The performance and durability of the asphalt pavement structure mainly depend on the strength of the bonding between the layers. Such a bond is achieved through the use of an adhesive material (tack coat) to bond the asphalt layers. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of moisture in conjunction with repeated traffic loads on the strength of the bonding between asphalt layers using two types of tack coats with different application rates. Using the nominal maximum size of aggregate (NMAS), the layers were graded (25/19) and (19/9.5) mm. The slabs of multilayer asphalt concrete were prepared using a roller compactor using two types of tack coats to bond between layers, namely rapid curing cut back a
... Show MoreFurfural is a toxic aromatic aldehyde that can cause a severe environmental problem especially the wastewater drown from petroleum refinery units. In the present work, a useless by-product from local furniture manufacturing industry; sawdust was used as raw material for the preparation of activated carbon which is chemically activated with phosphoric acid. The effect of adsorption variables which include initial pH of solution (2-9), agitation speed (50-250) rpm, agitation time (15-120) min, initial concentration of furfural (50-250) ppm, and amount of adsorbent material (0.5-2.5) g for the three adsorbents used (prepared activated carbon, commercial activated carbon and raw sawdust) were investigated in a batch process
... Show MoreThis study “discusses the benefit of “addition waste paper as a “new cellulose material “in mortar mixes. A partial addition of waste paper by cement weight was achieved to produce cement composite mortar. Pulp and paper is the third major industrial dumper of air, soil and water. In recent year, paper and paperboard constitute a greater portion of many countries’ urban solid discarded generation. Beside, it increases characteristic “strength due to existence “of hydrogen links “in the microstructure of “paper. Furthermore, it consume “better thermal protection. The addition percentages “of waste paper used “in this work were (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) by “mass of cement to measure and evaluat
... Show MoreNanofiltration (NF) ceramic membrane have found increasing applications particularly in wastewater and water treatment. In order to estimate and optimize the performance of NF membranes, the membrane should be characterized correctly in terms of their basic parameters such as effective pore radius (rp) and equivalent effective thickness as well as effective surface charge ( ), the effective charge density ( ) and Donnan potential ( ). The impact of electrokinetic (zeta) potential on the membrane surface charge density, effective membrane charge density and Donnan potential at two different concentrations of the reference solutions 0.001, 0.01 M sodium chloride at various pH values from 3 to 9, and effective po
... Show MoreA low speed open circuit wind tunnel has been designed, manufactured and constructed at the
Mechanical Engineering Department at Baghdad University - College of Engineering. The work is one of
the pioneer projects adapted by the R & D Office at the Iraqi MOHESR. The present paper describes the
first part of the work; that is the design calculations, simulation and construction. It will be followed by a
second part that describes testing and calibration of the tunnel. The proposed wind tunnel has a test
section with cross sectional area of (0.7 x 0.7 m2) and length of (1.5 m). The maximum speed is about (70
m/s) with empty test section. The contraction ratio is (8.16). Three screens are used to minimize flow
distu
Interface bonding between asphalt layers has been a topic of international investigation over the last thirty years. In this condition, a number of researchers have made their own techniques and used them to examine the characteristics of pavement interfaces. It is obvious that test findings won't always be comparable to the lack of a globally standard methodology for interface bonding. Also, several kinds of research have shown that factors like temperature, loading conditions, materials, and others have an impact on surface qualities. This study aims to solve this problem by thoroughly investigating interface bond testing that might serve as a basis for a uniform strategy. First, a general explanation of how
... Show MoreThe aim of the present research is to investigate the effecting of pH parameter on the feasibility of lead removal from simulated wastewater using an electrochemical system. Electrocoagulation method is one of electrochemical technology which is used widely to treat industrial wastewater. Parameters affecting this operation, such as initial metal concentration, applied current, stirrer speed, and contact time of electroprocessing were taken as 155ppm, 1.5 Ampere, 150 rpm, 60 minutes respectively. While pH of the simulated wastewater was in the range of 2 to 12 in the experiments. It was found from the results that pH is an important parameter affecting lead removal operation. The best value of pH parameter is appro
... Show MoreThis research utilized natural asphalt (NA) deposits from sulfur springs in western Iraq. Laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of an asphalt mixture incorporating NA and verify its suitability for local pavement applications. To achieve this, a combination of two types of NA, namely soft SNA and hard HNA, was blended to create a binder known as Type HSNA. The resulting HSNA exhibited a penetration grade that adhered to Iraqi specifications. Various percentages of NA (20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%) were added to petroleum asphalt. The findings revealed enhanced physical properties of HSNA, which also satisfied the requirements outlined in the Iraqi specifications for asphalt cement.
Consequently, HS
... Show MoreThis paper investigates the experimental response of composite reinforced concrete with GFRP and steel I-sections under limited cycles of repeated load. The practical work included testing four beams. A reference beam, two composite beams with pultruded GFRP I-sections, and a composite beam with a steel I-beam were subjected to repeated loading. The repeated loading test started by loading gradually up to a maximum of 75% of the ultimate static failure load for five loading and unloading cycles. After that, the specimens were reloaded gradually until failure. All test specimens were tested under a three-point load. Experimental results showed that the ductility index increased for the composite beams relative to the refe
... Show MoreIn this paper, numerical and experimental studies on the elastic behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) with stiffeners in the GFRP section's web (to prevent local buckling) are presented. The GFRP profiles were connected to the concrete deck slab by shear connectors. Two full-scale simply supported composite beams (with and without stiffeners) were tested under impact load (three-point load) to assess its structural response. The results proved that the maximum impact force, maximum deflection, damping time, and damping ratio of the composite beam were affected by the GFRP stiffeners. The experimental results indicated that the damping ratio and deflection were diminished compare
... Show MoreIn this study, the modified Rayleigh-Ritz method and Fourier series are used to determine the thermal buckling behavior of laminated composite thin plates with a general elastic boundary condition applied to in-plane uniform temperature distribution depending upon classical laminated plate theory(CLPT). A generalized procedure solution is developed for the Rayleigh-Ritz method combined with the synthetic spring technique. The transverse displacement of the orthotropic rectangular plates is not a different term as a new shape expansion of trigonometric series. In this solution approach, the plate transverse deflection and rotation due to bending are developed into principle Fourier series with a sufficient smoothness auxi
... Show MoreDiabetic retinopathy is an eye disease in diabetic patients due to damage to the small blood vessels in the retina due to high and low blood sugar levels. Accurate detection and classification of Diabetic Retinopathy is an important task in computer-aided diagnosis, especially when planning for diabetic retinopathy surgery. Therefore, this study aims to design an automated model based on deep learning, which helps ophthalmologists detect and classify diabetic retinopathy severity through fundus images. In this work, a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) with transfer learning and fine tunes has been proposed by using pre-trained networks known as Residual Network-50 (ResNet-50). The overall framework of the proposed
... Show MoreThe permeable reactive barrier (PRB) is one of the promising innovative in situ groundwater remediation technologies, in removing of copper from a contaminated shallow aquifer. The 1:1- mixture of waste foundry sand (WFS) and Kerbala’s sand (KS) was used for PRB. The WFS was represented the reactivity material while KS used to increase the permeability of PRB only. However, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) analysis proved that the carboxylic and alkyl halides groups are responsible for the sorption of copper onto WFS. Batch tests have been performed to characterize the equilibrium sorption properties of the (WFS+KS) mix in copper- containing aqueous
solutions. The sorption data for Cu+2 ions, obtained by batch experiments, have be
The water scarcity that Iraq suffers from and the low irrigation efficiency in irrigation projects, therefore, it was necessary to evaluate the performance of the irrigation system of the western canal for the Ishaqi irrigation project in Salah al-Din Governorate to determine the water management strategies that can be used to improve the irrigation efficiency in the project. The performance of the field irrigation system was evaluated on two fields of different crops and irrigation methods according to the agricultural reality of the study area in the Western canal for the Al-Ishaqi Irrigation Project in Salah Al-Din Governorate. The fieldwork included measurements of the moisture content before and after irrigation, fi
... Show MoreThis study aims to evaluate the performance of the sewage treatment plant in Al-Diwaniya, one of cities in the southern part in Iraq. This evaluation could be used to facilitate effluent quality assessment or optimal process control of the plant. The influent reaching the plant is considered a medium to strong in strength with BOD5/COD ratio in the range 0.23 and 0.69 which can be considered an easily degradable sewage by the biological processes performed by the activated sludge unit. The quality of the effluent was found to be higher than the Iraqi standards for disposal to water bodies. The BOD5/COD ratios of the treated sewage varied over a wide range as low of 0.13 to 1.48 indicating operational problems in the plant. Regression ana
... Show MoreA high settlement may take place in shallow footing when resting on liquefiable soil if subjected to earthquake loading. In this study, a series of shaking table tests were carried out for shallow footing resting on sand soil. The input motion is three earthquake loadings (0.05g, 0.1g, and 0.2g). The study includes a reviewing of theoretical equations (available in literatures), which estimating settlement of footings due to earthquake loading, calibration, and verification of these equations with data from the shaking table test for improved soil by grouting and unimproved soil. It is worthy to note that the grouting materials considered in this study are the Bentonite and CKD slurries. A modification to the seismic set
... Show MoreThe piled raft is a geotechnical composite construction consisting of three elements: piles, raft and soil.
In the design of piled rafts, the load shared between the piles and the raft, and the piles are used up to a
load level that can be of the same order of magnitude as the bearing capacity of a comparable single
pile or even greater. Therefore, the piled raft foundation allows reduction of settlements in a very
economic way as compared to traditional foundation concepts.
This paper presents experimental study to investigate the behavior of piled raft system in sandy
soil. A small scale “prototype” model was tested in a sand box with load applied to the system through
a compression machine. The settlement was
Expansive soil is one of the most serious problems that face engineers during the execution of any infrastructure projects. Soil stabilization using chemical admixture is one of the most traditional and widespread methods of soil improvement. Nevertheless, soil improvement on site is one of the most economical solutions for many engineering applications. Using construction and demolishing waste in soil stabilization is still under research., The aim of this study is to identify the effect of using concrete demolishing waste (CDW) in soil stabilization. Serious tests were conducted to investigate the changes in the geotechnical properties of the natural soil stabilized with CDW. From the results, it is concluded that the
... Show MoreBuildings begin to deteriorate gradually over time due to several factors, including environmental influences, improper use of the building, and neglected repairs for damages during the building's life span. Effective maintenance practices can minimize operational costs, extend the life of building systems and components, improve energy efficiency, and maintain property value. This paper aims to review articles related to building maintenance to identify factors affecting maintenance practices. After conducting the review, the result was that there were 33 factors affecting building maintenance categorized into six groups: management-related factors, manpower-related factors, technical-related factors, financial-
... Show MoreThis paper aims to make a historical review of jet grouting techniques and encountered problems at different sites in several countries. This review is a good guide to understanding the performance and limitations of improved soils or lands. The basic concept of jet grouting technology is to use cement as a binder to accelerate the hardening process of an admixture of material grout and soil. The different case history was conducted in both sand soil and clay soil in the horizontal and vertical direction. Other papers on field construction showed that the grout can be gelled within 5-10 minutes. Due to different cases and studies, these will help improve soil by supporting the foundation load with a minimal settlement.
... Show MoreModeling the microclimate of a greenhouse located in Baghdad under its weather conditions to calculate the heating and cooling loads by computer simulation. Solar collectors with a V-corrugated absorber plate and an auxiliary heat source were used as a heating system. A rotary silica gel desiccant dehumidifier, a sensible heat exchanger, and an evaporative cooler were added to the collectors to form an open-cycle solar assisted desiccant cooling system. A dynamic model was adopted to predict the inside air and the soil surface temperatures of the greenhouse. These temperatures are used to predict the greenhouse heating and cooling loads through an energy balance method which takes into account the soil heat gain. This is not included in
... Show MoreRoller compacted concrete (RCC) is a material with no slumps and is made from the same raw materials as conventional concrete. The roller compacted dam method, the high paste technique, the corps of engineers method, and the maximum density method are all ways of designing RCC. The evolution of RCC has resulted in a substantial change in construction projects, most notably in dams, because of the sluggish pace of conventional placement, consolidation, and compacting. The construction process was accelerated by incorporating RCC into dams, resulting in a shorter construction period. Research shows that the dams that used RCC had completed one to two years sooner than the dams that used regular concrete (Bagheri an
... Show MoreThe precipitation of calcite induced via microorganisms (MICP) is a technique that has been developed as an innovative sustainable ground improvement method utilizing ureolytic bacteria to soil strengthening and stabilization. Locally isolated Bacillus Sonorensis from Iraqi soil samples were found to have high abilities in producing urease. This study aims to use the MICP technique in improving the undrained shear strength of soft clay soil using two native urease producing bacteria that help in the precipitation of calcite to increase the cementation between soil particles. Three concentrations of each of the locally prepared Bacillus sonorensis are used in this study for cementation reagent (0.25M, 0.5M, and 1M) during
... Show MoreThis work is concerned with the design and performance evaluation of a shell and double concentric tubes heat exchanger using Solid Works and ANSY (Computational Fluid Dynamics).
Computational fluid dynamics technique which is a computer-based analysis is used to simulate the heat exchanger involving fluid flow, heat transfer. CFD resolve the entire heat exchanger in discrete elements to find: (1) the temperature gradients, (2) pressure distribution, and (3) velocity vectors. The RNG k-ε model of turbulence is used to determining the accurate results from CFD.
The heat exchanger design for this work consisted of a shell and eight double concentric tubes. The number of inlets are three and that of o
... Show MoreThe using of recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste (CDW) can preserve natural aggregate resources, reduce the demand for landfill, and contribute to a sustainable built environment. Concrete demolition waste has been proven to be an excellent source of aggregates for new concrete production. At a technical, economic, and environmental level, roller compacted concrete (RCC) applications benefit various civil construction projects. Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) is a homogenous mixture that is best described as a zero-slump concrete placed with compacting equipment, uses in storage areas, dams, and most often as a basis for rigid pavements. The mix must be sufficiently dry to support
... Show MoreRock engineers widely use the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of rocks in designing
surface and underground structures. The procedure for measuring this rock strength has been
standardized by both the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) and American Society
for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Akram and Bakar(2007).
In this paper, an experimental study was performed to correlate of Point Load Index ( Is(50))
and Pulse Wave Velocity (Vp) to the Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) of Rocks. The effect
of several parameters was studied. Point load test, Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) and
Pulse Wave Velocity (Vp) were used for testing several rock samples with different diameters.
The predicted e
Generally fossil based fuels are used in internal combustion engines as an energy source.
Excessive use of fossil based fuels diminishes present reserves and increases the air pollution in
urban areas. This enhances the importance of the effective use of present reserves and/or to develop
new alternative fuels, which are environment friendly. Use of alternative fuel is a way of emission
control. The term “Alternative Gaseous Fuels” relates to a wide range of fuels that are in the
gaseous state at ambient conditions, whether when used on their own or as components of mixtures
with other fuels.
In this study, a single cylinder diesel engine was modified to use LPG in dual fuel mode to study
the performance, emis
When the flange of a reinforced concrete spandrel beam is in tension, current design codes and specifications enable a portion of the bonded flexure tension reinforcement to be distributed over an effective flange width. The flexural behavior of the RC L-shaped spandrel beam when reinforcement is laterally displaced in the tension flange is investigated experimentally and numerically in this work. Numerical analysis utilizing the finite element method is performed on discretized flanged beam models validated using experimentally verified L-shaped beam specimens to achieve study objectives. A parametric study was carried out to evaluate the influence of various factors on the beam’s flexure behavior. Results showed that
... Show MoreThe need for quick airborne transportation is critical, especially in emergencies. Drones with suspended payloads might be used to accomplish quick airborne transportation. Due to the environment or the drone's motion, the slung load may oscillate and lead the drone to fall. The altitude and attitude controls are the backbones of the drone's stability, and they must be adequately designed. Because of their symmetrical and simple structure, quadrotor helicopters are one of the most popular drone classes. In this work, a genetic algorithm with two weighted terms fitness function is used to adjust a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller to compensate for the altitude and attitude controllers in a quadrotor drone
... Show MoreIn this paper, a design of the broadband thin metamaterial absorber (MMA) is presented. Compared with the previously reported metamaterial absorbers, the proposed structure provides a wide bandwidth with a compatible overall size. The designed absorber consists of a combination of octagon disk and split octagon resonator to provide a wide bandwidth over the Ku and K bands' frequency range. Cheap FR-4 material is chosen to be a substate of the proposed absorber with 1.6 thicknesses and 6.5×6.5 overall unit cell size. CST Studio Suite was used for the simulation of the proposed absorber. The proposed absorber provides a wide absorption bandwidth of 14.4 GHz over a frequency range of 12.8-27.5 GHz with more than %90 absorp
... Show More