Gypseous soils represented one of the most complex salty soils that faced the geotechnical engineers. Structures that built on gypsum soil will undergo unexpected distortions that will eventually contribute to catastrophic failure. The purpose of this article is to understand the durability of gypsum soil against wetting drying cycles after improvement with polyurethane polymer especially investigate the effect of the wetting-drying cycle on collapsibility. The soil was brought from Sawa lake in AL-Muthanna Governorate in Iraq, with gypsum content 65.5%, A set of Odometer tests were performed to determine the collapsibility potential (CP) for treated and untreated gypsum soil. The result shows that adding a different percentage of polyurethane polymer (PP) gave a significant improvement in collapse potential (CP) and durability against wetting and drying cycles with different curing times. Whereas reduction in (CP) for the three percentages (3%, 6%, 10%) of polyurethane polymer was (53%,82%,93.2%) respectively after the specimens subjected to one cycle, while the three percentages (3%, 6%, 10%) of polyurethane polymer gave about (85%, 87%,94.6%) reduction in (CP) respectively after the specimens subjected to four cycles. the result showed that polyurethane can be used successfully as a chemical additive to stabilize the mechanical characteristic of gypseous soil with a high percentage of gypsum content.
Objective: To determine the functional and radiological outcomes of lower third tibia closed fractures fixed by nail or plate osteosynthesis. Methodology: This randomized controlled trial included 20 patients presenting with closed fracture lower third tibia in Al-Kindy teaching hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. The patients were divided as every other one into two equal groups; group I had fractures fixed by 3.5 mm locked plate and group II by intramedullary locking nail. We followed all patients for 24 weeks to assess surgical complications, fracture union, alignment and functional outcome based on Knee society score (KSS). Results: The mean union time in both groups was 10.2 ± 1.48 and 9.3 ± 1.77 weeks, respectively (p = 0.003). Mean KSS in bot
... Show MoreThis article presents the results of an experimental investigation of using carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheets to enhance the behavior of reinforced concrete deep beams with large web openings in shear spans. A set of 18 specimens were fabricated and tested up to a failure to evaluate the structural performance in terms of cracking, deformation, and load-carrying capacity. All tested specimens were with 1500-mm length, 500-mm cross-sectional deep, and 150-mm wide. Parameters that studied were opening size, opening location, and the strengthening factor. Two deep beams were implemented as control specimens without opening and without strengthening. Eight deep beams were fabricated with openings but without strengthening, while
... Show MoreThis article presents the results of an experimental investigation of using carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheets to enhance the behavior of reinforced concrete deep beams with large web openings in shear spans. A set of 18 specimens were fabricated and tested up to a failure to evaluate the structural performance in terms of cracking, deformation, and load-carrying capacity. All tested specimens were with 1500-mm length, 500-mm cross-sectional deep, and 150-mm wide. Parameters that studied were opening size, opening location, and the strengthening factor. Two deep beams were implemented as control specimens without opening and without strengthening. Eight deep beams were fabricated with openings but without strengthening, while
... Show MoreSoil fertility is a crucial factor in measuring soil quality, it indicates the extent to which soil can support plant life. Soil fertility is measured by the amount of macro and micronutrients, pH, etc. Soil nutrients are depleted after each harvest and therefore must be added. To maintain soil nutrient levels, fertilizer is added to the soil. Adding fertilizer in the precise amount is a matter of great importance because excess or insufficient application can harm plant life and reduce productivity. The use of modern technology is a solution to this problem. Although automated techniques for sowing, weeding, crop harvesting, etc. have been proposed and implemented, none of the techniques are aimed to maintaining soil fertility. The study a
... Show MoreThe shear strength of soil is one of the most important soil properties that should be identified before any foundation design. The presence of gypseous soil exacerbates foundation problems. In this research, an approach to forecasting shear strength parameters of gypseous soils based on basic soil properties was created using Artificial Neural Networks. Two models were built to forecast the cohesion and the angle of internal friction. Nine basic soil properties were used as inputs to both models for they were considered to have the most significant impact on soil shear strength, namely: depth, gypsum content, passing sieve no.200, liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, water content, dry unit weight, and initial
... Show MoreThe genus Bacillus bacterium isolated from soil and tests their ability to produce glutamic acid, the bacteria are diagnosed by traditional methods and VITEK-2 system. And we studied the optimal conditions for production and try to improve the productivity of the isolation by manipulating the components of the production medium and of the circumstances environmental of production medium. There is 43 isolates of the 70 bacterial isolates belonging to the genus Bacillus depending on phenotypic characteristics of the colonies and microscopic characteristics and found that 13 isolated revert to species B.subtilis depending on physiological and biochemical characteristics. As well as on microscopic and biochemical tests, 13 isolates were subj
... Show MoreA laboratory investigation of six different tests were conducted on silty clay soil spiked with lead in concentrations of 1500 mg/kg. A constant DC voltage gradient of 1 V/cm was applied for all these tests with duration of 7 days remediation process for each test. Different purging solutions and addition configurations, i.e. injection wells, were investigated experimentally to enhance the removal of lead from Iraqi soil during electro-kinetic remediation process. The experimental results showed that the overall removal efficiency of lead for tests conducted with distilled water, 0.1 M acetic acid, 0.2 M EDTA and 1 M ammonium citrate as the purging solutions were equal to 18 %, 37 %, 42 %, and 29 %, respectively. H
... Show MoreThe aim of this work is to evaluate some mechanical and physical
properties (i.e. the impact strength, hardness, flexural strength,
thermal conductivity and diffusion coefficient) of
(epoxy/polyurethane) blend reinforced with nano silica powder (2%
wt.). Hand lay-up technique was used to manufacture the composite
and a magnetic stirrer for blending the components. Results showed
that water had affected the bending flexural strength and hardness,
while impact strength increased and thermal conductivity decreased.
In addition to the above mentioned tests, the diffusion coefficient
was calculated using Fick’s 2nd law.
Recently, increasing material prices coupled with more acute environmental awareness and the implementation of regulation has driven a strong movement toward the adoption of sustainable construction technology. In the pavement industry, using low temperature asphalt mixes and recycled concrete aggregate are viewed as effective engineering solutions to address the challenges posed by climate change and sustainable development. However, to date, no research has investigated these two factors simultaneously for pavement material. This paper reports on initial work which attempts to address this shortcoming. At first, a novel treatment method is used to improve the quality of recycled concrete coarse aggregates. Thereafter, the treated recycled
... Show More