This paper presents an experimental study for strengthening existing columns against axial compressive loads. The objective of this work is to study the behavior of concrete square columns strengthening with circulation technique. In Iraq, there are significantly more reinforced rectangular and square columns than reinforced circular columns in reinforced concrete buildings. Moreover, early research studies indicated that strengthening of rectangular or square columns using wraps of CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) provided rather little enhancement to their load-carrying capacity. In this paper, shape modification technique was performed to modify the shape (cross section) of the columns from square columns into circular columns. Shape modification technique is also called circularization technique because the cross section is modified from square into circular cross section. Then, the circularized columns were wrapped with CFRP wraps. Shape modification is the strengthening method adopted in this paper as a mean to strengthen existing square columns. Columns studied in this paper are short columns with square sections as a special case of rectangular columns. Columns in this study are plain concrete columns (having concrete strength of = 24.41 MPa) with no internal steel reinforcement. The aim of this research is to study experimentally the behavior of circularized concrete square columns confined with CFRP wraps. Then, for better understanding, the results were compared with another, more widely used, strengthening technique which is the direct wrapping of square columns with CFRP wraps. Thus, investigating experimentally the effectiveness of the two aforementioned strengthening techniques in increasing the load-carrying capacity and ductility of the existing concrete columns. The methodology of this research is that six plain concrete short square columns were casted. These six columns were exerted to compressive pressure using concrete testing machine. These six columns were divided into three groups, each group consisted of 2 columns. The three groups were classified as follows: first group (titled L0) consisted of two square columns which were not strengthened by any method, second group (titled L1) consisted of two square columns confined by one layer of CFRP wraps, finally, the third group (titled LC1) consisted of two circularized square columns confined by one layer of CFRP wraps.Experimental results showed that load bearing capacity and ductility of square columns have been significantly enhanced. Test results showed that shape modification technique (columns LC1) produced enhancement in load carrying capacity about 167.8 % of the original non-strengthened columns (columns L0). Furthermore, square columns wrapped by one layer of CFRP wraps (columns L1) produced enhancement in load carrying capacity about 56.1% of the original non-strengthened columns (columns L0). As such, it was evident that circularization technique resulted in enhancement in load carrying capacity far more than the enhancement obtained from wrapping the square columns with CFRP wraps.
Bendable concrete, also known as Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) is a type of ultra-ductile cementitious composites reinforced with fibres to control the width of cracks. It has the ability to enhance concrete flexibility by withstanding strains of 3% and higher. The properties of bendable concrete mixes (compressive strength, flexural strength, and drying shrinkage) are here assessed after the incorporation of supplementary cementitious materials, silica fume, polymer fibres, and the use of ordinary Portland cement (O.P.C) and Portland limestone cement (IL). Mixes with Portland limestone cement show lower drying shrinkage and lower compressive and flexural strength than mixes with ordinary Portland cement, due to the ratio o
... Show MoreThe performance of composite prestressed concrete beam topped with reinforced concrete flange structures in fire depends upon several factors, including the change in properties of the two different materials due to fire exposure and temperature distribution within the composition of the composite members of the structure. The present experimental work included casting of 12 identical simply supported prestressed concrete beams grouped into 3 categories, depending on the strength of the top reinforced concrete deck slab (20, 30, and 40 MPa). They were connected together by using shear connector reinforcements. To simulate the real practical fire disasters, 3 composite prestressed concrete beams from each group were exposed to high t
... Show MoreFifty patients(24 female and 26 male)with pressure ulcersassociated with different diseasesand attending AL-yarmouk Teaching Hospital in Baghdad were selected in this study. The duration of sample collection was from March to December 2018. All blood samples collected from patients were submitted to a blood culturing technique to examine bacteremia. The results showed that12 blood bacterial isolates were obtained. The isolated bacteria were subjected to Vitek-2, which is an accurate identification technique. The results of the blood culturing technique revealed that 33.3% were Gram negative bacteria, while 66.6% were Gram positive. Diagnosis by Vitek-2 showed that 33.3% wereStaphylococcus spp. , 33.3% were Enterococcus
... Show MoreThis research aims to analyze the impact of the United States policy of pressure and sanctions on changing Iran's conduct. Since the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979, the US has continuously pursued various policies towards Iran, aiming to change the regime by force or isolate it politically and economically. The main research question lies in the following: To what extent does the US pressure policy and its sanctions affect the conduct Iran?. This research discusses that the more there are economic and political alternatives to Iran, the more it will be challenging the US demands. Moreover, the more the US pursues a negotiating policy based on mutual interests, the more Iran will positively respond to American demands.
Diamond-like carbon, amorphous hydrogenated films forms of carbon, were pretreated from cyclohexane (C6H12) liquid using plasma jet which operates with alternating voltage 7.5kv and frequency 28kHz. The plasma Separates molecules of cyclohexane and Transform it into carbon nanoparticles. The effect of argon flow rate (0.5, 1 and 1.5 L/min) on the optical and chemical bonding properties of the films were investigated. These films were characterized by UV-Visible spectrophotometer, X-ray diffractometer (XRD) Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The main absorption appears around 296, 299 and 309nm at the three flow rate of argon gas. The value of the optical energy gap is 3.37, 3.55 and 3.68 eV at a different flow rate o
... Show MoreBackground: The normal decline in systolic blood pressure during recovery phase of treadmill exercise dose not occur in most patients with coronary artery disease, in others recovery values systolic blood pressure may even exceed the peak exercise value. Objectives: Treadmill exercise test parameters indicating the presence and extent of coronary artery disease have traditionally included such as exercise duration, blood pressure and ST-segment response to exercise. The three –minute systolic blood pressure ratio is another important indicator of presence and significance of coronary artery disease is useful and obtainable measure that can be applied in all patients who are undergoing stress testing for evaluation of suspected is
... Show MoreIn this work, diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films were prepared from Cyclohexane. Thin films were deposited on quartz substrate by atmospheric pressure Argon plasma jet system. The plasma jet system was applying high voltage sinusoidal waves of frequency 28 kHz and potential difference of 7.5kV peak to peak across the electrodes. The effect of annealing at 400, 500 and 600 °C under vacuum for two hours on optical properties and structural properties of the DLC thin films were investigated. This effect was clarified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR, UV-Visible absorption, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Raman Spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction patterns for the annealing DLC thin films show two broad peaks at 2θ, 26.62° and 51.58
... Show MoreIn this study, an analysis of re-using the JPEG lossy algorithm on the quality of satellite imagery is presented. The standard JPEG compression algorithm is adopted and applied using Irfan view program, the rang of JPEG quality that used is 50-100.Depending on the calculated satellite image quality variation, the maximum number of the re-use of the JPEG lossy algorithm adopted in this study is 50 times. The image quality degradation to the JPEG quality factor and the number of re-use of the JPEG algorithm to store the satellite image is analyzed.
This paper presents a comparison between the electroencephalogram (EEG) channels during scoliosis correction surgeries. Surgeons use many hand tools and electronic devices that directly affect the EEG channels. These noises do not affect the EEG channels uniformly. This research provides a complete system to find the least affected channel by the noise. The presented system consists of five stages: filtering, wavelet decomposing (Level 4), processing the signal bands using four different criteria (mean, energy, entropy and standard deviation), finding the useful channel according to the criteria’s value and, finally, generating a combinational signal from Channels 1 and 2. Experimentally, two channels of EEG data were recorded fro
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