The Tigris River, a vital water resource for Iraq, faces significant challenges due to urbanization, agricultural runoff, industrial discharges, and climate change, leading to deteriorating water quality. Traditional methods for assessing irrigation water quality, such as laboratory testing and statistical modeling, are often insufficient for capturing dynamic and nonlinear relationships between parameters. This study proposes a novel application of the Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) to estimate the Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQI) along the Tigris River. Using data from multiple stations, the study evaluates spatial variability in water quality, focusing on key paramete
The enhancement of the thermal and thermo-hydraulic performance of a semi-circular solar air collector (SCSAC) is numerically investigated using porous semi-circular obstacles made of metal foam with and without longitudinal porous Y-shaped fins. Two 10 and 40 PPI porous material samples are examined. Three-dimensional models are built to simulate the performance of SCSAC: model (I) with clear air passage; model (II) with only metal foam obstacles, and model (III) with metal foam obstacles as well as porous Y-fins. COMSOL Multiphysics software version 6.2 based on finite element methodology is employed. A conjugate heat transfer with a (k-ε) turbulence model is selected to simulate both heat transfer and fluid flow across the entir
... Show MoreAccurate prediction of river water quality parameters is essential for environmental protection and sustainable agricultural resource management. This study presents a novel framework for estimating potential salinity in river water in arid and semi‐arid regions by integrating a kernel extreme learning machine (KELM) with a boosted salp swarm algorithm based on differential evolution (KELM‐BSSADE). A dataset of 336 samples, including bicarbonate, calcium, pH, total dissolved solids and sodium adsorption ratio, was collected from the Idenak station in Iran and was used for the modelling. Results demonstrated that KELM‐BSSADE outperformed models such as deep random vector funct
The investigation of earth dams under significant earthquake loads, such as catastrophic earthquakes, is a critical subject in dynamic evaluation. Damage mitigation and structural performance during an earthquake are crucial considerations for an earthen dam. However, Iraq and its neighbors have experienced frequent earthquake activity, including the 2017 Halabja Earthquake, which may have damaged some existing earth dams, posing a higher risk of severe earthquake-induced damage than a cyclic shock. Therefore, assessing the dam’s safety is crucial for protecting downstream communities and determining the best strategies to prevent slope stability failure in the face of frequent s
Static and dynamic circumstances confirm that seepage is water movement through the earth dam’s embankment’s voids from upstream to downstream. Seepage is a quantity of fluid that has seeped through the permeable material or as the infiltration downward and lateral movement of water into soil or substrata from a source of supply such as a reservoir of a dam. In case of an earthquake strikes saturated soils, the water-filled pore spaces collapse, reducing the soil’s overall volume. The water pressure between individual soil grains is increased as a result of this action, and the grains can then move freely in the watery matrix. This reduces the soil’s resistance to shear str
Earth dams in regions with moderate to high seismic activity are crucial for protecting downstream communities. Iraq and its neighboring areas have seen recurrent seismic activity, notably the 2017 Halabja Earthquake, which potentially compromised the integrity of the existing earth dam. The Darbandikhan Dam, affected by an earthquake, has inadequacies in its crest and downstream slope, presenting a greater danger of significant earthquake-induced damage compared to cyclic shocks. Consequently, evaluating the dam's safety is essential for safeguarding downstream residents and identifying optimal ways to avert slope stability failure amid recurrent seismic activity. Iraq's seismicity map is being updated to reflect earthquake magni
... Show MoreThe central marshes are one of the most important wetlands/ecosystems in the southern area of Iraq. This study evaluates the bed soil's mechanical, physical, and chemical properties at certain southern Iraqi central marshes sites. This was conducted to investigate their types and suitability for enhancing the agricultural reality of most field crops and for construction purposes. Soil samples were collected from 15 sites at 10-100 cm depth. Hence, numerous parameters were determined: index properties, unconfined compressive strength, direct shear strength, consolidation, texture, and sieve analysis, water content, specific gravity, dry density, permeability, pH, total soluble salts (TSS), organic materials (OM) and total sulfate con
... Show MoreThis study is planned with the aim of constructing models that can be used to forecast trip production in the Al-Karada region in Baghdad city incorporating the socioeconomic features, through the use of various statistical approaches to the modeling of trip generation, such as artificial neural network (ANN) and multiple linear regression (MLR). The research region was split into 11 zones to accomplish the study aim. Forms were issued based on the needed sample size of 1,170. Only 1,050 forms with responses were received, giving a response rate of 89.74% for the research region. The collected data were processed using the ANN technique in MATLAB v20. The same database was utilized to
Iron slag is a byproduct generated in huge quantities from recycled remnants of iron and steel factories; therefore, the possibility of using this waste in the removal of benzaldehyde from contaminated water offers an excellent topic in sustainability field. Results reveal that the removal efficiency was equal to 85% for the interaction of slag and water contaminated with benzaldehyde at the best operational conditions of 0.3 g/100 mL, 6, 180 min, and 250 rpm for the sorbent dosage, initial pH, agitation time, and speed, respectively with 300 mg/L initial concentration. The maximum uptake capacity of iron slag was 118.25 mg/g which was calculated by the Langmuir model. Physical sorption may be the major mechanism for the removal of
... Show MoreThis work presents an innovative approach to enhancing the performance of concrete with reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) aggregates using titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles. Traditional limestone coarse aggregates were partially replaced with 30% and 50% RAP aggregates; a subset of mixtures containing RAP aggregates was treated with TiO2 nanoparticles. The rheological, mechanical, and long-term properties of concrete, along with changes in its chemical composition following the addition of RAP and TiO2, were evaluated. Results revealed that using 30% and 50% RAP in concrete mixtures reduced their compressive strength by 18% and 27%, respectively. However, using TiO2 in those mixtures enhanced their compressive strength by 8.7% an
... Show MoreThis paper presents experimental investigations on buried Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) pipes with a diameter of 1400 mm. The tested pipes were buried in dense, gravelly sand and subjected to traffic loads to study the effects of backfill cover on pipe deflection. The experimental program included tests on three GRP pipes with backfill covers of 100 cm, 75 cm, and 50 cm. The maximum traffic loads applied to the pipe–soil system corresponded to Iraqi Truck Type 3 (AASHTO H type). Vertical deflections of the pipes were monitored during the application of these loads. The experimental results showed that, as the backfill cover increased, the maximum vertical deflection of the pipe decreased. Deflection reductions were 38.0% and 33.3
... Show MoreOne of the most effective systems for managing water is subsurface trickle irrigation. Finding empirical formulas and studying the effect of soil texture are the main purposes of this paper. In order to reach an ideal irrigation system as a modern technique to save water, especially in arid regions, soil textures of loam, silt, and silt loam were studied on a subsurface trickle irrigation system by utilizing HYDRUS/2D. The trickle system is usually operated at low pressure, in this paper the used pressure is 30 cm with an emitter buried at 10, 15, and 20 cm at different diameters. Patterns of wetting fronts in both directions at various times depending on soil texture are gathered to
This work concentrates on the effect of a flex-skin trailing edge flap on the aerodynamic characteristics of SD7037 airfoil at low Reynolds numbers, in the range of 2^10 to 5^10 using computational methods. The study used a range of angle of attack (AOA) associated with the take-off phase and different flap angles. The numerical model was set up in Siemens STAR-CCM+ package using the κ-ω shear stress transport turbulence model and the (γ-Reθ) transition model which ensured the approximate solution of Navier-Stokes equations. The verification of the computational solution was done by the comparison with the available experimental data of the plain flap, and it was discovered that the results matched pretty well at lower AoAs. Results in
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