Performance and Maqasid al-Shari'ah's Pentagon-Shaped Ethical Measurement.

Business performance is traditionally viewed from the one-dimensional financial angle. This paper develops a new approach that links performance to the ethical vision of Islam based on maqasid al-shari'ah (i.e., the objectives of Islamic law). The approach involves a Pentagon-shaped performance scheme structure via five pillars, namely wealth, posterity, intellect, faith, and human self. Such a scheme ensures that any firm or organization can ethically contribute to the promotion of human welfare, prevent corruption, and enhance social and economic stability and not merely maximize its own performance in terms of its financial return. A quantitative measure of ethical performance is developed. It surprisingly shows that a firm or organization following only the financial aspect at the expense of the others performs poorly. This paper discusses further the practical instances of the quantitative measurement of the ethical aspects of the system taken at an aggregate level.

Distortion Effect on the UHPC Box Girder with Vertical Webs: Theoretical Analysis and Case Study.

Distortion deformation usually imposes a potential threat to bridge safety. In order to comprehensively understand the distortion effect on thin-walled ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) box girders, an innovative approach encompassing the governing distortion differential equation is introduced in this study based on the general definition of distortion angle within the cross-section plane. The analytical results obtained from the proposed method are in accordance with those obtained from the energy method, and exhibit favorable agreement with experimental findings documented in the existing literature. Furthermore, a finite element model is developed on the ANSYS 2021 R1 software platform with the employment of a Shell 63 element. Numerical outcomes are also in good agreement with the experimental data, affirming the validity and reliability of the findings. In addition, parameter analysis results indicate that the distortion angle remains approximately constant at a location approximately 1/10 of the span from the mid-span cross-section of the box girder, regardless of changes in the span-to-depth ratio. Increasing the web thickness yields a notable reduction in the distortion effects, and decreasing the wall thickness can effectively mitigate the distortion-induced transverse bending moment. Compared with normal-strength concrete box girders, UHPC box girders can reduce the distortion angle within the span range, which is beneficial for maintaining the overall stability of the box girders. The outcomes obtained from this study yield engineers an enhanced understanding of distortion effect on the UHPC girder performance.

An innovative deformation coordination method for analyzing distortion effects on box girders.

A deformation coordination method is proposed in this study to account for the distortion effects on a box girder. The differential equation for distortion in vertical web box girders is derived based on the deformation coordination condition of the distortion angle, considering both external loads and internal forces. Subsequently, a comparative analysis is conducted to explore the similarities and differences between the differential equations derived from the proposed deformation coordination method, the plate element analysis method and the total potential energy variation method. The accuracy of the proposed approach is verified through bench-scale tests and numerical simulations. The findings indicate that the derived governing distortion differential equation and distortion attenuation coefficients in the proposed method align with those obtained from the plate element analysis method and the total potential energy variational method, which enhances the applicability to allow for the distortion equations to be obtained simply by calculating the distortion displacements. The analytical findings regarding the distortion warping normal stresses on the cross-sections of the box girders demonstrate favorable correspondence with the experimental results, displaying an acceptable error ranging from - 0.3% to 5.4%. Moreover, the peak of distortion warping normal stresses on the mid-span cross-section increases with higher span-to-depth ratios and height-to-thickness ratios of the web. Consequently, augmenting the thickness of the box wall proves to be an effective means of reducing the distortion effect in box girders.

Improving the Flexural Response of Timber Beams Using Externally Bonded Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) Sheets.

This paper presents a numerical investigation of the flexural behavior of timber beams externally strengthened with carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. At first, the accuracy of linear elastic and elastic-plastic models in predicting the behavior of bare timber beams was compared. Then, two modeling approaches (i.e., the perfect bond method and progressive damage technique using the cohesive zone model (CZM)) were considered to simulate the interfacial behavior between FRP and timber. The models were validated against published experimental data, and the most accurate numerical procedure was identified and subsequently used for a parametric study. The length of FRP sheets varied from 50% to 100% of the total length of the beam, while different FRP layers were considered. Moreover, the effects of two strengthening configurations (i.e., FRP attached in the tensile zone only and in both the tensile and compressive zones) on load-deflection response, flexural strength, and flexural rigidity were considered. The results showed that elastic-plastic models are more accurate than linear elastic models in predicting the flexural strength and failure patterns of bare timber beams. In addition, with increasing FRP length, the increase in flexural strength ranged from 10.3% to 52.9%, while no further increase in flexural strength could be achieved beyond an effective length of 80% of the total length of the beam. Attaching the FRP to both the tensile and compressive zone was more effective in enhancing the flexural properties of the timber beam than attaching the FRP to the tensile zone only.