To accommodate utilities in buildings, different sizes of openings are provided in the web of reinforced concrete deep beams, which cause reductions in the beam strength and stiffness. This paper aims to investigate experimentally and numerically the effectiveness of using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips, as a strengthening technique, to externally strengthen reinforced concrete continuous deep beams (RCCDBs) with large openings. The experimental work included testing three RCCDBs under five-point bending. A reference specimen was prepared without openings to explore the reductions in strength and stiffness after providing large openings. Openings were created symmetrically at the center of spans of the other specimens to represent 40% of the overall beam depth. Moreover, finite elements (FE) analysis was validated using the experimental results to conduct a parametric study on RCCDBs strengthened with CFRP strips. The results confirmed reductions in the ultimate load by 21% and 7% for the un-strengthened and strengthened specimens, respectively, due to the large openings. Although the large openings caused reductions in capacities, the CFRP strips limited the deterioration by enhancing the specimen capacity by 17% relative to the un-strengthened one.
To promote sustainable steel-concrete composite structures, it is essential to develop special shear connectors that facilitate accelerated construction and deconstruction. A lockbolt demountable shear connector (LBDSC) was recently proposed. While the LBDSC has been evaluated using horizontal and vertical (standard) push-out tests, it is essential to further assess the disassembly mechanism and the positive flexural performance of prefabricated demountable composite beams (PDCBs) under both serviceability and ultimate limit states. Two full-scale test specimens of PDCBs with LBDSC were designed with partial shear connections and assessed using a three or four-point load beam setup under both cyclic and static monotonic loading conditions.
... Show MoreLinear and mass attenuation coefficient of reactive powder concrete (RPC) sample ( of compressive strength equal to 70 Mpa) using beta particles and gamma ray with different energies have been calculated as a function of the absorber thickness and energy. The attenuation coefficient were obtained using NaI(Tl) energy selective scintillation counter with 90Sr/90Y beta source having an energy rang from (0.546-2.274) MeV and gamma ray energies (0.569, 0.662, 1.063, 1.17 and 1.33) MeV . The attenuation coefficient usually depends upon the energy of radiations and nature of the material. The result represented in graphical forms. Exponential decay was observed. It is found that the capability of reactive powder concrete to absorber beta particle
... Show MoreA reduced-order extended state observer (RESO) based a continuous sliding mode control (SMC) is proposed in this paper for the tracking problem of high order Brunovsky systems with the existence of external perturbations and system uncertainties. For this purpose, a composite control is constituted by two consecutive steps. First, the reduced-order ESO (RESO) technique is designed to estimate unknown system states and total disturbance without estimating an available state. Second, the continuous SMC law is designed based on the estimations supplied by the RESO estimator in order to govern the nominal system part. More importantly, the robustness performance is well achieved by compensating not only the lumped disturbance, but also its esti
... Show MoreThis paper deals with the determination of stresses and deflections of clamped circular diaphragm strengthened by one or two ring-shaped concentric ribs, under uniform static and dynamic pressures. The simulation has been achieved by using the well-known engineering software finite element package MSC/NASTRAN.
As a design study, the effect of using a clamped ring, and the effect of using a ring-shaped rib on both surfaces of diaphragm instead of one, has been discussed in this work. To show the effectiveness of this study, results of this work have been compared with published data [1].
In the conclusion, the authors underline the validity of the&n
... Show MoreMost of the recent works related to the construction industry in Iraq are focused on investigating the validity of local raw materials as alternatives to the imported materials necessary for some practical applications, especially in thermal and sound insulation. This investigation includes the use of limestone dust as partial substitution of cement in combination with foam agent and silica fume to produce sustainable Lightweight Foam Concrete (LWFC). This study consists of two stages. In the first stage, trial mixes were performed to find the optimum dosage of foam agent. Limestone dust was used as a partial replacement for cement. Chemical analysis and fineness showed great similarity with cement. Many concrete mixes were prepared
... Show MoreContamination of surface and groundwater with excessive concentrations of fluoride is of significant health hazard. Adsorption of fluoride onto waste materials of no economic value could be a potential approach for the treatment of fluoride-bearing water. This experimental and modeling study was devoted to investigate for the first the fluoride removal using unmodified waste granular brick (WGB) in a fixed bed running in continuous mode. Characterization of WGB was carried out by FT-IR, SEM, and EDX analysis. The batch mode experiments showed that they were affected by several parameters including contact time, initial pH, and sorbent dosage. The best values of these parameters that provided maximum removal percent (82%) with the in
... Show MoreRecently, increasing material prices coupled with more acute environmental awareness and the implementation of regulation has driven a strong movement toward the adoption of sustainable construction technology. In the pavement industry, using low temperature asphalt mixes and recycled concrete aggregate are viewed as effective engineering solutions to address the challenges posed by climate change and sustainable development. However, to date, no research has investigated these two factors simultaneously for pavement material. This paper reports on initial work which attempts to address this shortcoming. At first, a novel treatment method is used to improve the quality of recycled concrete coarse aggregates. Thereafter, the treated recycled
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