Search results for: fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete

Authors: Hatthaphone Silimanotham, Michael Henry

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The effective maintenance of road bridge infrastructure is becoming a widely researched topic in the civil engineering field. Deterioration is one of the main issues in bridge performance, and it is necessary to understand how bridges deteriorate to optimally plan budget allocation for bridge maintenance. In Laos, many bridges are in a deteriorated state, which may affect the performance of the bridge. Due to bridge deterioration, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport is interested in the deterioration model to allocate the budget efficiently and support the bridge maintenance planning. A deterioration model can be used to predict the bridge condition in the future based on the observed behavior in the past. This paper analyzes the available inspection data of road bridges on the road classifications network to build deterioration prediction models for the main bridge type found at the provincial level (concrete slab, concrete girder, and steel truss) using probabilistic deterioration modeling by linear regression method. The analysis targets there has three bridge types in the 18 provinces of Laos and estimates the bridge deterioration rating for evaluating the bridge's remaining life. This research thus considers the relationship between the service period and the bridge condition to represent the probability of bridge condition in the future. The results of the study can be used for a variety of bridge management tasks, including maintenance planning, budgeting, and evaluating bridge assets.

Keywords: deterioration model, bridge condition, bridge management, probabilistic modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Abdul Basit, Shahid Latif, Shah Mehmood

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Lawn fabric was usually prepared from originally of linen but at present chiefly cotton. Lawn fabric is worn in summer. Cotton Lawn is a lightweight pure cloth which is heavier than voile. It is so fine that it is somewhat transparent. It is soft and superb to wear thus it is perfect for summer clothes or for regular wear in hotter climates. Tencel (Lyocell) fiber is considered as the fiber of the future as Tencel fibers are absorbent, soft, and extremely strong when wet or dry, and resistant to wrinkles. Fibers are more absorbent than cotton, softer than silk and cooler than linen. High water absorption and water vapor absorption give more heat capacity and heat balancing effect for thermo-regulation. This thermo-regulation is analogous with the action of phase-change-materials. The thermal wear properties result in cool and dry touch that gives cooling effect in sportswear, and the warmth properties (when used as an insulation layer). These cooling and warming effects are adaptive to the environment giving comfort in a broad range of climatic conditions. In this work, single yarns of Ne 80s were made. Yarns were made from conventional ring spinning. Different yarns of 100% cotton, 100% micro-Tencel and Cotton:micro-Tencel blends (67:33, 50:50:33:67) were made. The mechanical and comfort properties of the woven fabrics were compared. The mechanical properties include the tensile and tear strength, bending length, pilling and abrasion resistance whereas comfort properties include the air permeability, moisture management and thermal resistance. It is found that as the content of the micro-Tencel is increased, the mechanical and comfort properties of the woven fabric are also increased.

Keywords: combed cotton, comfort properties , mechanical properties, micro-Tencel

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Authors: Daniel John Avutia

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Solar Photovoltaic (PV) development is reliant on the sunlight hours available in a particular region to generate electricity. A potential area is assessed through its inherent solar radiation intensity measured in watts per square meter. Solar energy development involves the feasibility, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the relevant infrastructure, but this paper will focus on the design and construction aspects. Africa and Australasia have the longest sunlight hours per day and the highest solar radiation per square meter, 7 sunlight hours/day and 5 kWh/day respectively. Solar PV support configurations consist of fixed-tilt support and tracker system structures, the differentiation being that the latter was introduced to improve the power generation efficiency of the former due to the sun tracking movement capabilities. The installation of Solar PV foundations involves rammed piles, drilling/grout piles and shallow raft reinforced concrete structures. This paper presents a case study of 2 solar PV projects in Africa and Australia, discussing the foundation design consideration and associated construction cost implications of the selected foundations systems. Solar PV foundations represent up to one fifth of the civil works costs in a project. Therefore, the selection of the most structurally sound and feasible foundation for the prevailing ground conditions is critical towards solar PV development. The design wind speed measured by anemometers govern the pile embedment depth for rammed and drill/grout foundation systems. The lateral pile deflection and vertical pull out resistance of piles increase proportionally with the embedment depth for uniform pile geometry and geology. The pile driving rate may also be used to anticipate the lateral resistance and skin friction restraining the pile. Rammed pile foundations are the most structurally suitable due to the pile skin friction and ease of installation in various geological conditions. The competitiveness of solar PV projects within the renewable energy mix is governed by lowering capital expenditure, improving power generation efficiency and power storage technological advances. The power generation reliability and efficiency are areas for further research within the renewable energy niche.

Keywords: design, foundations, piles, solar

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Moustafa Shawkey, Ahmed G. El-Deen, H. M. Mahmoud, M. M. Rashad

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Piezoelectric based cement nanocomposite is a promising technology for generating an electric charge upon mechanical stress of concrete structure. Moreover, piezoelectric nanomaterials play a vital role for providing accurate system of structural health monitoring (SHM) of the concrete structure. In light of increasing awareness of environmental protection and energy crises, generating renewable and green energy form cement based on piezoelectric nanomaterials attracts the attention of the researchers. Herein, we introduce a facial synthesis for bismuth ferrite nanoparticles (BiFeO3 NPs) as piezoelectric nanomaterial via sol gel strategy. The fabricated piezoelectric nanoparticles are uniformly distributed to cement-based nanomaterials with different ratios. The morphological shape was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) as well as the crystal structure has been confirmed using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The ferroelectric and magnetic behaviours of BiFeO3 NPs have been investigated. Then, dielectric constant for the prepared cement samples nanocomposites (εr) is calculated. Intercalating BiFeO3 NPs into cement materials achieved remarkable results as piezoelectric cement materials, distinct enhancement in ferroelectric and magnetic properties. Overall, this present study introduces an effective approach to improve the electrical properties based cement applications.

Keywords: piezoelectric nanomaterials, cement technology, bismuth ferrite nanoparticles, dielectric

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Authors: Mustapha Kamel Mihoubi, Essadik Kerkar, Abdelhamid Hebbouche

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According to the randomness of most of the factors affecting the stability of a gravity dam, probability theory is generally used to TESTING the risk of failure and there is a confusing logical transition from the state of stability failed state, so the stability failure process is considered as a probable event. The control of risk of product failures is of capital importance for the control from a cross analysis of the gravity of the consequences and effects of the probability of occurrence of identified major accidents and can incur a significant risk to the concrete dam structures. Probabilistic risk analysis models are used to provide a better understanding the reliability and structural failure of the works, including when calculating stability of large structures to a major risk in the event of an accident or breakdown. This work is interested in the study of the probability of failure of concrete dams through the application of the reliability analysis methods including the methods used in engineering. It is in our case of the use of level II methods via the study limit state. Hence, the probability of product failures is estimated by analytical methods of the type FORM (First Order Reliability Method), SORM (Second Order Reliability Method). By way of comparison, a second level III method was used which generates a full analysis of the problem and involving an integration of the probability density function of, random variables are extended to the field of security by using of the method of Mont-Carlo simulations. Taking into account the change in stress following load combinations: normal, exceptional and extreme the acting on the dam, calculation results obtained have provided acceptable failure probability values which largely corroborate the theory, in fact, the probability of failure tends to increase with increasing load intensities thus causing a significant decrease in strength, especially in the presence of combinations of unique and extreme loads. Shear forces then induce a shift threatens the reliability of the structure by intolerable values of the probability of product failures. Especially, in case THE increase of uplift in a hypothetical default of the drainage system.

Keywords: dam, failure, limit state, monte-carlo, reliability, probability, sliding, Taylor

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Authors: Ajay Kumar Sinha, Sharad Singh, Anukriti Sinha

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Passive energy dissipation method for earthquake protection of structures is undergoing developments for improved performance. Combined use of different types of damping mechanisms has shown positive results in the near past. Different supplemental damping methods like viscous damping, frictional damping and metallic damping are being combined together for optimum performance. The conventional method of connecting passive dampers to structures is a parallel connection between the damper unit and structural member. Researchers are investigating coupling effect of different types of dampers. The most popular choice among the research community is coupling of viscous dampers and frictional dampers. The series and parallel coupling of these damping units are being studied for relative performance of the coupled system on response control of structures against earthquake. In this paper an attempt has been made to couple Fluid Viscous Dampers and Frictional Dampers in series and parallel to form a single unit of damping system. The relative performance of the coupled units has been studied on three dimensional reinforced concrete framed structure. The current theories of structural dynamics in practice for viscous damping and frictional damping have been incorporated in this study. The time history analysis of the structural system with coupled damper units, uncoupled damper units as well as of structural system without any supplemental damping has been performed in this study. The investigations reported in this study show significant improved performance of coupled system. A higher natural frequency of the system outside the forcing frequency has been obtained for structural systems with coupled damper units as against the other cases. The structural response of the structure in terms of storey displacement and storey drift show significant improvement for the case with coupled damper units as against the cases with uncoupled units or without any supplemental damping. The results are promising in terms of improved response of the structure with coupled damper units. Further investigations in this regard for a comparative performance of the series and parallel coupled systems will be carried out to study the optimum behavior of these coupled systems for enhanced response control of structural systems.

Keywords: frictional damping, parallel coupling, response control, series coupling, supplemental damping, viscous damping

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Authors: Valeria Corinaldesi, Nicola Generosi, Jacopo Donnini

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Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) is an innovative material which tends to exhibit superior properties such as incredible mechanical and durability performance and non-brittleness behavior. Over the last twenty years, phenomenal advances have taken place in the research and application of UHPC. Recently, the approach is to improve UHPC sustainability by reducing its embodied energy. First of all, this goal can be achieved by reducing Portland cement dosage. In this work, an experimental investigation was carried out to characterize the mechanical behavior and durability of UHPCs prepared by reducing the cement amount by 30% in order to verify the impact of lower cement content and higher water-to-cement ratio on both mechanical performance and durability, if any. Eight different UHPC mixtures were compared, with two different cement dosages (either 1000 or 700 kg) and four different brass-coated steel fibres dosages (0 - 50 - 100 - 150 kg), in terms of 28-day compressive and flexural strengths. Then, the mixtures prepared with the lower cement content were further investigated in terms of abrasion resistance, water absorption, freezing and thawing cycles, and resistance to sulphate attack. Results obtained showed the feasibility of reducing cement dosage without compromising mechanical performance and UHPC's extraordinary durability.

Keywords: abrasion resistance, durability, eco-efficiency, freeze-thawing cycles, steel fibres, sulphate exposure, sustainability, UHPC

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Authors: Valentina Alessandra Carvalho do Vale, Elmo Thiago Lins Cöuras Ford

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Increasingly telecommunications sectors are adopting optical technologies, due to its ability to transmit large amounts of data over long distances. However, as in all systems of data transmission, optical communication channels suffer from undesirable and non-deterministic effects, being essential to know the same. Thus, this research allows the assessment of these effects, as well as their characterization and beneficial uses of these effects.

Keywords: optical communication, optical fiber, non-deterministic effects, telecommunication

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Authors: Jakub Bartus, Jaroslav Odrobinak

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In general, composite steel and concrete structures present an effective structural solution utilizing the full potential of both materials. As they have numerous advantages on the construction side, they can greatly reduce the overall cost of construction, which has been the main objective of the last decade, highlighted by the current economic and social crisis. The study represents not only an analysis of composite beams’ behavior having web openings but emphasizes the influence of these openings on the total strain distribution at the level of the steel bottom flange as well. The major investigation was focused on a change in structural performance with respect to various layouts of openings. Examining this structural modification, an improvement of load carrying capacity of composite beams was a prime objective. The study is divided into analytical and numerical parts. The analytical part served as an initial step into the design process of composite beam samples, in which optimal dimensions and specific levels of utilization in individual stress states were taken into account. The numerical part covered the discretization of the preset structural issue in the form of a finite element (FE) model using beam and shell elements accounting for material non–linearities. As an outcome, several conclusions were drawn describing and explaining the effect of web opening presence on the structural performance of composite beams.

Keywords: beam, steel flange, total strain, web opening

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Authors: Sukwoong Kang

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Background: The application of light-emitting diode (LED)-dependent photobiomodulation (PBM) in promoting post-tendon injury healing has been recently reported. Despite the establishment of a theoretical basis for ligament restoration through PBM, the lack of any empirical evidence deems this therapeutic strategy contentious. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the potency of LED-based PBM in facilitating tendon healing in a murine model. Methods: Migration kinetics were analyzed at two specific wavelengths: 630 and 880 nm. The Achilles tendon in the hind limbs of Balb/c mice was severed via Achilles tendon transection. Subsequently, the mice were randomized into LED non-irradiation and LED irradiation groups. Mice with intact tendons were employed as healthy controls. The wounds were LED-irradiated for 20 min daily for two days. Histological properties, tendon healing mediators, and inflammatory mediators were screened on day 14. Results: The roundness of the nuclei and fiber structure, indicating the degree of infiltrated inflammatory cells and severity of fiber fragmentation, respectively, were considerably lower in the LED irradiation group than in the LED non-irradiation group. Immunohistochemical analysis depicted an increase in tenocytes (SCX+ cells) and a recovery of wounds with reduced fibrosis (lower collagen 3 and TGF-β1) in the LED irradiation group during healing; conversely, the LED non-irradiation group exhibited tissue fibrosis. The ratio of M2 macrophages to total macrophages was higher in the LED irradiation group than in the injured group. Conclusion: LED-based PBM in the Achilles tendon rupture murine model effectuated a rapid restoration of histological and immunochemical outcomes. The aforementioned findings suggest that LED-based PBM presents remarkable potential as an adjunct therapeutic for tendon healing and warrants further research to standardize various parameters to advance and establish it as a reliable treatment regime.

Keywords: photobiomodulation, light-emitting diode, tendon, regeneration

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Authors: Andi Setiawan, Annisa Ulfah Pristya

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Indonesian rubber plant area reached 2.9 million hectares with productivity reached 1.38 million. High rubber productivity is directly proportional to the amount of waste produced rubber processing industry. Rubber industry would produce a negative impact on the rubber industry in the form of environmental pollution caused by waste that has not been treated optimally. Rubber industrial wastewater containing high-nitrogen compounds (nitrate and ammonia) and phosphate compounds which cause water pollution and odor problems due to the high ammonia content. On the other hand, demand for NPK fertilizers in Indonesia continues to increase from year to year and in need of ammonia and phosphate as raw material. Based on domestic demand, it takes a year to 400,000 tons of ammonia and Indonesia imports 200,000 tons of ammonia per year valued at IDR 4.2 trillion. As well, the lack of phosphoric acid to be imported from Jordan, Morocco, South Africa, the Philippines, and India as many as 225 thousand tons per year. During this time, the process of wastewater treatment is generally done with a rubber on the tank to contain the waste and then precipitated, filtered and the rest released into the environment. However, this method is inefficient and thus require high energy costs because through many stages before producing clean water that can be discharged into the river. On the other hand, Indonesia has the potential of pineapple fruit can be harvested throughout the year in all of Indonesia. In 2010, production reached 1,406,445 tons of pineapple in Indonesia or about 9.36 percent of the total fruit production in Indonesia. Increased productivity is directly proportional to the amount of pineapple waste pineapple leaves are kept continuous and usually just dumped in the ground or disposed of with other waste at the final disposal. Through Eco-Nanofiltration Membrane-Based Fiber Pineapple leaves Waste so that environmental problems can be solved efficiently. Nanofiltration is a process that uses pressure as a driving force that can be either convection or diffusion of each molecule. Nanofiltration membranes that can split water to nano size so as to separate the waste processed residual economic value that N and P were higher as a raw material for the manufacture of NPK fertilizer to overcome the crisis in Indonesia. The raw materials were used to manufacture Eco-Nanofiltration Membrane is cellulose from pineapple fiber which processed into cellulose acetate which is biodegradable and only requires a change of the membrane every 6 months. Expected output target is Green eco-technology so with nanofiltration membranes not only treat waste rubber industry in an effective, efficient and environmentally friendly but also lowers the cost of waste treatment compared to conventional methods.

Keywords: biodegradable, cellulose diacetate, fertilizers, pineapple, rubber

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Authors: Widari

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This study aims to determine the relationship of fast food consumption preferences with macro and micro nutrient adequacy students of SMP Negeri 5 Padang. This study used a cross sectional study conducted on 100 students of SMP Negeri 5 Padang. The variables studied were fast food preferences, nutrition adequacy macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein, fat, fiber) and micro nutrients (sodium, calcium, iron). Confounding factor in this study was the physical activity level because it was considered quite affecting food consumption of students. Data collected by using a questionnaire food recall as many as 2 x 24 hours to see the history of the respondents eat at school day and on holidays. Then, data processed using software Nutrisurvey and Microsoft Excel 2010. The analysis was performed on samples that have low and medium category on physical activity. The physical activity was not analyzed with another variable to see the strength of the relationship between independent and dependent variables. So that, do restrictions on physical activity variables in an attempt to get rid of confounding in design. Univariate and bivariate analyzes performed using SPSS 16.0 for Windows with Kolmogrov-Smirnov statistical tests, confidence level = 95% (α = 0,05). Results of univariate analysis showed that more than 70% of respondents liked fast food. On average, respondents were malnourished macro; malnourished fiber (100%), carbohydrates (72%), and protein (56%), whereas for fat, excess intake of the respondents (41%). Furthermor, many respondents who have micronutrient deficiencies; 98% for sodium, 96% for iron, and 91% for calcium. The results of the bivariate analysis showed no significant association between fast food consumption preferences with macro and micro nutrient adequacy (p > 0,05). This happens because in the fact not all students who have a preference for fast food actually eat them. To study better in the future, it is expected sampling really like and eat fast food in order to obtain better analysis results.

Keywords: fast food, nutritional adequacy, preferences, students

Procedia PDF Downloads 364

Authors: Bo-Bin Xiaoa, Chia-Yi Liua

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In the task of searching for anomalous radiation sources, personnel holding radiation detectors to search for radiation sources may be exposed to unnecessary radiation risk, and automated search using machines becomes a required project. The research uses various sophisticated algorithms, which are double Q learning, dueling network, and NoisyNet, of deep reinforcement learning to search for radiation sources. The simulation environment, which is a 10*10 grid and one shielding wall setting in it, improves the development of the AI model by training 1 million episodes. In each episode of training, the radiation source position, the radiation source intensity, agent position, shielding wall position, and shielding wall length are all set randomly. The three algorithms are applied to run AI model training in four environments where the training shielding wall is a full-shielding wall, a lead wall, a concrete wall, and a lead wall or a concrete wall appearing randomly. The 12 best performance AI models are selected by observing the reward value during the training period and are evaluated by comparing these AI models with the gradient search algorithm. The results show that the performance of the AI model, no matter which one algorithm, is far better than the gradient search algorithm. In addition, the simulation environment becomes more complex, the AI model which applied Double DQN combined Dueling and NosiyNet algorithm performs better.

Keywords: double Q learning, dueling network, NoisyNet, source searching

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Authors: Parvin Mirmiran, Zahra Bahadoran, Sahar Mirzae, Fereidoun Azizi

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Background and aim: Lifestyle factors, especially dietary intakes play an important role in metabolism of lipids and lipoproteins. In this study, we assessed the association between dietary factors and 3-year changes of serum triglycerides (TG), HDL-C and the atherogenic index of plasma among Iranian adults. This longitudinal study was conducted on 1938 subjects, aged 19-70 years, who participated in the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. Demographics, anthropometrics and biochemical measurements including serum TG were assessed at baseline (2006-2008) and after a 3-year follow-up (2009-2011). Dietary data were collected by using a 168-food item, validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire at baseline. The risk of hypertriglyceridemia in the quartiles of dietary factors was evaluated using logistic regression models with adjustment for age, gender, body mass index, smoking, physical activity and energy intakes. Results: Mean age of the participants at baseline was 41.0±13.0 y. Mean TG and HDL-C at baseline was 143±86 and 42.2±10.0 mg/dl, respectively. Three-year change of serum TG were inversely related energy intake from phytochemical rich foods, whole grains, and legumes (P<0.05). Higher intakes compared to lower ones of dietary fiber and phytochemical-rich foods had similar impact on decreased risk of hyper-triglyceridemia (OR=0.58, 95% CI=0.34-1.00). Higher- compared to lower-dietary sodium to potassium ratios (Na/K ratio) increased the risk of hypertriglyceridemia by 63% (OR=0.1.63, 95% CI= 0.34-1.00). Conclusion: Findings showed that higher intakes of fiber and phytochemical rich foods especially whole grain and legumes could have protective effects against lipid disorders; in contrast higher sodium to potassium ratio had undesirable effect on triglycerides.

Keywords: lipid disorders, hypertriglyceridemia, diet, food science

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Authors: M. Eckert, D. Mendes, J P. Gonçalves, C. Moço, M. Oliveira

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The intensive extraction of natural aggregates leads to both depletion of natural resources and unwanted environmental impacts. On the other hand, uncontrolled disposal of Construction and Demolition Wastes (C&DW) causes the lifetime reduction of landfills. It is known that the European Union produces, each year, about 850 million tons of C&DW. For all the member States of the European Union, one of the milestones to be reached by 2020, according to the Resource Efficiency Roadmap (COM (2011) 571) of the European Commission, is to recycle 70% of the C&DW. In this work, properties of different types of recycled C&DW aggregates and natural aggregates were compared. Assays were performed according to European Standards (EN 13285; EN 13242+A1; EN 12457-4; EN 12620; EN 13139) for the characterization of there: physical, mechanical and chemical properties. Not standardized tests such as water absorption over time, mass stability and post compaction sieve analysis were also carried out. The tested recycled C&DW aggregates were classified according to the requirements of the European Standards regarding there potential use in concrete, mortar, unbound layers of road pavements and embankments. The results of the physical and mechanical properties of recycled C&DW aggregates indicated, in general, lower quality properties when compared to natural aggregates, particularly, for concrete preparation and unbound layers of road pavements. The results of the chemical properties attested that the C&DW aggregates constitute no environmental risk. It was concluded that recycled aggregates produced from C&DW have the potential to be used in many applications.

Keywords: recycled aggregate, sustainability, aggregate properties, European Standard Classification

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Authors: M. Etezadi, A. Fahimifar

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In many geotechnical designs in rocks and rock masses, tensile strength of rock and rock mass is needed. The difficulties associated with performing a direct uniaxial tensile test on a rock specimen have led to a number of indirect methods for assessing the tensile strength that in the meantime the Brazilian test is more popular. Brazilian test is widely applied in rock engineering because specimens are easy to prepare, the test is easy to conduct and uniaxial compression test machines are quite common. This study compares experimental results of direct and Brazilian tensile tests carried out on two rock types and three concrete types using 39 cylindrical and 28 disc specimens. The tests are performed using Servo-Control device. The relationship between direct and indirect tensile strength of specimens is extracted using linear regression. In the following, tensile strength of direct and indirect test is evaluated using finite element analysis. The results are analyzed and effective factors on results are studied. According to the experimental results Brazilian test is shown higher tensile strength than direct test. Because of decreasing the contact surface of grains and increasing the uniformity in concrete specimens with fine aggregate (largest grain size= 6mm), higher tensile strength in direct test is shown. The experimental and numerical results of tensile strength are compared and empirical relationship witch is obtained from experimental tests is validated.

Keywords: tensile strength, brittle materials, direct and indirect tensile test, numerical modeling

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Authors: Nosratollah Hedayatpour, Hamid Reza Taheri, Mehrdad Fathi

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Introduction: Quadriceps femoris muscle is frequently involved in various movements e.g., jumping, landing) during sport and/or daily activities. During ballistic movement when individuals are faced with unexpected knee perturbation, fast twitch muscle fibers contribute to force production to stabilize knee joint. Fast twitch muscle fiber is more susceptible to fatigue and therefor may reduce the ability of the quadriceps muscle to stabilize knee joint during fast perturbation. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fatigue on postural response of the knee extensor muscles to fast and slow perturbations. Methods: Fatigue was induced to the quadriceps muscle using a KinCom Isokinetic Dynamometer (Chattanooga, TN). Bipolar surface electromyography (EMG) signals were simultaneously recorded from quadriceps components (vastus medialis, rectus femoris, and vastus lateralis) during pre- and post-fatigue postural perturbation performed at two different velocities of 120 ms and 250 mes. Results: One-way ANOVA showed that maximal voluntary knee extension force and time to task failure, and associated EMG activities were significantly reduced after fatiguing knee exercise (P< 0.05). Two-ways ANOVA also showed that ARV of EMG during backward direction was significantly larger than forward direction (P< 0.05), and during fast-perturbation it was significantly higher than slow-perturbation (P< 0.05). Moreover, ARV of EMG was significantly reduced during post fatigue perturbation, with the largest reduction identified for fast-perturbation compared with slow perturbation (P< 0.05). Conclusion: A larger reduction in muscle activity of the quadriceps muscle was observed during post fatigue fast-perturbation to stabilize knee joint, most likely due to preferential recruitment of fast twitch muscle fiber which are more susceptible to fatigue. This may partly explain that why knee injuries is common after fast ballistic movement.

Keywords: electromyography, fast-slow perturbations, fatigue, quadriceps femoris muscle

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Authors: Samiha Ramdani, Abdelhamid Geuttala

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There is no doubt that the batteries increasingly used tires create environmental concerns. Algeria generates large amounts of by industrial and household waste, such as used tires and colored glass bottles and dishes, whose valuation in cementitious materials could be an interesting ecological and economical alternative for broadening eliminating cumbersome landfills. This work is a contribution to the promotion of local materials with the use of waste tires and glass bottle in the development of a new cementitious composite having the acceptable compressive strength and a capacity of improved strains. For this purpose, rubber crumb (GC) from shredding used tires were used as partial replacement of quarry sand with 10%, 20%, 40, 60%. In addition, some mixtures also contain glass powder at15% cement replacement by volume. The compressive strength, tensile strength, deformability, the water permeability and penetration Inions chlorides are studied. As results; an acceptable compressive strength was obtained with the substitution rate of 10% and 20% by volume, the deformability of the composite increases with increased replacement rate. The addition of finely ground glass as a partial replacement of cement concrete increases the resistance to penetration of Inions chloride and reduce the water permeability thereof; then increases their durability.

Keywords: crumb rubber, deformability, compressive strength, finely ground glass, durability, behavior law

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Authors: Ezgi Ismar

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Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are different from other allotropes of carbon, such as graphite, diamond and fullerene. Replacement of metals in flexible textiles has an advantage. Particularly in the last decade, both their electrical and mechanical properties have become an area of interest for Li-ion battery applications where the conductivity has a major importance. While carbon nanotubes are conductive, they are also less in weight compared to convectional conductive materials. Carbon nanotubes can be used inside the fiber so they can offer to create 3-D structures. In this review, you can find some examples of how carbon nanotubes adapted to textile products.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, conductive textiles, nanotechnology, nanotextiles

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Authors: Mohammad Zaid, Md. Rehan Sadique

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Underground structures are an integral part of urban infrastructures. Tunnels are being used for the transportation of humans and goods from distance to distance. Terrorist attacks on underground structures such as tunnels have resulted in the improvement of design methodologies of tunnels. The design of underground tunnels must include anti-terror design parameters. The study has been carried out to analyse the rock tunnel when subjected to internal blast loading. The finite element analysis has been carried out for 30m by 30m of the cross-section of the tunnel and 35m length of extrusion of the rock tunnel model. The effect of tunnel diameter and overburden depth of tunnel has been studied under internal blast loading. Four different diameters of tunnel considered are 5m, 6m, 7m, and 8m, and four different overburden depth of tunnel considered are 5m, 7.5m, 10m, and 12.5m. The mohr-coulomb constitutive material model has been considered for the Quartzite rock. A concrete damage plasticity model has been adopted for concrete tunnel lining. For the trinitrotoluene (TNT) Jones-Wilkens-Lee (JWL) material model has been considered. Coupled-Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) approach for blast analysis has been considered in the present study. The present study concludes that a shallow tunnel having smaller diameter needs more attention in comparison to blast resistant design of deep tunnel having a larger diameter. Further, in the case of shallow tunnels, more bulging has been observed, and a more substantial zone of rock has been affected by internal blast loading.

Keywords: finite element method, blast, rock, tunnel, CEL, JWL

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Authors: L. Pu, C. Unluer

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MgO cements have the potential to sequester CO2 in construction products, and can be partial or complete replacement of PC in concrete. Construction block is a promising application for reactive MgO cements. Main advantages of blocks are: (i) suitability for sequestering CO2 due to their initially porous structure; (ii) lack of need for in-situ treatment as carbonation can take place during fabrication; and (iii) high potential for commercialization. Both strength gain and carbon sequestration of MgO cements depend on carbonation process. Fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) are pozzolanic material and are proved to improve many of the performance characteristics of the concrete, such as strength, workability, permeability, durability and corrosion resistance. A very limited amount of work has been reported on the production of MgO blocks on a large scale so far. A much more extensive study, wherein blocks with different mix design is needed to verify the feasibility of commercial production. The changes in the performance of the samples were evaluated by compressive strength testing. The properties of the carbonation products were identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/ field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and the degree of carbonation was obtained by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), XRD and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The results of this study enabled the understanding the relationship between lab-scale samples and scale-up blocks based on their mechanical performance and microstructure. Results indicate that for both scaled-up and lab-scale samples, MgO samples always had the highest strength results, followed by MgO-fly ash samples and MgO-GGBS had relatively lowest strength. The lower strength of MgO with fly ash/GGBS samples at early stage is related to the relatively slow hydration process of pozzolanic materials. Lab-scale cubic samples were observed to have higher strength results than scaled-up samples. The large size of the scaled-up samples made it more difficult to let CO2 to reach inner part of the samples and less carbonation products formed. XRD, TGA and FESEM/EDX results indicate the existence of brucite and HMCs in MgO samples, M-S-H, hydrotalcite in the MgO-fly ash samples and C-S-H, hydrotalctie in the MgO-GGBS samples. Formation of hydration products (M-S-H, C-S-H, hydrotalcite) and carbonation products (hydromagnecite, dypingite) increased with curing duration, which is the reason of increasing strength. This study verifies the advantage of large-scale MgO blocks over common PC blocks and the feasibility of commercial production of MgO blocks.

Keywords: reactive MgO, fly ash, ground granulated blast-furnace slag, carbonation, CO₂

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Authors: Feiruz Ab'lah, Zarini Ismail, Mohamad Zaki Hassan, Siti Nadia Mohd Bakhori, Mohamad Azlan Suhot, Mohd Yusof Md. Daud, Shamsul Sarip

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The construction industry is one of the major sectors in Malaysia. Apart from providing facilities, services, and goods it also offers employment opportunities to local and foreign workers. In fact, the construction workers are exposed to a hazardous level of noises that generated from various sources including excavators, bulldozers, concrete mixer, and piling machines. Previous studies indicated that the piling and concrete work was recorded as the main source that contributed to the highest level of noise among the others. Therefore, the aim of this study is to obtain the noise exposure during piling process and to determine the awareness of workers against noise pollution at the construction site. Initially, the reading of noise was obtained at construction site by using a digital sound level meter (SLM), and noise exposure to the workers was mapped. Readings were taken from four different distances; 5, 10, 15 and 20 meters from the piling machine. Furthermore, a set of questionnaire was also distributed to assess the knowledge regarding noise pollution at the construction site. The result showed that the mean noise level at 5m distance was more than 90 dB which exceeded the recommended level. Although the level of awareness regarding the effect of noise pollution is satisfactory, majority of workers (90%) still did not wear ear protecting device during work period. Therefore, the safety module guidelines related to noise pollution controls should be implemented to provide a safe working environment and prevent initial occupational hearing loss.

Keywords: construction, noise awareness, noise pollution, piling machine

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Authors: M. Moso-Diez, J. L. Moragues-Oregi, K. Simon-Elorz

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Innovation procurement is designed to steer the development of solutions towards concrete public sector needs as a driver for innovation from the demand side (in public services as well as in market opportunities for companies), is horizontally emerging as a new policy instrument. In 2014 the new EU public procurement directives 2014/24/EC and 2014/25/EC reinforced the support for Public Procurement for Innovation, dedicating funding instruments that can be used across all areas supported by Horizon 2020, and targeting potential buyers of innovative solutions: groups of public procurers with similar needs. Under this programme, new policy adapters and networks emerge, aiming to embed innovation criteria into new procurement processes. As these initiatives are in process, research related to is scarce. We argue that Innovation Public Procurement can arise as an innovative policy instrument to public procurement in different policy domains, in spite of existing institutional and cultural barriers (legal guarantee versus innovation). The presentation combines insights from public procurement to supply management chain management in a sustainability and innovation policy arena, as a means of providing understanding of: (1) the circumstances that emerge; (2) the relationship between public and private actors; and (3) the emerging capacities in the definition of the agenda. The policy adopters are the contracting authorities that mainly are at municipal level where they interact with the supply management chain, interconnecting sustainability and climate measures with other policy priorities such as innovation and urban planning; and through the Competitive Dialogue procedure. We found that geography and territory affect both the level of municipal budget (due to municipal income per capita) and its institutional competencies (due to demographic reasons). In spite of the relevance of institutional determinants for public procurement, other factors play an important role such as human factors as well as both public policy and private intervention. The experience is a ‘city project’ (Bilbao) in the field of brownfield decontamination. Brownfield sites typically refer to abandoned or underused industrial and commercial properties—such as old process plants, mining sites, and landfills—that are available but contain low levels of environmental contaminants that may complicate reuse or redevelopment of the land. This article concludes that Innovation Public Procurement in sustainability and climate issues should be further developed both as a policy instrument and as a policy research line that could enable further relevant changes in public procurement as well as in climate innovation.

Keywords: innovation, city projects, public policy, public procurement

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Authors: Yakup Ulusu, Faruk Ozel, Numan Eczacioglu, Abdurrahman Ozen, Sabriye Acikgoz

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GFP discovered in the mid-1970s, has been used as a marker after replicated genetic study by scientists. In biotechnology, cell, molecular biology, the GFP gene is frequently used as a reporter of expression. In modified forms, it has been used to make biosensors. Many animals have been created that express GFP as an evidence that a gene can be expressed throughout a given organism. Proteins labeled with GFP identified locations are determined. And so, cell connections can be monitored, gene expression can be reported, protein-protein interactions can be observed and signals that create events can be detected. Additionally, monitoring GFP is noninvasive; it can be detected by under UV-light because of simply generating fluorescence. Moreover, GFP is a relatively small and inert molecule, that does not seem to treat any biological processes of interest. The synthesis of GFP has some steps like, to construct the plasmid system, transformation in E. coli, production and purification of protein. GFP carrying plasmid vector pBAD–GFPuv was digested using two different restriction endonuclease enzymes (NheI and Eco RI) and DNA fragment of GFP was gel purified before cloning. The GFP-encoding DNA fragment was ligated into pET28a plasmid using NheI and Eco RI restriction sites. The final plasmid was named pETGFP and DNA sequencing of this plasmid indicated that the hexa histidine-tagged GFP was correctly inserted. Histidine-tagged GFP was expressed in an Escherichia coli BL21 DE3 (pLysE) strain. The strain was transformed with pETGFP plasmid and grown on LuiraBertoni (LB) plates with kanamycin and chloramphenicol selection. E. coli cells were grown up to an optical density (OD 600) of 0.8 and induced by the addition of a final concentration of 1mM isopropyl-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) and then grown for additional 4 h. The amino-terminal hexa-histidine-tag facilitated purification of the GFP by using a His Bind affinity chromatography resin (Novagen). Purity of GFP protein was analyzed by a 12 % sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The concentration of protein was determined by UV absorption at 280 nm (Varian Cary 50 Scan UV/VIS spectrophotometer). Synthesis of GFP-Polymer composite nanofibers was produced by using GFP solution (10mg/mL) and polymer precursor Polyvinylpyrrolidone, (PVP, Mw=1300000) as starting materials and template, respectively. For the fabrication of nanofibers with the different fiber diameter; a sol–gel solution comprising of 0.40, 0.60 and 0.80 g PVP (depending upon the desired fiber diameter) and 100 mg GFP in 10 mL water: ethanol (3:2) mixtures were prepared and then the solution was covered on collecting plate via electro spinning at 10 kV with a feed-rate of 0.25 mL h-1 using Spellman electro spinning system. Results show that GFP-based nano-fiber can be used plenty of biomedical applications such as bio-imaging, bio-mechanic, bio-material and tissue engineering.

Keywords: biomaterial, GFP, nano-fibers, protein expression

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Authors: Andrey V. Timofeev

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This paper presents development results of the method of seismoacoustic activity monitoring based on usage vibrosensitive properties of optical fibers. Analysis of Rayleigh backscattering radiation parameters changes, which take place due to microscopic seismoacoustic impacts on the optical fiber, allows to determine seismoacoustic emission sources positions and to identify their types. Results of using this approach are successful for complex monitoring of railways.

Keywords: C-OTDR systems, monitoring of railways, Rayleigh backscattering, eismoacoustic activity

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Authors: Panagiotis Karadimos, Leonidas Anthopoulos

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Predicting the actual cost and duration in construction projects concern a continuous and existing problem for the construction sector. This paper addresses this problem with modern methods and data available from past public construction projects. 39 bridge projects, constructed in Greece, with a similar type of available data were examined. Considering each project’s attributes with the actual cost and the actual duration, correlation analysis is performed and the most appropriate predictive project variables are defined. Additionally, the most efficient subgroup of variables is selected with the use of the WEKA application, through its attribute selection function. The selected variables are used as input neurons for neural network models through correlation analysis. For constructing neural network models, the application FANN Tool is used. The optimum neural network model, for predicting the actual cost, produced a mean squared error with a value of 3.84886e-05 and it was based on the budgeted cost and the quantity of deck concrete. The optimum neural network model, for predicting the actual duration, produced a mean squared error with a value of 5.89463e-05 and it also was based on the budgeted cost and the amount of deck concrete.

Keywords: actual cost and duration, attribute selection, bridge construction, neural networks, predicting models, FANN TOOL, WEKA

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Authors: Behrang Dadfar, Hossein Bidhendi, Jimmy Susetyo, John Paul Abbatangelo

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Finding structural demand under various conditions that a structure may experience during its service life is an important step towards structural life-cycle analysis. In this paper, structural demand for the precast concrete tunnel lining (PCTL) segments of Toronto’s 60-year-old subway tunnels is investigated. Numerical modelling was conducted using FLAC3D, a finite difference-based software capable of simulating ground-structure interaction and ground material’s flow in three dimensions. The specific structural details of the segmental tunnel lining, such as the convex shape of the PCTL segments at radial joints and the PCTL segment pockets, were considered in the numerical modelling. Also, the model was developed in a way to accommodate the flexibility required for the simulation of various deterioration scenarios, shapes, and patterns that have been observed over more than 20 years. The soil behavior was simulated by using plastic-hardening constitutive model of FLAC3D. The effect of the depth of the tunnel, the coefficient of lateral earth pressure as well as the patterns of deterioration of the segments were studied. The structural capacity under various deterioration patterns and the existing loading conditions was evaluated using axial-flexural interaction curves that were developed for each deterioration pattern. The results were used to provide recommendations for the next phase of tunnel lining rehabilitation program.

Keywords: precast concrete tunnel lining, ground-structure interaction, numerical modelling, deterioration, tunnels

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Authors: Shanawaz Patil, Mohamed Haneef, K. S. Narayanaswamy

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In the recent years, aluminum metal matrix composites were most widely used, which are finding wide applications in various field such as automobile, aerospace defense etc., due to their outstanding mechanical properties like low density, light weight, exceptional high levels of strength, stiffness, wear resistance, high temperature resistance, low coefficient of thermal expansion and good formability. In the present work, an effort is made to study the effect of heat treatment on mechanical properties of aluminum 7075 alloy reinforced with constant weight percentage of naturally occurring mineral beryl and varying weight percentage of graphene. The hybrid composites are developed with 0.5 wt. %, 1wt.%, 1.5 wt.% and 2 wt.% of graphene and 6 wt.% of beryl  by stir casting liquid metallurgy route. The cast specimens of unreinforced aluminum alloy and hybrid composite samples were prepared for heat treatment process and subjected to solutionizing treatment (T6) at a temperature of 490±5 ^oC for 8 hours in a muffle furnace followed by quenching in boiling water. The microstructure analysis of as cast and heat treated hybrid composite specimens are examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The tensile test and hardness test of unreinforced aluminum alloy and hybrid composites are examined. The wear behavior is examined by pin-on disc apparatus. The results of as cast specimens and heat treated specimens were compared. The heat treated Al7075-Beryl-Graphene hybrid composite had better properties and significantly improved the ultimate tensile strength, hardness and reduced wear loss when compared to aluminum alloy and  as cast hybrid composites.

Keywords: beryl, graphene, heat treatment, mechanical properties

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Authors: I. Kerti, G. Sezen, S. Daglilar

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This present work is focused on studying to improve low wetting behaviour between liquid metal and ceramic particles. Ceramic particles like SiC and B4C have attracted great attention because of their usability as reinforcement for composite materials. However, poor wettability of particles is one of the major drawbacks of metal matrix composite production. Various methods have been studied to enhance the wetting properties between ceramic materials and metal substrates during ceramic reinforced metal matrix composites. Among these methods, autocatalytic nickel deposition is a unique process for the enhancement of the surface properties of ceramic particles. In fact, it is difficult to obtain continuous and uniform metallic coating on ceramic powders. In this study deposition of nickel boron layer on ceramic particles via autocatalytic plating in borohydride baths were investigated. Firstly, powders with different particle sizes were sensitized and activated respectively in order to ensure catalytic properties. Following the pre-treatment operations, particles were transferred into the coating bath containing nickel sulphate or nickel chloride as the Ni2+ source. The results show that a better bonding and uniform coating layer were obtained for Ni-B coatings with the Ni2+ source of NiCl2.6H2O as compared to NiSO4.6H2O. With the progress of the time, both particle surfaces are completely covered by a continuous and thin nickel boron layer. The surface morphology of the coatings that were analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show that SiC and B4C particles both distributed and different thickness of Ni-B nanolayers have been successfully coated onto the particles. The particles were mounted into a polimeric resin and polished in order to observe the thickness and the continuity of the coating layer. The composition of the coating layers were also evaluated by EDS analyses. The SEM morphologies and the EDS results of the coatings at different reaction times were adopted for detailed discussion of the Ni-B electroless plating mechanism.

Keywords: boron carbide, electroless coating, nickel boron deposition, silicon carbide

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Authors: Wasan Ismail Khalil, Hisham Khalid Ahmed, Zainab Ali

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Structural Lightweight Aggregate Concrete (SLWAC) has been developed in recent years because it reduces the dead load, cost, thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion of the structure. So SLWAC has the advantage of being a relatively green building material. Lightweight Aggregate (LWA) is either occurs as natural material such as pumice, scoria, etc. or as artificial material produced from different raw materials such as expanded shale, clay, slate, etc. The use of SLWAC in Iraq is limited due to the lack in natural LWA. The existence of Iraqi clay deposit with different types and characteristics leads to the idea of producing artificial expanded clay aggregate. The main aim in this work is to present of the properties of artificial LWA produced in the laboratory. Available local bentonite clay which occurs in the Western region of Iraq was used as raw material to produce the LWA. Sodium silicate as liquid industrial waste material from glass plant was mixed with bentonite clay in mix proportion 1:1 by weight. The manufacturing method of the lightweight aggregate including, preparation and mixing of clay and sodium silicate, burning of the mixture in the furnace at the temperature between 750-800˚C for two hours, and finally gradually cooling process. The produced LWA was then crushed to small pieces then screened on standard sieve series and prepared with grading which conforms to the specifications of LWA. The maximum aggregate size used in this investigation is 10 mm. The chemical composition and the physical properties of the produced LWA are investigated. The results indicate that the specific gravity of the produced LWA is 1.5 with the density of 543kg/m3 and water absorption of 20.7% which is in conformity with the international standard of LWA. Many trail mixes were carried out in order to produce LWAC containing the artificial LWA produced in this research. The selected mix proportion is 1:1.5:2 (cement: sand: aggregate) by weight with water to cement ratio of 0.45. The experimental results show that LWAC has oven dry density of 1720 kg/m3, water absorption of 8.5%, the thermal conductivity of 0.723 W/m.K and compressive strength of 23 N/mm2. The SLWAC produced in this research can be used in the construction of different thermal insulated buildings and masonry units. It can be concluded that the SLWA produced in this study contributes to sustainable development by, using industrial waste materials, conserving energy, enhancing the thermal and structural efficiency of concrete.

Keywords: expanded clay, lightweight aggregate, structural lightweight aggregate concrete, sustainable

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