Search results for: Hoek-Brown failure criterion
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1077

Search results for: Hoek-Brown failure criterion

387 Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Bond Thickness on the Interface Behaviour of Fibre Reinforced Polymer Sheet Bonded to Timber

Authors: Abbas Vahedian, Rijun Shrestha, Keith Crews

Abstract:

The bond mechanism between timber and fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) is relatively complex and is influenced by a number of variables including bond thickness, bond width, bond length, material properties, and geometries. This study investigates the influence of bond thickness on the behaviour of interface, failure mode, and bond strength of externally bonded FRP-to-timber interface. In the present study, 106 single shear joint specimens have been investigated. Experiment results showed that higher layers of FRP increase the ultimate load carrying capacity of interface; conversely, such increase led to decrease the slip of interface. Moreover, samples with more layers of FRPs may fail in a brittle manner without noticeable warning that collapse is imminent.

Keywords: FRP, single shear test, bond thickness, bond strength.

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386 Assuming the Decision of Having One (More) Child: The New Dimensions of the Post Communist Romanian Family

Authors: Raluca-Ioana Horea-Şerban, Marinela Istrate

Abstract:

The first part of the paper analyzes the dynamics of the total fertility rate both at the national and regional level, pointing out the regional disparities in the distribution of this indicator. At the same time, we also focus on the collapse of the number of live births, on the changes in the fertility rate by birth rank, as well as on the failure of acquiring the desired number of children. The second part of the study centres upon a survey applied to urban families with 3 and more than 3 offspring. The preliminary analysis highlights the fact that an increased fertility (more than 3rd rank) is triggered by the parents’ above the average material condition and superior education. The current situation of Romania, which is still passing through a period of relatively rapid demographic changes, marked by numerous convulsions, requires a new approach, in compliance with the recent interpretations appropriate to a new post-transitional demographic regime.

Keywords: Family size intention, fertility rate, regional disparities, third birth rank.

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385 Instrumentation for Studying Real-time Popcorn Effect in Surface Mount Packages during Solder Reflow

Authors: Arijit Roy

Abstract:

Occurrence of popcorn in IC packages while assembling them onto the PCB is a well known moisture sensitive reliability issues, especially for surface mount packages. Commonly reflow soldering simulation process is conducted to assess the impact of assembling IC package onto PCB. A strain gauge-based instrumentation is developed to investigate the popcorn effect in surface mount packages during reflow soldering process. The instrument is capable of providing real-time quantitative information of the occurrence popcorn phenomenon in IC packages. It is found that the popcorn occur temperatures between 218 to 241°C depending on moisture soak condition, but not at the peak temperature of the reflow process. The presence of popcorn and delamination are further confirmed by scanning acoustic tomography as a failure analysis.

Keywords: Instrumentation, Popcorn, Real-time, Solder Reflow, Strain Gauge.

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384 User Satisfaction Issues in ERP Projects

Authors: Shahin Dezdar

Abstract:

Over the past few years, companies in developing countries have implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Regardless of the various benefits of the ERP system, its adoption and implementation have not been without problems. Many companies have assigned considerable organizational resources to their ERP projects, but have encountered unexpected challenges. Neglecting a number of important factors in ERP projects might lead to failure instead of success. User satisfaction is among those factors that has a major influence on ERP implementation success. So, this paper intends to investigate the key factors that create ERP users- satisfaction and to discover whether ERP users- satisfaction varies among different users- profiles. The study was conducted using a survey questionnaire which was distributed to ERP users in Iranian organizations. A total of 384 responses were collected and analyzed. The findings indicated that younger ERP users tend to be more satisfied with ERP systems. Furthermore, ERP users with more experiences in IT and also more educated users have more satisfaction with ERP softwares. However, the study found no satisfaction differences between men and women users.

Keywords: ERP, Enterprise resource planning, User satisfaction, Iran, Developing country

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383 The Significance of the Radiography Technique in the Non-Destructive Evaluation of the Integrity and Reliability of Cast Interconnects

Authors: Keshav Pujeri, Pranesh Jain, Krutibas Panda

Abstract:

Significant changes in oil and gas drilling have emphasized the need to verify the integrity and reliability of drill stem components. Defects are inevitable in cast components, regardless of application; but if these defects go undetected, any severe defect could cause down-hole failure. One such defect is shrinkage porosity. Castings with lower level shrinkage porosity (CB levels 1 and 2) have scattered pores and do not occupy large volumes; so pressure testing and helium leak testing (HLT) are sufficient for qualifying the castings. However, castings with shrinkage porosity of CB level 3 and higher, behave erratically under pressure testing and HLT making these techniques insufficient for evaluating the castings- integrity. This paper presents a case study to highlight how the radiography technique is much more effective than pressure testing and HLT.

Keywords: Casting Defects, Interconnects, Leak Check, Pressure Test, Radiography.

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382 Simulation of Effect of Current Stressing on Reliability of Solder Joints with Cu-Pillar Bumps

Authors: Y. Li, Q. S. Zhang, H. Z. Huang, B. Y. Wu

Abstract:

The mechanism behind the electromigration and thermomigration failure in flip-chip solder joints with Cu-pillar bumps was investigated in this paper through using finite element method. Hot spot and the current crowding occurrs in the upper corner of copper column instead of solders of the common solder ball. The simulation results show that the change in thermal gradient is noticeable, which might greatly affect the reliability of solder joints with Cu-pillar bumps under current stressing. When the average applied current density is increased from 1×104 A/cm2 to 3×104 A/cm2 in solders, the thermal gradient would increase from 74 K/cm to 901 K/cm at an ambient temperature of 25°C. The force from thermal gradient of 901 K/cm can nearly induce thermomigration by itself. With the increase in applied current, the thermal gradient is growing. It is proposed that thermomigration likely causes a serious reliability issue for Cu column based interconnects.

Keywords: Simulation, Cu-pillar bumps, Electromigration, Thermomigration.

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381 Monitoring and Analysis of Bridge Crossing Ground Fissures

Authors: Zhiqing Zhang, Xiangong Zhou, Zihan Zhou

Abstract:

Ground fissures can be seen in some cities all over the world. As a special urban geological disaster, ground fissures in Xi'an have caused great harm to infrastructure. Chang'an Road Interchange in Xi'an City is a bridge across ground fissures. The damage to Chang'an Road interchange is the most serious and typical. To study the influence of ground fissures on the bridge, we established a bridge monitoring system. The main monitoring items include elevation monitoring, structural displacement monitoring, etc. The monitoring results show that the typical failure is mainly reflected in the bridge deck damage caused by horizontal tension and vertical dislocation. For the construction of urban interchange spanning ground fissures, the interchange should be divided reasonably, a simple support structure with less restriction should be adopted, and the monitoring of supports should be strengthened to prevent the occurrence of beam falling.

Keywords: Bridge monitoring, ground fissures, typical disease, structural displacement.

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380 ZMP Based Reference Generation for Biped Walking Robots

Authors: Kemalettin Erbatur, Özer Koca, Evrim Taşkıran, Metin Yılmaz, Utku Seven

Abstract:

Recent fifteen years witnessed fast improvements in the field of humanoid robotics. The human-like robot structure is more suitable to human environment with its supreme obstacle avoidance properties when compared with wheeled service robots. However, the walking control for bipedal robots is a challenging task due to their complex dynamics. Stable reference generation plays a very important role in control. Linear Inverted Pendulum Model (LIPM) and the Zero Moment Point (ZMP) criterion are applied in a number of studies for stable walking reference generation of biped walking robots. This paper follows this main approach too. We propose a natural and continuous ZMP reference trajectory for a stable and human-like walk. The ZMP reference trajectories move forward under the sole of the support foot when the robot body is supported by a single leg. Robot center of mass trajectory is obtained from predefined ZMP reference trajectories by a Fourier series approximation method. The Gibbs phenomenon problem common with Fourier approximations of discontinuous functions is avoided by employing continuous ZMP references. Also, these ZMP reference trajectories possess pre-assigned single and double support phases, which are very useful in experimental tuning work. The ZMP based reference generation strategy is tested via threedimensional full-dynamics simulations of a 12-degrees-of-freedom biped robot model. Simulation results indicate that the proposed reference trajectory generation technique is successful.

Keywords: Biped robot, Linear Inverted Pendulum Model, Zero Moment Point, Fourier series approximation.

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379 Numerical Investigation on the Progressive Collapse Resistance of an RC Building with Brick Infills under Column Loss

Authors: Meng-Hao Tsai, Tsuei-Chiang Huang

Abstract:

Interior brick-infill partitions are usually considered as non-structural components and only their weight is accounted for in practical structural design. In this study, their effect on the progressive collapse resistance of an RC building subjected to sudden column loss is investigated. Three notional column loss conditions with four different brick-infill locations are considered. Column-loss response analyses of the RC building with and without brick infills are carried out. Analysis results indicate that the collapse resistance is only slightly influenced by the brick infills due to their brittle failure characteristic. Even so, they may help to reduce the inelastic displacement response under column loss. For practical engineering, it is reasonably conservative to only consider the weight of brick-infill partitions in the structural analysis.

Keywords: Progressive collapse, column loss, brick-infill partition, compression strut.

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378 Improvement of Performance for R.C. Beams Made from Recycled Aggregate by Using Non-Traditional Admixture

Authors: A. H. Yehia, M. M. Rashwan, K. A. Assaf, K. Abd el Samee

Abstract:

The aim of this work is to use an environmental, cheap; organic non-traditional admixture to improve the structural behavior of sustainable reinforced concrete beams contains different ratios of recycled concrete aggregate. The used admixture prepared by using wastes from vegetable oil industry. Under and over reinforced concrete beams made from natural aggregate and different ratios of recycled concrete aggregate were tested under static load until failure. Eight beams were tested to investigate the performance and mechanism effect of admixture on improving deformation characteristics, modulus of elasticity and toughness of tested beams. Test results show efficiency of organic admixture on improving flexural behavior of beams contains 20% recycled concrete aggregate more over the other ratios.

Keywords: Deflection, modulus of elasticity, non-traditional admixture, recycled concrete aggregate, strain, toughness, under and over reinforcement.

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377 Contact Stress on the Surface of Gear Teeth with Different Profile

Authors: K. Farhangdoost, H. Heirani

Abstract:

Contact stress is an important problem in industry. This is a problem that in the first attention may be don-t appears, but disregard of these stresses cause a lot of damages in machines. These stresses occur at locations such as gear teeth, bearings, cams and between a locomotive wheel and the railroad rail. These stresses cause failure by excessive elastic deformation, yielding and fracture. In this paper we intend show the effective parameters in contact stress and ponder effect of curvature. In this paper we study contact stresses on the surface of gear teeth and compare these stresses for four popular profiles of gear teeth (involute, cycloid, epicycloids, and hypocycloid). We study this problem with mathematical and finite element methods and compare these two methods on different profile surfaces.

Keywords: Contact stress, Cycloid, Epicycloids, Finite element, Gear, Hypocycloid, Involute, Radius of curvature.

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376 A Descriptive Study of Self-Compassion in Polytechnic Students in Indonesia

Authors: Emma Dwi Ariyani, Dini Hadiani

Abstract:

This article reports the descriptive analysis of self-compassion in polytechnic students. It has been long believed that self-compassion can improve students’ motivation in completing their studies. This research was conducted with the aim to see the degree of self-compassion in polytechnic students in Indonesia by using Neff's Self-Compassion Scale (short form) measurement tool consisting of 12 items. The research method used was descriptive study with survey technique on 255 students. The results showed that 78% of students had low self-compassion and 22% had high self-compassion. This revealed that polytechnic students still criticize themselves harshly, make a poor judgment and bad self-appraisal, and they also cannot accept their imperfection and consider it as a self-judgment. The students also tend to think that they are the only ones that experience failure and suffering. This can lead to a sense of isolation (self-isolation). Furthermore, the students are often too concerned with aspects that are not liked both in themselves and in life (over-identification). Improving the students’ level of self-compassion can be done by building an educational climate that not only criticizes the students but provides feedback as well. This should focus on the students’ real behavior rather than the students’ general character.

Keywords: Descriptive study, polytechnic students, Indonesia, self-compassion.

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375 Effect of Mode Loading on FCRG Plate with Double Through Crack at Hole

Authors: M. Benachour, N. Benachour, M. Benguediab, A. Hadjoui

Abstract:

The knowledge of the nature of loading is very important in order to hold account on the total behavior such as vibration, shock, fatigue, etc. Fatigue present 90% of failure when loadings fatigues are very complex. In this paper a study of double through crack at hole for plate subjected to fatigue loading is presented. Various modes loading are studied where the applied load is the same one. The fatigue life is given where the effect of stress ratio is highlighted. This work is conducted on aluminum alloy 2024 T351 used for much aerospace and aeronautics applications. The fatigue crack growth behavior with constant amplitude is studied using the AFGROW code when Forman model is applied. The fatigue crack growth rate and fatigue life for different loading modes are compared with variation of others geometrical parameter such as thickness and dimensions of notch hole.

Keywords: Fatigue crack, mode loading, aluminum alloy

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374 Performance of Stiffened Slender Built up Steel I-Columns

Authors: M. E. Abou-Hashem El Dib, M. K. Swailem, M. M. Metwally, A. I. El Awady

Abstract:

The present work illustrates a parametric study for the effect of stiffeners on the performance of slender built up steel I-columns. To achieve the desired analysis, finite element technique is used to develop nonlinear three-dimensional models representing the investigated columns. The finite element program (ANSYS 13.0) is used as a calculation tool for the necessary nonlinear analysis. A validation of the obtained numerical results is achieved. The considered parameters in the study are the column slenderness ratio and the horizontal stiffener's dimensions as well as the number of stiffeners. The dimensions of the stiffeners considered in the analysis are the stiffener width and the stiffener thickness. Numerical results signify a considerable effect of stiffeners on the performance and failure load of slender built up steel I-columns.

Keywords: Steel I-columns, local buckling, slender, stiffener, thin walled section.

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373 Gender, Tutoring and Track in Egyptian Education

Authors: Eman Sh. Sayed, Ray Langsten

Abstract:

In Egypt, girls have traditionally been educationally disadvantaged. This disadvantage, however, has been focused on the failure to enter school. Increasingly it is recognized that girls who ever-enroll are at least as likely to complete primary and secondary education as boys. Still the belief persists that girls, especially those from poor families, will be disadvantaged in terms of school expenditures and the transitions to secondary and higher education. We examine expenditures on tutoring during the final year of preparatory school, and the transition to specific tracks of secondary education. Tests during the last year of preparatory largely determine a student’s educational future. Results show that girls, even girls from poor families, are not disadvantaged in terms of expenditures, whether for tutoring, fees or general expenses. Moreover, girls are more likely than boys to advance to general secondary education, the track that leads to higher education.

Keywords: Gender, Tutoring, Track, Egyptian Education.

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372 Structural Behaviour of Partially Filled Steel Grid Composite Deck

Authors: Hyun-Seop Shin, Chin-Hyung Lee, Ki-Tae Park

Abstract:

In order to apply partially filled steel grid composite deck as the horizontal supporting structure of various kinds of infrastructures, the variation of its flexural strength according to design parameters such as cross and longitudinal bars constituting the steel grid and the type of shear connection is evaluated and compared experimentally. The result shows that the design sensitivity of the deck to the spacing of the cross bars is insignificant in the case of structure with low risk of punching failure or without load distribution problem. By means of shear connection composed by transverse rebar and longitudinal bar without additional shear stud bolts, the complete interaction between steel grid and concrete slab is able to be achieved and the composite deck can develop its bending resistance capacity.

Keywords: bending strength, composite action, shear connection, steel grid composite deck

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371 Ultimate Load Capacity of the Cable Tower of Liede Bridge

Authors: Weifeng Wang, Xilong Chen, Xianwei Zeng

Abstract:

The cable tower of Liede Bridge is a double-column curved-lever arched-beam portal framed structure. Being novel and unique in structure, its cable tower differs in complexity from traditional ones. This paper analyzes the ultimate load capacity of cable tower by adopting the finite element calculations and model tests which indicate that constitutive relations applied here give a better simulation of actual failure process of prestressed reinforced concrete. In vertical load, horizontal load and overloading tests, the stepped loading of the tower model is of linear relationship, and the test data has good repeatability. All suggests that the cable tower has good bearing capacity, rational design and high emergency capacity.

Keywords: Cable tower of Liede Bridge, ultimate load capacity, model test, nonlinear finite element method

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370 Framework for Government ICT Projects

Authors: Manal Rayes

Abstract:

In its efforts to utilize the information and communication technology to enhance the quality of public service delivery, national and local governments around the world are competing to introduce more ICT applications as tools to automate processes related to law enforcement or policy execution, increase citizen orientation, trust, and satisfaction, and create one-stop-shops for public services. In its implementation, e-Government ICTs need to maintain transparency, participation, and collaboration. Due to this diverse of mixed goals and requirements, e-Government systems need to be designed based on special design considerations in order to eliminate the risks of failure to compliance to government regulations, citizen dissatisfaction, or market repulsion. In this article we suggest a framework with guidelines for designing government information systems that takes into consideration the special requirements of the public sector. Then we introduce two case studies and show how applying those guidelines would result in a more solid system design.

Keywords: e-government, framework, guidelines, system design.

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369 Modeling and Simulation Methods Using MATLAB/Simulink

Authors: Jamuna Konda, Umamaheswara Reddy Karumuri, Sriramya Muthugi, Varun Pishati, Ravi Shakya,

Abstract:

This paper investigates the challenges involved in mathematical modeling of plant simulation models ensuring the performance of the plant models much closer to the real time physical model. The paper includes the analysis performed and investigation on different methods of modeling, design and development for plant model. Issues which impact the design time, model accuracy as real time model, tool dependence are analyzed. The real time hardware plant would be a combination of multiple physical models. It is more challenging to test the complete system with all possible test scenarios. There are possibilities of failure or damage of the system due to any unwanted test execution on real time.

Keywords: Model Based Design, MATLAB, Simulink, Stateflow, plant model, real time model, real-time workshop, target language compiler.

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368 Optimal Preventive Maintenance of the Reserve Source in the Industrial Electric Network

Authors: M. Bouguerra, H. Meglouli, I. Habi

Abstract:

The great majority of the electric installations belong to the first and second category. In order to ensure a high level of reliability of their electric system feeder, two power supply sources are envisaged, one principal, the other of reserve, generally a cold reserve (electric diesel group). The principal source being under operation, its control can be ideal and sure, however for the reserve source being in stop, a preventive maintenance-s which proceeds on time intervals (periodicity) and for well defined lengths of time are envisaged, so that this source will always available in case of the principal source failure. The choice of the periodicity of preventive maintenance of the source of reserve influences directly the reliability of the electric feeder system. On the basis of the semi-markovians processes, the influence of the periodicity of the preventive maintenance of the source of reserve is studied and is given the optimal periodicity.

Keywords: Semi Markovians processes, reliability, optimization, electric network.

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367 Signal and Harmonic Analysis of a Compressor Blade for Identification of the Nonlinear Frequency Vibration

Authors: Farhad Asadi, Gholamhasan Payganeh

Abstract:

High-speed turbomachine can experience significant centrifugal and gas bending loads. As a result, the compressor blades must be able to resist high-frequency oscillations due to surge or stall condition in flow field dynamics. In this paper, vibration characteristics of the 6th stage blade compressor have been examined in detail with, using 3-D finite element (FE) methods. The primary aim of this article is to gain an understanding of nonlinear vibration induced in the blade against different loading conditions. The results indicate the nonlinear behavior of the blade as a result of the amplitude of resonances or material properties. Since one of the leading causes of turbine blade failure is high cycle fatigue, simulations were started by specifying the stress distribution in the blade due to the centrifugal rotation. Next, resonant frequencies and critical speeds of the blade were defined by modal analysis. Finally, the harmonic analysis was simulated on the blades.

Keywords: Nonlinear vibration, modal analysis, resonance, frequency response, compressor blade.

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366 Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Lubricant Adsorption and Thermal Depletion Instability

Authors: Bei Li, Qiu B. Chen, Chee H. Wong

Abstract:

In this work, we incorporated a quartic bond potential into a coarse-grained bead-spring model to study lubricant adsorption on a solid surface as well as depletion instability. The surface tension density and the number density profiles were examined to verify the solid-liquid and liquid-vapor interfaces during heat treatment. It was found that both the liquid-vapor interfacial thickness and the solid-vapor separation increase with the temperatureT* when T*is below the phase transition temperature Tc *. At high temperatures (T*>Tc *), the solid-vapor separation decreases gradually as the temperature increases. In addition, we evaluated the lubricant weight and bond loss profiles at different temperatures. It was observed that the lubricant desorption is favored over decomposition and is the main cause of the lubricant failure at the head disk interface in our simulations.

Keywords: Depletion instability, Lubricant film, Thermal adsorption, Molecular dynamics (MD).

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365 Instability Problem of Turbo-Machines with Radial Distortion Problems

Authors: Yasuo Obikane, Sofiane Khelladi

Abstract:

In the upstream we place a piece of ring and rotate it with 83Hz, 166Hz, 333Hz,and 666H to find the effect of the periodic distortion.In the experiment this type of the perturbation will not allow since the mechanical failure of any parts of the equipment in the upstream will destroy the blade system. This type of study will be only possible by CFD. We use two pumps NS32 (ENSAM) and three blades pump (Tamagawa Univ). The benchmark computations were performed without perturbation parts, and confirm the computational results well agreement in head-flow rate. We obtained the pressure fluctuation growth rate that is representing the global instability of the turbo-system. The fluctuating torque components were 0.01Nm(5000rpm), 0.1Nm(10000rmp), 0.04Nm(20000rmp), 0.15Nm( 40000rmp) respectively. Only for 10000rpm(166Hz) the output toque was random, and it implies that it creates unsteady flow by separations on the blades, and will reduce the pressure loss significantly

Keywords: inlet distorsion, perturbation, turbo-machine

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364 A Methodology for Quality Problems Diagnosis in SMEs

Authors: Humberto N. Teixeira, Isabel S. Lopes, Sérgio D. Sousa

Abstract:

This article proposes a new methodology to be used by SMEs (Small and Medium enterprises) to characterize their performance in quality, highlighting weaknesses and area for improvement. The methodology aims to identify the principal causes of quality problems and help to prioritize improvement initiatives. This is a self-assessment methodology that intends to be easy to implement by companies with low maturity level in quality. The methodology is organized in six different steps which includes gathering information about predetermined processes and subprocesses of quality management, defined based on the well-known Juran-s trilogy for quality management (Quality planning, quality control and quality improvement) and, predetermined results categories, defined based on quality concept. A set of tools for data collecting and analysis, such as interviews, flowcharts, process analysis diagrams and Failure Mode and effects Analysis (FMEA) are used. The article also presents the conclusions obtained in the application of the methodology in two cases studies.

Keywords: Continuous improvement, Diagnosis, Quality Management, Self-assessment, SMEs

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363 Mechanical Properties of Fibre Reinforced Concrete - A Comparative Experimental Study

Authors: Amir M. Alani, Morteza Aboutalebi

Abstract:

This paper in essence presents comparative experimental data on the mechanical performance of steel and synthetic fibre-reinforced concrete under compression, tensile split and flexure. URW1050 steel fibre and HPP45 synthetic fibre, both with the same concrete design mix, have been used to make cube specimens for a compression test, cylinders for a tensile split test and beam specimens for a flexural test. The experimental data demonstrated steel fibre reinforced concrete to be stronger in flexure at early stages, whilst both fibre reinforced concrete types displayed comparatively the same performance in compression, tensile splitting and 28-day flexural strength. In terms of post-crack controlHPP45 was preferable.

Keywords: Steel Fibre, Synthetic Fibre, Fibre Reinforced Concrete, Failure, Ductility, Experimental Study.

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362 Behavior and Strength of Slab-Edge Beam-Column Connections under Shear Force and Moment

Authors: Omar M. Ben-Sasi

Abstract:

A total of fourteen slab-edge beam-column connection specimens were tested gradually to failure under the effect of simultaneous action of shear force and moment. The objective was to investigate the influence of some parameters thought to be important on the behavior and strength of slab-column connections with edge beams encountered in flat slab flooring and roofing systems. The parameters included the existence and strength of edge beam, depth and width of edge beam, steel reinforcement ratio of slab, ratio of moment to shear force, and the existence of openings in the region next to the column.

Results obtained demonstrated the importance of the studied parameters on the strength and behavior of slab-column connections with edge beams.

Keywords: Strength, flat slab, slab-column connections, shear force, moment, behavior.

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361 Screening of Strategic Management Criterions in Hospitals Using Delphi-Fuzzy Method

Authors: Helia Moayedi, Mahdi Moaidi

Abstract:

Nowadays, the managing and planning of hospitals is facing many problems. Failure to recognize the main criteria for strategic management to ensure long-term hospital performance can lead to many health problems. To achieve this goal, a qualitative-quantitate method titled Delphi-Fuzzy has been applied. This strategy makes it possible for experts to screen among the most important criteria in strategic management. To conduct this operation, a statistical society consisting of 20 experts in Ahwaz hospitals has been questioned. The final model confirms the key criterions after three stages of Delphi. This model provides the possibility to focus on the basic criteria and can determine the organization’s main orientation.

Keywords: Delphi-Fuzzy Method, hospital management, long-term planning, qualitative-quantitate method, screening of strategic criteria, strategic planning.

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360 The Impact of Web Based Education on Cancer Patients’ Clinical Outcomes

Authors: F. Arıkan, Z. Karakus

Abstract:

Cancer is a widespread disease in the world and is the third reason of deaths among the chronic diseases. Educating patients and caregivers has a vital role for empowering them in managing disease and treatment's symptoms. Informing of the patients about their disease and treatment process decreases patient's distress and decisional conflicts, improves wellbeing of them, increase success of the treatment and survival. In this era, technological education methods are used for patients that have different chronic disease. Many studies indicated that especially web based patient education such as chronic obstructive lung disease; heart failure is more effective than printed materials. Web based education provide easiness to patients while they are reaching health services. It also has more advantages because of it decreases health cost and requirement of staff. It is thought that web based education may be beneficial method for cancer patient's empowerment in coping with the disease's symptoms. The aim of the study is evaluate the effectiveness of web based education for cancer patients' clinical outcomes.

Keywords: Cancer Patients, E-Learning, Nursing, Web Based Education.

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359 Sizing the Protection Devices to Control Water Hammer Damage

Authors: I. Abuiziah, A. Oulhaj, K. Sebari, D. Ouazar

Abstract:

The primary objectives of transient analysis are to determine the values of transient pressures that can result from flow control operations and to establish the design criteria for system equipment and devices (such as control devices and pipe wall thickness) so as to provide an acceptable level of protection against system failure due to pipe collapse or bursting. Because of the complexity of the equations needed to describe transients, numerical computer models are used to analyze transient flow hydraulics. An effective numerical model allows the hydraulic engineer to analyze potential transient events and to identify and evaluate alternative solutions for controlling hydraulic transients, thereby protecting the integrity of the hydraulic system. This paper presents the influence of using the protection devices to control the adverse effects due to excessive and low pressure occurs in the transient.

Keywords: Flow Transient, Water hammer, Pipeline System, Surge Tank, Simulation Model, Protection Devices.

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358 Harnessing the Opportunities of E-Learning and Education in Promoting Literacy in Nigeria

Authors: Victor Oluwaseyi Olowonisi

Abstract:

The paper aimed at presenting an overview on the concept of e-learning as it relates to higher education and how it provides opportunities for students, instructors and the government in developing the educational sector. It also touched on the benefits and challenges attached to e-learning as a new medium of reaching more students especially in the Nigerian context. The opportunities attributed to e-learning in the paper includes breaking boundaries barriers, reaching a larger number of students, provision of jobs for ICT experts, etc. In contrary, poor power supply, cost of implementation, poor computer literacy, technophobia (fear of technology), computer crime and system failure were some of the challenges of e-learning discussed in the paper. The paper proffered that the government can help the people gain more from e-learning through its financing. Also, it was stated that instructors/lecturers and students need to undergo training on computer application in order for e-learning to be more effective in developing higher education in Nigeria.

Keywords: E-Learning, education, higher education, increasing literacy.

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