This study was set out to investigate factors affecting labor productivity on construction in the north of Iraq (Kurdistan) and to rank all the factors based on engineers, contractors, and designer’s opinions. 76 factors were analyzed based on previous literature and a pilot study. Next, by using online Google Form, a questionnaire form was created and sent to people who have experience in the construction industry. Afterward, the questionnaire form was sent to targeted people by email and social media apps. Factors were divided into nine groups “Management, Technical and Technology, Human and Workforce, Leadership, Motivation, Safety, Time, Material and Equipment, and External”. However, 202 respondents participated in this study, and they were asked to give weight to the factors using the Likert scale from 1 to 5. Finally, the Relative Importance Index RII was used to determine the factors statically with MS Excel 2015. In brief, all the respondents agreed upon “Economic condition in the country” is the first ranking factor. While “Site complication” was the last factor that affect labor productivity in construction. Last but not least, the “Motivation” group was the first ranked group. Apart from the factors, respondents agreed that Site Engineers have more effect on construction projects than Contractors and Designers.
The aim of present work is to improve mechanical and fatigue properties for Aluminum alloy7049 by using Nano composites technique. The ZrO2 with an average grain diameter of 30-40 nm, was selected as Nano particles, to reinforce Aluminum alloy7049 with different percentage as, 2, 4, 6 and 7 %. The Stir casting method was used to fabricate the Nano composites materials due to economical route for improvement and processing of metal matrix composites. The experimental results were shown that the adding of zirconium oxide (ZrO2) as reinforced material leads to improve mechanical properties. The best percentage of improvement of mechanical properties of 7049 AA was with 4% wt. of ZrO2 about (7.76% ) for ultim
... Show MoreSewer systems are used to convey sewage and/or storm water to sewage treatment plants for disposal by a network of buried sewer pipes, gutters, manholes and pits. Unfortunately, the sewer pipe deteriorates with time leading to the collapsing of the pipe with traffic disruption or clogging of the pipe causing flooding and environmental pollution. Thus, the management and maintenance of the buried pipes are important tasks that require information about the changes of the current and future sewer pipes conditions. In this research, the study was carried on in Baghdad, Iraq and two deteriorations model's multinomial logistic regression and neural network deterioration model NNDM are used to predict sewers future conditions. The results of the
... Show MoreIn this paper, variable gain nonlinear PD and PI fuzzy logic controllers are designed and the effect of the variable gain characteristic of these controllers is analyzed to show its contribution in enhancing the performance of the closed loop system over a conventional linear PID controller. Simulation results and time domain performance characteristics show how these fuzzy controllers outperform the conventional PID controller when used to control a nonlinear plant and a plant that has time delay.
In this study, a packed bed was used to remove pathogenic bacteria from synthetic contaminated water. Two types of packing material substrates, sand and zeolite, were used. These substrates were coated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which were prepared by decomposition of Ag ions from AgNO3 solution. The prepared coated packings were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The packed column consisted of a PVC cylinder of 2 cm diameter and 20 cm in length. The column was packed with silver nanoparticlecoated substrates (sand or zeolite) at a depth of 10 cm. Four types of bacteria were studied: Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Pseudomonas aerugi
... Show MoreIn this study, condensation polymerization was used to synthesize a number of novel liquid crystal polymers with 1,3,4-oxadiazole rings based on melamine. The new synthesized polymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR) spectroscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and optical polarization microscopy (OPM) were used to investigate their liquid crystalline properties. The results demonstrated that throughout a wide temperature range, most of the polymers exhibited columnar (CohX) and nematic (N) liquid crystalline phases.
Electronic remote identification (ER-ID) is a new radio frequency (RF) technology that is initiated by the Federal Aviation Authorities (FAA). For security reasons, traffic control, and so on, ER-ID has been applied for drones by the FAA to enable them to transmit their unique identification and location so that unauthorized drones can be identified. The current limitation of the existing ER-ID algorithms is that the application is limited to the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless controllers, which results in a maximum range of 10–20 m for Bluetooth and 50–100 m for Wi-Fi. In this study, a mathematical computing technique based on finite state automaton (FSA) is introduced to expand the range of the ER-ID RF system and reduce the ene
... Show More1-(4-amino-3-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yldiazenyl)phenyl)ethanone has been synthezied by reaction the diazonium salt of 2-aminobenzothiazole with 4-aminoacetophenone. Specroscopic studies ( FTIR,UV-Vis, 1H and 13CNMR) and microelemental analysis (C.H.N.S.O) are use to identified of the azo ligand. Metal chelates of some transition metals were performed as well depicted. Complexes were identified using atomic absorption of flame, elemental analysis, infrared and UV-Vis spectral process as well conductivity and magnetic quantifications. Nature of compounds produced have been studied followed the mole ratio and continuous contrast methods, Beer's law followed during a concentration scope (1×10-4 - 3×10-4 mol/L). height molar absorbtivity of compoun
... Show MoreThe degradation of Toluidine Blue dye in aqueous solution under UV irradiation is investigated by using photo-Fenton oxidation (UV/H2O2/Fe+). The effect of initial dye concentration, initial ferrous ion concentration, pH, initial hydrogen peroxide dosage, and irradiation time are studied. It is found put that the removal rate increases as the initial concentration of H2O2 and ferrous ion increase to optimum value ,where in we get more than 99% removal efficiency of dye at pH = 4 when the [H2O2] = 500mg / L, [Fe + 2 = 150mg / L]. Complete degradation was achieved in the relatively short time of 75 minutes. Faster decolonization is achieved at low pH, with the optimal value at pH 4 .The concentrations of degradation dye are detected by spectr
... Show MoreLinear motor offers several features in many applications that require linear motion. Nevertheless, the presence of cogging force can deteriorate the thrust of a permanent magnet linear motor. Using several methodologies, a design of synchronous single sided linear iron-core motor was proposed. According to exact formulas with surface-mounted magnets and concentrated winding specification, which are relying on geometrical parameters. Two-dimensional performance analysis of the designed model and its multi-objective optimization were accomplished as a method to reduce the motor cogging force using MAXWELL ANSYS. The optimum model design results showed that the maximum force ripple was approximatrly reduced by 81.24%compared to the origina
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