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Go to Editorial ManagerPoly(vinyl chloride) photodecomposition films that contains melamine Schiff base (0.5% by weight) as photostabilizers upon preservation with an ultraviolet light (UV) was investigated. The photodecomposition rate constant was reduced significantly in existence of melamine Schiff base compared to PVC (blank). The Schiff base 1 was found to most effective additive in PVC photostabilization films. Photodecomposition rate content for PVC films containing Schiff base 1 was found to be 5 × 10-3 sec-1 compared to 8.7 × 10-3 sec-1 for blank film. Ultraviolet radiation aging behaviors of PVC films were studied through leaching test by measuring the degree of migration. The surface morphology of PVC films was inspected by scanning electron microscope.
The effect of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) on the electric field strength and distribution for improvement solar cell performance is investigated and simulated. By manipulating the properties of nanoparticles, distribution of the electric field was altered. In this paper, classical solar cell (p-n junction) and improved structure (add an extra layer of SiO2 and gold nanoparticles on the top of p-n junction) is simulated. Different sizes of NPs, thickness of SiO2 sublayer, and spacing distance between NPs is done to improving the electric field and showing plamonic effect. Gold NPs deposition on single crystalline silicon solar cell is modelled by COMSOL 5.2 2D, Electromagnetic wave propagation in the frequency domain with periodic boundary conditions. The best wavelength found in our work is 550 nm. The electric field enhances when the size of NPs increases but it must be limited. When gold NPs are deposited on the SiO2 sublayer, the plasmonic effect appears due to decreasing the refractive index. Moreover, separation distance between NPs affect the electric field enhancement by manipulating the number of NPs, the distance decreases and the plasmonic interaction appears.
Türkiye possesses abundant geothermal resources. It is ranked seventh globally for this particular energy resources and grade among the first 5 in utilizing geothermal and thermal springs for various purposes such as electricity generation, residential cooling and heating, greenhouse operations, desiccating processes, thermal recreation, therapeutic applications, mining, agricultural uses, and aquaculture. The government's endorsement from renewable power sources is fueling growing interest on this particular energy sector. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of geothermal energy in select locations of Türkiye, including an assessment of its potential and various applications. The study seeks to provide a valuable involvement to the future advancements of a geothermal technology on Türkiye.
This study simulates a free-space optical communication system that uses optical beams with varying responses to atmospheric disturbances to secure transmitted data. Atmospheric turbulence was modeled with high accuracy to replicate real-world conditions closely. Non-diffracting beams were generated and used to represent optical beams and compared in two scenarios, conventional data transmission, and optifusion data protection. This approach facilitated a comprehensive analysis of the transmission environment and the effectiveness of optifusion, identifying the most suitable non-diffracting beam types for secure data propagation. By analyzing the values of key performance metrics of the selected non-diffracting beams across different weather conditions and long propagation distances, the study demonstrated the simulation system's reliability and the optifusion method's effectiveness in enhancing data security. The results showed that non-diffracting beams resist atmospheric turbulences strongly, emphasizing their potential for secure, long-range free-space optical communications.
Natural convection air heat transfer and fluid movement currents around a hot circular cylinder inside an inclined triangular enclosure has been analyzed experimentally. Three different sizes of an enclosure with a long side of 20, 25, and 30 cm, the thickness of 1 mm, and depth of 50 cm were used in the present work to give three radius ratios. The effect of Rayleigh number, radius ratio, the rotation angle of triangle enclosure, and the inclination angle of the apparatus with horizontal axis ? on the heat transfer process was investigated. The ranges of these parameters were: Rayleigh number from 5×106 to 2.5×108, radius ratio (0.345, 0.455, and 0.618), rotation angle (0o, 45o, and 90o), and inclination angle (0o, 45o and 90o). The results show that the heat transfer rates increase with increase in Rayleigh number and as the rotation angle of enclosure is changed from 0o to 90o. Moreover, the heat transfer rate increases linearly with Rayleigh number at higher radius at rotation angle 0o, 90o only. While, it increases slightly with Rayleigh number at rotation angle 45o. Additionally, the higher heat transfer rates occur at vertical position of enclosure inclination angle 90o and rotation angle 0o (the base of triangle at the bottom) and it decreases as inclination angle deviates from 90o to 0o. This behavior is reverse completely at higher radius ratio 0.618. Empirical correlations for the average Nusselt number has been found to depend on Rayleigh number., radius ratio, rotation angle and inclination angle.
Prosthetic is an artificial tool that replaces part of the human frame absent because of ailment, damage, or distortion. The current activities in Iraq draw interest to the upper limb discipline because of the growth in variety of amputees and. It is necessary to do extensive researches in this subject to help lessen the struggling of patients. This paper describes the design and development of low-cost prosthesis for people with transradial amputations. The presented design involves a hand with five fingers moving by means of a gear box mechanism. The design of this artificial hand allows five degrees of freedom(5DOF), one degree of freedom for each finger. The artificial hand works by an actuation system (6V) Polou motor with gear ratio equal to 50:1 due to its compactness and cheapness. The designed hand was manufactured by a 3D printing process using polylacticacid material (PLA). Some experimental were accomplished using the designed hand for gripping objects. Initially the EMG signal was recorded when the muscle contracted in one second, two seconds, three seconds. The synthetic hand was able to produce range of gesture and grasping moves separately just like the actual hand by using KNN classification which are complete hand Pinch, fist, and jack chuck. The simulation of the fingers movements was achieved using ANSYS software to analysis the movement (pinch, fist, and jack chuck), obtain bested of stress influencer at each finger, and maximum deformation at each movement.
A numerical study was performed of natural laminar convective heat transfer to its concentrated triangular enclosure around a horizontal circular cylinder. The air-filled enclosure kept the inner and outer cylinders at uniform temperatures. The Boussinesq density approximation to the momentum problem and the control volume approach iteratively resolved the governing equations to explain buoyancy. CFD results show that the velocity behavior increases by increasing Ra, so the stream lines becomes more sluggish and less uniform behavior and vortices gets less circulated pattern. The rotation angle ? has significant effect on vortices, at 90o gives the higher range of velocity zones of free convection with higher range. The thermal boundary layer seems to be larger in rr=0.455 as compared with rr=0.345 and decreases by increasing ?. The larger variation of isotherms and thermal boundary layer appears at lower ? because the higher heat transfer rate occurs at higher ? and becomes maximum at 90o. Eight correlations of average Nusselt number have been deduced as a function of Rayleigh number for the taken values of aspect ratio and enclosure angles of rotation and inclination.
This study aims to review flow-induced vibration one of the repercussions of vibrations is caused by fluid movement. In general, the investigation of the structure of the systems affects the efficiency of the components that construct those systems. This review examined the influence of generated vibrations and internal pressure on fluid transport pipes using theoretical calculations, practical tests, and numerical analysis to identify and test the dynamic behavior of static fluid transport pipes. The experimental study considered the natural frequencies caused by the fluid pressure effect under various stability situations. The flow of all liquids, such as oil, water, gas, air, and vapors, through the pipes, was tested, and the mathematical models were correctly adjusted. All empirical, theoretical, numerical, and analytical research agrees that several approaches exist to develop, modify, and improve these metrics. However, one factor affecting rheological measurements is vibration, which was addressed as needed in the middle of the 20th century due to major discoveries that damage could be rooted in vibration. Established on the determinations, they provided mathematical models paired with pressure and velocity measurements of moving fluids and the influence of produced or uninduced vibration. This study demonstrates that additional empirical investigations, particularly more detailed analytical methodologies, are urgently required to produce better findings.
Accurately identifying the kind and amount of dissolved metal salts in wastewater used in oil refining processes is an iconic feature of ultraviolet and visible absorption spectroscopy. This method relies on the dissolved metal salts' ability to absorb light at certain wavelengths after reacting with it. The experiments were conducted in a lab setting with a broadband source (200-800 nm) to measure the absorbance of dissolved element salts and precisely identify the lowest concentration up to 2 ppm. A mixture of the mineral salts from oil refining operations was prepared and diluted to different concentrations using a standard solution. This allowed us to study and compare this result with the absorbance behavior of the wastewater from the Al-Dora Refinery. The two results reinforced that we can accurately estimate the detection parameters for the lowest water contamination. These materials are lead nitrate (PbNO3), phenol, calcium carbonate (CaCO3), sodium chloride (NaCl2), sulfide (SO4), and nitrate (NO3). At wavelengths of 340, 404, and 741 nm, the concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100) ppm were found, and for the concentration of 10ppm, the absorbance (0.15323, 0.15326, and 0.14685) was found, respectively. The process that has been tested with varying concentrations is considered and simulates the variation in river water concentrations caused by the river's water level and flow rate changes by the effect of rain abundance and thawing. It is fast, accurate data analysis, and a lower cost compared with the other chemical analysis and conventional methods.
This research study the rheological properties ( plastic viscosity, yield point and apparent viscosity) of non-Newtonian fluids under the addition of different chemical additives with different concentrations, such as (xanthan gum (xc-polymer) , carboxy methyl cellulose ( high and low viscosity ) ,polyacrylamide, polyvinyl alcohol, starch, quebracho, chrome lignosulfonate, and sodium chloride (NaCl). Fann viscometer model 800 with 8-speeds was used to measure the rheological properties of these samples, that have already been prepared. All samples were subjected to Bingham plastic model. It was concluded that the plastic viscosity, yield point and apparent viscosity should be increased with increasing the concentrations of (xanthan gum (xc-polymer) , carboxy methyl cellulose ( high and low viscosity ) ,polyacrylamide, polyvinyl alcohol, starch and sodium chloride (NaCl), while the opposite is true for quebracho, chrome lignosulfonate.
Reclaimed (recycled) asphalt pavement (RAP), the most recycled material worldwide, is the mostly reclaimed material utilized in hot mix asphalt. Polymer (Crumb rubber) incorporation frequently leads to enhanced durability and resistance to heat cracking and rutting, two forms of permanent deformation. It also relieves stiffness and minimizes fatigue damage. This study aims to gather all previous RAP-related research and crumb rubber CR, so that the impact of using these materials on mechanical, physical properties of asphalt pavement, environmental effect and cost effective are clarify and explained. The finding of this research proved that the use of RAP and CR provide considerable structural and financial enhancements to the construction.
The Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is a most complex power electronic device, which can simultaneously control a local bus voltage and optimize power flows in the electrical power transmission system. This paper presents the effect of installing the UPFC on the Iraqi (400 kV) grid transmission system to control the active and reactive power flow by choosing the optimal location and parameters of Unified Power Flow Controllers (UPFCs), which were specified based on the Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimization method. The objectives are improving voltage profile, reducing power losses, treating power flow in overloaded transmission lines, and reducing power generation. The steady state model of UPFC has been adopted on (400 kV) Iraq transmission lines and simulated using the MATLAB programming language. The Newton-Raphson (NR) numerical analysis method has been used for solving the load flow of the system. The practical part has been solved through Power System Simulation for Engineers (PSS\E) software Version 32.0. The Comparative results between the experimental and practical parts obtained from adopting the UPFC were too close and almost the same under different loading conditions, which are (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) of the total load.
A proposed modern technique for determination the blood group typing by monitoring the agglutination of red blood cells using acousto-optical technique and digital camera. The method based on analysis the digital image of the agglutination process by MATLAB software._x000D_ We present an overview of two acousto-optic sensing approaches; the first demonstrates the cuvette approach while the second is the microscope slide approach. The cuvette approach digital image analyzing depends on the green channel distribution of the original image and count the brighten pixels, while the microscope slide approach passes through series of algorithms started with grayscale filter and end with edge detection it counts the different color pixels._x000D_ The experimental result shown that it is possible to enhance the determination of blood group typing by using acousto-optical technique in both cases of using isohemagglutinating sera as well as the crossmatch test in a short time and high efficiency compared with the traditional methods.
In Republic of Iraq, ready-mix concrete production plants have been adversely affected by the lack of modern and advanced technology to assess their performance in line with technological advancements. Current evaluation methods rely on traditional approaches and financial measures, yielding unrealistic performance results. To address this problem, there is a need to utilize modern models and methods for performance evaluation. The study's main objective This was achieved by employing a literature survey methodology and utilizing digital databases such as the Iraqi Scientific Journals website, virtual libraries, and scientific platforms like ScienceDirect, Springer, Google Scholar, and Gate Research between 2015 and 2023. The research study provided a comprehensive overview of performance evaluation, including its definitions, importance, and an introduction to modern models and evaluation methods. The study found that no previous studies have been conducted in Iraq to evaluate ready-mix concrete production plants. However, four studies were found in Egypt, Sudan, and India. The previous similar relevant studies discussed various topics and related studies. Firstly, they discussed the classification, advantages, and disadvantages of concrete mixing plants. Additionally, the previous studies analyzed the factors that most influence the performance of concrete production plants, including laboratory manager efficiency, work team efficiency, communication and relationships within work teams, plant operator, material transportation method, and time and courses. Furthermore, the previous research studies present a comprehensive analysis of all variable data simultaneously using the statistical package for Social Science (SPSS) input stage. The evaluation also extends to the evaluation of laboratories, encompassing plant arrangement, internal quality control systems, and final product quality. The overall evaluation results of previous studies. Indicate that 75% of the concrete production plants failed to meet the required criteria, while only 25% demonstrated satisfactory performance. The study proposed improvements to enhance the performance rate of ready-mix concrete production plants by leveraging the most influential variables, which will be considered in the study.
In this work, waste glass powder from broken windows and plastic fibers from waste polyethylene terephthalate bottles are utilized to produce an economical self-compact concrete. Fresh properties (slump flow diameter, slump Flow T50, V. Funnel, L–Box), mechanical properties (Compressive strength and Flexural strength) and impact resistance of self-compact concrete are investigated. 15% waste glass powder as a partial replacement of cement with five percentages of polyethylene terephthalate plastic waste were adopted: 0% (reference), 0.5%, 0.75%, 1%, 1.25% and 1.5% by volume. It seems that the flow ability of self-compact concrete decreases with the increasing of the amount of plastic fibers. The compressive strength was increased slightly with plastic fiber content up to (0.75%), about 4.6% For more than (0.75%) plastic fiber. The compressive strength began to decrease about 15.2%. The results showed an improvement in flexural strength and an impact on the resistance in all tested specimens’ content of the plastic fibers, especially at (1.5%) fibers.
This study explores the impact of adding high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and Novolac polymers to gypseous soil from Tikrit City, Iraq, to enhance its geotechnical properties. The soil contained 38% gypsum, and the polymers were added in varying proportions (1%, 3%, 6%). Both polymers improved maximum dry density, optimum moisture content, and reduced collapse potential (Ic). The collapse potential was reduced by 64%, 77.7%, and 83.2% at 1%, 3%, and 6% HDPE content, respectively. The collapse potential was reduced by 82.3%, 74.8%, and 51.9% at 1%, 3%, and 6% Novolac polymer content, respectively. In the dry conditions, the internal friction angle increased by about 22.9% and 5.7% as the HDPE content was increased by 3% and 6% respectively. Adding Novolac polymer also increased the internal friction angle by about 5.7% by the addition of 3% Novolac polymer. In soaked conditions, the best increase in internal friction angle (?) was 30% with the addition of 3% HDPE polymer. the internal friction angle increased by about 26.7% by adding 1% and 3% of Novolac polymer. The study concludes that adding HDPE and Novolac polymers can improve geotechnical properties, but their effect on CBR is complex and depends on the polymer percentage added and soil moisture state.
Forced vibration has been experimentally investigated on a model consists of circular pipe with1.6m length. The pipe built in tank (1.2m length, 0.6m height and 0.6m width) horizontally at 0.4m height with two different diameters d=15mm and d=35mm. The pipe conveying laminar flow in the fully developed region, of Reynolds number equals 2000. The experimental results of span pipe conveying water at five stations of forced excitation vibration were studied. The harmonic forced vibration with two different excitation frequencies (10 Hz and 15 Hz) are imposed at all of the five locations. The distance between two stations is (0.2m). Two conditions of pipe environment have been applied, the first in air and the other was immersed in water. It is concluded that the effect of flow induced vibration due to the pipe conveying fluid increases the maximum deflection when the fluid speed increases. The water surrounds the pipes reduce the effect of excitation vibration about (33 – 46%). The effect difference between the excitation frequencies was about (4 – 7%).
As a result of the tremendous development taking place in modern systems and technologies in the field of electronic monitoring. Intelligent monitoring, decision making, and automated response systems have become common subjects at this time, especially after the development of machines responsible for these processes. Traffic surveillance is a trend goal nowadays using different techniques and equipment. In this article, real-time Object detection and tracking techniques were proposed for traffic surveillance using image processing techniques. A state was specifically examined for its ability to detect and count passing motorcycles on a highway in a specific area. The results showed good reliability, with a frame processing time of approximately about (30 ms) and the achievement of real-time performance. The main contribution of this article is reaching the best result implemented by the performance the real-time process using image process technique and tracking the object by depending on the sequencing of frames and can stands with rationally not so powerful machines. Several tools have been used for different types of necessary tasks that will be part of the required application such as Python 3.7; which was used to build the basic algorithms,Visual studio code (VSC) as an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), and Anaconda navigator for downloading many useful libraries. The specifications of the used device were Intel(R) Core (TM) i7- 10750H CPU @ 2.60GHz 2.59 GHz, RAM 16.0 GB, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU, 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor.
The process of increasing the heat transfer coefficient, resulting in enhancing system efficiency, is known as heat transfer enhancement. Enhancing heat transport is both economically beneficial and a considerable energy conservation problem. To improve heat transfer, many passive components are utilized within tubes, including wire plugs, enhanced surfaces, rough edges, twisted tape inserts, and liquid additives. This study evaluated twisted tape inserts, which are highly effective passive devices. Considering its numerous advantages, such as effortless maintenance, uncomplicated operation, and straightforward production. The twisted tape inserts within the tube generated a vortex and swirling flow. The interior convective heat transfer process is significantly improved. A summary of various twisting tape additives that can boost performance.
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The finite element method is one of the important methods in analyzing geotechnical engineering problems; its main advantage is the ability to apply for the materials exhibiting non-linear stress-strain behavior. In this study the finite element program PLAXIS 3D 2013 is used to study the behavior of the piles under the influence of seismic waves in saturated sandy soil and the effect of adding geogrid with the pile foundation. The program has been used to facilitate the representation of the real model, input the required soil parameters and implementation of seismic data. Seismic wave, the soil geometry and the pile dimensions were fixed in all models, while dimension and depth of the geogrid used were varied to study the influence of different depth and dimension in reducing the pile displacements and the pore water pressure of soil. The results show that The reduction in settlement ratio (the difference between settlement of pile without and with using geogrid to the settlement without using geogrid) for ( ×L/2), (L×L) and (2L×2L) are 10.6%, 17% and 21.3% respectively. And the settlement ratio for geogrid at depths 8.33% and 12.5% of pile length are 9.6% and 17% respectively.
Expansive soil poses significant challenges for civil engineers worldwide since it seriously affects the structures built upon it. This soil has a very active group of minerals called montmorillonite, which is responsible for the significant volume change it exhibits. For a number of years, chemical additives have been utilized to stabilize soil, with various levels of success. Soil stabilization has involved the use of a variety of additives, including cement, lime, polymers, salts, and combinations of these. However, lime is very often used for expansive soil stabilization as it improves the soil's mechanical properties. The effects of adding three percentages of lime (3%, 6%, and 9%) to expansive soil to improve its engineering properties are investigated through several tests. The laboratory tests consist of standard compaction, sieve analysis, atterberg limits, hydrometer, California bearing ratio, consolidation test, swelling potential, and specific gravity. The test results displayed that the plasticity index, liquid limit, swelling potential, and maximum dry density, specific gravity decreased using (3%, 6%, and 9%) lime. In contrast, the plastic limit, and optimum moisture content increased using (3%, 6%, and 9%) lime. The California bearing ratio is increased from (12.13% to 14.65%) by adding (9% L). The swelling index and compression index are decreased from (0.070 to 0.030) and from (0.581 to 0.193) respectively by adding (9% L). The swelling percentage is reduced from (18.77% to 6.03%) by adding (9% L).
This research studies the physical and mechanical properties of mortar composed of PVC plastic waste particles used as fine aggregate replacement material. PVC particles in quantities of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% by volume were used for sand fraction substitution. This quantity of PVC was used to formulate seven mixes with a cement content of 525 kg/m3 and a water-to-cement ratio (w/c) of 0.45. At 7 and 28 days, the compressive and splitting tensile strengths of the mortar's mechanical characteristics were evaluated. Additionally, the physical characteristics of density and absorption were investigated. The findings demonstrated that the mechanical properties and density of mortar containing PVC powder were minimized.
In the field of engineering, 3D printers are indispensable due to their high precision. This study focuses on the construction and optimization of a 3D printer using aluminum T-slotted bars for the frame, Raspberry Pi 4 for control, and Lightburn software for image printing and machine control. After assembling the main components and programming with Marlin firmware, the machine was tested for vibration and noise reduction. The research compared the vibration of a diode laser and spindle during printing, revealing significantly lower vibration with the laser compared to the spindle. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the constructed 3D printer in reducing vibration and noise during operation.
Computed tomography (CT) imaging is an important diagnostic tool. CT imaging facilitates the internal rendering of a scanned object by measuring the attenuation of beams of X-ray radiation. CT employs a mathematical technique of image reconstruction; those techniques are classified as; analytical and iterative. The iterative reconstruction (IR) methods have been proven to be superior over the analytical methods, but due to their prolonged reconstruction time, those methods are excluded from routine use in clinical applications. In this paper the reconstruction time of an IR algorithm is minimized through the employment of an adaptive region growing segmentation method that focuses the image reconstruction process on a specified region, thus ignoring unwanted pixels that increase the computation time. This method is tested on the iterative algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) algorithm. Some phantom images are used in this paper to demonstrate the effects of the segmentation process. The simulation results are executed using MATLAB (version R2018b) programming language, and a computer system with the following specifications: CPU core i7 (2.40 GHz) for processing. Simulation results indicate that this method will reduce the reconstruction time of the iterative algorithms, and will enhance the quality of the reconstructed image.
The most important way for joining the non-welding aluminum alloy is Friction stir spot welding. Three parameters effect on efficiency of welding: tool shape, rotational speed, and plunged time, are chosen to study for welding 6061T6 aluminum alloy. Each of the above parameters has three variables as: pin shapes (square, cylinder, and hexagonal), plunged time (50, 70,100) sec and rotational speeds (710, 1120, 1800) rpm hybrid approach which is consist of the experiment run, neural network and social spider optimization is used to optimize the welding conditions by finding the maximum ultimate force. The best condition of the weldments is (square, 710rpm, 100sec) with maximum shear force 4740N. The best results obtained from hybrid optimization with experimental results; with discrepancy of 2%.
Shallow foundation suffers from considerable settlement, displacement and tilting under earthquakes. This is particularly due to the shaking associated with earthquakes that lead to the generation of horizontal seismic load transferred through the soil to the foundation. Also, liquefaction could take place during the earthquake in the saturated loose sand. To alleviate the detrimental effect of earthquakes, ground improvement is required. This study examines the response of the shallow square foundation rested on loose sand soil reinforced with geogrid reinforcement when subjected to 2023 Turkey earthquake by using a shaking table system. Different number of geogrid layers are installed; (one, two, three and four), also various geogrid configurations were examined which are (straight, trapezoidal and reverse trapezoidal). The acceleration response, settlement, horizontal displacement, rotation and pore water pressure developed in the sand soil and the shallow foundation during 2023 Turkey earthquake has been examined. The settlement and the horizontal displacement, foundation rotation, acceleration and pore water pressure were measured using rope displacement transducers, tilt sensors, accelerometers and pore water transducers respectively. The results showed that the acceleration amplifies when passing through loose sand. The results also indicated that the shallow foundation experienced noticeable settlement, horizontal displacement and rotation when subjected to the seismic loads. On the other hand, the installation of geogrid proved to be effective in controlling the problems associated with earthquakes. The optimum geogrid reinforcement is occurred when three layers of geogrid placed in reverse trapezoidal configuration (3RT) since it gave the best reduction in the acceleration amplification and the highest decrease in the foundation settlement, displacement and tilting which is about (60-66) %. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of geogrid minimizes when the sand soil becomes saturated. In addition, liquefaction occurs during earthquakes especially at the shallower depths because of the decrease in the shear strength of saturated soil.
Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is an indispensable method that reconstructs three dimensional (3D) images. CBCT employs a mathematical technique of reconstruction, which reveals the anatomy of the patient’s body through the measurements of projections. The mathematical techniques employed in the reconstruction process are classified as; analytical, and iterative. The iterative reconstruction methods have been proven to be superior over the analytical methods, but due to their prolonged reconstruction time those methods are excluded from routine use in clinical applications. The aim of this research is to accelerate the iterative methods by performing the reconstruction process using a graphical processing unit (GPU). This method is tested on two iterative-reconstruction algorithms (IR), the algebraic reconstruction technique (ART), and the multiplicative algebraic reconstruction technique (MART). The results are compared against the traditional ART, and MART. A 3D test head phantom image is used in this research to demonstrate results of the proposed method on the reconstruction algorithms. The simulation results are executed using MATLAB (version R2018b) programming language and computer system with the following specifications: CPU core i7 (2.40 GHz) for the processing, with a NIVDIA GEFORCE GPU. Experimental results indicate, that this method reduces the reconstruction time for the iterative algorithms.
The experimental analysis is conducted under the Iraqi climate conditions to investigate the performance enhancement of a solar updraft tower system (SUTS) using the porous copper foam as an absorber plate and conventional absorber plate with absorber inclination angle of 18°. In the present work, a semicircular collector is divided into two identical quarter thermal collectors to become two identical SUTS. One of the quarter circular thermal collectors contains on the metal foam as an absorber plate, while the other quarter collector on the conventional flat copper absorber plate. In this study the air inlet height is changed of (3, 5, and 8) cm. The experimental tests carried out in Baghdad city (latitude 33.3° N). Results showed that the air inlet height variation caused to enhance the solar updraft tower performance. The highest values was recorded when the air inlet height is 3 cm using porous absorber compared to flat absorber plate. Copper material foam as an endothermic surface causes a marked decrease in average surface temperature of the plate. The maximum hourly thermal efficiency of solar collector was increased to about 41.6 % and the maximum enhancement of the power output to about 45.2 % compared with flat absorber plate.
Structural elements. This means the structural behavior can be quantified by considering the behavior of each structural element in each load path. Concrete is a material known for its great strength. Regardless, there are a few weaknesses, which must be taken in consideration in the design of concrete structural elements. Basically, concrete is made of three main ingredients: Portland cement, water, and aggregates (sand and stone).In order to improve tensile strength and ductility (capacity to stretch and deform prior to failure) in concrete, so this paper discus some types of concrete and record the effect on beams. Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is an actual concrete mixture, it is a special type of concrete because mix concrete (coarse and fine aggregate ) replaced by fine sand size (150-400)µm. In the experimental comparison the mechanical properties( compressive , splitting tensile and flexural )strength of plain RPC and high and normal strength concrete. Each set consisted of (4) cubes of (100×100×100_mm, (8) cylinder of (150×300mm) and (4) prism of (100x100x500) mm and consisted of (4) beam of (1000×100×400)mm. The results shown that the maximum compressive strength is 107 MPa and the maximum splitting tensile 9 MPa of RPC comparison high and normal strength concrete. The result of the second part shown increased RPC reinforced concrete the firstcrack288 MPa and ultimate crack 380MPa comparison high and normal strength concrete and the mode of failure of RPC (flexural-shear).
The study aims to evaluate the current flood carrying capacity and its change after some cross sections developments for the 110 km reach of Tigris River and Kmait flood escape system. This reach extends from Ali Al-Gharbi station to Amarah Barrage station. The model is calibrated by using set of data at the Ali Al-Garbi gaging station, that includes flow varied between 790 to 470 m3/s during April 2019. Manning’s n coefficient value of (0.03) is selected as it has the minimum least-squares root difference of (0.148) between the measured and estimated water levels. The results show that the current capacity of Kmait flood escape and this Tigris River reach are 280 m3/s and 1100 m3/s, respectively. According to the study of strategic for water and land resources in Iraq, 2014, scenarios are conducted for some cross sections development to improve the capacity of the reach to 2750 m3/s. Results of applied development show that Tigris River can safely accommodate a flood wave of 2750 m3/s when modifying the cross-sections in different locations, and raising the banks level in three locations, 0+00, 79+00 and 95+00km. Earthworks volume of development of the reach is 247603200 million m³, with the total cost of 490 billion IQD.
Millimeter Wave (mmWave) Massive Multiple Input Multiple Out (MIMO) system is a key technology for future wireless transmission. The system's architecture can differ based on the type of Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs) used at the receiver, whether they are all low-resolution or a mix of different resolutions (Mixed-ADCs). Mixed-ADCs is a promising solution to achieve better performance than low-resolution ADC-only architectures by leveraging high-resolution ADCs to capture critical signal components while maintaining energy efficiency through low-resolution ADCs. In this paper, the problem of channel estimation for this system architecture is taken into consideration. A novel compressive-sensing based algorithm, that is called Approximate Conjugate Gradient Pursuit (ACGP), is proposed to estimate the channel coefficients. The performance of the proposed algorithm is investigated under varying system parameters, including different Signal-to-Noise Ratios (SNR), Radio Frequency (RF) chains, ADC resolutions, and numbers of observation frames. Matlab software was used to perform numerical simulations. The results demonstrated that mixed-ADCs architecture outperforms low resolutions only in performance. It was found that ACGP achieves lower Minimum Mean Squared Error (MMSE) compared to Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) and Least Square (LS), particularly in low SNR conditions showcasing its robustness and efficiency in signal reconstruction, achieving an average enhancement of 30% to 50% at moderate SNR levels. While OMP exhibited faster computation times under various number of observation frames, ACGP maintained stable computational performance, with a slight increase in computation time. For applications where accurate channel estimation is required under noisy environment, the proposed algorithm is an effective choice to meet such requirements.
The aim of this work is to optimize EPD variables (voltage, time, and focus) using alternating current through the Taguchi Design of Experiment (DOE). Coating Nano hydroxyapatite (Nano-HA) on a Ti6Al4V substrate depends on thickness and roughness, then characterization of a coating layer to determine the optimum state. Hydroxyapatite (HAp) powder was deposited on a Ti-6Al-4V alloy substrate by electro-deposition with ethanol as a solvent under AC current, to improve the alloy surface quality based on coating thickness and maximum coating mass meeting the requirements of a biological orthopedics application. Ethanol was used as a solvent to precipitate ketazone and HAp on the base alloy. Taguchi's approach was used in order to determine the optimal conditions for EPD and subsequently to apply various criteria for depositing the biochemical coating. The surface and cross-section composition of the paint is described by characterization. Numerous tests and inspections; Zeta, XRD and SEM stability test, water contact angle and optical microscopes were used to describe the surface morphology of the HAp layer. The value of the optimum conditions for deposition of the HAp layer which is a simultaneous thickness and maximum coating mass, was predicted at a sedimentation voltage of 40 V, 2 min sedimentation time and 1 g / L for the concentration of the suspended solution at room temperature. The validity of the model resulting from the response surface methodology was assessed by comparing the expected results with the experimental results. In addition, close agreement was observed between the experimental results and the expected results. For the solution at room temperature, the results obtained with the highest value of the coating thickness of 41at the surface roughness of 0.94 and the contact angle of the alloy before coating is 67.489º reduced to. 38.132º after plating, which indicates an increase in the harmony of the metal implant and biocompatibility.
The improvement in solar chimneys' thermal performance and thermal behavior that can be achieved by adding metal foam has been tested in computational work. The flow and heat transfer governing equations for solar chimney models were solved using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). It was solved using the control volume numerical method in ANSYS FLUENT 14.5. It is used to construct a finite volume modeling technique for solving the governing equations and the radiation heat transfer equations. With standard flat absorber plates, the results showed that heat transmission was increased by the inclusion of metal foam (10 PPI), leading to an increase in air velocity at the solar chimney of around 13.3%. The highest average air velocity with 10 PPI drops by 54.4% as the height of the absorber plate changes from 5 cm to 25 cm respectively.
This paper proposes a design for a network connected over public networks using Virtual Private Network (VPN) technique. The network consists of five sites; center server and four customer service sites, each site consists of a number of LANs depending on the user services requirements. This work aims to measure the effect of VPN on the performance of a network. Four approaches are implements: Network design without using VPN, network design using VPN with centralized servers, network design using VPN with distributed servers, and network design using server load balance.The OPNET and BOSON simulation results show higher response time for packet transmission due to effect of VPN tunneling. The concurrent activation of application execution is used as a solution to the delay problem of the initial timing period while the application proceeds. The results dealing with QoS are E-mail, FTP, voice services traffic and IP traffic dropped. The VPN Tunnels is in the range of (0.01 to 0.02) sec.; along with this simulator there are four VPN tunnels in the network. Also, a special server’s load balance is used to manage distribution of the server processing load across all other network servers to achieve the best response
Open graded asphalt mixture is becoming more widespread where it is applied for various purposes, e.g. drainage of rainwater effectivity, traffic safety (high skid resistance), and controlling pollution noise. However, it has many other disadvantages, of which low stability, high stripping, and moisture sensitivity. The research aims to study the effect of styrene butadiene styrene SBS addition on the volumetric and mechanical properties of open graded mixture. In this research one type of aggregate with gradation (12.5 mm NMAS), asphalt of penetration grade (40/50), and cement as filler were used. Optimum asphalt content was selected based on the criteria of air voids content, asphalt drain down, permeability, and abrasion resistance (for aged and un-aged) samples. Other properties of open-graded mixtures, such as indirect tensile strength (ITS), moisture susceptibility, Marshall stability and flow were evaluated. The results show that addition of polymer (SBS) leads to an enhancement in the properties of the modified mixtures. There is an improvement in Marshall parameters. Also, a slight decreasing is noticed for permeability and air voids. For Cantabro abrasion loss (aging and un-aging condition), the abrasion resistance is increased, the drain down of asphalt is decreased from original mixture by addition of SBS. Finally, the moisture sensitivity is improved indicating that modified mixes becomes more resistant to water damage.
The electrodes material plays an important role in the amount of electricity produced in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Metal electrodes used in MFCs are subject to biological and concentration cell corrosion which leads to a decrease in the cell efficiency. In the present work, the corrosion behavior of three selected electrode materials, namely, stainless steel, copper, and zinc under different operating conditions was investigated and discussed. In anode chamber, the microorganism (MO) used was Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) with sodium acetate as a substrate forming the microbial corrosive solution. In the cathode chamber, the corrosive solution is aerated water. The effects of different operating parameters on the corrosion rate (CR) of these electrodes were studied such as: microorganism concentration, aeration of cathode chamber, and flow velocity in cathode chamber. The potential of the each electrode was measured to understand the corrosion behavior of electrodes and the produced current was also investigated. It was found that the corrosion rate of the electrodes in both anode and cathode chambers increases with increasing MO concentration in anode chamber and with increasing agitation speed in cathode chamber. The bio-corrosion is an important part of the corrosion occurring in microorganism chamber. The stainless steel exhibited the lowest corrosion rate for the whole investigated range of operating parameters followed by copper. The zinc electrode was found to be poor as an electrode in MFC as its corrosion rate was very high in all conditions investigated. In addition, this study showed that the air pumping in water chamber causes an appreciable increase in the corrosion rate in both chambers and an increase in the produced current.
In this research, we investigate the nonlinear vibration of functionally graded carbon nanotubes (FG-CNTs) for simply supported sandwich cylindrical panels. The sandwich consisting of three layers formed of (FG-CNTs) and isotropic material as (CNT, ALMINUME, CNT). Mechanical properties of the sandwich media are acquired according to a re?ned rule of blend approach. The governing equations were derived using a first-order deformation theory (FOSDT). Four kinds of carbon nanotubes of sandwich cylindrical panels were analyzed. The volume fraction of CNTs is varied. The properties of nonlinear responses and free vibration are studied. The numerical approach employs the fourth-order Runge-Kutta and Galerkine procedure. Which conducted for the dynamic analysis of the panels to present the natural frequencies and non-linear dynamic response expression. The results show that; the natural frequencies and the nonlinear vibration amplitude decrease with the volume fraction and thickness ratio increase. The nonlinear vibration amplitude response increases when increasing the excitation force. The initial imperfection and the elastic foundation have a minor impact on the nonlinear vibration response of the panel. The Pasternak Foundation has a larger impact than the Winkler foundation. The structure formed of FG-CNT present an excellent choice for high-performance of engineering applications.
Recent scholarly efforts have extensively explored the efficacy of solar dish concentrators through both numerical simulations and empirical investigations. These studies predominantly scrutinize the interplay between solar receiver geometry and the dual objectives of minimizing heat loss while amplifying thermal efficiency. This comprehensive review synthesizes the spectrum of research dedicated to examining various cavity receiver geometries alongside their optimization techniques when integrated with parabolic dish collectors. We systematically assess configurations, including flat-sided, cylindrical, conical, and hemispherical designs. Our findings highlight that for an inlet temperature set at 200oC, the conical cavity receiver is distinguished by an exergy efficiency of 30%, a thermal efficiency approximating 70%, and an optical efficiency nearing 87%, maintaining a working fluid temperature range of 650°C to 750°C. The elevated operational temperatures, coupled with the inherent geometry of the cavity, accentuate the significance of mitigating heat losses attributed to convection, conduction, and radiation, as these factors critically impinge on system performance. Additional variables such as cavity inclination angle, diameter-to-depth ratio, tubing contour, and material selection are identified as instrumental in influencing cavity heat losses. Consequently, the pursuit of an optimized cavity receiver geometry emerges as a pivotal area of study. Drawing upon the issues analyzed, we propose strategic recommendations and conclude with insightful remarks poised to guide future research endeavors.
Deep learning modeling could provide to detected Corona Virus 2019 (COVID-19) which is a critical task these days to make a treatment decision according to the diagnostic results. On the other hand, advances in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and medical imaging techniques allow demonstrating impressive performance, especially in problems of detection, classification, and segmentation. These innovations enabled physicians to see the human body with high accuracy, which led to an increase in the accuracy of diagnosis and non-surgical examination of patients. There are many imaging models used to detect COVID-19, but we use computerized tomography (CT) because is commonly used. Moreover, we use for detection a deep learning model based on convolutional neural network (CNN) for COVID-19 detection. The dataset has been used is 544 slice of CT scan which is not sufficient for high accuracy, but we can say that it is acceptable because of the few datasets available in these days. The proposed model achieves validation and test accuracy 84.4% and 90.09%, respectively. The proposed model has been compared with other models to prove superiority of our model over the other models.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows for direct and immediate imaging of the morphology of retinal tissue. It has become a crucial imaging modality for diagnosing eye problems in ophthalmology. One of the most significant morphological characteristics of the retina is the structure of the retinal layers, which provides important evidence for diagnostic purposes and is related to a variety of retinal diseases. In this paper, a convolutional neural network (CNN) model is proposed that can identify the difference between a normal retina and three common macular diseases: Diabetic macular edema (DME), Drusen, and Choroidal neovascularization (CNV). This proposed model was trained and tested on an open source dataset of OCT images also with professional disease classifications such as DME, CNV, Drusen, and Normal. The suggested model has achieved 98.3% overall classification accuracy, with only 7 wrong classifications out of 368 test samples. The suggested model significantly outperforms other models that made use of the identical dataset. The final results show that the suggested model is particularly adapted to the detection of retinal disorders in ophthalmology centers.
The interest in the Eye-tracking technology field dramatically grew up in the last two decades for different purposes and applications like keeping the focus of where the person is looking, how his pupils and irises are reacting for a variety of actions, etc. The resulted data can deliver an extraordinary amount of information about the user when it's interlocked through advanced data analysis systems, it may show information concerned with the user’s age, gender, biometric identity, interests, etc. This paper is concerned about eye motion tracking as an unadulterated tool for different applications in any field required. The improvements in this area of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL) with eye-tracking techniques allow large opportunities to develop algorithms and applications. In this paper number of models were proposed based on Convolutional neural network (CNN) have been designed, and then the most powerful and accurate model was chosen. The dataset used for the training process (for 16 screen points) consists of 2800 training images and 800 test images (with an average of 175 training images and 50 test images for each spot on the screen of the 16 spots), and it can be collected by the user of any application based on this model. The highest accuracy achieved by the best model was (91.25%) and the minimum loss was (0.23%). The best model consists of (11) layers (4 convolutions, 4 Max pooling, and 3 Dense). Python 3.7 was used to implement the algorithms, KERAS framework for the deep learning algorithms, Visual studio code as an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), and Anaconda navigator for downloading the different libraries. The model was trained with data that can be gathered using cameras of laptops or PCs and without the necessity of special and expensive equipment, also It can be trained for any single eye, depending on application requirements.
The process of placing the brackets in their proper positions in the field of orthodontics is consider one of the main steps in orthodontic treatment. In order to achieve high accuracy placements for the brackets, many methods are available today, starting from direct and indirect methods, each of them has advantages and disadvantages regarding the accuracy and the time for patient treatment. In this study, a new mechanism is introduce with its mechanical behavior in order to reduce the time required for patient treatment and to increase the accuracy for bracket placements. The newly mechanism was designed using Solidworks CAD software with a total Virtual functionality for all of the parts of the assembly, then a simulation was carried out to find the stress distribution, deformation, and strain on the main parts of the proposed assembly. The finished design shows a high precision mechanism that is able to place brackets one by one on the teeth.
This paper focused on evaluating the effect of aggregate gradation and polymer modification on indirect tensile strength (ITS) and the static stiffness for hot asphalt mixtures. In particular, data from ITS tests have been processed to obtain stiffness measurements through the application of Hondros theory. The results showed that fine mixtures had a better tensile strength by 26.3% than the coarse mixtures. The effect of compaction also was examined, the results showed that samples compacted with the Superpave gyratory compactor (SGC) had an enhancement in ITS by 36.58 and 23.1% in comparison with Marshall and roller compactor respectively. Polymer modifiers were used to estimate their effect on tensile strength, adding 4, 6, and 8% of Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS), which can rise the ITS by 3.2,6.14 and 13.3% of the non-modified asphalt mixture. Furthermore, using 4, 6, and 8 percent of SBS could increase static stiffness by 53.9, 209.6, and 302.4% respectively for roller compacted fine mixes and 58, 220, and 379.3% for SGC compacted mixes. Furthermore, SBS raised the stiffness modulus by 52.3, 188, and 295% for Marshall compacted mixes. Using hybrid modifier can improve the stiffness of the asphalt mixture. However, The results indicate that using 1, 2 and 3% polyvinyl chloride (PVC) can magnify the stiffness of mixtures by 41.2, 199.8% and 262.6 for roller compacted mixtures and 133.4, 212.1 and 354% for SGC compacted mixtures, whereas there is a stringent increasing by 133.4, 189.2 and 354% for Marshall compacted mixes. Otherwise, polymer-modification can decrease the fracturing index for coarse and fine mixtures.
Chemical additives and polymeric materials, selected for their compatibility and ability to improve asphalt's performance in demanding environments. Key additives, including Polyphosphoric Acid (PPA), Polyvinyl Acetate (PVAC) beads, Maleic Anhydride (MA), and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) resin, were mixed in precise ratios with the asphalt binder. These additives were chosen to evaluate their effects on crucial performance indicators, such as the Penetration Index (PI) and activation energy, which measure the material’s thermal stability, flexibility, and resistance to deformation. Results demonstrated that the addition of these materials significantly increased the asphalt’s activation energy by up to 45.44%, enhancing its resistance to temperature fluctuations and providing better stability under various environmental stresses. The Penetration Index (PI) also improved notably, indicating that modified asphalt exhibits greater durability and reduced susceptibility to cracking or deformation under thermal changes. These enhancements contribute to lower road maintenance requirements and support greater energy efficiency in asphalt production and application processes. Compared to neat asphalt, the modified asphalt exhibited superior thermal stability, mechanical resilience, and overall performance, making it suitable for use in diverse climatic conditions. This study provides valuable insights into sustainable asphalt modification techniques, emphasizing the role of polymer and chemical additives in extending pavement lifespan and reducing environmental impact through improved material properties.
Pick and place system is one of the significant employments of modern robots utilized in industrial environments. The objective of this research is to make a comparison of time sequences by combining multiple axes of sequences. A pick-place system implemented with pneumatic linear double-acting cylinders to applicator in automated systems processes for manufacturing. The challenge of 3-axes movement control was achieved using the PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) controller such that the merging between two or three axes was achieved according to the selected sequence of the program. The outcomes show the contrasted sequences and the reference in a constant velocity. The main variable parameter is the number of steps for each sequence. The combination of two axes has developed the sequence and reduced in number of sequences for a path. At last, one of the important factors in moving products industry is the smooth product’s movement, because any high speed might cause a vibration in the system and lead to a decreased positioning accuracy.
In this work, environmentally friendly zinc oxide nanoparticles was produced using sustainable green technology. With several loading amounts, such as 5%, 10%, 50%, and 100%, the banana peel extract was utilized as a capping agent. This was followed by calcinations at 400 ºC for 3 h in a muffle furnace. To evaluate the physical and chemical change of the synthesized nanoparticles, XRD, FTIR, UV-VIS and SEM/EDAX was used. The characterization results reveald that the all the green synthesized ZnO NPs samples strongly supports the well-crystallinity with high phase purity. The average crystallite size of the prepared samples was calculated using Debye-Scherer's formula and the results shows that with an increase in extract amount, the average crystallite size was shrinking. The FTIR result verified the successful chemical reaction between zinc salt and banana peel extract. The UV-VIS results showed the effect of size quantisization phenomena at 100% extract adding. Finally, the SEM images for all the prepared samples confirm the spherical shape.
Today, our cities are facing a host of challenges to accomplish the quality of life or their inhabitants. On the one hand, city planners and architects seek to preserve heritage, habits, and city peculiarities. On the other hand, it is necessary that the city is kept abreast of the rapid changes in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and smart city concept. In Baghdad, it could be observed that there are several activities based on community initiatives, awareness campaigns, and initiatives which are self-funding from youth or funding from NGOs, and INGOs. How can we invest in such initiatives to achieve a smart city, emphasizing that the city is for the people, not a city of things? As we know that smart cities have six factors: smart (economy, governance, environment, people, mobility, and living)._x000D_ This paper assumes that smart communities are the seventh factor of smart cities factors which could play an essential role to apply the smartness in Baghdad. In this case, it will help to achieve making decisions and a feedback evaluation system will be subject to transparency, openness, vitality, and sustainability because it will stem from the community and ensure the sustainability in a smart city.
Hydraulic structures, including cascade aerators, may be acknowledged as important components in improving aeration efficiency because of the intense turbulent mixing combined with large air bubble entrapment at these structures. The main objective of the present study is to achieve maximum aeration efficiency and enhance the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water since this is an important factor in improving water quality. The present study aims to determine the most proper geometric and dynamic parameters of a typical square-shaped stepped cascade with a total height of 120 cm, and sex steps. A tread of each step is 10 cm and a rise of each step is 20 cm, where aeration efficiency is maximized. The results of the study revealed that the maximum value of water aeration efficiency, meaning an increase in dissolved oxygen in the water using a stepped cascade aerator happened when flow rates of 15 L/min, 25 L/min, and 35 L/min with aeration efficiencies of 22%, 37%, and 42% respectively. Finally, the optimization of flow rates in aeration systems can lead to improved water quality parameters. The most important feature of the present study is the innovation of a natural method of water treatment that relies on the principle of mixing, coagulation, and flocculation by hydraulic methods, which works to reduce the costs of operation.