The conception and experimental assessment of a removable friction-based shear connector (FBSC) for precast steel-concrete composite bridges is presented. The FBSC uses pre-tensioned high-strength steel bolts that pass through countersunk holes drilled on the top flange of the steel beam. Pre-tensioning of the bolts provides the FBSC with significant frictional resistance that essentially prevents relative slip displacement of the concrete slab with respect to the steel beam under service loading. The countersunk holes are grouted to prevent sudden slip of the FBSC when friction resistance is exceeded. Moreover, the FBSC promotes accelerated bridge construction by fully exploiting prefabrication, does not raise issues relevant to precast co

    The synthesis , characterization and mesomorphic behaviour of new Nacyl , thiourea and imidazole derivatives which derived from corresponding Schiff bases are reported.             All the synthesized compounds which contain flexible methylene group in the centre of the molecule did not show any liquid crystalline properties . The derivatives of N- acyl [III]e  and thiourea [VI]e  which contain  biphenyl and all compounds with one phenyl in the centre of the molecule display liquid crystalline behaviour .While the imidazoles did not show any liquid crystalline properties except [V]b [V]e  with biphenyl in the centre of the molecule . All th

The effect of temperature range from 298 K to 348 K and volume filler content ф on electrical properties of polyethylene PE filled with nickel Ni powders has been investigated. The volume electrical resistivity V  of such composites decreases suddenly by several orders of magnitude at a critical volume concentration (i.e. фc=14.27 Vol.%) ,whereas the dielectric constant   and the A.C electrical conductivity AC  of such composites increase suddenly at a critical volume concentration (i.e. фc=14.27 Vol.%).For volume filler content lower than percolation threshold ф<фc the resistivity decreases with increasing temperature, whereas the dielectric constant and the A.C electrical conductivity of

The creation and characterisation of biodegradable blend films based on chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol for application in a range of packaging is described. The compatibility between the chitosan and PVA polymers was good. Composite films had a compact and homogeneous structure, according to the morphology analysis. The mechanical test result of PVA/CH at concentrations 5% showed, that The higher values of TS recorded in sample (p1, with 40 MPa) while the lower values appeared in sample (p9, with 22.09 MPa), the TS decreased gradually as the amount of PVA increased in blend film. While the blend film of pure Chitosan exhibits a poor mechanical strength which makes it a poor candidate for packaging but Blending CH with PVA together improved

     Magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO NPs) were synthesized by a green method using the peels of Persimmon extract as the reducing agent , magnesium nitrate, and NaOH. This method is eco-friendly and non-toxic. In this study, an ultrasound device was used to reduce the particle size, with the impact on the energy gap was set at the beginning at 5.39 eV and then turned to 4.10 eV. The morphological analysis using atomic force microscopy (AFM)  showed that the grain size for MgO NPs was 67.70 nm which became 42.33 nm after the use of the ultrasound. The shape of the particles was almost spherical and became cylindrical.  In addition the Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) analysis sh

The efficiency of internal combustion engines (ICE) is usually about thirty percent of the total energy of the fuel. The residual energy is lost in the exhaust gas, the lubrication, and the cooling water in the radiators. Recently much of the researcher’s efforts have focused on taking advantage of wasted energy of the exhaust gas. Using a thermoelectric generator (TEG) is one of the promising ways. However, TEG depends entirely on the temperature difference, which may be offered by the exhaust muffler. An experimental test has been conducted to study the thermal performance of a different muffler internal design. The researchers resort to the use of lost energy in an ICE using TEG, which is one of the ways to take adv

        In this study the design and installation of evaporative air cooler was carried out using completely outdoor air (fresh air) according to two stage evaporative cooling principle. The laboratory equipment was installed by designing and manufacturing a cross flow plate heat exchanger, where aluminum plates used for this purpose with dimensions (50 × 30 × 40 cm). The surfaces of heat exchanger were covered by sawdust from wetted channels side, to increase the percentage of wetting these surfaces and hence improve the performance and efficiency of air cooler.

        An experimental study was carried out to estimate the performance of cooling system, where som