In aired and semiarid areas like Iraq, saline soil may be considered one of the major concerns. In addition to environmental effects, they may produce significant geotechnical hazards that could interrupt the structure stability depending on the salt type and its concentration. So, it is crucial to identify the degree of the soil salinity with a proper tool for getting a qualified assessment and consequently offering a suitable treatment. In this paper, the electrical resistivity technique has been employed to detect the degree of soil salinity by considering a new electronic system. The system used a single-phase Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC) inverter accompanied by a transformer. Natural soils became artificially saline

Stone columns are widely used globally due to theirversatility and relative wide applicability to treat different soil and foundation situations but much of the research undertaken to date has focused on their use in soft soils. In countries like Iraq the use of stone columns is still limited from a practical point of view, chiefly as many other soil conditions are commonly encountered. These include collapsible soils: soils that are prone to relatively rapid volume compressions (through collapse of metastable fabrics) that occur due to the action of load and/or increases in water content. Recent work has opened up the possibility to use stone columns in these soils by the use of encasement, thereby overcoming the impact of loss of lateral

ABSTRACT: Ultimate bearing capacity of soft ground reinforced with stone column was recently predicted using various artificial intelligence technologies such as artificial neural network because of all the advantages that they can offer in minimizing time, effort and cost. As well as, most of applied theories or predicted formulas deduced analytically from previous studies were feasible only for a particular testing environment and do not match other field or laboratory datasets. However, the performance of such techniques depends largely on input parameters that really affect the target output and missing of any parameter can lead to inaccurate results and give a false indicator. In the current study, data were collected from previous rel

The geophysical testing is increasingly being employed in many geotechnical applications. It is preferred in monitoring the mechanical characteristics of the ground because of its economy, not time consuming and non-destructive nature. Seismic wave test is one of the geophysical methods which showed a potential in observing the general behaviour of the reinforced soil with stone columns. Findings in most cases showed that the seismic wave measurements was integrated with or compared to the conventional tests such as standard penetration test or cone penetration test. There was a noticeable success in identifying the enhancement achieved to the ground upon the strengthening with the column, specifically when the associated surveys can produc

Materials recycling has a significant economic and environmental impact; as a result, steel, aluminium, plastic, and other recyclable materials have been pushed for use in construction materials. One of these recyclable materials is the crumb rubber, has been considered as a pavement component. The general behaviour of the composite rubber-hot mix asphalt system would be varied from that of the conventional rubber free mix. In this review, desirable characteristics of hot mix asphalt are highlighted first. Also, effect of gradation and the main types of rubber are specified. Afterward, many studies that considered the crumb rubber as a waste product and its associated mixture and modifiers are reviewed. The factors affect the crumb

Oil pollution of the soil due to a leakage in oil tubes, transportation of products, or during oil excavations can change the soil physical and mechanical, chemical, and biological properties. Consequently, the soil may or may not be eligible for engineering construction projects and it may need a significant treatment. Therefore, it is required to have a better understanding of the general behavior and the corresponding geotechnical properties upon pollution particularly for those areas associated with oil explorations and industry like Thi-Qar Governorate. Fine and coarse soils from two sites at the University of Thi-Qar are artificially contaminated with oil products ranging from 0% to 10% of their dry weight. Testing programs have been

This study experimentally investigated Free-Fall Gravity Drainage (FFGD) under combination-drive conditions in a two-dimensional Hele-Shaw model representing a water-drive reservoir. An initially high gravity potential from the oil column enabled early oil drainage before aquifer support became dominant. Three water-drive strengths were tested, demonstrating that a stronger aquifer (1.15 psig) accelerated oil recovery to approximately 75% of the original oil in place (OOIP) within 60 minutes, resulting in a final recovery of 79.5%. However, this was accompanied by rapid water breakthrough after 2.5 minutes and high-water cuts exceeding 90%. In contrast, a weaker aquifer (0.725 psig) stabilized the oil–water contact, delaying w

في السنوات الأخيرة، أدى التقدم التكنولوجي في إنترنت الأشياء (IoT) وأجهزة الاستشعار الذكية إلى فتح اتجاهات جديدة وإعطاء حلول عملية في مختلف قطاعات الحياة. يتم التعرف على إنترنت الأشياء كتنولوجيا حديثة تربط بين مختلف انواع الشبكات. تم تحسين أنواع مختلفة من قطاعات الرعاية الصحية في المجال الطبي بناءً على هذه التكنولوجيا. أحد هذه القطاعات الهامة هو نظام مراقبة الصحة (HMS). تعتبر مراقبة المريض عن بعد لاسلكيًا وبت

Wind energy is considered one of the most important sources of renewable energy in the world, because it contributes to reducing the negative effects on the environment. The most important types of wind turbines are horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines. This work presents the full details of design for vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) and how to find the optimal values of necessary factors. Additionally, the results shed light on the efficiency and performance of the VAWT under different working conditions. It was taken into consideration the variety of surrounding environmental conditions (such as density and viscosity of fluid, number of elements of the blade, etc.) to simulate the working of vertical wind turbines under di

This article presents the results of an experimental investigation of using carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheets to enhance the behavior of reinforced concrete deep beams with large web openings in shear spans. A set of 18 specimens were fabricated and tested up to a failure to evaluate the structural performance in terms of cracking, deformation, and load-carrying capacity. All tested specimens were with 1500-mm length, 500-mm cross-sectional deep, and 150-mm wide. Parameters that studied were opening size, opening location, and the strengthening factor. Two deep beams were implemented as control specimens without opening and without strengthening. Eight deep beams were fabricated with openings but without strengthening, while

The present work reports the performance of three types of polyethersulfone (PES) membrane in the removal of highly polluting and toxic lead Pb2+ and cadmium Cd2+ ions from a single salt. This study investigated the effect of operating variables, including pH, types of PES membrane, and feed concentration, on the separation process. The transport parameters and mass transfer coefficient (k) of the membranes were estimated using the combined film theory-solution-diffusion (CFSD), combined film theory-Spiegler-Kedem (CFSK), and combined film theory-finely-porous (CFFP) membrane transport models. Various parameters were used to estimate the enrichment factors, concentration polarization modulus, and Péclet number. The pH values signif

New nanotechnology-based approaches are increasingly being investigated for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), with a particular focus on heavy oil reservoirs. Typically, the addition of a polymer to an injection fluid advances the sweep efficiency and mobility ratio of the fluid and leads to a higher crude oil recovery rate. However, harsh reservoir conditions, including high formation salinity and temperature, can limit the performance of such polymer fluids. Recently, nanofluids, that is, dispersions of nanoparticles (NPs) in a base fluid, have been recommended as EOR fluids; however, such nanofluids are unstable, even under ambient conditions. In this work, a combination of ZrO2 NPs and the polyacrylamide (PAM) polymer (ZrO2 NPs–PAM) was us

Acid treatment is a widely used stimulation technique in the petroleum industry. Matrix acidizing is regarded as an effective and efficient acidizing technique for carbonate formations that leads to increase the fracture propagation, repair formation damage, and increase the permeability of carbonate rocks. Generally, the injected acid dissolves into the rock minerals and generates wormholes that modify the rock structure and enhance hydrocarbon production. However, one of the key issues is the associated degradation in the mechanical properties of carbonate rocks caused by the generated wormholes, which may significantly reduce the elastic properties and hardness of rocks. There have been several experimental and simulation studies regardi

The efficient behavior of a low-concentrating photovoltaic-thermal system with a micro-jet channel (LCPV/T-JET) and booster mirror reflector is experimentally evaluated here. Micro-jets promote the thermal management of PV solar cells by implementing jet water as active cooling, which is still in the early stages of development. The booster mirror reflector concentrates solar irradiance into solar cells and improves the thermal, electrical, and combined efficiencies of the LCPV/T-JET system. The LCPV/T-JET system was tested under ambient weather conditions in the city of Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia, and all data was recorded between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Parametric studies were conducted to compare the performance of the LCPV/T-JET system

Hydrated lime has been recognized as an effective additive used to improve asphalt concrete properties in pavement applications. However, further work is still needed to quantify the effect of hydrated lime on asphaltic concrete performance under varied weather, temperature, and environmental conditions and in the application of different pavement courses. A research project was conducted using hydrated lime to modify the asphalt concretes used for the applications of wearing (surface), leveling (binder), and base courses. A previous publication reported the experimental study on the resistance to Marshall stability and the volumetric properties, the resilient modulus, and permanent deformation at three different weather temperatures. This

The study examines the root causes of delays that the project manager is unable to resolve or how the decision-maker can identify the best opportunities to get over these obstacles by considering the project constraints defined as the project triangle (cost, time, and quality) in post-disaster reconstruction projects to review the real challenges to overcome these obstacles. The methodology relied on the exploratory description and qualitative data examined. 43 valid questionnaires were distributed to qualified experienced engineers. A list of 49 factors causes was collected from previous international and local studies. A Relative Important Index (RII) is adapted to determine the level of importance of each sub-criterion in the fou