In this research, the performance of asphalt mixtures modified with polyethylene polymer (PE) by adding 2%, 4%, and 6% percentages was evaluated. Two kinds of PE are employed: Low-Density PE (LDPE) and High-Density PE (HDPE). The semi-wet mixing technique (SWM) was conducted to avoid stability issue for PE-modified binder during storage condition. Many experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the ability of these mixtures to withstand the effects of loads and moisture. The hardness index of these mixtures was also measured to determine their resistance to the effects of high temperatures without causing permanent deformations. The results showed that adding PE led to a remarkable enhancement in the performance of PE-modified mixtures. The improvement in stability reached 113.36% when using HDPE and it was 86.19% for LDPE. For moisture resistance, it improved by 10.42% and 9.91% when using HDPE and LDPE, respectively. The modified mixtures also showed higher hardness index compared to the standard mixture. According to the outcomes of this research, it can be concluded that the optimum percentage for using PE polymer as a modifier in bitumen is 6% and HDPE is more effective than LDPE. Overall, the SWM is easier and more economical compared to the wet mixing.
In this paper, mesoscale modeling is performed to simulate and understand fracture behavior of two concrete composites: cement and asphalt concrete using disk-shaped compact tension (DCT) tests. Mesoscale models are used as alternative to macroscale models to obtain better realistic behavior of composite and heterogeneous materials such as cement and asphalt concrete. In mesoscale models, aggregate and matrix are represented as distinct materials and each material has its characteristic properties. Disk-shaped compact tension test is used to obtain tensile strength and fracture energy of materials. This test can be used as a better alternative to other tests such as three points bending tests because it is more convenient for both field and
... Show MoreOrthogonal polynomials and their moments serve as pivotal elements across various fields. Discrete Krawtchouk polynomials (DKraPs) are considered a versatile family of orthogonal polynomials and are widely used in different fields such as probability theory, signal processing, digital communications, and image processing. Various recurrence algorithms have been proposed so far to address the challenge of numerical instability for large values of orders and signal sizes. The computation of DKraP coefficients was typically computed using sequential algorithms, which are computationally extensive for large order values and polynomial sizes. To this end, this paper introduces a computationally efficient solution that utilizes the parall
... Show MoreMaximum power point tracking (MPPT) is used in photovoltaic (PV) systems to enhance efficiency and maximize the output power of PV module, regardless the variation of temperature, irradiation, and the electrical characteristics of the load. A new MPPT system has been presented in this research, consisting of a synchronous DC-DC step-down Buck converter controlled by an Arduino microcontroller based unit. The MPPT process with Perturb and Observe method is performed with a DC-DC converter circuit to overcome the problem of voltage mismatch between the PV modules and the loads. The proposing system has high efficiency, lower cost and can be easily modified to handle more energy sources. The test results indicate that the u
... Show MoreThe present paper is an experimental study to improve the productivity of the conventional solar still. This done by modifying conventional still in a way that the distilled basin is larger than distillation basin, thus providing an increase in the condensation surface and speeding up the condensation process. Moreover, increase in the dimensions of the distilled base helps coupling reflective panels to the distilled base to reflect incident solar radiation to the distillation basin. For this purpose , two solar stills were made, one conventional designand another made according to the proposed design. The two solar stills were tested during the period from February to July 2009 under varying weather conditions of Basra, Iraq (latitude o
... Show MoreThe problem in the design of a cam is the analyzing of the mechanisms and dynamic forces that effect on the family of parametric polynomials for describing the motion curve. In present method, two ways have been taken for optimization of the cam size, first the high dynamic loading (such that impact and elastic stress waves propagation) from marine machine tool which translate by the roller follower to the cam surface and varies with time causes large contact loads and second it must include the factors of kinematics features including the acceleration, velocity, boundary condition and the unsymmetrical curvature of the cam profile for the motion curve.
In the theoretical solution
... Show MoreStone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) is a gap-graded asphalt concrete hot blend combining high-quality coarse aggregate with a rich asphalt cement content. This blend generates a stable paving combination with a powerful stone-on-stone skeleton that offers excellent durability and routing strength. The objectives of this work are: Studying the durability performance of stone matrix asphalt (SMA) mixture in terms of moisture damage and temperature susceptibility and Discovering the effect of stabilized additive (Fly Ash ) on the performance of stone matrix asphalt (SMA) mixture. In this investigation, the durability of stone matrix asphalt concrete was assessed in terms of temperature susceptibility, resistance to moisture damage, and sensitivity t
... Show MoreThe experiment was conducted in field of the University of Baghdad, Jadryia region, Baghdad to measure vibration and performance efficiency of grass mower (machine cutting grass). Vibration in three axes are longitudinal X , lateral Y and vertical Z in four places of mower machine during cutting grass and Practical Productivity, Efficiency and Fuel Consumption measured in this experiment . Factorial design (3 x 2) used, mower speeds included 1.9 3.6 and 6.4 km/hr and engine load included idling and full load according to randomized complete design were used in this experiment. Least Significant Design (LSD) 0.05 was used to compare the mean of treatment. Result were showed that the mower speed 6.4 km/hr recorded high productivity (0.6557 ha
... Show MoreThis study is concerned with the evaluation of the effect of Euphrates River water quality in Al-Samawa region during
the period 1984-2003 on efficiency and reliability of reverse osmosis desalination systems by calculating the calcium
sulfate scaling index depending on the following indicators: - TDS, Ca+2, Mg+2, Na+1, Cl-1, So4-2, HCO3-1. It was
found from data analysis that this index for these units is greater than permissible limit. Also, the fitted relationship
between this index and TDS is logarithmic, i.e. this index varies more rapidly than TDS, and consequently it is more
representative to the water quality than TDS.
Image compression is an important tool to reduce the bandwidth and storage
requirements of practical image systems. To reduce the increasing demand of storage
space and transmission time compression techniques are the need of the day. Discrete
time wavelet transforms based image codec using Set Partitioning In Hierarchical
Trees (SPIHT) is implemented in this paper. Mean Square Error (MSE), Peak Signal
to Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Maximum Difference (MD) are used to measure the
picture quality of reconstructed image. MSE and PSNR are the most common picture
quality measures. Different kinds of test images are assessed in this work with
different compression ratios. The results show the high efficiency of SPIHT algori
The fluorescence and absorption spectra of Fluoranthene dissolved in
cyclohexane and ethanol were studied and analyzed. The effect of the
concentration of this molecule and the polarity of the solvents on the spectral
shifts and on relative intensity has been investigated. A computational program
was written in order to convert the spectra from grapher to data. Some
photophysical parameters such as oscillator strength and quantum efficiency have
been calculated. Fluorescence quantum efficiency of Fluoranthene was measured
relative to Quinine Sulfate (QS) in 1N H2SO4. The obtained values were (0.5) in
cyclohexane and (0.45) in ethanol