Highly Modified Asphalt (HiMA) binders have garnered significant attention due to their superior resistance to rutting, fatigue cracking, and thermal distress under heavy traffic loads and extreme environmental conditions. While elastomeric polymers such as Styrene- Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) have been extensively used in HiMA applications, the potential of plastomeric polymers, including Polyethylene (PE) and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), remains largely unexplored. This study aims to evaluate the performance of reference binder (RB) modified with plastomeric HiMA asphalt in comparison to SBS-modified binders and determine the optimal polymer dosage for achieving an optimal balance between rutting resistance and fatigue durability. The experimental program involved modifying a base asphalt binder with SBS, PE, and EVA at dosages of 6%, 7%, and 8% by weight of binder. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted, including conventional tests (penetration, softening point, viscosity, mass loss, storage stability, and specific gravity) and rheological characterization using the Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR). The Multiple Stress Creep Recovery (MSCR) test was employed to assess high-temperature performance, while the Linear Amplitude Sweep (LAS) test evaluated fatigue behavior. Additionally, an Overall Desirability (OD) analysis was performed to integrate multiple performance criteria and establish a ranking for each modification. The results demonstrated that SBS-modified binders exhibited the most balanced performance, with SBS8 achieving the highest elastic recovery (52.87%) and superior fatigue life, exceeding 1,017,904 cycles at 2.5% strain. PE8 exhibited exceptional rutting resistance, reaching the lowest Jnr 3.2 value (0.0078 kPa−1); however, its limited elasticity (15.7% recovery) indicated reduced flexibility. EVA modifications demonstrated marginal improvements in fatigue resistance but failed to meet the AASHTO M332 criteria for high-traffic applications. The OD analysis ranked SBS8 as the most effective HiMA binder (OD score = 0.715), followed by SBS7 (0.588) and SBS6 (0.509). PE7 (0.354) and PE6 (0.337) demonstrated moderate performance, whereas EVA had the lowest desirability score (0.000). Based on these findings, SBS-modified binders are recommended for applications requiring a balance between fatigue and rutting resistance, whereas PE-based HiMA is more suitable for high-temperature regions where rutting is the primary concern. Further field studies are necessary to validate the long-term durability of plastomeric HiMA binders and optimize their use for specific pavement conditions.
Background: Mitral valve stenosis is a condition in which the hearts mitral valve is narrowed (stenosis), This narrowing blocks the valve from opening properly obstructing blood flow through the heart and the rest of the body and this causes changes in physical parameters (resistance and conductance). Aim of the study: To assess the changes in the physical parameters in mitral valve stenosis disease in different gender and age by using Doppler ultrasound. Methods : The examination of patients at the Division of Echo - at the Iraqi Center for Heart Disease in Medical City for surgery specialist - Baghdad - Iraq, during(February2009 till November2010). The current study included fifty eight cases containing (27 males and 31 females) ages rang
... Show MoreMany objective optimizations (MaOO) algorithms that intends to solve problems with many objectives (MaOP) (i.e., the problem with more than three objectives) are widely used in various areas such as industrial manufacturing, transportation, sustainability, and even in the medical sector. Various approaches of MaOO algorithms are available and employed to handle different MaOP cases. In contrast, the performance of the MaOO algorithms assesses based on the balance between the convergence and diversity of the non-dominated solutions measured using different evaluation criteria of the quality performance indicators. Although many evaluation criteria are available, yet most of the evaluation and benchmarking of the MaOO with state-of-art a
... Show MoreBackground: The prediction of changes in the mandibular third molar position and eruption is an important clinical concern because third molar retention may be beneficial for orthodontic anchorage. The aims of this study were to assess the mandibular third molar position by using medical CT scan and lateral reconstructed radiograph and evaluate gender differences. Materials and Methods: The sample of present study consisted of 39 patients (18 males and 21 females) with age range 11-15 years who were attending at Al-Suwayra General Hospital/ the Computerized Tomography department. The distance from anterior edge of ramus to distal surface of permanent mandibular second molar and mesio-distal width of developing mandibular third molar were
... Show MoreMany studies and researchers have reported significant evidence that some physical properties of water can be changed as it passes through a magnetic field that can improve water use. This can have a promising potential for applications, especially in the fields of irrigation and drainage. In this research, magnetized water was used to leach salt-affected sandy loam soil. A test rig was designed and constructed to investigate the effects of magnetized water on leaching soil. The rig consists of a magnetization device that can provide variable intensity. Water was supplied from a constant head reservoir to the magnetization device then to the soils that were placed in plastic columns. Five different magnetic intensi
... Show MoreThis paper reports an experimental study of welding of dissimilar materials between transparent Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and stainless steel 304 sheets using a pulsed mode Nd:YAG laser. The process was carried out for two cases; laser transmission joining (LTJ) and conduction joining (CJ). The former is achieved when the joint is irradiated from the polymer side and the latter when the joint is irradiated from the opposite side (metal side). The light and process parameters represented by the peak power (Pp), pulse duration (τ), pulse repetition rate (PRR), scanning speed (ν) and pulse shape have a significant effect on the joint strength (Fb), joint bead width (b), joint quality and appearance. The optimum parameters were determined
... Show MoreThe research aimed to compare the performance of the commercial and the Islamic banks listed in the Palestinian's Stock Exchange .To achieve the objectives of the study we selected all the commercial and the Islamic banks listed in the Palestinian Stock Exchange to obtain the necessary data for the analysis process during the period of (2009-2013) .the comparison based on the performance indicators ( liquidity rate, profitability rate ,the activity rate and the market rate).
a statistical method was used to analyze the date to find the performance differences between the commercial banks,
... Show MoreA simple and rapid high performance liquid chromatographic with fluorescence detection method for the determination of the aflatoxin B1, B2, G1 and G2 in peanuts, rice and chilli was developed. The sample was extracted using acetonitrile:water (90:10, v/v%) and then purified by using ISOLUTE multimode solid phase extraction. After the pre-column derivatisation, the analytes were separated within 3.7 min using Chromolith performance RP-18e (100–4.6 mm) monolithic column. To assess the possible effects of endogenous components in the food items, matrix-matched calibration was used for the quantification and validation. The recoveries of aflatoxins that were spiked into food samples were 86.38–104.5% and RSDs were <4.4%. The method was
... Show MoreIn this study, a one-dimensional model represented by Butler-Volmer-Monod (BVM) model was proposed to compute the anode overpotential and current density in a mediator-less MFC system. The system was fueled with various organic loadings of real field petroleum refinery oily sludge to optimize the favorable organic loading for biomass to operate the suggested system. The increase in each organic loading showed higher resistance to electrons transport to the anode represented by ohmic loss. On the contrary, both activation and mass transfer losses exhibited a noticeable decrement upon the increased organic loadings. However, current density was improved throughout all increased loads achieving a maximum current density of 5.2 A/m3
... Show MoreThis paper presents a brief study undertaken for improving the performance of information and communication management of construction projects through investing in information and communication technologies (ICT). The work aims at first to investigate and diagnose the problems, challenges, weaknesses, and inefficiencies related to information and communication management in projects in the construction industry of Iraq. Studying the diagnosed matters and the different solutions of ICT to improve project management performance is following the investigation process. The research presents a technological system suggested to process a lot of the diagnosed problems, challenges, weakness, and inefficiencies of the construction projects and t
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