This study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From experimental observations, when the girder specimen was cracked and the transverse steel reinforcement bars started straining, the CFRP strips started to work more effectively and contributed together with the transverse steel reinforcement to resist torsion load. Additionally, Finite Element (FE) simulations were developed using Abaqus to model the torsional behavior of the retrofitted girders, the results of which were validated with the experimental data. With the numerical model, the effect of concrete compressive strength, transverse reinforcement spacing, and CFRP strip spacing were examined. The effectiveness of the CFRP strips in enhancing the torsional strength of the girder was found to increase with increasing the spacing between the transverse reinforcement.
An aromatic ester containing two azo groups namely p-nitro phenyl azo-β-naphthyl-(4'-azobenzoic acid)-4-benzoate was synthesized by esterfiaction of 4,4'-azo dibenzoic acid with p-nitro phenyl azo-β-naphthol. Synthesized ester was characterized by CHN-Elemental analysis, FTIR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR. A modified PVA polymer was obtained by grafting 10 g of PVA-polymer via partial esterification with (2, 3, 4 g) p-nitro phenyl azo-1-naphthyl-4-azobenzoic acid)-4-azo benzoate. Grafting PVA-polymer behaviours was studied, by physical measurements (solubility, swelling), thermal properties (DSC) and tensile.
Acrylic polymer/cement nanocomposites in dark and light colors have been developed for coating floors and swimming pools. This work aims to emphasize the effect of cement filling on the mechanical parameters, thermal stability, and wettability of acrylic polymer. The preparation was carried out using the casting method from acrylic polymer coating solution, which was added to cement nanoparticles (65 nm) with weight concentrations of (0, 1, 2, 4, and 8 wt%) to achieve high-quality specifications and good adhesion. Maximum impact strength and Hardness shore A were observed at cement ratios of 2 wt% and 4 wt%, respectively. Changing the filling ratio has a significant effect on the strain of the nanocomposites. The contact angle was i
... Show MoreOver the past few decades, the health benefits are under threat as many commonly used antibiotics have become less and less effective against certain illnesses not only because many of them produce toxic reactions but also due to the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. The clinical use of a combination of antibiotic therapy for Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is probably more effective than monotherapy. The present study aims to estimate the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of Conocarpus erectus leaves extracts against multi-drug resistant P. aeruginosa isolated from different hospitals in Baghdad city. One hundred fifty different clinical specimens were collected from patients from September 2021 to January 2022. All samples were
... Show MoreText Clustering consists of grouping objects of similar categories. The initial centroids influence operation of the system with the potential to become trapped in local optima. The second issue pertains to the impact of a huge number of features on the determination of optimal initial centroids. The problem of dimensionality may be reduced by feature selection. Therefore, Wind Driven Optimization (WDO) was employed as Feature Selection to reduce the unimportant words from the text. In addition, the current study has integrated a novel clustering optimization technique called the WDO (Wasp Swarm Optimization) to effectively determine the most suitable initial centroids. The result showed the new meta-heuristic which is WDO was employed as t
... Show MoreThere are many tools and S/W systems to generate finite state automata, FSA, due to its importance in modeling and simulation and its wide variety of applications. However, no appropriate tool that can generate finite state automata, FSA, for DNA motif template due to the huge size of the motif template. In addition to the optional paths in the motif structure which are represented by the gap. These reasons lead to the unavailability of the specifications of the automata to be generated. This absence of specifications makes the generating process very difficult. This paper presents a novel algorithm to construct FSAs for DNA motif templates. This research is the first research presents the problem of generating FSAs for DNA motif temp
... Show MoreThis paper is concerned with combining two different transforms to present a new joint transform FHET and its inverse transform IFHET. Also, the most important property of FHET was concluded and proved, which is called the finite Hankel – Elzaki transforms of the Bessel differential operator property, this property was discussed for two different boundary conditions, Dirichlet and Robin. Where the importance of this property is shown by solving axisymmetric partial differential equations and transitioning to an algebraic equation directly. Also, the joint Finite Hankel-Elzaki transform method was applied in solving a mathematical-physical problem, which is the Hotdog Problem. A steady state which does not depend on time was discussed f
... Show MoreFuture generations of wireless networks are expected to heavily rely on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAV networks have extraordinary features like high mobility, frequent topology change, tolerance to link failure, and extending the coverage area by adding external UAVs. UAV network provides several advantages for civilian, commercial, search and rescue applications. A realistic mobility model must be used to assess the dependability and effectiveness of UAV protocols and algorithms. In this research paper, the performance of the Gauss Markov (GM) and Random Waypoint (RWP) mobility models in multi-UAV networks for a search and rescue scenario is analyzed and evaluated. Additionally, the two mobility models GM and RWP are descr
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