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
This research investigates manganese (Mn) extraction from Electric Arc Furnace Steel Slag (EAFS) by using the Liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) method. The chemical analysis was done on the slag using X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, and atomic absorption spectroscopy. This work consisted of two parts: the first was an extensive study of the effect of variables that can affect the leaching process rate for Mn element from slag (reaction time, nitric acid concentration, solid to liquid ratio, and stirring speed), and the second part evaluates the extraction of Mn element from leached solution. The results showed the possibility of leaching 83.5 % of Mn element from the slag at a temperature of 25°C, nitric acid co
... Show MoreThis paper presents a numerical analysis using ANSYS finite element program to simulate the reinforced concrete slabs with spherical voids. Six full-scale one way bubbled slabs of (3000mm) length with rectangular cross-sectional area of (460mm) width and (150mm) depth are tested as simply supported under two-concentrated load. The results of the finite element model are presented and compared with the experimental data of the tested slabs. Material nonlinearities due to cracking and crushing of concrete and yielding of reinforcement are considered. The general behavior of the finite element models represented by the load-deflection curves at midspan, crack pattern, ultimate load, load-concrete strain curves and failure m
... Show MoreDespite widespread agreement on the beneficial nature of hydrated lime (HL) addition to asphalt concrete mixes, understanding of the effect of HL particle size is still limited. Previous investigations have focused mainly on two different size comparisons, and so certain guidance for a practical application cannot yet be produced. This study investigates three distinct sizes of HL, in the range of regular, nano, and sub-nano scales, for their effects on the properties of modified asphalt concretes. Five different percentages of HL as a partial replacement of ordinary limestone filler in asphalt concrete mixes were studied for wearing course application purposes. Experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties
... Show MoreZinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures were synthesized through the hydrothermal method at various conditions growth times (6,7 and 8 hrs.) and a growth temperature (70, 90, and 100 ºC). The prepared ZnO nanostructure samples were described using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffractometer to distinguish their surface morphologies and crystal structures. The ZnO samples were confirmed to have the same crystal type, with different densities and dimensions (diameter and length). The obtained ZnO nanostructures were used to manufacture gas sensors for NO2 gas detection. Sensing characteristics for the fabricated sensor to NO2 gas were examined at different operating temperatures (180, 200, 220, and 240) ºC with a low gas concentrati
... Show MoreApplying 4K, (Ultra HD) Real-time video streaming via the internet network, with low bitrate and low latency, is the challenge this paper addresses. Compression technology and transfer links are the important elements that influence video quality. So, to deliver video over the internet or another fixed capacity medium, it is essential to compress the video to more controllable bitrates (customarily in the 1-20 Mbps range). In this study, the video quality is examined using the H.265/HEVC compression standard, and the relationship between quality of video and bitrate flow is investigated using various constant rate factors, GOP patterns, quantization parameters, RC-lookahead, and other types of video motion sequences. The ultra
... Show MoreThis study was designed to investigate the effect of different cadmium concentrations on albino mice males' oxidative balance through lipid profile, malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and catalase (CAT) activity estimation in liver and kidney. Parsley Petroselinum crispum was chosen to detect its effect as a natural antioxidant.
Five groups of albino mice males (10 mice each) were treated with (0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 7.5) mg Cd/kg b.w. orally by using gavages needle for 60 days according to 5 days/week protocol, another five mice groups were treated with the same cadmium concentrations mentioned above and 0.1 ml of parsley Petroselinum crispum juice.
The results showed an adverse effect of cadmium on mice oxidative balance, whil
The power factors and electronic thermal conductivities in bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3), lead-telluride (PbTe), and gallium arsenide (GaAs) at room temperature (300K) quantum wires and quantum wells are theoretically investigated. Our formalism rigorously takes into account modification of these power factors and electronic thermal conductivities in free-surface wires and wells due to spatial confinement. From our numerical results, we predict a significant increase of the power factor in quantum wires with diameter w=20 Ã…. The increase is always stronger in quantum wires than in quantum wells of the corresponding dimensions. An unconfined phonon distribution assumed based on the bulk lattice thermal conductivity is then employed
... Show MorePermanent deformation, fatigue and thermal cracking are the three typical distresses of flexible pavement. Using hydrated lime (HL) into the conventional limestone mineral additive has been widely practiced, including in Europe, to improve the mechanical properties of hot mix asphalt (HMA) concrete and as the result the durability of the constructed pavement. Large number of experimental studies have been reported to find the optimum addition of HL for the improvement on HMA concrete mechanical properties, moisture susceptibility and fatigue resistance. Pavement in service is under complex thermomechanical stress-strain conditions due to coupled atmospheric and surrounding environment temperature variation and the traffic loading. To predic
... Show MoreOne of the most interested problems that recently attracts many research investigations in Protein-protein interactions (PPI) networks is complex detection problem. Detecting natural divisions in such complex networks is proved to be extremely NP-hard problem wherein, recently, the field of Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) reveals positive results. The contribution of this work is to introduce a heuristic operator, called protein-complex attraction and repulsion, which is especially tailored for the complex detection problem and to enable the EA to improve its detection ability. The proposed heuristic operator is designed to fine-grain the structure of a complex by dividing it into two more complexes, each being distinguished with a core pr
... Show More