Articles in This Issue
Abstract
To classification groundwater quality in the study area, three wells were drilled at a depth of 10m and selected two locations across Al Warrar Canal to represent their water quality. Water samples were collected from these wells and the Warrar Canal to examine water quality. Then results were compared against the World Health Organization (WHO) limits to study the Index of Water Quality (WQI). WQI was calculated according to the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME), and the quality of water was evaluated for domestic and irrigation uses. The samples were tested for electrical conductivity, pH, temperature, total dissolved solids, chloride, total hardness, nitrate, and alkalinity according to the standard methods. The results of laboratory analysis showed significant differences among the wells and Warrar Canal water quality in the measured parameters according to WHO limits. Due to many human activities like urbanization, agrarian overflow, drainage of untreated sewage, and industrialization, high values of trace elements and heavy metals were recorded in wells three. For agriculture purposes, the results show that the water in the three wells is very high salinity, where the Warrar Canal is high salinity, and Canal water causes saline and alkali damages. It was recommended that the WQI in three wells was poor water quality whereas, marginal water quality was pointed in AL Warrar Canal.
Abstract
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber is a green-friendly fiber that is capable of enhancing the mechanical properties of wet-mixing shotcrete. The main purpose of this study is to see how varied volumes of waste plastic fibers (WPF) affect the flowability and mechanical properties of wet-mix shotcrete. For this aim, a variety of experimental tests based on WPF content were chosen. Fresh and mechanical tests included slump, T500, density, compressive strength, and splitting strength were applied. The results shown a improved in shotcrete performance as the WPF content increased. Among all fitting correlations, density and compressive strength revealed the strongest linear ship association. Due to greater interlocking between WPF and concrete matrix, WPF was a major use in enhancing splitting tensile strength. WPF had the most influence on splitting strength, with 23–31 percent, 7–23 percent, and 6–38 percent for 7, 14, and 28-day, respectively.
Abstract
Recycling the old paving waste and reusing it in the construction of new highways was resorted to, and this is a good step from an economic point of view, as well as from an environmental and health point of view, as it reduces carbon emissions and eliminates a large amount of disposable reclaimed asphalt pavement materials (RAP). This study aims to evaluate the best layer of pavement structure; base, binder, and surface layers for inclusion (RAP) materials based on stability and indirect tensile strength. In addition, highlight the best percentage that can be added from RAP to achieve positive results and better than that associated reference mixture in terms of Marshall test and Indirect tensile strength test RAP materials collected from different sources Karbala and Fallujah, were adopted in this study at percentages of 20%, 30%, and 40% by weight of the asphalt mixture. Two scenarios of incorporating RAP materials have been adopted : The first is considered that RAP as a black rock in which the effect of aged binder surrounding the aggregate of RAP is neglected while the second is not considered RAP as black rock and the influence of aged binder in RAP materials has been taken into consideration. Dora bitumen has been adopted in the current study which is used commonly in Iraq. It has been highlighted that the best layer in which RAP can be incorporated is the base layer, with a percentage up to 40% that RAP without considering RAP black rocks regardless of the sources of RAP
Abstract
Brick as a construction material can be considered one of the most common materials used for a very long time to construct buildings in iraq. The historic building represents one of the most important figures representing the rich history of iraq, which is built with bricks. Due to the aging of this type of building, a necessary improvement and retrofit need to occur. The paper investigates the ability to use different kinds of materials such as cfrp and srg to enhance the brick columns' structural capacity. From the results and discussions, it can be concluded that these materials are suitable to be used for this purpose with some limitations due to brick capacity itself.
Abstract
Several different deterministic and probabilistic mathematical approaches have been used to develop modal split models. The data collected by a questionnaire survey approach is frequently associated with subjectivity, imprecision, and ambiguity. additionally, several linguistic terms are used to express some of the transportation planning variables. This can be solved by modeling mode choosing behavior with artificial intelligence techniques such as fuzzy logic. In this research, Ramadi city in Iraq has been selected as a study area. For the purpose of obtaining data, the study area was divided into traffic analysis zones (TAZ). The total number of traffic zones was set as 28 traffic zones, 22 were internal traffic zones and 6 external traffic zones. Field surveys and questionnaires are used to collect data on traffic, land use, and socioeconomic characteristics factors (age, gender, vehicle ownership, family income, trip purpose, trip origin and destination, trip time, waiting duration, duration inside mode, trip origin and destination, trip cost, and type of mode used for transport). The results showed that the modal split models based on the fuzzy inference system can deal with linguistic variables as well as address uncertainty and subjectivity and they gave very good prediction accuracy for future prediction. Fuzzy inference system proved that all factors affected the mode choice with a very strong correlation coefficient (R) equal to 93.1 for general trips but when the results were compared with multiple linear regression model found that the correlation coefficient (R) equal to 28.9 for general trips and the most influential factors on the mode choice are car ownership, age and trip cost. Thus, it can be concluded that fuzzy logic models were more capable of capturing and integrating human knowledge in mode selection behavior. In addition, this study will help decision-makers to plan transportation policies for Ramadi city
Abstract
If the employer believes that changing the shape, quality, or quantity of the work or some part of it is appropriate, he has the authority to order the contractor to do so. These instructions would extend the time it takes to accomplish the task and, as a result, the project's completion time. In the majority of situations, the employer and the contractor couldn't agree on how to compute the extra time the contractor was provided as a result of change orders. The aim of this research is to find a mechanism to determine the additional time required to carry out these works, which will vary based on the type of work, the increase in quantity for any work within the contract, etc.. Modify the nature, quality or type of any work, change the levels, lines, position and dimensions of any part of the work, and perform any additional work necessary to finish the works. A field visit and survey will be conducted on the various bridge projects as part of the research to determine the types of change orders and the additional time required for each of them, in addition to the most important reasons for not using the relative change length and how each project differs from the other. Mathematical software can be enhanced to reliably calculate the additional time for each form of change order. Most of the works expected to appear in variation order are steel and concrete works, and asphalt cladding works, with a frequency of each of them (25 percent), followed by excavation works, which have a frequency of (16.66 percent) in bridge projects.
Abstract
The goal of this study is to determine the impact of ground motion recordings (GMs) selection on the seismic performance evaluation of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. From three GMs in ASCE7-10 to eleven GMs in ASCE7-16, the ASCE7 has upgraded the minimum GMs utilized in seismic analysis, When the GMs are used to evaluate an existing structure, the earthquake load may under or overestimate the structure's capacity. The case study is an existing RC building, dual system, and unsymmetric in-plane and height. Because of these asymmetries, the Non-linear Time History Analysis (NTHA) is the most accurate method. It is performed for 30 GMs in directions X and Y. The GMs were chosen and scaled to meet the Basrah city response spectrum curve (RSC), which is based on the existing Iraqi seismic code. The study parameters that were investigated are included story implication ratio, torsional irregularity index, floor rotation angle, and plastic hinge formation. These parameters are investigated in three cases. The selection of GMs for Case 1 and 2 are based on the ASCE7-10 while Case 3 is based on ASCE7-16. The comparison between cases is shown a considerable difference in structural response could lead to various retrofitting decisions. The findings revealed that existing RC buildings constructed in accordance with ASCE7-10, particularly medium and high-rise structures, should be re-evaluated
Abstract
The current research’s purpose is to examine how Ultra-High Performance Fiber Concrete (UHPFC) holds up in terms of strength and durability for strengthening purposes. For this reason, the experimental and the theoretical studies in this research attempted to assess different fresh and hardened properties of a variety of ultra-high performance combinations. Steel fibers were utilized to differentiate all of the program's combinations at percentages of 0.25 %, 0.5 %, 0.75 %, 1%, and 1.25 % by volume. Mini flow slump, compressive and flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, water absorption, and porosity tests were all used to examine the performance of the strength and durability of the material. The findings of this study's trials showed that steel fibers increased the strength of UHPFC. The steel fiber ratio of 1% gave the maximum compressive strength, whereas 1.25 percent yielded the highest flexural strength. Because the fibers function as a bridge, preventing internal breaking, the tensile test results were improved as the proportion of steel fiber rises. Through the use of the multi-objective optimization approach, the optimal ratio of fibers was chosen at the end of the laboratory work since it has the best durability and strength characteristics. Statistical software (Minitab 2018) was used to find the optimal combination of UHPFC that meets all of the requirements. The theoretical selected optimum ratio of 0.77% of fibers obtained from the optimization was evaluated and validated experimentally. The optimized mix provided 90.28 MPa, 14.6 MPa, and 20.2 MPa for compressive, splitting tensile and flexural tests respectively with better durability performance compared to other mixes prepared in this investigation.
Abstract
Because of rising the need for health clinics in recent years, as well as the current economic climate, the researcher used value engineering to reduce costs while retaining the necessity of these initiatives. The aim of this study is to increase the value of health clinics through applying value engineering approach to the main building (two and a half floors). Collected data, function analysis, brainstorming and alternatives, evaluating and selection, and generating the value report are the steps followed. According to the study, using the value engineering process resulted in a cost savings of 32.15 percent, or (258.305.000) million Iraqi dinars without jeopardizing the desired outcome.
Abstract
The Gaza Strip in general, and the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) in particular, are plagued by a lack of parking places, a lack of management and efficient usage of parking spaces, and illegal vehicle parking. This resulted in lost time and effort, besides traffic congestion. The study's goal is to provide a plan for implementing a Smart Parking System, which manages the parking spots on the IUG campus. To accomplish this goal, the researchers have identified the parking problems that face drivers at IUG, and then they have studied the impact of implementing the Smart Parking System. Researchers have used questionnaires to collect the raw data as one of the important tools in the field of survey. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), as a useful tool for statistical analysis. The first results was the number of parking spaces is 300, which is greater than the number of potential vehicles occupying the university parking spaces at peak hours. Therefore, the issue is not the number of parking places, but how they are used. The result of the questionnaire presents that a large majority of respondents agreed that the IUG campus suffers from a lack of parking spaces, especially in rush hour from 8-10 am. The results indicate that 65.7% of the respondents park their cars near their workplace/study at the campus parking spaces, and 72.6% of the respondents do not use parking spaces with modern technology before. While 92.6% of the respondents encourage parking with modern technologies. Smart Parking System has assisted to resolve the issue of locating a parking spot on the IUG campus, resulting in less traffic congestion and a better flow of traffic. The Smart Parking System can be applied to all of the IUG's parking spaces and in the Gaza strip cities in the future
Abstract
Transport is a vital part of urban life and a foundation for society's growth. It is a wonderful indication of the growth and development of cities. It protects the free flow of people, commodities and the economy. . Despite the great advancement in technology, it still has many difficulties in developed and developing nations, particularly in our country, such as environmental issues, where congestion leads to traffic pollution, noise and a rise in cars which is a problem in itself.. So transportation is an issue. And it became a subject of attention, requiring consideration of sustainability in the planning and development of transportation systems. Ramadi has been chosen as a model in this study because of its significant impact on sustainable development and the approach that thins our study. Using the data from the study area, which included 27 neighbourhoods, were analyzed by the SPSS statistical program , the results showed that the indicators of the environmental dimension had a direct and strong relationship. For Ramadi and other Iraqi cities, a sustainable development system may be developed based on based on the two indicators of pollution and green areas (0.794 and 0.776), on which a choice can be made about sustainable urban environmental transport.