The global rise in temperature and the desert climatic conditions prevalent in Middle Eastern countries have exacerbated rutting distress in heavily trafficked highways. Conventional asphalt binders with a high-temperature performance grade (PG 70) have proven inadequate under such extreme conditions, necessitating the development of modified binders with enhanced high-temperature performance. While polymer modification using styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS), an elastomeric polymer, and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), a plastomeric polymer, has been widely studied, limited research provides a direct comparison of their effectiveness at both the binder and mixture levels under extremely high-temperature conditions. This study addresses this gap by evaluating SBS and EVA at 2%, 4%, and 6% by weight of asphalt cement, with a focus on their rheological, chemical, and mechanical properties. At the binder level, properties examined included the physical properties: penetration, softening point, viscosity, mass loss due to aging, storage stability, and specific gravity. The Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) was used to assess the high-temperature performance grade (PG) and conduct Multiple Stress Creep Recovery (MSCR) tests. The results revealed that SBS significantly enhanced high-temperature performance, with 4% SBS and 6% SBS achieving PG 100, compared to PG 70 for both the unmodified and EVA-modified binders. At the most critical testing temperature of 76 °C and the highest stress level of 3.2 kPa, SBS-modified binders exhibited the lowest non-recoverable creep compliance (Jnr) and the highest elastic recovery (R), significantly outperforming EVA-modified binders and the reference binder (RB). At the mixture level, dynamic creep testing confirmed the ranking of asphalt mixes in terms of resistance to permanent deformation, with the following order: 4% SBS > 6% SBS > 6% EVA > 4% EVA > 2% SBS > 2% EVA > unmodified mix. These results, further supported by ANOVA analysis, indicate that SBS-modified mixtures exhibited superior rutting resistance compared to EVA-modified and unmodified mixes. This study provides quantitative insights into the comparative performance of SBS and EVA in extreme hot climatic tempertures, reinforcing the superior effectiveness of SBS in enhancing high-temperature properties. Consequently, SBS emerges as the more suitable modifier for regions experiencing extreme hot climatic conditions. Field validation is recommended to confirm these laboratory findings in real-world applications.
Contracting cancer typically induces a state of terror among the individuals who are affected. Exploring how glucose excess, estrogen excess, and anxiety work together to affect the speed at which breast cancer cells multiply and the immune system’s response model is necessary to conceive of ways to stop the spread of cancer. This paper proposes a mathematical model to investigate the impact of psychological panic, glucose excess, and estrogen excess on the interaction of cancer and immunity. The proposed model is precisely described. The focus of the model’s dynamic analysis is to identify the potential equilibrium locations. According to the analysis, it is possible to establish four equilibrium positions. The stability analys
... Show MoreIn this study a polymeric composite material was prepared by hand
lay-up technique from epoxy resin as a matrix and magnesium oxide
(MgO) as a reinforcement with different weight fraction (5,10,15,
and 20)% to resin. Then the prepared samples were immersed under
normal condition in H2So4(1 M) solution, for periods ranging up to
10 weeks. The result revealed that the diffusion coefficient
decreasing as the concentration of MgO increase. Also we studied
Hardness for the prepared samples before and after immersion. The
result revealed that the hardness values increase as the concentration
of MgO increase, while the hardness for the samples after immersion
in H2SO4 dec
Background: Fixed orthodontic appliances impede the maintenance of oral hygiene and result in plaque accumulation leads to enamel demineralization caused by acids produced by bacteria. Studies on plaque control strategies in orthodontic populations are limited. This might be caused by difficulties in the quantitative evaluation of dental plaque because the teeth have various levels of bracket coverage, and different tooth sizes and malocclusions, making the traditional categorical indices complex. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of different hygiene protocols on plaque quantity on bands with different attachments. Materials and method: Twenty patients had four bands within the orthodontic appliance. Then randomly divided into
... Show MoreThe study aims to indicate the role of the mechanisms and principles of corporate governance in the activation of social responsibility reports, and increase disclosure, to achieve sustainability, legitimacy, and integrity of the business. Through the presentation of the conceptual framework for corporate governance and social responsibility, identify the key dimensions of social responsibility and the statement of the relationship between the mechanisms of governance and social responsibility reports in accordance with these dimensions. To prove the hypothesis research has selected a sample of listed companies in the Iraqi market for securities,
... Show MoreThe acceptance sampling plans for generalized exponential distribution, when life time experiment is truncated at a pre-determined time are provided in this article. The two parameters (α, λ), (Scale parameters and Shape parameters) are estimated by LSE, WLSE and the Best Estimator’s for various samples sizes are used to find the ratio of true mean time to a pre-determined, and are used to find the smallest possible sample size required to ensure the producer’s risks, with a pre-fixed probability (1 - P*). The result of estimations and of sampling plans is provided in tables.
Key words: Generalized Exponential Distribution, Acceptance Sampling Plan, and Consumer’s and Producer Risks
... Show MoreIn this study, polymeric coating was developed by incorporating nano graphene in the polymer blend with applications to oil storage tanks. The oil storage tanks samples were brought from the oil Pipeline Company / Doura refinery in Baghdad. The coating polymer was formed with a blend (epoxy resin and repcoat ZR). The proportion of mixing the mixture was 3:1:1 epoxy resin 21.06 gm: repcoat ZR 10.53 gm: hardener 10.53 gm. The blend/graphene was prepared using in stui-polymerization method with different weight percentage 1, 3, 5, and 7 wt % added to blend. The resulting solution was put in a glass tube on a magnetic stirrer for one hour at a temperature of 40 °C. The result of contact angle and wate
... Show MoreHigher education is important because it creates and develops human capital and provides qualified human cadres, which requires restructuring government spending so that an increase in funding allocated to education is brought about. During the period 1990-2020, government spending was weak on educational institutions in Iraq, which led to a decline in The role of these institutions in the economic development of the country. The highest percentage of spending on higher education of GDP was 0.47% in 2007 and the lowest was 0.01% in 2005. The number of public universities reached 35, and the number of private universities and colleges reached 64 universities and private colleges in 2020. This was accompanied by an increase in the number of s
... Show MoreMost of the studies conducted in the past decades focused on the effect of interest rates and exchange rates on domestic investment under the assumption that the independent variables have the same effect on the dependent variable, but there were limited studies that investigated the unequal effects of changes in interest rates and exchange rates, both positive and negative, on domestic investment. This study used a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model to assess the unequal effects of the real interest rate and real exchange rate variables on domestic investment in Egypt for the period 1976 - 2020. The results revealed that positive and negative shocks for both exchange rates have unequal effects on
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