The use of bio-fruit waste has more attention in recent years because of the low cost of bio-fibers and the protection of the environment. In this study, the epoxy was reinforced with fruit residues (cantaloupe peel powder) in proportions (1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% by weight) as results of mechanical tests such as impact, hardness, flexural and compression.

Adding sub microns particle size cantaloupe peels particles with a weight ratio of 7.5% improves the epoxy mechanical properties, like impact strength, hardness, flexural strength, and compression strength by 59.43%, 5.8%, 45.7%, and 118.2%, respectively.

Using X-ray diffraction, the crystallite size ( D) of cantaloupe peel the powder was about (3 nm).

In

When the depth of stressed soil is rather small, Plate Load Test (PLT) becomes the most efficient test to estimate the soil properties for design purposes. Among these properties, modulus of subgrade reaction is the most important one that usually employed in roads and concrete pavement design. Two methods are available to perform PLT: static and dynamic methods. Static PLT is usually adopted due to its simplicity and time saving to be performs in comparison with cyclic (dynamic) method. The two methods are described in ASTM standard.

In this paper the effect of the test method used in PLT in estimation of some mechanical soil properties was distinguished via a series of both test methods applied in a same site. The comparison of

 In this paper we investigate how do the laminated composites behave mechanically when subjected to external stresses, when reinforced with continuous fibers (mat) and discontinuous fibers (chopped) and to find the effect of the fiber type on the mechanical properties. Laminated composites consisting of wood- wood and Ph-F resin as suitable adhesive were reinforced with different fibers(jute, glass, and carbon).However, two  different methods of reinforcement namely, mat and chopped fibers were utilized. The mechanical properties such as (impact strength, compression strength, tensile strength, shear strength, bending strength, and elasticity modulus) of laminated composites were measured. Fibers reinforced laminated composite

Chemical resistance ceramic tiles and mortar to alkali solution are prepared and characterized in this study due to the lack of this kind of publications in ceramic literature. Most of the utilized materials are readily available raw materials and the other materials are available commercially. Physical and mechanical properties are measured and indicate that the prepared ceramic tile and mortars are competitive to traditional building materials. Chemical resistance test against alkali solution is also performed by subjecting test specimens to 10%NaOH liquid for two weeks. The results give no indication of chemical attack to specimens of ceramic tile and mortar. The results are discussed and important conclusions are drawn to encourage c

In this study, the investigation of Local natural Iraqi rocks kaolin with the addition of different proportions of bauxite and its effect on the physical and mechanical properties of the produced refractories was conducted. Kaolin/bauxite mixture was milled and classified into various size fractions, the kaolin (less than 105 μm) and the bauxite (less than 70μm). The specimens were mixed from kaolin and bauxite in ranges B1 (95+5)%, B2 (90+10)%, B3(85+15)%, and B4 (80+20)%  respectively. The green specimens were shaped by the semi-dry method using a hydraulic press and a molding pressure of 7 MPa with the addition of (9-12) %wt. of PVA ratio. After molding and drying, the specimens were fired at (1100, 1200 and 13

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of Nd:YAG laser shock processing (LSP) on micro-hardness and surface roughness of 86400Cu-Zn alloy. X-ray fluorescence technique was used to analyze the chemical composition of this alloy. LSP treatment was performed with a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm. The results show that laser shock processing can significantly increase. The micro-hardness and surface roughness of the LSP-treated sample. Vickers diamond indenter was used to measure the micro-hardness of all samples with different laser pulse energy and the different number of laser pulses. It is found that the metal hardness can be significantly increased to more than 80% by increasing the laser energy and t

Objective Advantageous properties of silicone elastomer made it one of the favorable materials in maxillofacial prosthesis construction, but these properties may change after months of usage or after pigments addition. This study aimed to define the optimum concentration for a mixture of two types of intrinsic pigments that added to VST-50 maxillofacial silicone material and study their effects on mechanical properties before and after artificial aging. Methods After the pilot study was conducted, 0.1% by weight of rayon flocking and 0. 2% by weight of burnt sienna intrinsic pigment concentration was selected because of improvement in tested mechanical properties of VST-50 maxillofacial silicone. A total of one hundred and eighty samples we

Oily wastewater is one of the most challenging streams to deal with especially if the oil exists in emulsified form. In this study, electrospinning method was used to prepare nanofiberous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes and study their performance in oil removal. Graphene particles were embedded in the electrospun PVDF membrane to enhance the efficiency of the membranes. The prepared membranes were characterized using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to verify the graphene stabilization on the surface of the membrane homogeneously; while FTIR was used to detect the functional groups on the membrane surface. The membrane wettability was assessed by measuring the contact angle. The PVDF and PVDF / Graphene membranes efficiency

In this study, plastic wastes named (PET and PVC) were used to prepare polymer matrix composite (PMC) which can be used in different applications. Composite materials were prepared by mixing unsaturated polyester resin (UP) with plastic wastes, two types of plastic waste were used in this work included polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with various weight fractions (0, 5,10,15, 20 and 25%) added as a filler in flakes form. In this work, some of the tests that were carried out included (tensile, bending, and compressive strength) as mechanical tests, in addition to (thermal conductivity and water absorption) as physical tests. The values of tensile, compressive strength and Young's modulus of UP increased after