This paper analyzes a piled-raft foundation on non-homogeneous soils with variable layer depth percentages. The present work aims to perform a three-dimensional finite element analysis of a piled-raft foundation subjected to vertical load using the PLAXIS 3D software. Parametric analysis was carried out to determine the effect of soil type and initial layer thickness. The parametric study showed that increasing the relative density from 30 % to 80 % of the upper sand layer and the thickness of the first layer has led to an increase in the ultimate load and a decrease in the settlement of piled raft foundations for the cases of sand over weak soil.  In clay over weak soil, the ultimate load of the piled raft foundation w

Various simple and complicated models have been utilized to simulate the stress-strain behavior of the soil. These models are used in Finite Element Modeling (FEM) for geotechnical engineering applications and analysis of dynamic soil-structure interaction problems. These models either can't adequately describe some features, such as the strain-softening of dense sand, or they require several parameters that are difficult to gather by conventional laboratory testing. Furthermore, soils are not completely linearly elastic and perfectly plastic for the whole range of loads. Soil behavior is quite difficult to comprehend and exhibits a variety of behaviors under various circumstances. As a result, a more realistic constitutive model is

Asmari is the main productive reservoir in Abu Ghirab oilfield in the south-east part of Iraq. It has history production extends from 1976 up to now with several close periods. Recently, the reservoir suffers some problems in production, which are abstracted as water production rising with oil production declining in most wells. The water problem type of the field and wells is identified by using Chan's diagnostic plots (water oil ratio (WOR) and derivative water oil ratio (WOR') against time). The analytical results show that water problem is caused by the channeling due to high permeability zones, high water saturation zones, and faults or fracturing. The numerical approach is also used to study the water movement insi

Asmari is the main productive reservoir in Abu Ghirab oilfield in the south-east part of Iraq. It has history production extends from 1976 up to now with several close periods. Recently, the reservoir suffers some problems in production, which are abstracted as water production rising with oil production declining in most wells. The water problem type of the field and wells is identified by using Chan's diagnostic plots (water oil ratio (WOR) and derivative water oil ratio (WOR') against time). The analytical results show that water problem is caused by the channeling due to high permeability zones, high water saturation zones, and faults or fracturing. The numerical approach is also used to study the water movement inside the reser

In this work, effects of using different evaporative cooling pads (ECPs) on the energetic and exergetic efficiency of a direct evaporative air cooler (DEAC) have been theoretically and experimentally investigated. Three types of ECPs were used, i.e., honeycomb cellulose cooler pad (HCCP), shading-cloth cooler pad (SCCP), and aspen wood wool cooler pad (AWWCP). For SCCP and AWWCP, a 3-cm pad thickness was used, while for the HCCP, three different values of pad thickness were used, i.e., 3, 5, and 7 cm. Tests were carried out using air velocities of 8, 14, and 19 m/s, measured at the DEAC outlet. Engineering equation solver (EES) used for performing the required calculations of the various parameters affecting the thermal performance of the D

Piled raft is commonly used as foundation for high rise buildings. The design concept of piled raft foundation is to minimize the number of piles, and to utilize the entire bearing capacity. High axial stresses are therefore, concentrated at the region of connection between the piles and raft. Recently, an alternative technique is proposed to disconnect the piles from the raft in a so called unconnected piled raft (UCPR) foundation, in which a compacted soil layer (cushion) beneath the raft, is usually introduced.  The piles of the new system are considered as reinforcement members for the subsoil rather than as structural members. In the current study, the behavior of unconnected piled rafts systems has been studie

The optimal combination of aluminum quality, sufficient strength, high stress to weight ratio and clean finish make it a good choice in driveshafts fabrication. This study has been devoted to experimentally investigate the effect of applying laser shock peening (LSP) on the fatigue performance for 6061-T6 aluminum alloy rotary shafts. Q-switched pulsed Nd:YAG laser was used with operating parameters of 500 mJ and 600 mJ pulse energies, 12 ns pulse duration and 10 Hz pulse repetition rate. The LSP is applied at the waist of the prepared samples for the cyclic fatigue test. The results show that applying 500 mJ pulse energy yields a noticeable effect on enhancing the fatigue strength by increasing the required number of cycles to fracture the

The performance of a condenser in a domestic refrigerator system without wires and a condenser with a novel design consisted of number of loops as elliptical shape is investigated experimentally in this work. The experiment was conducted with a refrigerator designed to work with HFC134a, under no load and with loads of (1.5,3 and 12 liters of water). In particular, the effects of shape change of the condenser were very important in heat transfer enhancement and reduce of the frictional loss as a result of reducing the pressure drop in the condenser. The results shown that compressor work decreases with elliptical condenser about (8.6% to 11.3%), and then the power consumption decreases also. The performance of household refrigerator with