In recent years, the search for economic and environmentally friendly alternatives has become a global necessity to achieve sustainability and preserve raw materials. From this concept, natural bitumen (NB) derived from sulphur springs is now one of the most promising alternative energy resources for many applications, especially in asphalt pavement construction. Its low price and abundance characterise NB since sulphur springs produce thousands of tonnes of NB annually and are used in very limited fields. Two main objectives were adopted for this work. The first objective is to examine the virgin NB properties from five sulphur springs and compare them with petroleum asphalt. The second objective is to enhance NB properties by applying heat treatment. The experimental results reveal that heat treatment is highly effective in improving the NB properties. This was confirmed by conducting many tests, such as asphalt, Marshall, SEM-EDX, and indirect tensile strength tests. Based on the experimental test outcomes, virgin NB properties do not conform to asphalt specification limits and are unsuitable for flexible roads. Also, MS-NB significantly affected the mechanical properties of the asphalt mixture, as Marshall's stability increased by 41.3% compared to the conventional mixture. In addition, SS-NB was more effective in moisture damage resistance due to increasing the tensile strength ratio by 5.72 % and provided a higher stiffness index than the conventional mixture by 40.36%. In conclusion, the treated NB can successfully be used as a binder material in hot asphalt mixtures. ABSTRAK: Beberapa tahun kebelakangan, pencarian alternatif baharu ekonomi dan mesra alam telah menjadi satu keperluan global bagi mencapai kemampanan dan memelihara bahan mentah. Melalui konsep ini, bitumen asli (NB) yang diperoleh daripada mata air sulfur kini merupakan satu sumber tenaga alternatif yang berguna bagi digunakan dalam pelbagai aplikasi, terutamanya dalam pembinaan turapan asfalt. NB dicirikan oleh harga yang rendah dan kelimpahannya kerana mata air sulfur menghasilkan beribu-ribu tan NB setiap tahun dan digunakan dalam bidang terhad. Dua objektif utama telah dipakai untuk kajian ini. Objektif pertama adalah memeriksa sifat NB dara daripada lima mata air sulfur dan membandingkannya dengan asfalt petroleum. Objektif kedua adalah meningkatkan sifat NB dengan menggunakan rawatan haba. Dapatan eksperimen mendedahkan bahawa rawatan haba sangat berkesan dalam meningkatkan sifat NB. Ini disahkan dengan menjalankan pelbagai ujian, seperti ujian asfalt, ujian Marshall, ujian SEM-EDX, dan ujian kekuatan tegangan tidak langsung. Berdasarkan dapatan eksperimen, sifat NB dara tidak mematuhi had spesifikasi asfalt dan tidak sesuai untuk jalan fleksibel. Selain itu, MS-NB mempunyai kesan ketara pada sifat mekanikal campuran asfalt kerana kestabilan Marshalls meningkat sebanyak 41.3% berbanding campuran konvensional. Tambahan, SS-NB lebih berkesan dalam rintangan kerosakan lembapan kerana meningkatkan nisbah kekuatan tegangan sebanyak 5.72 % dan memberikan indeks kekukuhan yang lebih tinggi daripada campuran konvensional sebanyak 40.36%. Kesimpulannya, NB yang dirawat boleh berjaya digunakan sebagai bahan pengikat dalam campuran asfalt panas.
Visualization of water flow around different bluff bodies at different Reynolds number ranging (1505 - 2492) was realized by designing and building a test rig which contains an open channel capable to ensure water velocity range (4-8cm/s) in this channel. Hydrogen bubbles generated from the ionized water using DC power supply are visualized by a light source and photographed by a digital camera. Flow pattern around a circular disk of (3.6cm) diameter and (3mm) thickness, a sphere of (3.8cm) diameter and a cylinder of
(3.2cm) diameter and (10cm) length are studied qualitatively. Parameters of the vortex ring generated in the wake region of the disk and the separation angle of water stream lines from the surface of the sphere are plott
Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)-based plastic optical fiber sensor for estimating the concentration and refractive index of sugar in human blood serum. The sensor is fabricated by a small part (10mm) of optical fiber in the middle is embedded in a resin block and then the polishing process is done, after that it is deposited with about (40nm) thickness of gold metal. The blood serum is placed on gold coated core of an Optical grade plastic optical fiber of 980 µm core diameter.
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are emerging in various application like military, area monitoring, health monitoring, industry monitoring and many more. The challenges of the successful WSN application are the energy consumption problem. since the small, portable batteries integrated into the sensor chips cannot be re-charged easily from an economical point of view. This work focusses on prolonging the network lifetime of WSNs by reducing and balancing energy consumption during routing process from hop number point of view. In this paper, performance simulation was done between two types of protocols LEACH that uses single hop path and MODLEACH that uses multi hop path by using Intel Care i3 CPU (2.13GHz) laptop with MATLAB (R2014a). Th
... Show MoreTwo nanocomposite corrosion inhibitors were synthesized from Aloe vera extract: one incorporating sodium thiosulfate and the other silver nitrate. Both nanocomposites were subjected to structural characterization using atomic force microscopy (AFM), which revealed distinct morphological features. The sodium thiosulfate-based nanocomposite exhibited uniform and well-dispersed nanoparticles with an average size of 47.51 nm, suggesting a stable and homogeneous distribution. In contrast, the silver nitrate-based nanocomposite displayed slightly larger particles with an average diameter of 58.34 nm, indicating a tendency toward moderate aggregation. The corrosion inhibition performance of these nanocomposites for carbon steel (CS1137) was invest
... Show MoreGas sensors are essential for detecting noxious gases that have a detrimental effect on people's health and welfare. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are the fundamental component of gas detectors. CQDs and graphene (Gr) were prepared using the electrochemical method. The gas sensitivity of these materials was evaluated at different temperatures (150, 200, 250 °C) to assess their effectiveness. Subsequently, experiments were conducted at different temperatures to ascertain that the combination of CQDs and Gr, with various percentages of Gr and CQDs, exhibited superior gas sensitization properties compared to CQDs alone. This was evaluated based on criteria such as sensitivity, recovery time, and reaction time. Interestingly, the combination was
... Show MoreCerebral palsy "is one of the diseases that afflict children, and it is a term given to the condition of a child who is exposed to a normal brain injury by accident due to its inability to grow or damage to the cells of the areas responsible for movement and knowledge of strength and balance during the stage of normal development." (116: 1999: 10) Cerebral palsy causes disruption in movement and posture due to damage to brain cells in areas that control and coordinate muscle tone, reflexes, strength, and movement. The degree and location of brain damage varies greatly between people with paralysis, as well as the severity of disability and symptoms, as they fall into severe to very simple, and cerebral palsy is one of the diseases that caus
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