The utilization and incorporation of glass fiber-reinforced plastics (GFRP) in structural applications and architectural constructions are progressively gaining prominence. Therefore, this paper experimentally and numerically investigates the use of GFRP I-beams in conjunction with concrete slabs to form composite beams. The experimental design incorporated 2600 mm long GFRP I-beams which were connected compositely to concrete slabs with a 500 mm width and 80 mm thickness. The concrete slabs are categorized into two groups: concrete slabs cast using normal-strength concrete (NSC), and concrete slabs prepared using high-strength concrete (HSC). Various parameters like the type of concrete (normal and high-strength concrete), type of stiffeners bonded to the composite section (bolt–epoxy or bolt only), and inclusion of corrugated metal sheets were investigated. To obtain the full shear connection between the GFRP I-sections and concrete slabs, two rows of shear connectors in the form of bolts were utilized. These shear connectors were erected to the top flange of the GFRP I-sections to compositely connect between the GFRP I-beams and the concrete slabs as well as the corrugated metal sheets. The strengthening of the shear webs of GFRP I-beams with GFRP T-section stiffeners resulted in an enhancement in the flexural and shear strength. The failure loads in the case of the bolt–epoxy connection for the stiffeners were 8.2% and 10.0% higher than those in the case of bolt only when the concrete compressive strengths were 20.1 MPa and 52.3 MPa, respectively. Moreover, the effect of the concrete compressive strength was vital where the failure loads increased by 79.9% and 77.1% when HSC was used instead of NSC for the cases of bolt–epoxy and bolt only, respectively. The epoxy adhesive used in conjunction with mechanical connectors, specifically bolts, resulted in sufficient composite action and delayed shear failure within the web of the GFRP beam. For the specimens with bolt–epoxy connection, strain levels in the concrete slabs were consistently higher than in the other specimens with bolts alone at the same loading level. The concrete slabs integrated with HSC registered strain levels that were 20.0% and 21.8% greater for bolt–epoxy and bolt-only connections, respectively, when compared to those using normal-strength concrete (NSC). This discrepancy can likely be credited to the enhanced composite interaction between the concrete slabs and the GFRP I-beams. In addition, ABAQUS software (version 6.2) was used to develop FE models to analyze the tested composite beams and provide a parametric study using the verified models.
This study focuses on the behavior of simply supported perforated prestressed concrete rafters (PPCRs) under single midspan monotonic static loading. The experimental program consisted of testing seven specimens; one solid (control) rafter, and six perforated with quadrilateral openings. The main investigated variables are the number and height of the openings. The test findings indicate that, in comparison to the solid rafter, the presence of quadrilateral openings in the PPCRs led to reducing the load capacity by (4.3-36%) and increase the midspan deflection at ultimate by (14.8-33%). Also, increasing the number of concrete posts between openings resulted in increasing the failure load and decreasing the deflection at all stages o
... Show MoreIn this study, two types of mixes were adopted by using two grading of coarse aggregate. The practical side of this study was to produce no-fine aggregate concrete by using crushed clay brick aggregates. The durability of the produced concrete and internal sulfate attack was studied. For durability assessment, it is found that the no-fine concrete made with crushed brick aggregate lost about (15-25) % of its compressive strength after being subjected to 60 cycles of wetting and drying with age 120 days. The curing condition showed that the water curing improved the compressive strength with a rate higher than that when sealed or air dry curing were used. The crushed brick no-fine concrete de
... Show MoreCorrosion inhibiting admixtures are unique among other methods to protect reinforced concrete from corrosion damage. In this study, the effect of furfural on the fresh and hardened properties of concrete mixes of 35 and 45 MPa compressive strengths as well as the corrosion inhibition of furfural was evaluated. Furfural was added at different dosages (1, 2 and 3% by weight of cement) with and without superplasticizer (HRWR). Different electrochemical measurements were performed (Half-cell potential, Tafel plot and linear polarization resistance). Electrochemical measurements confirmed that furfural dramatically reduces the rate of corrosion; the inhibition efficiencies were 62.7 and 63.8 % due to 3% furfural addition to 35 and 45MPa-concr
... Show MoreImplementation of Warm Mix Asphalt concrete (WMA) is getting global acceptance due to the restrictions for protecting the environment and the requirements to reduce fuel consumption. In this investigation, two WMA mixtures have been prepared in the laboratory using medium curing cutback (MC-30) and Cationic emulsion asphalt. Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) was also prepared for comparison. The cylinder specimens (63.5mm) in height and (101.6mm) in diameter were constructed from the mixtures and subjected to indirect tensile strength test to determine the Tensile Strength Ratio (TSR). The cylinder specimens of (101.6mm) in height and (101.6mm) in diameter were also constructed from those mixtures and subjected to static compressive
... Show MoreThe Iraqi houses flattening the roof by a concrete panel, and because of the panels on the top directly exposed to the solar radiation become unbearably hot and cold during the summer and winter. The traditional concrete panel components are cement, sand, and aggregate, which have a poor thermal property. The usage of materials with low thermal conductivity with no negative reflects on its mechanical properties gives good improvements to the thermal properties of the concrete panel. The practical part of this work was built on a multi-stage mixing plan. In the first stage the mixing ratio based on the ratios of the sand to cement. The second stage mixing ratios based on replacing the coarse aggregate quantities with the
... Show MoreProstheses are used as an alternative to organs lost from the body. Flex-Foot Cheetah is considered one of the lower limb prostheses used in high-intensity activities such as running. This research focused on testing two samples of Flex-Foot Cheetah manufactured of two various materials (carbon, glass) with polyester and compare between them to find the foot with the best performance in running on the level of professional athlete. In the numerical analysis, the maximum principal stress, maximum principal elastic strain, strain energy; finally, the blade total deformation were calculated for both feet. In experimental work, the load-deflection test was done for foot to calculate the bending the results were very close to
... Show MoreThe present research had dealt with preparing bars with the length of about (13 cm) and adiametar of (1.5 cm) of composite materials with metal matrix represented by (Al-Cu-Mg) alloy cast enforced by (ZrO2) particles with chosen weight percentages (1.5, 2.5 ,3.5, 5.5 %). The base cast and the composite materials were prepared by casting method by uses vortex Technique inorder to fix up (ZrO2) particles in homogeneous way on the base cast. In addition to that, two main groups of composite materials were prepared depending on the particles size of (ZrO2) , respectively. &n
... Show MoreThis research focuses on studying the effects of soil movement on the behavior of an existing pile driven in sandy soil. A physical model has been manufactured to investigate the effect of construction of an embankment adjacent to free head single pile driven in sand of dry unit weight of 13.5 kN/m3. The model pile of diameter (D) of 10 mm are tested under two conditions of loading: loaded axially and without load. The model piles are instrumented with strain gauges along the embedded length to measure strains resulting from the soil movement. The embankment loads are applied at distances of 2.5, 5, and 10D from the edge of the pile. The results obtained from the
The aim of this article is to study the dynamical behavior of an eco-epidemiological model. A prey-predator model comprising infectious disease in prey species and stage structure in predator species is suggested and studied. Presumed that the prey species growing logistically in the absence of predator and the ferocity process happened by Lotka-Volterra functional response. The existence, uniqueness, and boundedness of the solution of the model are investigated. The stability constraints of all equilibrium points are determined. The constraints of persistence of the model are established. The local bifurcation near every equilibrium point is analyzed. The global dynamics of the model are investigated numerically and confronted with the obt
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is to determine the effect of internal marketing through three dimensions: vision, development, and reward - on organizational citizenship behavior in three private universities in Iraq. Organizations’ view of their members as internal customers could be made them more realistic in dealing with the reasons for leaving and going to other organizations. This can promote business organizations to build an organizational environment that contributes to making the organization look like the homeland of those workers. The research method is descriptive and analytical. The tool for data collection was the questionnaire. Statistical software (SPSS V.23 and AMOS V.23) was used to analyze the data. The research sample was r
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