Rutting is one of the most complex and widespread types of distress. The rutting is frequently observed on Iraqi roads, especially at the checkpoints, forming a significant hazard on the asphalt layers. Factors such as heavy loads and high temperatures contribute to this distress. Adding fibers to a hot mix asphalt (HMA) effectively improves performance and extends the lifespan of the flexible pavement. This article used glass, steel, and basalt fibers. The wheel tracking test assessed the fibre-asphalt mixture for rutting resistance and compared it with the mix without adding fibers (control HMA). Meanwhile, the microscopic structure of fibres and asphalt mixture modified with fibers was examined using the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) technique. Steel, glass, and basalt fibers were incorporated into HMA in proportions of 0.25%, 0.10%, and 0.15%, respectively. The incorporation of fibers in asphalt mixtures implies lower rut depths after 5000 cycles. In comparison to the control HMA, a decrease in the rut depth is observed in fiber-asphalt mixtures, about 22.14%, 15.36%, and 9.64% for basalt, glass, and steel fiber, respectively, which consequently enhances flexible pavement resistance against rutting. The microstructure analysis showed the difference in the mixture's diameters, surface properties, and random fiber dispersion. Therefore, this dispersion contributed to creating a three-dimensional network, which improved the behaviour of HMA.
This project sought to fabricate a flexible gas sensor based on a short functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNTs) network for nitrogen dioxide gas detection. The network was prepared by filtration from the suspension (FFS) method and modified by coating with a layer of polypyrrole conductive polymer (PPy) prepared by the oxidative chemical polymerization to improve the properties of the network. The structural, optical, and morphological properties of the f-MWCNTs and f-MWCNTs/PPy network were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourie-transform infrared (FTIR), with an AFM (atomic force microscopy). XRD proved that the structure of f-MWCNTs is unaffected by the synthesis procedure. The FTIR spectra verified the existence o
... Show MoreIn the present work, the surface properties of mixed binary surfactants containing sodium dodecylbenzene sulfate (SDBS) and Tween 80 (TW80) surfactants in aqueous solutions were studied at temperature 293 K using surface tension measurements. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) magnitude for both individual surfactants and their mixtures were established the obtained results revealed that the magnitude of cmc of the mixtures are less than the magnitude of individual surfactants and decrease with the increase in Tween 80 percent in solution which indicate the nonideal mixing of the two surfactants. The values of molecular interaction parameters and the mole fraction of surfactants in the micelle (X1) were calculated
... Show MoreWarm Mix Asphalt (WMA) is a modern energy-saving process that uses environmentally friendly materials, has lower mixing and compaction temperatures, and uses less energy and releases less contaminants than conventional hot mix asphalt. Moisture damage poses one of the main challenges of the material design in asphalt pavements. During its design life, the asphalt pavement is exposed to the effect of moisture from the surrounding environment. This research intends to investigate the role of the polypropylene fibres for modifying the moisture susceptibility for the WMA by using different percentages of polypropylene (namely 2, 4, and 6%) by weight of the binder of the control mixture (WMA). In this paper, the physical characteristics
... Show More The performance of asphalt concrete pavement has affected by many factors, the temperature is the most important environmental one which has a large effect on the structural behavior of flexible pavement materials. The main cause of premature failure of pavement is the rutting, Due to the viscoelastic nature of the asphalt cement, rutting is more pronounced in hot climate areas because the viscosity of the asphalt binder which is
inversely related to rutting is significantly reduced with the increase in temperature resulting in a more rut susceptible paving mixtures. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of temperatures variations on the permanent deformation parameters (perm
Moisture damage is a primary mode of distress occurring in hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements in Iraq. Because of the loss of bond, or stripping, caused by the presence of moisture between the asphalt and aggregate, which is a problem in some areas and can be severe in some cases, it is requires to evaluate the design asphalt mixture to moisture susceptibility. Many factors such as aggregate characteristics, asphalt characteristics, environment, traffic, construction practices and drainage can contribute to stripping. Asphalt concrete mixes were prepared at their optimum asphalt content by superpave system and then tested to evaluate their engineering properties, which include tensile strength, resilient modulus, and perman
... Show MoreFor over a century, the global consumption of asphalt binder in asphalt mixture production has been substantial. In the Heet region (west of Iraq), two distinct forms of natural asphalt (NA) deposits exist: rock asphalt and sulfur spring asphalt. This study focused on using NA sourced from sulfur springs. The aim was to investigate the potential of incorporating NA into local asphalt mixtures. To achieve this, NA was heated to 163°C for varying durations. After heat treatment, laboratory tests were conducted on NA. The findings suggest that by heating NA for 20 hours, it conforms to Iraqi specifications in terms of physical properties. Furthermore, compared to conventional petroleum asphalt, treated NA showed greater
... Show MoreAbstract: In this work we demonstrate and investigate the optical pulse propagation in a photonic band gap fiber Bragg grating (FBG). The light propagates in opposite direction in FBG is explained and discussed by a Coupled Mode Theory (CMT). The photonic band gap (stop band gap) is created by fabricated, a Bragg grating in optical fiber. The results show the pulse spectrum falls entirely within the stop band gap, the entire pulse is reflected by the grating, while when the pulse spectrum is outside the stop band gap the pulses will transmitted through the grating. The group velocity (VG) becomes zero at the edges of the stop band and group velocity dispersion β2 is anomalous on the shorter side of stop band gap whereas β2 for uniform fi
... Show MoreIn this paper, simulation study of the frequency shift of photonic bandgaps due to refractive index scaling using liquids filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers is presented. Different liquids (distilled water, n-hexane, methanol, ethanol and acetone) are used to fill the cladding of 2 types of hollow core photonic crystal fibers (HC19-1060, HC7-1060). These liquids are used to change the effective index scaling and index contrast of the cladding. The effect of increasing temperature of the liquid (20-100 0C for water and 20-70 0C for other liquids ) infiltrated hollow core fiber on the bandgap width and transmission properties has been computed. The maximum photonic bandgap width at 0.0243 has appeared with filling HC7-1060 PCF with
... Show MoreMode filtering technique is one of the most desired techniques in optical fiber communication systems, especially for multiple input multiple output (MIMO) coherent optical communications that have mode-dependent losses in communication channels. In this work, a special type of optical fiber sensing head was used, where it utilizes DCF13 that is made by Thorlabs and has two numerical apertures (NA’s). One is for core and 1st cladding region, while the 2nd relates the 1st cladding to the 2nd cladding. Etching process using 40 % hydro-fluoric (HF) acid was performed on the DCF13 with variable time in minutes. Investigation of the correlation between the degree of etching and the re