International Review of Applied Sciences and Engineering

The Failure Factors of the Contracting Business from the Contractors Point of View

Ibrahim Mahamid — 2024-01-22

This article aims at illustrating the major factors of construction firms’ failure from the perspective of constructors in Palestine. Thirty-seven (37) factors illustrated in this article. The factors divided under 3 groups: financial, managerial and external. The study used the field survey technique (questionnaire) to collect the necessary data that serves its purpose. Results illustrates that the top 5 contributors are: delay in collecting payments from owner (financial group), poor work experience (managerial group), bidding strategy (managerial group), local political conditions, low profit due to high competition (financial group). Results indicate that the top factors are internal factors which could be handled and controlled by the company itself. The results of this study are the first step towards identifying the problems of contracting companies in order to understand them and try to find solutions that will raise the level of companies and ensure their continuity and success.

Quality management for design - bid-build versus design-and-build contracts for infrastructure projects

Esat Gashi — 2024-01-22

Selecting the construction delivery method during the contracting period is one of the most important decisions that can determine the quality of large-scale infrastructure projects. Infrastructure projects have the most complex production processes in civil engineering. Infrastructure projects are the most extensive projects in terms of the quantity of work performed, the most significant regarding the scope of work, and the most expensive when it comes to the allocation of financial resources. Implementing such projects inevitably demands proper quality management throughout the project lifecycle. Two primary types of construction contracts are under implementation worldwide: Design-Bid-Build (DBB) and Design–and–Build (DB) contracts. In the Western Balkans region, both types of contracts are utilized, for infrastructure projects, A noticeable trend is emerging toward transitioning from DBB to DB contracts. The common goal of each construction contract is to achieve maximum quality within the constraints of scope, budget, and time. The choice of construction contract type holds imminence significance in reaching these outcomes. This paper presents quality management for both types of contracts by highlighting key aspects of quality management, quality assurance, quality control, and the responsibilities of the client, contractor, and engineer during the construction of infrastructure projects.

Rework Investigation in Residential Building Projects: Cost, Factors and Effects

Ibrahim Mahamid — 2024-01-22

This article aims at investigating rework cost, factors and effects in residential building projects in the West Bank – Palestine. Questionnaire survey is used to collect and rank the main factors and effects of rework from consultants and constructors view. Respondents show that more than 80% of the projects completed with rework cost of value greater than 5% of the total project cost. Overall respondents view concludes that the top rework factors include: mistakes in design, unskilled labors, unqualified subcontractors, non-conformance with required specifications, and bid awarding policy. Respondents indicate indicate that the main effects of rework are cost overrun, project time extension, material waste excess and profit reduction. Spearman correlation test concludes a good correlation between contractors and consultants in ranking of rework factors and effects. Data collected from 47 residential projects reveal a high rework impact on cost overrun in construction projects. The results of this study would be helpful for researchers and professionals to guide their efforts should to minimize rework in construction projects and to improve projects outcomes in term of cost, time and quality.

Extended State Observer Design for Uncertainity Estimation in Electronic Throttle Valve System

Noor Sabah Mahmood — 2024-01-22

The Electronic Throttle Valve (ETV) is the core part of automotive engine which are recently used in control-by-wire cars. The estimation of its states and uncertainty is instructive for control applications. This study presents the design of Extended State Observer (ESO) for estimating the states and uncertainties of Electronic Throttle Valve (ETV). Two versions of ESOs have been proposed for estimation: Linear ESO and Nonlinear ESO. The model of ETV is firstly developed and extended in state variable form such that the extended state stands for the uncertainty in system parameters. The design of both structures of ESOs are developed and a comparison study has been conducted to show the effectiveness of proposed observers. Numerical simulation has been used to assess the performance of observers in estimating the states and uncertainties of the ETV. The simulated results showed that the Nonlinear ESO has better observation characteristics as compared to Linear ESO.

Spotted Hyena Optimizer Enhances the Performance of Fractional Order PD Controlled Tri-Copter

Ayad Qasim AL-DUJAILI — 2024-01-22

In this work, a tracking controller is designed for a Tricopter system. A Fractional Order Proportional Derivative (FOPD) controller has been created to gain a robust controller, hence selecting the appropriate FOPD parameters during the design has been implanted on the Spotted Hyena Optimizer (SHO) in order to enhance the behavior of the Tricopter as well as guarantee its robustness a comparison was made the SHO based FOPD controller and a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) based FOPD one from robustness and dynamic behavior’s points of view. The influence of the proposed optimal controller has been proved through MATLAB software, and the impact of SHO-based FOPD performance has beaten up the PSO one.

Sensitivity Analysis of Dog Clutch Shiftabilty to System Parameters

Ayham Aljawabrah — 2024-01-22

Previous studies introduced the shiftability condition for successful gearshift based on dog clutch kinematics model, and this condition contains several parameters. In this study, the effect of these parameters on the dog clutch shiftability is analyzed. A method to study the effect of parameters is proposed. The influence of chosen parameter domains is shown. Their influence is recognized based on the shiftability map and the engagement probability. The initial relative position showed a periodic effect within one pitch region. The teeth number, axial speed, and the backlash showed a positive effect on the engagement probability, while the mismatch speed and the overlap distance showed a negative effect. On the other hand, the analysis showed there are lower limits for the axial speed and the backlash but higher limit for the mismatch speed and the overlap distance.

Assessment of mechanical and durability performance of silica fume and metakaolin as cementitious materials in high-performance concrete

Sankar B — 2024-01-22

The present study aims to determine the effects of blending of cementitious materials on the mechanical and durability properties of high-performance concrete (HPC). Densified silica fume and fine grounded metakaolin are used as the supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). A total of 16 mixes containing both binary and ternary blending of SCMs were chosen for w/b ratio of 0.4 and 0.3 respectively. The hardened properties tested for the HPC mixes were compressive strength at 7, 28 and 90 days, flexural strength at 28 days and modulus of elasticity at 28 days. Maximum strength gains up to 15%, 38% and 23% for compression, flexure and elastic modulus were observed in ternary mixes compared to binary mixes. Stress-strain behaviour of ternary mixes indicates increased tolerance of stress for least amount of strain in the specimens. Based on the experimental results, empirical relations were developed and checked with the existing codes and earlier researchers. The durability properties tested for HPC were water absorption at 28 days, acid attack and sulphate attack at 28, 56 and 90 days. Ternary mixes improved pore structure of HPC, resulting in a 56% reduction in water absorption and 34% reduction in compressive strength loss due to immersion in 5% H2SO4 at 90 days. The findings of the study endorse that ternary blending of SF and MK can improve the engineering properties of HPC, and a mix containing SF 10% and MK 10% is recommended for the best results.

Study of Relationship between Cost Overrun and Material Waste in Building Construction Projects

Ibrahim Mahamid — 2024-01-22

This paper aims to recognize the effect of material waste on cost increase in Palestinian construction projects. The study used questionnaire survey to achieve its objective. The questionnaire aims to find out the cost overrun factors and material waste factors from the perspective of constructors and consultants. The study also predicts the effect of cost overrun on material waste. The collected data analyzed using statistics analyses. The study has established that among the various factors that causes cost overrun, experience in the line of work, conflicts among project participants, payments delay, and political situation were the key factors. While the analysis revealed that the main material waste factors are: poor site management, using untrained labors, rework due workers’ mistakes, selecting the lowest bidder contractor/subcontractor, and frequent change orders. Data from 55 building projects constructed in the West Bank between 2015-2020 were collected to test the effect of material waste on cost overrun; linear relation was revealed. This is the first study predicts the effect of material waste on cost increase in Palestinian construction sector. The study encourages different parties related to construction projects to manage factors of cost overrun and material waste to enhance the sector of construction.

Study on the characterization of fly ash and physicochemical properties of soil, water for the potential sustainable agriculture use - A farmer's perspectives

Nittin Johnson — 2024-01-22

In this study, the selections of suitable fly ash (FA) for agricultural purposes concerning locally available soils and water. This study characterizes the two FA from the Tuticorin Thermal Power Plant (FA-TTPP) and Sripathy Thermal Power Station (FA-STPS) and physio-chemical analysis of soils and water samples from the five different sites (1-5) in Viruthunagar district, Tamilnadu. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) patterns showed that quartz (SiO2), mullite (Al6Si2O), and hematite (Fe2O3) are present in both FA, which can promote plant growth. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) peak indicates that Si-O-Si, Al-O-Si, HO-OH, and OH bonding are present in both FA. Scanning electron microscopy analysis (SEM) of FA-TTPP revealed compact microspheres with regular, smooth, and irregular textures, while FA-STPS showed glassy, unshaped fragments. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) identified that FAs has essential macro and micronutrients. It moderately alkaline that can use as liming agents to neutralize acidic soils for experimental sites 1 and 2. Application FA can improve the water-holding capacity of sandy loam soils to increase crop productivity for sites 2, 3, and 4. The study suggests site -1 can remediated with FA-STPS for iron deficiency. Also, it is recommended to meet the requirement of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium in sites 1 to 5 by FA-STPS soil amendment with organic manures. Overall, this study suggests the integrated analysis of FA, soil, and water is necessary for effective agronomical application.

Piezoelectric Based V-shape Cantilever Beam Design of Energy Harvester for Biomedical Applications

Joy Dewanjee — 2024-01-22

This research paper exhibits the design of a V-shaped cantilever beam as a micro Energy Harvester (EH) having Piezoelectric (PZT) as its energy source for biomedical applications. PZT source based materials have the ability to convert the mechanical energy into electrical energy. Low-power biomedical devices mostly operates using electrical energy (i.e. batteries). But batteries are treated as a bio-hazard due to the massive use of biomedical applications. To overcome this toxic bio-hazard, the proposed PZT based V-shaped cantilever beam of micro EH can solve the limitations. To perform the experimental work, the cantilever beam design parameters- length, width and thickness have been considered and simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics to get the resonant frequency of 156.19 Hz which is lower than previous research work. It was observed that the obtained lower resonant frequency can be converted into AC voltage (mV) using PZT material. To convert the output AC voltage (mV) into DC voltage, a circuit of an Ultra-Low-Power (ULP) EH will be designed in LTSPICE software. Finally, the integration of the both V-shape cantilever beam and the ULP EH circuit will be implemented in PCB hardware to generate the output power (10 µW), will be stored in super-capacitor for biomedical devices-pacemaker.

Flexural Behavior of External Reinforced Concrete Beams by Using Waste Aggregate Concrete

Mustafa Shubber — 2024-01-22

The influence of utilizing waste concrete aggregates on the flexural behavior of external reinforced concrete beams has been studied. Seven mixtures was prepared for this investigation where the concrete mixtures had different waste concrete percentages and admixtures. Also, seven beams were modeled by Ansys program and the properties of the seven mixtures have been used into the models to study their effects. It was found that using waste concrete aggregates has decreased the load bearing capacity and concrete ductility. It was found that the beam bearing capacity was decreased with (10.7%) when using only waste concrete. Using admixtures have enhanced the concrete properties where the load capacity of beams has been increased with (39%) when using silica fume and superplasticizer and the load capacity has increased with (44.6%) when multi-admixtures have been used. Besides, it was found that using additives has enhanced the beam ductility significantly.

Development of a 2-Dimensional Thermal Calculation Method to Estimate Silicone Oil’s Temperature Distribution in Viscous Torsional Vibration Dampers

Mark Venczel — 2024-01-22

High-performance internal combustion engines are subject to severe torsional vibrations which result from uneven gas and inertial loads. Fatigue damage occurs if the frequency of these undesired oscillations matches the resonance frequency of the crankshaft and the driven engine elements. This phenomenon can be avoided by the application of visco-dampers whose working fluid is high-viscosity silicone oil. Since silicone oil is exposed to a significant amount of heat load during operation, it is essential to calculate the temperature distribution in a relatively easy, quick, and cost-efficient way for lifetime estimation purposes. The aim of this article is to develop a reliable, fast, and accurate finite difference-based numerical method for steady-state thermal calculations for arbitrary damper sections. The developed MATLAB code calculates the temperature field of the damping fluid together with all components in a radial cross-section at given operational conditions. The accuracy of the developed thermal calculation method has been tested in a 3-dimensional – 2-dimensional two-step verification process by finite element and finite volume-based advanced engineering software in ANSYS environment. Furthermore, the original Iwamoto equation available in the literature has been updated to provide more accurate surface temperature results based on the simulations’ outcome gained by the finite volume method.

Identification and categorization of hazards in the mining industry: A systematic review of the literature

Seyedeh Arezoo Baghaei Naeini — 2024-01-22

Control of OHS risks in the mining industry has been attracting increasing attention in recent years. Because of their great diversity in a complex system, hazards can be difficult to identify and classify, especially when system components interact. Risk cannot be managed successfully without comprehensive investigation of all its aspects. A coherent and integrated classification for identifying and categorizing all hazards is currently lacking in mining. We propose an integrated system classification of OHS hazards in mining based on our review of 44 studies retrieved using PRISMA. Considering Canadian and international standards, regulations and conventions, new hazard categories are proposed and hazard prevention is discussed from 12 perspectives: physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, accident and psychosocial risks, as well as policy, legislation, management, design, geography, and uncertainty, with reference to each of the four phases of a typical mine life cycle, the hazards were shown in a portrait. This paper provides suitable categories based on rational data for creating a portrait in order to OHS hazards prevention in life cycle activity in mine.