This study focuses on improving the safety of embankment dams by considering the effects of vibration due to powerhouse operation on the dam body. The study contains two main parts. In the first part, ANSYS-CFX is used to create the three-dimensional (3D) Finite Volume (FV) model of one vertical Francis turbine unit. The 3D model is run by considering various reservoir conditions and the dimensions of units. The Re-Normalization Group (RNG) k-ε turbulence model is employed, and the physical properties of water and the flow characteristics are defined in the turbine model. In the second phases, a 3D finite element (FE) numerical model for a rock-fill dam is created by using ANSYS®, considering the dam connection with its powerhouse represented by four vertical Francis turbines, foundation, and the upstream reservoir. Changing the upstream water table minimum and maximum water levels, standers earth gravity, fluid-solid interface, hydrostatic pressure, and the soil properties are considered. The dam model runs to cover all possibilities for turbines operating in accordance with the reservoir discharge ranges. In order to minimize stresses in the dam body and increase dam safety, this study optimizes the turbine operating system by integrating turbine and dam models.
Background: Cervical ectopy advanced to erosion is one of the common conditions in gynecological and pathological study. It is considered as a physiologic condition resulting from columnar epithelium migration from the cervical canal into the vaginal portion of the cervix, in which no treatment for asymptomatic cervical ectropion can be given. Treatment can be accomplished via thermal cauterization (Electro cautery), Cryosurgery. CO2 laser therapy is another modality of treatment.
Objective: To study the effectiveness of CO2 laser therapy and evaluate it as a biomedical tool for the treatment of cervical ectropion. The study was done at Laser Medicine Research Clinic at the
... Show MoreThis research utilized natural asphalt (NA) deposits from sulfur springs in western Iraq. Laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of an asphalt mixture incorporating NA and verify its suitability for local pavement applications. To achieve this, a combination of two types of NA, namely soft SNA and hard HNA, was blended to create a binder known as Type HSNA. The resulting HSNA exhibited a penetration grade that adhered to Iraqi specifications. Various percentages of NA (20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%) were added to petroleum asphalt. The findings revealed enhanced physical properties of HSNA, which also satisfied the requirements outlined in the Iraqi specifications for asphalt cement.
Consequently, HS
... Show MoreFor modeling a photovoltaic module, it is necessary to calculate the basic parameters which control the current-voltage characteristic curves, that is not provided by the manufacturer. Generally, for mono crystalline silicon module, the shunt resistance is generally high, and it is neglected in this model. In this study, three methods are presented for four parameters model. Explicit simplified method based on an analytical solution, slope method based on manufacturer data, and iterative method based on a numerical resolution. The results obtained for these methods were compared with experimental measured data. The iterative method was more accurate than the other two methods but more complexity. The average deviation of
... Show MoreRoughness length is one of the key variables in micrometeorological studies and environmental studies in regards to describing development of cities and urban environments. By utilizing the three dimensions ultrasonic anemometer installed at Mustansiriyah university, we determined the rate of the height of the rough elements (trees, buildings and bridges) to the surrounding area of the university for a radius of 1 km. After this, we calculated the zero-plane displacement length of eight sections and calculated the length of surface roughness. The results proved that the ranges of the variables above are ZH (9.2-13.8) m, Zd (4.3-8.1) m and Zo (0.24-0.48) m.
Clinical keratoconus (KCN) detection is a challenging and time-consuming task. In the diagnosis process, ophthalmologists must revise demographic and clinical ophthalmic examinations. The latter include slit-lamb, corneal topographic maps, and Pentacam indices (PI). We propose an Ensemble of Deep Transfer Learning (EDTL) based on corneal topographic maps. We consider four pretrained networks, SqueezeNet (SqN), AlexNet (AN), ShuffleNet (SfN), and MobileNet-v2 (MN), and fine-tune them on a dataset of KCN and normal cases, each including four topographic maps. We also consider a PI classifier. Then, our EDTL method combines the output probabilities of each of the five classifiers to obtain a decision b
Background. “Polyetheretherketone (PEEK)” is a biocompatible, high-strength polymer that is well-suited for use in dental applications due to its unique properties. However, achieving good adhesion between PEEK and hydrophilic materials such as dental adhesives or cement can be challenging. Also, this hydrophobicity may affect the use of PEEK as an implant material. Surface treatment or conditioning is often necessary to improve surface properties. The piranha solution is the treatment of choice to be explored for this purpose. Methods. PEEK disks of 10 mm diameter and 2 mm thickness were used in this study. Those samples were divided into five groups (each group has five samples). The first is the control group, in which no
... Show MoreHighly Modified Asphalt (HiMA) binders have garnered significant attention due to their superior resistance to rutting, fatigue cracking, and thermal distress under heavy traffic loads and extreme environmental conditions. While elastomeric polymers such as Styrene- Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) have been extensively used in HiMA applications, the potential of plastomeric polymers, including Polyethylene (PE) and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), remains largely unexplored. This study aims to evaluate the performance of reference binder (RB) modified with plastomeric HiMA asphalt in comparison to SBS-modified binders and determine the optimal polymer dosage for achieving an optimal balance between rutting resistance and fatigue durability. The experi
... Show MoreCoffee bean contains bioactive compounds including caffeine and chlorogenic acid (CGA) that have a stimulant effect and are used for combating fatigue and drowsiness, and enhancing alertness. However, when the coffee bean was processed in the form of green coffee bean (GCB) extract, it has an unpleasant flavour and limitations instability, activity, and bioavailability. This study aimed to produce microcapsules of the GCB (Coffea canephora) ethanolic extract containing considerable amounts of the bioactive compounds for nutraceutical supplements. The GCB ethanolic extract was microencapsulated by spray drying using a whey protein concentrate (WPC) biopolimer. The particle size (PSA), morphology (SEM), and physicochemical charact
... Show MoreIncremental sheet forming (ISF) is a metal forming technology in which small incremental deformations determine the final shape. The sheet is deformed by a hemispherical tool that follows the required shape contour to deform the sheet into the desired geometry. In this study, single point incremental sheet forming (SPIF) has been implemented in dentistry to manufacture a denture plate using two types of stainless steel, 304 and 316L, with an initial thickness of 0.5mm and 0.8mm, respectively. Stainless steel was selected due to its biocompatibility and reasonable cost. A three-dimensional (3D) analysis procedure was conducted to evaluate the manufactured part's geometrical accuracy and thickness distribution. The obtained results confirm
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