The distress of moisture induced damage in flexible pavement received tremendous attention over the past decades. The harmful effects of this distress expand the deterioration of other known distresses such as rutting and fatigue cracking. This paper focused on the efficiency of using the waste material of demolished concrete to prepare asphalt mixtures that can withstand the effect of moisture in the pavement. For this purpose, different percentages of waste demolished concrete (0, 10, 20, 30, 50, 70 and 100) were embedded as a replacement for coarse aggregate to construct the base course. The optimum asphalt contents were determined depending on the Marshall method. Then after, two parameters were founded to evaluate the moisture

Peak ground acceleration (PGA) is one of the critical factors that affect the determination of earthquake intensity. PGA is generally utilized to describe ground motion in a particular zone and is able to efficiently predict the parameters of site ground motion for the design of engineering structures. Therefore, novel models are developed to forecast PGA in the case of the Iraqi database, which utilizes the particle swarm optimization (PSO) approach. A data set of 187 historical ground-motion recordings in Iraq’s tectonic regions was used to build the explicit proposed models. The proposed PGA models relate to different seismic parameters, including the magnitude of the earthquake (Mw), average shear-wave velocity (VS30), focal depth (FD

Based on the results of standard penetration tests (SPTs) conducted in Al-Basrah governorate, this research aims to present thematic maps and equations for estimating the bearing capacity of driven piles having several lengths. The work includes drilling 135 boreholes to a depth of 10 m below the existing ground level and three standard penetration tests (SPT) at depths of 1.5, 6, and 9.5 m were conducted in each borehole. MATLAB software and corrected SPT values were used to determine the bearing capacity of driven piles in Al-Basrah. Several-order interpolation polynomials are suggested to estimate the bearing capacity of driven piles, but the first-order polynomial is considered the most straightforward. Furthermore, the root means squar

In this study, genetic algorithm was used to predict the reaction kinetics of Iraqi heavy naphtha catalytic reforming process located in Al-Doura refinery in Baghdad.  One-dimensional steady state model was derived to describe commercial catalytic reforming unit consisting of four catalytic reforming reactors in series process.

The experimental information (Reformate composition and output temperature) for each four reactors collected at different operating conditions was used to predict the parameters of the proposed kinetic model. The kinetic model involving 24 components, 1 to 11 carbon atoms for paraffins and 6 to 11 carbon atom for naphthenes and aromatics with 71 reactions. The pre-exponential Arrhenius constants and a

The impact of exposure to different sizes of particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM7, and PM10) was evaluated in  Babylon concrete plant workers who had been exposed to concrete dust for at least 10 years.  The effects of  these particles on the hematological parameters, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and  antioxidant enzymes (catalase and glutathione peroxidase ) were examined. The results exhibited that the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 were higher than the acceptable limits approved by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The blood parameters, namely white blood cells (WBC), red blood cell (RBC) and platelets counts, demonstrated non-significant differences between workers exposed to the PM as compared to the control gro

The precipitation of calcite induced via microorganisms (MICP) is a technique that has been developed as an innovative sustainable ground improvement method utilizing ureolytic bacteria to soil strengthening and stabilization. Locally isolated Bacillus Sonorensis from Iraqi soil samples were found to have high abilities in producing urease. This study aims to use the MICP technique in improving the undrained shear strength of soft clay soil using two native urease producing bacteria that help in the precipitation of calcite to increase the cementation between soil particles. Three concentrations of each of the locally prepared Bacillus sonorensis are used in this study for cementation reagent (0.25M, 0.5M, and 1M) during

Background: In dentistry, dentist takes the advantages of soft lining materials due to the viscoelastic properties. The major problem is the adhesion of the soft liner with the denture base material. Materials and Methods: Heat cured of high impact acrylic resin specimens prepared with dimensions 75x13x13mm for shear bond strength test, soft lining material (Refit and Mollosil) with a 3-mm thickness and used to join each two acrylic blocks. Also four specimens with the same previous dimensions utilized for chemical and physical surface analysis. The specimens grouped as control (without plasma) and experiment (with oxygen plasma) treated high impact acrylic specimens. Results: Plasma treatment increased the shear bond strength for both Refi

The present research had dealt with preparing  bars  with the length of about  (13 cm) and  adiametar  of  (1.5 cm) of composite materials with metal  matrix  represented by (Al-Cu-Mg) alloy cast enforced by (ZrO₂) particles with chosen weight  percentages (1.5, 2.5 ,3.5, 5.5 %). The base  cast and the composite  materials were prepared by casting method by uses vortex  Technique inorder to  fix up (ZrO₂) particles in homogeneous way on  the  base cast. In addition to  that, two main groups of composite materials were prepared depending on the particles size of (ZrO₂) , respectively.       &n