ABSTRACT Background: This study measured the effects of three parameters pH value, length of immersion and type of archwire on metal ions released from orthodontic appliances. Materials and Methods: Ninety maxillary halves simulated fixed orthodontic appliances that were immersed in artificial saliva of different pH values (6.75, 5 and 3.5) during 28 day period. Three types of archwires were used: stainless steel, nickel titanium and thermal activated nickel titanium. The quantity of nickel and chromium ions was determined with the use of atomic force spectrophotometer while iron ions by spectrophotometer. Each orthodontic set was weighted two times, before the ligation and immersion in the artificial saliva and after 28 days at the end of

The reality of the field of construction projects in Iraq refers to needing for the development of performance in order to improve quality and reduce defects and errors and to control the time and cost, so there is needing for the application of effective methods in this area, one of the methods that can be applied in this area is the manner of Six Sigma. This research aims to enhance the performance and quality improvement for the construction projects by improving performance in the work of the implementation of the concrete structure depending on the Six Sigma methodology, and for the purpose of achieving the aim of the research, the researcher firstly depends on the theoretical study that include the concepts of qual

Porous asphalt paving is a modern design method that differs from the usual asphalt pavements' traditional designs. The difference is that the design structure of porous pavements allows the free passage of fluids through their layers, which controls or reduces the amount of runoff or water accumulated in the area by allowing the flow of rain and surface runoff.  The cross-structure of this type of paving works as a suitable method for managing rainwater and representing groundwater recharge. The overall benefits of porous asphalt pavements include environmental services and safety features, including controlling the build-up of contaminated metals on the road surface, rainwater management, resistance to slipping ac

Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars have gained popularity as a corrosion-resistant alternative to traditional steel reinforcement in Reinforced Concrete (RC) elements. This study investigates the flexural behavior of PRC panels reinforced with GFRP bars. The study variables included the GFRP reinforcement ratio and the number of embedded steel section distributions. Six concrete panels were fabricated, each measuring 2500 mm in length, with a rectangular cross-section of 750 mm in width and 150 mm in thickness. All panels were reinforced with GFRP bars and divided into two groups based on the reinforcement ratios of 0.532% and 0.266%. For each group, one panel served as the control specimen, while the remaining two were inte

This article investigates the development of the following material properties of concrete with time: compressive strength, tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and fracture energy. These properties were determined at seven different hydration ages (18 h, 30 h, 48 h, 72 h, 7 days, 14 days, 28 days) for four pure cement concrete mixes totaling 336 specimens tested throughout the study. Experimental data obtained were used to assess the relationship of the above properties with the concrete compressive strength and how these relationships are affected with age. Further, this study investigates prediction models available in literature and recommendations are made for models that are found suitable for application to early age conc

The present investigation focuses on the response of simply supported reinforced concrete rectangular-section beams with multiple openings of different sizes, numbers, and geometrical configurations. The advantages of the reinforcement concrete beams with multiple opening are mainly, practical benefit including decreasing the floor heights due to passage of the utilities through the beam rather than the passage beneath it, and constructional benefit that includes the reduction of the self-weight of structure resulting due to the reduction of the dead load that achieves economic design. To optimize beam self-weight with its ultimate resistance capacity, ten reinforced concrete beams having a length, width, and depth of 2700, 100, and

The adopted accelerated curing methods in the experimental work are 55ºC and 82ºC according to British standard methods. The concrete mix with the characteristics compressive strength of 35MPa is design according to the ACI 211.1, the mix proportion is (1:2.65:3.82) for cement, fine and coarse aggregate, respectively. The concrete reinforced with different volume fraction (0.25, 0.5 and 0.75)% of glass, carbon and polypropylene fibers. The experimental results showed that the accelerated curing method using 82ºC gives a compressive strength higher than 55ºC method for all concrete mixes. In addition, the fiber reinforced concrete with 0.75% gives the maximum compressive strength, flexural and splitting tensile strength for all types of

This paper presents the application of nonlinear finite element models in the analysis of dapped-ends pre-stressed reinforced concrete girders under static loading by using ANSYS software. The girder dimensions are (4.90 m span, 0.40 m depth, 0.20 m width, 0.20 m nib depth, and 0.10 m nib length) and the parameters considered in this research are the pre-stress effect, and strand profile (straight and draped).

    The numerical results are compared with the experimental results of the same girders. The comparisons are carried out in terms of initial prestress effect, load- deflection curve, and failure load. Good agreement was obtained between the analytical and experimental results. Even that, the

The present work is concerned with the investigation of the behavior and ultimate capacity of axially loaded reinforced concrete columns in presence of transverse openings under axial load plus uniaxial bending. The experimental program includes testing of twenty reinforced concrete columns (150 × 150 × 700 mm) under concentric and eccentric load. Parameters considered include opening size, load eccentricity and influence of the direction of load eccentricity with respect to the longitudinal axis of the opening. Experimental results are discussed based on load – lateral mid height deflection curves, load – longitudinal shortening behavior, ultimate load and failure modes. It is found that when the direction of load