Lignin has emerged as a promising asphalt binder modifier due to its sustainable and renewable nature, with the potential to improve flexible pavement performance. This study investigates the use of Soda Lignin Powder (SLP), derived from Pinus wood sawdust via alkaline treatment, as an asphalt modifier to enhance mixture durability. SLP was characterized using Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (SEM/EDX), revealing significant changes in its chemical structure post-extraction. These analyses showed the presence of phenolic units, including hydroxyphenyl propane, syringyl, and guaiacyl units. The morphology of SLP was identified as irregular and spherical particles consisting of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Experimental evaluations involved three SLP dosages (2%, 4%, and 6% by weight of asphalt binder), with tests for penetration, softening point, ductility and rotational viscosity. Additionally, the asphalt mixtures were tested for their performance in terms of moisture susceptibility, resilient modulus, permanent deformation, and fatigue resistance. Results indicated that SLP effectively reduces the temperature susceptibility of asphalt by increasing its stiffness and rotational viscosity. Furthermore, mixtures with 6% SLP showed enhanced moisture resistance, with a Tensile Strength Ratio (TSR) of 86.98%, a 74.1% reduction in accumulated permanent deformation at 10,000 cycles, and a 38.1% increase in the Cracking Tolerance Index (CT index) compared to the control mix (0% SLP content). These findings confirm that SLP has the potential to be an effective additive in the design of asphalt mixture. Moreover, it allows producing endurable mixtures with higher resistance to distress.
The microstructure and wear properties of 392 Al alloy with different Mg contents were studied using centrifugal casting. All melted alloys were heated to 800 ºC and poured into the preheated centrifugal casting mold (200-250 ºC) at different mould rotational speeds (1500, 1900 and 2300 r.p.m). It is clear from the results obtained that wear rate was dependent on the Mg content, applied load and mould rotational speed. Furthermore, wear test showed that the minimum wear rate was found in the inner layer of produced rings at mould rotational speed of 1900 r.p.m and Mg content of 5%.
This study investigates the role of Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) systems in improving human resources management (HRM) processes. The rapid environmental changes led to increased demand on the ERP systems, which have changed the manual effort to technology-based processes, providing solutions focusing on the integration of all departments to achieve goals for the entire organization. HRM processes are mainly made up of two classes: strategic and operational HRM. An ERP system works to integrate both of them, making HRM processes more efficient, effective and feasible to provide support to the organization as a whole (inside and outside). In this article, a modest framework is proposed to describe HRM process integrity in relation to
... Show MoreBuilding Information Modeling (BIM) is extensively used in the construction industry due to its benefits throughout the Project Life Cycle (PLC). BIM can simulate buildings throughout PLC, detect and resolve problems, and improve building visualization that contributes to the representation of actual project details in the construction stage. BIM contributes to project management promotion by detecting problems that lead to conflicts, cost overruns, and time delays. This work aims to implement an effective BIM for the Iraqi construction projects’ life cycle. The methodology used is a literature review to collect the most important factors contributing to the success of BIM implementation, interview the team of the Cent
... Show MoreRapid 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
... Show MoreThe 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
... Show MoreMoisture 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
... Show MoreAsphalt 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
... Show MoreLearning a foreign language is a highly interactive process, and a belief that communicative activities foster a great amount of linguistic production provides language practice and opportunities for negotiation of meaning during communicative exchanges. Thus, this study examines what benefits learner-centered classroom setting offers compared with that of teacher–centered classroom, and how less proficient learners accomplish their tasks and activities with scaffolded help during interaction with the help of proficient classmates and under the guidance of a skilful person, i.e., the teacher. The subjects participating in this study are 30 Iraqi 4th year college students in the Department of English, College of Arts , Univer
... Show MoreDoubts arise about the originality of a document when noticing a change in its writing style. This evidence to plagiarism has made the intrinsic approach for detecting plagiarism uncover the plagiarized passages through the analysis of the writing style for the suspicious document where a reference corpus to compare with is absent. The proposed work aims at discovering the deviations in document writing style through applying several steps: Firstly, the entire document is segmented into disjointed segments wherein each corresponds to a paragraph in the original document. For the entire document and for each segment, center vectors comprising average weight of their word are constructed. Second, the degree of cl
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