A ‘locking-bolt’ demountable shear connector (LBDSC) is proposed to facilitate the deconstruction and reuse of steel-concrete composite structures, in line with achieving a more sustainable construction design paradigm. The LBDSC is comprised of a grout-filled steel tube and a geometrically compatible partially threaded bolt. The latter has a geometry that ‘locks’ the bolt in compatible holes predrilled on the steel flange and eliminates initial slip and construction tolerance issues. The structural behaviour of the LBDSC is evaluated through nine pushout tests using a horizontal test setup. The effects of the tube thickness, strength of concrete slab, and strength of infilled grout on the shear resistance, initial stiffness, and ductility of the LBDSC are assessed. The experimental results show that the LBDSC can achieve higher shear resistance and similar initial stiffness as compared to traditional welded studs. In addition, all tested LBDSCs exhibited slip capacities ranging from 14 to 32 mm and can be classified as ductile shear connectors according to Eurocode 4. A detailed finite element model was also created and found to be reliable to reproduce the experimental behaviour. Parametric studies were subsequently conducted using the validated model to study further parameters and generalise the experimental results. Due to the specific test setup, non-negligible uplift forces were generated in the connector and the potential implications are discussed.
Background. Body mass index (BMI) is a person's weight in kilograms (or pounds) divided by the square of height in meters (or feet). Obesity affects a wide spectrum of age groups, from the young to the elderly, and there are several eye diseases related to obesity like diabetic retinopathy, floppy eyelid syndrome, retinal vein occlusion, stroke-related vision loss, age-related macular degeneration, and possibly, refractive errors. Refractive errors (RE) are optical imperfections related to the focusing ability of the eye and are the main cause of visual impairment which may result in missed education and employment opportunities, lower productivity and impaired quality of life. Aim. The study aimed to find an association between bod
... Show MoreThere is no access to basic sanitation for half the world's population, leading to Socioeconomic issues, such as scarcity of drinking water and the spread of diseases. In this way, it is of vital importance to develop water management technologies relevant to the target population. In addition, in the separation form of water treatment, the compound often used as a coagulant in water treatment is aluminum sulfate, which provides good results for raw water turbidity and color removal. Studies show, however, that its deposition in the human body, even Alzheimer's disease, can cause serious harm to health and disease development. The study aims to improve the coagulation/flocculation stage related to the amount of flakes, i
... Show MoreCloud computing is a newly developed concept that aims to provide computing resources in the most effective and economical manner. The fundamental idea of cloud computing is to share computing resources among a user group. Cloud computing security is a collection of control-based techniques and strategies that intends to comply with regulatory compliance rules and protect cloud computing-related information, data apps, and infrastructure. On the other hand, data integrity is a guarantee that the digital data are not corrupted, and that only those authorized people can access or modify them (i.e., maintain data consistency, accuracy, and confidence). This review presents an overview of cloud computing concepts, its importance in many
... Show MoreIn light of accelerating environmental degradation, the transition to a green economy is an imperative for achieving sustainable development. This study provides a critical analysis of the international legal and institutional framework governing this transition, revealing a significant gap between normative developments and the institutional framework on one hand, and their practical implementation on the other. The transition faces legal obstacles, including reliance on non-binding voluntary commitments and conflicts between environmental obligations and global trade and investment rules. It also reveals a significant financing gap, as financial flows to developing countries continue to lag behind commitments, in add
... Show MoreAn excellent reputation earned by initiating and practicing sustainable business practices has additional benefits, of which are reducing environmental incidents and an improvement in operational efficiency as this has the potential to help firms improve on productivity and bring down operating costs. Taken further, with ever-increasing socially and environmentally-conscious investors and the public alike, this act of natural resources management could have a significant implication on market value and income of the practicing firms.
The above proposition has been supported by sustainable business practices literature that is continuously conversing and deliberating upon the impact of efficient resource d
... Show MoreCredit card fraud has become an increasing problem due to the growing reliance on electronic payment systems and technological advances that have improved fraud techniques. Numerous financial institutions are looking for the best ways to leverage technological advancements to provide better services to their end users, and researchers used various protection methods to provide security and privacy for credit cards. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the challenges and the proposed solutions to address them. This review provides an overview of the most recent research on the detection of fraudulent credit card transactions to protect those transactions from tampering or improper use, which includes imbalance classes, c
... Show MoreThis research aims to clarify the conceptual framework of social entrepreneurship shows the importance of the development of social entrepreneurship according to the contextual aspects and the social value achieved from these works. It also identifies the degree of level of a sample of women entrepreneurs in Iraq for the extent of the relationship between social entrepreneurship and women's empowerment. It also explains the impact of entrepreneurial work in empowering women and the extent to which there are individual differences between the average scores of the sample members’ estimation of the level of social entrepreneurship according to social status, age group, educational qualification, and specialization according to the s
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