Durability of hot mix asphalt (HMA) against moisture damage is mostly related to asphalt-aggregate adhesion. The objective of this work is to find the effect of nanoclay with montmorillonite (MMT) on Marshall properties and moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixture. Two types of asphalt cement, AC(40-50) and AC(60-70) were modified with 2%, 4% and 6% of Iraqi nanoclay with montmorillonite. The Marshall properties, Tensile strength ratio(TSR) and Index of retained strength(ISR) were determined in this work. The total number of specimens was 216 and the optimum asphalt content was 4.91% and 5% for asphalt cement (40-50) and (60-70) respectively. The results showed that the modification of asphalt cement with MMT led to increase Marshall stability and the addition of 6% of MMT recorded the highest increase, where it increased by 26.35% and 22.26% foe asphalt cement(40-5) and(60-70) respectively. Also, the addition of MMT led to increase moisture resistance of asphalt mixture according to the increase in TSR and IRS. The addition of 4% and 6% of MMT recorded the highest increase in TSR and IRS for asphalt cement (40-50) and (60-70) respectively, where they increased by 11.8% and 17.5% respectively for asphalt cement (40-50) and by 10% and 18% respectively for asphalt cement (60-70).
The growing water demand has raised serious concerns about the future of irrigated agriculture in many parts all over the world, changing environmental conditions and shortage of water (especially in Iraq) have led to the need for a new system that efficiently manages the irrigation of crops. With the increasing population growing at a rapid pace, traditional agriculture will have a tough time meeting future food demands. Water availability and conservation are major concerns for farmers. The configuration of the smart irrigation system was designed based on data specific to the parameters concerning the characteristics of the plant and the properties of soil which are measured once i
The coefficient of performance of a window type Air-Conditioner system can be improved if a reduction in the work of compressor can be achieved by a suitable technique. The present study investigates the effect of dispersing a low concentration of TiO2 nanoparticles in the mineral oil based lubricant, as well as on the overall performance of a window type Air-Conditioner system using R22 as the working fluid. An enhancement in the COP of the refrigeration system has been observed and the existence of an optimum volume fraction noticed, with low concentrations of nanoparticles suspended in the mineral oil. Results showed that the average compressor work reduced by 13.3%, which ultimately resulted in an increase of 11.99% in the COP due to
... Show MoreWhen optimizing the performance of neural network-based chatbots, determining the optimizer is one of the most important aspects. Optimizers primarily control the adjustment of model parameters such as weight and bias to minimize a loss function during training. Adaptive optimizers such as ADAM have become a standard choice and are widely used for their invariant parameter updates' magnitudes concerning gradient scale variations, but often pose generalization problems. Alternatively, Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) with Momentum and the extension of ADAM, the ADAMW, offers several advantages. This study aims to compare and examine the effects of these optimizers on the chatbot CST dataset. The effectiveness of each optimizer is evaluat
... Show MoreThis study is a complementary one to an extended series of research work that aims to produce a thermodynamiclly stable asphalt –sulfur blend. Asphalt was physically modified wiht different percentages of asphaltenes , oxidized asphaltenes and then mixed with sulfur as an attempt to obtaine a stable compatible asphalt-sulfur blend. The homogeneneity of asphalt-asphaltenes[oxidized asphaltenes]-sulfur blends were studied microscopically and the results are prsented as photomicrographs. Generally more stable and compatible asphalt-sulfur blends were obtained by this treatment.
Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq. ex Fr.) P. Kumm.) is involved in the destruction of dead wood which is the main place of settlement of several living organisms. After humification, dead wood also becomes an important component of forest soils.
The purpose of the research is to study temperature and moisture conditions of extensive cultivation of oyster mushrooms on various wood substrates. To accomplish this goal, the following tasks were set: to determine the amount of effective stress temperatures and moisture content of substrates and their influence on the appearance of fruiting bodies of the oyster mushroom; to study the features of the extensive culti
... Show MoreThis study is a numerical investigation of the performance of reinforced concrete (RC) columns after fire exposure. This study aims to investigate the effect of introducing lateral ties and using the RC jacket on improving post-fire behavior of these columns, the effect of the duration of the fire on ultimate load of columns. The analysis was performed through ABAQUS, a 3D – non-linear finite element program. 4 m tall lengthening square RC column with a cross- section of 0.4 m × 0.4 m was used as a test specimen. The RC column was reinforced by 4Ø28 mm longitudinal bars bonded by steel tie bars of Ø10 mm spaced at 400 mm. The firing temperature was increased to 60
Objective: This study was conducted to identify the association of HLA-DRB1/DQB1 genes with the susceptibility or resistance to type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) among patients between the ages of five and eighteen.
Subjects and Methods: The study included 200 Sudanese participants, ages ranging from 5 to 18. One hundred participants were healthy non-diabetic as the control group and 100 with T1D as the case group. The investigation was carried out in Khartoum state. The selection of patients with T1D was from diabetic centers and hospitals. The allele-specific-refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) techniq
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