Fine aggregates used for concrete works in Sulaymaniyah city frequently fail to meet the standard requirements for gradation and fineness modulus in cement concrete. This paper aims to critically evaluate gradation, fineness modulus, and clay contents of various natural sands produced and used for concrete work in the region.  Sixteen field sand samples were collected from various sites in Darbandikhan (5 samples), Qalat Dizah (5 samples), Koysinjaq (5 samples), and Piramagroon (1 sample) confirming to ASTM D75. The field samples were parted into test specimens based on ASTM C702. Then, sieve analysis was carried out on the oven-dry test specimens in compliance with ASTM C136. The test results of fine aggregates wer

Eco-friendly concrete is produced using the waste of many industries. It reduces the fears concerning energy utilization, raw materials, and mass-produced cost of common concrete. Several stress-strain models documented in the literature can be utilized to estimate the ultimate strength of concrete components reinforced with fibers. Unfortunately, there is a lack of data on how non-metallic fibers, such as polypropylene (PP), affect the properties of concrete, especially eco-friendly concrete. This study presents a novel approach to modeling the stress-strain behavior of eco-friendly polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete (PFRC) using meta-heuristic particle swarm optimization (PSO) employing 26 PFRC various mixtures. The cement was partia

In this study, the effect of fire flame on the punching shear strength of steel fiber reinforced concrete flat plates was experimentally investigated using nine half-scale specimens with dimensions of 1500×1500 mm and a total thickness of 100 mm. The main investigated variables comprised the steel fiber volume fraction 0, 1, and 1.5% and the burning steady state temperature 500 and 600 °C. The specimens were divided into three groups, each group consists of three specimens. The specimens in the first group were tested with no fire effect to be the reference specimens, while the others of the second and third groups were tested after being exposed to fire-flame effect. The adopted characteristics of the fire test were; (one hour) b

This study aimed to investigate the incorporation of recycled waste compact discs (WCDs) powder in concrete mixes to replace the fine aggregate by 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. Compared to the reference concrete mix, results revealed that using WCDs powder in concrete mixes improved the workability and the dry density. The results demonstrated that the compressive, flexural, and split tensile strengths values for the WCDs-modified concrete mixes showed tendency to increase above the reference mix. However, at 28 days curing age, the strengths values for WCDs-modified concrete mixes were comparable to those for the reference mix. The leaching test revealed that none of the WCDs constituents was detected in the leachant after 180 days. The

The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of moisture concrete of clayey soil on the concrete slabs placed directly over it. This experimental study presents the mechanical properties of the concrete slab when placed on different clayey soil moisture content ranging from 0% to the optimum moisture content of 35%. The tests were performed on soil concrete specimens of 25*30*50 mm exposed to sprayed water curing conditions for 28 days. Tests of compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, crack depth and crack width were investigated through this paper. An ejection relationship between compressive strength of concrete and water content in the soil was observed, with a 26% increase with water increasing from 0% to 35%. T

Internal curing is a method that has been advised to decrease the primary age cracking, mainly of concrete mixes using low (water to cementitious materials - w/cm) ratios corresponding to the self-compacting concrete-(SCC). This research aims to study the effect of the internal curing using saturated lightweight aggregate- (LWA) on the steel reinforcing corrosion in SCC. In this research, crushed bricks or thermostone were partially replaced by (20%) by the weight of sand and volumetrically measured. The results showed that the steel reinforcement of internally cured concrete showed a slight increase in corrosion up to 300 days of exposure to the saline solution (containing 3.5% NaCl). The ability of using the crushed bricks or thermostone

Internal curing is a method that has been advised to decrease the primary age cracking, mainly of concrete mixes using low (water to cementitious materials - w/cm) ratios corresponding to the self-compacting concrete-(SCC). This research aims to study the effect of the internal curing using saturated lightweight aggregate- (LWA) on the steel reinforcing corrosion in SCC. In this research, crushed bricks or thermostone were partially replaced by (20%) by the weight of sand and volumetrically measured. The results showed that the steel reinforcement of internally cured concrete showed a slight increase in corrosion up to 300 days of exposure to the saline solution (containing 3.5% NaCl). The ability of using the crushed bricks or thermostone

Shallow foundations are usually used for structures with light to moderate loads where the soil underneath can carry them. In some cases, soil strength and/or other properties are not adequate and require improvement using one of the ground improvement techniques. Stone column is one of the common improvement techniques in which a column of stone is installed vertically in clayey soils. Stone columns are usually used to increase soil strength and to accelerate soil consolidation by acting as vertical drains. Many researches have been done to estimate the behavior of the improved soil. However, none of them considered the effect of stone column geometry on the behavior of the circular footing. In this research, finite ele

In this paper, the dynamics of scavenger species predation of both susceptible and infected prey at different rates with prey refuge is mathematically proposed and studied. It is supposed that the disease was spread by direct contact between susceptible prey with infected prey described by Holling type-II infection function. The existence, uniqueness, and boundedness of the solution are investigated. The stability constraints of all equilibrium points are determined. In addition to establishing some sufficient conditions for global stability of them by using suitable Lyapunov functions. Finally, these theoretical results are shown and verified with numerical simulations.

A study of taxonomic quality of algae attaching Three concert bridges built on the Tigris River within city of Baghdad including Al-Jadriyah Bridge in Al-Jadriyah area and the Bab Al-Mu'adam Bridge in Al-Shalajiya area, while the third site included Al-Muthanna Bridge in north of Baghdad city, for the period from Autumn 2021 and Winter 2022. The study identified 114 species of 32 Genus in which the predominance of Bacillariophceae (74 species, 14 Genus) Followed by Cyanophyceae (30species, 12 Genus) and 10 species (6 Genus) of Chlorophyceae. The study showed an increase in species of Bacillariophceae, Cyanophyceae which has the ability to secretion gelatinous substances that enable it to stick to solid stand, the number of the larges