In this paper, a series of experiments were conducted including testing of the capabilities of composite material as an energy absorber. Composite plate specimens with different corrugation profile have been fabricated and tested under the same condition. The corrugated profiles are: sinusoidal, triangle, and square shape. All these specimens were made of glass fibers using hand layup technique. The corrugated plates are subjected to quasi-static compression load. In addition to that same kind of tested specimens have been modeled and tested using Finite Element Method (FEM). Theoretical and experimental results in a form of energy absorption and specific energy have been recorded. It is found that results of theoretical and experimental tests are almost exactly identical. It has been observed that composite plate with square profile recorded the highest energy absorption and specific energy for theoretical as well as experimental tests.

This paper is devoted to study the effect of crashing of vehicles with concrete blocks that placed around lighting poles. Unexpected dangers takes place if crashing occurs. It may cause death of the driver and passengers, or severe injuries. In order to minimize or eliminate this risk, a system made of corrugated composite material plates have been designed to replace the concrete blocks around lighting poles. This system is made of reinforced fiber glass and it is modeled to crash with a model of car exactly similar to the real one, forming a simulation of car accident. Modeling process takes place using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). ANSYS software utilized for this purpose. Simulation was performed at three different speeds of the vehicle. Results obtained have been recorded in a form of deformed mesh, and contours. The results proved that the new designed system is working perfectly and it has the ability to absorb impact energy caused by car accident. Therefore, by using composite material instead of concrete, risk of death and injuries will minimized or completely eliminated.

Currently, ionic liquids (ILs) have apprehended considerable attention as greener substitutions to volatile organic compounds. In this work, duplicate 1-methyl-2-(butyl-4-sulfonate) pyrazolium hydrogensulfate (MSBPHSO₄) were synthesized by two different methods. It is observed that IL2 is significantly less stable and more viscous than IL1. To assess their catalytic actions, each IL was explored individually for in-situ transesterifying of Ricinus Communis seeds. Under similar reaction conditions, the percentage of methyl esters obtained from in-situ transesterification catalyzed by IL1 and IL2 were 88.5 and 76%, respectively. Hence, the use of IL free halide has the opportunity to achieve high esters content. At investigated optimal conditions with increasing the temperatures beyond 120 °C, in contrast to IL1, IL2 led to significant drop in the product yields. This phenomenon means that higher temperatures offer greater …

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Evaluation can be defined as a process of determining the significance of a research output. This is usually done by devising a well-structured study on this output using one or more evaluation measures in which a careful inspection is performed. This paper presents a review of evaluation techniques for Conversational Agents (CAs) and Natural Language Interfaces to Databases (NLIDBs). It then introduces the developed customized evaluation methodology for Conversation-Based Interface to Relational Databases (C-BIRDs). The evaluation methodology created has been divided into two groups of measures. The first is based on quantitative measures, including two measures: task success and dialogue length. The second group is based on a number of qualitative measures, including: prototype ease of use, naturalness of system responses, positive/negative emotion, appearance, text on screen, organization of information, and error message clarity. Then an elaboration is carried out on the devised methodology by adding a discussion and recommendations on the sample size, the experimental setup and the scaling in order to provide a comprehensive evaluation methodology for C-BIRDs. In conclusion the evaluation methodology created is better way for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of C-BIRDs in comparison to the usage of single measure evaluations.

The application of super-hydrophobic nanomaterials for synthesizing membranes with unique physiochemical properties has gained a lot of interest among researchers. The presence of super-hydrophobic materials inside the membrane matrix can play a vital role not only in the separation of toxins, but also to achieve higher water flux with lower fouling tendencies required for an efficient membrane distillation process. In this research, super-hydrophobic carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) were synthesized using powder activated carbon (PAC) as a precursor, whereby the growth was initiated using a bimetallic catalyst of iron (Fe) and molybdenum (Mo). Until recently, no research has been conducted for synthesis and to observe the catalytic influence of bimetallic catalysts on the physiochemical characteristics of the derived CNMs. The synthesis process was carried out using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The CVD process was optimized using Box–Behnken factorial design (BBD), whereby 15 experiments were carried out under different conditions. Three input variables, which were percentage composition of catalysts (percentage of Fe and Mo) and reaction time (tr), were optimized with respect to their impact on the desired percentage output of yield (CY) and contact angle (CA). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) testing was carried out. It was observed that the developed model was statistically significant. The highest CY (320%) and CA (172°) were obtained at the optimal loading of 5% Fe and 2% Mo, with a reaction time of 40 min. Surface morphological features were observed using field emission scanning electron microscopic …

The paper presents new studies on numerical modeling (FEM) for beam-to-column behavior under sagging and hogging bending moment when the framework is exposed to service and unexpected loads that may cause a column loss scenario. This investigation is focused on four bolts end-plate joints with 10 mm thickness which are proven experimentally to have more ductile behavior than other end-plates joints (6, 8 bolts), spite of their weakness to transfer the unexpected loads from the initial state to a residual state of the stable equilibrium, that leads to a failure of limited floor area to adjacent joints when tested experimentally (Saleh, 2014). FEM technique used in this research is an extension of the previous technique and is characterized by the use of a more sophisticated technique than the previous, discovered from the result of continuous research and the use of all the options available in the new version of commercial ABAQUS/CAD software. The elements are designed using multiple layers of specific elements of a brick arranged in such a way that the mesh nodes of the tiles should coincide with certain layers with the top of the shear inlay and in line with reinforcement, not as the former study that used thick shell elements to model the reinforced concrete slab with total negligence of reinforcing steel and bolts between the slap and the beam. This investigation is very complex because of highly nonlinear effects associated with the prediction of joint performance, such as structural imperfections, huge displacements and large rotations, inelastic properties of steel and concrete, bonding effects between steel and concrete, friction between …

The aim of the present paper is focused on nucleation onset and development morphologies of acicular ferrite and to evaluate microstructure and mechanical properties during isothermal austenite transformation in titanium free micro-alloyed steel. Isothermal treatment was carried out in the temperature range 350 to 450 C. These treatments were interrupted at different times between 2 and 1800 s in order to analyze the evolution of the microstructure. Yield stress was determined by compression testing on samples with final Microstructure. The metallographic evaluation was done by using optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) enabled determination of the nucleation onset at all treatments and subsequent on the development of acicular ferrite of isothermally treated titanium free micro-alloyed steel. The results show that during continuous cooling, dominantly acicular ferrite microstructure is formed. Main characteristics of acicular ferrite are intragranular nucleation and strongly disorganized microstructure with a larger ability to deflect cracks. Acicular ferrite is, therefore, widely recognized to be a desirable microstructure due to good mechanical properties.

Available transfer capability is an index to measure the security and economic viability of an interconnected system. However, to accurately determine this index, other associated parameters need to be accurately evaluated. One of these parameters is the capacity benefit margin (CBM). For efficient power generation reliability and sustainability, a certain amount of supply capacity is commonly reserved by utilities, which in most cases remain unused, to reduce the effect of generation outage. To minimize this unused reserve, utilities usually reserve a predetermined amount of tie-line capacity between interconnected areas to have access to external supply. This tie-line reserved for this purpose is termed as capacity benefit margin (CBM). In this paper a technique for computing CBM is used, the sensitivity of CBM support from other areas to the increase in load in one of the areas is investigated, and conclusively, demand side management is proposed to improve the quantification of CBM. The contribution of this work is the assessment of the CBMs support from other areas during a critical condition, using the flexibility of DSM technique. The modified 24-bus IEEE reliability test system is employed for the verification of the approach.

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