Fifty-Four paddy samples, 45 soil samples, and nine irrigation water samples of some paddy fields at Alfurat Alawsat Area, Iraq were collected to investigate the microbial quality including total count bacteria (TCB), molds and yeast, total coliform (TC), and E. coli bacteria. Paddy samples were processed at the laboratory level to produce rice at 32 and 36 whiteness, and the microbial quality of the produced rice was conducted too. The results showed that all irrigation water samples were overpassed the FDA limit for E. coli. All paddy samples were exceeded the good limit of TCB, but no sample exceeded the acceptable limit. Most paddy samples were exceeded the FDA limit for molds and yeast, and few paddy samples exc

Collapsible behaviour of soil is considered as one of the major problems in the stability of roadway embankment, the lack of cohesion between soil particles and its sensitivity to the change of moisture content are reasons for such problem. Creation of such cohesion may be achieved by implementation of liquid asphalt and introduction of Nano additives. In this work, silica fumes, fly ash and lime have been implemented with the aid of asphalt emulsion to improve the unconfined compressive strength of the collapsible soil. Specimens of 38 mm in diameter and 76 mm height have been prepared with various percentages of each type of Nano additive and fluid content. Specimens were subjected to unconfined compressive strength determination at dry a

This research studies the influence of water source on the compressive strength of high strength concrete. Four types of water source were adopted in both mixing and curing process these are river, tap, well and drainage water (all from Iraq-Diyala governorate). Chemical analysis was carried out for all types of the used water including (pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), Turbidity, chloride, total suspended solid (TSS), and sulfates). Depending on the chemical analysis results, it was found that for all adopted sources the chemical compositions was within the ASTM C 1602/C 1602M-04 limits and can be satisfactorily used in concrete mixtures. Mixture of high strength concrete for compressive strength of (60 MPa) was designed and checked using

In this study, six square reinforced concrete flat plates with dimensions of (1500×1500×100) mm were tested under a concentrated load applied on a column located at the center of the slabs. One of these slabs was the control specimen, whereas, in the others, steel angles (steel collars) were used, fixed at the connection region between the slab and the column to investigate the effect of the presence of these collars on punching shear strength. Five thicknesses were used (4, 5, 6, 8, 10mm) with constant legs of angles (75×75) mm of the steel collars to investigate the effects on the punching shear resistance with respect to the control slab. The results of the experimental study show that the punching shear resistance increased b

Concrete filled steel tube (CFST) columns are being popular in civil engineering due to their superior structural characteristics. This paper investigates enhancement in axial behavior of CFST columns by adding steel fibers to plain concrete that infill steel tubes. Four specimens were prepared: two square columns (100*100 mm) and two circular columns (100 mm in diameter). All columns were 60 cm in length. Plain concrete mix and concrete reinforced with steel fibers were used to infill steel tube columns. Ultimate axial load capacity, ductility and failure mode are discussed in this study. The results showed that the ultimate axial load capacity of CFST columns reinforced with steel fibers increased by 28% and 20 % for circular and square c

     In the present investigation two different types of fiber reinforced polymer composites were prepared by hand lay-up method using three different parameters (curing temperature, pressing load and fiber volume fraction). These composites were prepared from the polyester resin as the matrix material reinforced with glass fibers as first group of samples and mat Kevlar fibers as the second group, both with different volume fractions (4%, 8%, and 12%) of fibers. They were then tested by tensile strength and impact strength. The main objective in this study is to use Taguchi method for predicting the better parameters that give the better tensile and impact strength to the composites, and then preparing composites at