Longitudinal shear in composite deck slabs using corrugated steel sheets

Profile deck steel sheets are used in composite deck slabs. These sheets are standard in dimensions and shapes besides they are supplied with embossments and indentations. Such sheets are not available in Iraqi markets nowadays therefore people used another type of sheets which are corrugated without embossments or indentations in very wide range. This study covers the use of such sheets in composite slabs as decks instead of standard profiled steel sheets. The study comprises testing slabs of dimensions 0.9 × 2.5 m reinforced by steel fabric mesh and rested on corrugated sheets. Two types of shear spans are selected shorter and longer to study the longitudinal shear force transmitted due to the applied loads according to the Eurocode 4. The shorter shear spans are 600, 500 and 400 mm while longer one is 800, 750 and 700 mm. The study extended to support the requirements of design equation of the Eurocode by shear bond method also known as m–k method. The evaluated values of m and k are 0.094 and 65 respectively. The result of k which plays a very important role in shear transfer is small compared to what available in literature, therefore it is recommended to make use of shear connectors in such construction or any else method.

Characterisation and Control of a Woven Biomimetic Actuator for Wearable Neurorehabilitative Devices

Twisted coiled actuators (TCAs) are a type of soft actuator made from polymer fibres such as nylon sewing thread. As they provide motion in a compact, lightweight, and flexible package, they provide a solution to the actuation of wearable mechatronic devices for motion assistance. Their limitation is that they provide low total force, requiring them to actuate in parallel with multiple units. Previous literature has shown that the force and stroke production can be improved by incorporating them into fabric meshes. A fabric mesh could also improve the contraction efficiency, strain rate, and user comfort. Therefore, this study focused on measuring these performance metrics for a set of TCAs embedded into a woven fabric mesh. The experimental results show that the stroke of the actuators scaled linearly with the number of activated TCAs, achieving a maximum applied force of 11.28 N, a maximum stroke of 12.23%, and an efficiency of 1.8%. Additionally, two control methods were developed and evaluated, resulting in low overshoot and steady-state error. These results indicate that the designed actuators are viable for use in wearable mechatronic devices, since they can scale to meet different requirements, while being able to be accurately controlled with minimal additional components.

Research for the Influence of Canopy Mesh Fabric Perforation Structure on its Mechanical Properties

Under the circumstance of the same parameters as fabric density, yarn type and so on, different fancy openwork could be weaved respectively in which the fabric mesh layout are various. Then in order to get the fabric pore size distribution parameters under the best mechanical strength, the different fancy openwork should be applied in tensile and tear strength tests, which can contribute to analyze the relationship between mesh fabric structure and its mechanical property.