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 Microsc

In this study, a predicated formula is been proposed to find the shear strength of non-prismatic beams with or without openings. It depends on the contributions of concrete shear strength considering the beam depth variation and existing openings, shear steel reinforcements and defines the critical shear section, the effect of diagonal shear reinforcement, the effect of inclined tensile steel reinforcement, and the compression chord influence. The verification of the proposed formula has been conducted on the experimental test results of 26 non-prismatic beams with or without openings at the same loading conditions. The results reflect that the predicted formula finds the shear capacity of non-prismatic beams with openings, it is co

This paper reports a.c., d.c. conductivity and dielectric behavior of Ep-hybrid composite with12 Vol.% Kevlar-Carbon hybrid . D.C. conductivity measurements are conducted on the graded composites by using an electrometer over the temperature range from (293-413) K. It was shown then that conductivity increases by increasing number of Kevlar –Carbon fiber layers (Ep1, Ep2, Ep3), due to the high electrical conductivity of Carbon fiber. To identify the mechanism governing the conduction, the activation energies at low temperature region (LTR) and at high temperature region (HTR) have been calculated. The activation energy values for hybrid composite decrease with increasing number of fiber layers. The a.c. conductivity was measured over fr

Toxoplasmosis is a widespread infection usually caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasite. It occurs in humans and other warm blooded animals, causing severe problems. It was found that there is an alteration in the trace elements concentrations levels associated with some human diseases. This study aimed to investigate the changes in the concentrations of some trace elements (Mg, Fe , Zn, and Cu) in the sera of 60 immunocompetent patients with chronic toxoplasmosis and 82 healthy individuals as a control group. Measuring the serum level of seropositivity rate of anti-T. gondii antibodies was done by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) Kit, while the concentrations of trace elements were measured by absorption spectrophotometry

In this work, we first construct Hermite wavelets on the interval [0,1) with it’s product, Operational matrix of integration 2^k M×2^k M is derived, and used it for solving nonlinear Variational problems with reduced it to a system of algebric equations and aid of direct method. Finally, some examples are given to illustrate the efficiency and performance of presented method.

الاستثمار الاجنبي المباشر في العراق ودوره في تحقيق التنمية الاقتصادية

This work is concerned with building a three-dimensional (3D) ab-initio models that is capable of predicting the thermal distribution of laser direct joining processes between Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and stainless steel 304(st.st.304). ANSYS® simulation based on finite element analysis (FEA) was implemented for materials joining in two modes; laser transmission joining (LTJ) and conduction joining (CJ). ANSYS® simulator was used to explore the thermal environment of the joints during joining (heating time) and after joining (cooling time). For both modes, the investigation is carried out when the laser spot is at the middle of the joint width, at 15 mm from the commencement point (joint edge) at traveling time of 3.75 s. Process par

 In the present work a theoretical analysis depending on the new higher order . element in shear deformation theory for simply supported cross-ply laminated plate is developed. The new displacement field of the middle surface expanded as a combination of exponential and trigonometric function of thickness coordinate with the transverse displacement taken to be constant through the thickness. The governing equations are derived using Hamilton’s principle and solved using Navier solution method to obtain the deflection and stresses under uniform sinusoidal load. The effect of many design parameters such as number of laminates, aspect ratio and thickness ratio on static behavior of the laminated composite plate has been studied. The

To promote sustainable steel-concrete composite structures, it is essential to develop special shear connectors that facilitate accelerated construction and deconstruction. A lockbolt demountable shear connector (LBDSC) was recently proposed. While the LBDSC has been evaluated using horizontal and vertical (standard) push-out tests, it is essential to further assess the disassembly mechanism and the positive flexural performance of prefabricated demountable composite beams (PDCBs) under both serviceability and ultimate limit states. Two full-scale test specimens of PDCBs with LBDSC were designed with partial shear connections and assessed using a three or four-point load beam setup under both cyclic and static monotonic loading conditions.

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