Al-Khwarizmi Engineering Journal

This study presents the debonding propagation in single NiTi wire shape memory alloy into linear low-density polyethylene matrix composite the study of using the pull-out test. The aim of this study is to investigate the pull-out tests to check the interfacial strength of the polymer composite in two cases, with activation NiTinol wire and without activation. In this study, shape memory alloy NiTinol wire 2 mm diameter and linear fully annealed straight shape were used. The study involved experimental and finite element analysis and eventually comparison between them. This pull-out test is considered a substantial test because its results have a relation with behavior of smart composite materials. The pull-out test was carried out by a universal tensile test machine type (Laryee), load capacity (50 kN), and a test speed of 1mm/min. The finite elements modeling was performed by ANSYS V.15. The results of pull-out test showed that in the activation of NiTinol wire embedded in host matrix linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), the deboned force was about 74 N, but for the case without activation, it was about 106 N. Deboned shear stress for the case with activation was about 0.73 MPa, but for the case of without activation, it was about 1.05 MPa. ANSYS result for deboned shear stress in case with activation was about 0.8 MPa. As for the case of without activation, deboned shear stress was about 0.99 MPa. The activation of the ratio of deboned shear stress and deboned force decreased by 30.47% and 30.13%, respectively. The error ratio between experimental and ANSYS results was equal to 8% for the case with activation and 5.7% for the case without activation.

This research concerns study the crack growth in the wall of pipes made of low carbon steel under the impact load and using the effect of hygrothermal (rate of moisture 50% and 50℃ temperature). The environmental conditions were controlled using high accuracy digital control with sensors. The pipe have a crack already. The test was performed and on two type of specimens, one have length of 100cm and other have length 50cm. The results were, when the humidity was applied to the pipe, the crack would enhance to growth (i.e. the number of cycles needed to growth the crack will reduce). In addition, when the temperature was increase the number of cycles needed to growth the crack are reduced because the effect of heat on the mechanical properties of the material. In addition, when the test performed on the specimens of length 50cm the number of cycles needed to growth the crack is increase because the effect of bending stress on the pipes.

Mechanical and thermal properties of composites, consisted of unsaturated polyester resin, reinforced by different kinds of natural materials (Orange peels and Date seeds) and industrial materials (carbon and silica) with particle size 98 µm were studied. Various weight ratios, 5, 10, and 15 wt. % of natural and industrial materials have been infused into polyester. Tensile, three-point bending and thermal conductivity tests were conducted for the unfilled polyester, natural and industrial composite to identify the weight ratio effect on the properties of materials. The results indicated that when the weight ratio for polyester with date seeds increased from 10% to 15%, the maximum Young’s modulus decreased by 54%. When the weight ratio was 5%, the maximum Young’s modulus, yield stress and ultimate tensile stress occurred in the polyester with date seeds. The results of tensile and flexural tests showed that the natural composite material has a higher strength than the industrial material. While the results of flexural tests manifested that the maximum improvement in the flexural strength is obtained for orange peels at 5 wt. %, where the maximum increasing percentage is 153.4% than pure polyester. The thermal conductivity of orange peels decreased to the half value when the weight ratio increased from 10% to 15%. The thermal conductivity for polyester with orange peels was greater than the thermal conductivity of polyester with date seeds with maximum percentage occurred at weight ratio 10% is 14.4%, but the thermal conductivity of the industrial composite material was higher than the natural composite material. Finally, the date seeds composite was a good insulator and it had a reduced heat transfer rate in comparison to the rest of the samples, also the maximum variation of temperature with time occurred in date seeds composite.

Enhancement of the performance for hybrid solar air conditioning system was presented in this paper. The refrigerant temperature leaving the condenser was controlled using three-way valve, this valve was installed after the compressor to regulate refrigerant flow rate towards the solar system. A control system using data logger, sensors and computer was proposed to set the opening valve ratio. The function of control program using LabVIEW software is to obtain a minimum refrigerant temperature from the condenser outlet to enhance the overall COP of the unit by increasing the degree of subcooled refrigerant. A variable load electrical heater with coiled pipe was used instead of the solar collector and the storage tank to simulate the solar radiation. Experimental data was measured to study the performance of the system. The proposed system was compared with the conventional one. Results show that the COP of the proposed system was higher than the COP of the conventional system by 10 %. In addition, the controlled system saved an electricity of 11.2 %. The optimum opening valve ratio fluctuated between 0.3 and 0.4 when the heater power was 500 W.

Natural frequency under initial stresses for simply supported cross-ply composite laminated plates (E glass- fiber) are obtained using Refind theory (RPT). This theory accounts for parabolic distribution of the transverse shear strain through the plate thickness and satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the surfaces of the plate without using shear correction factors. The governing equations for Eigen value problem under initial stress are derived using Hamilton’s principle and solved using Navier solution for simply supported cross-ply symmetric and antisymmetric laminated plates. The effect of many design factors such as modulus ratio, thickness ratio and number of laminates on the Natural frequency and buckling stresses of orthotropic plates are studied. The results are compared with other researcher.

Natural fibers and particles reinforced composites are being broadly used due to their bio and specific properties such as low density and easy to machine and production with low cost. In this work, water absorption and mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength of recycled jute fibers reinforced epoxy resin were enhanced by treating these fibers with alkaline solution. The recycled jute fibers were treated with different concentration of (NaOH) solution at (25 0C) for a period of (24) hours. From the obtained results, it was found that all these properties are improved when fibers treated with (7.5wt% NaOH) related to untreated fibers. Conversely, the mentioned properties of composites decreased after fibers treated with (10wt% NaOH). In addition, the hybrid composite with recycled jute fibers and recycled walnut shell powder showed obvious enhancement in the above-mentioned properties.

The present work presents design and implementation of an automated two-axis solar tracking system using local materials with minimum cost, light weight and reliable structure. The tracking system consists of two parts, mechanical units (fixed and moving parts) and control units (four LDR sensors and Arduino UNO microcontroller to control two DC servomotors). The tracking system was fitted and assembled together with a parabolic trough solar concentrator (PTSC) system to move it according to information come from the sensors so as to keep the PTSC always perpendicular to sun rays. The experimental tests have been done on the PTSC system to investigate its thermal performance in two cases, with tracking system (case 1) and without tracking system (case 2). The experimental results showed that the average solar radiation falling on the PTSC prototype in the two cases during the same time was 854 and 701 watt/m2, respectively, which means an increase in the solar radiation about 21.8 % when using tracking system. It was found that the average useful heat gain output of solar collector was equal to (376.2, 252.6 watt) for the two cases, respectively, so there was an increase of about 48.9 % when using the tracking system. Also, the average thermal efficiency of the PTSC was found to be (20.7, 26.5 %) for the two cases, respectively, which means an increase in the average efficiency by 28% with use of tracking system compared to the fixed case.

Influence of combined square nozzle with helical tape inserted in a constant heat flux tube on heat transfer enhancement for turbulent airflow for Reynolds number ranging from 7000 to 14500 were investigated experimentally. Three different pitch ratios for square nozzle (PR = 5.8, 7.7 and 11.6) according to three different numbers of square nozzle (N = 3, 4 and 5) and constant pitch ratios for helical tape were used. The results observed that the Nusselt number and friction factor for combination with winglets were found to be up to 33.8 % and 21.4 %, respectively higher than nozzle alone for pitch ratio PR=5.8. The maximum value of thermal performance for using combination with winglets was about 1.351 for pitch ratio= 5.8. Nusselt number and friction factor correlations from experimental data were developed for turbulent flow.

A numerical model for Polypropylene 575 polymer melts flow along the solid conveying screw of a single screw extruder under constant heat flux using ANSYS-FLUENT 17.2 software has been conducted. The model uses the thermophysical properties such as Viscosity, thermal conductivity, Specific heat and density of polypropylene 575 that measured as a function of temperature, and residence time data for process simulation. The numerical simulation using CFD models for single screw extruder and the polymer extrusion was analysed for parameters such as (thermal conductivity, specific heat, density and viscosity) reveals a high degree of similarity to experimental data measured. The most important outcome of this study is that geometrical, parameter and conditions have been obtained from the simulation used to minimize the size, cost and time of operation for extruder.

Shumblan (SH) is one of the most undesirable aquatic plants widespread in the irrigation channels and water bodies. This work focuses on boosting the biogas potential of shumblan by co-digesting it with other types of wastes without employing any chemical or thermal pretreatments as done in previous studies. A maximum biogas recovery of 378 ml/g VS was reached using shumblan with cow manure as inoculum in a ratio of 1:1. The methane content of the biogas was 55%. Based on volatile solid (VS) and C/N ratios, biogas productions of 518, 434, and 580 ml/g VS were obtained when the shumblan was co-digested with food wastes (SH:F), paper wastes (SH:P), and green wastes (SH:G) respectively. No significant changes of methane contents were observed during the anaerobic co-digestion of shumblan with the selected wastes. This noticeable increments of biogas yields proved that this sort of biomass can be utilized as a promising source for bioenergy production of industrial scale because of its economic operation. Slight pH variations indicated that the co-digestion performance has a good stability operation and no excessive amounts of volatile fatty acid were accumulated. The results also proved that by using co-digestion technology, the biodegradation of shumblan plants could be significantly accelerated supplying greater amounts of biogas yields. Moreover, the appropriate co-digestion with other wastes gave the shumblan high digestibility and, hence, there will be no need to prior pretreatment in order to boost the biogas yield.

Prodigiosin is a ‘natural red pigment produced by Serratia marcescens which exhibits immunosuppressive and anticancer properties in addition to antimicrobial activities. This work presents an attempt to maximize the production of prodigiosin by two different strategies: one factor at time (OFAT) and statistical optimization. The result of OFAT revealed that sucrose and peptone were the best carbon and nitrogen sources for pigment production with concentration of prodigiosin of about 135 mg/ L. This value was increased to 331.6mg/ L with an optimized ratio of C/N (60:40) and reached 356.8 with pH 6 and 2% inoculum size at end of classical optimization. Statistical experimental design based on Response surface methodology was conducted to optimize the composition of trace element. The design revealed that the predicted prodigiosin production of 406 mg/L can be achieved when concentrations of trace element CaCl2·2H2O, FeSO4·4H2O, MgSO4·7H2O and MnSO4·4H2O were equal to 9.22, 0.32, 0.67 and 2.48 g/L, respectively. The actual production of prodigiosin in the optimized medium was 375±12 mg/L. Growth kinetics of S. marcescens were evaluated in optimized medium which revealed that prodigiosin was ‘non-associated growth’ secondary metabolite with maximum production of approximately 365.7 mg/L obtained after 54 hours of incubation.

This research was carried out to study the effect of plants on the wetted area for two soil types in Iraq and predict an equation to determine the wetted radius and depth for two different soil types cultivated with different types of plants, the wetting patterns for the soils were predicted at every thirty minute for a total irrigation time equal to 3 hr. Five defferent discharges of emitter and five initial volumetric soil moisture contents were used ranged between field capacity and wilting point were utilized to simulate the wetting patterns. The simulation of the water flow from a single point emitter was completed by utilized HYDRUS-2D/3D software, version 2.05. Two methods were used in developing equations to predict the domains of the wetting pattern. The principal strategy manages each soil independently and includes plotting, fitting, and communicating relevant connections for wetted zone and profundity, maximum error did not exceed 31.2%, modeling efficiency did not less 0.95, and root mean square error did not surpass 1.43 cm. The second strategy additionally treated each soil independently yet used electronic programming that uses different relapse methods for wetted territory and profundity, the maximum error did not exceed 15.64 %, modeling efficiency did not less 0.98, and root mean square error did not surpass 1.18 cm. a field test was directed to quantify the wetted radius to check the outcome acquired by the software HYDRUS-2D, contrast the estimation and the reproduced by the software. The after effects of the conditions to express the wetted radius and depth regarding the time of water system, producer release, and initial soil moisture content were general and can be utilized with great precision.

Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is a non-traditional cutting technique for metals removing which is relied upon the basic fact that negligible tool force is produced during the machining process. Also, electrical discharge machining is used in manufacturing very hard materials that are electrically conductive. Regarding the electrical discharge machining procedure, the most significant factor of the cutting parameter is the surface roughness (Ra). Conventional try and error method is time consuming as well as high cost. The purpose of the present research is to develop a mathematical model using response graph modeling (RGM). The impact of various parameters such as (current, pulsation on time and pulsation off time) are studied on the surface roughness in the present research. 27 samples were run by using CNC-EDM machine which used for cutting steel 304 with dielectric solution of gas oil by supplied DC current values (10, 20, and 30A). Voltage of (140V) uses to cut 1.7mm thickness of the steel and use the copper electrode. The result from this work is useful to be implemented in industry to reduce the time and cost of Ra prediction. It is observed from response table and response graph that the applied current and pulse on time have the most influence parameters of surface roughness while pulse off time has less influence parameter on it. The supreme and least surface roughness, which is achieved from all the 27 experiments is (4.02 and 2.12µm), respectively. The qualitative assessment reveals that the surface roughness increases as the applied current and pulse on time increases.

In this work, 332 Al alloy was prepared and reinforced with (0.5% and 1%) nano-Al2O3 particles. The prepared unreinforced and reinforced 332 Al alloy with nano-Al2O3 were solution heat treated (T6) at 510 ̊C and aged at 225 ̊C with different times (1, 3, and 5 h). Hardness test was performed on all the prepared alloys. All prepared alloys were dry slided under different applied loads (5, 10, 15, and 20 N) against steel counterface surface using pin on disk apparatus. The results showed that refinement effect was observed after addition of nano-Al2O3 particles and a change in silicon morphology after performing the solution heat treatment. The results also showed that hardness was increased and the wear rate decreased with increasing the nano-Al2O3 particles in the matrix of 332 Al-Alloy.

Burnishing improves fatigue strength, surface hardness and decrease surface roughness of metal because this process transforms tensile residual stresses into compressive residual stresses. Roller burnishing tool is used in the present work on low carbon steel (AISI 1008) specimens. In this work, different experiments were used to study the influence of feed parameter and speed parameter in burnishing process on fatigue strength, surface roughness and surface hardness of low carbon steel (AISI 1008) specimens. The first parameter used is feed values which were (0.6, 0.8, and 1) mm at constant speed (370) rpm, while the second parameter used is speed at values (540, 800 and 1200) rpm and at constant feed (1) mm. The results of the fatigue test showed that improvement in fatigue limit, where the highest fatigue limit was obtained at (1mm feed, 1200rpm speed) in burnishing process which was (169 Mpa). The hardness results, showed increasing feed and speed values lead to increasing the hardness. The burnishing process reduces surface roughness by producing accurate and better surface finish. The best surface fineness of metal at (1mm feed and 1200 rpm speed) was 0.11 μm.