Highly Modified Asphalt (HiMA) binders have garnered significant attention due to their superior resistance to rutting, fatigue cracking, and thermal distress under heavy traffic loads and extreme environmental conditions. While elastomeric polymers such as Styrene- Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) have been extensively used in HiMA applications, the potential of plastomeric polymers, including Polyethylene (PE) and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), remains largely unexplored. This study aims to evaluate the performance of reference binder (RB) modified with plastomeric HiMA asphalt in comparison to SBS-modified binders and determine the optimal polymer dosage for achieving an optimal balance between rutting resistance and fatigue durability. The experi

Pavement crack and pothole identification are important tasks in transportation maintenance and road safety. This study offers a novel technique for automatic asphalt pavement crack and pothole detection which is based on image processing. Different types of cracks (transverse, longitudinal, alligator-type, and potholes) can be identified with such techniques. The goal of this research is to evaluate road surface damage by extracting cracks and potholes, categorizing them from images and videos, and comparing the manual and the automated methods. The proposed method was tested on 50 images. The results obtained from image processing showed that the proposed method can detect cracks and potholes and identify their severity levels wit

In the recent years, some of the newly constructed asphalt concrete pavements in Baghdad as well as other cities across Iraq showed premature failures with consequential negative impact on both roadway safety and economy. Frequently, load associated mode of failure (rutting and fatigue) as well as, occasionally, moisture damage in some poorly drained sections are the main failure types found in those newly constructed road.

In this research, hydrated lime was introduced into asphalt concrete mixtures of wearing course in two methods. The first one was the addition of dry lime on dry aggregate and the second one was the addition of dry lime on saturated surface dry aggregate moisturized by 2.0 to 3.0 percent of wa

Waste materials might be utilized in various applications, such as sustainable roller compacted concrete pavements (RCCP), to lessen the negative environmental consequences of construction waste. The impacts of utilizing (brick, thermostone, granite, and ceramic) powders on the mechanical characteristics of RCCP are investigated in this study. To achieve this, the waste materials were crushed, grounded, and blended before being utilized as filler in the RCCP. After the mixes were prepared, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, water absorption, density, and porosity were all determined. According to the research results, adding some of these powders, mainly brick and granite powder, enhances the mechanical

The road transportation system is considered as major component of the infrastructure in any country, it affects the developments in economy and social activities. The Asphalt Concrete which is considered as the major pavement material for the road transportation system in Baghdad is subjected to continuous deterioration with time due to traffic loading and environmental conditions, it was felt that implementing a comprehensive pavement maintenance management system (PMMS), which should be capable for preserving the functional and structural conditions of pavement layers, is essential. This work presents the development of PMMS with Visual inspection technique for evaluating the Asphalt Concrete pavement surface condition; common types o

It is shown that pure and 3% boron doped a-Si0.1Ge0.9:H and a-Si0.1Ge0.9:N thin films
could be prepared by flash evaporation processes. The hydrogenation and nitrogenation
are very successful in situ after depositing the films. The FT-IR analysis gave all the
known absorbing bonds of hydrogen and nitrogen with Si and Ge.
Our data showed a considerable effect of annealing temperature on the structural and
optical properties of the prepared films. The optical energy gap (Eopt.) of a-Si0.1Ge0.9
samples showed to have significant increase with annealing temperature (Ta) also the
refractive index and the real part of dielectric constant increases with Ta, however the
extinction coefficient and imaginary part of dielect

Background: Ejection fraction have been used frequently
for assessment of the left ventricular function, but can be
associated with errors in which myocardial performance
index have been used as another parameter to measure the
left ventricular function.
Objective: selecting another echocardiography parameter
for the assessment of myocardial in function instead of the
ejection fraction.
Methods: 160 patients referred to the echocardiogram unit
from the period december 2007 to august 2008 requesting
assessment of left ventricular function. After clinical
examination, routine blood tests; chest x-ray and
electrocardiographic recording have been completed. All
patients informed to come for this unit af

In this work, InSe thin films were deposited on glass substrates by thermal evaporation technique with a deposit rate of (2.5∓0.2) nm/sec. The thickness of the films was around (300∓10) nm, and the thin films were annealed at (100, 200 and 300)°C. The structural, morphology, and optical properties of Indium selenide thin films were studied using X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscope and UV–Visible spectrometry respectively. X-ray diffraction analyses showed that the as deposited thin films have amorphous structures. At annealing temperature of 100°C and 200°C, the films show enhanced crystalline nature, but at 300°C the film shows a polycrystalline structure with Rhombohedral phase with crystallites size of 17.459 nm. Th

This study investigates the characterization and mechanical performance of Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) mixtures modified with two types of polymers: styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) and high-molecular-weight polyethylene (PE). Neat asphalt cement PG 64-16 was modified using a higher content of SBS and PE at concentrations of 6%, 7%, and 8% by weight of asphalt through the dry blending method to produce Highly Modified Asphalts (HiMA). The physical and rheological properties of the modified binders were evaluated using penetration, softening point, rotational viscosity, and dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) tests. Also, their phase compatibility and morphological changes were evaluated using the storage stability testing and scanning electron

In the present study, an attempt has been to develop a new water quality index (WQI) method that depends on the Iraqi specifications for drinking water (IQS 417, 2009) to assess the validity of the Euphrates River for drinking by classifying the quality of the river water at different stations along its entire reach inside the Iraqi lands. The proposed classifications by this method are: Excellent, Good, Acceptable, Poor, and Very poor. Eight water quality parameters have been selected to represent the quality of the river water these are: Ion Hydrogen Concentration (pH), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sodium (Na), Chloride (Cl), Sulphate (SO_4), Nitrate (NO_3), and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). The variation of the water quality parameters