AL-Rafidain Engineering Journal (AREJ)

In This research delved into the feasibility of substituting sulfur waste (SW) for traditional filler (CaCO3), in both hot and warm asphalt mixtures. Warm mix asphalt samples were produced using a synthetic zeolite binder modifier. Various mechanical parameters, including Marshall stability, Marshall quotient, and indirect tensile strength at 25°C and 60°C, as well as tensile strength ratio, were assessed. Test results showed that incorporating SW as a substitute for CaCO3 filler resulted in an increase in Marshall stability values in both hot and warm mixtures by 11.89% and 5.16%, respectively. while the increase in the value of the Marshall quotient for these mixtures was 12.9% and 23.48%, respectively. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the Marshall properties of all mixtures met the ASTM D6927-15 standards. The SW-blended mixtures exhibited significant moisture resistance improvement, particularly in warm mixtures. Notably, the TSR value increased by 50.84%, rising from 0.568 for WMA to 0.856 for WMASW. Furthermore, the incorporation of SW in asphalt mixtures offers the potential for economic and environmental benefits.

Environmental monitoring and industrial automation use WSNs extensively. Since sensor nodes have limited batteries, WSNs must be energy efficient. LEACH helps WSNs capture energy-efficient data. Cluster heads affect LEACH protocol energy consumption and network lifespan. This paper improves LEACH protocol cluster head selection with the genetic algorithm Algorithm. The program chooses cluster heads that maximize network energy efficiency. Cluster heads represent solutions in the Genetic Algorithm's genetic model. Energy efficiency measures fitness, selection, crossover, and mutation boost fitness. We extensively simulated to test our proposed strategy. We compared LEACH-GA, the original LEACH protocol, and various optimization methods. This article shows 100% network lifespan improvement compared to various routing protocols including; LEACH-C, FIGWO, GA-LEACH, PSO, ABC-SD, CGTABC2& ACO, LEACH, I-LEACH, I-LEACH. Whereas it gives 54% compared to ED-LEACH, and 28% compared to GADA-LEACH. The LEACH-GA algorithm outperforms the baseline LEACH algorithm and other algorithms in energy in terms of energy efficiency, network lifetime, and data aggregation. Our paper introduces a novel cluster head selection strategy for the LEACH protocol, which advances WSNs as Genetic Algorithms are integrated. The LEACH-GA algorithm increases energy efficiency and network longevity. Thus, it offers a feasible solution for energy-constrained WSN applications to help build and deploy effective WSN protocols, improving sensor network sustainability and dependability.

This study aims to investigate the impact of groundwater containing composite salts on the compressive strength of concrete foundations located in the city of Basra in Iraq. The groundwater in this city demonstrates high concentrations of salts, particularly significant amounts of magnesium, sodium, and calcium salts, which are present in close proximity to the soil surface. To accomplish this objective, a foundation in the mentioned city was selected, which has been constructed since 2012 and remains incomplete to this day. The chosen foundation covers an area of approximately 2000 m2. Samples were collected from seven distinct regions, with three samples obtained from each region, resulting in a total of 21 samples. The selected regions were those most affected by groundwater, specifically those closest to the soil, such as regions near edges or openings within the foundation. The results of compressive strength tests conducted on all specimens indicated a remarkable decline in compressive strength. On average, the findings revealed a 30% reduction in compressive strength, highlighting the significant impact of composite salt-contaminated groundwater on the durability of concrete foundations

This paper reviews prior investigations into low noise amplifier (LNA) design. In this work, various modern LNA architectures will be examined, with a focus on five technologies: Cascode Distributed LNA, Coupled-Line Feedback in 0.15-m GaAs pHEMT Technology, Dual-Band CMOS LNA in 65-nm CMOS, CMOS LNA Using Post-distortion technique and 22-nm FD-SOI CMOS. In this review, Low power dissipation rate, input and output synchronization, high gain, and low noise levels are examined. In order to design a new successful LNA, each topology's performance is then examined. Future research will be conducted based on comparisons of these five topologies.

It's essential to maintain a consistent and dependable energy supplies given the rising global demand for energy. When there is a crisis, such as a malfunction or an imbalance between energy production and load demand, the Frequency system becomes unstable. A load shedding scheme is an important key to recover frequency system and ensure the obtainability of electrical power for serious loads in a plant. Therefore, it is necessary to provide reliable technologies to quickly and accurately way to prevent breakdown in the system energy. Under Frequency Load SheddingUFLS is one of the important systems protection, and as is currently the case in many instances, it is the final step to prevent the system's collapse following an interruption or failure energy in the system. In this paper, the review of the literature is presented, along with a look at the various methods employed in the electrical power system and a comparison of traditional, adaptive, and intelligent load-shedding strategies. In order to clarify the intended function (entity) and preserve system stability, extra classification of additional elements is suggested. The various load shedding systems were addressed, along with their benefits and drawbacks, and a comparison between them was made with a list of the most significant justifications for doing so

Due to the intricate die design, the metal flow and stress distribution in the metal extrusion process are quite complex. This study successfully used the commercial finite element code Deform-3D to simulate the stress distribution in the direct hot extrusion of Al-AA7075 rods. The outcomes demonstrate that the ideal die angle reduces the effective stress intensity. The best die angle for the least effective stress is angle 15°, and the best die angle for the least maximum stress is angle 30°. Moreover, the least load is found at an angle of 15°; the load decreases with an increase in the diameter. Further more, careful design of the extrusion dies profile can therefore control and reduce the stresses, which cause a main defect in product structure, supported that it can be used to minimize the amount of in-homogeneity imparted in to the product, and therefore control the product quality.

The use of energy, which is perceived as a key element in the development of civilization and is necessary for all aspects of modern life, is one of the measures of the country's growth. Due to the high costs of conventional energy sources as well as the possibility of their depletion, it has become necessary to look for new and direct sources of energy. As a result, thinking began to return to absorption cooling systems due to their ability to work using direct thermal energy. Apart from their simplicity and lack of moving parts, absorption cooling systems are commonly used because they can operate by a heat source with relatively low temperatures, such as those generated by burning natural gas or by solar collectors, to produce a refrigeration effect directly by evaporating the refrigerant. This article presented a thermodynamic design of (10 TR) single-effect (LiBr/ H2O) absorption refrigeration system. The capacity of the evaporator (35.17 KW) was used to determine the operating parameters for each component. Thermodynamic simulations are carried out on the basis of experimental correlations. To determine the various operational parameters of a vapor absorption refrigeration system under various operating conditions, a MATLAB code was developed. The effectiveness of the solution heat exchanger and the various temperatures of the generator, condenser, evaporator, absorber, are taken into consideration when calculating the coefficient of performance. The results obtained prove that the coefficient of performance increases by increasing the effectiveness of solution heat exchanger, generator and evaporator temperatures, and decreases by increasing absorber and condenser temperatures.

The interior space should achieve the users’ needs to achieve a high elegance and satisfaction level. Residential interior design in Mosul City in Iraq has less attention from the users and designers in terms of managing the colour theme. The technological era with imported interior design elements provided various options for designing interior spaces. Chaos in the arranging and coordination of interior design elements results from indifference to interior design principles linked to colour themes. The mismatching between users’ needs and designers’ purposes creates a negative elegant value. Therefore, the research problem is “The lack of strategies to deal with the colour theme in the residential interior design depending on the users' needs”. The study aims to identify the preferences for colour themes of elegant interior design in the residential interior space in Mosul City. The methodology applied a quantitative-qualitative approach using the survey, observation, and interview instruments. The visual observation of the interior design elements in furniture companies in Mosul City creates a platform for the availability of the material that provides a range of colour themes in Mosul City. The result showed that elegant design linked to nature and traditional factors of colour theme, while walls, furniture companies, and decorative are the influential elements.

Foam concrete (FC) is a type of lightweight concrete that has had many voides added by the foaming agent. This paper investigates the possibility of using two types of construction and demolition waste (CDWs), including thermostone blocks and ceramic tiles, as a partial replacement of sand in foam concrete to test the water absorption performance of foamed concrete. Twenty-one samples with three volume-replacement rates of sand for each waste type were explored (25, 50, and 75%). The effect of these various proportions on workability, fresh density, hardened density, and water absorption, it has been established. The results showed that the workability decreased with increasing replacement, and the density of hardened foam concrete increased. As for water absorption, it decreased at all replacement ratios as a result of filling the pores inside the foam concrete and thus increasing the bulk density. Which, in turn, reduces the permeability of foam concrete. The maximum redection in absorption and permeable voids was in the replacement of 75% of thermostone and ceramic waste powders, where the redection was 20.68% in absorption and 29.2% in permeable voids for thermostone replacement, the absorption value was 15.96%, and the permeable voids were 38.28% for ceramic.

Metamaterial (MTM) is an artificial structure with electromagnetic specifications that are not available in materials naturally, as it acquires its distinctive characteristics from its shape. For this reason, this material has garnered great interest from researchers in the field of microwave components. In order to get around the restrictions and enhance the performance of antennas, MTM is also used in antennas. The 5G applications aspire to high gain and to provide acceptable performance, which gets attention to the necessity protection the human body from radiation. Metamaterial (MTM) provides surface waves suppression, in-phase reflection, and high impedance. This review paper addressed MTM in terms of its electrical analysis, simulation analysis, and internal structure of the unit cell to demonstrate its impact on the performance of the antenna. In addition to that, an overview of the strengths and weaknesses points of MTM characteristics have involved. Furthermore, the details about many applications like; Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) reduction, isolation, enhancing gain, miniaturization, reflector, and Artificial Magnetic Conductors AMC have been demonstrated to guide antenna designers to have an obvious picture of this material.

Kinship (family relationships) detection is important in many domains; it can be used in forensic investigations, adoption, biometric security, and more. It is particularly necessary in times of conflict and natural disasters, such as earthquakes, as it can help with reunions, and searches for missing persons. The most popular and very accurate means of establishing kinship is DNA analysis. Another method which is non-invasive is kinship estimate using facial images and computer vision accompanied with machine learning algorithms. Every component of the human body contains embeddedinformation that may be taken out and used for that person’s identification, verification, or classification. Finding characteristics that every family has in common is the foundation of kinship detection. This paper examines a novel approach of kinship detection using the hand geometry. Deep transfer learning using the ResNet50 model was used to extract geometrical features from hand images. A neural network classifier was designed and trained to predict kinship and assembled as a top layer for the ResNet model. The test accuracy of this novel methodology was 92.8% yielding to the hand has geometrical features that can be used to detect kinship, and that the proposed method is a possible potential way to identify kinship. We built our own hand image dataset that contains kinship ground truth metadata since there were no such datasets before. We called it “Mosul Kinship Hand (MKH) dataset”, which includes 648 photos of 81 people from 14 households (8 different hand images per person), and it was used in this research.

In this paper, a low-pass filter (LPF) microstrip generalized Chebyshev type defected ground with a high suppression stopband was proposed. The resonators of the suggested filter were implemented using a T-shape microstrip. The filter resonators consist of three main parts. A part of the resonators was used to improve the rejection of the filter in the stopping region, a second part was used to increase the selectivity of the filter, and the last part was used to balance between the two regions. The microstrip LPF filter is designed on a Roger RT/Duroid 5880 substrate with εr=2.2, a thickness of 0.381 mm. 11th order generalized Chebyshev LPF was simulated using HFSS software. The simulation results were as follows: 2 GHz for the cut-off frequency, insertion loss of 0.55 dB at about 20 dB return loss, and a wide range of stopband suppression below the level of 28 dB from frequency 3.4 GHz to 20 GHz. The LPF selectivity was approximately 37.5 dB/GHz and a small and compact size filter with 0.014λ2g was introduced. The filter matches the specifications required for fifth-generation filters in wireless communications systems.

Flow disaggregation models, which are one of the stochastic generation techniques, play a crucial role in the planning, design, and operation of water resource management systems and related projects. One distinguishing feature of these models is their ability to address the issue of missing observed data and compensate for it. They also enable the rescaling of data from a higher temporal level to a lower temporal scale. Data at lower temporal scales are typically required to address hydraulic and operational design problems in water resource projects. There are two main approaches to disaggregation flow data: the parametric approach and the non-parametric approach.One of the advantages of the disaggregation model is its ability to distribute flow data values from a key station to several sub-stations, both temporally and/or spatially, while preserving the basic statistical properties of the time series obtained from the model (mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, and correlation coefficient) for the observed data.In the current study, a non-parametric approach was used for the purpose of disaggregation approach. It is assumed that there is aggregated discharge data at a key station, and this data will be disaggregated into a corresponding series of discharges temporally and spatially at sub-stations that are statistically similar, using the SAMS 2010 platform program (Stochastic Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation). Annual and monthly discharge data for five stations measuring discharges on the Tigris River System in Iraq were used, including the Mosul Dam station on the Tigris River, the Asmawah station on the Khazir River, the Askiklik station on the Upper Zab, the Dibs Dam station on the Lower Zab, and the Baiji station on the Tigris River, covering a time span of twenty-three years. The statistical results of the disaggregation approach were compared with their observed counterparts and showed good agreement in most years and months and for all stations. Based on this, the method is recommended disaggregation of the data when decisions required water management strategies in these regions

This paper deals with simulating a solar assisted under floor heating system during the three coldest months (i.e., December, January, and February) for a building of 100 m2 area in Mosul city, Iraq. The simulations are conducted using TRNSYS18 software. The main components of the heating system under consideration, simulated using TRNSYS18 software, are a flat plate collector a storage tank, under-floor heating pipes. and an auxiliary heater which used when there is no enough solar potential. This work presents the indoor temperature and accessory loads by using variable collector area and volume of the storage tank. The results indicate that the heating system efficiently warms the indoor air in the building under study with an optimum collecting area of (24 m2) and optimum storage tank volume of (1.0 m3) to reduce the consumption of auxiliary energy to a very low level.

Underwater robotic systems have profoundly transformed the field of deep-sea exploration, enabling operations in remote subsea installations. The outlook for this technology is highly promising. This study aims to offer an in-depth understanding of the subject matter to postgraduate students, engineers, and researchers with a keen interest in the realm of underwater robotics. Furthermore, this work encompasses a comprehensive survey of the diverse domains within the field of underwater robotics.