It is suitable to use precast steel-concrete composite beams to quickly assemble a bridge or a building, particularly in isolated regions where cast-in-situ concrete is not a practical option. If steel-concrete composite beams are designed to allow demountability, they can also be extremely useful in the aftermath of natural disasters, such as earthquakes or flooding, to replace damaged infrastructure. Furthermore, rapid replacement of slabs is extremely beneficial in case of severe deterioration due to long-term stressors such as fatigue or corrosion. The only way to rapidly assemble and disassemble a steel-concrete composite structure is to use demountable shear connectors to connect/disconnect the steel beams to/from the concrete slab. In an attempt to respond to this demand, recent research developed a removable Friction-Based Shear Connector (FBSC), which eliminates slippage in the steelconcrete interface at SLS (i.e. it offers full-interaction). This paper describes the experimental program that assessed the flexural behaviour of a 9.0 m precast steel-concrete composite beam equipped with FBSCs. The design of the composite beam was based on a 32% degree of partial shear connection, i.e. considerably below the minimum degree specified in Eurocode 4. The paper gives a detailed account of the test results that clearly show that the composite beam with the FBSCs is effective and has properties that match design needs for both SLS and ULS verifications
Solar tracking systems used are to increase the efficiency of the solar cells have attracted the attention of researchers recently due to the fact that the attention has been directed to the renewable energy sources. Solar tracking systems are of two types, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) and sun path tracking. Both types are studied briefly in this paper and a simple low cost sun path tracking system is designed using simple commercially available component. Measurements have been made for comparison between fixed and tracking system. The results have shown that the trackin
Bioethanol production from sugar fermentation is one of the most sustainable alternatives to substitute fossil fuel. production of bioethanol from low grade dates which are rich of sugars. An available sugar from a second grade dates (reduction sugar) was 90g/l in this study. Sugar can be served as essential carbon sources for yeast growth in aerobic condition and can also be converted to bioethanol in anaerobic condition. The effect of various parameters on bioethanol production, fermentation time, pH-values, inoculum size and initial sugar concentration were varied in order to determine the optimal of bioethanol production. The highest bioethanol yield was 33g/l which was obtained with sugar concentration 90 g/l, inocu
... Show MoreFrequently, Load associated mode of failure (rutting and fatigue) as well as, occasionally, moisture damage in some sections poorly drained are the main failure types found in some of the newly constructed road within Baghdad as well as other cities in Iraq. The use of hydrated lime in pavement construction could be one of the possible steps taken in the direction of improving pavement performance and meeting the required standards. In this study, the mechanistic properties of asphalt concrete mixes modified with hydrated lime as a partial replacement of limestone dust mineral filler were evaluated. Seven replacement rates were used; 0,0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 percent by weight of aggregate. Asphalt concrete mixes were prepared at their
... Show MorePhotonic Crystal Fiber Interferometers (PCFIs) are widely used for sensing applications. This work presents the fabrication and the characterization of a relative humidity sensor based on a polymer-coated photonic crystal fiber that operates in a Mach- Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) transmission mode. The fabrication of the sensor involved splicing a short (1 cm) length of Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) between two single-mode fibers (SMF). It was then coated with a layer of agarose solution. Experimental results showed that a high humidity sensitivity of 29.37 pm/%RH was achieved within a measurement range of 27–95%RH. The sensor also showed good repeatability, small size, measurement accuracy and wide humidity range. The RH sensitivity o
... Show MoreBackground: The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different bleaching methods on the shear bond strength of orthodontic Sapphire brackets bonded to human premolars teeth using light cured composite resin and to determine the predominant site of bond failure. Materials and Methods: Thirty freshly extracted human premolars were selected and randomly divided into three groups (10 per group). These groups are: control (unbleached) group, hydrogen peroxide group (HP) 37.5% ; which is the in- office bleaching method group, carbamide peroxide group (CP) 16%; which is the at- home bleaching method group. After bleaching process was performed, all the teeth stored in distilled water in a sealed container at room temperature for
... Show MoreBackground: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of surface treatments of zirconia (grinding and sandblast with 50μm, 100 μm) on shear bond strength between zirconia core and veneering ceramic. Material and methods: Twenty-eight presintered Y-TZP ceramic specimens (IPS e.max ZirCAD, Ivoclar vivadent) were fabricated and sintered according to manufacturer’s instructions. The core specimens were divided randomly in to 4 groups, group 1: no surface treatment, group2: zirconia specimens were ground with silicon carbide paper up to1200 grit under water cooling, group3: zirconia specimens were ground and sandblast with 100 μm alumina, group 4: zirconia specimens were ground and sandblast with 50 μm alumina. Surfa
... Show MorePolymers, being one of the most important materials in dentistry, offer great physical and mechanical qualities, as well as good biocompatibility. Aim of this study was done to evaluate the Polyetherketoneketone and Polyetherketoneketone polymer composite material used as dental implant through tensile strength, Fourier Transform Infrared analysis FTIR, and wettability). Polyetherketoneketone composites (Polyetherketoneketone and Strontium-containing hydroxyapatite) with selected weight percentage ratios of (0, 10%, 20%, 30%), were fabricated using a compression molding technique”, The study involved Samples preparation (sheets) shaped and form into the desired shape according to standard for tests which included tensile strength,
... Show MoreThis study aims to evaluate the influence of the air abrasion of dentin on the shear bond strength of lithium disilicate using three different types of luting cements. Sixty cylindrical specimens were milled from lithium disilicate CAD/CAM blocks (IPSe.max CAD). Sixty sound human maxillary premolar teeth were decoronated to the level of peripheral dentin, then randomly divided into three groups according to the type of luting cement used for the cementation of the lithium disilicate specimens (n = 20); Group A: Glass ionomer cement (Riva Self- Cure); Group B: Adhesive resin cement (Rely X Ultimate); Group C: Self-adhesive resin cement (Rely X U200). Each group was then further subdivided into two subgroups (n=10); Subgroups AI, BI, and CI,
... Show MoreIn this paper, a numerical model for fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis is developed for investigating the aeroelastic response of a single wind turbine blade. The Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory was adopted to calculate the aerodynamic forces considering the effects of wind shear and tower shadow. The wind turbine blade was modeled as a rotating cantilever beam discretized using Finite Element Method (FEM) to analyze the deformation and vibration of the blade. The aeroelastic response of the blade was obtained by coupling these aerodynamic and structural models using a coupled BEM-FEM program written in MATLAB. The governing FSI equations of motion are iteratively calculated at each time step, through exchanging data between
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