The shear strength of soil is one of the most important soil properties that should be identified before any foundation design. The presence of gypseous soil exacerbates foundation problems. In this research, an approach to forecasting shear strength parameters of gypseous soils based on basic soil properties was created using Artificial Neural Networks. Two models were built to forecast the cohesion and the angle of internal friction. Nine basic soil properties were used as inputs to both models for they were considered to have the most significant impact on soil shear strength, namely: depth, gypsum content, passing sieve no.200, liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, water content, dry unit weight, and initial voids ratio. Multi-layer perceptron training by the backpropagation algorithm was used in creating the network. It was found that both models can predict shear strength parameters for gypseous soils with good reliability. Sensitivity analysis of the first model indicated that dry unit weight and plasticity index have the most significant effect on the predicted cohesion. While in the second model, the results indicated that the gypsum content and plasticity index have the most significant effect on the predicted angle of internal friction.
Background: The possibility of converting the organic fraction of municipal solid waste to mature compost using the composting bin method was studied. Nine distinct treatments were created by combining municipal solid waste (MSW) with animal waste (3:1, 2:1), poultry manure (3:1, 2:1), mixed waste (2:1:1), agricultural waste (dry leaves), biocont (Trichoderm hazarium), and humic acid. Weekly monitoring of temperature, pH, EC, organic matter (OM percent), and the C/N ratio was performed, and macronutrients (N, P, K) were measured. Trace elements, including heavy metals (Cd and Pb), were tested in the first and final weeks of maturity. Results: Temperatures in the first days of composting reached the thermophilic phase in MSW compost
... Show MoreBackground: The possibility of converting the organic fraction of municipal solid waste to mature compost using the composting bin method was studied. Nine distinct treatments were created by combining municipal solid waste (MSW) with animal waste (3:1, 2:1), poultry manure (3:1, 2:1), mixed waste (2:1:1), agricultural waste (dry leaves), biocont (Trichoderm hazarium), and humic acid. Weekly monitoring of temperature, pH, EC, organic matter (OM percent), and the C/N ratio was performed, and macronutrients (N, P, K) were measured. Trace elements, including heavy metals (Cd and Pb), were tested in the first and final weeks of maturity. Results: Temperatures in the first days of composting reached the thermophilic phase in MSW compost
... Show MoreReduction of noise and vibration in spur gear experimentally by using asymmetric teeth profiles with tip relief was presented. Both of classical (symmetric) and asymmetric (with and without tip relief) spur gears are used in this work. Gear test rig was constructed to achieve torsional vibration measuring, and two modified cutters are designed and manufactured to achieve tooth profile modifications. First to cut asymmetric gear tooth with pressure angles (14.5o/25 o) without tip relief for loaded and unloaded tooth sides respectively, and second to cut asymmetric gear tooth with pressure angles (14.5o/25 o) for loaded and unloaded tooth sides respectively with tip relief to ach
... Show MoreIn real conditions of structures, foundations like retaining walls, industrial machines and platforms in offshore areas are commonly subjected to eccentrically inclined loads. This type of loading significantly affects the overall stability of shallow foundations due to exposing the foundation into two components of loads (horizontal and vertical) and consequently reduces the bearing capacity.
Based on a numerical analysis performed using finite element software (Plaxis 3D Foundation), the behavior of model strip foundation rested on dry sand under the effect of eccentric inclined loads with different embedment ratios (D/B) ranging from (0-1) has been explored. The results display that, the bearing capacity of st
... Show MoreSustainable crop production in a coarse soil texture is challenging due to high water permeability and low soil water holding capacity. In this paper, subsurface water retention technology (SWRT) through impermeable polyethylene membranes was placed at depth 35 cm below ground surface and within the root zone to evaluate and compare the impact of these membranes and control treatment (without using the membranes) on yield and water use efficiency of eggplant inside the greenhouse. The study was conducted in Al-Fahamah Township, Baghdad, Iraq during spring growing season 2017. Results demonstrated the yield and water use efficiencies were 3.483 kg/m2 and 5.653 kg/m3, respectively for SWRT treatment p
... Show MoreBackground: The aims of the study were to evaluate the unclean/clean root canal surface areas with a histopathological cross section view of the root canal and the isthmus and to evaluate the efficiency of instrumentation to the isthmus using different rotary instrumentation techniques. Materials and Methods:The mesial roots of thirty human mandibular molars were divided into six groups, each group was composed of five roots (10 root canals)which prepared and irrigated as: Group one A: Protaper system to size F2 and hypodermic syringe, Group one B: Protaper system to size F2 and endoactivator system, Group two A:Wave One small then primary file and hypodermic syringe, Group two B:Wave One small then primary file and endoactivator system, Gr
... Show MoreThe basic objective of the research is to study the quality of the water flow service in the Directorate of Karbala sewage and how to improve it after identifying the deviations of the processes and the final product and then providing the possible solutions in addressing the causes of the deviations and the associated quality gaps. A number of quality tools were used and applied to all data Stations with areas and activities related to the drainage of rainwater, as the research community determines the stations of lifting rainwater in the Directorate of the streams of Karbala holy, and the station was chosen Western station to apply the non-random sampling method intended after meeting a number of. It is one of the largest and m
... Show MoreIn current study a computation fluid dynamic (CFD) technique was used to investigate the effect of groynes shape and spacing on the scour pattern and the maximum scour depth in open channel flow. CFD model have been validated throughout comparing the numerical results with three previous experimental studies for a single groyne located in open channel with three different shapes (L, quadrant, and parabola shapes). The comparison revealed very good agreement between numerical results of the maximum scour depth with the results of all experimental models. Moreover, investigations of the effect of multi-groynes (three groynes and four groynes) arranged in parallel with constant spacing and also with variable spacing have been done, the
... Show MoreThis study focused on the improvement of the quality of gasoline and enhancing its octane number by the reduction of n-paraffins using zeolite 5A. This study was made using batch and continuous mode. The parameters which affected the n-paraffin removal efficiency for each mode were studied. Temperature (30 and 40 ˚C) and mixing time up to 120 min for different amounts of zeolite ranging (10-60 g) were investigated in a batch mode. A maximum removal efficiency of 64% was obtained using 60 g of zeolite at 30 ˚C after a mixing time 120 min. The effect of feed flow rate (0.3-0.8 l/hr) and bed height (10-20 cm) were also studied in a continuous mode. The equilibrium isotherm study was made using different amounts of zeolite (2-20 g) and the
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