A novel demountable shear connector is proposed to link a concrete slab to steel sections in a way that resulting steel-concrete composite floor is demountable, i.e. it can be easily dismantled at the end of its service life. The proposed connectors consist of two parts: the first part is a hollow steel tube with internal threads at its lower end. The second part is a compatible partially threaded bolted stud. After linking the stud to the steel section, the hollow steel tube can be fastened over the threaded stud, which create a complete demountable shear connector. The connector is suitable for use in both composite bridges and buildings, and using cast in-situ slabs, precast solid slabs, or hollow-core precast slabs. A series of push-off

Partial shading is one of the problems that affects the power production and the efficiency of photovoltaic module. A series of experimental work have been done of partial shading of   monocrystalline PV module; 50W, I_sc: 3.1A, V_oc: 22V with 36 cells in series is achieved. Non-linear power output responses of the module are observed by applying various cases of partial shading (vertical and horizontal shading of solar cells in the module). Shading a single cell (corner cell) has the greatest impact on output energy. Horizontal shading or vertical shading reduced the power from 41W to 18W at constant solar radiation 1000W/m² and steady state condition. Vertical blocking a column

   The inhibitive action of a blend of sodium nitrite/sodium hexametaphosphate (SN+SHMP) on corrosion of carbon steel in simulated cooling water systems (CWS) has been investigated by weight loss and electrochemical polarization technique. The effect of temperature, velocity, and salts concentrations on corrosion of carbon steel were studied in the absence and presence of mixed inhibiting blend. Also the effect of inhibitors blend concentrations (SN+SHMP), temperatures, and rotational velocity, i.e., Reynolds number (Re) on corrosion rate of carbon steel were investigated using Second-order Rotatable Design (Box-Wilson Design) in performing weight loss and corrosion potential approach. Electrochemical polarization measurements

This paper proposes a novel finite-time generalized proportional integral observer (FTGPIO) based a sliding mode control (SMC) scheme for the tracking control problem of high order uncertain systems subject to fast time-varying disturbances. For this purpose, the construction of the controller consists of two consecutive steps. First, the novel FTGPIO is designed to observe unmeasurable plant dynamics states and disturbance with its higher time derivatives in finite time rather than infinite time as in the standard GPIO. In the FTGPO estimator, the finite time convergence rate of estimations is well achieved, whereas the convergence rate of estimations by classical GPIO is asymptotic and slow. Secondly, on the basis of the finite and fast e

The aim of this study is to investigate the existence of some heavy metals (lead, cadmium, chromium) in colored plastic table dishes and study the migration of these metals to the food meals and the affecting factors in migration , such as storage period and food temperature. Six kinds of colored plastic table dishes were collected from Baghdad markets. The heavy metals in table dishes and in the prepared food meals put in them were estimated using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Shimadzu A5000). The results indicated the existence of lead in all samples (1.61_1.00 mg/ kg) and chromium in three samples (0.85_0.97 mg/ kg) while other samples are free of chromium, and cadmium. Investigating the migration of these metals to food at dif

This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of microbial contamination in food keeping freezers in some local markets in Baghdad city/ Iraq, as well as the contamination of the hands of workers in markets, and the possibility of contamination caused by the transport of food. 30 samples of snow ice found in food keeping freezers in local markets was randomly collected, and 30 swabs from workers hands were taken from the same markets at the same time. Microbiological examination of ice samples was conducted as well as the hands of workers’swabs, and the bacteria were isolated and diagnosed through microbiological and biochemical tests followed. Microbial test results showed some isolates of bacteria in ice samples obtained from food keep

The friendly-environment geophysical methods are commonly used in various engineering and near-surface environmental investigations. Electrical Resistivity Imaging technique was used to investigate the subsurface rocks, sediments properties of a proposed industrial site to characterize the lateral and vertical lithological changes. via the electrical resistivity, to give an overview about the karst, weak and robust subsoil zones. Nineteen 2D ERI profiles using Wenner array with 2 m electrode spacing have been applied to investigate the specific industry area. One of these profiles has been conducted with one-meter electrode spacing. The surveyed profiles are divided into a number of blocks, each block consists of several parallel pr

The study aims to investigate the effect of Al2O3 and Al additions to Nickel-base superalloys as a coating layer on oxidation resistance, and structural behavior of nickel superalloys such as IN 738 LC. Nickel-base superalloys are popular as base materials for hot components in industrial gas turbines such as blades due to their superior mechanical performance and high-temperature oxidation resistance, but the combustion gases' existence generates hot oxidation at high temperatures for long durations of time, resulting in corrosion of turbine blades which lead to massive economic losses. Turbine blades used in Iraqi electrical gas power stations require costly maintenance using traditional processes regularly. These blades are made