The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of moisture concrete of clayey soil on the concrete slabs placed directly over it. This experimental study presents the mechanical properties of the concrete slab when placed on different clayey soil moisture content ranging from 0% to the optimum moisture content of 35%. The tests were performed on soil concrete specimens of 25*30*50 mm exposed to sprayed water curing conditions for 28 days. Tests of compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, crack depth and crack width were investigated through this paper. An ejection relationship between compressive strength of concrete and water content in the soil was observed, with a 26% increase with water increasing from 0% to 35%. The opposite was observed in the ultrasonic pulse velocity test, with a decrease of 58% from 0% to the highest water content ratio. As for crack depth and width, it recorded the highest depth and lowest width at 0% water content due to the increased susceptibility of the soil to the absorption of water from the concrete when it’s totally dry. The experiment has shown that the soil moisture content is considered as a critical factor in controlling concrete cracking, and its variation has considerable implications for concrete crack growth.
Three types of extracts ( aquatic, alcoholic, and oily ) were prepared from the fruits of coconuts, and a series of chemical tests were conducted in addition to the use of the FTIR equipment to determine the active locations in the prepared extracts. The results indicated the presence of active compounds (tannins, saponins, flavonoids, turbines and steroids) in the extracts prepared from the fruits of coconuts, also the antimicrobial capability of these extracts were tested on pathogenic bacteria isolated from wounds and burns infections cases. The results proved that the concentration 80 mg/ml of the aquatic extract is the minimum inhibitory concentration for the microbes: Proteus vulgaris and Pseudomonas fluorescence, while the
... Show MoreA comparative investigation of gas sensing properties of SnO2 doped with WO3 based on thin film and bulk forms was achieved. Thin films were deposited by thermal evaporation technique on glass substrates. Bulk sensors in the shape of pellets were prepared by pressing SnO2:WO3 powder. The polycrystalline nature of the obtained films with tetragonal structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The calculated crystalline size was 52.43 nm. Thickness of the prepared films was found 134 nm. The optical characteristics of the thin films were studied by using UV-VIS Spectrophotometer in the wavelength range 200 nm to 1100 nm, the energy band gap, extinction coefficient and refractive index of the thin film were 2.5 eV , 0.024 and 2.51, respective
... Show MoreAntibiotic resistance is the major growing threat facing the pharmacological treatment of bacterial infections. Therefore, bioprospecting the medicinal plants could provide potential sources for antimicrobial agents. Mimusops, the biggest and widely distributed plant genus of family Sapotaceae, is used in traditional medicines due to its promising pharmacological activities. This study was conducted to elucidate the antimicrobial effect of three unexplored Mimusops spp. (M. kummel, M. laurifolia and M. zeyheri). Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying such antibacterial activity were studied. The Mimusops leaf extracts revealed significant antibacterial activities against the five tested bacter
... Show MoreTo enhance the structural performance of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns, various strengthening techniques have been proposed, including the use of internal steel stiffeners, external wrapping with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets, and embedded steel elements. However, the behavior of concrete-filled stainless-steel tube (CFSST) columns remains insufficiently explored. This study numerically investigates the axial performance of square CFSST columns internally strengthened with embedded I-section steel profiles under biaxial eccentric loading. Finite element (FE) simulations were conducted using ABAQUS v. 6.2, and the developed models were validated against experimental results from the literature. A comprehen
... Show MoreWater absorbent polymers (WAP) are new component in producing building materials. They provide internal curing which reduces autogenous cracking, eliminates autogenous shrinkage, mortar strength increased, enhance early age strength to withstand strain, improve the durability, introduce higher early age compressive strength, have higher performance and reduce the effect of insufficient external curing. This research used different percent of polymer balls to choose the percent that provides good development in compressive strength with time for both water and air curing. The water absorption polymer balls in this research have the ability to absorb water and after usage in concrete they spill out the water (internal curing) and shri
... Show MoreIn this paper, the time-history responses of a square plan two-story reinforced concrete prototype building, considering the elastic and inelastic behavior of the materials, were studied numerically. ABAQUS software was used in three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear dynamic analysis to predict the inelastic response of the buildings. Concrete Damage Plasticity Model (CDPM) has been used to model the inelastic behavior of the reinforced concrete building under seismic excitation. The input data included geometric information, material properties, and the ground motion. The building structure was designed only for gravity load according to ACI 318 with
... Show MoreThe effect of using grinded rocks of (quartzite and porcelanite) as powder of (10 and 20) % replacement by weight of cement for self-compacting concrete slabs was investigated in this study. Five slabs with 15 concrete cubes were tested experimentally at 28 days to study the compressive strength, ultimate load, ultimate deflection, ductility, crack load and steel strain. The test results show that, the compressive strength improvement when replacement of local rock powder reached to (7.3, 4.22) % for (10 and 20) % quartzite powder and (11.3, 16.1) % for (10 and 20) % porcelanite powder, respectively compared to the reference specimen. The ultimate load percentage increase for slabs with (10 and 20) % rep
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