The performance and lifetime of the flexible asphalt pavement are mainly dependent on the interfacial bond strength between layer courses. To enhance the bond between layers, adhesive materials, such as tack coats, are used. The tack coat itself is a bituminous material, which is applied on an existing relatively non-absorbent surface to ensure a strong bond between the old and newly paved layer. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of various types of tack coat materials on interlayer bond strength and to determine the optimal application rate for each type. The tack coat types used in this paper were RC-70, RC-250, and CSS-1h. Both laboratory-prepared and field-constructed hot mix asphalt concrete pavements usin

Dust samples have been collected from three areas in Baghdad during dust storm occurred in 18th of June 2009 to characterize elemental particle size and composition by different techniques. The x-ray diffraction detected six minerals those are calcite, and quartz, present as a major components, dolomite, kaolinite, gypsum and plagioclase present as miner components .EDX detected some normal elements presented in local soil except traces of lead , nickel, and chromium. The particle size analysis by a set of sieves have revealed that the majority particle distribution was between (32 and 45)μm . To isolate the aerosol size, PM10 buoyancy method of powder in water showed a signifying amounts of particulate size .Scheerer’s method was app

Several stress-strain models were used to predict the strengths of steel fiber reinforced concrete, which are distinctive of the material. However, insufficient research has been done on the influence of hybrid fiber combinations (comprising two or more distinct fibers) on the characteristics of concrete. For this reason, the researchers conducted an experimental program to determine the stress-strain relationship of 30 concrete samples reinforced with two distinct fibers (a hybrid of polyvinyl alcohol and steel fibers), with compressive strengths ranging from 40 to 120 MPa. A total of 80% of the experimental results were used to develop a new empirical stress-strain model, which was accomplished through the application of the parti

Arterial aneurism and stenosis are disorders that lead to circulation malfunction. Stenosis often leads to hypoxia of the organ depending on the affected artery, whilst aneurism can lead to dissection with known lethal consequences. On both cases, the pulse wave produced by the contracting heart is reflected at these discontinuities, and estimating the size of these reflected waves using wave intensity analysis (WIA) is the main aim of this work. We also aim to measure wave speed, or pulse wave velocity (PWV) as more commonly known within the discontinuities. We manufactured 4 stenosis and 4 aneurism silicon sections, connected one at a time to a mother tube, and tested in vitro. Pressure and flow were measured proximal to the discontinuity

This paper examines the change in planning pattern In Lebanon, which relies on vehicles as a semi-single mode of transport, and directing it towards re-shaping the city and introducing concepts of "smooth or flexible" mobility in its schemes; the concept of a "compact city" with an infrastructure based on a flexible mobility culture. Taking into consideration environmental, economical and health risks of the existing model, the paper focuses on the four foundations of the concepts of "city based on culture flexible mobility, "and provides a SWOT analysis to encourage for a shift in the planning methodology.

Flexible joint robot (FJR) manipulators can offer many attractive features over rigid manipulators, including light weight, safe operation, and high power efficiency. However, the tracking control of the FJR is challenging due to its inherent problems, such as underactuation, coupling, nonlinearities, uncertainties, and unknown external disturbances. In this article, a terminal sliding mode control (TSMC) is proposed for the FJR system to guarantee the finite-time convergence of the systems output, and to achieve the total robustness against the lumped disturbance and estimation error. By using two coordinate transformations, the FJR dynamics is turned into a canonical form. A cascaded finite-time sliding mode observer (CFTSMO) is construct

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

      Dust and bird residue are problems impeding the operation of solar street lighting systems, especially in semi-desert areas, such as Iraq. The system in this paper was designed and developed locally using simple and inexpensive materials. The system runs automatically. It Connects to solar panels used in solar street lighting, and gets the required electricity from the same solar system. Solar panels are washed with dripping water in less than half a minute by this system. The cleaning period can also be controlled. It can also control, sensing the amount of dust the system operates. The impact of different types of falling dust on panels has also been studied. This was collected from different winds and studied their impact o