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This paper presents the results of analytical studies concerning the flexuralstrengthening of reinforced concrete beams by external bonding of high-strength lightweightcarbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) plates to tension face of the beam. Three groups of beamswere tested analytically and compared with existing experimental results. Results of the numericalanalyses showed that, although addition of CFRP plates to the tension face of the beam increasesthe strength, it decreases the beam ductility. Finite element modeling of fifteen different beams in aparametric study indicates that steel area ratio, CFRP thickness, CFRP ultimate strength andelastic modulus considerably influence the level of strengthening and ductility.

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Having observed the costly failures of different cutoff walls, that had been constructed according to the mix design specified by reputable consultants in Iran, a research programme was conducted to study the effects of constituent materials on the properties of plastic concrete. The main properties, such as compressive strength, biaxial and triaxial strains, permeability, and modulus of elasticity have been investigated using different mixes, obtained from prototype production line plant, situated on site, because it was realized that the site production line and the systems employed have major effects on the properties of plastic concrete. Statistical analysis of the results, revealed the coefficients of influence of main constituent materials of plastic concrete namely cement, bentonite, aggregate and water on its compressive strength and modulus of elasticity. Having realized the cancelling effects of bentonite and aggregates on the measured properties, some equations relating the quantities of cement and water to the compressive strength and modulus of elasticity are introduced. Effects of clay and hydrated lime powder, as fillers were also investigated leading to the proposal of limits for their safe and economic use. Since most of the cutoff walls are buried structures, failure strains under both uniaxial and triaxial tests, with values of cohesion and internal friction, are also presented in this paper.

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Design and construction of efficient and economic Reinforced Concrete (R.C.) Hyperbolic Cooling Towers have driven the engineers toward the design of tall and thin-shell towers which have considerable high slenderness aspect ratio. Consequently, the shell of R.C. Cooling Towers with relative high slenderness aspect ratio is extremely prone to buckling instability due to wind loading. To increase the structural stability or buckling safety factor, one economic approach is to design and construct stiffening rings for the R.C. Hyperbolic Cooling Towers. Despite the research previously performed to determine the effect of stiffening rings on the buckling behavior of the R.C. Hyperbolic Cooling Towers, information resulting in maximum buckling stability is absent considering the optimized utilization of the quantity and dimension as well as the location of this type of stiffeners. In this paper, not only the effect of the stiffening rings on the buckling stability of the R.C. Cooling Tower is studied but also the optimized location,quantity and dimension of the stiffening rings are carried out for a sample RC Cooling Tower. The dimensions of the selected sample cooling tower are in average typical dimensions which are used in the current practice. In this study, finite element (F. E.) analyses has been carried out to define the buckling modes and resistance of this tower due to wind loading for different number of stiffening ring configurations. Based on the conducted buckling analysis, the optimized number, location and dimension of the stiffening rings that maximizes the tower.s buckling stability are defined and the methodology to achieve this information is discussed in this paper.

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In this paper, the main factors in the analysis of the railway concrete sleepers areinvestigated and new recommendations are made in order to improve the accuracy of the currentpractices in analysis of the railway track system. First, a comprehensive literature survey isconducted, then, FEM models for a railway track system are developed and used to discuss andevaluate the assumptions commonly used in the analysis of the railway track system. The analysisfactors investigated include stress distribution under a concrete sleeper, rail-seat load, anddynamic coefficient factor. Finally, recommendations and needs for continuation of the researchare presented.

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This paper presents a k- turbulence model for simulation of steady current and itsinduced vortex shedding caused by the presence of an offshore pipeline. Performance of the modelaround a circular cylinder above a wall with gap to diameter ratios of 0.1, 0.35 and 0.5 underdifferent flow regimes with Reynolds numbers of 1500, 2500 and 7000 is studied. The flow field iscomputed with solving the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) the seabed underpipeline is treated as a plane boundary with no-slip boundary condition on pipe surface. Thegoverning equations are solved using Finite Volume Method in a Cartesian coordinate system.Based on the numerical solutions, the flow field, vortex shedding and distribution of shear stressdue to the presence of the pipeline near seabed are studied. In addition the mechanism of vortexshedding with different gap to diameter ratios is examined with focusing on the effect of vortexshedding on bed shear stress. It is found that the k- turbulence model can well predict the flowfield and its induced vortex shedding around a pipeline hence it can be easily applied forsimulation of scour below an offshore pipeline.

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The rectangular broad crested weirs are widely used to measure the water dischargewhich is one of the most popular tools in the irrigation canals particularly, in developingcountries.The present article is trying to demonstrate the results of an experimental work carriedout on rectangular broad crested weir with sloped upstream face to investigate the effect ofupstream slope on discharge efficiency. The upstream slope was varying from 90 to 23 degreeswhile incoming discharge was ranging from 14 to 75 lit/ sec. The experiments were conducted in aflume with a weir of fixed height under the normal downstream water depth .It is revealed that theslope of upstream face in rectangular broad crested weir would smoothen the flow profile havingthe critical depth on the weir crest adjacent and upstream of downstream edge of the weir . Theresults also lead to a novel achievement showing that the weir discharge efficiency is dependenton the slope of upstream face of the weir. As the slope of upstream face of the rectangular broadcrested weir is decreasing from 90 to 23 the weir discharge efficiency is increasing and reachingto its maximum through a parabola function at slope angle of 25 degrees(i.e. 1:2.15). Theinvestigation also showed that the depth of flow over the weir crest, the specific energy head ofthe approaching flow relative to chanel bed and the critical depth would be a pertinent similarityscales to asses the flow behavior over different sloped rectangular broad crested weirs betweenmodel and prototype. However, some broad investigation is recommended to endorse theachievements.

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Partnering is the master key element for project quality. It opens the doors to commitment and communication between the parties and provides the mastic which turns disparate groups with varying aims into a coherent team with common objectives (Baden-Hellard).There has been considerable business emphasis placed upon the development of collaborative relationships across companies in recent years. Construction is no exception. The presence of trust in the relationships has been cited as central to successful business and project outcomes (Partnership Sourcing Ltd. 1994, Latham1994). Trust is central to the development of non- adversarial business relationships, and hence provides fertile ground for the development of practices such as partnering, strategic alliances and supply chain management.The paper focuses upon the partnering concept in construction and discusses the role of trust as a key dimension for reducing adversarial relations in project working environments.

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This paper specifies the relationship among various factors contributing to road accidents including geometrical design characteristics, environmental and traffic specifications, by multiple regression analysis. The main objective of this paper is identification of problems associated with the safety issue of road networks by application of accident prediction models. Data from previous accidents were used to develop the models. Results of this study showed that the rate of road accidents is to a large extent dependent on the rate of traffic volume. Type of road and land-use are other important factors influencing the number and intensity of accidents. The mountainous roads in this respect require special attention regarding their safety factors. The quantitative rate of road safety upgrading has also been specified by adding traffic lanes in road networks.

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A dynamic programming fuzzy rule-based (DPFRB) model for optimal operation of reservoirs system is presented in this paper. A deterministic Dynamic Programming (DP) model is used to develop the optimal set of inflows, storage volumes, and reservoir releases. These optimal values are then used as inputs to a Fuzzy Rule-Based (FRB) model to derive the general operating policies. Subsequently, the operating policies are evaluated in a simulation model while optimizing the parameters of the FRB model. The algorithm then gets back to the FRB model to establish the new set of operating rules using the optimized parameters. This iterative approach improves the value of the performance function of the simulation model and continues until the satisfaction of predetermined stopping criteria. The DPFRB performance is tested and compared to a model which uses the multiple regression based operating rules. Results show that the DPFRB performs well in terms of satisfying the system target performances.

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The main purpose of this research is evaluation of effect of chemicals on permeability of sand- bentonite mixtures. The coefficients of permeability of sand- bentonite mixtures in water, solutions of sodium and calcium chlorides, sodium hydroxide, acetic acid, methanol and carbon tetrachloride were calculated using parameters obtained in 1- D consolidation test and Terzaghi’s theory. At each void ratio permeability of samples in water is the lowest and that for carbon tetrachloride is the highest. For all fluids the permeability index Ck is decreased as the percentage of sand is increased. The largest Ck belongs to the samples tested in water and the smallest Ck belongs to the samples tested in carbon tetrachloride.

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An efficient selection operator for use in genetic search of pipe networks optimal design is introduced in this paper. The proposed selection scheme is the superior member of a family of improved selection operators developed in an attempt to more closely simulate the main features of the natural mating process which is not reflected in existing selection schemes. The mating process occurring in the nature exhibits two distinct features. First, there is a competition between phenotypes looking for the fittest possible mate which usually ends up with choosing a mate with more or less the same fitness. Second, and more importantly, the search for a mate is often confined to a community of phenotypes rather than the whole population. Four different selection operators simulating these features in a random and pre-determined manner are developed and tested. All the selection schemes exhibit good convergence characteristics, in particular the one in which both the size of the sub-community and the pair of the mates in the sub-community are determined randomly. The efficiency of the proposed selection operator is shown by applying the method for the optimal design of three well-known benchmark networks, namely two-loop, Hanoi and New-York networks. The proposed scheme produces results comparable to the best results presented in the literature with much less computational effort

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Arational approach is introduced for numerical modeling of unbounded soil foundations based on coupled dynamic periodic infinite and conventional finite elements (IFE-FE). The model can be applied for analysis of various dynamic problems in geomechanics, especially in Soil Structure Interaction (SSI), where determination of stiffness properties and response of unbounded soil domains are of prime importance. In numerical SSI analysis, there exists important problems a) the discretization of natural soil foundation, especially defining the boundaries to prevent reflecting body waves and avoiding spurious results, b) the definition of the matrices related to the soils impedance functions which are essentially dependant on the excitation frequency, c) the evaluation of free field motion of the natural foundation, especially those of irregular geometry and material diversity. An efficient way and integrated solution to these important problems is found to be the use of periodic infinite elements. The wave equation of motion is derived numerically for discretization of the soil domain. Shape functions and mapping coordinates for dynamic periodic infinite elements are presented in this paper. The accuracy of the IFE is examined for the evaluation of free field motion of a visco-elastic soil foundation. Derivation of impedance function is shown and leads to the determination of dynamic stiffness characteristics of the unbounded soil medium including spring and dashpot coefficients. Application of the approach introduced here is shown by analysis of SSI for a semi-tall building subjected to earthquake loading. Other advantages of the approach are the substantial reduction in degrees of freedom involved in numerical SSI analysis, the computational time and costs without sacrificing the accuracy of the results.

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The CANAsand constitutive law in conjunction with the ID technique is used to study the flow phenomenon in a cohesionless granular medium placed between two parallel, rough vertical walls. It is shown that the development of flow is influenced by the geometry of the case. However the main factor is the void ratio of the medium: i.e. arching will prevent the free flow of the material if its void is close to the compact state. The study is extended to cover the axisymmetric situation. Here the flow of bulk solids through a circular opening at the base of a cylindrical tank is examined.

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The unique behaviour of carbonate materials under shear loading has stimulated in investigating of their geological and engineering properties.Carbonate soils composed of calcium or other carbonates and most abundant in tropical marine environments are of interest from geotechnical view, especially for offshore engineers engaged with Fossil-based fuel exploitation. This was initiated in the early 1960's, when the first offshore borings in the Persian Gulf identified layers of calcarenite and thick layers of sand containing visible shell fragments.For the purpose of exploiting gas and oil resources in hot and temperate climates (e.g. Persian Gulf) off-shore structures have been placed on carbonate soils. The carbonate sediments are high crushable compared with low crushable sediments such as quartzic soils.To examine the crushability of these problematic sediments a series of monotonic compression, extension and post-cyclic triaxial tests under different densities and confining pressures was carried out to study the crushing behaviour of "Rock" carbonate sand obtained from Cornwall, England.It was shown that crushing coefficient decreases with increasing in maximum principal effective stress ratio for both loose and dense states. It seems that for skeletal carbonate sand maximum and minimum dry densities will be changed during shearing loading. In other words, even though the sample has experienced an increase in density, it may also have experienced a reduction in relative density.

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Existence of discontinuities causes higher deformability and lower strength in rock masses. Thus joints can change the rock mass behaviour due to the applied loads. For this reason properties and orientation of the joint sets have a great effect on the stability of rock slopes. In this paper, after introducing some numerical methods for evaluating the factor of safety for the stability of slopes, stability of jointed rock slopes in the plane strain condition is investigated with the strength reduction technique this method is modified and applied in the multilaminate framework. First of all, stability of one homogeneous rock slope is investigated and compared with the limit equilibrium method. Then stability of a layered rock slope is analyzed with some modifications in the strength reduction technique. Effects of orientation, tensile strength and dilation of layered joint sets on the factor of safety and location of the sliding block are explained.

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Genetic Algorithm is known as a generalized method of stochastic search and has been successfully applied to various types of optimization problems. By GA s it is expected to improve the solution at the expense of additional computational effort. One of the key points which controls the accuracy and convergence rate of such a process is the selected method of coding/decoding of the original problem variables and the discrete feasibility space to be searched by GAS. In this paper, a direct index coding (DIC) is developed and utilized for the discrete sizing optimization of structures. The GA operators are specialized and adopted for this kind of encoded chromosomes and are compared to those of traditional GA S. The well-known lO-bar truss example from literature is treated here as a comparison benchmark, and the outstanding computational efficiency and stability of the proposed method is illustrated. The application of the proposed encoding method is not limited to truss structures and can also be directly applied to frame sizing problems.

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Results of an experimental investigation performed to evaluate the effect of various concrete strength levels on behavior of lightweight concrete (LWC) under pure torsion are reported.The principle variable of the testing program was compressive strength of concrete (�'c) which ranged between 6.9 and 81.4 MPa. Ten mixture proportions were utilized for LWC of 1500 to 2050 kg/m3 unit weight. In total, sixty four (thirty two pairs) rectangular specimens with 100x 200 mm cross-section were tested. Ultimate torsion strength of LWC increases as uniaxial compressive strength increases however the increase rate reduces for high levels of concrete strengths. The test results are compared with predictions of elastic and plastic theories for torsion and the ACI Code. The Code underestimates the cracking torque of LWC under pure torsion. A regression equation incorporating test results is higher than the ACI equation prediction by a factor of 1.12.

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This paper studies the effects of queue formation in the bottlenecks at off-ramps on the capacity of the freeways. Six expressway exit-ramps throughout the city of Tehran, Iran were selected and their traffic flows were observed in thirty-minute intervals during which the queue formation and queue elimination occurred. Assuming that in the absence of the queue, the traffic flow is in its normal state, the changes in the volume of through vehicles has been modeled as an average estimator of the change in the expressway capacity.The developed models prove that the changes in freeway capacity are due to queue formation at the off-ramp sections. However, the estimated figures are different from those obtained from the theory of freeway capacity. The conclusion is that lane blockage is only one of many factors that affect the freeway capacity while the queue forms. Since it is not possible to quantify all those factors individually, the resulting models are macroscopic estimates of the phenomenon.

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Water conveyance systems (WCSs) are costly infrastructures in terms of materials, construction, maintenance and energy requirements. Much attention has been given to the application of optimization methods to minimize the costs associated with such infrastructures. Historically, traditional optimization techniques have been used, such as linear and non-linear programming. In this paper, application of ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm in the design of a water supply pipeline system is presented. Ant colony optimization algorithms, which are based on foraging behavior of ants, is successfully applied to optimize this problem. A computer model is developed that can receive pumping stations at any possible or predefined locations and optimize their specifications. As any direct search method, the mothel is highly sensitive to setup parameters, hence fine tuning of the parameters is recommended.

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Flow regime in dam's bottom outlet is divided in pressurized flow and free surface flow by the gate located for discharge control. Down stream tunnel involves high velocity Multi component Air –water flow studied by mathematical model. In this research work, we used Finite volume mixture two phase flow model. Because of high Reynolds number, standard two equations k-e turbulence model was used. Model was verified by backward-facing step flow and results have been compared with experiments founded by Durst and Schmitt. Air demand ratio has been determined as function of Froude number at contracted section. Flow patterns have been compared at two categories of slug & stratified flows, Air mean concentration profile has been obtained at down stream tunnel. Comparison of flow pattern at two case with and without of aeration was investigated. Pressure drop behind of the gate and formation of vortex flow after the gate section have been discussed. Measurement of flow discharge and determination of contraction coefficient of the gate was outlined.