The paper reports the results of a collapse test performed on a 6 m span timber-concrete composite beam with glued re-bar connection. The beam was first ramp loaded to failure, then some push-out tests were performed on specimens cut from the end of the beam in order to fully characterise the connection. During the tests all relevant quantities such as deflections, slips and strains were monito...

We present a novel method to produce a PMMA-quantum-dot (QD) composite fabricated by pre-polymerization of PMMA and dispersing commercially available colloidal semiconductor QDs. The QDs are stabilized in rapidly formed oligomer matrices, and the complete polymerization of the PMMA-QD composite is achieved by commonly used polymerization. The properties of the PMMA-QD composite are measured and...

The demand for real-time or in situ structural health monitoring has stimulated efforts to integrate self and environmental sensing capabilities into structural composite materials. Essential to the application of smart composites is the issue of the mechanical coupling of the sensor to the host material. In this study various methods of embedding sensors within the host composite material are ...

This paper presents an ant colony system model for cost optimization of a composite floor system based on the load and resistance factor design (LRFD) specification of the AISC. The model formulation includes the cost of concrete, steel beam, and shear studs. The objective function is considered as the cost of the structure, which is minimized subjected to serviceability and strength requiremen...

A conjectured finite M-theory based on eleven-dimensional supergravity formulated in a superspace with a non-anticommutative ♦-product of field operators is proposed. Supermembranes are incorporated in the superspace ♦-product formalism. When the deformed supersymmetry invariant action of eleven-dimensional supergravity theory is expanded about the standard supersymmetry invariant action, the s...

An analytical model to predict the linear viscoelastic behavior of thin-walled laminated fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) composite beams is presented. Using the correspondence principle, this new model integrates micro/macro-mechanics of composites and mechanics of thin-walled laminated beams to perform beam. analyses in the Laplace or Carson domains. The analytical expressions for beam relaxati...

Controllable bending stiffness and damping has significant applications in soft robotics, especially for soft slender manipulator arms inspired by octopus tentacles. The bending moment on a solid slender beam is balanced by the sum of moments generated by internal stresses. Resulting stresses are not controllable and decided by the bending curvature, area moment of inertia and elastic modulus o...

This study presents an analytical investigation into the mechanical behavior of a cartilage-polydioxanone (PDS) plate composite grafts. Numerical methods are used to provide a first-order, numerical model of the flexural stiffness of a cartilage-PDS graft. Flexural stiffness is a measure of resistance to bending and is inversely related to the amount of deformation a structure may experience wh...