Foundation Failures Mitigation under Expansive Clay by Using Granular Pile Anchor System

Expansive soils are found in typical areas in the world especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The problems associated with this type of soil drive geotechnical engineers to invent new technologies as remediation’s such as physical and chemical treatments. Innovative foundation techniques were also suggested for remedying the swell-shrink problems of the expansive soil. The granular pile anchor (GPA) is relatively a more favorable technique indebted to its cost-effective, easy and fast to assemble and most importantly was found to be more efficient in remedying the expansive soil. Despite the extensive studies on the expansive soil remedies, yet the granular pile anchor system requires more comprehensive and in-depth investigations. This study is aimed at developing a model with granular piles of various length and diameter extended to the stable zone to investigate the heave and uplift pressure in the expansive soil. For this purpose, experimental and numerical analysis were conducted in a small and in a full scale model respectively. A significant improvement was attained in heave reduction and an increment of uplift capacity. The findings also show that heave decreased significantly when the length and diameter of the GPA increases while the uplift capacity increased. However, it was noted that the extension of length to the stable zone resulted in insignificant changes. Therefore, it can be concluded that the maximum length of 6 m is the ideal length for GPA for this particular type of soil

Fresh and hardened properties of lightweight self-compacting concrete containing walnut shells as coarse aggregate

Recently the application of self-compacting concrete (SCC) has emerging in construction structures due to its good abilities to improve durability and decrease bleeding with good bonding with rebar. On the other hand, large amount of aggregates is required for the production of SCC. However; replacing natural aggregate in SCC with waste materials can led to discover ecological building materials. Walnut shell (WS) is one of the agriculture waste materials which can be used as a substitution of aggregate in SCC. In this research, WS was used as a replacement of coarse aggregate for constructing SCC by employing ten different volume fractions from 5% to 50% with each increment of 5%. Fresh and hardened properties of SCC were investigated for all mixes and control one. The results showed that all tested properties decreased by increase WS volume fraction. However; the lightweight self- compacting concrete (LWSCC) can get at fraction volume of WS equal and or more than 35%. Where, slump flow diameter (SFD), compressive and bond strengths were 560 mm, 35 MPa and 6.55 MPa respectively achieved at 35% ratio of WS

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Saudi Arabia - a cross sectional study

Abstract Background The evaluation of metabolic syndrome in a society predisposed to the diabetes mellitus epidemic opens a new avenue to understanding this rapidly growing global metabolic problem. Although Saudi Arabia reports one of the highest prevalence levels of obesity and diabetes, a very limited number of epidemiological studies have examined the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Therefore, the main aim of the current study was to estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its risk factors among the adult Saudi population in comparison to other countries. Methods A total of 12,126 Saudi subjects were randomly recruited from the 13 administrative regions, and evaluated for metabolic syndrome and its risk factors. This exercise was carried out by trained physicians, through clinical evaluations and overnight fasting blood glucose and lipid profile measurements. Both the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and modified National Cholesterol Education Program and Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) Criteria were employed, and subjects with metabolic syndrome were identified using country-specific waist circumference cutoff values. Results The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Saudi Arabia was found to be 39.8% (34.4% in men and 29.2% in women) and 31.6% (45.0% in men and 35.4% in women), according to the NCEP ATP III and IDF criteria, respectively. Metabolic syndrome was also observed to be more prevalent among men and older subjects. The most frequently observed component of metabolic syndrome was found to be low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), followed by abdominal obesity. The most significant risk factors in the studied cohort included age ≥ 45, smoking history, low educational level, and living in urban areas. Conclusions This study shows a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Saudi Arabia, and thereby warrants urgent implementation of preventive health care strategies to reduce both morbidity and mortality related to this medical problem