Free vibration behavior was developed under the ratio of critical buckling temperature of laminated composite thin plates with the general elastic boundary condition. The equations of motion were found based on classical laminated plate theory (CLPT) while the solution functions consists of trigonometric function and a continuous function that is added to guarantee the sufficient smoother of the so-named remaining displacement function at the boundaries, in this research, a modified Fourier series were used, a generalized procedure solution was developed using Ritz method combined with the imaginary spring technique. The influences of many design parameters such as angles of layers, aspect ratio, thickness ratio, and ratio of initial in-

Heuristic approaches are traditionally applied to find the optimal size and optimal location of Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) devices in power systems. Genetic Algorithm (GA) technique has been applied to solve power engineering optimization problems giving better results than classical methods. This paper shows the application of GA for optimal sizing and allocation of a Static Compensator (STATCOM) in a power system. STATCOM devices used to increase transmission systems capacity and enhance voltage stability by regulate the voltages at its terminal by controlling the amount of reactive power injected into or absorbed from the power system. IEEE 5-bus standard system is used as an example to illustrate the te

The simulation of passively Q-switching is four non – linear first order differential equations. The optimization of passively Q-switching simulation was carried out using the constrained Rosenbrock technique. The maximization option in this technique was utilized to the fourth equation as an objective function; the parameters, γa, γc and β as were dealt with as decision variables. A FORTRAN program was written to determine the optimum values of the decision variables through the simulation of the four coupled equations, for ruby laser Q–switched by Dy +2: CaF2.For different Dy +2:CaF2 molecules number, the values of decision variables was predicted using our written program. The relaxation time of Dy +2: CaF2, used with ruby was

A novel demountable shear connector for precast steel-concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high-strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents bolts from slipping within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes the typical construction tolerance issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly. Therefore, it can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow including the following: (1) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (2) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (