The study presents the test results of Completely Decomposed Granite (CDG) soil tested under drained triaxial compression, direct shear and simple shear tests. Special attention was focused on the modification of the upper halve of conventional Direct Shear Test (DST) to behave as free
head in movement along with vertical strain control during shear stage by using Geotechnical Digital System (GDS). The results show that Free Direct Shear Test (FDST) has clear effect on the measured shear stress and vertical strain during the test. It has been found that shear strength
parameters measured from FDST were closer to those measured from simple shear and drained triaxial compression test. This study also provides an independent check on

Biaxial hollow slab is a reinforced concrete slab system with a grid of internal spherical voids included to reduce the self-weight. This paper presents an experimental study of behavior of one-way prestressed concrete bubbled slabs. Twelve full-scale one-way concrete slabs of (3000mm) length with rectangular cross-sectional area of (460mm) width and (150mm) depth. Different parameters like type of specimen (solid or bubbled slabs), type of reinforcement (normal or prestress), range of PPR and diameter of plastic spheres (100 or 120mm) are considered. Due to the using of prestressing force in bubbled slabs (with ratio of plastic sphere diameter D to slab thickness H, D/H=0.67), the specimens showed an increase in ultimat

In this paper, a harvested prey-predator model involving infectious disease in prey is considered. The existence, uniqueness and boundedness of the solution are discussed. The stability analysis of all possible equilibrium points are carried out. The persistence conditions of the system are established. The behavior of the system is simulated and bifurcation diagrams are obtained for different parameters. The results show that the existence of disease and harvesting can give rise to multiple attractors, including chaos, with variations in critical parameters.

In this paper, an experimental study was conducted to enhance the thermal performance of a double-pass solar air heater (SAH) using phase change material (PCM) for thermal storage at climatic conditions of Baghdad city - Iraq. The double-pass solar air heater integrated with thermal storage system was manufactured and tested to ensure that the air heating reserved after the absence of the sun. The rectangular cavity filled with paraffin wax was used as a latent heat storage and incorporated into the lower channel of solar air heater. Experiments were carried out to evaluate the charging and discharging characteristics of two similar designed solar air collectors with and without using phase change material at a constant

The current study presents an experimental investigation of heat transfer and flow characteristic for subcooled flow boiling of deionized water in the microchannel heat sink. The test section consisted of a single microchannel having 300μm wide nominal dimensions and 300μm height (hydraulic diameter of 300μm). The test section formed of oxygen-free copper with 72mm length and 12mm width. Experimental operation conditions spanned the heat flux (78-800) kW/m², mass flux (1700 and 2100) kg/m².s at 31˚C subcooled inlet temperature. The boiling heat transfer coefficient is measured and compared with existing correlations. Also, the experimental pressure drop is measured and compared with microscale p

In this study, the response and behavior of machine foundations resting on dry and saturated sand was investigated experimentally. A physical model was manufactured to simulate steady state harmonic load applied on a footing resting on sandy soil at different operating frequencies. Total of (84) physical models were performed. The parameters that were taken into consideration include loading frequency, size of footing and different soil conditions. The footing parameters are related to the size of the rectangular footing and depth of embedment. Two sizes of rectangular steel model footing were used. The footings were tested by changing all parameters at the surface and at 50 mm depth below model surface. Meanwhile, the investigated paramete

An experiment was carried out to study the effects of Time Factor, potassium and Molybdenum on Rhizobium growth. The objective of the experiment, which conducted under laboratory conditions, was to investigate the interaction effects of using three levels of Molybdenum (0, 0.25, 2.50 mg Mo . Kg-1 sterile soil) and four levels of potassium (0, 25, 50, 100 mg K . Kg-1 sterile soil) on the viable counts of Rhizobium growth in the sterile soil after 3, 9, 15 and 21 days of incubation at 28°C. The results indicated that Molybdenum level 2.50 mg Mo . Kg-1 sterile soil and potassium level 50 mg K . Kg-1 sterile soil recorded the biggest significant increase in the viable counts of Rhizobium growth in the sterile soil especially after 15 da