Iraqi Journal of Civil Engineering

The paper shows the final findings of the effect of metakaolin on the strengths properties of concrete exposed to crude oil. Sulfate resistance Portland cement of V type was used and specimens of concrete were adjusted and subjected to a solution of concentrated crude oil. However, the samples are cured in a control media at immersion ages of (28, 56 & 120 days) with ambient temperature, then samples have been kept in curing water for comparisons purpose as well. The results explain that the use of metakaolin reinforces compressive, flexural and splitting resistance of concrete which is exposed to crude oil. The compressive strength reduction increased from 8.0% at (28 days) to 37.7% at (120 days) curing for normal weight concrete (NW) whereas the concrete incorporating metakaolin (MC) has a reduction of 6.0% at (28 days) & 29.3% at (120 days).

This paper presents the experimental results of eight slabs made of Ferrocement. All specimens were )700mm (long, )300mm (wide and )50mm (thick. These specimens were divided into two groups (The first group has four specimens coursed of normal sand gradient and in the other four specimens, the sand that passing from sieve No. 8 was neglected), to investigate behavior of slabs under bending effect and studying the cracks that generated after bending then, comparing the results between these two groups. A thin square welded wire mesh was used as reinforcement. The number of wire mesh layers was varied between 0 to 3 layers. Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) Test was used to detect the cracks. The results showed that there was a slight rise in bending for first group slabs compared with second group slabs. Maximum bending strength was achieved for both slab groups with 3 layers of wire mesh. it was shown that there was a significant convergence in the load values required to cause appearing of the first crack and final failure for the two groups. The percentage of ultimate load between slab reinforced with 3 layers and without reinforcement was (25.27%) for the first group, while the increase in ultimate load for a specimen that reinforced with 3 layers was (24.16%) compared to specimen without reinforcement for the same group. On the other hand, the results showed an improvement in the performance of the second group slabs due to its resistance to appearing of cracks resulted from bending. The percentage of increasing cracks after bending for the unreinforced specimen in group 1 was (9%) compared with the unreinforced slab in group 2. Whereas the numbers of cracks number in slab reinforced with 1 and 2 layers in the second group were less than slabs with 1 and 2 layers in the first group about (8.86 %) and (7.77%), respectively. While this percentage for a specimen with 3 layers in group 2 was about (8.62%) less compared to the specimen with 3 layers in group 1.

To preserve the natural materials, applying the principles of sustainable engineering, to approach the principle of zero waste and to contribute the solution of the negative environmental impact of two decades, which is caused by excessive use of bottles of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in packaging, has led to the approach of alternative, clean and innovative technologies aimed at recycling and reuse to address this environmental problem. Proposed re-use empty bottles as a way to get rid of them and benefit from them at the same time the way, this method through which the empty bottles cutting into fibres using these fibres made of PET to improve the properties of concrete. Percentage of fiber that has been used are 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5%. Suitable tests were performed to measure properties of concrete reinforcement by recycle PET fibre such as compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, four-point bending strength, modulus of elasticity and toughness index. Flexural toughness tests were performed to measure the ductility capacities of reinforced concrete members with recycled PET fibre reinforced concrete. The results obtained indicate Toughness index was enhanced by using PET fibre reinforced concrete specimens, compared to no ductility performance of concrete specimens without fibre reinforcement. A significant change in ductility was when observed PET used fibre with 3%.

The earth-fill dams are simple structures which are able to prevent the sliding and overturning because of their self-weight. Due to lack of suitable clay materials, the dams may be designed as zoned core which is composed of three vertical zones contains central impermeable core and two permeable shells on their two sides of the core. Impervious core is used in zoned earth dam to reduce the quantity of seepage through the body of the dam and to relief part of risk of piping and erosion in the downstream side. This study aims to study the soil properties that is used as a core of earth dam through a series of laboratory experiments that were carried out a several soil samples mixed with both lime and silica fume, in order to stabilize the soil. The process of stabilization aims to increase the soil strength and reducing its permeability and compressibility. Test results show that adding lime and silica fume to the soil decreases the permeability of soil with different cases of study, the percentage of decreases in case of standard compaction about (21%-90%) while in modified compaction test the permeability decreases in range (41.7%-91.3%). Also the unconfined compressive strength of the soil increasing significantly in both cases of compaction which were standard and modified. When add the materials, these values were increased in range (76%-90%) for samples from standard compaction test, while it being (0.21%-42%) in modified compaction test.