Existence of these soils, sometimes with high gypsum content, caused difficult problems to the buildings and strategic projects due to dissolution and leaching of gypsum by the action of waterflow through soil mass. In this research, a new technique is adopted to investigate the performance of replacement and geosynthetic reinforcement materials to improve the gypseous soil behavior through experimential set up manufactured loaclally specially for this work. A series of tests were carried out using steel container (600*600*500) mm. A square footing (100*100) mm was placed at the center of the top surface of the bed soil. The results showed that the most effective thickness for the dune sand layer with geotextile at the interface, within the tested range, was found to be almost equal to the width of foundation. Therefore, under this depth, the soil was reinforced with geogrid
and geotextile. It can be shown that (Collapse Settlement Reduction Factor) increases to (72%) when using two layers of geogrid and one layer of geotextile under depth of replacement equal to the width of footing. In addition, the results showed that the bearing capacity increases to (1.5-2.0) time under concentric loads and (2.5-3) under eccentric loads after replacement and reinforcement of gypseous soil
This study presents experimental and numerical investigations on seven one-way, reinforced concrete (RC) slabs with a new technique of slab weight reduction using polystyrene-embedded arched blocks (PEABs). All slabs had the same dimensions, steel reinforcement, and concrete compressive strength. One of these slabs was a solid slab, which was taken as a control slab, while the other six slabs were cast with PEABs. The main variables were the ratio of the length of the PEABs to the length of the slab (lp/L) and the ratio of the height of the PEABs to the total slab depth (hP/H). The minimum decrease in the ultimate load capacity was about 6% with a minimum reduction in the slab weight of 15%. In contrast, the maximum decrease in the
... Show MoreNon-biodegradability of rubber tires contributes to pollution and fire hazards in the natural environment. In this study, the flexural behavior of the Rubberized Reactive Powder Concrete (RRPC) beams that contained various proportions and sizes of scrap tire rubber was investigated and compared to the flexural behavior of the regular RPC. Fresh properties, hardened properties, load-deflection relation, first crack load, ultimate load, and crack width are studied and analyzed. Mixes were made using micro steel fiber of the straight type, and they had an aspect ratio of 65. Thirteen beams were tested under two loading points (Repeated loading) with small-scale beams (1100 mm, 150 mm, 100 mm) size.
The fine aggregate
... Show MoreThe present study experimentally and numerically investigated the impact behavior of composite reinforced concrete (RC) beams with the pultruded I-GFRP and I-steel beams. Eight specimens of two groups were cast in different configurations. The first group consisted of four specimens and was tested under static load to provide reference results for the second group. The four specimens in the second group were tested first under impact loading and then static loading to determine the residual static strengths of the impacted specimens. The test variables considered the type of encased I-section (steel and GFRP), presence of shear connectors, and drop height during impact tests. A mass of 42.5 kg was dropped on the top surface at the m
... Show MoreOne of the major problems facing the road construction engineer is the collapsible granular soil which may be used for embankment construction. Problems appears when such compacted soil come in touch with water, it exhibits cracking and uncontrolled settlement. Collapsible soils are defined as any unsaturated soil that goes through a radical rearrangement of practice and great loss of volume upon wetting, with or without additional loading. An attempt has been made in this investigation to stabilize the collapsible soil of Nasiriya with asphalt emulsion. Specimens of pure and asphalt emulsion stabilized soil have been prepared using optimum fluid content and tested. The first group of specimens of (60x60x20) cm have been tested for direct s
... Show MoreNanoparticles of humic acid and iron oxide were impregnated on the inert sand to produce sorbent for treating groundwater contained of cadmium and copper ions by technology of permeable reactive barrier (PRB). Sewage sludge was the source of the humic acid to prepare the coated sand by humic acid—iron oxide (CSHAIO) sorbent; so, this work is consistent with sustainable development. For 10 mg/L metal concentration, batch tests at speed of 200 rpm signified that the removal efficiencies are greater than 90% at sorbent dosage 0.25 g/ 50 mL, pH 6 and contact time 1 h. The kinetic data was well described by the Pseudo first-order model indicating that physicosorption is the predominant mechanism. The maximum adsorption capacities (qmax) were c
... Show MoreSoil pH is one of the main factors to consider before undertaking any agricultural operation. Methods for measuring soil pH vary, but all traditional methods require time, effort, and expertise. This study aimed to determine, predict, and map the spatial distribution of soil pH based on data taken from 50 sites using the Kriging geostatistical tool in ArcGIS as a first step. In the second step, the Support Vector Machines (SVM) machine learning algorithm was used to predict the soil pH based on the CIE-L*a*b values taken from the optical fiber sensor. The standard deviation of the soil pH values was 0.42, which indicates a more reliable measurement and the data distribution is normal.