In this paper, the Monte Carlo N-Particle extended computer code (MCNP) were used to design a model of the European Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor. The multiplication factor, conversion factor, delayed neutrons fraction, doppler constant, control rod worth, sodium void worth, masses for major heavy nuclei, radial and axial power distribution at high burnup are studied. The results show that the reactor breeds fissile isotopes with a conversion ratio of 0.994 at fuel burnup 70 (GWd/T), and minor actinides are buildup inside the reactor core. The study aims to check the efficiency of the model on the calculation of the neutronic parameters of the core at high burnup.
Several previous investigations and studies utilized silica fume (SF) or (micro silica) particles as supplementary cementitious material added as a substitute to cement-based mortars and their effect on the overall properties, especially on physical properties, strength properties, and mechanical properties. This study investigated the impact of the inclusion of silica fume (SF) particles on the residual compressive strengths and microstructure properties of cement-based mortars exposed to severe conditions of elevated temperatures. The prepared specimens were tested and subjected to 25, 250, 450, 600, and 900 °C. Their residual compressive strengths and microstructure were evaluated and compared with control samples (C
... Show MoreDue to economic reasons or need for environmental conservatism or also preserve the natural resources; there has been an increasing shift towards the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) materials in the pavement construction industry. Therefore, use the Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) has been enormously increased in pavement construction and has been become common practice in many countries. Nevertheless, this is a relatively new concept in Iraq, and has to be remarked that is not used RAP in the production of HMA and this valuable material is mostly degraded. For this purpose, the reclaimed materials were collected from deteriorated pavement segments. The components of asphalt mixtures consist of: two asphalt penetration grades (40-5
... Show MoreA perturbed linear system with property of strong observability ensures that there is a sliding mode observer to estimate the unknown form inputs together with states estimation. In the case of the electro-hydraulic system with piston position measured output, the above property is not met. In this paper, the output and its derivatives estimation were used to build a dynamic structure that satisfy the condition of strongly observable. A high order sliding mode observer (HOSMO) was used to estimate both the resulting unknown perturbation term and the output derivatives. Thereafter with one signal from the whole system (piton position), the piston position make tracking to desire one with a simple linear output feedback controller after ca
... Show MoreThe importance of specifying proper aggregate grading for achieving satisfactory performance in pavement applications has long been recognized. To improve the specifications for superior performance, there is a need to understand how differences in aggregate gradations within the acceptable limits may affect unbound aggregate base behavior. The effects of gradation on strength, modulus, and deformation characteristics of high-quality crushed rock base materials are described here. Two crushed rock types commonly used in constructing heavy-duty granular base layers in the State of Victoria, Australia, with three different gradations each were used in this study. The gradations used represent the lower, medium, and upper gradation li
... Show MoreThis paper proposes two hybrid feature subset selection approaches based on the combination (union or intersection) of both supervised and unsupervised filter approaches before using a wrapper, aiming to obtain low-dimensional features with high accuracy and interpretability and low time consumption. Experiments with the proposed hybrid approaches have been conducted on seven high-dimensional feature datasets. The classifiers adopted are support vector machine (SVM), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and K-nearest neighbour (KNN). Experimental results have demonstrated the advantages and usefulness of the proposed methods in feature subset selection in high-dimensional space in terms of the number of selected features and time spe
... Show MoreComplex and complex psychological processes are complexand are the result of convergence, convergence and interaction between variables, including the subject of mediation or group or individual and psychological processes involved in the variance, including - personal knowledge and emotional tone (Osman, 1987, p. 8 ). An emotionally balanced individual has the ability to endure and delay meeting needs and has the ability to endure as much as possible. Of the emotional balance of the individual is characterized by emotional stability, show some signs of emotional agitation toward any kind of opposition, anger and realism in self-life and discipline (Swift, 1996, p. 44) Van, et al. , Indicates that people with low emotional balance,
... Show MoreUnder cyclic loading, aluminum alloys exhibit less fatigue life than steel alloys of similar strength and this is considered as Achilles's heel of such alloys. A nanosecond fiber laser was used to apply high speed laser shock peening process on thin aluminum plates in order to enhance the fatigue life by introducing compressive residual stresses. The effect of three working parameters namely the pulse repetition rate (PRR), spot size (ω) and scanning speed (v) on limiting the fatigue failure was investigated. The optimum results, represented by the longer fatigue life, were at PRR of 22.5 kHz, ω of 0.04 mm and at both v's of 200 and 500 mm/sec. The research yielded significant results represented by a maximum percentage increase in the fa
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