This study aimed to investigate the incorporation of recycled waste compact discs (WCDs) powder in concrete mixes to replace the fine aggregate by 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. Compared to the reference concrete mix, results revealed that using WCDs powder in concrete mixes improved the workability and the dry density. The results demonstrated that the compressive, flexural, and split tensile strengths values for the WCDs-modified concrete mixes showed tendency to increase above the reference mix. However, at 28 days curing age, the strengths values for WCDs-modified concrete mixes were comparable to those for the reference mix. The leaching test revealed that none of the WCDs constituents was detected in the leachant after 180 days. The findings of this study indicated a sustainable alternative for diminution the effects on the environment posed by waste CDs. Significant agreement between experimental results and those predicted by the artificial neural networks (ANN) modeling was observed.
This research is devoted to study the strengthening technique for the existing reinforced concrete beams using external post-tensioning. An analytical methodology is proposed to predict the value of the effective prestress force for the external tendons required to close cracks in existing beams. The external prestressing force required to close cracks in existing members is only a part from the total strengthening force.
A computer program created by Oukaili (1997) and developed by Alhawwassi (2008) to evaluate curvature and deflection for reinforced concrete beams or internally prestressed concrete beams is modified to evaluate the deflection and the stress of the external tendons for the externally strengthened beams using Matlab
Rutting has a significant impact on the pavements' performance. Rutting depth is often used as a parameter to assess the quality of pavements. The Asphalt Institute (AI) design method prescribes a maximum allowable rutting depth of 13mm, whereas the AASHTO design method stipulates a critical serviceability index of 2.5 which is equivalent to an average rutting depth of 15mm. In this research, static and repeated compression tests were performed to evaluate the permanent strain based on (1) the relationship between mix properties (asphalt content and type), and (2) testing temperature. The results indicated that the accumulated plastic strain was higher during the repeated load test than that during the static load tests. Notably, temperatur
... Show MoreArtificial fish swarm algorithm (AFSA) is one of the critical swarm intelligent algorithms. In this
paper, the authors decide to enhance AFSA via diversity operators (AFSA-DO). The diversity operators will
be producing more diverse solutions for AFSA to obtain reasonable resolutions. AFSA-DO has been used to
solve flexible job shop scheduling problems (FJSSP). However, the FJSSP is a significant problem in the
domain of optimization and operation research. Several research papers dealt with methods of solving this
issue, including forms of intelligence of the swarms. In this paper, a set of FJSSP target samples are tested
employing the improved algorithm to confirm its effectiveness and evaluate its ex
Stabilization of phenol trapped by agricultural waste: a study of the influence of ambient temperature on the adsorbed phenol
This paper presents an experimental and numerical study which was carried out to examine the influence of the size and the layout of the web openings on the load carrying capacity and the serviceability of reinforced concrete deep beams. Five full-scale simply supported reinforced concrete deep beams with two large web openings created in shear regions were tested up to failure. The shear span to overall depth ratio was (1.1). Square openings were located symmetrically relative to the midspan section either at the midpoint or at the interior boundaries of the shear span. Two different side dimensions for the square openings were considered, mainly, (200) mm and (230) mm. The strength results proved that the shear capacity of the dee
... Show MoreThis paper presents an experimental and numerical study which was carried out to examine the influence of the size and the layout of the web openings on the load carrying capacity and the serviceability of reinforced concrete deep beams. Five full-scale simply supported reinforced concrete deep beams with two large web openings created in shear regions were tested up to failure. The shear span to overall depth ratio was (1.1). Square openings were located symmetrically relative to the midspan section either at the midpoint or at the interior boundaries of the shear span. Two different side dimensions for the square openings were considered, mainly, (200) mm and (230) mm. The strength results proved that the shear capacity of the dee
... Show MoreA two time step stochastic multi-variables multi-sites hydrological data forecasting model was developed and verified using a case study. The philosophy of this model is to use the cross-variables correlations, cross-sites correlations and the two steps time lag correlations simultaneously, for estimating the parameters of the model which then are modified using the mutation process of the genetic algorithm optimization model. The objective function that to be minimized is the Akiake test value. The case study is of four variables and three sites. The variables are the monthly air temperature, humidity, precipitation, and evaporation; the sites are Sulaimania, Chwarta, and Penjwin, which are located north Iraq. The model performance was
... Show MoreLongitudinal data is becoming increasingly common, especially in the medical and economic fields, and various methods have been analyzed and developed to analyze this type of data.
In this research, the focus was on compiling and analyzing this data, as cluster analysis plays an important role in identifying and grouping co-expressed subfiles over time and employing them on the nonparametric smoothing cubic B-spline model, which is characterized by providing continuous first and second derivatives, resulting in a smoother curve with fewer abrupt changes in slope. It is also more flexible and can pick up on more complex patterns and fluctuations in the data.
The longitudinal balanced data profile was compiled into subgroup
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