This study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From experimental observations, when the girder specimen was cracked and the transverse steel reinforcement bars started straining, the CFRP strips started to work more effectively and contributed together with the transverse steel reinforcement to resist torsion load. Additionally, Finite Element (FE) simulations were developed using Abaqus to model the torsional behavior of the retrofitted girders, the results of which were validated with the experimental data. With the numerical model, the effect of concrete compressive strength, transverse reinforcement spacing, and CFRP strip spacing were examined. The effectiveness of the CFRP strips in enhancing the torsional strength of the girder was found to increase with increasing the spacing between the transverse reinforcement.
Soil pH is one of the main factors to consider before undertaking any agricultural operation. Methods for measuring soil pH vary, but all traditional methods require time, effort, and expertise. This study aimed to determine, predict, and map the spatial distribution of soil pH based on data taken from 50 sites using the Kriging geostatistical tool in ArcGIS as a first step. In the second step, the Support Vector Machines (SVM) machine learning algorithm was used to predict the soil pH based on the CIE-L*a*b values taken from the optical fiber sensor. The standard deviation of the soil pH values was 0.42, which indicates a more reliable measurement and the data distribution is normal.
The D.C electrical and thermoelectrically properties of randomly mixed isolator – electrolyte system as (Al/ PVC – LiF/Al) junction consisting of polyvinyl chloride (PVC)resin reinforced with Lithium Fluoride (LiF) powder were studied. A comparison is made the properties of (PVC) material with varying percentage of (LiF) powder (0%, 30%, 50%, 80%)to find out the effect of reinforcement of isolator material. The composites dissolving in 10ml form tettraHaedroflourn (THF) and Solution were the castled in Petri dish and Laved it dry in the air, The out coming Sample were disc - Like shape of a diameter of about 3cm and thickness reneged between (0.01- 0.018) cm . The composites dissolving in 10ml form tettraHaedroflourn (THF) a
... Show MorePyridine-2, 6-dicarbohydrazide comp (2) was synthesized from ethanolic solution of diethyl pyridine-2, 6- dicarboxylate comp (1) with excess of hydrazine hydrate. Newly five polymers (P1-P5) were synthesized from reaction of pyridine-2, 6-dicarbohydrazide comp (2) with five different di carboxylic acid in the presence of poly phosphoric acid (PPA). The antibacterial activity of the synthesized polymers was screened against some gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Antifungal activity of these polymers was evaluated in vitro against some yeast like fungi such as albicans (candida albicans). Polymers P3, P4 and P5 exhibited highest antibacterial and antifungal against all microorganisms under test.
This study investigates the potential of biogas recovery from used engine oil (UEO) by co-digestion with animals’ manure, including cow dung (CD), poultry manure (PM), and cattle manure (CM). The experimental work was carried out in anaerobic biodigesters at mesophilic conditions (37°C). Two groups of biodigesters were prepared. Each group consisted of 4 digesters. UEO was the main component in the first group of biodigesters with and without inoculum, whereby a mix of UEO and petroleum refinery oily sludge (ROS) was the component in the second group of biodigesters. The results revealed that for UEO-based biodigesters, maximum biogas production was 0.98, 1.23, 1.93, and 0 ml/g VS from UEO±CD, UEO±CM, UEO±PM, and U
... Show MoreThe impact of exposure to different sizes of particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM7, and PM10) was evaluated in Babylon concrete plant workers who had been exposed to concrete dust for at least 10 years. The effects of these particles on the hematological parameters, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and antioxidant enzymes (catalase and glutathione peroxidase ) were examined. The results exhibited that the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 were higher than the acceptable limits approved by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The blood parameters, namely white blood cells (WBC), red blood cell (RBC) and platelets counts, demonstrated non-significant differences between workers exposed to the PM as compared to the control gro
... Show MoreIn this research, The effect of substituting sucrose with different level of DS and DG (0, 25, 30,50,70 and 100%) on the physiochemical, microbial and sensory properties of cake were studied. Cake models were as well construed for microbial content and organic structure during, before then next 35 days storing at experimental temperature. Results showed no significant variances (p < 0.01) in the chemo physical structure of the date and grape test cake for protein values while there were significant differences for Asch, fiber and fat content values, Sensory assessment results showed high significant variance (p < 0.01) among the cake trials with the exemption of texture (6.04-6.
SIFCON is characterized as a construction material of high ductility and very high strength. It is suitable for concrete structures used for special applications. However, the density of SIFCON is much higher than that of Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC) due to the need for a large amount of high-density steel fibers. This work examines the split tensile behavior of modified weight slurry infiltrated fiber concrete utilizing a mixture of two types of fibers, steel fiber, and polyolefin fiber. For the investigation, 30 cylinders and 15 cubes were poured. The used volume fraction (V.F) is (6 %) and the use of five series once as each type separately and once a hybrid in proportions of 2/3 polyolefin with 1/3 steel fiber and
... Show MoreThis paper includes an experimental study of hydrogen mass flow rate and inlet hydrogen pressure effect on the fuel cell performance. Depending on the experimental results, a model of fuel cell based on artificial neural networks is proposed. A back propagation learning rule with the log-sigmoid activation function is adopted to construct neural networks model. Experimental data resulting from 36 fuel cell tests are used as a learning data. The hydrogen mass flow rate, applied load and inlet hydrogen pressure are inputs to fuel cell model, while the current and voltage are outputs. Proposed model could successfully predict the fuel cell performance in good agreement with actual data. This work is extended to developed fuel cell feedback
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