Peak ground acceleration (PGA) is one of the critical factors that affect the determination of earthquake intensity. PGA is generally utilized to describe ground motion in a particular zone and is able to efficiently predict the parameters of site ground motion for the design of engineering structures. Therefore, novel models are developed to forecast PGA in the case of the Iraqi database, which utilizes the particle swarm optimization (PSO) approach. A data set of 187 historical ground-motion recordings in Iraq’s tectonic regions was used to build the explicit proposed models. The proposed PGA models relate to different seismic parameters, including the magnitude of the earthquake (Mw), average shear-wave velocity (VS30), focal depth (FD), and nearest epicenter distance (REPi) to a seismic station. The derived PGA models are remarkably simple and straightforward and can be used reliably for pre-design purposes. The proposed PGA models (i.e., models I and II) obtained via the explicit formula produced using the PSO method are highly correlated to the actual PGA records owing to low coefficients of variation (CoV) of approximately 2.12% and 2.06%, and mean values (i.e., close to 1.0) of approximately 1.005 and 1.004. Lastly, high-frequency, low absolute relative error (ARE), which is below 5%, is recorded for the proposed models, thereby showing an acceptable error distribution.
The process of risk assessment in the build-operate transfer (BOT) project is very important to identify and analyze the risks in order to make the appropriate decision to respond to them. In this paper, AHP Technique was used to make the appropriate decision regarding response to the most prominent risks that were generated in BOT projects, which includes a comparison between the criteria for each risk as well as the available alternatives and by mathematical methods using matrices to reach an appropriate decision to respond to each risk.Ten common risks in BOT contracts are adopted for analysis in this paper, which is grouped into six main risk headings.The procedures followed in this paper are the questionnaire method
... Show MoreTaguchi experimental design (TED) is applied to find the optimum effectiveness of aqueous Red Pomegranate Peel (RPP) extract as a green inhibitor for the corrosion of mild steel in 2M H3PO4 solution. The Taguchi methodology has been used to study the effects of changing, temperature, RPP concentration and contact period, at three levels. Weight-loss measurements were designed by construction a L9 orthogonal arrangement of experiments. Results of the efficiencies of inhibition were embraced for the signal to noise proportion & investigation of variance (ANOVA). The results were further processed with a MINITAB-17 software package to find the optimal condition
... Show MoreToday, urban Stormwater management is one of the main concerns of municipalities and stakeholders. Drought and water scarcity made rainwater harvesting one of the main steps toward climate change adaptation. Due to the deterioration of the quality of urban runoff and the increase of impermeable urban land use, the treatment of urban runoff is essential. Best Management Practice (BMP) and Low Impact Development (LID) approaches are necessary to combat climate change consequences by improving the quantity and quality of water resources. The application of Bioswales along urban streets and roadways can reduce the stress on water resources, recharge groundwater and prevent groundwater pollution. While Sulaymaniyah City has a
... Show MoreUrban Development refers to many topics such as: increased population density, city size, and individual’s production, distribution of technology and the growth of commercial, industrial and service professions. Such development is linked to the coordination of social and cultural trends in order to achieve social progress and economical prosperity. Knowledge as a topic now is known as intellectual capital wich led to upgrae the concept of urban development to be extended into many fields of knowledge, for example, cultural, social and human development to move the level of community culture into a new better standard.
The research adopted the urban transformation based on knowledge as an important factor in gr
... Show MoreBackground: Radiopacity is one of the prerequisites for dental materials, especially for composite restorations. It's essential for easy detection of secondary dental caries as well as observation of the radiographic interface between the materials and tooth structure. The aim of this study to assess the difference in radiopacity of different resin composites using a digital x-ray system. Materials and methods: Ten specimens (6mm diameter and 1mm thickness) of three types of composite resins (Evetric, Estelite Sigma Quick,and G-aenial) were fabricated using Teflon mold. The radiopacity was assessed using dental radiography equipment in combination with a phosphor plate digital system and a grey scale value aluminum step wedge with thickness
... Show MoreThe present study aims to get experimentally a deeper understanding of the efficiency of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets applied to improve the torsional behavior of L-shaped reinforced concrete spandrel beams in which their ledges were loaded in two stages under monotonic loading. An experimental program was conducted on spandrel beams considering different key parameters including the cross-sectional aspect ratio (
Because the Coronavirus epidemic spread in Iraq, the COVID-19 epidemic of people quarantined due to infection is our application in this work. The numerical simulation methods used in this research are more suitable than other analytical and numerical methods because they solve random systems. Since the Covid-19 epidemic system has random variables coefficients, these methods are used. Suitable numerical simulation methods have been applied to solve the COVID-19 epidemic model in Iraq. The analytical results of the Variation iteration method (VIM) are executed to compare the results. One numerical method which is the Finite difference method (FD) has been used to solve the Coronavirus model and for comparison purposes. The numerical simulat
... Show MoreIn this work, nanostructure aluminum oxide thin films were deposited on glass substrates using a direct current (DC) magnetic reactive sputtering (MRS) technique. A gaseous mixture of argon and oxygen at different mixing ratios was used to synthesize Al2O3 nanoparticles. After extracting Al2O3 powder from the glass substrate, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to analyze the structural and morphological properties of the synthesized thin films. The effect of deposition time on the spectral properties, as well as on the size of the nanoparticles, was determined.