In order to test a structure or portion of a structure for purposes of strength evaluation, two load test protocols are currently available in the United States. The first one is defined in Chapter 20 of the ACI 318 Building Code. It is based on a 24-hour-duration uniformly distributed static load, at a magnitude determined as a ratio of the design load. The second one, still at the proposed le...

This paper describes the experimental studies of vertical dynamic stiffness of single piles subjected to small amplitude of vibrations with constant dynamic load. The test results were correlated with the static load test results that had been carried out on the same piles. The ratio of dynamic to static stiffness mainly falls between 1.2-1.4. The dynamic stiffness measurements were compared wi...

Point load testing is used to determine rock strength indexes in geotechnical practice. The point load test apparatus and procedure enables economical testing of core or lump rock samples in either a field or laboratory setting. In order to estimate uniaxial compressive strength, index-to-strength conversion factors are used. These factors have been proposed by various researchers and are depen...

Wind and earthquake disasters in the world often cause billions of dollars of damage to buildings, most of which is to non-engineered buildings-especially homes. Wood-frame homes use connectors which exhibit partial rotational rigidity at the member ends, making analytical solutions difficult. This is due to the lack of information about the complex behavior of the connections used in this type...

Background Viral load (VL) testing is highly important for detection of antiretroviral treatment (ART) failure in AIDS patients. However, due to the cost and availability of viral load testing instruments, VL testing is not being performed in many developing and underdeveloped countries. Such countries depend on CD4 tests for staging the HIV infection and for initiating ART, since CD4 testing i...