This review presents generally about Virtual Reality (VR) technologies in industrial
training. Virtual reality training is increasingly used for maintenance and operation,
assembly procedure, welding and operative construction training that allow the
workers to work on existing and new tasks in safe, and perceive on how an item takes
shape as it travels through the manufacturing system, which result more effective
training. For companies to spend the large amount of economic resources in training
people, thus VR systems for training may reduce in dealing with issues such as the high
economic costs of training for travel and living expenses for those who need to move
from work to training centers. An adaptive technology has been used for pilot training
and vehicle driver training that may improves accuracy of the procedure. VR training
could create a more effective and efficient learning even without the presence of a
trainer.
– Today, the new valuation of sustainable materials in light of their ability to fulfill the
requirements of sustainable development has raised the bar. The economic growth will result in
increased material throughput as well as solid and hazardous waste generation. Understanding the
life-cycle of materials management and monitoring materials consumption trends will provide the
information in determination of how we can satisfy our materials needs at acceptable economic and
environmental costs to assist both regionally and globally. This paper reviews the challenges for
sustainable development from material aspect and the future prospect of the utilization of sustainable
materials in construction industry. Policy designs together with steering mechanisms are required to
facilitate and support further mainstream sustainability transitions. Besides the price system,
regulatory framework and technical information, human mindsets must work together to enable and
encourage life-cycle of materials management. Further research and development will not only provide
innovative solutions to existing problems but will in particular offer new opportunities through the
development of innovative materials to improve the quality of life.
The use of a sprinkler irrigation system is becoming more popular to reduce water
consumption and increase irrigation efficiency. Irrigation uniformity plays an important role in the
performance of the sprinkler irrigation system. The use of low operating pressure instead of high
operating pressure system offer many benefits including energy and water saving. An experimental
study was performed using two systems; a square 12x12 m system and a rectangular 10x12 m system
to investigate irrigation uniformity based on soil moisture content of the sprinkler irrigation system
under low operating pressure. In addition, irrigation uniformity was compared based on water
application and soil moisture content. In this study, different low operating pressures (62, 82, 102 and
122 KPa) were selected. Different nozzle diameters (4, 5, 6 and 7 mm) and different riser heights (0.5,
0.75, and 1.0 m) were also used. The soil moisture content uniformities of 10 min after irrigation are
more dependent on the initial soil moisture content uniformity than any other design factor. It is also
less influenced by water application uniformity.
The primary objective of control rod management is to ensure the safe, reliable and
optimum use of the nuclear fuel in the reactor, while remain within the limits imposed
by the design of the fuel assembly and reactor w.r.t the safety analysis. In numerous
reactors, the control rods perform the function of reactivity control, both globally and
locally, latter also control the power distribution of the core. Most control rods are
completely withdrawn from the core during operations and fully inserted during
shutdown of the reactor. This are the prove of an investigative study into optimization
of the heterogeneous control rods, the safety management of an additional safety rod,
and control rod drop hydrodynamic analysis which will be able to provide an efficient
and maximum safety procedure for emergency shut down system in the reactor. It is
also will be very important safety features of the reactor. To design the additional
safety rod at the inner irradiation sites with boron carbide (absorber material) and
stainless steel (clad) and also to design a simple heterogeneous control rod design to
analyse the effects of geometry self-shielding, the Monte Carlo Neutron Particle Code,
version 5 (MCNP5) was used. By simulating the unsteady flow field around the control
rod, the hydrodynamic analysis of the control rod can be analysed. A correlation based
on the achieved data was proposed to provide useful information on the safety
management during the research.
Porous concrete technology has been used since 1970s in various parts of the United States
as an option in complex drainage systems and water retention areas. Porous concrete pavements have
become popular as an effective stormwater management device to control stormwater runoff in
pavement. Porous concrete pavement is being used as one of the solutions to decrease the stormwater
runoff by capturing and allowing rainwater to drain into the land surface. The main problem of porous
concrete pavement is its strength. The objective of this paper is to review the use and performance of
nano silica in porous concrete pavement and previous laboratory study on porous concrete pavement.
From the literature review, it was found that the conventional porous concrete pavement does not have
good strength for pavement purpose. An addition of nano-material will improve the physical and
chemical properties of porous concrete pavement. To improve the strength of the porous concrete,
various additives have been studied as a part of porous concrete mix and yet, the optimum condition to
produce good porous concrete has still not been established. From the previous study, it was found that
in preparing the porous concrete laboratory specimen, the use of standard Proctor hammer (2.5 kg)
and pneumatic press (70 kPa compaction effort) resulted in the closest properties to the field porous
concrete.
The selection of landfill, which happens to be an environmental issue, has attracted
the attention of many researchers from the fields of waste management and
environmental sciences worldwide. Hence, in the attempt to overcome this problem,
some decision-making techniques, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), have been widely utilized in prior studies,
where multiple criteria, particularly in site selection process, have been employed.
With that, this article identifies the selection criteria for landfill selection and presents
a review concerning decision-making techniques that have been used in past studies
for two important phases involved during the process of site selection, namely, (1)
preliminary site screening, and (2) assessment of site suitability. As such, some 82
articles chosen from 34 peer-reviewed journals had been investigated in detail. The
results showed that 42.68% of the selected articles integrated GIS and MCDA
techniques to solve the problem of landfill site selection, and this is followed by
integrating GIS and fuzzy MCDA technique (18.29%). Both these techniques are indeed
powerful tools that can guide decision-makers to solve problems in making decisions
on the basis of various criteria under certainty and uncertainty results, mainly involving
environmental issues.
This paper provides a qualitative overview of different Optical Fiber Sensors (OFS),
which play important role in the field of sensors due to their excellent
characteristics, spontaneous response and easy handling system. The current
state of the art of optical fiber technology is reviewed, namely based on its main
characteristics and sensing advantages. In addition, the working principle of OFS
and their applications are discussed, particularly for sensor employment.
Muhammad Adil Khattak, Muhammad Zulhelmi Mahadi, Nurlaila Syamsul Bahri, Hor, Yen Tiu, Khairulnadzmi Jamaluddin, Muhammad Faiz Farhan Noorizhab, et al.
The objective of this review paper is to summarize the current state of understanding
on a topic ‘Nuclear spent fuel storage and facilities’. This review paper surveys and
summarizes previously published studies, rather than reporting new facts or analysis.
It is importance to case study this issue since the number of spent fuel are increasing
in which a typical nuclear power plant in a year generates almost 20 metric tons of
used nuclear fuel. In which the nuclear industry generates a total of about 2,000 - 2,300
metric tons of used fuel per year and for the last 40 years produced 76,430 metric tons
of nuclear spent fuel. Future understanding and attention need to be accomplished
since spent fuel can cause harm due to its high radioactive level and also the ability to
reprocess the fuel to be used as MOX fuel.
High quality of product and service is always demanded by customers. Conversely, poor
quality of product and service will result with customer dissatisfaction. However, this linear
relationship is no longer accurate due to the complexity nature of customer needs. Non-linear
relationship should be considered for more accurate evaluation of customer needs. This paper
presents a concept of Kano model and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) integration to evaluate
the non-linearity of customer needs towards the quality of products or services. By a case study, the
developed Kano-QFD model is validated with the theory of Kano model and found to have well
agreement. Further application for product development is recommended for future research.
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are efficient and clean power generation devices. Lowtemperature
SOFC (LTSOFC) has been developed since high-temperature SOFC (HTSOFC) is not
feasible to be commercialized due to cost. Lowering the operation temperature reduces its substantial
performance resulting from cathode polarization resistance and overpotential of cathode. The
development of composite cathodes regarding mixed ionic-electronic conductor (MIEC) and ceriabased
materials for LTSOFC minimizes the problems significantly and leads to an increase in
electrocatalytic activity for the occurrence of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Lanthanum-based
materials such as lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ) have been discovered
recently, which offer great compatibility with ceria-based electrolyte to be applied as composite
cathode materials for LTSOFC. Cell performance at lower operating temperature can be maintained
and further improved by enhancing the ORR. This paper reviews recent development of various ceriabased
composite cathodes especially related to the ceria-carbonate composite electrolytes for
LTSOFC. The influence of the addition of metallic elements such as silver (Ag), platinum (Pt) and
palladium (Pd) towards the electrochemical properties and performance of LSCF composite cathodes
are also discussed.
Malaysia is experiencing an encouraging socio-economic development, especially in its
quest towards Vision 2020 and achieving the status as a developed country. The success can be
attributed to the government’s efforts and commitment in developing projects, which include the
construction of new townships and public infrastructures. Through the implementation of
Environmental Management Plan (EMP) during the construction phase, the government has taken
great efforts and initiatives to ensure that construction projects are well-developed in a sustainable
manner. Unfortunately, these rapid physical developments affect and pollute the surrounding
environment, even though EMP is implemented at the construction site. The effectiveness of
sustainable construction methods in the plan has been found to be very limited in the actual industrial
practice. Hence, this paper aims to determine the important criteria needed to be incorporated into
EMP in enhancing and ensuring its effectiveness in managing environmental aspects during the
construction stage.
Evidence on rising global temperature, melting of ice caps, and withdrawal of glaciers
brings attentions to the enhancement of energy efficiency in energy intensive industries. Having a
realistic comparison between one plant and the best practice technology (BPT) in operation in the field
helps significantly to distinguish and diagnose the potentials where measures towards energy efficiency
improvement would be applicable. In this regard, for manufacturing industries, one of the most widely
used energy benchmarking tools is the Energy Benchmark Curve. An energy benchmark curve plots the
efficiency of plants as a function of the total production volume from all similar plants or as a function
of the total number of plants that operate at that level of efficiency or worse. This paper reviews the
methodology through which the benchmark curve is obtained for a specific industry followed by a
comparison of energy intensity for the iron and steel industry among China and the US. According to
the international energy benchmark curve for the iron and steel industry, the savings potentials per ton
of crude steel for the US. and China have been respectively 4.1 and 7.1 gigajoule comparing with the
BPT in the field. Finally, an overview over certain measures to enhance efficiency of such plants is
presented.
This paper presents the historical development of description on how the flapping
hydrodynamics of fishlike structure grows from infancy to the current state. The paper divides the
development into four phases; the Inception Phase, the Frozen Phase, the Revival Phase and the
Discovery Phase. The key quintessential characteristics that mark the advancement of different phase
would be highlighted and elucidated, with some consolidating comments on the future trends of
research areas.
Hypertension is a condition associated with adverse vascular complications. Its
prevalence is on the increase globally and same is true for Nigeria. Very few studies
have assessed the prevalence, awareness, treatment and blood pressure control
among hypertensive patients in Nigeria. The few available studies generally show
figures less than 50% for all the three indicators of success with regards to
hypertension. These studies are however deficient in their coverage, country
representativeness and methodology, and as such, they fail to provide the evidence
for which conclusions can be drawn. There is need to intensify blood pressure
screening at both hospital and community levels. More comprehensive research with
wider coverage and sound methodologies are also needed to determine those
associated factors and to discover better treatment options for hypertension in
Nigeria. These findings would guide health promotion activities and policy making.
This review paper describes in general the use of VR as a training tool in manufacturing
technology like design, rapid prototyping, and manufacturing with some practical
examples where VR is used and its benefits in manufacturing industries which reduces
a lot of cost in the design stages to the finish stages. VR is the closest man can get to
reality as the names implies with the present capabilities. The technique enables
engineers and designers to move around and interact with the object in real time. This
review paper looks into some challenges of VR applications in manufacturing
industries.
A summary of research on image visualization in fluid flow is presented. The review
addresses the topics of method in image processing, the application of particle image velocimetry and
different sensor source of tomography. One of the greatest challenges in image visualization research
is the improvement of flow measurement for multiphase flow. As there a lot of prediction in studying
multiphase flow, the selection of image visualization method has to be chosen carefully. The important
part is the method to process the image which consists of parameters to be studied. The improvement
in image visualization method is important to further applied to other area of process.
The purpose of this paper is to propose appropriate sustainable design solution for a
suitable housing architectural design that responds towards ecological needs vital for
a comfortable home living environment. This paper is vital as there are many arising
issue relating to middle income housing development involving comfort quality that
need much attention from various parties. Past literature on middle income housing
development in Malaysia focuses on limited areas of study. These are quality of
communal living in settlements; neighbourhood facilities and its effectiveness; crime
prevention through housing design; dwelling support services; policy making on
housing ownership; corporate social responsibility on housing development from
developer’s and buyer’s perspective; efficient housing construction system; waste
management in residential areas; the increment of housing price and related factors
as well as documentation on factors that hinders the implementation of sustainable
technology in middle income housing schemes. None of the above literature discusses
on how to implement ecological approach in home design. This research analyses the
home users’ perception from direct observation and questionnaires on two selected
case studies of middle income housing located in two major cities in Malaysia’s urban
context to establish appropriate ecological home design attributes for future
referencing. Findings indicate there are four key factors that contributed in the
development of ecology housing for the benefit of occupants which are suitable
structure usage, placement of building; proper openings, application of building
fenestration and appropriate landscape. The established referential guideline design is
of benefit for future designers, builders, developer and related authority to build
comfortable homes in the future.
Business strategy plays a key role in determining the success of organizations. In view
of its important role, studies have attempted to investigate the approaches adopted
by organizations to develop as well as implement their business strategy. As far as the
approaches to business strategy are concerned, the review of past studies indicates
that organizations tend to adopt different approaches. At the same time, questions
have been raised as to whether these strategic approaches are relevant and applicable
to all organizations, especially with regard to their emphasis, focus and scope. Based
on the literature, this paper reviews the most common approaches to business
strategy and identifies the differences in their emphasis, focus and scope.
This study was performed to review the experience of work-family conflict and work-family
enrichment with social support as the moderator. Work-family conflict or enrichment occurs when
behaviours, moods, stresses, and emotions from work bring bad or good effects into family. Social
support has been seen as an important factor to assist employees with their role at work and at home.
This will reduce work-family conflict among the employees and achieve positive level of inter-role
between work and family, which is work-family enrichment. The review provides evidence that social
support may be helpful in improving the quality of work-family life of employees.
Issue related to safety, health and environmental has become major priority to be
concerned of in the transportation of hazardous materials (HAZMAT) worldwide. Due
to the high risk that entailed in the operation of HAZMAT transportation, many
accidents in this industry have been reported which include chemicals spillage, fire
and explosion. In order to quantify the degree of hazards and risks of these accidents,
various assessment methods have been introduced either by the academia, the
industry as well as the authority. The methods present various approaches for the
assessment, ranging from a simple to highly complicated ones depending on the
purpose of the assessment and the available resources and constraints. To date there
is yet any study conducted to review those available methods. This paper intends to
present a comprehensive review of the existing methods for hazards and risks
assessment of HAZMAT transportation between years 1995-2015 which considers
road, marine, railway, air and pipeline system. Based on careful screening of the
abundance of methods available, 151 of them were selected – that is those
specifically meant for hazards and risks assessment of HAZMAT transportation only.
The methods are reviewed in terms of the types of assessment; either qualitative,
quantitative or hybrid techniques, as well as their specific application in different
mode of transportation. Also, statistical analysis was performed to determine the
trend of past publications regarding on the type of journal, year of publication and
also financial support received in the context of hazard and risk assessment of
HAZMAT transportation.