KUFA JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING

Perforated clay brick masonry is a popular and widely used construction, offering both structural and aesthetic benefits. The structural behavior of perforated clay brick masonry walls is a significant topic in the field of civil engineering. However, understanding the compressive and tensile strength of these walls are influenced by various factors such as the quality of mortar joints, the distribution of mortar, and the presence of reinforcement. The purpose of this study is to investigate the compressive behavior of four perforated clay brick masonry walls, using cement-sand mortar, with two different systems under in-plane compression load. The first masonry system is unreinforced with filling joints, and the other system is reinforced by steel bars embedded in the mortar as a low reinforcement ratio. The study provided valuable arguments about how mortar distribution affects wall performance, which is significantly impacted by poor quality of head joints and the fully or partially distributed mortar in the masonry joints. Also, the role of low reinforcement ratio within the construction industry has important effect. The mentioned parameters are investigated through practical case studies demonstrating their effects in the context of ductility and ultimate load capacity. It was found that the compressive strength of the unreinforced masonry system is highly increased to the distribution of the mortar by 35 % and 133% for filling all holes in brick units and the head joints, respectively, due to increasing the bonding between brick units in the masonry wall specimen. In the reinforced masonry system, the utilization of a low reinforcement ratio is increased the ultimate load capacity by 60% and decreased the ultimate displacement by 54%., but it is no longer provided significant changes to the ductility.

This paper presents a sliding mode control for reducing the torque ripple of a 6/4 switched reluctance motor. Several types of sliding mode control based on the current variable are implemented: conventional sliding mode control, learning sliding mode control, and learning sliding mode control with PID. The research also includes the design of the controller and simulation results that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in reducing torque ripple. The learning sliding mode control with PID has a significant implication for reduction torque ripple rate improvement of about 70% compared to the conventional model. As well as controlling the speed response and settling time. This makes the control of switched reluctance motors a current and speed controller.

Background: The concept of electrical integrated with surgical instruments (EISI) was first introduced by one of the authors of this paper. It aims to add electronic chips to classical surgical instruments to facilitate the surgeon\'s work during operation. Another concept called Penization is also utilized to redesign the instruments into pen-like ones to have 360° control by the surgeons\' hands. This concept results in the production of the so-called pen needle holder. We tried to add an electrical chip to this innovative needle holder design to solve the problem of passing the needle through hard tissues in delicate microsurgical work, especially in neurosurgery. Method: A hybrid electronic circuit was added to the newly designed needle holder. We designed a circuit with built-in motors to facilitate the pen needle holder\'s work on tough tissue. The design respects the so-called tunnel principle, which states that we can add any material or devices within the surgical instrument that are not in contact with the organic tissue. The system depends on a pressure sensor circuit located just beneath the index tip of the surgeon so that whenever he has tough tissue, the pressure on the sensor through his index finger will increase to a certain amount; it will stimulate uni-direction vibrators, which will push that tip of the needle holder Onwards. The electrical motors will stop spontaneously whenever resistance stops as the needle passes through the tissue; ten neurosurgeons use this integrated surgical instrument. They answered a special questionnaire designed to compare the use of this pen needle hoarder with the electronic vibrators and without it, and the results were encouraging. Conclusion: The newly designed pen needle holder with an integrated electronic chip is approved to facilitate the surgeon\'s work, especially with hard tissues. It creates an opportunity to develop further innovations by integrating these electrical chips with other surgical instruments.

The current study examines the flow characteristics under free flow conditions over a crump weir. The impact of the side slopes of the weir on the coefficient of discharge (Cd) is taken into account. Four physical models with crest heights of 0.15 m under free flow circumstances and four upstream side slope (1:3, 1:2.5, 1:2 and 1:1.5) were used to investigate the impact of various variables on discharge coefficient (Cd). Using the dimensional analysis technique, the elements influencing the crump weir's discharge coefficient were determined based on laboratory tests. For the same flow rate, Cd value decrease by decreasing upstream side slope. It notices that a decrease in upstream slope (from 1:3 to 1:2.5) reducing Cd value about (2.61 %), decrease upstream slope from (1:3 to 1:2) reducing Cd value about (4.16 %) and when decrease upstream slope from (1:3 to 1:1.5) reducing Cd value about (5.81 %).

Encryption is crucial because of how integral to daily life things like smartphones, computers, and the internet have become. It\'s almost inconceivable to think about getting by without it. Everything from paying bills and buying goods to email and social networking is done online nowadays. Participating in measures that can prevent illegal access to our accounts, data, and devices is more crucial than ever. In this study, we combined a 256-by-256-pixel cover picture with a 128-by-128-pixel inner image using the logistic map (the chaotic function), where both images were in the PNG format. where the encrypted image is converted to a grayscale image and then encrypted through the logistic function. the output of this process is chaotic data that has been converted into binary data to be encrypted again through the colors of the cover image (red, green and blue) each separately and measuring the standard factors to know the strength of the system. The bit error rate was calculated after measuring the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), system similarity(SSIM), and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio(PSNR) for these three hues. Using the logistic map, all three colors were found to be equally secure during encryption in the chaotic signal and due to unpredictability.

Digital watermarking encrypts private information with the original data to protect the ownership rights of the digital asset. This paper suggests a brand-new nested watermarking technique (two-level watermarking technique) to protect copyrights of digital images. It based on a hybrid discrete wave transformation-Hessenberg decomposition-Singular value decomposition (DWT-HD-SVD). The gray-watermark image is first split into n parts, and each portion goes through two steps of watermarking, using two host images, using hybrid DWT-HD-SVD method and one final level of encryption (based on the Lightweight algorithm, the high-speed cryptographic method). The results of the simulation reveal that the suggested system offers a high level of imperceptibility, reliability and robustness. Also it can be used for both the colored and the grayed images.

This study investigates the impact of stirring speed (X1) and stirring time (X2) composite materials (Al-7050/10 wt. %eggshell) renforcemented by eggshell particles of the on wear resistance by using the MINITAB 16 program. A composite material was produced by the stir casting method; the ingot was melted, and a molten metal vortex was produced by varying the stirring speed (200, 300, 400, 500, 600 rpm) and stirring duration (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 minutes). Eggshell particles with a fixed weight fraction of (10% wt.) and sizes (21–30 μm) were used. It was concluded if the variables (X1 = 543.4343 rpm) and (X2 = 48.1818 min.) wear loss of (0.0061 g) could be achieved. In practice, wear loss (0.0063 g) was obtained using the values of X1 and X2, which were obtained using the programs. Was wear loss is almost identical to the value obtained by the program. Additionally, the results manifested that the stirring time (X2) and stirring speed (X1) have a significant impact on the wear loss, where increase in stirring speed and time leading to an increase in wear strength. Furthermore, the effect of stirring speed (X1) on the wear loss is larger than that of stirring time (X2).

This study reviews numerous control approaches utilized to address various issues encountered by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Specifically, focusing on the quadrotor system. Due to its versatility and compact size, quadrotors have gained popularity as UAVs in recent decades. Quadrotors face challenges such as ambient disturbances, impediments, non-parametric and parametric perturbations while performing tasks. Consequently, a robust and efficient control system is essential for such a system to ensure the stability and enhance their performance. It should be noted that, in this review, we have examined and analyzed the most recent highly cited papers selected from esteemed journals and magazines renowned for their exceptional quality and reputation.

Anomaly detection in computer vision is crucial, and manual identification of irregularities in videos is resource-intensive. Autonomous systems are essential for efficiently analysing and detecting anomalies in diverse video datasets. Video surveillance relies heavily on anomaly detection for monitoring equipment states through time-series data. Presently, deep learning methods, particularly those based on Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN), have gained prominence in time-series anomaly detection. This paper proposes a novel solution: the double-flow convolutional Long Short-Term Memory (DF-ConvLSTM) - based Variational Autoencoder- Generative Adversarial Network (VAE-GAN) method. By co-training the encoder, generator, and discriminator, this approach leverages the encoder's mapping skills and the discriminator's discrimination capabilities simultaneously. The proposed strategy is compared with LSTM-VAE, LSTM-VAE-Attention, and VAE. The proposed method is evaluated using metrics for recall, accuracy, precision, and F1 score. With classification accuracies of 91% on the University of Central Florida (UCF) crime dataset, the experimental results outperformed alternative techniques. Furthermore, the analysis of the ROC curve revealed that the suggested method performed better than the others, as evidenced by its higher ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) values. Experimental results demonstrate the proposed method's ability to rapidly and accurately detect anomalies in surveillance videos, ensuring efficient and reliable anomaly detection. Experimental results show the method's rapid, accurate anomaly detection in surveillance videos, ensuring efficiency and reliability. However, challenges include high computational costs, affecting the practicality of implementation for real-time anomaly detection.

Moisture damage has been identified as one of the most common causes of distress in asphalt mixes. The attachment between bitumen aggregate components deteriorates when water interacts at the interface, causing the binder to be stripped from the exterior of the aggregate and cohesive breakdown inside the asphalt binder. To reduce the moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixes, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and antistripping warm mix additive (WMA) have been frequently utilized. Nevertheless, the application of SBR and WMA as a compound modifier has yet to be investigated thus this research aims to evaluate the influence of SBR and WMA i.e., ZycoTherm on the moisture resistance of asphalt mixtures. For this reason, several tests, including modified Lottman, resilient modulus, and dynamic creep, were used to assess the mechanical properties of the mixes in both wet and dry situations. The results found that the SBR improved the mechanical performance of the mixture in dry conditions, whereas using the ZycoTherm as a single modifier was more effective in improving the performance of the mix in dry conditions. However, the application of the compound modifier (SBR and ZycoTherm) could optimize the performance of asphalt mixtures in both conditions i.e., dry and wet.

Attaining effective quality control of drilled samples in thermal friction drilling is a challenge considering the disproportionate allocation of drilling resources to parameters. Therefore, it is essential to select the appropriate parameters and allocate their scarce resources based on requirements. This paper chooses the effective and the best parameters of the drilling process during the processing of AISI 304 stainless steel using the fuzzy-AHP-MOORA method. The analytic hierarchy process is deployed by stating the criteria and alternatives. A pairwise comparison is made with the outcome introduced into a fuzzy framework which interpretes the obtained values from an input to an output vector via a rule (linguistic the terms) set. The result is expressed as responses to options compared to the objectives as ratios. The input parameters are the feed rate, friction angle, rotational speed, friction contact area proportion, tool cylindrical region diameter and workpiece thickness. In turn, the responses are the roundness error, radial force, dimensional error, axial force, bushing length and hole diameter. It was found that experimental trials 12, 14 and 8 with the respective differences between beneficial and non-beneficial values of 0.2133, 0.2076 and 0.1083 obtained the respective positions of 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The discretized fuzzy weights place the bushing length as the best while the second position is shared equally by all the other responses. The model was successful in reducing the imprecision in the parameters and the greatly improved response was the bushing length.

One material that can be used in bone and soft tissue engineering is bioglass. By adhering to bone tissues and forming an apatite layer that further starts the biomineralization process, it can also encourage skin regeneration and wound healing in addition to playing a significant part in the healing processes of bone fractures.In this research, Syrian clay was used as a cheap silica source for preparation bioglass by melting method. Pure silica was isolated by mixing clay with sodium hydroxide in the following amounts (1:1), (2:1), (3:1), treated at different temperatures (700, 800, 900)˚C, treated with HCl solution, filtrated, dried, the yield reached to 96% with purity of 99% when clay was mixed with NaOH by (2:1) and treated at 800˚C. Bioglass was prepared using isolated silica according to thermal program, the formation of bioglass was confirmed by XRD, IR and biodegradability test, which confirmed formation of hydroxyapatite, on the surface which confirmed the biological effectiveness of the prepared bioglass.