Moisture damage is one of the most significant troubles that destroy asphaltic pavement and reduces road serviceability. Recently, academics have noticed a trend to utilize fibers to enhance the efficiency of asphalt pavement. This research explores the effect of low-cost ceramic fiber, which has high tensile strength and a very high thermal insulation coefficient, on the asphalt mixture's characteristics by adding three different proportions (0.75%, 1.5%, and 2.25%). The Marshall test and the Tensile Strength Ratio Test (TSR) were utilized to describe the impact of ceramic fiber on the characteristics of Marshall and the moisture susceptibility of the hot mix asphalt mixture. The Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) analysis was used to investigate ceramic fibers' microscopic structure and clarify the mechanics of their improved behavior and their distribution within the asphalt concrete mixture. The results showed that the incorporation of ceramic fibers improved the Marshall properties and the asphalt mixture's susceptibility to moisture damage with an optimum fiber content equal to 1.5%, where Marshall stability increased by 39.04%, and the TSR increased by 11.06% at this content compared with the control asphalt mixture.
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) represent one of the key technologies in internet of things (IoTs) networks. Since WSNs have finite energy sources, there is ongoing research work to develop new strategies for minimizing power consumption or enhancing traditional techniques. In this paper, a novel Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) algorithm is proposed for mobile wireless sensor networks (MWSNs) for energy saving. Performance evaluation of the clustering process with the GMM algorithm shows a remarkable energy saving in the network of up to 92%. In addition, a comparison with another clustering strategy that uses the K-means algorithm has been made, and the developed method has outperformed K-means with superior performance, saving ener
... Show MoreThere has been a growing interest in the use of chaotic techniques for enabling secure communication in recent years. This need has been motivated by the emergence of a number of wireless services which require the channel to provide very low bit error rates (BER) along with information security. This paper investigates the feasibility of using chaotic communications over Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) channels by combining chaos modulation with a suitable Space Time Block Code (STBC). It is well known that the use of Chaotic Modulation techniques can enhance communication security. However, the performance of systems using Chaos modulation has been observed to be inferior in BER performance as compared to conventional communication
... Show MoreIn this study, the effect of ceramic coating on the performance and gases emission on diesel engine was investigated. A four-stroke, direct injected, single cylinder, diesel engine was tested at constant speed and at different load conditions without coating. Then, the inlet and exhaust valves faces were coated by about 500µm with ceramic materials. Ceramic layers were made of YttriaStabilized Zirconia (YSZ), and NiCrAl as a bond coat. The coating technique adapted in this work is the flame spray method. The engine with valves ceramiccoated research was tested for the same operation conditions of the engine (without coating). The results indicate a reduction in both fuel consumption by about 7.6% and particulate emissions by about (13
... Show MoreThe behavior investigation of castellated beams with fiber-reinforced lightweight concrete deck slab as a modified choice for composite steel-concrete beams affected by harmonic load is presented in this study. The experimental program involved six fixed-supported castellated beams of 2140mm size. Three types of concrete were included: Normal Weight Concrete (NWC), Lightweight Aggregate Concrete (LWAC), and Lightweight Fiber-Reinforced Aggregate Concrete (LWACF). The specimens were divided into two groups: the first comprised three specimens tested under harmonic load effect of 30Hz operation frequency for 3 days, then the residual strength was determined through static load application. The second group included three specimens ide
... Show MoreTwo different polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinyl chloride (PVA/PVC) hollow fiber composite nanofiltration membranes were prepared after PVC hollow fiber membranes were coated using dip-coating method with PVA aqueous solution, which was composed of PVA, fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (AEO9), and water [PVA/AEO9/water (4:0.5:95.5) wt%]. Effect of two different PVC hollow fiber immersion times in coating solution were studied. Cross-section, internal and external surfaces of the PVC hollow fibers and PVA/PVC composite nanofiltration membranes structures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), pure water permeation flux and solutes rejection. It was found that, the coating layer thickness on the outer surface of the 19 wt% P
... Show MoreThis work presents a novel technique for the detection of oil aging in electrical transformers using a single mode optical fiber sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The aging of insulating oil is a critical issue in the maintenance and performance of electrical transformers, as it can lead to reduce insulation properties, increase risk of electrical breakdown, and decrease operational lifespan. Many parameters are calculated in this study in order to examine the efficiency of this sensor like sensitivity (S), signal to noise ratio (SNR), resolution (refractive index unit) and figure of merit (FOM) and the values are for figure of merit is 11.05, the signal to noise ratio is 20.3, the sensitivity is 6.63, and the resolution is 3
... Show MoreThe depletion of petroleum reserves and increasing environmental concerns have driven the development of eco-friendly asphalt binders. This research investigates the performance of natural asphalt (NA) modified with waste engine oil (WEO) as a sustainable alternative to conventional petroleum asphalt (PA). The study examines NA modified with 10%, 20%, and 30% WEO by the weight of asphalt to identify an optimal blend ratio that enhances the binder’s flexibility and workability while maintaining high-temperature stability. Comprehensive testing was conducted, including penetration, softening point, viscosity, ductility, multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR), linear amplitude sweep (LAS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), F
... Show MoreI
In this study, optical fibers were designed and implemented as a chemical sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to estimate the age of the oil used in electrical transformers. The study depends on the refractive indices of the oil. The sensor was created by embedding the center portion of the optical fiber in a resin block, followed by polishing, and tapering to create the optical fiber sensor. The tapering time was 50 min. The multi-mode optical fiber was coated with 60 nm thickness gold metal. The deposition length was 4 cm. The sensor's resonance wavelength was 415 nm. The primary sensor parameters were calculated, including sensitivity (6.25), signal-to-noise ratio (2.38), figure of merit (4.88), and accuracy (3.2)
... Show MoreBackground: Suppression of quorum sensing (QS) that regulates many virulence factors, including antimicrobial resistance, in bacteria may subject the pathogenic microbes to the harmful consequences of the antibiotics, increasing their susceptibility to such drugs. Aim: The current study aimed to make an aqueous crude extract from the soil Proteus mirabilis isolate with the use of the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique for its analysis, and then, study the impact of the extract on clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods: Preparation of crude extracts from P. mirabilis (both organic and aqueous), which were then analyzed by GC-MS to detect the bioactive ingredients. Furthermore, the extract’s capability to i
... Show More
