Gypseous soil is considered as a problematic soil for embankment construction, however, implementation of emulsified asphalt as a stabilization agent could be a proper solution for enhancing its properties as a subgrade soil. In this work, the sustainability of asphalt stabilized soil has been assessed in terms of its resistance to cyclic (freezing-thawing) and (heating-cooling) processes. Specimens have been prepared at optimum fluid content (moisture and emulsion) and tested under direct shear stresses while subjected to 30 cycles of (freezing-thawing) and (heating-cooling). Both of dry and soaked testing conditions have been implemented. Data have been observed after each 10 cycles, and compared with that of reference mix. It was concluded that for dry test condition, samples exposed to (10, 20 and 30) cycles of (freezing-thawing) exhibits irregular variation in the Angle of internal friction, it increases after 10 cycles and then decreased. However, the cohesion decreased while increasing the number of cycles. For soaked test condition, Angle of internal friction remained constant and then increased after 20 cycles then decreased with further increments of (freezing-thawing) cycles, while cohesion decreased with the increased number of cycles. On the other hand, the results of the direct shear test for unsoaked test condition on samples exposed to (10, 20 and 30) cycles of (heating-cooling) exhibits that the angle of internal friction increases after 10 cycles, then decreased with further increase in (heating-cooling) cycles, while the Cohesion increases after 10 cycles then decrease with increased number of cycles for both soaked and unsoaked testing condition
One of the most important problems of Iraqi construction projects is the cost variances, so it is important to identify the problems and shortcomings that cause poor cost control. Through the utilization of questionnaires, the study evaluated how project costs were managed and reported. The questionnaire was distributed to 180 professionals working in the Iraqi construction sector, with a response rate of 91%. The results showed that a high percentage of projects are implemented with a difference between real and estimated costs, and the process of documenting cost data needs to be more secure. On the other hand, there is a weakness in providing the necessary work structure information to monitor costs and a lack of proc
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Tensile strength is a critical property of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) pavements and is closely related to distresses such as fatigue cracking. This study aims to evaluate methods for assessing fatigue cracking in Asphalt Concrete (AC) mixes. In order to achieve optimum density at different binder contents, the mixes were compressed using a gyratory compactor. Tensile strength was assessed using the Indirect Tensile (IDT) and Semi-Circular Bend (SCB) tests. The results showed that the tensile strength measured by the SCB test was consistently higher than that measured by the IDT test at 25 °C. In addition, the SCB test showed a stronger correlation between increasing binder content and tensile strength. For binder contents ranging from 4
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The distress of moisture induced damage in flexible pavement received tremendous attention over the past decades. The harmful effects of this distress expand the deterioration of other known distresses such as rutting and fatigue cracking. This paper focused on the efficiency of using the waste material of demolished concrete to prepare asphalt mixtures that can withstand the effect of moisture in the pavement. For this purpose, different percentages of waste demolished concrete (0, 10, 20, 30, 50, 70 and 100) were embedded as a replacement for coarse aggregate to construct the base course. The optimum asphalt contents were determined depending on the Marshall method. Then after, two parameters were founded to evaluate the moisture
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This study explores the role of nanomaterials in the performance of asphalt binders and mixtures. Two commonly available nanomaterials, i.e., nanosilica (NS) and nanoalumina (NA), were used at contents of 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% by weight of asphalt binder. A set of experiments was carried out at the binder level to investigate properties such as penetration, softening point, aging-related mass loss, nanomaterial dispersion (storage stability), and workability (rotational viscosity). In addition, the suitability of NS and NS was also assessed through the testing of nanomodified asphalt mixtures, which focused on Marshall properties, the resilient modulus, moisture susceptibility, permanent deformation, and fatigue resistance. The findings in
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Abstract Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a prevalent chronic microvascular diabetic complication. As inflammation plays a vital role in the development and progress of DN the macrophages migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a proinflammatory multifunctional cytokine approved to play a critical function in inflammatory responses in various pathologic situations like DN. This study aimed To assess serum levels of MIF in a sample of Iraqi diabetic patients with nephropathy supporting its validity as a marker for predicting nephropathy in T2DM patients. In addition, to evaluate the nephroprotective effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in terms of their influence on MIF levels. This is a case-control study involving ninety
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This study aims to answer a significant problem of social sciences and philosophy: How do we construct an institutional reality such as diplomacy with an objective recognizable existence? The study assumes that the ability to build institutional reality is based on our biological capacity, as it takes different forms in all the institutions we construct. The study takes the theory of the American philosopher John Searle as an approach to examining the assumption. The study sums up important findings; cultures, although they share the biological capacity on which they produce institutional realities, differ in the form of the value standards on which the institutional realities are based. The study recommends the need of Arab social resea
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Fatigue cracking is the most common distress in road pavement. It is mainly due to the increase in the number of load repetition of vehicles, particularly those with high axle loads, and to the environmental conditions. In this study, four-point bending beam fatigue testing has been used for control and modified mixture under various micro strain levels of (250 μƐ, 400 μƐ, and 750 μƐ) and 5HZ. The main objective of the study is to provide a comparative evaluation of pavement resistance to the phenomenon of fatigue cracking between modified asphalt concrete and conventional asphalt concrete mixes (under the influence of three percentage of Silica fumes 1%, 2%, 3% by the weight of asphalt content), and (chan
... Show MoreImplementation of Warm Mix Asphalt concrete (WMA) is getting global acceptance due to the restrictions for protecting the environment and the requirements to reduce fuel consumption. In this investigation, two WMA mixtures have been prepared in the laboratory using medium curing cutback (MC-30) and Cationic emulsion asphalt. Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) was also prepared for comparison. The cylinder specimens (63.5mm) in height and (101.6mm) in diameter were constructed from the mixtures and subjected to indirect tensile strength test to determine the Tensile Strength Ratio (TSR). The cylinder specimens of (101.6mm) in height and (101.6mm) in diameter were also constructed from those mixtures and subjected to static compressive
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Sustainable pavements are pavements that meet the requirements of present generation without influencing the capability of the future generation to meet their needs. One of the problems of the warm mix asphalt is that it has low resistance to moisture damage; therefore, the aim of this research paper is to study the possibility of producing more durable warm mixes against the moisture damage with the use of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) which has not been studied before. Six replacement rates (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%) for the coarse version aggregate (VA) with RCA were studied. The Marshall mix design method was used to determine the optimum asphalt cement content for each replacement rate. Thereafter, specimens with the opt
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Sustainable pavements are pavements that meet the requirements of present generation without influencing the capability of the future generation to meet their needs. One of the problems of the warm mix asphalt is that it has low resistance to moisture damage; therefore, the aim of this research paper is to study the possibility of producing more durable warm mixes against the moisture damage with the use of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) which has not been studied before. Six replacement rates (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%) for the coarse version aggregate (VA) with RCA were studied. The Marshall mix design method was used to determine the optimum asphalt cement content for each replacement rate. Thereafter, specimens with the opt
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