Laterite soils are occasionally associated with geotechnical problems such as road deformation, erosion, settlement, dam seepage, slope instability, leachate permeation through hydraulic barriers, etc. Numerous soil improvement techniques were being applied to overcome these problems, including mixing the laterite soil with cements, limes, bitumen, chemicals, pozzolanas, etc. These additives may not be locally available and cheap, and could significantly increase the cost of construction. Likewise, in many cases, these stabilizing agents are not environmentally friendly. Different percentages of fines, sand and gravel in laterite soils exhibit different engineering characteristics and behaviour, making it difficult to obtain suitable and appropriate gradation for specific construction purposes. Thus, the essence of this review is to determine the fundamental engineering properties of laterite soil as a standalone material at different gradations to harness its potentiality for various construction purposes. It proposes step-by-step procedures on how to achieve a better soil by varying its gradation and moisture content. Laboratory testing in accordance with BS1377:1990 and ASTM D698 are adopted to examine the engineering characteristics with respect to hydraulic conductivity, shear strength, and volumetric shrinkage. In this experimental technique where molding water content and compaction energy are carefully controlled at different laterite gradations, the engineering design is anticipated to provide greater accuracy, safety, and sustainability.
This paper reports the effect of microbending losses in single mode optical fiber
for pressure sensing system application. Several types of periodical corrugated
plates were fabricated, namely cylindrical-structured surface (Plate A) and
rectangular-structured surface (Plate B) with thicknesses of corrugated parts
were varied at 0.1 cm, 0.2 cm and 0.3 cm. Laser sources with excitation
wavelengths of 1= 1310 nm and 2= 1550 nm were launched at the first end
of the fiber. The values of losses were recorded by using an optical power
meter. It was clearly seen that the microbending losses were polynomially
increased with the increment of applied pressure and the thicknesses of
corrugated parts of Plate A and Plate B. The maximum microbending losses of
1.5185 dBm/kPa was resulted as SMF was coupled with corrugated plates B
with thicknesses of 0.3cm by using excitation wavelength of 1550nm. These
values reduced to 0.7628 dBm/kPa and 0.4014 dBm/kPa as the thicknesses
were decreased to 0.2cm and 0.1cm respectively. In comparison with a plain
plate which acted as a reference indicator, the maximum percentage of
microbending losses was obtained as 74.29 % for Plate A and 95.02 % for Plate
B. In conclusions, we successfully proved the ability of SMF as a pressure sensor
by manipulating the microbending losses experienced by the fiber. The
employment of 1550nm of laser wavelength results better sensitivity sensor
where the system able to detect large losses as the pressure applied on the
corrugated surfaces.
Flipped Classroom enables instructors to spend more time for hands-on problem-solving instruction compared to the traditional pedagogical model which involves lectures. The purpose of this study is to determine the need for a problem-solving flipped classroom module to be designed for the STM3023: Internet of Things (IoT) subject offered at the Certificate level at Malaysian Community Colleges. A structured interview was conducted with 16 lecturers from 14 Community Colleges offering the subject to obtain their views on current teaching practices along with the challenges faced in the teaching and learning of IoT to entry level students. Participants were also asked about their readiness towards the flipped classroom following an orientation session on Flipped Classroom approach. The findings showed that lecturers mostly used traditional pedagogical models in the TVET settings such as lectures. Students usually followed instructions and merely replicate the hands-on tasks as demonstrated by their lecturers in class. It was also found that students were struggling with the subject due to their lack of competency in programming and grasping electrical and electronics concepts. Students were also found to be weak in mathematics and reasoning skills, thus making it a challenge to teach IoT to them. Therefore, a myriad of media, materials and application of real-world concepts may be required to aid lecturers to improve students’ achievement in the subject. The flipped classroom approach for teaching which gives more time for hands-on problem-solving instruction may be appropriate to support lecturers to overcome the challenges in teaching IoT.
Parameter estimation of complex exponential signals corrupted by additive white
Gaussian noise (AWGN) is crucial in the study of distributed beamforming in a practical
scenario. Near zero (0) phase offset are expected at the receiver end which rely on the
smoothing and correction of the frequency and phase estimates. Neither
computational complexity nor the processing latency has an effect on the expected
zero phase offset but the estimation accuracy does. Thus, the maximum likelihood
estimator (MLE) using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) approach is being considered for
cases with none and post processing in locating of the maximum peaks. Details on how
the phase estimates are arrived at is not always covered in literatures but explained in
the article. Numerical results obtained showed that global maximum peaks are arrived
at by employing a fine search with higher values of FFT.
In accordance upon conservation efforts, this research emphasizes on prevention of
environmental pollution and considers the elements of sustainable of infrastructure
construction materials, which is interlocking pavement block. The development of this
innovative product apply the concept of 3Rs and waste to wealth by using the
agricultural waste product, coconut shell, where widely available with very minimum
cost worldwide especially in tropical country such as India, Indonesia, Philippines,
Thailand and Malaysia. The main objective of this research is to produce an
environmental friendly product with a good quality, low cost and lightweight known as
Green Interlocking Pavement (GIP Block). The chemical composition of coconut shell
ash and ordinary Portland cement being identified and compared to know whether it
is able to react as a good binder in the mixture or not. The quality of GIP Block
considered is compressive strength, water absorption and bulk density. All the blocks
were curing in seven and 28 days before implementing the entire test. The existing
interlocking pavement used as bench mark and GIP Block 0% of proportion of coconut
shell ash used as control variables. The specimen of the interlocking pavement
prepared in this research is 10%, 20% and 30% proportion of coconut shell ash to
partially replace the quantity of cement. The ratio of the interlocking pavement apply
in this research is 1:2 which stand for one part cement and two part of sand. The
findings withdrawn from this research are: first, the chemical characteristic of the
coconut shell ash and cement. Second, the value of bulk density slightly reduces as the
percentage of coconut shell ash increases. Third, the additional of coconut shell ash to
partially replace the quantity of cement in the product reduce the compressive
strength and increase the percentage of water absorption.
Flood mitigation and assessments are crucial in current time. The seasonal and nonseasonal of flood occurrence in Malaysia provide risk towards country growth and productivity. In this study, the flood pattern will be analysed by using correspondence analysis. The data involve the occurrence of flood based on month and locality from 2013 to 2018. The test of independence (χ2 test) between month and locality indicated independency among the variables (p=0.615). The symmetric plot suggested that Perak, Melaka, Selangor, Johor, Terengganu, Sarawak inclined to have flood occurrence during December to March, while Kedah and Penang during March. This analysis will help authorities to better planning flood mitigation accordingly.
The use of concrete for construction had become very common in developing countries. But concrete is not friendly environment because of it consumes huge quantities of natural materials and production of the cement, which is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. The aim of this study is to investigate the Sustainable Green Concrete (SGC) which containing biomass aggregate; fly ash and Superplasticizer. Biomass aggregate and fly ash are waste industry products which are environmentally friendly. The study was carried out to identify the chemical properties of biomass aggregate, and to determine the chemical properties and optimum mix design of the Sustainable Green Concrete (SGC). A total of 90 cube samples were casted and compressive strength were tested at the age of 7, 14 and 28 days. The overall results showed that the workability and compressive strength were decreased with the increase of the replacement of natural aggregate with biomass aggregate. Besides that, the workability and compressive strength was increased with the incorporation with the replacement cement by fly ash. The SGC gained highest compressive strength for the concrete mixes of 39.3 N/mm2 with the optimum percentage used of SGC in producing concrete not exceeding 30% biomass aggregate and 6% of fly ash as a partial replacement with natural aggregate and cement respectively. The results obtained and observation made in this study suggested that biomass aggregate and fly ash are successfully used as partial replacement in producing SGC and can perform better strength development.
Designing of autonomous navigation is very complex and challenging. The main motive
of the proposed research was to construct an autonomous robot which has a
proficiency to move in unpredictable and dynamic environments, and for that reason
the robot has to sense the environment and lug out the required tasks irrespective of
any hindrances in its working area. Applications of autonomous mobile robots can
include espionage, underground mining, military operations, driverless transportation,
identification of intrusion and protect missions, etc. Several various approaches have
been critiqued to perform such operability of robot but results proved that the Fuzzy
logic found to be the best for this kind of robotics operations because it has the
capability to respond meritoriously to the complex inputs. To refrain and bypass the
obstacles accurately and to attain the destination under various contour of obstruction
in surroundings, a fuzzy logic approach has been studied and carried out to advance
the motion of robot vigorously with less false alarm rate using ‘If-Then’ basic principle
fuzzy inference norms and defuzzification procedure for the accurate and precise path
planning and navigation of autonomous robot. The unmanned robot was furnished
with sensors (ultrasonic HC-SR04) which has the aptitude to detect the scope of
hindrances on the premise of how close or far the impediment is. To achieve this a
solitary board PC was utilized, to be specific Raspberry-Pi 2 model b which takes the
inputs from the sensors and maintain a strategic distance from the snags set in their
way lastly proceeds onward. Results proved that our designed robot is a cost-effective
solution performed better than the other techniques.
This article presents a Wall Climbing Robot (WCR) that able to move on ferromagnetic vertical surface to carry out visual inspection process. Visual inspection process is important in the industry to check the condition of storage tank, surface of building, piping or equipment thus can prevents structures collapsing or explosion which would bring a huge loss to the company. Moreover, most of the structures nowadays is expose under the sun and rain, corrosion and cracks could easily occur on the surface after exposing under sunlight and rain a long period of time. Therefore the periodic visual inspection process need to be carry out to detect the damaged occur on the surface of the structure and take action at the fastest time to ensure the safety of the structures and extend the lifespan of the structures. With the well maintenance to the structures, the condition of the structures is monitored and the lifespan is longer. The risk of collapse of the building is decrease by a large margin. Normally, the periodic visual inspection process is performed by operator. Sometime the temporary scaffolding is needed to reach the higher place to carry out the inspection. However, this method create a hazardous environment to the operator and cause the safety of the operator threatened. Therefore, the proposed WCR could help operator to work at the hazardous environment. The permanent magnet is used to provide adhesion for WCR, thus WCR able to move on vertical ferromagnetic surface. The WCR is controlled by operator via wireless remote to reach the higher place or the hazardous environment. The operator then can stream the on the real time images via web browser which connected to the same network with the WCR. Hence, the condition of the surface can be observed.
In Malaysia, it is estimated that almost 80 percent of the world's population today used palm oil in their daily lives. Malaysia is the second country exporting palm oil, about 39 percent of world palm oil output. Besides that, Malaysia also recorded about 44 per cent of world exports, making the palm industry very important for countries other than rubber and cocoa. However, to keep the palm industry running smoothly and constantly, there are many challenges to face. One is to maintain soil fertility because the soil can affect the growth of oil palm trees. With the use of this system, it will show the condition of soil behaviour to the farmer about the treatment given. Arduino board is used in this project which it is programmed to calculate and display the level of soil condition by using temperature sensor and soil moisture sensors as an input. This sensor will detect the level of soil moisture and temperature and it is easier for farmers to monitor the soil conditions. Controlled soil conditions can improve the soil's ability to maintain the fertility of palm trees and help plant growth suit to the weather and local climate.
This study aimed to integrate polyether sulfone (PES) membrane with hydroxyapatite synthesized from fish scale biowaste (HAp) to form ion exchange membrane. The PES incorporated by self-assembled with different concentrations of HAp solution; 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 wt%. The prepared ion exchange membranes were characterized regarding permeability coefficient, porosity, morphology, ion exchange capacity (IEC), AT-IR, and fouling analysis. The promising characteristics and outstanding performance demonstrated by PES membrane incorporated with 0.8 wt%. Via SEM images and ATIR spectra, the PES/HAp-0.8 membrane depicted the adequate number, well distributed and low agglomeration of HAp onto the membrane surface with a strong attachment. The membrane also demonstrated good ion exchange capacity around 49%. Permeability coefficient for PES/HAp-0.8 membrane was 101.5 L/m2.h with 87.69 % membrane porosity.
In this paper, the water driving cycle had been chosen to determine and compare the component sizing of conventional boat and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Recreational Boat (PHERB) powertrains. PHERB is an improvement on conventional boat to reduce the fuel consumption and emissions. The locations of water driving cycle in this research are at Pulau Kapas and Tasik Kenyir, Terengganu. Boat energy and power requirement was calculated according boat parameters, specifications and performance requirements to study the differences component sizing of conventional boat and PHERB powertrains. Power flow analyses are used to decide the size and capacity of main components for achieving the design specifications and requirements of conventional boat and PHERB powertrains. The results for PHERB powertrain requirement using steady state velocity are 20 kW at 3000 rpm for Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), 30 kW for Electric Machine (EM) and 5 kWh for Energy System Storage (ESS). The acquired results show that the PHERB gained the most existing powertrains and has extraordinary potential in applications to marine transportation in reducing fuel consumption and emission.
As the lighting load constituted amount of power in electricity system, improving of efficiency in lighting technology would make a beneficial to consumer, energy provider and environment. Consequently, majority of home lighting manufacturers were competing each other by improving and claiming their product as the best energy efficient lighting product. Knowledge or exposure regarding to lighting technology especially on energy efficiency, power quality and economy are an important issues to give awareness to user before buy or use the lighting product. Therefore in this research study, three types of lighting product such as energy saving incandescent lighting, compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) and solid state lighting (LED) were compared. Comparative parameters were collected from data provided by lighting manufacturer and experimental data conducted in laboratory using power quality meter and lux meter. Hence, these study discussed in term of economy, power and light quality and energy efficiency of the tested lighting product. At the end of this study, the best home lighting technology is determined successfully.
This paper examined the significant relationship between government regulation and
construction waste management among Malaysian construction industries. Survey
was conducted among 10 contractors registered G7, using proportionate stratified
random sampling, out of which 10 questionnaire were collected for data analysis with
five point Likert scale categories of waste management from previous studies,
statistical analysis affirmed a significant positive relationship between government
regulation and construction waste management in Malaysian construction industries
through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.