×
The submission system is temporarily under maintenance. Please send your manuscripts to
Go to Editorial ManagerA proper ventilation offered warranty for a perfect indoor environment. Indoor air environment includes indoor thermal environment and indoor air quality (IAQ). In this paper a numerical investigation of the indoor environment in different ventilations was accomplished. The Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) in Al-Rifai hospital in Thi-Qar governorate was chosen to be investigated, and its thermal achievement and indoor air quality in the hot summer weather were simulated. For the numerical study, the fluent technique used to set up the physical and numerical model of CCU. An attention has been paid carefully to considerate the distributions of the temperature and the velocity fields, followed by an argument of two different ventilation patterns; up-in and up-out ventilation (UV) and displacement ventilation (DV). After making the comparison, it was noticed that the displacement ventilation (DV) is clearly super than that of the up-in and up-out ventilation (UV) due to improvement in the indoor air quality.
Obstacle avoidance and path planning are from the most important problems in mobile robots, especially in unknown environment . In this paper, we proposed an approach for mobile robot navigation combining path planning and obstacle avoidance. Methods such as obstacle avoidance are inspired from the nature, and have been developed by fuzzy logic to train an intelligent robot in unknown environment. The model of the robot has two driving wheels and the linear velocity and azimuth of the two wheels are independently controlled using PID controller. Inputs are obtained from ultrasonic sensors mounted on it.
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.
It is very crucial to minimize the environmental impact that induced from the development of industry, by applying strict policies and innovate eco-friendly industries. Indeed, construction manufacture considered as one of the most industries that affect the environment, especially concrete production and usage in structural buildings. For instance, traditional concrete, which is consists of a high amount of cement, is contributed to the emission of CO 2 . Therefore, researchers seeking to develop a new technology of concrete by replacement some amount of cement by materials which are considered to become more friendly to the environment. Nowadays, this new technology is known as Green Concrete. The importance of using green concrete is not only to decrease the emission amounts of CO 2 but also to replace cement by industrial waste. In this paper, a review has been presented to understand green concrete benefits and materials that may be used instead of cement and aggregate.
In this paper, a compact ultra-wide band (UWB) printed patch antenna is designed and optimized using four biologically and plant inspired optimization algorithms. These algorithms are the newly adopted Moss Rose Optimization Algorithm (MROA), Runner Root Algorithm (RRA), Sunflower Optimization Algorithm (SFOA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). These algorithms are modified in an optimizer software, which merges the attributes of the design of electromagnetic environment of CST Microwave Studio with those of the technical programming environment of MATLAB. A compact (12 × 21.5) mm 2 printed patch antenna has been proposed and simulated over the whole UWB frequency range using these four optimization algorithms. The simulation results show the superiority of the antenna design using MROA, which has the widest covered frequency range, the lowest reflection coefficient and the lowest standing wave ratio.
Wars have imposed on some countries a state of haste and rush towards haphazard, unstudied urban planning to fill the shortage of architectural elements and urban formations. Urban sustainability, alongside environmental and economic sustainability, has recently gained great importance in contemporary global studies. Given the problems suffered by the city of Basra regarding architectural formation and devastating environmental pollution, in addition to the significant deficit in finding the required design solutions for the urban rehabilitation of the city, it was necessary to limit individual attempts that tend towards unconscious concepts leading to anomaly and lack of harmony with the city's distinct environment. Urban formation is a series of visual interferences that cannot be intercepted by individual, personal, and unstudied attempts; therefore, shared visions agreed upon by specialists in various fields, primarily the environment, must be formulated. Hence, the research tends towards finding research areas that can offer objective and realistic solutions to be the basis for the future structure of damaged cities within the framework of the concept of sustainable urban development in the future. Here, the research aims to select the best methods for shaping the modern city of Basra.
Formation control is a critical task in the coordination of multi-mobile robot systems operating in structured environments with limited local knowledge and low-cost hardware. Achieving reliable formations requires effective localization, path planning, and obstacle avoidance capabilities. This study presents a static strategy for forming polygon-shaped configurations using multiple mobile robots. The proposed strategy improves formation efficiency by employing a cluster matching algorithm instead of the conventional triangulation approach to complete the formation process. In addition, the visibility binary tree algorithm and the reciprocal orientation algorithm are integrated to enhance robot coordination and spatial awareness. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed strategy achieves superior performance in multi-robot formation tasks, offering improved efficiency and robustness compared with traditional triangulation-based methods.
This paper introduces a radial distribution feeder protection scheme based on certain features extraction from current signals measurement at the substation. The features are captured using the discrete wavelet transform (DWT). Two digital signals processing methods are used to introduce those features to the 1) fault detection 2) identification and 3) localization schemes; the first one is the energy method and the second one is the root mean square method. For the purpose of fault type identification, two systems are tested and compared, a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Fault location scheme is then built based on ANNs. An effort is made to reduce the computational burden and the speed of detection provided by the fault detection and identification schemes. Since the short circuit faults are the most likely types of faults that can occur in power systems, the ten types of these faults taking into account different fault resistances are simulated in MATLAB environment and the protection scheme is built based on the idea of over current. The power quality disturbances such as switching transient events on the feeder is also taken into account in order to build a reliable and secure protection scheme.
Zinc and its alloy coatings are commonly used to provide cathodic protection for weathering steel. However, the steel substrate corrodes faster than the Zinc coating because of the coating's negative corrosion potential. Many studies have examined Zinc and alloy coatings' resistance to corrosion. Hot-dip galvanizing, Electrodeposition, and Zinc-rich coat (ZRC) spray are just some of the methods that can be used to deposit such coatings. Commercially available 99.95 % pure Zinc oxide was used in the electroplating process in this investigation. Steel samples were plated in Zinc sulphate and Zinc oxide solutions and were controlled by different bath parameters such as voltage, current, pH, temperature, and coating time. The addition of hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN) nanoparticles has also shown significant improvements in corrosion resistance. However, Zinc-based coating techniques reinforced with h-BN incorporation show the best corrosion current density ( I corr ) of Hot dip 2 % wt. (2.1 µA/cm 2 ), ZRC 2.5 % wt., (4.4 µA/cm 2 ), and electroplating 15.75 g/L (0.081 µA/cm 2 ), which is an order of magnitude lower than coatings without h-BNs. The corrosion rates and current densities of Zn/h-BN coated layers were investigated in a controlled laboratory environment that mimicked natural conditions (Rainwater solution) by extrapolating polarization curves.
The objective of this research is to characterize new technique of copper filler addition to the brazing joints of 316L stainless steel to overcome the wetting problem between them. This technique includes the electrochemical deposition of copper on the stainless steel joint parts to insure optimum coinciding, minimum oxidation during brazing heating, and consequently good wetting and bonding. An evaluation of the present technique and a comparison with traditional one were performed. The samples ware tested to find the shear strength, microhardness, microstructure and x-ray diffractometry. In general, the present new electrodeposited fillers were clearly better than the traditional filler in producing perfect joints with higher shear strength. On the other hand, there was an opportunity of production acceptable joints with electrodeposited fillers under air environment.
Pipelines are one of the most convenient and effective ways of transporting petrol over a long distance. The environment applies, beyond extremely high external pressures, low temperatures and intensive corrosive process, the occurrence of defects on the pipe body, which compromises the structural integrity of pipelines leading to catastrophic failures. The main modifications concern the mechanical resistance, toughness at low temperatures weld ability and resistance to embrittlement related to hydrogen. Among mechanical characteristics, the fracture toughness is very important for pipeline steels in design and safe assessment. Aiming to enhance the reliability and operation of complex pipelines system, a study based on the mechanics of the elastoplastic fracture in order to determine better prediction of the fatigue life. The materials tested here are API 5L X42 and X52 micro alloyed steels, as well as to evidence the toughness resistance of these materials. Results indicated that both X42 and X52 steel behave in a similar way and in all cases a slight increase of the transition temperature was found. The characteristic toughness value shows an evident loss in mechanical performances if compared to the uncharged one.
The accurate prediction of machinery faults is considered an effective strategy to increase the operation life of machines, ensure smooth operation, and provide a safe environment. Accordingly, the demands on predictive tools such as machine learning to detect machinery faults before catastrophic failure occurs has increased rapidly. In this research, a diagnosis algorithm based on using a 2D color-coded map as the input to a deep artificial neural network is proposed. These maps are called RDEgram after the processing of vibrational signals based on reverse dispersion entropy (RDE) method. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is investigated by testing its capability to detect different faults located at different locations on ball bearings under constant speed conditions. First, the squared envelope signal is extracted by applying the short time Fourier transform to vibration signal. Then, the RDE is used to process the squared envelope to detect the range of frequencies at which the transients occur. The RDEgram color-coded map is used to represent the RDE values as a function of frequency and frequency resolution. The maps from different fault features are collected to form the diagnostic patterns. Finally, a pretrained convolutional neural network (CNN) is applied to learn the feature pattern and diagnose the bearing faults. The CNN is trained using fixed- speed data and then it is applied to diagnose faults in the test data recorded at the same speed. The prediction method adopted in the current research shows a 100% level of accuracy for predicting two types of faults (pit and slot) located at various positions a ball bearing (KOYO 1205 C3 type) running at two constant speeds (25 and 30 Hz).
Flaring systems used in oil production systems have a significant impact on both the economy and the environment as they discharge large quantities of burned gases of elevated temperature to the atmosphere that have the potential to be used in some applications. This study aims to investigate the economic losses incurred due to the combustion of gases not utilized in the Rumaila oil field in Basrah, the southern region of Iraq. Additionally, the potential to use flare gases for power generation and water desalination was studied. The mathematical models established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were utilized in this study to estimate and calculate the expected losses and used MatLab Ver. R22 to get result. The result leads to expected annular economic losses to reach $ 347,735,700. Also, the flare gases can be used to produce electric power of 1175 MW per year, it can be used for producing desalinating water of 115,911,900 m 3 for thermal desalination and 173,867,850 m 3 for membrane desalination.
Several governments around the world announced new strategies regarding their construction industry. These strategies focus on reducing construction projects' time, cost and improving their impact on the environment. To achieving these goals within the proposed time scale, these authorities advise their stakeholders to start to implement different methods in project delivery such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Geographic Information System (GIS), and many more. All these new technologies and methods will reduce human errors in the project lifecycle which will lead to reducing project waste. In addition, this will pave the road to automation in construction. Automation will help to mitigate the huge number of clashes and mistakes. Iraq an oil-depended country suffering from economic crises due to the considerable reduction in oil prices. This struggle must enforce the government to use this opportunity to solve current project problems such as project delays and budgets overrun and rethink how to reduce construction project time and cost. However, the applicability and understanding of these new methods and technologies need to be explored first among the Iraqi construction industry. This paper will investigate the understanding of automation in construction among different disciplines working with different experiences in the Iraq construction industry. The method of survey was used to sightsee their view regarding automation in construction understanding, benefits, and the challenges. The results reveal that there a positive view in terms of understating the meaning of automation in construction. In addition, several benefits are identified as the most effective gains if these new methods are implemented. Furthermore, more than a few challenges also have been acknowledged that need to be considered to increase the successfulness of implementing automation in construction.
Vehicles usually consist of several essential systems. The performance of the vehicle is evaluated through the efficiency of these systems to perform their duties. The suspension system is one of these systems dedicated to absorbing shocks arising from vehicles passing over road bumps, thus reducing vibrations and achieving passenger comfort while driving. This paper presents a study on enhancing ride comfort in a nonlinear half-car model using a modified Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller. In this study a half-car model is developed considering the nonlinearities in the suspension system components. A nonlinear half-car model was adopted to increase accuracy and make the overall system closer to reality. Instead of the feed-forward conventional PID controller gains, the proposed controller gains are formed by putting the proportional and derivative gains in the feedback path while keeping the integral gain in the feed-forward path to act as an I- PD controller. The proposed controller is integrated into the model to deal with these nonlinearities effectively and to achieve the optimal performance of the vehicle body. The overall system has been developed and simulated in the Matlab Simulink environment to show the dynamic response. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the I-PD controller in improving the ride comfort and handling stability of the nonlinear half-car model by reducing body acceleration and suspension deflection. A comparison with other study has been conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed controller.
In the sustainable dwelling, in all its formations whether at the urban or architectural level, the effects of the surrounding environment are taken into account in the design process, starting from the distribution of residential functions, the form of the dwelling, or even the structural materials used in its formulation, in addition to the technological dimension, not to mention the site and its effects as well as the consumed energy and its effects. The study proceeds with research and analysis to build a comprehensive strategy for the problem related to the harsh climate of the region, and its negative effect on residential formation, by activating ideal solutions to those problems according to the principles of environmental sustainability. The concept of the new healthy dwelling in its proposed form addresses the benefits that sustainable environmental formation can offer in improving the conditions of thermal comfort within architectural spaces and then designing a new form of housing under the name of passive energy bio-climatic formation systems. Its ideas must be subject to the wisdom of the architect through passing over all effective strategies that help create the maximum material comfort and thus reduce high environmental costs.
The flow control around the airfoil is widely investigated and utilized in the aircraft industry. The benefit of reducing the separation effect and its impact on the aerodynamic performance made the effort on this area is more desirable as this will impact to enhance the flight control as well as to reduce the fuel consumption during the flight. In this paper, the flow control using leading-edge blowing technique has been conducted for NACA0018 airfoil at Reynolds number 6.85 and 13.7 × 10 5 . A CFD analysis has been conducted to examine several flight parameters and blowing speed to explore the benefit of using the blowing in this wing section. The results indicate that the lift coefficient can be enhanced to be increased by 4-6% as compared with no blowing case. However, this increase ratio is affected by the operational Reynolds number and blowing ratio. Higher speed means less benefit from blowing within the limit of blowing ratio of 1. The benefit of using the blowing could come with an increase in the drag at some angle of attack. It is noticed that the blowing technique can generate positive pitching moment at lower angle of attack and can reduce the negative moment when the separation is happening at higher angle of attack. Also, the lesson learned in this paper is that the blowing benefit is more pronounced when the flight is under low Reynolds number environment.
Visual pollution refers to the negative impact of various environmental elements on the visual experience of individuals and the quality of the surroundings. This includes unsightly buildings and other man-made structures that disrupt natural beauty. The design of building facades plays a significant role in determining visual pollution. This study aimed to assess the impact of facade design on visual pollution by testing which facade design considerations most contribute to visual pollution in Peshawa-Qazi Street (100 m) in Erbil City. An online survey was conducted with 283 participants in six architectural departments within engineering colleges and other online engineering platforms in Erbil, Duhok, and Suleimani. Respondents included architectural students from the 3rd to 5th stage, academic staff, and professional architects. They rated the impact of individual facade elements, contextual integration, and other factors on visual pollution. A one-sample T-test was used to compare mean scores to a test value of (2.5). Results showed that all three categories of façade design considerations significantly increase visual pollution compared to the test value (p < 0.05). Considerations regarding the overall context of a facade had the most significant impact (mean of 1.93 higher than the test value), followed by other factors (mean of 1.79 higher) and individual elements (mean of 0.71 higher). To decrease visual pollution, it is recommended to the policymakers and municipalities to develop regulations, façade design guidelines and for architects to follow the principles of architectural form and composition regarding the integration of building facades with their surroundings, façade practical considerations, and refined composition of façade elements.
New illustration for mixed mode fracture mechanics analysis of central cracked plates using crack extension technique and Matlab Environment is presented. The technique of crack extension is applied to the computation of mixed mode stress intensity factors in linear elastic fracture mechanics for these plates for different loads. The technique uses the Brown approximate solutions for stress intensity factors and the Westergaard analytical solutions for stress and displacement near a crack tip in finite plate to calculate crack extension during each load step using an proved to be a good tool for computation and results illustration for mixed mode stress intensity factors. The results were illustrated in a new form which is convenient for engineers and fracture mechanics analyst. The developed procedure reduced the need for sophisticated numerical analyses, which require more time and effort, to calculate the same parameters tackled in this research.
This study is to investigate the effect of partially replacement of coarse aggregate by waste plastic and using the paper sludge as additive material at concrete, on the hardened concrete properties and its impact on structural behavior of the reinforced concrete members (slab, column, and beam). Plastics and paper are widely used in daily life in huge amounts. Both incineration and landfilling are options for disposing of plastic and paper waste, but either one could be harmful to the environment. Therefore, reducing waste or increasing its value can reduce pollution and reduce disposal costs. The variables of the experimental program include the ratio of waste plastic and paper sludge, the used ratios for plastic and paper were (5%, 10%, and 15%) by volume. Hardened concrete properties were investigated for concrete include: flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, and splitting tensile strength. For each structural reinforced member, the (Load – Deflection) curve has been extracted. The study shows that the plastic waste negatively affects most of concrete properties. The research indicates that using waste plastic in reinforced concrete members with percentage of (5% and 10%) by volume as a partially replacement of coarse aggregate giving acceptable results. However, when adding (5%) by mixture volume of waste paper in reinforced concrete members, the load-deflection behavior and ultimate load-bearing capacity have been improved. In general, using waste plastic and paper sludge in concrete mixtures lead to reduction in ultimate load ranging between (4.62%-10.82%) for slab under point load, (4.85-18.99%) slab under distributed load, (3.72%-12.21%) column, and (1.78%-7.16%) beam specimens respectively.