The purpose of this article was to identify and assess the importance of risk factors in the tendering phase of construction projects. The construction project cannot succeed without the identification and categorization of these risk elements. In this article, a questionnaire for likelihood and impact was designed and distributed to a panel of specialists to analyze risk factors. The risk matrix was also used to research, explore, and identify the risks that influence the tendering phase of construction projects. The probability and impact values assigned to risk are used to calculate the risk's score. A risk matrix is created by combining probability and impact criteria. To determine the main risk elements for the tender phase of

The auditory system can suffer from exposure to loud noise and human health can be affected. Traffic noise is a primary contributor to noise pollution. To measure the noise levels, 3 variables were examined at 25 locations. It was found that the main factors that determine the increase in noise level are traffic volume, vehicle speed, and road functional class. The data have been taken during three different periods per day so that they represent and cover the traffic noise of the city during heavy traffic flow conditions. Analysis of traffic noise prediction was conducted using a simple linear regression model to accurately predict the equivalent continuous sound level. The difference between the predicted and the measured noise shows that

The purpose of this research was to evaluate rice husk functionalized with Mg-Fe-layered double hydroxide (RH-Mg/Fe-LDH) as an adsorbent for the removal of meropenem antibiotic (MA) from an aqueous solution. Several batch experiments were undertaken using various conditions. Based on the results, the optimal Mg/Fe-LDH adsorbent with a pH of 9 and an M2+/M3+ ratio of 0.5 was associated with the lowest particle size (specifically. 11.1 nm). The Langmuir and Freundlich models were consistent with the experimental isotherm data (R2 was 0.984 and 0.993, respectively), and MA’s highest equilibrium adsorption capacity was 43.3 mg/g. Additionally, the second-order model was consistent with the adsorption kinetic results.

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (massive-MIMO) is considered as the key technology to meet the huge demands of data rates in the future wireless communications networks. However, for massive-MIMO systems to realize their maximum potential gain, sufficiently accurate downlink (DL) channel state information (CSI) with low overhead to meet the short coherence time (CT) is required. Therefore, this article aims to overcome the technical challenge of DL CSI estimation in a frequency-division-duplex (FDD) massive-MIMO with short CT considering five different physical correlation models. To this end, the statistical structure of the massive-MIMO channel, which is captured by the physical correlation is exploited to find sufficiently

Tight oil reservoirs have been a concerned of the oil industry due to their substantial influence on oil production. Due to their poor permeability, numerous problems are encountered while producing from tight reservoirs. Petrophysical and geomechanical rock properties are essential for understanding and assessing the fracability of reservoirs, especially tight reservoirs, to enhance permeability. In this study, Saadi B reservoir in Halfaya Iraqi oil field is considered as the main tight reservoir. Petrophysical and geomechanical properties have been estimated using full-set well logs for a vertical well that penetrates Saadi reservoir and validated with support of diagnostic fracture injection test data employing standard equations

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MaMi) systems have attracted much research attention during the last few years. This is because MaMi systems are able to achieve a remarkable improvement in data rate and thus meet the immensely ongoing traffic demands required by the future wireless networks. To date, the downlink training sequence (DTS) for the frequency division duplex (FDD) MaMi communications systems have been designed based on the idealistic assumption of white noise environments. However, it is essential and more practical to consider the colored noise environments when designing an efficient DTS for channel estimation. To this end, this paper proposes a new DTS design by exploring the joint use of spatial channel and n

Infrastructure projects take a long time, are complex, multidisciplinary, use different materials and products, and have high risk. These characteristics affect the process of supplying materials. The current paper studies the ability to improve the supply chain process and decrease its cost by identifying the factors that affect it. These factors are used as variables in the mathematical model, which is working under uncertain conditions when the consumption rate of materials is not constant. The information used in this model is obtained from Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques and the genetic algorithm is utilized to determine the optimal supplier and the quantities of supplies

One of the common geotechnical problems is the construction on soft soil and the improvement of its geotechnical properties to meet the design requirements. A stone column is one of the well-known techniques used to improve the geotechnical properties of soft soils. Sometimes thick layers of soft soil imposed the designer to use floating stone columns for improvement of such soil; in this case, the designer will be lost the end bearing of the stone column. In this study, the effects of several patterns of floating stone columns distribution under footing on the bearing capacity of soil and the distribution of excess porewater pressure are investigated. The soft soil used in this study has a very low undrained shear strength (cu) of

     Water treatment plants play an important role in the purification and distribution of safe drinking water to the public. The present study focused on the performance assessment of the Al-Rasheed water treatment plant [ARWTP]. The main objectives of the assessment were to determine the efficiency of various plant units as well as the quality of inlet water from the Tigris River. Results obtained from the collected data indicated the presence of high concentrations of soluble nitrate and phosphate ions in the filtered water. The removal efficiency of alkalinity, EC, total hardness, SO₄, Cl, NO₃ and PO₄ were found to be (+11.05%), (-0.67%), (-29.33%), (-2.64%), (-6.25%), (-32.13%), and (0%) respecti

The durability of asphalt pavement is associated with the properties and performance of the binder. This work-study intended to understand the impact of blending Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) to conventional asphalt concrete mixtures and calculating the Optimum Asphalt Content (OAC) for conventional mixture also; compare the performance between SBS modified with the conventional mixture. Two different kinds of asphalt penetration grades, A.C. (40-50) and A.C. (60-70), were improved with 2.5 and 3.5% SBS polymer, respectively. Marshall properties were determined in this work. Optimum Asphalt Content (OAC) was 4.93 and 5.1% by weight of mixture for A.C. (40-50) and (60-70), respectively. Marshall properties results show an increasem

In this study, an experimental investigation had conducted for six high strength laced reinforced concrete one-way slabs to discover the behavior of laced structural members after being exposed to fire flame (high temperature). Self-compacted concrete (SCC) had used to achieve easy casting and high strength concrete. All the adopted specimens were identical in their compressive strength of ( , geometric layout 2000 750 150 mm and reinforcement specifics except those of lacing steel content, three ratios of laced steel reinforcement of (0.0021, 0.0040 and 0.0060) were adopted. Three specimens were fired with a steady state temperature of  for two hours duration and then after the specimens were cooled suddenly by spraying water. The

Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) can be incorporate as a one of the most important and progressive concrete technology. It is a special type of ultra-high strength concrete (UHSC) that’s exclude the coarse aggregate from its constitutive materials. In this research an experimental study had been carried out to investigate the effect of using three types of materials (porcelain aggregate) and others sustainable materials (glass waste and granular activated carbon) as a partial replacement of fine aggregate. Four percentages had considered (0, 10, 15 and 20) % to achieve better understanding for the influence of these materials upon the compressive strength of RPC. Four curing ages had included in this study, these are; 7, 28, 60 and

Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) can be incorporate as a one of the most important and progressive concrete technology. It is a special type of ultra-high strength concrete (UHSC) that’s exclude the coarse aggregate from its constitutive materials. In this research an experimental study had been carried out to investigate the effect of using three types of materials (porcelain aggregate) and others sustainable materials (glass waste and granular activated carbon) as a partial replacement of fine aggregate. Four percentages had considered (0, 10, 15 and 20) % to achieve better understanding for the influence of these materials upon the compressive strength of RPC. Four curing ages had included in this study, these are; 7, 28, 60 and

Secured multimedia data has grown in importance over the last few decades to safeguard multimedia content from unwanted users. Generally speaking, a number of methods have been employed to hide important visual data from eavesdroppers, one of which is chaotic encryption. This review article will examine chaotic encryption methods currently in use, highlighting their benefits and drawbacks in terms of their applicability for picture security.

This work studies the performance of zeolite permeable reactive barrier in removing cadmium from a contaminated shallow aquifer. Batch tests have been performed to characterize the equilibrium sorption properties of the zeolite in cadmium-containing aqueous solutions. A 1D numerical finite difference model has been developed to describe pollutant transport within groundwater taking pollutant sorption on the permeable reactive barrier (PRB), which is performed by Langmuir equation, into account. Numerical results show that the PRB starts to saturate after a period of time (~120 h) due to reduction of the retardation factor, indicating a decrease in the percentage of zeolite functionality. However, a reasonable agreement between model predict

Adsorption techniques are widely used to remove certain classes of pollutants from wastewater. Phenolic compounds represent one of the problematic groups. Na-Y zeolite has been synthesized from locally available Iraqi kaolin clay. Characterization of the prepared zeolite was made by XRD and surface area measurement using N2 adsorption. Both synthetic Na-Y zeolite and kaolin clay have been tested for adsorption of 4-Nitro-phenol in batch mode experiments. Maximum removal efficiencies of 90% and 80% were obtained using the prepared zeolite and kaolin clay, respectively. Kinetics and equilibrium adsorption isotherms were investigated. Investigations showed that both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms fit the experimental data quite well. On the

In this research, experimental and numerical studies were carried out to investigate the performance of encased glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) beams under fire. The test specimens were divided into two peer groups to be tested under the effect of ambient and elevated temperatures. The first group was statically tested to investigate the monotonic behavior of the specimens. The second group was exposed to fire loading first and then statically tested to explore the residual behavior of the burned specimens. Adding shear connectors and web stiffeners to the GFRP beam was the main parameter in this investigation. Moreover, service loads were applied to the tested beams during the fire. Utilizing shear connectors, web stiffeners,

The heat exchanger is a device used to transfer heat energy between two fluids, hot and cold. In this work, an output feedback adaptive sliding mode controller is designed to control the temperature of the outlet cold water for plate heat exchanger. The measurement of the outlet cold temperature is the only information required. Hence, a sliding mode differentiator was designed to estimate the time derivative of outlet hot water temperature, which it is needed for constructing a sliding variable. The discontinuous gain value of the sliding mode controller is adapted according to a certain adaptation law. Two constraints which imposed on the volumetric flow rate of outlet cold (control input) were considered within the rules of the proposed

In this work, an efficient energy management (EEM) approach is proposed to merge IoT technology to enhance electric smart meters by working together to satisfy the best result of the electricity customer's consumption. This proposed system is called an integrated Internet of things for electrical smart meter (2IOT-ESM) architecture. The electric smart meter (ESM) is the first and most important technique used to measure the active power, current, and energy consumption for the house’s loads. At the same time, the effectiveness of this work includes equipping ESM with an additional storage capacity that ensures that the measurements are not lost in the event of a failure or sudden outage in WiFi network. Then then these measurement

The city is a built-up urban space and multifunctional structures that ensure safety, health and the best shelter for humans. All its built structures had various urban roofs influenced by different climate circumstances. That creates peculiarities and changes within the urban local climate and an increase in the impact of urban heat islands (UHI) with wastage of energy. The research question is less information dealing with the renovation of existing urban roofs using color as a strategy to mitigate the impact of UHI. In order to achieve local urban sustainability; the research focused on solutions using different materials and treatments to reduce urban surface heating emissions. The results showed that the new and old technologies, produ

This investigation pertains to the evaluation of water quality in SAWA Lake, located in the Al-Muthanna province of Southern Iraq, from 1977 to 2020. Understanding the water quality and assessments of this Lake is of great importance. The Lake is home to small, transparent, blind fish measuring approximately 10 cm and is often referred to as the "wonderful" or "strange" Lake due to its many unique features. The study focuses on several elements to represent water quality, including total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and temperature (T), which were measured directly in the field. Additionally, scientific concepts such as K⁺, Ca²⁺, Cl^-, HCO