are taking into account water uptake by roots is simulated numerically using HYDRUS (2D/3D) software. In this paper, three soil textures namely loamy sand, sandy loam, and loam soil were used with three different types of crops tomato, pepper, and cucumber, respectively, and different values of drip discharge, drip depth, and initial soil moisture content were proposed. The soil wetting patterns were obtained at every thirty minutes for a total time of irrigation equ
... Show MoreElectronic Health Record (EHR) systems are used as an efficient and effective method of exchanging patients’ health information with doctors and other key stakeholders in the health sector to obtain improved patient treatment decisions and diagnoses. As a result, questions regarding the security of sensitive user data are highlighted. To encourage people to move their sensitive health records to cloud networks, a secure authentication and access control mechanism that protects users’ data should be established. Furthermore, authentication and access control schemes are essential in the protection of health data, as numerous responsibilities exist to ensure security and privacy in a network. So, the main goal of our s
... Show MoreNowadays, the use of natural bio-products in pharmaceuticals is gaining popularity as safe alternatives to chemicals and synthetic drugs. Algal products are offering a pure, healthy and sustainable choice for pharmaceutical applications. Algae are photosynthetic microorganisms that can survive in different environmental conditions. Algae have many outstanding properties that make them excellent candidate for use in therapeutics. Algae grow in fresh and marine waters and produce in their cells a wide range of biologically active chemical compounds. These bioactive compounds are offering a great source of highly economic bio-products. The prese
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We propose a new method for detecting the abnormality in cerebral tissues present within Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI). Present classifier is comprised of cerebral tissue extraction, image division into angular and distance span vectors, acquirement of four features for each portion and classification to ascertain the abnormality location. The threshold value and region of interest are discerned using operator input and Otsu algorithm. Novel brain slices image division is introduced via angular and distance span vectors of sizes 24˚ with 15 pixels. Rotation invariance of the angular span vector is determined. An automatic image categorization into normal and abnormal brain tissues is performed using Support Vector Machine (SVM). St
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to shed light on the importance of biofuels as an alternative to conventional energy, in addition to the importance of preserving agricultural crops, which are the main source of this fuel, to maintain food security, especially in developing countries. The increase in global oil prices, in addition to the fear of global warming, are among the main factors that draw the world’s attention to searching for alternative sources of traditional energy, which are sustainable on the one hand, and on the other hand reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, the volume of global investment in renewable energy in general, and in liquid biofuels and biomass in particular, has increased. Global fears emerged that the excessive convers
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