Mineral fillers are a fundamental component of asphalt mastic and play a critical role in governing the mechanical performance and durability of flexible pavements. Variations in filler type and dosage can substantially alter mastic stiffness, deformation resistance, fatigue behavior, and adhesion. The objective of this study is to systematically evaluate the influence of mineral filler type and filler-to-asphalt (F/A) ratio on the rheological, fatigue, and adhesive performance of asphalt mastics. Three commonly used fillers; limestone dust, Portland cement, and hydrated lime were investigated at four F/A ratios (0.6, 0.8, 1.0, and 1.2). A comprehensive experimental program was conducted, including conventional binder characterization, Multiple Stress Creep Recovery (MSCR) testing for rutting resistance, Linear Amplitude Sweep (LAS) testing for fatigue performance, and the Blister Method for adhesive bond strength evaluation. Volumetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to support interpretation of filler packing behavior and particle morphology. Statistical analysis using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) confirmed that both filler type and filler content significantly influence all evaluated performance indicators. Hydrated lime markedly improved rutting resistance and bond strength but caused severe reductions in fatigue life at higher dosages due to excessive stiffness. In contrast, Portland cement and limestone provided more balanced performance, particularly at intermediate F/A ratios. A Grey Decision Theory (GDT) analysis integrating permanent strain, fatigue life, and bond strength identified the Portland cement mastic at an F/A ratio of 0.8 as the optimal formulation. Future studies are recommended to extend this approach to different binder grades, polymer-modified asphalts, and environmental conditions to further generalize the findings and support performance-based mastic design.
This paper presents a computer simulation model of a thermally activated roof (TAR) to cool a room using cool water from a wet cooling tower. Modeling was achieved using a simplified 1-D resistance-capacitance thermal network (RC model) for an infinite slab. Heat transfer from the cooling pipe network was treated as 2-D heat flow. Only a limited number of nodes were required to obtain reliable results. The use of 6th order RC-thermal model produced a set of ordinary differential equations that were solved using MATLAB - R2012a. The computer program was written to cover all possible initial conditions, material properties, TAR system geometry and hourly solar radiation. The cool water supply was considered time
... Show MoreThe ability of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to uptake three pharmaceuticals (diclofenac, mefenamic acid and metronidazole) from two types of soil (clay and sandy soil) was investigated in this study to explore the human exposure to these pharmaceuticals via the consumption of beans. A pot experiment was conducted with beans plants which were grown in two types of soil for six weeks under controlled conditions. During the experiment period, the soil pore water was collected weekly and the concentrations of the test compounds in soil pore water as well as in plant organs (roots, stems and leaves) were weekly determined.
The results showed that the studied pharmaceuticals were detected in all plant tissues; their concentration
The study aimed to examine the sensitivity to stress and its relation to positive mood among educational supervisors. The researcher used the descriptive approach as more an appropriate method for the current study. The sample is composed of (200) educational supervisor. To collect study data, two scales have been used: one scale to measure the sensitivity to stress and the other to measure the positive mood. The results indicated that a high level of sensitivity to stress with low level of positive mood among educational supervisors, sensitivity to stress showed significant differences among the sample regarding to major. There is no correlation between sensitivity to stress and positive mood, and finally, there are no significant diffe
... Show MoreErratum for Organic acid concentration thresholds for ageing of carbonate minerals: Implications for CO2 trapping/storage.
This study depicts the removal of Manganese ions (Mn2+) from simulated wastewater by combined electrocoagulation/ electroflotation technologies. The effects of initial Mn concentration, current density (C.D.), electrolysis time, and different mesh numbers of stainless steel screen electrodes were investigated in a batch cell by adopting Taguchi experimental design to explore the optimum conditions for maximum removal efficiency of Mn. The results of multiple regression and signal to noise ratio (S/N) showed that the optimum conditions were Mn initial concentration of 100 ppm, C.D. of 4 mA/cm2, time of 120 min, and mesh no. of 30 (wire/inch). Also, the relative significance of each factor was attained by the analysis of variance (ANO
... Show MoreThis study depicts the removal of Manganese ions (Mn2+) from simulated wastewater by combined electrocoagulation/ electroflotation technologies. The effects of initial Mn concentration, current density (C.D.), electrolysis time, and different mesh numbers of stainless steel screen electrodes were investigated in a batch cell by adopting Taguchi experimental design to explore the optimum conditions for maximum removal efficiency of Mn. The results of multiple regression and signal to noise ratio (S/N) showed that the optimum conditions were Mn initial concentration of 100 ppm, C.D. of 4 mA/cm2, time of 120 min, and mesh no. of 30 (wire/inch). Also, the relative significance of each factor was attained by the analysis
... Show MoreThe gas sensing properties of Co3O4and Co3O4:Y nano structures were investigated. The films were synthesized using the hydrothermal method on a seeded layer. The XRD, SEM analysis and gas sensing properties were investigated for Co3O4and Co3O4:Y thin films. XRD analysis shows that all films are polycrystalline in nature, having a cubic structure, and the crystallite size is (11.7)nm for cobalt oxide and (9.3)nm for the Co3O4:10%Y. The SEM analysis of thin films obviously indicates that Co3O4possesses a nanosphere-like structure and a flower-like structure for Co3O4:Y.The sensitivity, response time and recovery time to a H2S reducing gas were tested at different operating
... Show MoreA new, simple, sensitive and fast developed method was used for the determination of methyldopa in pure and pharmaceutical formulations by using continuous flow injection analysis. This method is based on formation a burgundy color complex between methyldopa andammonium ceric (IV) nitrate in aqueous medium using long distance chasing photometer NAG-ADF-300-2. The linear range for calibration graph was 0.05-8.3 mmol/L for cell A and 0.1-8.5 mmol/L for cell B, and LOD 952.8000 ng /200 µL for cell A and 3.3348 µg /200 µL for cell B respectively with correlation coefficient (r) 0.9994 for cell A and 0.9991 for cell B, RSD % was lower than 1 % for n=8. The results were compared with classical method UV-Spectrophotometric at λ max=280 n
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