This research presents experimental and theoretical investigation of 15 reinforced concrete spliced and nonspliced girder models. Splices of hooked dowels and cast in place joints, with or without strengthening steel plates were used. Post-tensioning had been used to enhance the splice strength for some spliced girders. The ANSYS computer program was used for analyzing the spliced and non-spliced girders. A nonlinear three dimensional element was used to represent all test girders. The experimental results have shown that for a single span girder using steel plate connectors in the splice zone has given a sufficient continuity to resist flexural stresses in this region. The experimental results have shown that the deflection of hooked do

Internal conversion coefficients (ICC) and electron–positron pair conversion coefficients (PCC) for multipole transition of the core nucleus 88Sr have been calculated theoretically. The calculation is based on the relativistic Dirac–Fock (DF) solutions using the so called ‘‘Frozen Orbital’’ approximation, takes into account the effect of atomic vacancies created in the conversion process, covering a transition energies of 1–5000 keV. A large number of points were used to minimize any errors due to mesh-size effects. The internal conversion coefficients display a smooth monotonic dependence on transition energy, multipolarity and atomic shell. Comparing the values of PCC to ICC, it is interesting to note, that the energy dep

Silver-bismuth iodide (ABI) ternary semiconductors, such as AgBi2I7, AgBiI4, Ag2BiI5, and Ag3BiI6, have emerged as promising lead-free light absorbers for photovoltaic applications due to their favorable optoelectronic properties. Despite recent advances that have improved power conversion efficiencies from ∼1% to over 5%, ABI-based solar cells still show substantial open-circuit voltage (VOC) losses of up to ∼1 V, which significantly hinder the device performance. These losses have been experimentally attributed to the non-radiative recombination originating from intrinsic defects, however, theoretical understanding of these defect mechanisms remains limited. Here, using density functional theory calculations, we systematical

Spray pyrolysis technique was used to make Carbon60-Zinc oxide (C60-ZnO) thin films, and chemical, structural, antibacterial, and optical characterizations regarding such nanocomposite have been done prior to and following treatment. Fullerene peaks in C60-ZnO thin films are identical and appear at the same angles. Following the treatment of the plasma, the existence regarding fullerene peaks in the thin films investigated suggests that the crystallographic quality related to C60-ZnO thin films has enhanced. Following plasma treatment, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images regarding a C60-ZnO thin film indicate that both zinc oxide and fullerene particles had shrunk in the size and have an even distribution. In addition

Electrochemical Machining is a term given to one of nontraditional machining that uses a chemical reaction associated with electric current to remove the material. The process is depending on the principle of anodic dissolution theory for evaluating material removal during electrochemical process. In this study, the electrochemical machining was used to remove 1 mm from the length of the a workpiece (stainless steel 316 H) by immersing it in to electrolyte (10, 20 and 30 g) of NaCl and Na₂SO₄ to every (1 litter of filtered water).  The tool used was made from copper. Gap size between the workpiece and electrode is (0.5) mm. This study focuses on the effect of the changing the type and concentration of electroly

Chalcogenide glasses SeTe have been prepared from the high purity constituent elements .Thin films of SeTe compound have been deposited by thermal evaporation onto glass substrates for different values of film thickness . The effect of varying thickness on the value of the optical gap is reported . The resultant films were in amorphous nature . The transmittance spectra was measured for that films in the wavelength range (400-1100) nm . The energy gap for such films was determined .

The majority of real-world problems involve not only finding the optimal solution, but also this solution must satisfy one or more constraints. Differential evolution (DE) algorithm with constraints handling has been proposed to solve one of the most fundamental problems in cellular network design. This proposed method has been applied to solve the radio network planning (RNP) in the forthcoming 5G Long Term Evolution (5G LTE) wireless cellular network, that satisfies both deployment cost and energy savings by reducing the number of deployed micro base stations (BSs) in an area of interest. Practically, this has been implemented using constrained strategy that must guarantee good coverage for the users as well. Three differential evolution

There has been a growing interest in the use of chaotic techniques for enabling secure communication in recent years. This need has been motivated by the emergence of a number of wireless services which require the channel to provide very low bit error rates (BER) along with information security. This paper investigates the feasibility of using chaotic communications over Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) channels by combining chaos modulation with a suitable Space Time Block Code (STBC). It is well known that the use of Chaotic Modulation techniques can enhance communication security. However, the performance of systems using Chaos modulation has been observed to be inferior in BER performance as compared to conventional communication