bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Solid Biomass Fuel for Some Iraqi Agricultural Wastes Using Proximate and Ultimate Analyses
Authors: Alhwayzee Mohammed H , Imran Amer Matrood , Nassrullah Karrar S
Published: January 2020

In this study, the characterizations of some Iraqi biomass agricultural residues have been investigated utilizing proximate, ultimate and caloric value analyses. This provides a preliminary evaluation for these types of solid biomass in terms of their potential for use directly or indirectly as fuels, especially for thermo-chemical processes such as combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis processes. For this work, five different types of Iraqi agricultural waste materials, namely Dodona trees, kernels of dates, corn silk-husk, sunflower seed husks, and reeds were studied. These materials are abundant wastes in Iraq, especially in the central and southern regions. The proximate analysis of moisture content, volatile matters, ash content, and fixed carbon tests were experimentally conducted for those five biomass materials, according to the British Standards Institution. In contrast, ultimate analysis was primarily represented by elements analysis. Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), Oxygen (O), Nitrogen (N), and Sulfur (S) were calculated theoretically using highly accurate correlations. These correlations depended mainly on proximate analysis element results. A similar procedure of calculations was followed for the caloric value estimation. The results of this study show that for moisture content, Dodona tree and reed stalks have highest percentage. whilst the other biomass materials fall within the typical standard analysis 6–10 %. A good result was obtained for ash content. It shows a low weight percentage, which ranged from 0.77 to 3.5%. Given a high percentage of volatile matters for all materials except Dodona tree, these materials can be considered have high reactivity. The results for the important characteristic, higher heating values (HHV) for all biomass materials, were located in a typical range, 16–20 MJ/kg. In general, the results show that most of these interesting biomass materials have positive potential for fuel energy utilization.
Investigating New Thermal Insulators Based on Cheap Natural Organic and Waste Materials: Part 1
Authors: Alhabeeb Baqer A , Mohammed Hayder N
Published: January 2020

Thermal insulation is a very important way to save energy in buildings or any other thermal application. For buildings, thermal insulation minimizes the heat transfer rate between a conditioning zone and its surroundings. For thermal applications, such as thermal storage tanks, it keeps heat or cold stored for later use. The current study is part of a project investigating thermal insulators made from cheap natural, organic and waste materials. The thermal conductivity of six different specimens of thermal insulator, made from used water cotton filter, chicken feather, walnut shell, sunflower seed husk, sawdust and ash, was measured experimentally. Industrial white glue was used as a binder to prepare the specimens. The sawdust and ash, of which the thermal conductivities are known, were chosen to validate the geometry of the specimens as well as the measurements of the testing device. The results showed that all types provide good thermal resistance performance. In particular, the insulator made from used water cotton filter was the best. It provided 0.0277 W/m k, which is a very practical value of the thermal conductivity in thermal insulation applications. This study will contribute significantly to sustainability by recycling wastes or using abundant natural and cheap materials in thermal insulators.
Investigation of Material Properties Effect on the Ovalization Phenomenon in the Tube Bending Produced by RDB
Authors: Hassan Hassan Raheem , Abdulgaffar S. M. , Mohsen Kadim Karim , Egab Karim
Published: January 2020

Rotating draw twisting (RDB) is among the best-known techniques utilized for cylinder shaping. Twisting profiles are utilized in most mechanical fields, including car design, aeronautic design, plant building, fluid transport, heat exchangers and many other sectors. Ovalization affects the nature of cylinder bowing. It occurs in the cross segment of the cylinder in the wake of bowing when the cylinder has twisted without a mandrel, or with a change of mandrel structure. This paper examines the ovalization phenomenon in cylinder bowing with turning draw twisting procedure and utilizing distinctive material properties (types of material: 1.4301(2x40), 1.0036(2x40), 6060T7(2.5x40), 1.4301(4x40), 1.0038(4x40), 1.5415(7.1x51) and 1.7380(7.1x51)). The finite element method (FEM) and experimental tests are applied to compute the ovalization proportions. This investigation helps to distinguish the impact of the material properties.
Experimental study of a PCM storage system integrated with a thermal solar collector
Authors: Shareef A S , Al-Mousawi F. N. , Sachit H. S.
Published: January 2020

Recently, phase change materials (PCM) have become widely used in thermal storage systems for both industrial and domestic applications. These materials have good thermal properties, like thermal capacity and phase change temperature, however low thermal conductivity and high viscosity limits their heat transfer coefficient. This paper experimentally investigates the execution of a water-PCM storage system integrated with a flat plate solar collector. Paraffin wax is used as the PCM material and is packed in small cylindrical aluminum containers and accommodated in a hot water tank. In this study, an experimental test facility was designed and built and experiments were carried out in the City of Kerbala in Iraq. The study includes two different heat source types, namely a flat-plate solar collector and an electrical heater element. Experimental results show that the proposed configuration with the PCM material can produce hot water with up to 9.5 °C higher than that of the basic warm water storage system. In the case of the flat plate solar collector, the water remained hot, at about 28.5 °C more than the surrounding temperature during the solar system tests. This study highlights the potential of using PCM materials in heat storage systems and thermal solar energy.
Improving combustion chamber heat transfer correlation of an HCCI engine in order to achieve a more accurate thermodynamic model
Authors: Qasemian A , Rezaei M
Published: January 2020

An appropriate heat transfer rate prediction for an internal combustion engine is important from many perspectives. This study investigates the appropriate coefficients of heat transfer correlation and provides a new method for calculating the convective heat transfer coefficient of combustion chamber walls of an HCCI engine. Therefore, a thermodynamic code including the combustion and heat transfer processes, which are coupled with an optimization algorithm, is used to estimate P-θ behavior of an HCCI engine. Double-Wiebe function and Woschni correlations are applied for combustion and heat transfer respectively in a single-zone model. The results show that the use of heat transfer correlation without improvement in coefficients and exponents for different engines, leads to significant errors in the prediction of in-cylinder pressure. Comparison of computational results with the experimental data shows that original Woschni correlation in the single-zone model cannot predict in-cylinder pressure appropriately. Modifications made in this paper resulted in a change of more than 40% in some coefficients of the existing heat transfer correlation, to provide accurate prediction of the engine thermodynamic behavior of an HCCI engine.
Experimental Investigation of Heat Transfer and Flow Characteristics in Different Inlet Subcooled Flow Boiling in Microchannel
Authors: Mohammed Suha A. , Fayyadh Ekhlas M.
Published: January 2020

The current experimental study considered the heat transfer and pressure drop for subcooled flow boiling of deionized water in a microchannel heat sink. The heat sink consisted of a single microchannel, 300μm wide and 300μm in height with a hydraulic diameter of 300μm. The heat sink was formed of oxygen-free cooper with 72mm length and 12mm width. Experimental operation conditions spanned the heat flux 78-800 kW/m2, mass flux 1700 and 2100kg/m2.s and at 21, 31 K subcooled inlet temperature. Boiling heat transfer coefficient was measured and compared with existing correlations. Also, the experimental pressure drop was measured and compared with micro scale pressure drop correlations. The results show that higher mass flux leads to a higher boiling heat transfer coefficient and the dominant mechanism is convective boiling. Also, the experimental pressure drop decreases with increasing heat flux in a single phase region, while it increases in a two-phase region. The heat transfer coefficient increase with increasing the inlet subcooled. When compared the experimental results in the experimental condition range, it was found that an existing correlation provides satisfactory prediction of heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop.
Mechanical behavior of friction stir welded high-density polyethylene sheets
Authors: Abdulkadhum Hazim H. , Abdul-Khider Sajed , Hamza Sanaa A.
Published: January 2020

In the present work, sheets of high-density polyethylene, reinforced with strips of polypropylene using a friction stir welding technique were executed. Welding was carried out using a friction stir welding tool of 20 mm shoulder diameter and 5 mm for both pin diameter and pin length with zero tilt angle, the percentages of polypropylene added to the welding zone were 15, 20, 25, 30% (as a percentage of the added polypropylene to the welding zone), the recommended high tool rotation speed and low tool travel speed (520 rpm, 20 mm/min, respectively) were applied in all tests, the plunge depth was 0.5 mm (the penetration depth of tool shoulder from workpiece surface), dwell time at the event of submerging the pin into the faying surfaces and before initiating the tool travel speed was 45 seconds. Mechanical tests, represented by flexural and impact tests, exhibited an improvement in the mechanical properties of the welded specimens for the case of 25% added polypropylene. Friction stir welding has extraordinary potential to create imperfection-free joints and to initiate a high-quality weldment of high-density polyethylene sheets reinforced by polypropylene strips.
Compression and Creep Indices of Organic Clayey Soil
Authors: Hameedi Mudhafar K. , Al Omari Raid R. , Fattah Mohammed Y.
Published: January 2020

For construction of structures on soft clay layers, engineers must have to consider the consolidation behaviours of such soil. Due to the viscosity of clayey soils, their organic content strongly influences on consolidation behaviours as well effecting on vertical stress. Laboratory studies on soft soil have offered better understanding and thus better prognosis of these behaviour, and several related tests are performed and presented in this research. Two odometer tests were done, the first being a conventional odometer test for three soil types to find their compressibility parameters, while the second consisted of a series of long term odometer tests to find the creep coefficient for each type of soil. Seven incremental consolidation pressures were applied to each soil sample with different organic content (25 kPa, 50 kPa, 100 kPa, 200 kPa, 400 kPa, 800 kPa and 1600 kPa). A detailed study of the results obtained from this incremental loading was then undertaken. From the consolidation test, the values of different parameters such as the compression index (Cc) and secondary compression index (Cα) were obtained, and it was found that Cc and Cα values increased with increased organic content in the soil. The study also found that, generally, Cα decreases with incremental loading.
Speed Control of a Wheelchair Prototype Driven by a DC Motor Through Real EEG Brain Signals
Authors: Fadheel Bashar Abbas , Mahdi Ali Jafer , Jaafar Hussain Fadhel , Nazir Muhammad Shahzad , Obaid Muntaha Sattar , Musa Sarah Hussein
Published: January 2020

For some disabled people, Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are used to interpret brain thinking to drive machines by creating interface between the human brain and such machines. EEG signals are naturally varied due to human thinking process, and can be manipulated to drive a wheelchair based DC motors in real-time without any muscular efforts. In this paper, EEG signals are used to control DC motors using a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) that includes an EEG sensor headset to capture brain signals. The extracted EEG signals are considered as reference signals and transmitted to a microcontroller via Bluetooth. An intelligent wheelchair (IW) with an EEG sensors is connected to an Arduino, that drives two DC motors, to control movement references to the specific EEG signals. For the proposed IW based EEG, life cycle cost (LCC), over 5 year lifetime, is about 2674$ compared with a manufactured passive wheelchair, which its LCC is 3957$. The experimental tests suggest that the proposed design of IW is efficient and low cost as well as allowing disabled people to more easily control their wheelchairs and to lead independent lives.
The effect of magnetic field direction on thermoelectric and thermomagnetic coefficients of undoped single crystalline InSb at room temperature
Authors: Al-Baghdadi M , Kheralla Al-Kadumi A , Altayyar I K , Anayi K F , Min G
Published: January 2020

Thermoelectric and thermomagnetic coefficients were calculated for n-type undoped InSb single crystals through a temperature range from 10°C up to 80°C and magnetic fields from -0.6T to 0.6T. The thermoelectric Seebeck coefficient varied only with the temperature gradient, while the thermomagnetic Nernst coefficient varied with both the temperature gradient and the magnetic field. This paper also investigated the effects of the incident angle of magnetic field on the InSb sample surface with regard to the values of thermoelectric and thermomagnetic coefficients; the results showed that thermoelectric and thermomagnetic coefficients were independent of magnetic field direction.
Characteristics of Earth Electrodes Under High Frequency Conditions: Numerical Modelling
Authors: Hasan H A , Hameed S M
Published: January 2020

The earthing segments of electrical power systems play an important role in ensuring human safety. A core function of these earthing systems is to maintain reliable operation and ensure safety for personnel and apparatus during fault conditions. Earthing electrodes can be buried in the soil to dissipate lightning and fault currents into the earth and limit the effect of any magnitude of voltage and current generated between different contact points to earth structures that may be occupied by people or sensitive electrical equipment. In order to obtain the best design of an electrical system to protect power system installations and ensure human safety against abnormal conditions, it is useful to clarify the behaviour of earthing systems subjected to variable frequency currents. In this paper, a numerical study is thus implemented to investigate the behaviour of earthing electrodes subjected to variable frequency current using the computational software program HIFREQ/FFTSESCDEGS with a uniform equivalent soil model. The effect of soil resistivity and permittivity on the behaviour of earthing electrodes is thus obtained, and the relationship between the length of earthing electrodes and their earthing responses over a wide range of frequencies from DC up to 1MHz is identified.
Modelling of Mobile Electromagnetics Wave Effects on the Human Head
Authors: Swadi Husham L. , Abduljabar Ali A.
Published: January 2020

The effects on the heads of human of the electromagnetic waves produced by mobile antenna are presented in this paper. The interactions between electromagnetic energy and the human head are modelled using a COMSOL simulation and the distributions of the produced electric field and resultant temperature inside the human head are obtained. A planar Inverted-F antenna (PIFA) was adopted in this modelling. Three levels of transmitted power (0.6, 1, and 1.5 Watt) were applied in the simulation to determine any increases in temperature in the brain due to microwave radiation from the mobile antenna.
A Wrapper-based Feature Selection Approach for Accurate Fault Detection of Rotating Diode Rectifiers in Brushless Synchronous Generators
Authors: Mohammad-Alikhani A , Vahedi A , Rahnama M , Barzegari Bafghi M H
Published: January 2020

Fast and accurate fault detection is a vital issue for all engineering systems, especially for those which generate power for sensitive applications. To achieve rapid and accurate fault detection, an appropriate signal must be measured and the best features of that signal should be extracted. In this paper, an approach is proposed to detect the healthy and faulty states of a rotating diode rectifier in a brushless synchronous generator by using three-phase terminal voltage. There is not any direct access to the rectifier, and therefore, fault detection must be performed using signals from the machine itself. In order to extract the correct voltage signal, fast Fourier analysis is performed on the signal, and to select the best frequency to reduce redundancy and increase classification accuracy, a wrapper-based feature selection approach is utilised. In this approach, the best frequency is selected from among the frequencies generated according to the accuracy of the classifier, a Support Vector Machine (SVM). The other frequencies are then added one by one according to their accuracy in each step, and the best subset, that is, the one with the best accuracy for the classifier, is selected. The proposed approach is then evaluated using experimental data.
Design and Implementation of a Smart Baby Crib
Authors: Shahadi H I , Muhsen D H , Haider H T , Taherinia A H
Published: January 2020

Many people are so busy that they face additional difficulties with everyday life. Parents in particular may have many responsibilities, yet babies and infants continue to need special care. This paper proposes a smart baby crib to help both parents and baby in several ways by providing numerous services in two modes, manual and automatic. In manual mode, the user can control the crib’s swing and start music playing wirelessly using an application installed on a smart phone. In automatic mode, the crib starts swinging automatically when the baby cries, and swings continuously until the baby stops crying alongside playing music to make a baby be quit and sleep. In addition, if the motion and music do not calm the baby, the crib messages the designated parent’s mobile phone using Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) technology to seek immediate attendance. The system is implemented using a microcontroller, a D.C motor, a sound transducer, an h-bridge, and a rechargeable battery, and this has been tested in real time environments. Experimental results show its efficiency and simplicity.
Cross Dipole Antenna Based Glass Substrate for Ambient Energy Harvesting
Authors: Kod Muayad S , AlSalim Ali M , Farhan Hameed R , Kamarudin Saidatul Izyanie
Published: January 2020

In this paper, a crossed dipole antenna based on Pyrex Glass substrate is proposed for dual bands, GSM 900 MHz and Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz. Each dipole is placed on a side of the substrate with the antennas oriented perpendicular to each other. Both antennas participate in an omnidirectional radiation pattern in perpendicular planes to form a radiation pattern similar to the isotropic. The realised gain for each dipole and the total radiation efficiency are 1.46 dB and 88% respectively. The glass substrate provides a reduction in the antenna size of about 36% compared with typical individual elements in free space.
Continuous online task planning and plan acting in a deterministic robot environment
Authors: Al-Moadhen Ahmed A , Khayeat Ali R , AlMayli Maysam J
Published: January 2020

In a deterministic environment, continuity in planning robot tasks and acting upon the generated plans is essential. This aspect does not commit the planner to generate all the required actions in advance, however; instead, the robot planner can generate the necessary abstract actions, then make the actor responsible for refining these actions into commands. Such commands are executed directly by the robot platform. In this paper, the planning and acting framework, known as RosPlanAct, is modified by including a temporal model that deals with the time interval for each action in the plan. Thus, a chronicle is associated with the abstract actions during the planning phase to act as a base for refining these actions into more detailed activities. The extended framework also has the ability to postpone the execution of any action that requires more details and to activate the monitoring function to compare what was observed with predicted results. This framework was tested in simulation and in real environments. The simulation environment was ROS, with a smart robot car used as a real testing environment. The results showed high performance in accomplishing the specified tasks with an increasing rate of success in executing the actions in the determined period of time and a low rate of failed execution. Throughout this paper, the actor was supported by being given the ability to avoid failure by online interactions between planning and acting sections in order to trigger the executing platform to perform the given task in a deterministic environment. The robot can thus refine the actions in the plan, re-planning as required in order to handle events arising.
Control and traffic signal warrant assessment of intersection sites
Authors: Imran Muneeb Salam , Ewadh Hussein Ali
Published: January 2020

Frequent evaluations are required to upgrade mobility and safety at intersections. This thus paper proposes a typical scenario to identify suitable controls for installing appropriate traffic signals.

Five individual intersections were studied within the Babylon province, of Iraq, and graphical methods were used to identify suitable controls. Three graphs were adopted based on recommendations from the Institute of Highway Transportation (IHT), Department of Transportation (DoT) and the Iraqi Highway Design Manual (SORB). In addition, warrants for traffic signal installation according to the Manual Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) regulations were checked with HCS 2010 software.

According to IHT recommendations, three of the five intersections should be of a priority type and the others should take on a grade separation and a roundabout or a similar signal type. According to DoT, three of five intersections should be roundabouts and the rest Ghost Islands. The SORB recommends that all intersections should be controlled or altered to interchanges. Optimisation of suitable controls for each site should thus take all three methods into account in view of restrictions on area and budget. According to MUTCD, all of the intersections justify the installation of traffic signals, though further evaluation complementary to the proposed scenario would be useful.
Biomechanical study with kinematic and kinetic descriptions of the effect of high-heeled shoes in healthy adult females based on gait analysis
Authors: Hamandi Sadiq J. , Ruken Duaa M.
Published: January 2020

Many women remain unaware of the negative effect of high-heeled shoes and the damage and significant changes they can cause in the human body. Studying the effect of high heels during walking shows biomechanical changes in the person wearing the shoes based on their influence on ankle joints, foot pressure distribution, and muscle activity, and changes in Ground Reaction Forces. This study examined the effects of high heels and smooth-soled court shoes using gait analysis. Experiments were conducted on five healthy volunteers, who were all young women without known diseases or muscle or bone injuries; most were also accustomed to wearing high heels on a daily basis. The volunteers’ average age was 22.4 years, the average height 160 cm, and the average weight 59.8 kg. Three types of high heels were used; each volunteer was thus required to walk barefoot, with 1 cm heels, 5 cm heels, and with 7cm heels.

The result showed that the step length and ankle joint angle decreased as the heel height increased, causing the speed of gait to become slower and the cadence to increase, thus increasing vertical ground reaction force and the moment of the knee joint. Women should be advised not to wear shows with heel heights greater than 5 cm to reduce the injury risk and preserve comfort.
Design of an Intelligent Controller for Myoelectric Prostheses based on Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network
Authors: Raheema M N , Hussain J S , Al-Khazzar A M
Published: January 2020

Myoelectric prostheses have been researched widely, and some cases have been implemented to be used by amputees in real life. However, natural control of an active prothesis remains a challenge. This work presents an exploration of an intelligent controller for upper prostheses based on myoelectric signals. A simple intelligent classifier for a small control system is designed and incorporated into a hand prosthesis to be used by the amputees in Iraq and similar developing countries. To achieve this, a Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Networks (MLPNN) classification system is developed. The proposed system uses pattern recognition based on features extracted from eight raw EMG signals collected using a Myo armband. Five different classes of hand gestures are recognised. The system also applies remove silence process and overlapped segmentation to the collected EMG data. Continuous real values that represent class types are sent to the controller to move the prosthesis. This work shows that, by adding appropriate pre-processing, a considerable increase in the accuracy of the proposed MLP classifier can be obtained. The required hardware circuits were assembled and software scripts written to implement the intelligent myoelectric hand prosthesis.
Stress and strain analysis of a new design of cervical intervertebral disc under daily activity
Authors: Asaad Mustafa , Abdul-Sahib Nabeel , Rasheed Mahmood
Published: January 2020

Neck pain one of the most common diseases, with intervertebral disc degeneration being one of the main reasons for such pain. As part of developing of a surgical procedure for intervertebral disc replacement (artificial intervertebral disc), a new design of intervertebral disc (cervical vertebra) was created using biomedical steel L 316, for the part fixed on the intervertebral disc, and polyethylene as the intermediate part between the two metals, which also biomedical material. This is designed to absorb and redistribute heavy loads from the vertebrae in a more equal way to reduce pressure; the symmetrical design offers many benefits where the intervertebral replacement is installed in an appropriate manner. Taking into account the different circumstances of surgery, three types of load were considered: the first was compressive, the condition when the neck is at rest and load is completely vertical without any moment; the second was extension, as the head moves upward and force and moment is applied; and the third was flexion, when the head moves downward and opposing force and moment is applied. By using Ansys 18.2, both stress and strain on the artificial intervertebral components were assessed, which showed that, under movement, the stress was much larger than when at rest due to the inflecting of moment on the artificial intervertebral disc. The soft polyethylene section suffered some degeneration and damage; however, the rounded shape of the parts allowed the load to be distributed more regularly, and the maximum value of the stress was seen at flexion at 256 mpa, as compared to 42 and 152 mpa for compression and extension, respectively. The maximum value of the strain at flexion was 0.076 as compared to 0.0689 and 0.00619 for compression and extension, respectively. Comparison between the new design and the currently used ProDisc implant showed that the strain on the former was lower, but that the stress in extension and flexion was higher.
The effects of changing coil radius and tube diameter in the simulation of oil-water separation in a coil tube separator.
Authors: Al-Musawi S , Adnan M S , Bded A S , Jaber H , rashidi f
Published: January 2020

Separating oil and water is a frequent task in the oil and gas industry, and new methods and devices are constantly being designed to accomplish this more effectively. One of the most prevalent devices used is the coil tube separator, in which the separation process takes place between the two-phase fluids, each with its own density, utilising eccentricity acceleration and gravity. In this paper, a numerical simulator based on fluid dynamics calculations is used to survey and study the coil tube separator, modelling the two-phase flow using fluent software based on the Eulerian-Eulerian method. The subject variables such as tube diameter and radius of regression are taken as a focus in order to optimise the device’s efficiency and function. For such optimisation, two targets were taken into consideration. The first is pressure flow drop and the second is rate of separation. To attain maximum performance, the pressure drop in this device should be low, while a high rate of separation is required. The research results showed that every variable has an optimum value: from this work, a tube with a 50 mm diameter and a coil with a 500 mm radius are defined as the most appropriate and optimum options.
Experimental Investigation: the optimum asphalt content and grading for PFC mixtures using local materials
Authors: Abbood Abdul-Kareem N. , Alfatlawi Thair J M , Hussein Safa A.
Published: January 2020

Permeable pavement is widely used to improve the water circulation systems in urban areas. The advantages of using permeable pavement include the storage of rainwater, reduction of runoff, out-flow delay and reduction of peak discharge. Permeable friction course (PFC) is mixed as a thin surface layer of asphalt pavement in order to achieve environmental and safety benefits. This mixture creates a surface course of a permeable compacted mix of aggregates, consisting of sand, binder, and asphalt, that is blended hot in the mixing stage. The aim of this research is to determine the best characteristics of such permeable mixtures. In this study, three aggregate distributions of minimum, medium, and maximum specifications are utilised to select the best proportions of asphalt cement for a porous asphalt surface. The results show that the medium gradation meets the requirements and can thus be considered the best gradient. The optimal binder content is found to be 6.3% for permeable asphalt mixtures
A Study of The Effect of Loaded Pile Groups on Neighboring Fuel Storage Tanks
Authors: Hasan Abdulameer Qasim , Qasim Rafi. M.
Published: January 2020

This work examines the interaction between two neighbouring structures, a fuel storage tank and a nearby pile group when the pile group is placed under static loads with different loading conditions related to the tank status (empty, half full, and full). Due to the role of soil in transferring load between embedded neighbouring structures, this study deals with soil-structure interaction by assuming that the soil displays nonlinear behaviour. The major factors which play a significant role in the response of the fuel storage tank were thus considered; these factors were defined as the maximum bending moment along the tank wall, the maximum shear force along the tank wall, the hoop stress in all rings of the tank, the maximum pressure distribution along the tank wall, and the maximum lateral displacement along the tank wall. The influence of the distance between these structures on bending moment, shear force, and hoop stresses in the fuel storage tank were also studied. The results suggest that the case of a full liquid storage tank represents a critical state that must be considered when assessing the structural behaviour of the storage tank.
Reduced Permanent Deformation of Asphalt Pavement by Enhancing Aggregate Gradation
Authors: Abedali Abdulhaq Hadi , Jebur Yasir Mohammed
Published: January 2020

Permanent deformation (rutting Phenomena) of asphalt mixes is considered as one of the major forms of distress that affects the performance of flexible pavement structures. Many factors can cause permanent deformation to occur in asphalt mixtures, but aggregate gradation is one of the key factors responsible for this deterioration.

In this study, aggregate structure was designed using the Bailey method. Eight aggregate gradations were used to analyze their effect on rutting resistance of asphalt mixtures. Three additional mixes were then designed using Styrene Butadiene Styrene (SBS) as a modifier to improve the rutting resistance. Three percentages of SBS, namely (2 %, 4 % and 6 %) by weight of asphalt cement, were mixed for 60 min at a temperature of 180°C using a shear mixer with a rotation speed of 3000 rpm.

The asphalt mixtures were subjected to rutting test using a wheel tracking device at an air void level of 4% corresponding to optimum asphalt content. The results showed that the Bailey method maintained good resistance to permanent deformation as compared to conventional mixes. Overall, mixes with coarser gradation (Bailey Parameter, CACUW, greater than 95 %) and 4% SBS modified asphalt produced more resistance to rutting.
Structural Behaviour of Slender PVC Composite Columns Filled with Concrete
Authors: Raheemah Murtaza Allawi , Resan Sa’ad Fahad
Published: January 2020

In this study, the performance of slender PVC-concrete columns was investigated using variables including concrete filling compressive strength, column slenderness ratio, and PVC section compactness ratio. The specimens were subjected to uniaxial compression in two loading modes; in the first mode, a PVC tube was utilised to enhance the concrete core as a composite element, and in the second mode, a PVC tube was utilised to confine the concrete core only. Nine PVC-concrete sections with different polyvinyl chloride tube characteristics and different filled concrete compressive strengths were considered in several fabricated slender PVC-concrete columns. The column lengths were varied so that overall column buckling could be investigated. The results showed that the composite mode columns exhibited more strength improvement than those in confined mode. Experimentally predicated effective flexural stiffness was thus normalised in terms of filling concrete stiffness and PVC tube stiffness, and the normalised results indicated that effective flexural stiffness depends on the mode (confining or composite), PVC and filling concrete strength, and column slenderness ratio.
Numerical Analysis of Under-Reamed Pile Subjected to Dynamic Loading in Sandy Soil
Authors: Jebur M M , Ahmed M D , Karkush M O
Published: January 2020

Under-reamed piles are piles with enlarged bases, which may be single bulb or multi bulbs. Such piles are suitable for resisting considerable soil movement of filed up ground, soft clay, and loose sand and have the advantages of increasing the soil strength and decreasing the displacement. In the present study, the finite element method was used to analyse the performance of a single pile with under-reamed bulbs of different shapes, that is, single cone, double cone, and half and full sphere, embedded in homogeneous, poorly graded sandy soil. The model of under-reamed pile was made of reinforced concrete and the bulb located at the middle of the embedded length of the pile. The dynamic load applied on the piles is a vertical harmonic load produced from the vibration of machine fixed on the pile cap and the results analysed using PLAXIS 3D software. The Moher-Coulomb model was used to simulate the behaviour of the soil and the linear elastic model was used for simulating the behaviour of the pile material. The load-settlement curve was obtained from the analysis of different patterns of the under-reamed pile, and the results showed a reduction in the settlement by 1,670% when using a single cone. The single cone gives the best results in comparison with other shapes of under-reamed bulbs.
Effects of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) and aggregate gradation on permanent deformation of asphalt concrete pavement
Authors: Ezzat Estabraq N. , Abed Alaa H.
Published: January 2020

Rutting, stripping and fatigue represent serious distresses which lead to complete failure of the pavement. These distresses could minimize the performance of asphalt pavements. In Iraq, under the influence of repeated vehicle loading, high temperature at summer days and water damage, specific requirements are needed to control the quality of highway materials especially asphalt binder since some of the distresses are related with asphalt binder and can be controlled by modifying asphalt with several modifiers in order to increase the durability of the pavement and to reduce the effect of rutting and moisture damage. The main objective of this research is to study the effects of using hybrid elastomer and plastomer polymers modifiers and aggregate gradation on the asphalt mixture resistance to rutting. In this study, different types and concentration of polymers are used. 1% and 3% of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) were added for both control asphalt binder and asphalt modified with 3% Styrene Butadiene Styrene (SBS). To evaluate rutting depth, roller compactor and wheel-track devices test were used in this paper.
Non-parametric Multi-criteria Optimisation of Park and Ride Facility Locations
Authors: Alghazali Huda , Attya Hussein , Al-Busaltan Shakir
Published: January 2020

A significant increase in car ownership has been recognised as one of the main reasons for traffic congestion, especially in city centres. Park-and-ride (P&R) facilities are often included as parts of a multimode transportation strategy, featuring car parks where users can switch to public transportation to carry on their journeys; they have thus long been used as an effective solution to mitigating congestion issues without affecting traffic demand. Feasible locations of park-and-ride facilities are thus of crucial importance not only for users, but also local authorities and the environment. Many factors of different importance affect the optimal locations of P&R facilities, which further complicates the process of decision making. In order to systemise the process of criteria weighting, a non-parametric approach is thus used in this paper to test three key aspects of the P&R facility localisation process. These are user coverage, accessibility from major roads, and area availability. An Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to develop a resilient weighting system that can be updated for each case, and the case study used in this research is the Iraqi city of Kerbala. The results show that that the AHP method is a powerful technique for evaluating and comparing the influence of multiple factors on each other and on the final outcome. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings, practical implications, research limitations and future research directions.
Prediction of plywood deformation under the impact of windborne debris using Taguchi method
Authors: Al-Kubaisi O , Mohotti D , Al-Qassag O
Published: January 2020

Windstorms and tornados can cause severe damages to different structure types regardless the materials they have been made of. These damages are caused both by the extreme wind velocity and any flying debris within the wind field. Windborne debris is classified based on shape and aerodynamical properties into three types: compact, rod, and plate-like debris. According to both American and Australian Standards, the performance of any structural element is to be tested under the impact of rod-like debris. Plywood is used globally to create both structural and non-structural elements such as doors and window shutters, and thus, in this study, a numerical simulation of rod-like debris was conducted using LS-DYNA to study the effect of debris impact velocity on the deformation of a plywood plate. In this way, the effect of the plate thickness and modulus of elasticity on the deformation were also investigated. Taguchi Method was adopted to make the simulation more robust and reduce the required computational time and costs. The results showed that as the debris impact velocity increased, both the deformation of the plywood plate at penetration and the residual kinetic energy of the debris increased. However, for the same plate thickness and debris impact velocity, as the modulus of elasticity increased, the deformation of the plate at the point of penetration decreased.
Improving Asphalt Binder Properties Using Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate and Natural Liquid Rubber
Authors: Ashour A S , Kareem M M , Al-Baiati Mohammad N
Published: January 2020

This paper investigates adding two types of polymer to asphalt binder in different proportions to demonstrate the effect of their mechanical properties on the asphalt. A 10% addition of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is used in this research with different percentages of liquid natural rubber (LNR at 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%). The natural rubber chemically is heated to increase the surface area to achieve the best penetration and to overcome phase separation issues caused by the difference in the densities of the rubber and asphalt. The asphalt tests showed improvement in the structures and viscosity, with a reduced softening point and improvements in temperature susceptibility with increases in the natural rubber ratio. The FTIR spectroscopy confirmed that the asphalt modification is a physical process, and other tests showed an increase in the asphalt binder resistance at low temperatures.
A Study of Pedestrian Traffic Safety at Three-leg Unsignalized Intersections
Authors: Neham Sahar S.
Published: January 2020

The damage caused by vehicle-pedestrian traffic accidents is no less than that caused by vehicle-vehicle traffic accidents in terms of the health, economic, psychological, and social effects on both individuals and the community, especially in urban areas. However, poor reporting of pedestrian crashes causing injury and fatality to traffic officials has created a loss of authenticity in the data on pedestrian traffic accidents, thus necessitating study of the causes of these incidents to help inform developments in pedestrian traffic safety. This research uses a sustainable strategy to examine traffic conflicts or “near-crash” scenarios to study pedestrian traffic safety rather than waiting for traffic accidents to happen. Data on six types of pedestrian traffic conflict were collected at selected sites in Baghdad, Karbala, and Babylon based on a case study of three-legs unsignalized intersections. The results showed that the third type of pedestrian traffic conflict (PC3) was the most dangerous in terms of the value of Severity Rate, particularly in approach No.16 in the city of Karbala. The developed models also showed that exponential relationships offer explanations of the relationships between hourly pedestrian traffic conflict/approaches and pedestrian delays or conflict, with the coefficient of determination for these ranging between 0.7133 and 0.8966.
Using Internal Framed Steel Stiffening Ribs as an Alternative Technique for Torsional Strengthening of RC Box Beams
Authors: Muhammed Sabah H. , Aziz Ali Hameed
Published: January 2020

There is little research on internal torsional strengthening of box beams. This study uses internal framed steel stiffening ribs (FSSRs) as an alternative technique for torsional strengthening of reinforced self-compacting concrete (SCC) box beams. These FSSRs have been fabricated to a square shape of size equal to the internal dimensions of the box beam specimens, specified cross-section, and shear connectors on four sides. Four specimens of reinforced SCC were tested up to failure under the effect of pure torsion; one was a reference specimen without strengthening (designated as 1NR) and the other three (designated as 2N1OF, 3N3OF, and 4N5OF) were strengthened with one, three, and five FSSRs, respectively. Specimens had dimensions of 2100×300×300 mm for length (L), width (W), and height (H), respectively. The effect of FSSRs, and their number, on torsional capacity were studied, as was the application of torque-angle of twist relation at end, quarter and mid span. Results show that the ultimate torsional strength capacity is increased significantly by 32.7 %, 59.2 %, and 93.9 % for specimens 2N1OF, 3N3OF, and 4N5OF, respectively as compared with the reference specimen, 1NR. The presence of FSSRs tends to reduce deformation of specimens: deformation decreases with increase in the number of FSSRs. It is concluded that the torsional strength capacity of reinforced SCC box beams can be enhanced by use of internal FSSRs as in this study. The extent of enhancement depends mainly on the number of internal FSSRs deployed.
Developing a Comprehensive Digital Library Using Airport Geographic Information Systems (AGIS)
Authors: Ibraheem Asma Thamir , Hammodat Waseem Wathiq
Published: January 2020

GIS can provide airport management staff with visual pavement information and powerful analysis tools. The spatial information managed by GIS can ensure the accumulation of valid data concerning the attributes of airport pavement. Based on the principles and general implementation process of GIS, and the characteristics of airport pavement management, this paper describes the implementation process of GIS for planning and design of Erbil airport.

To organize the spatial entities effectively, several layers were set according to the characteristics of spatial entities. The spatial database was established, and then the function design of GIS software is presented including map exploration, map location, spatial query, rendering style and output of map.

Airports are finding that integrated geographic information systems (AGIS) can help them to better manage both air-and ground-side operations. In this paper we present a representative case study of the AGIS for Erbil International Airport buildings and pavements. The study generated results in the form of a multi-layer map, whereby each layer has information that contains a comprehensive database.

There are two primary types of pavement utilized in the construction of runways, taxiways and aprons for modern airports. These are classified generally as rigid pavement and flexible pavement, each involving a different approach of analysis, design and construction. The choice of which to use depends upon local conditions, construction difficulties and economics. Consequently, a comparative study of each type of pavement was made to find the most suitable pavement structure for Erbil International Airport (AIAP). The digital library for Erbil International Airport includes general information about aircraft noise pollution and its effect on the surrounding area of the flight track, generating a noise pollution map.