Braces in straight bridge systems improve the lateral-torsional buckling resistance of the girders by reducing the unbraced length, while in horizontally curved and skew bridges, the braces are primary structural elements for controlling deformations by engaging adjacent girders to act as a system to resist the potentially large forces and torques caused by the curved or skewed geometry of the bridge. The cross-frames are usually designed as torsional braces, which increase the overall strength and stiffness of the individual girders by creating a girder system that translates and rotates as a unit along the bracing lines. However, when they transmit the truck’s live load forces, they can produce fatigue cracks at their connection

Due to severe scouring, many bridges failed worldwide. Therefore, the safety of the existing bridge (after contrition) mainly depends on the continuous monitoring of local scour at the substructure. However, the bridge's safety before construction mainly depends on the consideration of local scour estimation at the bridge substructure. Estimating the local scour at the bridge piers is usually done using the available formulae. Almost all the formulae used in estimating local scour at the bridge piers were derived from laboratory data. It is essential to test the performance of proposed local scour formulae using field data. In this study, the performance of selected bridge scours estimation formulae was validated and sta

 The deficit budget, one of the results of increased public spending for their revenues due to the economic pressures imposed by the interest of the economies of those countries from the need to increase government spending in order to revitalize the national economy and accelerate economic growth rates and provide employment to the growing levels of unemployment in those countries opportunities and what is required to address the current debt crisis (borrowing), which has become a big burden on the governments and the need to move towards the application of austerity spending and tax increases, which inevitably forced those countries will be reflected reduced spending on basic aspects of life and their peoples, particularly earners

In this research a theoretical study has been carried out on the behavior and strength of simply supported composite beams strengthened by steel cover plate taking into consideration partial interaction of shear connectors and nonlinear behavior of the materials and shear connectors. Following the procedure that already has been adopted by Johnson (1975), the basic differential equations of equilibrium and compatibility were reduced to single differential equation in terms of interface slip between concrete slab and steel beam. Furthermore, in order to consider the nonlinear behavior of steel, concrete and shear connectors, the basic equation was rearranged so that all terms related to materials are isol

The esterification reaction of ethyl alcohol and acetic acid catalyzed by the ion exchange resin, Amberlyst 15, was investigated. The experimental study was implemented in an isothermal batch reactor. Catalyst loading, initial molar ratio, mixing time and temperature as being the most effective parameters, were extensively studied and discussed. A maximum final conversion of 75% was obtained at 70°C, acid to ethyl alcohol mole ratio of 1/2 and 10 g catalyst loading. Kinetic of the reaction was correlated with Langmuir-Hanshelwood model (LHM). The total rate constant and the adsorption equilibrium of water as a function of the temperature was calculated. The activation energies were found to be as 113876.9 and -49474.95 KJ per Kmol of ac

In modern hydraulic control systems, the trend in hydraulic power applications is to improve efficiency and performance. “Proportional valve” is generally applied to pressure, flow and directional-control valves which continuously convert a variable input signal into a smooth and proportional hydraulic output signal. It creates a variable resistance (orifice) upstream and downstream of a hydraulic actuator, and is meter in/meter out circuit and hence pressure drop, and power losses are inevitable. If velocity (position) feedback is used, flow pattern control is possible. Without aforementioned flow pattern, control is very “loose” and relies on “visual” feed back by the operator. At this point, we should examine how this valv

An experimental and numerical investigation of the effect of using two types of nanofluids with suspending of (Al₂O₃ and CuO) nanoparticles in deionized water with a volume fraction of (0.1% vol.), in addition to use three types of fin plate configurations of (smooth, perforated, and dimple plate) to study the heat transfer enhancement characteristics of commercial fin plate heat sink for cooling computer processing unit. All experimental tests under simulated conditions by using heat flux heater element with input power range of (5, 16, 35, 70, and 100 W). The experimental parameters calculated are such as water and nanofluid as coolant with Reynolds number of (7000, 8000, 9400 and 11300); the air

Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) beams have gained attention due to their promising mechanical properties and potential for structural applications. Combining GFRP core and encasing materials creates a composite beam with superior mechanical properties. This paper describes the testing encased GFRP beams as composite Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams under low-velocity impact load. Theoretical analysis was used with practical results to simulate the tested beams' behavior and predict the generated energies during the impact loading. The impact response was investigated using repeated drops of 42.5 kg falling mass from various heights. An analysis was performed using accelerometer readings to calculate the generalized inertial load. The in