In this work, the study of the evolutive behaviour of composite steel-concrete sections used in bridge decks was performed. A new method is proposed for the annex of EC3 part 2, in order to study the evolution effective steel area in a composite section, for serviceability and ultimate states. A coherent theoretical framework is presented, based on several relevant codes, namely the new Eurocodes. With this framework, a computer program is developed taking into account several important aspects in the behaviour of steel-concrete composite sections, such as nonlinear stress-strain relationships of the materials, local buckling of steel plates, time-dependent effects in concrete behaviour and load history. Also a new algorithm is proposed in order to compute strain fields at the section level from a known set of internal forces in the section, in nonlinear constitutive relations. Results obtained with the developed computer program are presented for several examples of typical sections found in bridge decks. Those results include moment-curvature plots, evolution of the strain field, evolution of the neutral axis, evolution of the stress in some points of the section. The influence of the concrete ultimate resistance and the staged construction sequence in the behaviour of the section is also evaluated.

The ownership - efficiency relationship in a firm has always been an important topic. In this paper, we focus on the state owned versus non-state-owned status of Vietnamese manufacturing firms, to shed light into the relationship between these two variables when using a more state-of-the-art method as a stochastic meta-frontier method. Applying the method for two periods: one during the global economic crisis and the other after the end of the crisis, the study determines that in both periods, there was a strong evidence that non-state-owned firms performed much better than state owned counterpart. We also found that the difference became even larger during the harsh time and sub-industries with non-state-owned firms could outperform the state-owned firms, significantly.

The study and determining of fibre-orientation with a two-dimensional (2D) image analysis of cross-sections is a fast and efficient way to get the fibre orientation distribution over a wide specimen area. There are several techniques for measuring fiber-orientation; however, the present study is based on a technique for the sake of obtaining better results . In this work , we utilize second moments technique to determine fibre orientation state by the use of a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images. In order to determine the fiber-orientation state, a second order orientation tensor is employed. A thermoplastic matrix containing 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30% by weight of hemp fiber is molded using an injection molding machine to obtain dumbbell samples. The orientation tensor is determined by employing geometric parameters of fibers on cross-sections.The geometric parameters are calculated by using image analysis, which employs a computational code especially developed to obtain a tensor components.

This study presents a new hybrid framework based on the multi-criteria decision making in order to rank the potential site layout locations by consideration of the cost and safety criteria in the Mehr Construction Project in Tehran, Iran. To this end, all of the criteria in selecting suitable potential locations are extracted from the research literature and the most effective ones, which are matched with existing conditions in Tehran are considered based on the opinion of experts,. Then, the proper locations for site layout are determined as the potential alternatives and ranked by experts based on the structure. According to the data collected from the questionnaires, the weights of the selected criteria are calculated using Best Worst Method (BWM) and the final ranking of the locations is performed using two Gray Relational Analysis and VIKOR methods. The computational results indicate that both VIKOR and GRA methods yield the same ranking. However, a method with higher reliability should be used to select the best potential location of construction site layout. Therefore, the sensitivity analysis of final outputs on the parameters existing in VIKOR and GRA methods is used in order to rank the alternatives and select the best approach. According to the computational results, the GRA method provides higher robustness compared with the VIKOR method. Accordingly, the ranking obtained from the GRA method is employed as the final solution in implementing the case study.

Immediate aid to survivors of a natural disaster is the keynote to crisis management. Providing temporary access is one of the most important principles of immediate relief. However, in the post-disaster conditions, it is not possible to use road construction machinery, especially in rural areas. Therefore, in this study, the feasibility of using a Rapid Assembly Building (RAB) system for the temporary pavement with the possibility of rapid construction, which follows the natural topography of the place, is investigated. The introduced system consists of a high-density polyurethane (PUR) foam core as well as two continuous layers of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) facings. For this purpose, the mechanical properties of the materials and composite pavement were determined by a series of laboratory tests. Then, the mechanical performance and bearing behaviour of an element of the presented pavement system was numerically modelled under AASHTO loading. Since in the post-disaster situation, it is not possible to establish the subgrade, an uncompacted subgrade is used for modelling. The results show that this system can be used well in post-disaster situations to provide a rapid, safe, yet robust road without any permanent deformation.

The research is conducted for assessing factors affecting the implementation of Strategic Management Accounting (SMA) of medium - sized enterprises in Vietnam. Data was collected from 235 medium - sized enterprises of Vietnam for the period from 2019 to 2021. Based on quantitative research methods, the implementation of Strategic Management (SMA) and factors affecting this implementation were scrutinized. The results indicate that the implementation of Strategic Management (SMA) of medium - sized enterprises in Vietnam is influenced by factors: Technology level, Quality of accountants, Competitive level, Business strategy, and Business risk. Through findings, some recommendations are given for improving the implementation of SMA of medium – sized to satisfy the demand for information of the stakeholder in the context of integration.

Nowadays, Saudi government has established several strategic tactics such as Saudi Vision 2030 to predict the future of the country. In order to accomplish a superior growth in the economy of the country, mathematical model and forecasting techniques are important tools. In this study, total annual exports and imports of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are forecasted using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models. This paper tries to predict a time series data using ANN and ARIMA models on total annual exports and imports of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the year 1968 to the year 2017 with the help of statistical software XLSTAT. The applied models are used to predict some future values of total annual exports and imports of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is found that the ANN and ARIMA (1, 1, 2) and ARIMA (0, 1, 1) models are suitable for predicting the total annual exports and imports of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The efficacy of stainless-steel micro-particles on friction stir processed aluminium-based matrix composite (ABMC) was studied using tribological, mechanical and structural analysis tools. The stainless-steel powder (17-4PH) of average size 45 – 90 µm was used as the reinforcement particle. The parametric values employed during the fabrication of ABMC- AA7075-T651/17-4PH were the rotational speed of 1500 rpm and travel speed of 20 mm/min while the plunge depth and tilt angles used were respectively 0.3 mm and 3 degrees. Tribological study was carried out under the influence of dry sliding condition with varying loads of 20 N and 50 N using tribometer while the scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to capture the wear track. Structural analysis was examined with the aid of x-ray diffraction (XRD). The tensile strengths of the fabricated ABMC were also tested and the fracture surfaces were studied using SEM analysis. The results from the study revealed that at higher loading of 50 N, the wear performance was significantly improved for the fabricated aluminium composite- AA7075-T651/17-4PH when compare with lower loading of 20 N. The tensile properties for the ABMC were also improved under the influence of the stainless steel microparticles. There was structural improvement in ABMC wherein the value for crystallite size was lowest while micro-strain, dislocation density, as well as full width at half maximum (FWHM), had the highest values over the FSPed AA7075-T651 and the parent material. The examined fractured surface of the fabricated composite was dominated with fine, network and equiaxed dimples with cup and cone attributes confirming superb interfacial bonding and that the failure mode was ductile.

This study aims to identify the factors that contribute to the formation of Net interest income (NII) for commercial banks in Indonesia in the short and long-term using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The results showed that in the short term all variables in each period tend to adjust to achieve long-term balance. In the short term, the variables that affect NII are credit and NPL of large and retail trade, construction credit, transportation credit and NPL warehousing and communication, as well as lending rate facility. While in the variable length figures that affect NII are credit variables and NPL large and retail trade, Credit and NPL Transportation, warehousing and communication, other credit and Third-Party Funds (Deposit) collected. The analysis of Impulse Response Function can be proven that NII most quickly achieves stability when dealing with the shocks of large trade and retail NPL. Meanwhile, in the Forecasting Variance Decomposition analysis, it can be concluded that the variable that gives the greatest contribution to NII is the amount of construction credit.

The current paper deals with incomplete Pairwise Comparisons (‘PWs’) when a large number of alternatives is evaluated. PWs are used to quantify decision maker's preferences, both ordinal and cardinal, in multi-criteria decision-making settings for eliciting the priorities of alternative options or weights of criteria. We use additive PWs with a different scale and show how 2-diagonal samples are used to deduce the implied weights thus prioritizing the alternatives. As a consequence, the number of PWs in incomplete judgment decision matrices is greatly reduced while preserving consistency and quality of the results. Computational results are provided and an example from the literature is applied to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method.