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A comparative study of road traffic accidents in West Malaysia

Silva JF

Trop Doct, 1979 Oct;9(4):221-7.
PMID: 516150
Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles
Diurnal models of traffic-generated CO for Penang, Malaysia

Koh HL, Lim PE

Environ Monit Assess, 1991 Oct;19(1-3):373-82.
PMID: 24233954 DOI: 10.1007/BF00401326

Georgetown of Penang, an old city, is noted for its narrow streets. The existing traffic dispersal system is utterly inadequate to cope with the ever increasing number of cars and motorcycles on the road. The principal objective of this study is to build prediction models of CO to be employed as one of the planning tools in the future design of Penang urban traffic dispersal system. This study involves the monitoring of kerbside CO levels at selected sites and the fitting of hourly-averaged CO data to linear regression models incorporating the residual effect of CO emission due to traffic in the earlier periods and also different categories of vehicles. The best overall regression model appears to be the one based upon the total traffic count of motorcycles. This can be accounted for by the fact that the traffic counts of motorcycles and cars are highly correlated in most cases and that the emissions of CO from motorcycles are more readily detected as they travel closer to the kerb. The inclusion of residual CO in the models significantly improves the correlation coefficient from about 0.4 to about 0.7.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles
Fulltext A study on the use of car occupant restraint in Selangor

Lee LK

Med J Malaysia, 2002 Sep;57(3):266-77.
PMID: 12440265 MyJurnal

A survey was conducted in December 1995 to study car occupant restraint usage in Selangor. A total of 1082 car occupants were observed in 536 cars. The results of the study shows that only 57.3% of the car occupants observed were protected by any form of restraints. Most of the cars (99.8%) examined had front seat belts but only 44.2% had rear seat belts. Only 0.6% of the cars were found to have child restraints in the cars. 80.2% of drivers used restraints and only 65.4% of front seat passengers used any forms of restraints. In the case of the rear seat passengers, only 0.42% used an available restraint. More people in the urban areas (84.42%) than in the rural areas (66.51%) used seat belts. Usage of seat belts by car drivers influenced the use of seat belts by front seat passengers. Type of seat belts fitted was associated with usage rate. It is sad to note that 21.9% of the drivers used seat belts incorrectly.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles/statistics & numerical data*
Fulltext The relationship between job satisfaction and job factors in industrial work design: a case study of the automotive industries in Malaysia

Dawal SZ, Taha Z

J Hum Ergol (Tokyo), 2004 Dec;33(1-2):19-27.
PMID: 17402505 DOI: 10.11183/jhe1972.33.19

A survey was conducted to investigate the relationship between job satisfaction and job factors that affect work design in two automotives manufacturing companies in Malaysia. A set of multiple choices questionnaires was developed and data were collected by interviewing the employees at the production plant. Hundred and seventy male subjects between the ages of 18 to 40 years with the mean age of 26.8 and SD of 5.3 years and mean work experience of 6.5 and SD of 4.9 years took part in the survey. The survey focused on job factors, i.e. skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. The results support the previous findings that job factors are significantly correlated to job satisfaction. Furthermore, it also highlights the significant influence of age, work experience and marital status.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles*
Fulltext Noise exposure and noise induced hearing loss among Kuala Lumpur traffic point duty personnel

Thomas N, Mariah AN, Fuad A, Kuljit S, Philip R

Med J Malaysia, 2007 Jun;62(2):152-5.
PMID: 18705450 MyJurnal

Thirty-two points in Kuala Lumpur were selected where traffic personnel were on duty. Sound level readings were taken three times a day. Generally, the traffic noise levels were between 75 dBA to 85 dBA. The maximum sound level recorded was 108.2 dBA. Noise emitted by traffic equipment and vehicles were up to 133 dBA. Results of audiometric tests revealed that out of 30 who were tested, 24 or 80% were positive for noise-induced hearing loss. A questionnaire survey revealed a lack of knowledge on occupational safety and personal protective equipment.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles*
Relationship of psychosocial work factors and health-related quality of life in male automotive assembly workers in Malaysia

Edimansyah BA, Rusli BN, Naing L, Mohamed Rusli BA, Winn T

Ind Health, 2007 Jun;45(3):437-48.
PMID: 17634693

The present study investigates the relationship between psychosocial work factors and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in male automotive assembly plant workers in Malaysia.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 728 male workers were recruited in March-July 2005 from 2 major automotive assembly plants in Selangor and Pahang. In this cross-sectional study, information on socio-demography, psychosocial work factors using the 97-item Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and an abbreviated 26-item version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire containing 4 domains (physical health, psychological, social relationship, and environment) was self-administered to all workers involved.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The prevalence of reported good or very good overall HRQOL and general health was 64.9% and 53.7%, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that created skill was positively associated with physical health and psychological domains; whilst, skill discretion was positively associated with social relationship and environment domains. Social support was positively associated with physical health and environment domains; whilst, co-worker support was positively associated with psychological and social relationship domains. Job insecurity and hazardous condition were negatively associated with all domains, whilst psychological job demands was negatively associated with the environment domain of HRQOL.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles*
Fulltext The effect of job organizational factors on job satisfaction in two automotive industries in Malaysia

Dawal SZ, Taha Z

J Hum Ergol (Tokyo), 2007 Dec;36(2):63-8.
PMID: 18572797 DOI: 10.11183/jhe1972.36.2_63

A methodology is developed in diagnosing the effect of job organizational factors on job satisfaction in two automotive industries in Malaysia. One hundred and seventy male subjects of age 18-40 years with the mean age of 26.8 and standard deviation (SD) of 5.3 years and the mean work experience of 6.5 years and SD of 4.9 years took part in the study. Five job organizational factors were tested in the study including job rotation, work method, training, problem solving and goal setting. A job organization questionnaire was designed and was based on respondents' perception in relation to job satisfaction. The results showed that job organization factors were significantly related to job satisfaction. Job rotation, work method, training and goal setting showed strong correlation with job satisfaction while problem solving had intermediate correlation in the first automotive industry. On the other hand, most job organization factors showed intermediate correlation with job satisfaction in the second automotive industry except the training factor which had low correlation with job satisfaction. These results highlight that job rotation, work methods, problem solving and goal setting are outstanding factors in the study of job satisfaction for automotive industries.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles*
Self-perceived depression, anxiety, stress and their relationships with psychosocial job factors in male automotive assembly workers

Edimansyah BA, Rusli BN, Naing L, Mohamed Rusli BA, Winn T, Tengku Mohamed Ariff BR

Ind Health, 2008 Jan;46(1):90-100.
PMID: 18270454

Depression, anxiety and stress have been recognized as important mental outcome measures in stressful working settings. The present study explores the prevalence of self-perceived depression, anxiety and stress; and their relationships with psychosocial job factors. A cross-sectional study involving 728 male automotive assembly workers was conducted in two major automotive assembly plants in Malaysia using the validated Malay versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) and Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). Based on the DASS cut-off of > or =78 percentile scores, the prevalence of self-perceived depression, anxiety and stress was 35.4%, 47.2% and 31.1%, respectively. Four (0.5%), 29 (4.0%) and 2 (0.3%) workers, respectively, reported extremely severe self-perceived depression, anxiety and stress. Multiple linear regression analyses, controlling for age, education, salary, duration of work and marital status, revealed that psychological job demand, job insecurity and hazardous condition were positively associated with DASS-Depression, DASS-Anxiety and DASS-Stress; supervisor support was inversely associated with DASS-Depression and DASS-Stress. We suggest that reducing psychological job demand, job insecurity and hazardous condition factors may improve the self-perceived depression, anxiety and stress in male automotive assembly workers. Supervisor support is protective for self-perceived depression and stress.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles*
Fulltext Working conditions, self-perceived stress, anxiety, depression and quality of life: a structural equation modelling approach

Rusli BN, Edimansyah BA, Naing L

BMC Public Health, 2008 Feb 06;8:48.
PMID: 18254966 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-8-48

BACKGROUND: The relationships between working conditions [job demand, job control and social support]; stress, anxiety, and depression; and perceived quality of life factors [physical health, psychological wellbeing, social relationships and environmental conditions] were assessed using a sample of 698 male automotive assembly workers in Malaysia.
METHODS: The validated Malay version of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) were used. A structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis was applied to test the structural relationships of the model using AMOS version 6.0, with the maximum likelihood ratio as the method of estimation.
RESULTS: The results of the SEM supported the hypothesized structural model (chi2 = 22.801, df = 19, p = 0.246). The final model shows that social support (JCQ) was directly related to all 4 factors of the WHOQOL-BREF and inversely related to depression and stress (DASS). Job demand (JCQ) was directly related to stress (DASS) and inversely related to the environmental conditions (WHOQOL-BREF). Job control (JCQ) was directly related to social relationships (WHOQOL-BREF). Stress (DASS) was directly related to anxiety and depression (DASS) and inversely related to physical health, environment conditions and social relationships (WHOQOL-BREF). Anxiety (DASS) was directly related to depression (DASS) and inversely related to physical health (WHOQOL-BREF). Depression (DASS) was inversely related to the psychological wellbeing (WHOQOL-BREF). Finally, stress, anxiety and depression (DASS) mediate the relationships between job demand and social support (JCQ) to the 4 factors of WHOQOL-BREF.
CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that higher social support increases the self-reported quality of life of these workers. Higher job control increases the social relationships, whilst higher job demand increases the self-perceived stress and decreases the self-perceived quality of life related to environmental factors. The mediating role of depression, anxiety and stress on the relationship between working conditions and perceived quality of life in automotive workers should be taken into account in managing stress amongst these workers.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles
Fulltext Field evaluation of the bioefficacy of diflubenzuron (Dimilin) against container-breeding Aedes sp. mosquitoes

Chen CD, Seleena B, Chiang YF, Lee HL

Trop Biomed, 2008 Apr;25(1):80-6.
PMID: 18600208

The inhibitory activity of diflubenzuron, a chitin synthesis inhibitor, on the ecdysis of Aedes sp. larvae was evaluated in earthen jars and automobile tires. Two formulations of diflubenzuron were used in this study: Dimilin(R) WP (wettable powder), 25% and Dimilin GR (granular), 2%. The equivalent rate of 25 g/ha, 50 g/ha and 100 g/ha active ingredients for both WP and GR formulations were used in this study. Generally, at the higher dosage of 100 g/ha, both formulations were more effective against Aedes mosquitoes. On the whole, the WP formulation appeared to perform better than the GR formulation in terms of residual activity.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles
Fulltext Mobile computing with special reference to readability task under the impact of vibration, colour combination and gender

Mallick Z, Siddiquee AN, Haleem A

J Hum Ergol (Tokyo), 2008 Dec;37(2):57-66.
PMID: 19227193 DOI: 10.11183/jhe1972.37.57

The last 20 years have seen a tremendous growth in the field of computing with special reference to mobile computing. Ergonomic issues pertaining to this theme remains unexplored. With special reference to readability in mobile computing, an experimental research was conducted to study the gender effect on human performance under the impact of vibration in a human computer interaction environment. Fourteen subjects (7 males and 7 females) participated in the study. Three independent variables, namely gender, level of vibration and screen text/background colour, were selected for the experimental investigation while the dependent variable was the number of characters read per minute. The data collected were analyzed statistically through an experimental design for repeated measures. Results indicated that gender as an organismic variable, the level of vibration and screen text/background colour revealed statistically significant differences. However, the second order interaction was found to be statistically non-significant. These findings are discussed in light of the previous studies undertaken on the topic.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles*
Indoor air quality in an automotive assembly plant in Selangor, Malaysia

Edimansyah BA, Rusli BN, Naing L, Azwan BA, Aziah BD

Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 2009 Jan;40(1):187-92.
PMID: 19323052

The purpose of this study was to determine the indoor air quality (IAQ) status of an automotive assembly plant in Rawang, Selangor, Malaysia using selected IAQ parameters, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), temperature, relative humidity (RH) and respirable particulate matter (PM10). A cross-sectional study was conducted in the paint shop and body shop sections of the plant in March 2005. The Q-TRAK Plus IAQ Monitor was used to record the patterns of CO, CO2, RH and temperature; whilst PM10 was measured using DUSTTRAK Aerosol Monitor over an 8-hour time weight average (8-TWA). It was found that the average temperatures, RH and PM10 in the paint shop section and body shop sections exceeded the Department of Safety and Health (DOSH) standards. The average concentrations of RH and CO were slightly higher in the body shop section than in the paint shop section, while the average concentrations of temperature and CO2 were slightly higher in the paint shop section than in the body shop section. There was no difference in the average concentrations of PM10 between the two sections.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles*
On the sensitivity of some common metallographic reagents to restoring obliterated marks on medium carbon (0.31% C) steel surfaces

Yin SH, Kuppuswamy R

Forensic Sci Int, 2009 Jan 10;183(1-3):50-3.
PMID: 19041202 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.10.009

Chemical etching, which is the most sensitive method to recover obliterated serial numbers on metal surfaces, has been practised quite successfully in forensic science laboratories all over the world. A large number of etchants suitable for particular metal surfaces based on empirical studies is available in the literature. This article reviews the sensitivity and efficacy of some popular etchants for recovering obliterated marks on medium carbon steel (0.31% C with ferrite-pearlite microstructure) used in automobile parts. The experiments involved engraving these carbon steel plates with some alphanumeric characters using a computer controlled machine "Gravograph" and erasing them to several depths below the bottom of their engraving depth. Seven metallographic reagents of which most of them were copper containing compounds were chosen for etching. The erased plates were etched with every one of these etchants using swabbing method. The results have revealed that Fry's reagent comprising cupric chloride 90 g, hydrochloric acid 120 mL and water 100mL provided the necessary contrast and was concluded to be the most sensitive. The same reagent was recommended by earlier workers for revealing strain lines in steel surfaces. Earlier, another reagent containing 5 g copper sulphate, 60 mL water, 30 mL (conc.) ammonium hydroxide, and 60 mL (conc.) hydrochloric acid was proved to be more sensitive to restore erased marks on low carbon steel (0.1% C with ferrite-pearlite structure) [M.A.M. Zaili, R. Kuppuswamy, H. Harun, Restoration of engraved marks on steel surfaces by etching technique, Forensic Sci. Int. 171 (2007) 27-32]. Thus the sensitivity of the etching reagent on steel surfaces appeared to be dependent on the content of carbon in the steel.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles
Fulltext Preliminary study on metallic coating of steel substrates through hot dip aluminizing by using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) technique

Hishamuddin Husain, Anasyida Abu Seman, Abdul Razak Daud, Muhamad Daud

Journal of Nuclear and Related Technologies, 2009;2009(2):63-69.
MyJurnal

Even though a lot of new advanced materials have been developed nowadays, steel remains a major material in construction, automobiles, appliances, industrial machinery as well as in the nuclear industry. Due to steel easily corroded, a proper surface protection is required to avoid any failures and extended the life cycle of the components. Surface coating is an efficient and economical method to obtain desirable material surfaces properties. Hot dip aluminizing technique was utilized in this study. Experiments have been conducted on the mild steel substrates with 12mm diameter. Prior to hot dipping process, observation on grain growth at three different temperatures had also been conducted to understand the behaviour of steel under application of heat. The substrates were heated at 700ºC, 800ºC and 900ºC for 1 hour and the microstructure was analyzed. The temperature of 800C was chosen for hot dipping. The substrates were dipped into the molten aluminum maintained at temperature 800ºC for 2,4,6,8,10,15 and 20 minutes. Optical microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used in this investigation. From the microstructure observation, it showed the appearance of intermetallic layer covered by the top layer of Al on the mild steel substrate increased with the increase in dipping time ranging from 36 to 282μm. The result of EDX analysis revealed the existence of Fe and Al in form of Fe2Al5 phase for all the dipping time.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles
Fulltext Survey of body part symptoms among workers in a car tyre service centre

Abd Rahman MN, Aziz FA, Yusuff RM

J Hum Ergol (Tokyo), 2010 Jun;39(1):53-6.
PMID: 21922791 DOI: 10.11183/jhe.39.53

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of body part symptoms and sources of injury/discomfort among workers in a car tyre service centre. Questionnaire survey and interview session were used to identify the level of body discomfort areas and sources of injury or discomfort. From questionnaire survey findings, 12 of respondents have body discomfort in the neck (66.7%%), shoulder (83.3%), elbow/forearm (75%), hand/wrist (91.7%), knee (58.3%), lower leg (75%), ankle/foot (33%) and lower back (30%). The main sources of injury/discomfort in the workplace were poor body posture (75%), bending the back (75%), highly repetitive motions (75%), lifting heavy objects (83.3%), the long-term standing (66.7%), long-term squatting (58.3%), bending the neck (66.7%) and high hand force (58.3%). About 50% reported that poor workplace design also contributed to injury while 41.7% mentioned the use of hand tools. To address modifying the ergonomic hazards, engineering controls and administrative controls can be used. The study will be useful to ergonomists, researchers, consultants, workshop managers, maintenance workers and others concerned with identifying body part symptoms and sources of injury/discomfort at the workplace.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles
Fulltext Car license plate detection method for Malaysian plates-styles by using a web camera

Al-Ghaili, Abbas M., Syamsiah Mashohor, Abdul Rahman Ramli, Alyani Ismail

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2010;18(2):-.
MyJurnal

Recently, license plate detection has been used in many applications especially in transportation systems. Many methods have been proposed in order to detect license plates, but most of them work under restricted conditions such as fixed illumination, stationary background, and high resolution images. License plate detection plays an important role in car license plate recognition systems because it affects the accuracy and processing time of the system. This work aims to build a Car License Plate Detection (CLPD) system at a lower cost of its hardware devices and with less complexity of algorithms’ design, and then compare its performance with the local CAR Plate Extraction Technology (CARPET). As Malaysian plates have special design and they differ from other international plates, this work tries to compare two likely-design methods. The images are taken using a web camera for both the systems. One of the most important contributions in this paper is that the proposed CLPD method uses Vertical Edge Detection Algorithm (VEDA) to extract the vertical edges of plates. The proposed CLPD method can work to detect the region of car license plates. The method shows the total time of processing one 352x288 image is 47.7 ms, and it meets the requirement of real time processing. Under the experiment datasets, which were taken from real scenes, 579 out of 643 images were successfully detected. Meanwhile, the average accuracy of locating car license plate was 90%. In this work, a comparison between CARPET and the proposed CLPD method for the same tested images was done in terms of detection rate and efficiency. The results indicated that the detection rate was 92% and 84% for the CLPD method and CARPET, respectively. The results also showed that the CLPD method could work using dark images to detect license plates, whereas CARPET had failed to do so.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles
Measurement and dimension of road fatality in Brunei

Haque MO

Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot, 2011 Mar;18(1):45-55.
PMID: 21409677 DOI: 10.1080/17457300.2010.517319

In this article, we have investigated the pattern of road fatality in Brunei. It is seen from this analysis that road fatality in Brunei was one of the highest in the world in the early 1990s, but has been significantly reduced over the years, and is now one of the lowest in the world. Preliminary investigation shows that young male drivers are responsible for most road fatalities in Brunei. We have also fitted a linear regression model and found that road fatality is significantly positively related to people aged 18-24 years and new registered vehicles, both of which are expected to grow with the growth of population and economic development. Hence, road fatality in Brunei is also expected to grow unless additional effective road safety countermeasures are introduced and implemented to reduce road toll. Negative coefficient is observed for trend variable, indicating the reduction of road fatality due to the combined effects of improvements of vehicle safety, road design, medical facilities and road safety awareness among road user groups. However, short-term road fatality analysis based on monthly data indicates that the coefficient of the trend variable is positive, implying that in recent months road fatalities are increasing in Brunei, which is supported by media reports. We have compared Brunei's road fatality data with Australia, Singapore and Malaysia and found that Brunei's road fatality rate is lower than Singapore and Malaysia, but higher than Australia. This indicates that there are still opportunities to reduce road fatalities in Brunei if additional effective road safety strategies are implemented like in Australia without interfering in the economic and social development of Brunei.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles/statistics & numerical data*
Empirical analysis of gross vehicle weight and free flow speed and consideration on its relation with differential speed limit

Saifizul AA, Yamanaka H, Karim MR

Accid Anal Prev, 2011 May;43(3):1068-73.
PMID: 21376903 DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2010.12.013

Most highly motorized countries in the world have implemented different speed limits for light weight and heavy weight vehicles. The heavy vehicle speed limit is usually chosen to be lower than that of passenger cars due to the difficulty for the drivers to safely maneuver the heavy vehicle at high speed and greater impact during a crash. However, in many cases, the speed limit for heavy vehicle is set by only considering the vehicle size or category, mostly due to simplicity in enforcement. In this study, traffic and vehicular data for all vehicle types were collected using a weigh-in-motion system installed at Federal Route 54 in Malaysia. The first finding from the data showed that the weight variation for each vehicle category is considerable. Therefore, the effect of gross vehicle weight (GVW) and category of heavy vehicle on free flow speed and their interaction were analyzed using statistical techniques. Empirical analysis results showed that statistically for each type of heavy vehicle, there was a significant relationship between free flow speed of a heavy vehicle and GVW. Specifically, the results suggest that the mean and variance of free flow speed decrease with an increase GVW by the amount unrelated to size and shape for all GVW range. Then, based on the 85th percentile principle, the study proposed a new concept for setting the speed limit for heavy vehicle by incorporating GVW where a different speed limit is imposed to the heavy vehicle, not only based on vehicle classification, but also according to its GVW.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles/classification*; Automobiles/standards*
Motor vehicle-assisted ligature strangulation causing complete decapitation: an autopsy report

Samberkar PN

Am J Forensic Med Pathol, 2012 Mar;33(1):86-7.
PMID: 21455053 DOI: 10.1097/PAF.0b013e3182186d72

The victim, a 63-year-old prosperous businessman from Labasa, of the Northern Island (Vanua Levu) of Fiji Islands, was found completely decapitated in the early hours of morning in 2004. Initial police investigation did not reveal any history of any medical or family calamity. Further inquiry by the police revealed that on the previous day the deceased had visited all his friends and relatives, and his behavior was not out of the ordinary. The police suspected it to be a case of homicide. On visit to the scene, a completely decapitated body was found in a van on a downhill road. Tire marks were found on the road. A nylon rope was used for ligature strangulation. At autopsy, the decapitation wound of the head and the torso articulated well. The face was congested, and there was tongue bite. Wound margins were clear-cut, with well-demarcated abrasion and multiple imprints of the nylon rope on the neck. The upper one third of the larynx was attached to the head. No other injuries were found on the body. From the findings, it was obvious that asphyxiation was involved in the death before decapitation.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles*
An investigation into the suitability of some etching reagents to restoring obliterated stamped numbers on cast iron engine blocks of cars

Abdul Wahab MF, Mohamad Ghani NI, Kuppuswamy R

Forensic Sci Int, 2012 Nov 30;223(1-3):53-63.
PMID: 22955030 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2012.07.020

Most of the automotive companies use cast iron for their engine blocks. Restoration of obliterated number on these iron surfaces by chemical etching is known to be quite difficult. Heating of the obliterated surface using oxyacetylene flame is an alternative recovery treatment suggested in literature and used in practice. However chemical etching has been established to be the most sensitive technique for detection of metal deformation present under stamped serial numbers. Hence, the current work investigated the suitability of some common etchants on cast iron surfaces with a view to determining the most suitable one for revealing the obliterated marks. The reagents tested were mostly copper containing Fry's reagent and its modifications. Two cast iron engine blocks (3.29%C and 3.1%C) of two cars--a Proton Saga and a Toyota--were utilized for the experiments. The engine blocks were cut into several small plates and each plate was stamped with some numerical characters at 8 kN load using Instron Table Mounted Universal Testing Machine. The depth of stamping impression varied between 0.2 mm and 0.3 mm. The stamped number was completely ground off manually using a metal file. The grounded surface was then polished smooth using emery papers and etched with a few selected reagents mostly by swabbing. Experimental results showed that a modified Fry's composition consisting of 4 5g CuCl(2), 100 mL HCl, and 180 mL H(2)O restored the number with better contrast at a reasonably shorter time. The above reagent is a slightly modified form of one of the Fry's original compositions--45 g CuCl(2), 180 mL HCl, and 100 mL H(2)O. Quite importantly the proposed reagent restored the original stamped numbers of both Proton and Toyota cars and also a Mitsubishi car that had been obliterated. The most widely used Fry's composition (90 g CuCl(2), 120 mL HCl and 100 mL H(2)O), although recovered the obliterated number, did not cause the desired contrast.

Matched MeSH terms: Automobiles

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