These years Qatar has emerged as an important regional destination of foreign direct investment (FDI), which demonstrates the recent success of several smaller economies in attracting FDI. This paper aims to investigate the causal relationships between inward FDI and economic growth in the particular case of Qatar featured as oil production country. Vector Autoregressive (VAR) Impulse Responses and Granger Causality Tests were adopted as major research methods. Annual data set was used covering from 1990 to 2010. The main results demonstrated the bi-directional causality and long-run relationships between FDI inflows and economic growth in Qatar. And to attract FDI inflows into Qatar, the government shall continue its efforts in constructing promising economic and investment environment; but to promote economic growth, it will recourse to other original momentum.
This paper deals with a method called Statistical Energy Analysis that can be applied to the mechanical and acoustical systems like buildings, bridges and aircrafts …etc. S.E.A as a tool can be applied to the resonant systems in the circumstances of high frequency or/and complex structure». The parameters of S.E.A such as coupling loss factor, internal loss factor, modal density and input power are clarified in this work ; coupled plate sub-systems and explanations are presented for these parameters. The developed system is assumed to be resonant, conservative, linear and there is an equipartition of energy between all the resonant modes within a given frequency band in a given sub-system. The aim of th
... Show MorePermanent deformation (Rutting) of asphalt pavements which appears in many roads in Iraq, have caused a major impact on pavement performance by reducing the useful service life of pavement and creating services hazards for highway users. The main objective of this research is investigating the effect of some contributory factors related to permanent deformation of asphalt concrete mixture. To meet the objectives of this research, available local materials are used including asphalt binder, aggregates, mineral filler and modified asphalt binder. The Superpave mix design system was adopted with varying volumetric compositions. The Superpave Gyratory Compactor was used to compact 24 asphalt concrete cylindrical specimens. To collect t
... Show MoreThis research aims to identify the role of external environment factors on the quality of educational services, from the academic point of view, where the distribution of a questionnaire to a random sample of (100) university professors, and then analyzing a model, and test the validity of this model using structural modeling (SEM) (Structural Equation Modeling).
And then test the relationships between variables using the software of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS V.18), the research found a number of conclusions, the most important conclusion is: the external environment factors has significant impact on the quality of educational services.
Compaction curves are widely used in civil engineering especially for road constructions, embankments, etc. Obtaining the precise amount of Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) that gives the Maximum Dry Unit weight gdmax. is very important, where the desired soil strength can be achieved in addition to economic aspects.
In this paper, three peak functions were used to obtain the OMC and gdmax. through curve fitting for the values obtained from Standard Proctor Test. Another surface fitting was also used to model the Ohio’s compaction curves that represent the very large variation of compacted soil types.
The results showed very good correlation between the values obtained from some publ
... Show MoreThis research examines the use of vibratory treatments to reduce residual stresses in small welded parts. In this experimental investigation, a post weld vibration treatment was applied to T- A106 steel pipe fitting specimens to study the effect of the treatment on the residual stress and the hardness of the material. The vibratory stress relief treatment was carried out at different vibration frequency. The results have demonstrated that post-weld vibratory stress relief of small size fittings is possible and residual stress may be relieved, and the treatment may be an alternative method for heat treatment especially when unchange in dimensions and material stability are required.
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
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In past years, structural pavement solution has been combined with destructive testing; these destructive methods are being replaced by non-destructive testing methods (NDT). Because the destructive test causes damage due to coring conducted for testing and also the difficulty of adequately repairing the core position in the field. Ultrasonic pulse velocity was used to evaluate the strength and volumetric properties of asphalt concrete, of binder course. The impact of moisture damage and testing temperature on pulse velocity has also been studied. Data were analyzed and modeled. It was found that using non-destructive testing represented by pulse velocity could be useful to predict the quality of asphalt c
... Show MoreSingle crystals of pure and Cu+2,Fe+2 doped potassium sulfate were grown from aqueous solutions by the slow evaporation technique at room temperature. with dimension of (11x9 x4)mm3 and ( 10x 8x 5)mm3 for crystal doping with Cu &Fe respectively. The influence of doping on crystal growth and its structure revealed a change in their lattice parameters(a=7.479 Ã… ,b=10.079 Ã… ,c=5.772 Ã…)for pure and doping (a=9.687 Ã…, b=14.926 Ã… ,c= 9.125 Ã…) & (a=9.638 Ã… , b= 8.045 Ã… ,c=3.271 Ã…) for Cu & Fe respectively. Structure analysis of the grown crystals were obtained by X-Ray powder diffraction measurements. The diffraction patterns were analyzed by the Rietveld refinement method. Rietveld refinement plo
... Show MoreThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of hydrated lime addition methods as filler replacement on fatigue performance of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). Three types of addition methods of hydrated lime were introduced namely dry HL on dry aggregate and saturated surface aggregate above 3% and slurry HL on dry aggregate, ordinary Lime stone powder was reduced by three HL percentage (1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 %). The effect of different methods were investigated on the fatigue properties of HMA using, third-point flexural fatigue bending Test. Pneumatic Repeated Load System (PRLS) was carried out to establish the effect of hydrated lime on the fatigue failure criteria and to select the proper hydrated lime application methods on fatigue behavior o
... Show Moret-Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) reduces environmental noise and has more workability. This research presents an investigation of the behavior of SCC under mechanical loading (impact loading). Two types of cement have been used to produce SCC mixtures, Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Portland Limestone Cement (PLC), which reduces the emission of carbon dioxide during the manufacturing process. The mixes were reinforced with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) which is usually used to improve the seismic performance of masonry walls, to replace lost steel reinforcements, or to increase column strength and ductility. Workability tests were carried out for fresh SCC. Prepared concrete slabs of 500×500×50mm were tested for lo
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