Recently, increasing material prices coupled with more acute environmental awareness and the implementation of regulation has driven a strong movement toward the adoption of sustainable construction technology. In the pavement industry, using low temperature asphalt mixes and recycled concrete aggregate are viewed as effective engineering solutions to address the challenges posed by climate change and sustainable development. However, to date, no research has investigated these two factors simultaneously for pavement material. This paper reports on initial work which attempts to address this shortcoming. At first, a novel treatment method is used to improve the quality of recycled concrete coarse aggregates. Thereafter, the treated recycled aggregates were used in warm mix asphalt at varied rates to replace virgin raw coarse aggregates. The asphalt concrete mixes produced were tested for modulus, tensile strength, permanent deformation, moisture susceptibility and fatigue life. The comparison of these properties with that of the mixes using the same rates of untreated course aggregates from the same source has demonstrated the effectiveness of the new technology. Lastly, the cost, material and energy saving implications are discussed.
Deep beams are used in wide construction fields such as water tanks, foundations, and girders in multi-story buildings to provide certain areas free of columns. In practice it is quite often occurring to create web opening in deep beams to supply convenient passage of ventilation ducts, cable channels, gas and water pipes. Experimental studies of ten 10 deep beams were carried out, where two of them are control specimens without openings and eight with large web openings in the shear spans. The variables that have been adopted are the ratio of the shear span to the overall depth of the member cross-section, location and dimensions of the opening. Test results showed that there was a decrease in the load carrying capacity of deep bea
... Show MoreThis research presents a comparison of performance between recycled single stage and double stage hydrocyclones in separating water from water/kerosene emulsion. The comparison included several factors such as: inlet flow rate (3,5,7,9, and 11 L/min), water feed concentration (5% and 15% by volume), and split ratio (0.1 and 0.9). The comparison extended to include the recycle operation; once and twice recycles. The results showed that increasing flow rate as well as the split ratio enhancing the separation efficiency for the two modes of operation. On the contrary, reducing the feed concentration gave high efficiencies for the modes. The operation with two cycles was more efficient than one cycle. The maximum obtained effici
... Show MoreBackground: A review of articles of method in treating compound phalangeal fractures by using mini-external fixator, elaborating the anatomy, mechanics, modalities of treatment, and complications of these types of fractures. Also, it compares between different studies regarding the functional results and final outcome. External fixation of phalangeal fractures is a good method for osteo synthesis in certain situations. The simplicity of the surgical procedure and the minimal disruption of the normal bone architecture also make it appealing.Objectives: Evaluating the functional results of the use of mini-external fixator for the treatment of compound fractures of phalangeal bones of the hand.Method: Our study consists of 15 patients, 12 w
... Show MoreBackground: A review of articles of method in treating compound phalangeal fractures by using mini-external fixator, elaborating the anatomy, mechanics, modalities of treatment, and complications of these types of fractures. Also, it compares between different studies regarding the functional results and final outcome. External fixation of phalangeal fractures is a good method for osteo synthesis in certain situations. The simplicity of the surgical procedure and the minimal disruption of the normal bone architecture also make it appealing. Objectives: Evaluating the functional results of the use of mini-external fixator for the treatment of compound fractures of phalangeal bones of the hand. Method: Our study consists of 15 patients, 12 we
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to propose reliable equations to estimate the in-situ concrete compressive strength from the non-destructive test. Three equations were proposed: the first equation considers the number of rebound hummer only, the second equation consider the ultrasonic pulse velocity only, and the third equation combines the number of rebound hummer and the ultrasonic pulse velocity. The proposed equations were derived from non-linear regression analysis and they were calibrated with the test results of 372 concrete specimens compiled from the literature. The performance of the proposed equations was tested by comparing their strength estimations with those of related existing equations from literature. Comparis
... Show MoreHard-grade asphalt binders like AC20-30 typically exhibit excessive stiffness, reduced penetration, and compromised workability, necessitating modification before use in paving applications. This study evaluates the efficacy of regular polyalphaolefin (PAO), a synthetic olefin-based lubricant, as a performance-enhancing modifying agent for such binders. AC20-30 was blended with PAO at dosages ranging from 2 wt.% to 10 wt.%, and the modified binders were characterized via penetration, ductility, softening point, and rotational viscosity measurements, alongside advanced rheological and chemical-morphological analyses. Incorporating PAO in AC20-30 asphalt progressively reduced the binder stiffness and enhanced its flexibility, with all modifie
... Show More
Purpose: Providing practical knowledge of the requirements of a detailed feasibility study for selecting the investment project.
Findings: Directing the private sector towards investing in productive projects - the pre-cast reinforced concrete project - as it achieves a financial return as well as providing Providing foreign currencies by reducing imports and exploiting available natural resources
Practical implications: The importance of a detailed feasibility study to determining whether the project can be implemented or not.
The precast concrete method is one of the best modern c
... Show MoreFiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bars are anisotropic in nature and have high tensile strength in the fiber direction. The use of High-Strength Concrete (HSC) allows for better use of the high-strength properties of FRP bars. The mechanical properties of FRP bars can yield to large crack widths and deflections. As a result, the design of concrete elements reinforced with FRP materials is often governed by the Serviceability Limit States (SLS). This study investigates the short-term serviceability behavior of FRP RC I-beams. Eight RC I-beams reinforced with carbon-FRP (CFRP) and four steel RC I-beams, for comparison purposes, were tested under two-point loading.
Deformations on the concrete and crack widths and spacing are measured and
This study proposes a pioneering Ethical Artificial Intelligence (EAI) framework for advancing sustainable development in Iraq by integrating eight multidimensional sustainability indicators—administrative, technological, economic, environmental, social, legal, security, and governance. Utilizing data from 60 completed development projects, the framework combines SPSS statistical analysis, the SMART-AI model, and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to identify key determinants of project success and failure. Results reveal a 37% project failure rate, with administrative and technological deficiencies emerging as the most influential predictors. The SMART-AI model achieved an accuracy of 91.3% using stratified k-fold cross-validation. A bilin
... Show More