The main aim of this research is to introduce financing cost optimization and different financing alternatives. There are many studies about financing cost optimization. All previous studies considering the cost of financing have many shortcomings, some considered only one source of financing as a credit line without taking into account different financing alternatives. Having only one funding alternative powers, restricts contractors and leads to a very specific financing model. Although it is beneficial for the contractor to use a long-term loan to minimize interest charges and prevent a substantial withdrawal from his credit line, none of the existing financial-based planning models have considered long-term loans in their models or included a schedule of borrowed money and a repayment schedule with interest rates. The aim of this study is not only to eliminate the shortcomings of previous studies but also to incorporate a financing optimization model for various funding alternatives available to contractors in terms of funding sources and forms, cash provision times, interest rates and repayment options. This work proposes a financing optimization model, not only to remove the limitations but also to find optimal financing costs while offering the financing schedule without increasing the project duration and adjusting the starting times of the activities.
The aim of this research work is to study the effect of stabilizing gypseous soil, which covers vast areas in the middle, west and south parts of Iraq, using liquid asphalt on its strength properties to be used as a base course layer replacing the traditional materials of coarse aggregate and broken stones which are scarce at economical prices and hauling distances. Gypseous soil brought from Al-Ramadi City, west of Iraq, with gypsum content of 66.65%, medium curing cutback asphalt (MC-30), and hydrated lime are used in this study. The conducted tests on untreated and treated gypseous soil with different percentages of medium curing cutback asphalt (MC-30), water, and lime were: unconfined compression strength, and one dimensional confine
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The public procurement crisis in Iraq plays a fundamental role in the delay in the implementation of construction projects at different stages of project bidding (pre, during, and after). The procurement system of any country plays an important role in economic growth and revival. The paper aims to use the fuzzy logic inference model to predict the impact of the public procurement crisis (relative importance index and Likert scale) was carried out at the beginning to determine the most important parameters that affect construction projects, the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) to set up, and finally, the fuzzy decision maker's (FDM) verification of the parameter for comparison with reality. Sixty-five
... Show MoreIn this study, the effect of construction joints on the performance of reinforced concrete beams was experimentally investigated. Seven beam specimens, with dimensions of 200×100×1000 mm, were fabricated. The variables were considered including; the location and configuration of the joints. One beam was cast without a joint (Reference specimen), two specimens were fabricated with a one horizontal joint located either at tension, or compression zone. The fourth
beam had two horizontal joints placed at tension, and compression area. The remaining specimens were with one or two inclined joints positioned at the shear span or beam’s mid-span. The specimens were subjected to a monotonic central concentrated loading until the failure. T
With the development of computer architecture and its technologies in recent years, applications like e-commerce, e-government, e-governance and e-finance are widely used, and they act as active research areas. In addition, in order to increase the quality and quantity of the ordinary everyday transactions, it is desired to migrate from the paper-based environment to a digital-based computerized environment. Such migration increases efficiency, saves time, eliminates paperwork, increases safety and reduces the cost in an organization. Digital signatures are playing an essential role in many electronic and automatic based systems and facilitate this migration. The digital signatures are used to provide many services and s
... Show MoreThe quality and cost of constructed buildings are heavily influenced by the performance of design/auditing consultants. Thus, selecting the right design consultant and design auditing consultants is of utmost importance and not an easy task for any construction client. so, the client should specify the efficiency criteria and assess the performance levels of the design and design auditing consultant firm. The study aims to identify the selection criteria of the design consultant in construction projects and also identify the selection criteria of the design auditing consultant for the construction projects by using the Delphi survey with applying the principal components analysis (PCA
Gypseous soil is considered as a problematic soil for embankment construction, however, implementation of emulsified asphalt as a stabilization agent could be a proper solution for enhancing its properties as a subgrade soil. In this work, the sustainability of asphalt stabilized soil has been assessed in terms of its resistance to cyclic (freezing-thawing) and (heating-cooling) processes. Specimens have been prepared at optimum fluid content (moisture and emulsion) and tested under direct shear stresses while subjected to 30 cycles of (freezing-thawing) and (heating-cooling). Both of dry and soaked testing conditions have been implemented. Data have been observed after each 10 cycles, and compared with that of reference mix. It was conclud
... Show MoreThe aim of this research work is to study the effect of stabilizing gypseous soil, which covers
vast areas in the middle, west and south parts of Iraq, using liquid asphalt on its strength properties
to be used as a base course layer replacing the traditional materials of coarse aggregate and broken
stones which are scarce at economical prices and hauling distances.
Gypseous soil brought from Al-Ramadi City, west of Iraq, with gypsum content of 66.65%,
medium curing cutback asphalt (MC-30), and hydrated lime are used in this study.
The conducted tests on untreated and treated gypseous soil with different percentages of medium
curing cutback asphalt (MC-30), water, and lime were: unconfined compression strength, and o
Phenytoin selective electrodes were constructed based on penytoin-phosphotungstate (Ph-PT) complex with different plasticizers; di-butyl phosphate (DBP), tri-butyl phosphate (TBP), di-butyl phthalate (DBPH),and o-nitro phenyl octyl ether (NPOE) phthalate. The electrodes based on DBPH, ONPOE plasticizers gave Narnistain slope which are, 56.4 and 55.3mV/decade with detection limit of 1.9x10-5 M , 1.8x10-5 and concentration range 10-1 to 10-4 M and pH range 3.0 – 8.0. The electrodes based on TBP and DBP showed non-Nernistain slopes, 40.2,40.5 mV/decade for both plasticizers. Interfering of some cations was investigated and shows no interfering with electrodes response. Potentiometric methods were used for measuring phenytion in
... Show MoreNearly, in the middle of 1970s the split-brain theory became the only theory that explains human creativity used in all fine art and art education schools. In fact, this theory- which appeared for first time in the middle of 1940s – faced many radical changes including its concepts and structures, and these changes affected both teaching art and art criticism. To update people awareness within art field of study, this paper reviews the split-brain theory and its relationship with teaching art from its appearance to its decay in 2013 and after.
Abstract Portable communication devices such as WLAN, WiMAX, LTE, ISM, and 5G utilize one or more of the triple bands at (2.32.7 GHz,3.4–3.6GHz,and5–6GHz)andsufferfromtheeffectofmultipathproblemsbecausetheyareusedinurbanregions.To date, no one has performed a review of the antennas used for these types of wireless communications. This study reviewed two types of microstrip antennas (slot and fractal) that have been reported by researchers (as a single element) using a survey that included the evaluation of several important specifications of the antennas in previous research, such as operating bandwidth, gain, efficiency, axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW), and size. The weaknesses in the design of all antennas were carefully identified to de
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