This paper deals with load-deflection behavior the jointed plain concrete pavement system using steel dowel bars as a mechanism to transmit load across the expansion joints. Experimentally, four models of the jointed plain concrete pavement system were made, each model consists of two slabs of plain concrete that connected together across expansion by two dowel bars and the concrete slab were supported by the subgrade soil. Two variables were dealt with, the first is diameter of dowel bar (12, 16 and 20 mm) and the second is type of the subgrade soil, two types of soil were used which classified according to the (AASHTO): Type I (A-6) and type II (A-7-6). Experimental results showed that increasing dowel bar diameter from 12 mm to 20 mm

This paper presents a study (experimentally) for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) beams with Near-Surface-Mounted (NSM) technique. The use of this technique with CFRP strips or rebars is an efficient technology for increasing the strength for flexure and shear or for repairing damaged reinforced concrete (RC) members. The objective of this research is to study, experimentally, RC beams either repaired or strengthened with NSM CFRP strips and follow their flexural behavior and failure modes. NSM-CFRP strips were used to strengthen three RC beam specimens, one of them was initially strengthened and tested up to failure. Four beam specimens have been initially subjected to preloading to 50% and 80% of ultimate load. Two of the sp

This paper is devoted to investigate the effect of burning by fire flame on the behavior and load carrying capacity of rectangular reinforced concrete rigid beams. Reduced scale beam models (which are believed to resemble as much as possible field conditions) were suggested. Five end restrained beam specimens were cast and tested. The specimens were subjected to fire flame temperatures ranging from (25-750) ºC at age of 60 days, two temperature levels of 400ºC and 750ºC were chosen with exposure duration of 1.5 hour. The cast rectangular reinforced concretebeam (2250×375×375 mm) (length× width× height respectively) were subjected to fire. Results indicate remarkable reduction in the ultrasonic pulse velocity and rebound number of

This research presents an experimental investigation of the rehabilitation efficiency of the damaged hybrid reinforced concrete beams with openings in the shear region. The study investigates the difference in retrofitting ability of hybrid beams compared to traditional beams and the effect of two openings compared with one opening equalized to two holes in the area. Five RC beams classified into two groups, A and B, were primarily tested to full-failure under two-point loads. The first group (A) contained beams with normal weight concrete. The second group (hybrid) included beams with lightweight concrete for web and bottom flange, whereas the top flange was made from normal concrete. Two types of openings were considered in this s

In general, path-planning problem is one of most important task in the field of robotics. This paper describes the path-planning problem of mobile robot based on various metaheuristic algorithms. The suitable collision free path of a robot must satisfies certain optimization criteria such as feasibility, minimum path length, safety and smoothness and so on. In this research, various three approaches namely, PSO, Firefly and proposed hybrid FFCPSO are applied in static, known environment to solve the global path-planning problem in three cases. The first case used single mobile robot, the second case used three independent mobile robots and the third case applied three follow up mobile robot.  Simulation results, whi

Many approaches of different complexity already exist to edge detection in
color images. Nevertheless, the question remains of how different are the results
when employing computational costly techniques instead of simple ones. This
paper presents a comparative study on two approaches to color edge detection to
reduce noise in image. The approaches are based on the Sobel operator and the
Laplace operator. Furthermore, an efficient algorithm for implementing the two
operators is presented. The operators have been applied to real images. The results
are presented in this paper. It is shown that the quality of the results increases by
using second derivative operator (Laplace operator). And noise reduced in a good

Fe, Co and Sb nanopowders were fruitfully prepared by electrical wire explosion method in Double distilled and de-ionized water (DDDW) media. The formation of iron, cobalt and antimony (FeCoSb) alloy nanopowder was monitored by X-ray diffraction. The x-ray diffraction pattern indicates that there are iron, cobalt and antimony peaks. Optical properties of this alloy nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Visible absorption spectra. The absorption peak position is shifted to the lower wavelengths when the current increases. That means the mean size of the nanoparticles controlled by changing the magnitude of the current. The surface morphological analysis is carried out by employing Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Particles with varies

Summary Kidney transplantation is widely performed nowadays as an optimal treatment of end stage kidney diseases. Complications such as stenosis in graft renal arteries anastomosis may occur. Different suturing techniques are available for renal artery anastomosis. We aimed to compare the incidence of renal artery stenosis of the transplanted kidney when two suture techniques (continuous or interrupted) used for renal artery anastomosis. Therefore, a retrospectively comparative study was conducted on 44 patients managed with kidney transplantation during the years 2009-2011. Patients assigned into two groups; first group included 20 patients namely, continuous suture group, and the second group included 24 patients in whom the allograft art