Objective This study evaluated the effects of adding titanium oxide (TiO2) nanofillers on the tear strength, tensile strength, elongation percentage, and hardness of room-temperature-vulcanized (RTV) VST50F and high-temperature-vulcanized (HTV) Cosmesil M511 maxillofacial silicone elastomers. Methods Two types of maxillofacial elastomers, VST50F RTV and Cosmesil M511 HTV, were used. Nano-TiO2 powder was applied as a nanofiller. A total of 120 specimens were fabricated, 60 each of VST50F and Cosmesil M511. The specimens of each type of elastomer were divided into three equal groups on which tests were conducted for tear strength, tensile strength, and hardness i.e., 20 specimens were used for each test. Each group of 20 specimens was further divided into two equal subgroups: (A) control i.e., silicone without nano-TiO2, and (B) experimental i.e., VST50F and Cosmesil M511 silicone incorporated with 0.25 wt% and 0.2 wt% nano-TiO2, respectively. Each subgroup thus had 10 specimens. The specimens were evaluated, and data were studied using descriptive statistical analysis and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results The addition of 0.25 wt% and 0.2 wt% TiO2 nanofiller into VST50F and Cosmesil M511 elastomers, respectively, resulted in a statistically significant increase in the mean values (p < 0.01) of tear strength, tensile strength, elongation percentage, and hardness of the materials. Conclusion The mechanical properties of the VST50F and Cosmesil M511 maxillofacial silicone materials improved with the addition of select concentrations of nano-TiO2.
This study was conducted in a laboratory experiment at the University of Baghdad, College of Science, computing Department, 5 km from the center of Baghdad city, in 2021 to evaluate the sorting method for the tomato crop. The experiments were conducted in a factorial experiment under a complete randomized design with three replications and using SAS analysis, artificial neural network, image processing, the study of external characteristics, and physical features; fruit surface area and fruit circumference were 1334.46 cm2,57.53 cm2 and free diseases. The error value was less than zero, while training with outputs recorded the highest value and which was 5. The neural network's performance between the input and the mean square of th
... Show MoreThe control of prostheses and their complexities is one of the greatest challenges limiting wide amputees’ use of upper limb prostheses. The main challenges include the difficulty of extracting signals for controlling the prostheses, limited number of degrees of freedom (DoF), and cost-prohibitive for complex controlling systems. In this study, a real-time hybrid control system, based on electromyography (EMG) and voice commands (VC) is designed to render the prosthesis more dexterous with the ability to accomplish amputee’s daily activities proficiently. The voice and EMG systems were combined in three proposed hybrid strategies, each strategy had different number of movements depending on the combination protocol between voic
... Show MoreTo achieve sustainability in the field of civil engineering, there has become a great interest in developing reactive powder concrete RPC through the use of environmentally friendly materials to reduce the release of CO2 gas produced from cement factories as well as contribute to the recycling of industrial wastes that have a great impact on environmental pollution.
In this study, reactive powder concrete was prepared using total binder content of 800 kg/m3, water to binder ratio (0.275), and micro steel fibers 1% by volume of concrete. The experimental program included replacing fly ash with (8, 12, 16) % by cement weight to find the optimal ratio, which achieved the best mechanical proper
... Show MoreGypsum is one of the important construction materials in Iraq in plastering surfaces and gypsum board , the ability of gypsum to give a comfortable an aesthetic ambiance as a construction material increase the need of gypsum , The particle size , total surface area and particle size distribution were factors affecting plaster properties used for construction properties . In this study gypsum paste was used with different mixing ratios of particle size and studied the physical properties of these types of pastes named (standard consistency ,setting time ,density) and compressive strength . The results showed that the water to gypsum ratio increased with increasing the fineness of the gypsum to (0.75%) and the setting time to the maxi
... Show MoreAb – initio density function theory (DFT) calculations coupled with Large Unit Cell (LUC) method were carried out to evaluate the electronic structure properties of III-V zinc blend (GaAs). The nano – scale that have dimension (1.56-2.04)nm. The Gaussian 03 computational packages has been employed through out this study to compute the electronic properties include lattice constant, energy gap, valence and conduction band width, total energy, cohesive energy and density of state etc. Results show that the total energy and energy gap are decreasing with increase the size of nano crystal . Results revealed that electronic properties converge to some limit as the size of LUC increase .
Hydatid cyst disease is one of the most common diseases in many places in the world. The infection occurs when human and livestock drinking or eating contaminated water and food with eggs of Echinococcus granulosus worm. Surgery is the best solution to eradicate cysts and rapid healing, but it may be accompanied by some risks such as rupture of the cyst and leakage its contents of protoscolices, which leads to the return of infection and spread in the body. Several methods have been used to reduce the risks of surgery, including withdrawal of hydatid fluid and its contents and injection scolicidal substances like ethanol and others. Researchers have recently tested the efficiency of nanoparticles such as selenium, silver, and gold nanoparti
... Show MoreBobbin friction stir welding (BFSW) is a variant of the conventional friction stir welding (CFSW); it can weld the upper and lower surface of the work-piece in the same pass. This technique involves the bonding of materials without melting. In this work, the influence of tool design on the mechanical properties of welding joints of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy with 6.25 mm thickness produced by FSW bobbin tools was investigated and the best bobbin tool design was determined. Five different probe shapes (threaded straight cylindrical, straight cylindrical with 3 flat surfaces, straight cylindrical with 4 flat surfaces, threaded straight cylindrical with 3 flat surface and threaded straight cylindrical with 4 flat surfaces) with various dimensio
... Show MoreThis study is a complementary one to an extended series of research work that aims to produce a thermodynamiclly stable asphalt –sulfur blend. Asphalt was physically modified wiht different percentages of asphaltenes , oxidized asphaltenes and then mixed with sulfur as an attempt to obtaine a stable compatible asphalt-sulfur blend. The homogeneneity of asphalt-asphaltenes[oxidized asphaltenes]-sulfur blends were studied microscopically and the results are prsented as photomicrographs. Generally more stable and compatible asphalt-sulfur blends were obtained by this treatment.