For more than a decade, externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites successfully utilized in retrofitting reinforced concrete structural elements. The function of CFRP reinforcement in increasing the ductility of reinforced concrete (RC) beam is essential in such members. Flexural and shear behaviors, ductility, and confinement were the main studied properties that used the CFRP as a strengthening material. However, limited attention has been paid to investigate the energy absorption of torsion strengthening of concrete members, especially two-span concrete beams. Hence, the target of this work is to investigate the effectiveness of CFRP-strengthening technique with regard to energy absorption of two-span RC beams subjected to pure torsion. The experimental program comprises the investigation of two groups; the first group comprises eight un-strengthened beam specimens, while the second group consists of eight strengthened beam specimens tested under torsional forces. The energy absorption capacity measured from the area under the curve of torque-angle of twist for tested beams. Two parameters were studied, the influence of concrete compressive strength and the angle of a twist. Experimental results indicated that all beams wrapped with CFRP sheet display superior torsional energy absorption capacity compared to the control specimens. The energy absorption may consider as a safety index for the torsional capacity of two-span RC beams under service loadings. Therefore, it is possible to avoid structural as well as material damages by understanding the concept of energy absorption that is one of the important experimental findings presented in this study.
In this work, metal oxides nanostructures, mainly, copper oxide (CuO), nickel oxide (NiO), titanium dioxide (TiO2), and multilayer structure were synthesized by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The structural purity and nanoparticle size of the prepared nanostructures were determined. The individual metal oxide samples (CuO, NiO and TiO2) showed high structural purity and minimum particle sizes of 34, 44, 61 nm, respectively. As well, the multilayer structure showed high structural purity as no elements or compounds other than the three oxides were founds in the final sample while the minimum particle size was 18 nm. This reduction in nanoparticle size can be considered as an advantage for the dc reactive magnetron sputtering tec
... Show MoreIn this work, a novel design for the NiO/TiO2 heterojunction solar cells is presented. Highly-pure nanopowders prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique were used to form the heterojunctions. The electrical characteristics of the proposed design were compared to those of a conventional thin film heterojunction design prepared by the same technique. A higher efficiency of 300% was achieved by the proposed design. This attempt can be considered as the first to fabricate solar cells from highly-pure nanopowders of two different semiconductors.
This study was carried out to investigate the preparation of thermosetting polymeric blend consisting of three adhesive types, namely: epoxy, polyvinyl formal (PVF) and unsaturated polyester. Both of epoxy and PVF were used as a matrix-binder at fixed weight. Whilst unsaturated polyester was used at different weights and added to the matrix so as to produce prepared epoxy-PVF-unsaturated polyester blend. Several experiments were performed at different operating conditions, mixing speed and time at room temperature to identify the most favorable operating conditions. The optimum mixing speed and mixing time for the prepared blend were 500rpm and 5 minutes respectively.
Solid wastes-synthetic sack fib
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is a techno-economic analysis of the use of concentrated solar energy technologies in the Iraqi city, considering the concentrated solar energy technology is a renewable energy technology that derives its resources from the sun and is replenished at a rate that exceeds its use. It is also inexhaustible and environmentally friendly energy from its environmental footprint, unlike traditional fossil energy which produces greenhouse gases and a major cause of global warming.
This research measures the costs of concentrated solar energy technology to Reduce the effects caused by other energies and work to fill part of the shortfall in the total electricity production, even at a specific percentage, in preparati
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to look at the potential of a local sustainable energy network in a pre-existing context to develop a novel design beneficial to the environment. Nowadays, the concept of smart cities is still in the developmental phase/stage andwe are currently residing in a transitional period, therefore it is very important to discover new solutions that show direct benefits the people may get from transforming their city from a traditional to a smart city. Using experience and knowledge of successful projects in various European and non-European smart cities, this study attempts to demonstrate the practical potential of gradually moving existing cities to t
... Show MoreIncreased downscaling of CMOS circuits with respect to feature size and threshold voltage has a result of dramatically increasing in leakage current. So, leakage power reduction is an important design issue for active and standby modes as long as the technology scaling increased. In this paper, a simultaneous active and standby energy optimization methodology is proposed for 22 nm sub-threshold CMOS circuits. In the first phase, we investigate the dual threshold voltage design for active energy per cycle minimization. A slack based genetic algorithm is proposed to find the optimal reverse body bias assignment to set of noncritical paths gates to ensure low active energy per cycle with the maximum allowable frequency at the optimal supply vo
... Show MoreThe characterization of ZnO and ZnO:In thin films were confirmed by spray pyrolysis technique. The films were deposited onto glass substrate at a temperature of 450°C. Optical absorption measurements were also studied by UV-VIS technique in the wavelength range 300-900 nm which was used to calculate the optical constants. The changes in dispersion and Urbach parameters were investigated as a function of In content. The optical energy gap was decreased and the wide band tails were increased in width from 616 to 844 eV as the In content increased from 0wt.% to 3wt.%. The single–oscillator parameters were determined also the change in dispersion was investigated before and after doping.
The holmium plasma induced by a 1064-nmQ-switched Nd:YAG laser in air was investigated. This work was done theoretically and experimentally. Cowan code was used to get the emission spectra for different transition of the holmium target. In the experimental work, the evolution of the plasma was studied by acquiring spectral images at different laser pulse energies (600,650,700, 750, and 800 mJ). The repetition rates of (1Hz and 10Hz) in the UV region (200-400 nm). The results indicate that, the emission line intensities increase with increasing of the laser pulse energy and repetition rate. The strongest emission spectra appeared when the laser pulse energy is 800mJ and 10 Hz repetition rate at λ= 345.64nm, with the maximum intensi
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