In this paper, an improved theoretical solution for interfacial stress analysis is presented for simply supported concrete beam bonded with a sandwich FGM plate. Interfacial stress analysis is presented for simply supported concrete beam bonded with a sandwich plate. This improved solution is intended for application to beams made of all kinds of materials bonded with a thin plate, while all existing solutions have been developed focusing on the strengthening of reinforced concrete beams, which allowed the omission of certain terms. It is shown that both the normal and shear stresses at the interface are influenced by the material and geometry parameters of the composite beam. A numerical parametric study was performed for different simulated cases to assess the effect of several parameters. Numerical comparisons between the existing solutions and the present new solution enable a clear appreciation of the effects of various parameters. The results of this study indicated that the FGM sandwich panel strengthening systems are effective in enhancing flexural behavior of the strengthened RC beams.

The challenge of replacing conventional plastics with biodegradable composite materials has attracted much attention in product design, particularly in the tensile-related areas of application. In this study, fibres extracted from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) were treated and utilized in reinforcing polyester matrix by hand lay-up technique. The effect of fibre loading and combined influence of alkali and silane treatments on porosity and water absorption parameters, and its correlation with the tensile behaviour of composites was analyzed. The results showed that tensile strength decreased whilst modulus of elasticity, water absorption and porosity parameters increased with increasing fibre loading. The composites of treated oil palm EFB fibre exhibited improved values of 2.47 MPa to 3.78 MPa for tensile strength; 1.75 MPa to 2.04 MPa for modulus of elasticity; 3.43% to 1.68% for porosity and 3.51% to 3.12% for water absorption at respective 10 wt.% fibre loadings. A correlation between porosity and water absorption with tensile behavior of composites of oil palm EFB fibre and positive effect of fibre treatment was established, which clearly demonstrate a connection between processing and physical properties with tensile behavior of fibre composites. Accordingly, a further exploitation of economic significance of oil palm EFB fibres composites in areas of low-to-medium tensile strength application is inferred.

High-pressure gas atomization was employed to prepare the Fe-based $Fe_{50}Cr_{24}Mo_{21}Si_2B_3$ alloy powder. The effect of flow rate of atomizing gas on the median powder diameter was studied. The results show that the powder size decreased with increasing the flow rate of atomizing gas. Fe-based alloy coatings with amorphous phase fraction was then prepared by high velocity oxygen fuel spraying (HVOF) of gas atomized $Fe_{50}Cr_{24}Mo_{21}Si_2B_3$ powder. Microstructural studies show that the coatings present dense layered structure and low porosity of 0.17% in about $200{\mu}m$ thickness. The Fe-based alloy coating exhibits an average hardness of about 1230 HV. Our results show that the HVOF process results in dense and well-bonded coatings, making it attractive for protective coatings applications.

The nonlinear thermal buckling load parameter of the laminated composite panel structure is investigated numerically using the higher-order theory including the stretching effect through the thickness and presented in this research article. The large geometrical distortion of the curved panel structure due to the elevated thermal loading is modeled via Green-Lagrange strain field including all of the higher-order terms to achieve the required generality. The desired solutions are obtained numerically using the finite element steps in conjunction with the direct iterative method. The concurrence of the present nonlinear panel model has been established via adequate comparison study with available published data. Finally, the effect of different influential parameters which affect the nonlinear buckling strength of laminated composite structure are examined through numerous numerical examples and discussed in details.