Mechanical degradation hampers the practical usage of polymers for turbulent drag reduction
application. Mechanical degradation refers to the chemical process in which the activation energy of
polymer chain scission is exceeded by mechanical action on the polymer chain, and bond rupture
occurs. When a water-soluble polymer and surfactant are mixed in water solution, the specific structures
(aggregates) are formed, in which polymer film is formed around micelle. In this work, Xanthan gum (XG) –
Sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SELS) complex formation and its effect on percentage viscosity reduction
(%VR) was studied. It was found that SELS surfactant reduced the mechanical degradation of XG much
more efficiently than th

In this study, a three-dimensional finite element analysis using ANSYS 12.1 program had been employed to simulate simply supported reinforced concrete (RC) T-beams with multiple web circular openings subjected to an impact loading. Three design parameters were considered, including size, location and number of the web openings. Twelve models of simply supported RC T-beams were subjected to one point of transient (impact) loading at mid span. Beams were simulated and analysis results were obtained in terms of mid span deflection-time histories and compared with the results of the solid reference one. The maximum mid span deflection is an important index for evaluating damage levels of the RC beams subjected to impact loading. Three experi

When the flange of a reinforced concrete spandrel beam is in tension, current design codes and specifications enable a portion of the bonded flexure tension reinforcement to be distributed over an effective flange width. The flexural behavior of the RC L-shaped spandrel beam when reinforcement is laterally displaced in the tension flange is investigated experimentally and numerically in this work. Numerical analysis utilizing the finite element method is performed on discretized flanged beam models validated using experimentally verified L-shaped beam specimens to achieve study objectives. A parametric study was carried out to evaluate the influence of various factors on the beam’s flexure behavior. Results showed that

There is an interesting potential for the use of GFRP-pultruded profiles in hybrid GFRP-concrete structural elements, either for new constructions or for the rehabilitation of existing structures. This paper provides experimental and numerical investigations on the flexural performance of reinforced concrete (RC) specimens composite with encased pultruded GFRP I-sections. Five simply supported composite beams were tested in this experimental program to investigate the static flexural behavior of encased GFRP beams with high-strength concrete. Besides, the effect of using shear studs to improve the composite interaction between the GFRP beam and concrete as well as the effect of web stiffeners of GFRP were explored. Encasing the GFRP

The current research aims to identify: 1) the challenges facing blended education from the point of view of teachers of students with disabilities. 2) The challenges facing blended education from the point of view of teachers of students with disabilities according to the gender variable (males-females). 3) The challenges facing blended education from the point of view of teachers of students with disabilities, according to the academic qualifications of graduates

(institute-bachelors-masters). 4) The challenges facing blended education from the point of view of male and female teachers, according to the functional service period with students with disabilities (less than 8 years - from 9 to 15 years - 16 years and above). 5) the

Experimental investigation of the influence of inserting the metal foam to the solar chimney to induce natural ventilation are described and analyzed in this work. To carry out the experimental test, two identical solar chimneys (without insertion of metal foam and with insertion of metal foam) are designed and placed facing south with dimensions of length× width× air gap (2 m× 1 m× 0.2 m). Four incline angles are tested (20^o,30^o,45^o,60^o) for each chimney in Baghdad climate condition (33.3^o latitude, 44.4^o longitude) on October, November, December 2018. The solar chimney performance is investigated by experimentally recording absorber pl

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by persistent joint inflammation, which is a defining feature of this chronic inflammatory condition. Considerable advancements have been made in the field of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic medicines (DMARDs), which effectively mitigate inflammation and forestall further joint deterioration. Anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) drugs, which are a class of biological DMARDs (bDMARDs), have been efficaciously employed in the treatment of RA in recent times Adalimumab, a TNF inhibitor, has demonstrated significant efficacy in reducing disease symptoms and halting disease progression in patients with RA. However, its use is associated with major side effects and high costs. In addition,

The avoidance strategy of prey to predation and the predation strategy for predators are important topics in evolutionary biology. Both prey and predators adjust their behaviors in order to obtain the maximal benefits and to raise their biomass for each. Therefore, this paper is aimed at studying the impact of prey’s fear and group defense against predation on the dynamics of the food-web model. Consequently, in this paper, a mathematical model that describes a tritrophic Leslie-Gower food-web system is formulated. Sokol-Howell type of function response is adapted to describe the predation process due to the prey’s group defensive capability. The effects of fear due to the predation process are considered in the first two levels