This paper aimed to investigate the effect of the height-to-length ratio of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls when loaded by a vertical load. The finite element (FE) method was implemented for modeling and analysis of URM wall. In this paper, ABAQUS, FE software with implicit solver was used to model and analysis URM walls subjected to a vertical load. In order to ensure the validity of Detailed Micro Model (DMM) in predicting the behavior of URM walls under vertical load, the results of the proposed model are compared with experimental results. Load-displacement relationship of the proposed numerical model is found of a good agreement with that of the published experimental results. Evidence shows that load-displacement curve obtained fro

Asphalt pavement properties in Iraq are highly affected by elevated summer air temperatures. One of these properties is stiffness (resilient modulus). To explain the effect of air temperatures on stiffness of asphalt concrete, it is necessary to determine the distribution of temperatures through the pavement asphalt concrete layers. In this study, the distribution of pavement temperatures at three depths (2cm,7cm, 10cm) below the pavement surface is determined by using the temperature data logger instrument. A relationship for determining pavement temperature as related to depth and air temperature has been suggested. To achieve the objective of this thesis, the prepared specimens have been tested for indirect tension in accordance with

Rapid population growth and the development of industries result in an increase in solid waste. Glass, which represents a large proportion of solid waste, can be used in construction applications. The utilization of recycled glass waste in the asphalt mixture is considered an environmentally-friendly application. In this laboratory study, glass bottles were recycled by crushing, grinding, and sieving them into particles that pass through sieve No. 200 to be used as a partial replacement for the filler in the hot mixture asphalt of wearing course Type-A. The ratios (4, 4.3, 4.6, 4.9, 5.2,5.5) were used to determine the optimum asphalt content (OAC), and three ratios (30, 60, and 90) were used for the replacement of limestone powder filler to

The filler in the asphalt mixture is essential since it plays a significant role in toughening and stiffening the asphalt. Changes in filler type can lead the asphalt mixtures to perform satisfactorily during their design life or degrade rapidly when traffic and environmental effects are considered. This study aims to assess the impact of filler types such as limestone dust (LS) and hydrated lime (HL) on Marshall characteristics and moisture damage in asphalt mixtures. Three different percentages of HL were employed in this study to partially replace the LS mineral filler: 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5% by aggregate weight. Furthermore, a control mixture was created with 7% LS by overall aggregate weight for the wearing course layer. The Marsha

Durability of hot mix asphalt (HMA) against moisture damage is mostly related to asphalt-aggregate adhesion. The objective of this work is to find the effect of nanoclay with montmorillonite (MMT) on Marshall properties and moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixture. Two types of asphalt cement, AC(40-50) and AC(60-70) were modified with 2%, 4% and 6% of Iraqi nanoclay with montmorillonite. The Marshall properties, Tensile strength ratio(TSR) and Index of retained strength(ISR) were determined in this work. The total number of specimens was 216 and the optimum asphalt content was 4.91% and 5% for asphalt cement (40-50) and (60-70) respectively. The results showed that the modification of asphalt cement with MMT led to increase Marsh

Roller-Compacted Concrete is a no-slump concrete, with no reinforcing steel, no forms, no finishing and wet enough to support compaction by vibratory rollers. Due to the effect of curing on properties and durability of concrete, the main purpose of this research is to study the effect of various curing methods (air curing, 7 days water curing, and permanent water curing) and porcelanite (local material used as an Internal Curing agent) with different replacement percentages of fine aggregate (volumetric replacement) on some properties of Roller-Compacted Concrete and to explore the possibility of introducing practical Roller-Compacted Concrete for road pavement with minimum requirement of curing. Specimens were sawed fro

In this study, simply supported reinforced concrete (RC) beams were analyzed using the Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM). This is a powerful method that is used for the treatment of discontinuities resulting from the fracture process and crack propagation in concrete. The mesoscale is used in modeling concrete as a two-phasic material of coarse aggregate and cement mortar. Air voids in the cement paste will also be modeled. The coarse aggregate used in the casting of these beams is a rounded aggregate consisting of different maximum sizes. The maximum size is 25 mm in the first model, and in the second model, the maximum size is 20 mm. The compressive strength used in these beams is equal to 26 MPa.

The subje

In this work the effect of choosing tri-circular tube section had been addressed to minimize the end effector’s error, a comparison had been made between the tri-tube section and the traditional square cross section for a robot arm, the study shows that for the same weight of square section and tri-tube section the error may be reduced by about 33%.

A program had been built up by the use of MathCAD software to calculate the minimum weight of a square section robot arm that could with stand a given pay load and gives a minimum deflection. The second part of the program makes an optimization process for the dimension of the cross section and gives the dimensions of the tri-circular tube cross section that have the same weight of

This study aimed to assess the possible association of oxytocin (OXT) gene with reproductive traits in two groups of Awassi ewes that differ in their reproductive potentials. Sheep were genotyped using PCR—single-stranded conformation polymorphism approach. Three genotypes were detected in exon 2, CC, CA, and AA, and a novel SNP was identified with a missense effect on oxytocin (c.188C > A → p.Arg55Leu). A significant (p < 0.01) association of p.Arg55Leu with the twinning rate was found as ewes with AA and CA genotypes exhibited, respectively a lower twinning ratio than those with the wild-type CC genotype. The deleterious impact of p.Arg55Leu was demonstrated by all in silico tools that were utilized to assess the effect of this varian