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Go to Editorial ManagerIn this research, the mechanical properties were studied from the experimental, theoretical, and numerical aspects of the sports prosthetic foot for the purpose of providing a sporty prosthetic limb with high performance, easy to use and an appropriate financial cost to use by amputees who have lost their lower limbs (amputation below the knee) in practicing their sports activities and overcoming physical disability. The dimensions of the blades were calculated based on side profiles from European patent specifications. The chosen fibers have high strength, are light in weight, and can be purchased for a lower price than the materials that are used in the production of the sports prosthetic feet that are already on the market and are produced by specialized companies such as Ottobock and Ossur. Six laminates of the composite material consisting of matrix orthocryl lamination 80:20 pro reinforced with different fibers (Kevlar fibers, carbon fibers, glass fibers, and perlon fibers) were fabricated in the form of rectangles using the vacuum system and then cut to the required dimensions using a CNC machine. The density and volume fraction of the samples and the use of the rule of mixtures to calculate the mechanical properties of the laminates were calculated and entered into the ANSYS program. Then the boundary conditions were applied to the athlete's prosthetic foot and the total deformation, and the total strain energy was calculated to find out the best laminates in the athlete's foot industry. It was noticed that the laminates reinforced with carbon fibers were better than the laminates reinforced with glass fibers in terms of Young’s Modulus, as well as deformation. The best laminate obtained is (12 K + 4 C).
A series of unconfined compression and direct shear tests were carried out to investigate the compressive strength and shear strength parameters of clay soil reinforced with different contents and lengths of wheat straw and palm frond fibers and by adding different percentages of furnace slag. The bearing capacity and settlement characteristics of the rectangular footing based on a clay soil layer reinforced with wheat straw fibers, palm fronds and furnace slag at different thicknesses were also studied by conducting model footing tests. The results indicated that the compressive strength and shear strength parameters improved significantly when adding 0.5% of natural fibers and 20% of furnace slag. The maximum compressive strength of soil samples reinforced with wheat straw fiber MT1 and palm frond fiber MT2 was 365 and 407 kPa, respectively. Compared to the unreinforced sample, samples reinforced with natural fibers and furnace slag significantly improve the shear strength parameters c and ϕ . The cohesion of soil sample reinforced with wheat straw and palm frond fibers increased by 8% and 43% respectively, while the internal friction angles improved by 19% and 40% respectively. The sample treated with furnace slag MT3 showed improved significantly in cohesion by 76% and less effect in internal friction angle. Compared to unreinforced soil samples, the cohesion of soil samples reinforced with wheat straw and palm fibers and treated with furnace slag MT4 and MT5 increased by 77% and 92% respectively, and less effect in internal friction angle. Moreover, the bearing capacity and settlement characteristics of the rectangular footing improved significantly with the increase in the thickness of the top layer reinforced with natural fibers and treated with furnace slag. The ultimate bearing capacity of layer reinforced with wheat straw fibers MT1 increases to 193.2, 220.15 and 247.5 kPa at thicknesses of 0.5 B, 1.0 B, and 1.5 B respectively, while the settlement decreased by 10.4%, 15% and 20.48% respectively at same thicknesses.
The trend of using natural fibers in geotechnical engineering has become of great interest to improve weak soils due to some of its advantages such as local availability, environmental friendliness, and lower cost. In this study, a set of unconfined compression strength and direct shear tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of Al-Nasiriya clayey soil reinforced with natural fibers. Three different types of natural fibers were investigated as sustainable ones, including wheat straw fiber and palm frond fiber, as well as imperata cylindrica fiber. The effects of various fiber contents (0.25 %, 0.5 %, 0.75 %, and 1 %) and lengths (20 mm, 30 mm, and 40 mm) were experimentally evaluated. The results indicated that the compressive strength increased significantly with the increase of fiber content and length up to an optimum value and then decreased. The optimum fiber content and length were 0.5 % and 30 mm, respectively. Compared to the unreinforced soil, the compressive strength values at the optimum content and length increased by 102 %, 126 %, and 66 % for samples reinforced with wheat straw, palm fronds, and imperata cylindrica fibers, respectively. The shear properties improved due to soil reinforcement with natural fibers. Compared to the unreinforced soil, the internal friction angle of the samples reinforced with wheat straw, palm fronds, and imperata cylindrica fibers increased by 17.7 %, 42 %, and 9 %, respectively. Forever, the cohesion and shear strength are also improved due to inclusion of natural fibers.
This study concems with the improvement of soils in Basrah area. Two types of soil have been selected; the first from Garmatt Ali place and the second type from Abu Al-Khasseeb place. Natural (palm) fibers are used in stabilization of these soils. These fibers were added by different percentages (0, 1, 2, and 3%) by weight of dry soil so as to improve soil properties. The selected soil are subjected to different tests such as liquid and plastic limit, specific gravity, unconfined compressive strength, compaction test. It was found that the addition of fibers to the soil affects compaction characteristics by decreasing maximum dry density and increasing optimum moisture content for both types of soils. The unconfined compressive strength increased with more addition of fibers The affect of fibers content on swelling, the swelling percent reduced especially during first days of the test.
This research studied the critical load of composite columns theoretical and numerical by using ANSYS14 package depended on experimental tensile properties of composite specimens. The composite specimens were prepared by hand lay-up technique made from unsaturated polyester reinforced with glass fibers with different fiber volume fraction V f , aspect ratio (L/T), and angle of fibers for coarse and fine woven fibers. The critical load that obtained by using program (ANSYS 14) have also shown a good agreement with results that were obtained theoretically and the maximum difference was (0.7%). The results show that the maximum value of the critical load can be observed at V f =11%, L/T = (3.5) and θ = (0 º /90 º ) for fine woven fibers was (622.115N). Also its found the maximum critical load for coarse woven fibers can be observed at V f %=8%, L/T=(3.5) and θ = (0 º /90 º ) was (486.887N). Also the observed values of tensile properties and predicated values are scattered close to the (45 ˚ ) line.
This numerical study aimed to investigate the torsional behaviour of hollow cross section reinforced concrete members strengthened with steel fibers (end hooked and corrugated), subjected to pure torsion. The numerical results were compared with experimental results and show good agreement. The experimental study was conducted on ten steel fiber reinforced concrete specimens with low longitudinal reinforcement ratio to investigate the torsional behavior under pure torsion. For this analysis, a computer program (ANSYS 18.2) was used. The brick elements 8-nodes (SOLID65) were used to concrete simulation, while the steel bars simulated as axial members (link 180). The steel fibre was represented theoretically by the stress-strain relationship. The theoretical results indicated that the adopted smeared crack model is capable of making relatively acceptable estimations of cracking and ultimate torsional capacity of the members.
This study investigates the effect of the shear span-to-effective depth ratio (a/d) on the behavior of high-strength steel fiber–reinforced concrete deep beams without stirrups containing circular web openings. A circular opening of 12.6 cm diameter was positioned at the center of the shear span, and beam performance was evaluated in terms of crack patterns, load–deflection response, and stress–strain behavior. Four specimens were tested experimentally. The control specimen consisted of a solid deep beam without openings and without steel fibers, while the remaining three specimens were reinforced with 1% steel fibers and included circular openings. All specimens were reinforced with 2Ø12 mm top bars, 3Ø16 mm bottom bars, and two stirrups at the supports to prevent local failure. The beams had different shear span ratios (a/d = 0.75, 1.0, and 1.5) and corresponding total lengths of 1025 mm, 1200 mm, and 1550 mm, respectively. All specimens were simply supported and subjected to two-point loading. The experimental results revealed that the optimal shear span ratio for maximum performance was a/d = 0.75 when combined with 1% steel fiber reinforcement. In addition, the ultimate strength of beams with circular openings decreased as a/d increased, with a strength increase of approximately 5.48% at a/d = 0.75 compared with a/d = 1.0.