This study presents experimental and numerical investigations on seven one-way, reinforced concrete (RC) slabs with a new technique of slab weight reduction using polystyrene-embedded arched blocks (PEABs). All slabs had the same dimensions, steel reinforcement, and concrete compressive strength. One of these slabs was a solid slab, which was taken as a control slab, while the other six slabs were cast with PEABs. The main variables were the ratio of the length of the PEABs to the length of the slab (lp/L) and the ratio of the height of the PEABs to the total slab depth (hP/H). The minimum decrease in the ultimate load capacity was about 6% with a minimum reduction in the slab weight of 15%. In contrast, the maximum decrease in the

The paper presents mainly the dynamic response of an angle ply composite laminated plates subjected to thermo-mechanical loading. The response are analyzed by analytically using Newmark direct integration method with Navier solution, numerically by ANSYS. The experimental investigation is to fabricate the laminates and to find mechanical and thermal properties of glass-polyester such as longitudinal, transverse young modulus, shear modulus, longitudinal and transverse thermal expansion. Present of temperature could increase dynamic response of plate also depending on lamination angle, type of mechanical load and the value of temperature.

In this study, the upgrading of Iraqi heavy crude oil was achieved utilizing the solvent deasphalting approach (SDA) and enhanced solvent deasphalting (e-SDA) by adding Nanosilica (NS). The NS was synthesized from local sand. The XRD result, referred to as the amorphous phase, has a wide peak at 2Θ= (22 - 23º) The inclusion of hydrogen-bonded silanol groups (Si–O–H) and siloxane groups (Si–O–Si) in the FTIR spectra. The SDA process was handled using n-pentane solvent at various solvent to oil ratios (SOR) (4-16/1ml/g), room and reflux temperature, and 0.5 h mixing time. In the e-SDA process, various fractions of the NS (1–7 wt.%) have been utilized with 61 nm particle size and 560.86 m²/g surface area in the presence of

Aggregate production planning (APP) is one of the most significant and complicated problems in production planning and aim to set overall production levels for each product category to meet fluctuating or uncertain demand in future. and to set decision concerning hiring, firing, overtime, subcontract, carrying inventory level. In this paper, we present a simulated annealing (SA) for multi-objective linear programming to solve APP. SA is considered to be a good tool for imprecise optimization problems. The proposed model minimizes total production and workforce costs. In this study, the proposed SA is compared with particle swarm optimization (PSO). The results show that the proposed SA is effective in reducing total production costs and req

In this study, the hydromorphodynamic simulation of a stretch of the Euphrates River was conducted. The stretch of the Euphrates River extended from Haditha dam to the city of Heet in Al-Anbar Governorate and it is estimated to be 124.4 km. Samples were taken from 3 sites along the banks of the river stretch using sampling equipment. The samples were taken to the laboratory for grain size analysis where the median size (D₅₀) and sediment load were determined. The hydromorphodynamic simulation was conducted using the NACY 2DH solver of the iRIC model.  The model was calibration using the Manning roughness,    sediment load, and median particle size and the validation process showed that the error between th

Selenium is naturally present in the human body, animals, and plants, and is one of the important elements in their growth and maintenance. Recently, the nanoform of selenium has attracted attention due to its low toxicity and a high degree of adsorption compared to its organic and inorganic forms. The current study aimed to examine the effect of Cress leaves (Lepidium sativum L.) extract in combination with selenium nanoparticles in alleviating polycystic ovary syndrome in letrozole-induced PCOS in adult female rats. Nonthermal or cold plasma was used in the synthesis of selenium nanoparticles. Subsequently, the produced nanoparticles were identified, the 30 rats were divided into 6 equal groups, the first group was healthy (negative contr

The double-skin profiled composite wall (DSPCW) system, filled with concrete material, is favorable in modern structures due to its high strength and ductility. Openings may be required within this composite wall (DSPCW) for various reasons, similar to a conventional bearing wall, which can lead to a reduction in bearing capacity. Therefore, to avoid changes in the geometry, materials, and thickness of this DSPCW wall, a new internally stiffening concept has been suggested by providing embedded cold-formed steel tube (CFST) columns. For this purpose, two full-scale DSPCW specimens were tested under static axial load, one of which was fabricated with a large opening size and stiffened with two octagonal CFST columns, while the other

Several attempts have been made to modify the quasi-Newton condition in order to obtain rapid convergence with complete properties (symmetric and positive definite) of the inverse of  Hessian matrix (second derivative of the objective function). There are many unconstrained optimization methods that do not generate positive definiteness of the inverse of Hessian matrix. One of those methods is the symmetric rank 1( H-version) update (SR1 update), where this update satisfies the quasi-Newton condition and the symmetric property of inverse of Hessian matrix, but does not preserve the positive definite property of the inverse of Hessian matrix where the initial inverse of Hessian matrix is positive definiteness. The positive definite prope

        In this work, an anti-reflection coating was prepared in the region (400-1000) nm of wavelength, with a double layer of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) as an inner layer and the second layer of the mixture (SiO₂) and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) with certain ratios, as an outer layer using the chemical spraying method with a number of 6 sprays of layer SiO₂ and 12 sprays of layer SiO₂ - TiO₂. Using the method of chemical spraying deposited on the glass as a substrate with a different number of sprays of SiO₂, and a fixed number of TiO₂-SiO₂. The optical and structural properties were determined using UV-Vis spectroscopy and atomic force mi