A novel demountable shear connector for precast steel‐concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high‐strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents slip of bolts within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes typical construction tolerances issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly, and therefore, can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow, i.e. (i) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (ii) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (iii) steel beams can be replaced, while precast decks and shear connectors can be reused. A series of push‐out tests are conducted to assess the behavior of the connector and quantify the effect of important parameters. The experimental results show shear resistance, stiffness, and slip capacity significantly higher than those of welded shear studs along with superior stiffness and strength against slab uplift. Identical tests reveal negligible scatter in the shear load – slip displacement behavior. A design equation is proposed to predict the shear resistance with absolute error less than 8%.
This paper deals with a Twin Rotor Aerodynamic System (TRAS). It is a Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) system with high crosscoupling between its two channels. It proposes a hybrid design procedure that combines frequency response and root locus approaches. The proposed controller is designated as PID-Lead Compensator (PIDLC); the PID controller was designed in previous work using frequency response design specifications, while the lead compensator is proposed in this paper and is designed using the root locus method. A general explicit formula for angle computations in any of the four quadrants is also given. The lead compensator is designed by shifting the dominant closed-loop poles slightly to the left in the
... Show MoreDust and bird residue are problems impeding the operation of solar street lighting systems, especially in semi-desert areas, such as Iraq. The system in this paper was designed and developed locally using simple and inexpensive materials. The system runs automatically. It Connects to solar panels used in solar street lighting, and gets the required electricity from the same solar system. Solar panels are washed with dripping water in less than half a minute by this system. The cleaning period can also be controlled. It can also control, sensing the amount of dust the system operates. The impact of different types of falling dust on panels has also been studied. This was collected from different winds and studied their impact o
... Show MoreThis paper deals with a Twin Rotor Aerodynamic System (TRAS). It is a Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) system with high crosscoupling between its two channels. It proposes a hybrid design procedure that combines frequency response and root locus approaches. The proposed controller is designated as PID-Lead Compensator (PIDLC); the PID controller was designed in previous work using frequency response design specifications, while the lead compensator is proposed in this paper and is designed using the root locus method. A general explicit formula for angle computations in any of the four quadrants is also given. The lead compensator is designed by shifting the dominant closed-loop poles slightly to the left in the s-plane. This has the effect
... Show MoreFree vibration behavior was developed under the ratio of critical buckling temperature of laminated composite thin plates with the general elastic boundary condition. The equations of motion were found based on classical laminated plate theory (CLPT) while the solution functions consists of trigonometric function and a continuous function that is added to guarantee the sufficient smoother of the so-named remaining displacement function at the boundaries, in this research, a modified Fourier series were used, a generalized procedure solution was developed using Ritz method combined with the imaginary spring technique. The influences of many design parameters such as angles of layers, aspect ratio, thickness ratio, and ratio of initial in-
... Show MoreBackground: Dental erosion is a common oral condition which results due to consumption of high caloric and low pH acidic food such as carbonated drinks and fruit juices. It is expected that these food types can cause irreversible damage to dental hard tissues and early deterioration of the dental restorations. So, this study aimed to evaluate and compare the erosive potential effects of orange fruit juice and Miranda orange drink on the microhardness of an orthodontic composite material. Materials and methods: Thirty discs with a thickness of 2 mm and a diameter of 10 mm were prepared from orthodontic bonding composite. The prepared discs were equally divided into three groups (n=10). Microhardness analysis was carried out both prior to
... Show MoreThe objective of the current research is to find an optimum design of hybrid laminated moderate thick composite plates with static constraint. The stacking sequence and ply angle is required for optimization to achieve minimum deflection for hybrid laminated composite plates consist of glass and carbon long fibers reinforcements that impeded in epoxy matrix with known plates dimension and loading. The analysis of plate is by adopting the first-order shear deformation theory and using Navier's solution with Genetic Algorithm to approach the current objective. A program written with MATLAB to find best stacking sequence and ply angles that give minimum deflection, and the results comparing with ANSYS.
The cost-effective removal of heavy metal ions represents a significant challenge in environmental science. In this study, we developed a straightforward and efficient reusable adsorbent by amalgamating chitosan and vermiculite (forming the CSVT composite), and comprehensively investigated its selective adsorption mechanism. Different techniques, such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), zeta potential analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer, Emmett, Teller (BET) analysis were employed for this purpose. The prepared CSVT composite exhibited a larger surface area and higher mesoporosity increasing from 1.9 to 17.24 m2/g compared to pristine chitosan. The adsorption capabilities of the
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This study was conducted on a sample of commercial banks in Iraq, chosen according number of considerations for twenty banks, contained two public banks and eighteen private banks. &
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