High-volume traffic with ultra-heavy axle loads combined with extremely hot weather conditions increases the propagation of rutting in flexible pavement road networks. Several studies suggested using nanomaterials in asphalt modification to delay the deterioration of asphalt pavement. The current work aims to improve the resistance of hot mix asphalt (HMA) to rutting by incorporating Nano Silica (NS) in specific concentrations. NS was blended into asphalt mixtures in concentrations of 2, 4, and 6% by weight of the binder. The behavior of asphalt mixtures subjected to aging was investigated at different stages (short-term and long-term aging). The performance characteristics of the asphalt mixtures were evaluated using the Marshall s

The minimization, treatment and disposal of drilling wastes especially oily wastes are important environmental issues.

In this research two fungal isolates named Pleurotus ostreatus and Trichoderma harzianum were chosen carefully f or the purpose of biotreatment of oily drilled cuttings which resulting from  drilling oil wells using oil based muds (OBMs).

A relationship of total petroleum hydrocarbon degradation in oily drilled cuttings with time has been obtained. The results showed that Pleurotus ostreatus and Trichoderma harzianum can be considered hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms and the used biotreatment is cost effective process since most of the materials used in the cultivation and growth of the present f

Due to economic reasons or need for environmental conservatism or also preserve the natural resources; there has been an increasing shift towards the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) materials in the pavement construction industry. Therefore, use the Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) has been enormously increased in pavement construction and has been become common practice in many countries. Nevertheless, this is a relatively new concept in Iraq, and has to be remarked that is not used RAP in the production of HMA and this valuable material is mostly degraded. For this purpose, the reclaimed materials were collected from deteriorated pavement segments. The components of asphalt mixtures consist of: two asphalt penetration grades (40-5

This paper reports on the experimental study, which conducted a series of triaxial tests for the asphalt concrete using hydrated lime as a mineral additive. Three HMA mixes, prepared by the specification for wearing, levelling and base layers, were studied under three different temperatures. The test results have demonstrated that, compared with the control mixes excluding HL, the permanent deformation resistance of the HL modified mixes has significant improvement. The deformation has been reduced at the same load repetition number, meanwhile the flow number has been considerably increased. The degree of improvement in permanent deformation resistance using HL is more pronounced at high stress deviation states and high temperature.

The splicing design of the existing road and the new road in the expansion project is an important part of the design work. Based on the analysis of the characteristics and the load effect of pavement structure on splicing, this paper points out that tensile crack or shear failure may occur at the splicing under the repeated action of the traffic load on the new/old pavement. According to the current structure design code of asphalt pavement in China, it is proposed that the horizontal tensile stress at the bottom of the splicing layer and the vertical shear stress at other layers of the splicing line should be controlled by adjusting the position and size of the excavated steps in addition to the conventional design ind

Solar energy is one of the immeasurable renewable energy in power generation for a green, clean and healthier environment. The silicon-layer solar panels absorb sun energy and converts it into electricity by off-grid inverter. Electricity is transferred either from this inverter or from transformer, consumed by consumption unit(s) available for residential or economic purposes. The artificial neural network is the foundation of artificial intelligence and solves many complex problems which are difficult by statistical methods or by humans. In view of this, the purpose of this work is to assess the performance of the Solar - Transformer - Consumption (STC) system. The system may be in complete breakdown situation due to failure of both so

For the most reliable and reproducible results for calibration or general testing purposes of two immiscible liquids, such as water in engine oil, good emulsification is vital. This study explores the impact of emulsion quality on the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy calibration standards for measuring water contamination in used or in-service engine oil, in an attempt to strengthen the specific guidelines of ASTM International standards for sample preparation. By using different emulsification techniques and readily available laboratory equipment, this work is an attempt to establish the ideal sample preparation technique for reliability, repeatability, and reproducibility for FT-IR analysis while still considering t

Diesel engine oil was subjected to thermal oxidization (TO) for six periods of time (0 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h, and 120 h) and was subsequently characterized by terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). The THz refractive index generally increased with oxidation time. The measurement method illustrated the potential of THz-TDS when a fixed setup with a single cuvette is used. A future miniaturized setup installed in an engine would be an example of a fixed setup. For the refractive index, there were highly significant differences among the oxidation times across most of the 0.3–1.7 THz range.

In this study, the effect of ceramic coating on the performance and gases emission on diesel engine was investigated. A four-stroke, direct injected, single cylinder, diesel engine was tested at constant speed and at different load conditions without coating. Then, the inlet and exhaust valves faces were coated by about 500µm with ceramic materials. Ceramic layers were made of YttriaStabilized Zirconia (YSZ), and NiCrAl as a bond coat. The coating technique adapted in this work is the flame spray method. The engine with valves ceramiccoated research was tested for the same operation conditions of the engine (without coating). The results indicate a reduction in both fuel consumption by about 7.6% and particulate emissions by about (13