For more than a decade, externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites successfully utilized in retrofitting reinforced concrete structural elements. The function of CFRP reinforcement in increasing the ductility of reinforced concrete (RC) beam is essential in such members. Flexural and shear behaviors, ductility, and confinement were the main studied properties that used the CFRP as a strengthening material. However, limited attention has been paid to investigate the energy absorption of torsion strengthening of concrete members, especially two-span concrete beams. Hence, the target of this work is to investigate the effectiveness of CFRP-strengthening technique with regard to energy absorption of two-span RC beams subjected to pure torsion. The experimental program comprises the investigation of two groups; the first group comprises eight un-strengthened beam specimens, while the second group consists of eight strengthened beam specimens tested under torsional forces. The energy absorption capacity measured from the area under the curve of torque-angle of twist for tested beams. Two parameters were studied, the influence of concrete compressive strength and the angle of a twist. Experimental results indicated that all beams wrapped with CFRP sheet display superior torsional energy absorption capacity compared to the control specimens. The energy absorption may consider as a safety index for the torsional capacity of two-span RC beams under service loadings. Therefore, it is possible to avoid structural as well as material damages by understanding the concept of energy absorption that is one of the important experimental findings presented in this study.
In this work, metal oxides nanostructures, mainly, copper oxide (CuO), nickel oxide (NiO), titanium dioxide (TiO2), and multilayer structure were synthesized by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The structural purity and nanoparticle size of the prepared nanostructures were determined. The individual metal oxide samples (CuO, NiO and TiO2) showed high structural purity and minimum particle sizes of 34, 44, 61 nm, respectively. As well, the multilayer structure showed high structural purity as no elements or compounds other than the three oxides were founds in the final sample while the minimum particle size was 18 nm. This reduction in nanoparticle size can be considered as an advantage for the dc reactive magnetron sputtering tec
... Show MoreIn this work, a novel design for the NiO/TiO2 heterojunction solar cells is presented. Highly-pure nanopowders prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique were used to form the heterojunctions. The electrical characteristics of the proposed design were compared to those of a conventional thin film heterojunction design prepared by the same technique. A higher efficiency of 300% was achieved by the proposed design. This attempt can be considered as the first to fabricate solar cells from highly-pure nanopowders of two different semiconductors.
In this article, the types of renewable energies and the environmental effects of consuming these energies are studied. Energy is one of the things necessary for economic and social development and improving the quality of life, and the presence of continuous and sustainable economic energy is essential for any economic development and growth. Humankind has been aware of renewable energies such as biomass and geothermal energy for a long time and has used these energies as heat sources for shelter. With the beginning of the extraction of fossil fuels such as oil and coal and unlimited access to these products, the use of renewable energy sources, except in remote places and forest areas, has become limited and forgotten. Currently in Iraq,
... Show MoreFirstly, in this study, a brief updated description and applications of different solar collectors used in renewable energy systems for supplying electric and thermal energy was presented. Secondly, an attempt was made to utilize tilting orientation of solar collector for maximizing collector energy with time in respect to horizontal orientation. For energy calculation, global solar radiation was used since they are directly related. For that purpose, field measurements of half-hourly radiation on two flat panels of tilting and horizontal orientations were carried out throughout 8-month period under local climate of Baghdad. Then, energy gain and radiation level averages were calculated based on the field radiation
... Show MoreThe Pulse Coupled Oscillator (PCO) has attracted substantial attention and widely used in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), where it utilizes firefly synchronization to attract mating partners, similar to artificial occurrences that mimic natural phenomena. However, the PCO model might not be applicable for simultaneous transmission and data reception because of energy constraints. Thus, an energy-efficient pulse coupled oscillator (EEPCO) has been proposed, which employs the self-organizing method by combining biologically and non-biologically inspired network systems and has proven to reduce the transmission delay and energy consumption of sensor nodes. However, the EEPCO method has only been experimented in attack-free networks without
... Show MoreA numerical method is developed for calculation of the wake geometry and aerodynamic forces on two-dimensional airfoil under going an arbitrary unsteady motion in an inviscid incompressible flow (panel method). The method is applied to sudden change in airfoil incidence angle and airfoil oscillations at high reduced frequency. The effect of non-linear wake on the unsteady aerodynamic properties and oscillatory amplitude on wake rollup and aerodynamic forces has been studied. The results of the present method shows good accuracy as compared with flat plate and for unsteady motion with heaving and pitching oscillation the present method also shows good trend with the experimental results taken from published data. The method shows good result
... Show MoreThe performance of single and two stage solar concentrator were studied ' " The ratio of the primary to the secondary mirrors diameter is taking to be 0.5, depending on the theoretical calculation for the accumulated energy by the concentrator with ratio between 0.0 to 0.9. The design of the systems were designed and examined by using a ray-tracing program. The efficiency of the single and the two stage concentrators are calculated and compared with and without cooling systems.
The present work evaluated the differences in mechanical properties of two athletic prosthetic feet samples when subjected to impact while running. Two feet samples designated as design A and B were manufactured using layers of different orientations of woven glass fiber reinforced with unsaturated polyester resin as bonding epoxy. The samples’ layers were fabricated with hand lay-up method. A theoretical study was carried out to calculate the mechanical properties of the composite material used in feet manufacturing, then experimental load-deflection test was applied at 0 degree position and 25 degree dorsiflexion feet position and impact test were applied for both feet designs to observe the behavior
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