In this paper, the probabilistic behavior of plain concrete beams subjected to flexure is studied using a continuous mesoscale model. The model is two-dimensional where aggregate and mortar are treated as separate constituents having their own characteristic properties. The aggregate is represented as ellipses and generated under prescribed grading curves. Ellipses are randomly placed so it requires probabilistic analysis for model using the Monte Carlo simulation with 20 realizations to represent geometry uncertainty. The nonlinear behavior is simulated with an isotropic damage model for the mortar, while the aggregate is assumed to be elastic. The isotropic damage model softening behavior is defined in terms of fracture mechanics parameters. This damage model is compared with the fixed crack model in macroscale study before using it in the mesoscale model. Then, it is used in the mesoscale model to simulate flexure test and compared to experimental data and shows a good agreement. The probabilistic behavior of the model response is presented through the standard deviation, moment parameters and cumulative probability density functions in different loading stages. It shows variation of the probabilistic characteristics between pre-peak and post-peak behaviour of load-CMOD curves.
Start your abstract here the objective of this paper is to study the dynamical behaviour of an eco-epidemiological system. A prey-predator model involving infectious disease with refuge for prey population only, the (SI_) infectious disease is transmitted directly, within the prey species from external sources of the environment as well as, through direct contact between susceptible and infected individuals. Linear type of incidence rate is used to describe the transmission of infectious disease. While Holling type II of functional responses are adopted to describe the predation process of the susceptible and infected predator respectively. This model is represented mathematically by
Deception is an inseparable facet of political discourse in attaining strategic political gains though compromising public opinion. However, the employment of discursive deception strategies by the policy-making institutions of think tanks has not received due attention in the literature. The current study aims at exploring how the ideologizing deception strategies are utilized by the conservative American think tank of the Washington Institute to reproduce socio-political realities and re-shape public opinion. To fulfill this task, van Dijk’s (2000) notion of ideological polarization which shows positive self-representation and negative other representation is adopted to conduct a critical discourse analysis of four Arabic texts relea
... Show MoreThis study appears GIS techniqueand remote sensing data are matching with the field observation to identify the structural features such as fault segments in the urban area such as the Merawa and Shaqlawa Cities. The use of different types of data such as fault systems, drainage patterns (previously mapped), lineament, and lithological contacts with spatial resolution of 30m was combined through a process of integration and index overlay modeling technique for producing the susceptibility map of fault segments in the study area. GIS spatial overlay technique was used to determine the spatial relationships of all the criteria (factors) and subcriteria (classes) within layers (maps) to classify and map the potential ar
... Show MoreThis study aimed to investigate the role of Big Data in forecasting corporate bankruptcy and that is through a field analysis in the Saudi business environment, to test that relationship. The study found: that Big Data is a recently used variable in the business context and has multiple accounting effects and benefits. Among the benefits is forecasting and disclosing corporate financial failures and bankruptcies, which is based on three main elements for reporting and disclosing that, these elements are the firms’ internal control system, the external auditing, and financial analysts' forecasts. The study recommends: Since the greatest risk of Big Data is the slow adaptation of accountants and auditors to these technologies, wh
... Show MoreThe main purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the concentrations of six essential metals (Na+, Mg2+, K+, Ca2+, Fe2+ and Zn2+) in saffron and a farm soil using the neutron activation analysis (NAA) as a nuclear spectrometry method. The stratified random sampling method was used here. The NAA results showed the well uptake of Mg2+, K+, Ca2+, Fe2+, and Zn2+ in saffron, which is lower than the toxicity range. Based on the contamination factor and geoaccumulation index, soil contamination levels were determined uncontaminated by Zn, moderately contaminated by Na+ and Fe2+, and strongly contamin
... Show MoreCoronavirus disease (Covid-19) has threatened human life, so it has become necessary to study this disease from many aspects. This study aims to identify the nature of the effect of interdependence between these countries and the impact of each other on each other by designating these countries as heads for the proposed graph and measuring the distance between them using the ultrametric spanning tree. In this paper, a network of countries in the Middle East is described using the tools of graph theory.
Microfluidic devices provide distinct benefits for developing effective drug assays and screening. The microfluidic platforms may provide a faster and less expensive alternative. Fluids are contained in devices with considerable micrometer-scale dimensions. Owing to this tight restriction, drug assay quantities are minute (milliliters to femtoliters). In this research, a microfluidic chip consisting of micro-channels carved on substrate materials built using an Acrylic (Polymethyl Methacrylate, PMMA) chip was designed using a Carbon Dioxide (CO2) laser machine. The CO2 parameters influence the chip’s width, depth, and roughness. To have a regular channel surface, and low roughness, the laser power (60 W), with scanning speed (250 m/s)
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