The current Iraqi standard specifications for roads and bridges allowed the prepared Job-Mix Formula for asphalt mixtures to witness some tolerances with regard to the following: coarse aggregate gradation by ± 6.0 %, fine aggregate gradation by ± 4.0 %, filler gradation by ± 2.0 %, asphalt cement content by ± 0.3 % and mixing temperature by ± 15 ^oC. The objective of this work is to evaluate the behavior of asphalt mixtures prepared by different aggregates gradations (12.5 mm nominal maximum size) that fabricated by several asphalt contents (40-50 grade) and various mixing temperature. All the tolerances specified in the specifications are taken into account, furthermore, the zones beyond these tolerances

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

A novel welded demountable shear connector for sustainable steel-concrete composite structures is proposed. The proposed connector consists of a grout-filled steel tube bolted to a compatible partially threaded stud, which is welded on a steel section. This connector allows for an easy deconstruction at the end of the service life of a building, promoting the reuse of both the concrete slabs and the steel sections. This paper presents the experimental evaluation of the structural behavior of the proposed connector using a horizontal pushout test arrangement. The effects of various parameters, including the tube thickness, the presence of grout infill, and the concrete slab compressive strength, were assessed. A nonlinear finite element mode

This paper studied the behaviour of reinforced reactive powder concrete (RPC) two-way slabs under static load. The experimental program included testing three simply supported slabs of 1000 mm length, 1000 mm width, and 70 mm thickness. Tested specimens were of identical properties except their steel fibers volume ratio (0.5 %, 1 %, and 1.5 %). Static test results revealed that, increasing steel fibers volume ratio from 0.5% to 1% and from 1% to 1.5%, led to an increase in: first crack load by (32.2 % and 52.3 %), ultimate load by (36.1 % and 17.0 %), ultimate deflection by (33.6 % and 3.4 %), absorbed energy by (128 % and 20.2 %), and the ultimate strain by (1.1 % and 6.73 %). The stiffness and ductility of the specimens also increased. A

This paper includes an experimental study of hydrogen mass flow rate and inlet hydrogen pressure effect on the fuel cell performance. Depending on the experimental results, a model of fuel cell based on artificial neural networks is proposed. A back propagation learning rule with the log-sigmoid activation function is adopted to construct neural networks model. Experimental data resulting from 36 fuel cell tests are used as a learning data. The hydrogen mass flow rate, applied load and inlet hydrogen pressure are inputs to fuel cell model, while the current and voltage are outputs. Proposed model could successfully predict the fuel cell performance in good agreement with actual data. This work is extended to developed fuel cell feedback

This work presents the modeling of the electrical response of monocrystalline photovoltaic module by using five parameters model based on manufacture data-sheet of a solar module that measured in stander test conditions (STC) at radiation 1000W/m² and cell temperature 25 . The model takes into account the series and parallel (shunt) resistance of the module. This paper considers the details of Matlab modeling of the solar module by a developed Simulink model using the basic equations, the first approach was to estimate the parameters: photocurrent I_ph, saturation current I_s, shunt resistance R_sh, series resistance R_s, ideality factor A at stander test condition (STC) by an ite

In the recent years the research on the activated carbon preparation from agro-waste and byproducts have been increased due to their potency for agro-waste elimination. This paper presents a literature review on the synthesis of activated carbon from agro-waste using microwave irradiation method for heating. The applicable approach is highlighted, as well as the effects of activation conditions including carbonization temperature, retention period, and impregnation ratio. The review reveals that the agricultural wastes heated using a chemical process and microwave energy can produce activated carbon with a surface area that is significantly higher than that using the conventional heating method.

The insulation system of a machine coil includes several layers made of materials with different characteristics. The effective insulation design of machine coils, especially in the machine end winding, depends upon an accurate model of the stress grading system. This paper proposes a modeling approach to predict the transient overvoltage, electric field, and heat generation in machine coils with a stress grading system, considering the variation of physical properties in the insulation layers. A non-uniform line model is used to divide the coil in different segments based on material properties and lengths: overhang, stress grading and slot. The cascaded connection of chain matrices is used to connect segments for the representation of the

The experimental and numerical analysis was performed on pipes suffering large plastic deformation through expanding them using rigid conical shaped mandrels, with three different cone angles (15◦, 25◦, 35◦) and diameters (15, 17, 20) mm. The experimental test for the strain results investigated the expanded areas. A numerical solution of the pipes expansion process was also investigated using the commercial finite element software ANSYS. The strains were measured for each case experimentally by stamping the mesh on the pipe after expanding, then compared with Ansys results. No cracks were generated during the process with the selected angles. It can be concluded that the strain decreased with greater angles of con