A bolted–welded hybrid demountable shear connector for use in deconstructable steel–concrete composite buildings and bridges was proposed. The hybrid connector consisted of a partially threaded stud, which was welded on the flange of a steel section, and a machined steel tube with compatible geometry, which was bolted on the stud. Four standard pushout tests according to Eurocode 4 were carried out to assess the shear performance of the hybrid connector. The experimental results show that the initial stiffness, shear resistance, and slip capacity of the proposed connector were higher than those of traditional welded studs. The hybrid connector was a ductile connector, according to Eurocode 4, with slip capacity higher than 6 mm. A nonlinear finite-element model was calibrated against the pushout tests and found capable of reproducing the experimental behavior with good agreement. The verified finite-element model was then used to conduct a series of parametric studies in order to assess the effect of infilled grout, concrete slab strength, stud diameter, stud tensile strength, tube thickness, and tube tensile strength on the shear resistance and stiffness of the hybrid connector. Based on the experimental and numerical results, a design equation is proposed for the prediction of the shear resistance of the novel connector.
Background: The pandemic crisis prompted the world to adopt unexpected approaches to continue life as normally as possible. The education sector, including professors, students, and the overall teaching system, has been particularly affected. Objective: This study seeks to evaluate the benefits, challenges, and strategies related to COVID-19 from the perspectives of college students, particularly those in higher education in Iraq. Method: The online survey questionnaire was distributed via Google Forms and specifically aimed at undergraduate dental students. Results: A total of 348 students participated in the survey. There was a significant correlation (P > 0.01) between student satisfaction with hybrid learning and their experi
... Show MoreThis paper proposes a new approach, of Clustering Ultrasound images using the Hybrid Filter (CUHF) to determine the gender of the fetus in the early stages. The possible advantage of CUHF, a better result can be achieved when fuzzy c-mean FCM returns incorrect clusters. The proposed approach is conducted in two steps. Firstly, a preprocessing step to decrease the noise presented in ultrasound images by applying the filters: Local Binary Pattern (LBP), median, median and discrete wavelet (DWT),(median, DWT & LBP) and (median & Laplacian) ML. Secondly, implementing Fuzzy C-Mean (FCM) for clustering the resulted images from the first step. Amongst those filters, Median & Laplace has recorded a better accuracy. Our experimental evaluation on re
... Show MoreCompression is the reduction in size of data in order to save space or transmission time. For data transmission, compression can be performed on just the data content or on the entire transmission unit (including header data) depending on a number of factors. In this study, we considered the application of an audio compression method by using text coding where audio compression represented via convert audio file to text file for reducing the time to data transfer by communication channel. Approach: we proposed two coding methods are applied to optimizing the solution by using CFG. Results: we test our application by using 4-bit coding algorithm the results of this method show not satisfy then we proposed a new approach to compress audio fil
... Show MoreThe sensitivity of SnO2 nanoparticles/reduced graphene oxide hybrid to NO2 gas is discussed in the present work using density functional theory (DFT). The SnO2 nanoparticles shapes are taken as pyramids, as proved by experiments. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) edges have oxygen or oxygen-containing functional groups. However, the upper and lower surfaces of rGO are clean, as expected from the oxide reduction procedure. Results show that SnO2 particles are connected at the edges of rGO, making a p-n heterojunction with a reduced agglomeration of SnO2 particles and high gas sensitivity. The DFT results are in
This paper proposes a new approach, of Clustering Ultrasound images using the Hybrid Filter (CUHF) to determine the gender of the fetus in the early stages. The possible advantage of CUHF, a better result can be achieved when fuzzy c-mean FCM returns incorrect clusters. The proposed approach is conducted in two steps. Firstly, a preprocessing step to decrease the noise presented in ultrasound images by applying the filters: Local Binary Pattern (LBP), median, median and discrete wavelet (DWT), (median, DWT & LBP) and (median & Laplacian) ML. Secondly, implementing Fuzzy C-Mean (FCM) for clustering the resulted images from the first step. Amongst those filters, Median & Lap
Hygienic engineering has dedicated a lot of time and energy to studying water filtration because of how important it is to human health. Thorough familiarity with the filtration process is essential for the design engineer to keep up with and profit from advances in filtering technology and equipment as the properties of raw water continue to change. Because it removes sediment, chemicals, odors, and microbes, filtration is an integral part of the water purification process. The most popular technique for treating surface water for municipal water supply is considered fast sand filtration, which can be achieved using either gravity or pressure sand filters. Predicting the performance of units in water treatment plants is
... Show MoreThis paper presents L1-adaptive controller for controlling uncertain parameters and time-varying unknown parameters to control the position of a DC servomotor. For the purpose of comparison, the effectiveness of L1-adaptive controller for position control of studied servomotor has been examined and compared with another adaptive controller; Model Reference Adaptive Controller (MRAC). Robustness of both L1-adaptive controller and model reference adaptive controller to different input reference signals and different structures of uncertainty were studied. Three different types of input signals are taken into account; ramp, step and sinusoidal. The L1-adaptive controller ensured uniformly bounded
... Show MoreHygienic engineering has dedicated a lot of time and energy to studying water filtration because of how important it is to human health. Thorough familiarity with the filtration process is essential for the design engineer to keep up with and profit from advances in filtering technology and equipment as the properties of raw water continue to change. Because it removes sediment, chemicals, odors, and microbes, filtration is an integral part of the water purification process. The most popular technique for treating surface water for municipal water supply is considered fast sand filtration, which can be achieved using either gravity or pressure sand filters. Predicting the performance of units in water treatment plants is a basic pri
... Show More: The Aluminium (Al) material emerged as a plasmonic material in the wavelength ranges from the ultraviolet to the visible bands in different on-chip plasmonic applications. In this paper, we demonstrate the effect of using Al on the electromagnetic (EM) field distribution of a compact hybrid plasmonic waveguide (HPW) acting as a polarization rotator. We compare the performance of Al with other familiar metals that are widely used as plasmonic materials, which are Silver (Ag) and Gold (Au). Furthermore, we study the effect of reducing the geometrical dimensions of the used materials on the EM field distributions inside the HPW and, consequently, on the efficiency of the polarization rotation. We perform the study based o
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