Moisture damage is described as a reduction in stiffness and strength durability in asphalt mixtures due to moisture. This study investigated the influence of adding nano silica (NS) to the Asphalt on the moisture susceptibility of hot-mix-asphalt (HMA) mixtures under different aging conditions. NS was mixed with asphalt binder at concentrations of 2%, 4%, and 6% by weight of the binder. To detect the microstructure changes of modified Asphalt and estimate the dispersion of NS within the Asphalt, the field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) was used. To examine the performance of Asphalt mixed with NS at different aging stages (short-term and long-term aging), asphalt mixture tests such as Marshall stability,

Soil improvement has developed as a realistic solution for enhancing soil properties so that structures can be constructed to meet project engineering requirements due to the limited availability of construction land in urban centers. The jet grouting method for soil improvement is a novel geotechnical alternative for problematic soils for which conventional foundation designs cannot provide acceptable and lasting solutions. The paper's methodology was based on constructing pile models using a low-pressure injection laboratory setup built and made locally to simulate the operation of field equipment. The setup design was based on previous research that systematically conducted unconfined compression testing (U.C.Ts.). Th

Zinc Oxide nanoparticles were prepared using pulsed laser ablation process from a pure zinc metal placed inside a liquid environment. The latter is composed of acetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) of 10−3 molarity and distilled water. A Ti:Sapphire laser of 800 nm wavelength, 1 kHz pulse repetition rate, 130 fs pulse duration is used at three values of pulse energies of 0.05 mJ, 1.11 mJ and 1.15 mJ. The evaluation of the optical properties for the obtained suspension was applied through ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy test (UV/VIS). The result showed peak wavelengths at 210 nm, 211 nm and 213 nm for the three used pulse energies 0.05 mJ, 1.11 mJ and 1.15 mJ respectively. This indicates a blue shift,

Biologically active natural compounds are molecules produced by plants or plant-related microbes, such as endophytes. Many of these metabolites have a wide range of antimicrobial activities and other pharmaceutical properties. This study aimed to evaluate (in vitro) the antifungal activities of the secondary metabolites obtained from Paecilomyces sp. against the pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani. The endophytic fungus Paecilomyces was isolated from Moringa oleifera leaves and cultured on potato dextrose broth for the production of the fungal metabolites. The activity of Paecilomyces filtrate against the radial growth of Rhizoctonia solani was tested by mixing the filtrate with potato dextrose agar medium at concentrations of 15%,

In this research, annealed nanostructured ZnO catalyst water putrefaction system was built using sun light and different wavelength lasers as stimulating light sources to enhance photocatalytic degradation activity of methylene blue (MB) dye as a model based on interfacial charges transfer. The structural, crystallite size, morphological, particle size, optical properties and degradation ability of annealed nanostructured ZnO were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and UV-VIS Spectrometer, respectively. XRD results demonstrated a pure crystalline hexagonal wurtzite with crystalline size equal to 23 nm. From AFM results, the average particle size was 79.25nm. All MB samples and MB with annealed nanostr

This study evaluates the flexural behavior of ultra-thin (50 mm) one‑way reinforced‑concrete (RC) slabs retrofitted with near‑surface mounted (NSM) carbon‑fiber‑reinforced polymer (CFRP) rods under quasi‑static loading. T300‑grade CFRP rods (≈4 mm diameter) were bonded in pre‑cut 7 mm × 7 mm grooves using a two‑part epoxy. As a proof-of-concept experimental baseline, three simply‑supported specimens (1000 mm × 500 mm × 50 mm) were tested in a six‑point bending configuration (four applied loads + two reactions): two conventional controls and one strengthened slab. A load‑control rate of ~15 kN/min was applied; the controls were cycled twice and the strengthened slab four times. Relative to the average of

In this study, vegetable tanned leather waste of cow (VTLW-C) is used as adsorbent for removing methyl violet 10B dye from aqueous solution. The VTLW-C adsorbent was characterized by FTIR and SEM in order to evaluate its surface properties before using in adsorption experiments. Batch adsorption method was applied to study the effect of different factors such as weight of leather waste, time of shaking, and starting concentration of methyl violet 10B dye. Different isothermal models such as Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D–R) were used to analyze the experimental data. Kinetic study proceeds using (PFO) kinetic model and (PSO) kinetic model. The results showed better agreement with the Freundlich model; this means

This work investigates experimentally the effect of using a skirt with a square foundation of 100 mm width resting on dry gypseous soil (i.e., loose soil with 33% relative density), and subjected to an inclined load. Previous works did not study the use square skirted foundation rested on gypseous soil and subjected to inclined load. The investigated soil was brought from Tikrit city with 59% gypsum content. Standard physical and chemical tests on selected soil were carried out. Model laboratory tests were carried out to determine the effect of using a skirt with a square foundation on the load-settlement behavior of gypseous soil and subjected to inclined load with various Skirt depth (Ds) to foundation width (B) ratio