When designing structures constructed on soil that undergoes volumetric changes due to variations in its moisture content, the upward pressure exerted by the soil poses a risk to the safety of the facilities. A significant number of researchers are looking into solutions to either treat these soils or lessen the detrimental consequences they have. One treatment option involves stabilizing these soils by adding low-expansion soil or materials, which can impact their swell characteristics. This study aimed to investigate the effect that the addition of dune sand and sodium silicate material would have on the swellability and strength behaviour of swellable bentonite soil. Soil samples were prepared containing bentonite soil (68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82), dune sand (11%, 12%, and 15%), and sodium silicate (0%, 4%, 6%, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, and 21%), to Get different soils with varying swelling capacities. The increased addition rates of sodium silicate significantly affected the soil’s swelling qualities. This was evident in the decrease in swelling pressure, as assessed by the free swelling method, from 882 kPa to 38 kPa, despite the drop in the percentage of dune sand. The change also resulted in modifications to the mechanical test results. The value of Cc decreased from 0.29 to 0.21 when sodium silicate was added at a rate of 11%. Similarly, the value of Cs decreased from 0.032 to 0.024 when sodium silicate was added at 14%. Additionally, the shear strength parameter Cu increased from 110 kN/m2 to 261 kN/m2 when sodium silicate was added at a rate of 4%. Furthermore, the value of Φ increased from 10o to 41o when sodium silicate was added at 11%. The Atterberg limit’s swelling indicators also went down. The addition of 10% sodium silicate is an optimal solution for decreasing soil swelling and enhancing the mechanical characteristics of the soil, even at modest rates of dune sand addition.
The aim of this paper is to determine the significant levels of some heavy metals such: lead, chromium, nickel and cadmium, were determined. Sources of pollution and their distribution according to presence of elements in the soils over the whole zone of the province of Maysan in southern of Iraq were investigated 36 soil samples from different zones: residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural and main roads, were collected from the soil surface and a depth of 30 cm and analyzed measuring of concentrations for heavy metals by a device ICP-MS technique. The results were compared with global standard levels of these elements in the soil.
In this research, the program SEEP / W was used to compute the value of seepage through the homogenous and non-homogeneous earth dam with known dimensions. The results show that the relationship between the seepage and water height in upstream of the dam to its length for saturated soil was nonlinear when the dam is homogenous. For the non-homogeneous dam, the relationship was linear and the amount of seepage increase with the height of water in upstream to its length. Also the quantity of seepage was calculated using the method of (Fredlund and Xing, 1994) and (Van Genuchten, 1980) when the soil is saturated – unsaturated, the results referred to that the higher value of seepage when the soil is saturated and the lowe
... Show MoreThe production of polyhydroxyalkanoates PHAs from biopolymer degrading bacteria was examined
Bearing capacity of soil is an important factor in designing shallow foundations. It is directly related to foundation dimensions and consequently its performance. The calculations for obtaining the bearing capacity of a soil needs many varying parameters, for example soil type, depth of foundation, unit weight of soil, etc. which makes these calculation very variable–parameter dependent. This paper presents the results of comparison between the theoretical equation stated by Terzaghi and the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) technique to estimate the ultimate bearing capacity of the strip shallow footing on sandy soils. The results show a very good agreement between the theoretical solution and the ANN technique. Results revealed that us
... Show MoreThe current study was conductedas a pot experiment to determine the effect of soil texture on biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) of six most efficient local isolates, specified, of Bradyrhizobium. Cowpea (Vignaunguiculata L.), as a legume host crop, was used as a host crop and 15N dilution analysis was used for accurate determination of the amount of N biologically fixed under experimental parameters specified. Soils used are clay loam, sandy clay loam and sandy loam. Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF), in different soil textural classes, was as in the following order: medium texture soil > heavy texture soil > light textured soil. Statistical analysis showed that there is a significant variation in BNF % among six Iraqi isolates in the th
... Show MoreThe current study included the isolation, purification and cultivation of blue-green alga Oscillatoria pseudogeminata G.Schmidle from soil using the BG-11liquid culture medium for 60 days of cultivation. The growth constant (k) and generation time (G) were measured which (K=0.144) and (G=2.09 days).
Microcystins were purified and determined qualitatively and quantitatively from this alga by using the technique of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa Kits). The alga showed the ability to produce microcystins in concentration reached 1.47 µg/L for each 50 mg DW. Tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) aged two months were irrigated with three concentrations of purified microcystins 0.5 , 3.0 and 6.0
... Show MoreIn this study, the response of ten composite post-tensioned concrete beams topped by a reinforced concrete deck with adequate reinforcing shear connectors is investigated. Depending on the concrete compressive strength of the deck slab (20, 30, and 40 MPa), beams are grouped into three categories. Seven of these beams are exposed to a fire attack of 700 and 800 °C temperature simultaneously with or without the presence of a uniformly distributed sustained static loading. After cooling back to ambient temperature, these composite beams are loaded up to failure, using a force control module, by monotonic static loading in a four-point-bending setup with two symmetrical concentrated loads applied in
In this study, the response of ten composite post-tensioned concrete beams topped by a reinforced concrete deck with adequate reinforcing shear connectors is investigated. Depending on the concrete compressive strength of the deck slab (20, 30, and 40 MPa), beams are grouped into three categories. Seven of these beams are exposed to a fire attack of 700 and 800 °C temperature simultaneously with or without the presence of a uniformly distributed sustained static loading. After cooling back to ambient temperature, these composite beams are loaded up to failure, using a force control module, by monotonic static loading in a four-point-bending setup with two symmetrical concentrated loads applied in