Traditional tree management is laborious and costly, thus this work aimed to study the performance of two different types of frond cutting saws (reciprocating saw and vibrating saw) and examine the two saws on five date palm varieties. Four parameters were examined, including cutting time for a single frond, the power needed for cutting a single frond, frond cutting productivity expressed as tree/h, and vibration conveyed to the worker’s hand. A field experiment was designed according to the nested randomized complete block design, including five date palm varieties as the main plot and the type of saw as a sub-plot. Means were compared using the least significant differences (LSD 0.05). Results indicated that Bream variety required the least time for frond cutting. The reciprocating saw exhibited efficiency in saving the time required for frond cutting, while the vibrating saw took significantly longer time needed for cutting a single frond. The highest number of fronds cut in one hour was recorded in Bream variety, again significantly higher than the number of other studied varieties. Moreover, the reciprocating saw achieved significantly higher productivity than the vibrating one, indicating that the productivity of the reciprocating saw is almost three times more than the vibrating saw. Maximum productivity was recorded in Bream variety, while the least was recorded in Tebarzal using the vibrating saw. Moreover, results indicate that the variety and the type of saw have a vital role in productivity since as the thickness of a frond increases, the cutting takes more time and ultimately reduces the number of date palms to be pruned per hour. Results also exhibited that vibrating saw reduced the consumed energy during frond cutting. Additionally, results revealed that the minimum power consumed by a vibrating saw was in Bream variety, while Tebarzal consumed the upmost energy when a reciprocating saw was used. Maximum vibration on X-axis was reported in Bream variety when a vibrating saw was used. Additionally, the reciprocating saw exhibited the highest vibration compared with the vibrating saw. Moreover, the reciprocating saw caused the lowest vibration in Tebarzal variety. Results indicated that the vibration imposed by both saws reached the maximum value in Bream variety. The vibrating saw resulted in the higher vibration toward Z axis, while the Reciprocating saw resulted in higher vibration toward X axis, which was more than eight times that recorded by the vibrating saw. Results indicate that vibration toward the Y axis increased significantly in Bream variety compared with others. Again, as in the situation with X and Z axis, the reciprocating saw exhibited the highest vibration compared to that resulted from using a vibrating saw which was more than three times the vibration caused by the vibrating saw.
Directional control valve is the main part in hydraulic system which has complex construction, such as moving spool to control the direction of actuator for required speed. Utilizing MR fluid properties, direct interface can be realized between magnetic field and fluid power without the need for moving parts like spool in directional control valves. This paper dedicates the experimental test of four ways, three position MR directional control valve. The experimental methods were done by connecting the MR directional control valve with hydraulic actuators. The experiment was conducted to show the principle work of the valve functionally and performance test for valve was done. The valve works proportionally to control the direction a
... Show MoreThe work include synthesis of nanocomposites (X / S / Ag) based on blend from Xanthan gum / sodium alginate polymers (X / S) with different loading of synthesized silver nanoparticales (0.01, 0.03 and 0.05 wt%) were added to the blend. The silver nanoparticles were prepared by reduction method and were characterized and analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Atomic force microscope (AFM). XRD study showed the presence nanoparticle of silver with crystalline nature and face-centered cubic (FCC) structure and an average size of nanoparticles ranging from 32 to 37 nm. The surface study was performed using AFM which showed a fairly uniform shape to the nanocomposites and a spherical nature for the silver nanoparticles. The nanocomposite exh
... Show MoreMany pharmaceutical molecules have solubility problems that until yet consist a hurdle that restricts their use in the pharmaceutical preparations. Lacidipine (LCDP) is a calcium-channel blocker with low aqueous solubility and bioavailability.
Lipid dosage forms are attractive delivery systems for such hydrophobic drug molecules. Nanoemulsion (NE) is one of the popular methods that has been used to solve the solubility problems of many drugs. LCDP was formulated as a NE utilizing triacetin as an oil phase, tween 80 and tween 60 as a surfactant and ethanol as a co-surfactant. Nine formulas were prepared, and different tests performed to ensure the stability of the NEs, such as thermodyna
... Show MoreRoad accidents have been identified as one of the main causes of death and have a significant effect on public health challenges, economic growth and development. The Iraqi transport infrastructure has suffered from the effects of war, carelessness, and lack of investment. As a result, road traffic accidents have increased, and the current efforts to address road safety are minimal in comparison to the growing level of citizen suffering. The objective of this study was to provincially analyze traffic accidents in Iraq using data from 2010 to 2020 to shed light on the current situation. Three key conclusions were made from the results: first, people aged 35 years and under was the age
Road accidents have been identified as one of the main causes of death and have a significant effect on public health challenges, economic growth and development. The Iraqi transport infrastructure has suffered from the effects of war, carelessness, and lack of investment. As a result, road traffic accidents have increased, and the current efforts to address road safety are minimal in comparison to the growing level of citizen suffering. The objective of this study was to provincially analyze traffic accidents in Iraq using data from 2010 to 2020 to shed light on the current situation. Three key conclusions were made from the results: first, people aged 35 years and under was the age group recorded in the most traffic accidents; second, Al-
... Show MoreThis study investigated the effect of applying an external magnetic field on the characteristics of laser-induced plasma, such as its parameters plasma, magnetization properties, emission line intensities, and plasma coefficients, for plasma induced from zinc oxide: aluminum composite (ZO:AL) at an atomic ratio of 0.3 %. Plasma properties include magnetization and emission line intensities. The excitation was done by a pulsed laser of Nd:YAG with 400 mJ energy at atmospheric pressure. Both the electron temperature and number density were determined with the help of the Stark effect principle and the Boltzmann-Plot method. There was a rise in the amount of (ne) and (Te) that was produced
... Show MoreThe use of composite materials has vastly increased in recent years. Great interest is therefore developed in the damage detection of composites using non- destructive test methods. Several approaches have been applied to obtain information about the existence and location of the faults. This paper used the vibration response of a composite plate to detect and localize delamination defect based on the modal analysis. Experiments are conducted to validate the developed model. A two-dimensional finite element model for multi-layered composites with internal delamination is established. FEM program are built for plates under different boundary conditions. Natural frequencies and modal displacements of the intact and damaged
... Show MoreGypsum Plaster is an important building materials, and because of the availabilty of its raw materials. In this research the effect of various additives on the properties of plaster was studied , like Polyvinyl Acetate, Furfural, Fumed Silica at different rate of addition and two types of fibers, Carbon Fiber and Polypropylene Fiber to the plaster at a different volumetric rate. It was found that after analysis of the results the use of Furfural as an additive to plaster by 2.5% is the optimum ratio of addition to that it improved the flexural Strength by 3.18%.
When using Polyvinyl Acetate it was found that the ratio of the additive 2% is the optimum ratio of addition to the plaster, because it improved the value of the flexural stre