A novel demountable shear connector is proposed to link a concrete slab to steel sections in a way that resulting steel-concrete composite floor is demountable, i.e. it can be easily dismantled at the end of its service life. The proposed connectors consist of two parts: the first part is a hollow steel tube with internal threads at its lower end. The second part is a compatible partially threaded bolted stud. After linking the stud to the steel section, the hollow steel tube can be fastened over the threaded stud, which create a complete demountable shear connector. The connector is suitable for use in both composite bridges and buildings, and using cast in-situ slabs, precast solid slabs, or hollow-core precast slabs. A series of push-off tests with different parameters including wall thickness of steel tube, compressive strength of concrete slab and infilled grout were carried out to study shear strength, shear stiffness, failure modes and relative slip characteristics of demountable shear connectors. Experimental results indicated that the shear connector has a high strength and initial stiffness, also the slip capacity that is higher than the requirements of the current codes of practice. Finally, it is suggested that under applied loading, concrete slabs do not crack or crush, demountable connectors can yield into plastic state, therefore, concrete slabs and steel beams can be easily replaced, repaired or reused.
Contemporary architecture has witnessed a new innovative trend in design characterized by the creation of interesting free-flowing structures that reflect expressiveness of form and design, as well as the uniqueness of structure and approaches of construction. These fascinating structures are often perceived as landmarks that blend harmoniously into their surroundings. In the last two decades, parametric design and advanced computational tools, with prefabrication and construction techniques, enabled architects and engineers to explore new materials and methods to create such impressive structures, breaking the obsolete ways of thinking. Several examples of free-form structures lack obviously to explore architectural potentialities,
... Show MoreThe main factors that make it possible to get the corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete are chloride ions and the absorption of carbon dioxide from the environment, and each of them works with a mechanism which destroys the stable immunity of rebar in the concrete. In this work the effect of carbon dioxide content in the artificial concrete solution on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel reinforcing bar (CSRB) was studied, potentiostatically using CO2 stream gas at 6 level of concentrations; 0.03 to 2.0 weight percent, and the effect of rising electrolyte temperature was also followed in the range 20 to 50ᴼ C. Tafel plots and cyclic polarization procedures were obeyed to investigate the c
... Show MoreIn this study, the effect of the combination of micro steel fibers and additives (calcium hydroxide and sodium carbonate) on the size of cracks formation and healing them were investigated. This study aims to apply the use of self-healing phenomenon to repair cracks and to enhance the service life of the concrete structures. Micro steel fibers straight type were used in this research with 0.2% and 0.4% by volume of concrete. A weight of 20 and 30 kg/m3 of Ca(OH)2 and 2 and 3 kg/m3 of Na2CO3 were used as a partial cement replacement. The results confirm that the concrete cracks were significantly self-healed up to 30 days re-curing. Cracks width up to 0.2 mm were comp
... Show MoreConstruction joints are stopping places in the process of placing concrete, and they are required because in many structures it is impractical to place concrete in one continuous operation. The amount of concrete that can be placed at one time is governed by the batching and mixing capacity and by the strength of the formwork. A good construction joint should provide adequate flexural and shear continuity through the interface.
In this study, the effect of location of construction joints on the performance of reinforced concrete structural elements is experimentally investigated.
Nineteen beam specimens with dimensions of 200×200×950 mm were tested. The variables investigated are the location of the construction joints
... Show MorePultruded materials made of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) come in a broad range of shapes, such as bars, I-sections, C-sections, etc. FRP materials are starting to compete with steel as structural materials owing to their great resistance, low self-weight, and cheap maintenance costs, especially in corrosive conditions. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel concrete Composite Column (CC) using Encased I-Section (EIS) as a reinforcement in contrast to traditional steel bars by using Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) as I-section (CC-EIS) to evaluate the effectiveness of the hybrid columns which have been built by combining GFRP profiles with concrete columns. To achieve the aims of this study, nine circular co
... Show MoreThis study synthesized zeolite 4A, and hierarchical composite structure consisting of zeolite 4A- carbon were successfully prepared. Hydrothermal method was used to grow a layer of zeolite 4A over porous carbon surfaces to enhance mass transfer and increase surface area of zeolite. The products then were used to remove radioactive cesium137Cs from liquid wastewater. Iraqi dates leaves midribs (DM) were used as locally available agricultural waste to prepare low- cost porous carbon, using carbonization method in tubular furnace at 900C for two hours. Hierarchical porous structures including zeolite are prepared by mechanically activating the carbon surface via Ultrasonicating nanoparticles suspension of ground zeolite type 4A.F
... Show MoreIn this work, the photodetection performance of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers and its composite with yttrium oxide (Y2O3) at different concentrations (2.5, 5, 10) wt% are examined deposited on p-type Si with (111) orientation. Electrospinning technique was used to create nanofiber composites. Adding Y2O3 significantly impacts the PVA nanofibers where ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy optical absorption energy gap decreases with increased concentration (2.8, 2.6, and 2.3) eV. X-ray diffraction was used to investigate crystal structure, which is cubic structure. The chemical composition study was conducted using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra, which revealed the stretching vibrations related to the Y-O bon
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