Most of the recent works related to the construction industry in Iraq are focused on investigating the validity of local raw materials as alternatives to the imported materials necessary for some practical applications, especially in thermal and sound insulation. This investigation includes the use of limestone dust as partial substitution of cement in combination with foam agent and silica fume to produce sustainable Lightweight Foam Concrete (LWFC). This study consists of two stages. In the first stage, trial mixes were performed to find the optimum dosage of foam agent. Limestone dust was used as a partial replacement for cement. Chemical analysis and fineness showed great similarity with cement. Many concrete mixes were prepared

In this paper, mesoscale modeling is performed to simulate and understand fracture behavior of two concrete composites: cement and asphalt concrete using disk-shaped compact tension (DCT) tests. Mesoscale models are used as alternative to macroscale models to obtain better realistic behavior of composite and heterogeneous materials such as cement and asphalt concrete. In mesoscale models, aggregate and matrix are represented as distinct materials and each material has its characteristic properties. Disk-shaped compact tension test is used to obtain tensile strength and fracture energy of materials. This test can be used as a better alternative to other tests such as three points bending tests because it is more convenient for both field and

Low- and medium-carbon structural steel components face random vibration and dynamic loads (like earthquakes) in many applications. Thus a modification to improve their mechanical properties, essentially damping properties, is required. The present study focuses on improving and developing these properties, significantly dampening properties, without losing the other mechanical properties. The specimens used in the present study are structural steel ribbed bar ISO 6935 subjected to heating temperatures of (850, 950, and 1050) ˚C, and cooling schemes of annealing, normalizing, sand, and quenching was selected. The damping properties of the specimens were measured experimentally with the area under the curve for the loadi

In this paper the effect of thermal annealing on the structural and optical properties of Antimony Selenide (Sb2Se3) is investigated. Sb2Se3 powder is evaporated on clean amorphous glass substrates at room temperature under high vacuum pressure (4.5×10-6 mbar) to form thin films. The structural investigation was done with the aid of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The amorphous to polycrystalline transformation of these thin films was shown by X-ray diffraction analysis after thermal annealing. These films' morphology is explained. (UV-Vis ) spectra in ranges from 300 to 1100 nm was used to examine the optical properties of the films .The absorption coefficient and optical energy gap of the investigated films are

CdS and CdTe thin films were thermally deposited onto glass substrate. The CdCl2 layer was deposited onto CdS surface. These followed by annealing for different duration times to modify the surface and interface of the junction. The diffraction patterns showed that the intensity of the peaks increased with the CdCl2/annealed treatment, and the grain sizes are increased after CdCl2/annealed treatment