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Go to Editorial ManagerRecently, methods have emerged to assess the vulnerability of groundwater to pollution, which has been adopted by many countries that depend on groundwater as an important and supportive resource for surface water to protect groundwater and monitor and control its pollution. Assessment methods adopt vulnerability maps and compare them with the real-life pollution map of the region. The study was conducted in Al-Teeb area, which is located in the northeast of Missan province, south of Iraq. This area is about 2450 km 2 . This study applied four models DRASTIC, GOD, SINTACS and Modified DRASTIC of vulnerability maps are analyzed using GIS technique and compared with the reality map which represent the nitrate concentration map as a basic comparison map; in order to choose the closest one with respect to the realistic acting. The results showed that 80.29 % of study area is classified under low vulnerability in DRASTIC method and moderate vulnerability in GOD, SINTACS and MD-DRASTIC which are covered 54.12 %, 83.18 % and 72.35 % of study area respectively. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to compare the four methods with the nitrate concentration map, where the correlation value for DRASTIC, GOD, SINTACS and MD-DRASTIC was 73.05, 49.79, 83.23 and 87.94 %, respectively. So, the MD-DRASTIC is represented the best technique for evaluating vulnerability map in the study area which can be recommended.
In this paper, a new algorithm for mobile robot navigation and polygonal obstacles avoidance in dynamic target environment is introduced. In the dynamic target path planning the agent (robot) trying to reach a moving target in minimum path cost. The introduced algorithm which called Prediction-based path planning with obstacle avoidance in dynamic target environ- ment planning a path to a moving target by predicting the next target location, then computing a path from the robot current lo- cation to the predicted target location representing each visible obstacle by the smallest circle that enclosing the polygon obstacle, then determine the visible tangents between the robot and the cir- cular obstacle that intersect its shortest path and compute the shortest path. Three target movement scenarios were suggested and tested in different environment conditions. The results show that the target was reached in all scenarios and under all environ- ment conditions with good path cost.
The effect of pore fluid chemistry on the engineering properties of soil in Garmatt-Ali zone of Basrah was investigated. The tested soil is described as silty clay of low plasticity. The pore fluid was altered to include distilled water, raw sewage, and solutions of various salts such calcium carbonate, magnesium sulphate, and calcium chloride. Also, the solutions of salts were used with different concentration (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0 normality). The prepared samples of soil were tested after different exposure periods. The test program included determination of shear strength characteristics, consolidation characteristics, and Atterberg limits. The changes in shear strength, coefficient of permeability, void ratio – effective stress relationship, and Atterberg limits were recorded with the change in exposure period or the concentration of pore fluid solution. Generally, it was found that there are reductions in the shear strength of soil when the pore fluid is changed from distilled water to solutions of salts or raw sewage. Also it was found that there is a change in the calculated values of permeability, upon changing the type of pore fluid. The coefficient of consolidation for polluted soil was found to be less than that for the reference samples with distilled water.
This paper presents a PWM AC/DC buck converter circuit incorporating a frontend rectifier followed by a DC/DC converter. Two transistors are used as a main and auxiliary switches. The proposed circuit provides zero-current (ZC) turn ON and zero-current/zero-voltage (ZCZV) turn OFF to the two transistors, besides zero-voltage turn ON to two diodes. Numerical methods are used to analyse and determine the performance of the converter system. A feed forward technique is employed to improve the performance of the converter over a range of output power.
Image segmentation is the process of automatically dividing an image into distinct, meaningful, and non-overlapping regions. The quality of the segmentation process determines the efficiency of other image processing tasks. Analyzing microstructural images is crucial since the mechanical properties are strongly dependent on the microstructural phases’ statistics. These images are considered one of the most difficult and challenging images to deal with due to their special characteristics, such as the convergence in pixels intensity values, overlapping in colors, boundaries and textures in phase regions, infinite shapes of grains and colonies, etc. As there is no generic technique suitable to be used with all microstructures, this work reviews techniques that have been effectively used and recommended to be employed in metallurgical research, with a brief description of their principles, advantages, and disadvantages, and discusses their applicability. The major aim of this work is to spare time and effort searching for and experimenting with all the available methods for future researchers.
تم في هذا البحث دراسة تأثير الرسابات في خشونة القنوات الحصوية القعر حيث تم اجراء التجارب في قناة مختبرية مستطيلة الشكل بطول (10) (م) وعرض (0.3 م) وعمق (0.45 م) باستخدام ثلاثة أنواع من مادة القعر الحصوية وبأقطار تتراوح بين (0.02 - 0.03) و (0.03 - 0.04) و (0.04 - 0.05) م ولدراسة تأثير الرسابات تم استخدام ثلاثة نماذج من الرمل. وتبين من ملاحظة نتائج هذا البحث حصول نقصان في مقاومة الجريان نتيجة تعرض القناة إلى تأثير الرسابات حيث تملأ الرسابات الفراغات المحصورة بين حبيبات مادة القعر بصورة تدريجية مسببة تناقصاً في معامل خشونة القعر إلى الحد الذي تملأ فيه الرسابات كافة الفراغات المحصورة بين حبيبات مادة القعر. وتم في هذا البحث استنباط معادلة وضعية لتقدير معامل ماننك والتصريف الحقيقي بعد تعرض القناة الى تأثير الرسابات، وقد أعطت هذه المعادلة تطابقاً جيداً مع القيم المقاسة بحيث لم تتجاوز نسبة الخطأ في تقدير معامل مانتك عن (7.3%).
Wastewater lagoons have proven to be an economically and environmentally beneficial alternative to traditional methods for treating sewage because of their unique properties, which include simplicity of use and inexpensive construction, energy, and maintenance costs. It is a natural wastewater treatment process that exploits the interactions between bacteria, algae, and other microorganisms and their surroundings to remove pathogens, organic matter, suspended particles, phosphates, ammonia, and nitrates. Stabilization lagoons are widely used throughout the world as they have proved to be a perfectly acceptable and satisfactory treatment system, the effluents produced in tertiary lagoons have been used for irrigation and aquaculture in many countries, indicating the high quality achieved during treatment in these units. This aim of this research is to overview the literature on lagoons' classification, design, and historical development. It also includes a set of relevant pilot and laboratory-scale experiments. As well as a comprehensive review of factors affecting lagoon performance, including sun's light, DO, pH, temperature, and nutrients. The relationship between these factors and their use in efficient contaminant removal is also discussed.
Mathematical programming techniques have been used to minimize the cost of reinforced concrete T-beam floor. The floor system consists of one way continuous slab and simply supported T-beams. The study presents a formulation based on elastic analysis followed by the ultimate strength method of design with the consideration of serviceability constraints as per ACI Code. The formulation of optimization problem has been made by utilizing the interior penalty function method as an optimization method with the purpose of minimizing the objective function representing the cost of one-meter length of the floor system. The cost includes cost of concrete, reinforcement, and formwork. The design variables considered in this study are the dimensions and the amounts of reinforcement for the slab and beams, in addition to the spacing of the beams. Many examples are solved to show the effect of these design variables on the optimum solution of the floor system. The effect on the optimum design of the compressive strength of concrete, yield strength of steel, concrete cost ratios, and formwork cost ratios has also been studied.
Solar energy can only be used when it's sunny outside. Therefore, solar heating is only efficient during the day and decreases at night or on overcast days. Consumer energy needs have a distinct seasonal structure, and solar energy cannot completely meet those needs. In order to satisfy customer demand, energy storage is essential. In order to maximize the use of solar energy and to increase the energy and efficiency of the solar absorption system, superior thermal properties of sophisticated materials, such as phase change materials, are important [1]. In the current study, 20 kg of phase change material (PCM) is integrated with solar water heating and fed into a storage tank to enhance the solar water heating efficiency. Helical coil heat exchangers were added to the storage tank as an external load. The trials were conducted in four separate months (September 2021, April, May, and June 2022) that were chosen on the first day. The effectiveness, heat gain, and significance of the phase change material in increasing heating efficiency throughout the day were studied using a range of variables, including water volume flow rate (2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 L/min) and inlet water temperature (25, 30, and 35 °C). The results showed that, given an initial temperature of 25 °C, the daily efficiency range, was 0.58 to 0.65, and that the daily final outlet temperature was enhanced outlet temperature over 65 °C. Additionally, on all test days, the heat released by the phase change material was audible in the evening and increased the utilization time.