Two novel demountable shear connectors for precast steel-concrete composite bridges are presented. The connectors use high-strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the steel beam with the aid of a special locking configuration that prevents slip of bolts within their holes. Moreover, the connectors promote accelerated construction and overcome typical construction tolerances issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connectors allow bridge disassembly, and therefore, can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow, i.e. (1) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (2) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (3) steel beams can be replaced, while precast

In this investigation, Rayleigh–Ritz method is used to calculate the natural frequencies of rectangular isotropic and laminated symmetric and anti-symmetric cross and angle ply composite plate with general elastic supports along its edges. Each of the admissible functions here is composed of a trigonometric function and an arbitrary continuous function that is introduced to ensure the sufficient smoothness of the so-called residual displacement function at the edges. Perhaps more importantly, this study has developed a general approach for deriving a complete set of admissible functions that can be applied to various boundary conditions. Several numerical examples are studied to demonstrate the accuracy and convergence of the current s

The present study experimentally and numerically investigated the impact behavior of composite reinforced concrete (RC) beams with the pultruded I-GFRP and I-steel beams. Eight specimens of two groups were cast in different configurations. The first group consisted of four specimens and was tested under static load to provide reference results for the second group. The four specimens in the second group were tested first under impact loading and then static loading to determine the residual static strengths of the impacted specimens. The test variables considered the type of encased I-section (steel and GFRP), presence of shear connectors, and drop height during impact tests. A mass of 42.5 kg was dropped on the top surface at the m

In this study, the modified Rayleigh-Ritz method and Fourier series are used to determine the thermal buckling behavior of laminated composite thin plates with a general elastic boundary condition applied to in-plane uniform temperature distribution depending upon classical laminated plate theory(CLPT). A generalized procedure solution is developed for the Rayleigh-Ritz method combined with the synthetic spring technique. The transverse displacement of the orthotropic rectangular plates is not a different term as a new shape expansion of trigonometric series. In this solution approach, the plate transverse deflection and rotation due to bending are developed into principle Fourier series with a sufficient smoothness auxi

The effect of laser radiation on human aorta, coronary, and pulmonary arteries, and pulmonary veins has been investigated. Xenon-Chloride (eximer), Nitrogen, and Nd-YAG pulsed lasers of wavelengths 308, 337, and 1060 nm respectively were used. Their effects on fresh postmortem tissues, normal and diseased, was studied. The diameter and depth of ablation of the exposed tissues, in air, were measured as a function of many factors related to the type of laser and nature of the tissue. The effect of properties of the applied lasers, such as average power density and deposited energy density, on the exposed tissue surface were studied. The increase of these two parameters cause an increase in the depth and diameter of ablation. However the di

The research aims to identify the effect of applying administrative decentralization to an educational performance by assessing educational performance before and after the process of transferring powers from the federal government (the Iraqi Ministry of Education) to local governments (governorates) as well as identifying the appropriate central or decentralized administrative system to advance the educational reality and performance. To achieve the goal of the research, educational data was collected and analyzed, as well as the measurement of educational performance indicators and analysis during two phases, the first represents the stage of applying the central system and spanned between the academic year (2011-2012) and the

The performance of single and two stage solar concentrator were studied ' " The ratio of the primary to the secondary mirrors diameter is taking to be 0.5, depending on the theoretical calculation for the accumulated energy by the concentrator with ratio between 0.0 to 0.9. The design of the systems were designed and examined by using a ray-tracing program. The efficiency of the single and the two stage concentrators are calculated and compared with and without cooling systems.