This study presents experimental and numerical investigations on seven one-way, reinforced concrete (RC) slabs with a new technique of slab weight reduction using polystyrene-embedded arched blocks (PEABs). All slabs had the same dimensions, steel reinforcement, and concrete compressive strength. One of these slabs was a solid slab, which was taken as a control slab, while the other six slabs were cast with PEABs. The main variables were the ratio of the length of the PEABs to the length of the slab (lp/L) and the ratio of the height of the PEABs to the total slab depth (hP/H). The minimum decrease in the ultimate load capacity was about 6% with a minimum reduction in the slab weight of 15%. In contrast, the maximum decrease in the ultimate load capacity was about 24% with a maximum reduction in the slab weight of 40%. Moreover, the mode of failure changed from flexure to shear failure, especially for those slabs with an lP/L ratio equal to one. The geometric and material non-linearity was adopted in the proposed finite element (FE) model to simulate the slabs with PEABs using Abaqus software. Good agreement was obtained between the developed FE and experimental results.
The slurry infiltrated fiber concrete (SIFCON) is nowadays considered a special type of high fiber content concrete; it is high strength and high performance material. This paper investigates the effect of spread steel fiber into the slurry mortar on some properties of SIFCON. According to fiber distribution, two sets were used in this investigation. The first set consisted of randomly distributing fibers inside the slurry. The second set was by placing the fibers in an orderly manner inside the slurry. Crimped steel fibers with an aspect ratio of (60) were used. Two different volume fractions percentage of (7% and 9%) by volume of mold were used in both sets for this study. Also, a w/c ratio of (0.35) and superplasticiz
... Show MoreTests were performed on asphalt concrete specimens with (101.6 mm in diameter and 101.6 mm in height), and the results were implemented for calculating permanent deformation and resilient modulus under repeated compressive stress with different levels of stresses (0.068, 0.138 and 0.206) MPa at 40 ºC. Two types of additives namely (carbon black-asphalt) and (SBR-asphalt) were tried as rejuvenators with three percentages of (0.5, 1 and 1.5) % by weight of asphalt cement along with two ratios of AC (1 and 2) % have been implemented as rejuvenator and blended with the reclaimed asphalt concrete. Aged materials were obtained from the site. 100% Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement material from the reclaimed mixture is implemented. A
... Show MoreFrequently, load associated mode of failure, rutting and fatigue, are the main failure types found in some newly constructed roads within Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, and some suburban areas. The use of excessive amount of natural sand in asphalt concrete mixes which is attractive to local contractors could be one of the possible causes to the lack of strength properties of the mixes resulting in frustration in the pavement performance. In this study, the performance properties of asphalt concrete mixes with two natural sand types, desert and river sands, were evaluated. Moreover, five replacement rates of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% by weight of the fine aggregate finer than 4.75 were used. The performance properties including moisture susc
... Show MoreEco-friendly materials are increasingly used in civil engineering to support sustainable development. Conventional concrete relies heavily on Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), the production of which contributes significantly to the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) and fly ash can partially replace OPC, thereby reducing the environmental impact. This study investigates the effect of basalt fiber incorporation on the mechanical properties of geopolymer lightweight concrete. The concrete mixtures consisted of fly ash, slag, pumice aggregate, sand, and an alkaline activator prepared by combining sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate. The mix design included an activator-to-binder ratio of 0.45
... Show MoreElectrochemical corrosion of hydroxyapatite (HAP) coated performance depends on various parameters like applied potential, time, thickness and sintering temperature. Thus, the optimum parameters required for the development of stable HAP coatings was found by using electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique. This study discusses the results obtained from open circuit potential-time measurements (OCP-time), potentiodynamic polarisation and immersion tests for all alloy samples done under varying experimental conditions, so that the optimum coating parameters can be established. The ageing studies of the coated samples were carried out by immersing them in Ringer’s solution for a period of 30 days indicates the importance of stable HAP c
... Show MoreThe current research aims to diagnose the type and level of influence of social media, whose dimensions are represented by (attitudes towards social media marketing, knowledge and use of social media, influence on the Internet and social media, following up on social media) on customer behavior in its dimensions (attracting attention, raising Interest, desire creation, customer response), and the research sought to answer questions related to the research problem by testing the main hypotheses to explore correlations and influence between the two variables, and to achieve research hypothesis tests, the field study was used, as the research sample reached (135) individuals from the director and the assistant director And marketing personnel
... Show MoreThis study was undertaken to diagnose routine settling problems within a third-party oil and gas companies’ Mono-Ethylene Glycol (MEG) regeneration system. Two primary issues were identified including; a) low particle size (<40 μm) resulting in poor settlement within high viscosity MEG solution and b) exposure to hydrocarbon condensate causing modification of particle surface properties through oil-wetting of the particle surface. Analysis of oil-wetted quartz and iron carbonate (FeCO₃) settlement behavior found a greater tendency to remain suspended in the solution and be removed in the rich MEG effluent stream or to strongly float and accumulate at the liquid-vapor interface in comparison to naturally water-wetted particles. As su
... Show MoreTwo new nonsymmetrical mesogenic homologous series of terminal substituent ether (series [Vn]) and carboxy (series [VIn]) incorporating azobenzene and 1,3,4-oxadiazole group were synthesized. Both series have been All compounds thus isolated were purified and characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, 1H NMR, along with thermal analysis and texture observation using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Polarizing Optical Microscopy (POM), respectively. All compounds of the first series exhibited liquid crystalline properties. The homologues [V1]-[V3] display a nematic mesophase, the compounds [V4]-[V7] exhibit a dimorphism behavior, nematic (N) and smectic A (SmA) mesophases, the compounds [V8] and
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