In this paper, a shallow foundation (strip footing), 1 m in width is assumed to be constructed on fully saturated and partially saturated Iraqi soils, and analyzed by finite element method. A procedure is proposed to define the H – modulus function from the soil water characteristic curve which is measured by the filter paper method. Fitting methods are applied through the program (SoilVision). Then, the soil water characteristic curve is converted to relation correlating the void ratio and matric suction. The slope of the latter relation can be used to define the H – modulus function. The finite element programs SIGMA/W and SEEP/W are then used in the analysis. Eight nodded isoparametric quadrilateral elements are used for modeling both the soil skeleton and pore water pressure. A parametric study was carried out and different parameters were changed to study their effects on the behavior of partially saturated soil. These parameters include the degree of saturation of the soil (S) and depth of water table. The study reveals that when the soil becomes partially saturated by dropping water table at different depths with different degrees of saturation, the bearing capacity of shallow foundation increases about (4 – 7) times higher than the bearing capacity of the same soil under saturated conditions. This result is attributed to matric suction value (i.e negative pore water pressure). The behavior of soil in partially saturated condition is like
that of fully saturated condition but with smaller values of displacement. It is found that the settlement is reduced when the water table drops to a depth of 2 m (i.e. twice the foundation width) by about (92 %).
Flexure members such as reinforced concrete (RC) simply supported beams subjected to two-point loading were analyzed numerically. The Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) was employed for the treatment the non-smooth h behaviour such as discontinuities and singularities. This method is a powerful technique used for the analysis of the fracture process and crack propagation in concrete. Concrete is a heterogeneous material that consists of coarse aggregate, cement mortar and air voids distributed in the cement paste. Numerical modeling of concrete comprises a two-scale model, using mesoscale and macroscale numerical models. The effectiveness and validity of the Meso-Scale Approach (MSA) in modeling of the reinforced concrete beams w
... Show MoreConcrete filled steel tube (CFST) columns are being popular in civil engineering due to their superior structural characteristics. This paper investigates enhancement in axial behavior of CFST columns by adding steel fibers to plain concrete that infill steel tubes. Four specimens were prepared: two square columns (100*100 mm) and two circular columns (100 mm in diameter). All columns were 60 cm in length. Plain concrete mix and concrete reinforced with steel fibers were used to infill steel tube columns. Ultimate axial load capacity, ductility and failure mode are discussed in this study. The results showed that the ultimate axial load capacity of CFST columns reinforced with steel fibers increased by 28% and 20 % for circular and square c
... Show MoreThis study reveals the results of a numerical simulation performed using the ABAQUS/CAE finite element program. The study aimed to provide a simulation model that can forecast the shear behavior of reinforced concrete beams confined with reinforcing meshes. Limited numerical studies have been conducted using geogrid or FRP mesh as shear reinforcement, with limited representation accuracy and limited material quality. The results were compared to published experimental findings in the literature. The finding of the finite element model and the experimental results were highly comparable; consequently, the model was determined to be valid. Following this, the domain of numerical analyses was broadened to include the investigation of m
... Show MoreLight naphtha one of the products from distillation column in oil refineries used as feedstock for gasoline production. The major constituents of light naphtha are (Normal Paraffin, Isoparaffin, Naphthene, and Aromatic). In this paper, we used zeolite (5A) with uniform pores size (5Aº) to separate normal paraffin from light naphtha, due to suitable pore size for this process and compare the behavior of adsorption with activated carbon which has a wide range of pores size (micropores and mesopores) and high surface area. The process is done in a continuous system - Fixed bed reactor- at the vapor phase with the constant conditions of flow rate 5 ml/min, temperature 180oC, pressure 1.6 bar and 100-gram weight o
... Show MoreThe Invar effect in 3D transition metal such as Ni and Mn, were prepared on a series composition of binary Ni1-xMnx system with x=0.3, 0.5, 0.8 by using powder metallurgy technique. In this work, the characterization of structural and thermal properties have been investigated experimentally by X-ray diffraction, thermal expansion coefficient and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) techniques. The results show that anonymously negative thermal expansion coefficient are changeable in the structure. The results were explained due to the instability relation between magnetic spins with lattice distortion on some of ferromagnetic metals.
Cooling towers is one of the most important unit in industry, they are used to dispose heat from cooling media used in the integrated units. The choice of the cooling media plays recently an important rule due to fresh-water scarcity. The use of saline as a cooling media become of growing interest, but the corrosion problem has to be taken in consideration. In this study the simultaneous effect of cooling tower operation parameters on the corrosion rate of mild-steel is considered. The role of NaCl content is found to be pronounced more than the working solution temperature and flowrate. The corrosion of mild-steel in these studied factors had shown an interesting result especially with the NaCl% content. Firstly, there was an increase in t
... Show MoreCarbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) were widely used in strengthening reinforced concrete members
in the last few years, these fibers consist mainly of high strength fibers which increase the member capacity in addition to changing the mode of failure of the reinforced concrete beams. Experimental and theoretical investigations were carried to find the behavior of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by CFRP in shear and bending. The experimental work included testing of 12 beams divided into 4 groups; each group contains 3 beams. The following parameters were taken into consideration: - Concrete crushing strength. - CFRP strengthening location (shear strengthening and both shear and flexure strengthening). Reinforced beams were