Rana Hamid Khalil Shabbar

The addition of recycled expanded polystyrene (EPS) in cement mortar is a key to enhancing buildings’ insulation and reducing energy consumption. The main objective of this study is to improve the thermal conductivity of lightweight mortar (LWM) by using the EPS. Also, to overcome the segregation problem when increasing the EPS proportion by more than 70% by volume, slurry sand was used. To achieve that, more EPS waste is required to produce an LWM with less cement and natural resources (sand) content. The effect of different percentages and particle sizes of the EPS either virgin or grated on the workability, density, compressive, flexural strength, and thermal conductivity were investigated by using the EPS with the range of 0, 75, 80, and 85% by mortar’s volume. The results exposed that LWM with grated EPS waste had greater physical and mechanical properties than with EPS beads because it has low void content and suitable distribution. In addition, mortar with 85% grated EPS had similar properties than that with 75% EPS beads. Accordingly, EPS should be grinded to increase its volumetric percentage in the mixture. Also, electron microscopy was used as an integral technique to study surface morphology between mortar components and the EPS.

The demand for lightweight concrete has increased because of its low density, fire resistance and good thermal insulation. Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) is the combination of cement, fine-grained sand, lime and water with aluminium powder. This study aims to investigate the influence of adding silica fume (SF) on improving the properties of AAC. The response was studied in terms of testing the mechanical and physical properties including compressive, splitting tensile, flexural strength, density, porosity and coefficient of water absorption. Different mixes have been proposed by incorporating the SF with contents of 10 %, 20 % and 30 % by cement weight, which is compared with the AAC sample that is used in practical applications. The results indicated that there was a significant improvement in the compressive and flexural strength of AAC, which increased by six and three times, respectively, when 30 % of SF was used with an acceptable dry density. Furthermore, the microstructural analysis revealed that SF had a positive effect on the development of calcium silicate hydrate and it can be used in AAC masonry block productions.

The reuse of expanded polystyrene waste (EPSw) in cement mortar is a solution to improve the insulation, comfortability, sustainability and reduce energy consumption in buildings. EPSw cement mortar is a new lightweight building material that reveals great physical-mechanical properties that are suitable for the construction field. Five groups of cement mortars containing grated EPSw (20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% by volume) were produced in addition to the reference mix (0% EPSw). The physical, mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of the lightweight cement mortar (LWCM) were determined. By using a superplasticiser admixture and grated EPSw, the non-homogeneous distribution of the components was controlled. The results indicated that the highest reduction in the thermal conductivity was 71% for the specimens containing 60% EPSw.

This research aimed to investigate the feasibility of conserving the clay soil resources exhausted in brick production in an attempt to achieve one of the strategic sustainable development goals related to protection of fertile soils. The research inspected the influence of replacing part of the clay soil with some recycled and available cheap materials, on the mechanical and physical properties of the fired clay bricks. Fine sand, grinded construction waste materials and grinded limestone, were utilized in this research as the replacing materials. The results showed that the soil used for production of bricks in the studied local factory region was characterized by containing a very low sand content, not exceeding (3%). The research results showed that the replacement of different portions (5, 10, 20, and 30%) of the soil with fine sand caused an increase in the density of clay specimens. It had been proved that different mixes, implemented in this research could be employed to produce fired bricks complying with the requirements of class B, and class C of Iraqi specification IQS 25-1988. Class B fired clay brick could be produced using the soil in which 5, or 30% of its constituents, was replaced with fine sand. Superior efflorescence results were attained for soil including more than 5% fine sand, beside the case of the soil containing (5-20%) grinded limestone or grinded construction materials waste. Utilizing grinded limestone to replace more than 10% of the soil resulted in a decrease, reached 12 % in the density of the bricks. The research findings are of great importance from the environmental and economical points of view. The results confirmed the possibility of successfully substituting considerable part of the clay soil used in production of fired clay bricks by some available replacing materials. Improvement of the quality of the bricks beside the friendship with the environment, via the disposal of construction waste were also verified.

In this study concrete block was produced with waste crushed clay bricks (CCB). CCB is used as a conventional coarse aggregate replacement with the range of 0, 25, 50 and 75%. Physical and mechanical properties of concrete blocks were examined at room temperature (25°C) and elevated temperatures of 400, 600 and 800°C. The results indicated that concrete specimens with 50% CCB exhibited the greatest flexural strength characteristics compared to that containing natural aggregates, whereas a slight decline indicated at the density and compressive strength. However, the specimens with 75% CCB have the highest residual strength at an elevated temperature of 800°C. Accordingly, it is suitable for load-bearing wall application when exposed to elevated temperature in confirmation to ASTM-C55.

This investigation aims to improve some of the mechanical properties of concrete such as compressive strength, flexural strength, and modulus of elasticity, by using different percentages of polypropylene fibers, and also studying the durability of concrete for freeze-thaw cycles. the study shows a small increment in compressive strength due to adding fibers which were 28.3% compared with increment in flexural strength which was perfect (about 191%), modulus of elasticity also increased by adding fibers. The durability of concrete against freezing-thaw cycles for all mixes was studied. Fiber-reinforced concrete shows more durability against freezing-thawing cycles and less reduction in strength compared with reference mixes without fibers,21.5% reduction in strength for optimum polypropylene fiber concrete while the reduction in strength for normal concrete was found 54.2% in this study.

Conference Date :Sep 15th - Sep 16th

The conference will be held in Istanbul, Turkey Dated 24-25 AUGUST 2020

This conference will be held in Taipei, Taiwan during September 25-27, 2020

It will take place in Jeju Island, South Korea during November 15-17, 2019. 4th ICCASCE 2019 Conference is an annual conference aimed at presenting contemporary study research related to engineering technology, materials and mechanical science.

This 6th ICAET 2019 conference covers a wide range of fields in science and engineering technology and aims to bring together engineering technology expertise. The professional from the industry, academia and government to discourse on research and development, professional practice, business and management in the science and engineering fields are welcome to the 6th ICAET 2019.

It offers to the participants a suitable experience in writing with a high quality scientific way. It includes: 1. How to write a good manuscript for an international journal 2. How to arrange your paper according to the requirements of the journal 3. How to follow the process of your submittion to the journal It is proposed by: M.D. Rana Shabbar M.D. Haider Shaibani It is suitable for the lecturers and postgraduate students (Masters and PhD) and researchers of the University of Kufa