bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Software agent system controls comfort settings in the house
Authors: Sokas Algirdas
Published: July 2015

A building can be called intelligent when it has the means for automatic control of all systems for life activities. Intelligent environments are able to support ever-changing environmental needs by automatically and dynamically adjusting their key parameters without explicit human intervention. An intelligent building can be defined as one that is able to acquire and apply knowledge about its inhabitants and their surroundings in order to adapt to the inhabitants and meet the goals of comfort and efficiency. Agents are software programs designed to act autonomously and adaptively to achieve goals defined by their human developers. These systems make use of a knowledge base and algorithms to carry out their responsibilities. This article analyses software agent system in the building environment. How does the agent control temperature and humidity in the house, how does it make decisions? The creation tasks of software agent system are solved with the help of Agent Unified Modelling Language. The collaboration diagram describes a particular situation and is useful to present objective range analysis results. Temperature and humidity measurement and access control appliances can interact with each other with defined functions. Fuzzy controller ensures the comfort situation in the room. Fuzzy logic rules in line with the method of choice are very important during system design. Study the conventional fuzzy control, which is also known as the creator of the first Mamdani fuzzy system. Logical description of the decision engine IF - THEN a rule set of fuzzy expert system to provide connections between the fuzzy variables in order to obtain the changes that occur in the input sensor. The computer program of fuzzy system is analysed. Obtained results are discussed and conclusions are made.
Geometric approach to the revitalization process of medieval Serbian monasteries
Authors: Slavko Dragović Magdalena , Čučaković Aleksandar , Srećković Milesa
Published: July 2015

Among the standard approaches concerning cultural heritage preservation, the architectural point of view deserves particular attention. The special place in medieval Serbian history of architecture belongs to the world famous monastery complexes Studenica, Dečani and Gračanica. Beside them numerous significant monuments (churches and monasteries) exist as witnesses of the national testimony, currently in the state of ruins, archaeological sites, or damaged ones. A lot of them have adequate needs for revitalisation, where the start point is engineering documentation. The focus of the research is on the role of specific geometric and engineering graphics tasks when these areas are concerning. Monastery church devoted to Introduction of Holy Theotokos in village Slavkovica (near town Ljig), with three old sarcophaguses, dated back to 15th century, is presented and analysed from several aspects:measuring, architectural style characteristics - geometric design, 3D modelling (classical-CAD and terrestrial photogrammetric) with visualization and presentation.The attention was paid on preservation of authentic architectural style and medieval building techniques, which allow imperfections in realization.The opinion of experienced scientists and specialists involved in all the phases of monument's revitalisation has been followed as a guideline to the final result – a proposed geometric design of the revitalised church in Slavkovica.
Forms used for graphic representation of an object in engineering graphics
Authors: Lille Harri , Ruus Aime
Published: July 2015

A technical problem is identified and needs to be visualised through developing a graphic model and completing drawings. The basic knowledge of the writing and reading technical drawings is learnt in the Engineering Graphics course. In this paper drawings are treated as semiotic signs applying Peirce´s triadic model of representation. The representation of an object (future product) can take different forms: icons, indexes and symbols. On the other hand, for the image of an object, there must be three modes: iconic relation - firstness, indexical relation – secondness, and symbolic relation – thirdness. Various forms of graphic representation of the spur gear, i.e. icon, index and symbol, are presented.
Production-integrated quality-control using optical measurement techniques
Authors: Helmut Feige Nils , Heinz Siegfried , Ebert Achim , Hagen Hans , Dannenmann Peter
Published: July 2015

In today’s manufacturing processes, optical measurement techniques are becoming increasingly popular for on-line quality control. This fast and cheap technique enables manufacturers to not only check single points given by an inspection plan, but entire surfaces. This paradigm change brings new possibilities as well as new challenges to the inspection process. We devised software and technologies that achieve a seamless integration of optical measurement techniques into the existing workflow in the production process from design and prototyping up to series production. These techniques go far beyond the simple measuring of structural dimensions. The system permits the management and storage of the complete history of measurements. Hence, trends in deviations from the desired quality or functionality can be determined early and easily. This helps to implement corrective actions even before the produced structures fail to meet the specifications. Using a safe and decentralized server architecture using https, all data is available across business units and plants. Additionally, we developed highly interactive visualization and data exploration tools which enable expert users to fast and easily evaluate the measured data. With these techniques and visualization tools, we combine the advantages of optical measurements with the established evaluation of tactile measurements.
Texture mapping and lighting effects
Authors: Usovaitė Ana
Published: July 2015

The light mapping is a texturing method. It is useful because the common lighting required more computer recourses and various difficult calculations. All lighting and shading methods required powerful computers. In order to solve this problem we can use the light mapping. For this method we need two textures: first texture for surface detail and second texture for fighting simulation. The multitexturing is the best way to realise the combination of the two textures. All three graphics programing platforms (DirectX, OpenGL and WebGL) have the opportunity to implement a light mapping. WebGL is a special branch of OpenGL that is responsible while using the Internet. All of these platforms allow Multitexturing.. Its realization is analogous. But light mapping requires few resources to extract the lighting effects. It is therefore interesting to realize light mapping WebGL platform. Realization is successful and the code is running in real time. The result is the lighting effect, which looks like a really calculated lighting.
Skew quadrilateral membrane folding for lampshade design
Authors: Suzuki Hirotaka
Published: July 2015

Historically, Japanese traditional lampstand 'Andon', was manufactured from paper. And paper folding method was adopted into some Andon or western lampshade design. For example, Yoshimura/Diamond pattern, known as a structure of crashed cylinder, or a structure of building roof, that has been of beneficial use in commercial lampshade products. Yoshimura pattern structure includes a set of skew quadrilaterals which are not on a plane surface and each quadrilateral is constructed with 2 planar triangles. Development of Yoshimura pattern is constructed by one set of horizontal parallel lines at even intervals for valley fold and two sets of oblique parallel lines at even intervals for mountain fold. The author found that similar shape can be constructed from development which includes only mountain fold lines of Yoshimura pattern and this method has various applications. With proposed paper folding method, each skew quadrilateral is constructed by single curved surface. In this paper, the author first defined the principle of the proposed paper folding method, second, explained the. features of the shape made by the proposed method and the luminance distribution on the shape, third, indicated examples of applications of the proposed method. Finally, examples of application of the shape made by SQMF in the field of education are explained.
Textures alpha mapping technolody realization with DirectX
Authors: Usovaitė Ana
Published: July 2015

Colors are described by three components RGB and alpha component. This component adds additional realism in the computer scene and means opacity. Alpha mapping is a process that regulates objects transparency. This is an often used and successful process. This effect is rather simple. The realization requires few and simple resources. Such modern graphics libraries as DirectX, OpenGL and WebGL have powerful opportunities to implement a light mapping. For the realization we can use powerful graphical library DirectX and OpenGL. There is also an opportunity to use the graphic library for the internet WebGL.
A novel hybrid two-step group multi-attribute assessment model of stairs shape for two-story individual dwelling houses
Authors: Turskis Zenonas , Juodagalvienė Birutė
Published: July 2015

The article deals with a novel hybrid two-step group multi-attribute assessment model of stairs shape for two-story individual dwelling houses. There exist many available shapes of stairs for two-story dwelling houses. Selection among shapes and construction of stairs is a multi-attribute decision making problem in nature. It depends on a lot of different conflicting attributes, that have different optimisation direction, different measurement units. A determinated set of the main attributes to assess the alternatives includes the following: Stairwell Area, The Total Area of Climbing, “Climbing Lane" Area, The Cost of Stairs, and Ergonomics. The values of attributes and importance of attributes are determined by grey numbers. The paper presents a novel original hybrid model, which is based on two different multi-attribute decision making methods: ARAS-G (Additive Ratio Assessment) and AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process).
Geometry and decision support system for roof installation
Authors: Makutėnienė Daiva , Šostak Olga Regina , Maceika Augustinas
Published: July 2015

The authors of the article carried out analysis of the complex decision support system application for roof installation methodology. This analysis was based on a created database of roof design variants. Applied methods – there were analysis of scientific literature and other information sources, study of decision support systems, analysis of its application cases, and the modelling of complex decision support system for the roofing. The authors of this work established the goal - to make feasibility study of the complex decision support system for the roofing. After the assessment of such systems creation methodology, parameters used in the system used, indicators and the practical aspects of the application, it was planned to create the prototype of the system. For this purpose decision support systems of a variety of application fields and their development processes were researched. Based on the analysis, the authors proposed the complex decision support system model.
Integrating and Utilizing AHP and GIS for Landfill Site Selection
Authors: Mohd Yunus Mohd Zulkifli , Mohamad Izni Izzati , Maslinda Omar Chik , Mohd Yusof Mohd Badruddin
Published: July 2015

Landfill site selection is a complex task that needs to be done by decision maker. There are many criteria that need to be considered before choosing the landfill. This includes economic, social, geological and environmental criteria. AHP is a technique for analyzing and supporting decisions in which multiple and competing objectives are involved and multiple alternatives are available. By using Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), the process of landfill site selection had become easier. In this method, the problem need to be divided into hierarchy before the pair wise comparison and made it prioritize accordingly. Then, the judgment will be synthesized and finally, the evaluation and consistency of judgment were checked. As a result, lists of criterion were arranged according to its priority, which is more dominant to economic aspect and less dominant to social aspect. This is on account of social matters can be solved alternatively by different systems. This landfill site selection process involved lots of spatial data and strenuous in handling it. Thus, by using GIS, it can give significant helps to solve this issue because of its potential in handling large volume of spatial data that needs to be evaluates and processed. This particular research used Johor Bahru, Johor for case study area.
A Review of Ambient Vibration Technique on Bridges
Authors: Idris Nurul Shazwin , Koh H.B. , Kamarudin Ahmad Fahmy
Published: July 2015

Bridge is one of the important facilities use in daily life as bridge is built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley or road for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle. Various testing conducted on the bridge in order to know the dynamic characteristics of the bridges. One of popular testing use is ambient vibration test. Ambient vibration is a non-destructive test conducted using highly sensitive sensor. This testing is easy to be conduct with less labour, time and also cost. This paper aim to provide up to date literature review on ambient vibration test on bridge includes sources of ambient vibration, procedure of conducting the measurement and results from ambient vibration test. It is important to known the dynamic characteristics of the bridge especially to determine the dynamic response of the structure and also as dynamic information for seismic design.
Fatigue Crack Inspection and Acoustic Emission Characteristics of Precast RC Beam under Repetition Loading
Authors: Noorsuhada Md Noor , Azmi Ibrahim , Norazura Muhamad Bunnori , Hamidah Mohd Saman , Soffian Noor Mat Saliah , Shahiron Shahidan
Published: July 2015

Fatigue crack of the precast reinforced concrete beam under repetition loading is vital to be examined. Reinforced concrete structures exposed to excessive repetition loading could lead to the failure of the structures. In order to examine the active fatigue crack, the reinforced concrete beams were subjected to three-point repetition maximum loading. Eight phases of maximum fatigue loading with sinusoidal wave, frequency of 1 Hz and 5000 cycles for each phase were performed on the reinforced concrete beams. The inspection was carried out with visual observation of the crack pattern and acoustic emission technique for each load phase. The signal strength of acoustic emission was investigated. It is found that the signal strength of acoustic emission and crack pattern of the reinforced concrete beam subjected to repetition loadings showed promising results for structural health monitoring.
Low Cost Housing Demand Factors in Malaysia
Authors: Zainun Noor Yasmin , Ismail Siti Saharah
Published: July 2015

In Malaysia, housing is divided into four categories, which are low cost housing, low medium cost housing, medium cost housing, and high cost housing. Demand and supply of housing is a major challenge to the country because it is one catalyst for social economic structure. The purpose of this research is to identify the factors of low-cost housing demand in Malaysia and to confirm the factors among experts in construction industry players in Malaysia. All factors are identifying from previous studies. Questionnaires are distributed among experts in construction industry players in Malaysia for confirmation. The data from previous studies are analyzed using frequency analysis table and the ranking of the factors are determined based on the highest frequency. Data from the questionnaires then analyzed using "Mean Rank" method. Ranking of the factors are determined based on the mean value adopted from SPSS 16 software. 27 factors of low cost housing demand are determined based on the previous studies. Results from previous studies shows that housing prices are on the highest ranking. 11 factors in the lowest ranking which are number of household factors, quality homes, adequacy, subsidies, marital status, mortgage rates, functions, benefits, job, family life, and culture. Meanwhile, results among experts in construction industry players in Malaysia show that affordable housing factors are in the highest ranking and marital status at the lower ranking. 92.1% of experts agreed that the factors are significant. Therefore, all the factors can be applied as low cost housing demand factors in Malaysia. Keywords:factors,lowcosthousing,demand,
Utilization of Palm Oil and Electric Power Plant Fly Ash Waste Material as a Clay Replacement in Bricks
Authors: Majid Masni A. , Abdul Manaf Mohd Fazdli
Published: July 2015

In this study several types of bricks were produced containing substituent from industrial wastes. The industrial wastes used are palm oil and electric power plant fly ash. These waste products are used to replace the natural ingredient in the manufacturing of brick clay namely as clay. Conventional bricks are produced from clay with high temperature kiln firing or from ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete. At the present, the world's natural resources are decreasing so many alternative actively pursued to ensure that the natural ingredients will remain unchanged for the use of the more significant and worthwhile. In this study, some suggestions have been proposed where the using of fly ash as a clay replacement materials in the percentage of 20%, 40% and 60%. The several laboratory experiments was carried out, where the high compressive strength with 20% of fly ash replacement is 15.5 N/mm2 while for the 20% of power plant fly ash replacement provide a compressive strength of 103 N/mm2. For optimum water absorption, the rate is 17.05% which is from 20% of palm oil fly ash replacement while for brick from 60% power plant fly ash, the rate of water absorption is 4.96%. Therefore, this study can contribute to recycling the industrial waste material as a replacement material in brick in Malaysia. Recycling waste is one way to ensure that waste management can be controlled.
Mn(II) Ions Biosorption from Aqueous Solution Using Pleurotus Spent Mushroom Compost under Batch Experiment
Authors: Kamarudzaman Ain Nihla , Chia Chay Tay , Amir Amnorzahira , Abdul Talib Suhaimi
Published: July 2015

The Pleurotus spent mushroom compost was selected as biosorbent to sorption Mn(II) ions. The Mn(II) ions biosorption was investigated under batch experiments. The influences of pH, contact time and initial Mn(II) concentration were also investigated. The optimum Mn(II) ions biosorption was achieved at pH 6, 20 minutes of contact time and 10 mg/L of initial Mn(II) concentration using 1.0 g biosorbent dosage. The Mn(II) ions biosorption experimental data were best described by the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second order kinetic model. As conclusion, the Pleurotus spent mushroom compost can be used to sorption the Mn(II) ions from the aqueous solution.
Green Strength Optimization in Metal Injection Molding Applicable with a Taguchi Method L9 (3)4
Authors: Mustafa N. , Ibrahim Mohd Halim Irwan , Asmawi Rosli , Amin Azriszul Mohd , Masrol S.R.
Published: July 2015

Recently Metal injection molding is selected as a vital process in producing large amount of small part with complex geometry and intricate shape. This process is lead to solve cost effective issue in manufacturing fields. Feedstock composition behavior categorized as one of impact factor in determines the victories in metal injection molding process. Thus this paper is focused on optimizing the strength of green part by applied Taguchi Method L9 (34) as optimization tools during injection process. The composition of feedstock is 55% powder loading (PL) were injected by injection molding machine .Several injection parameter were optimized such as injection temperature (A), barrel temperature (B), injection pressure (C) and Speed (D) The results analyzed by using Signal to Noise Ratio (S/N ratio) terms. The highest green strength is A2, B2, C2, and D2
Application of Phycoremediation Using Microalgae Scenedesmus sp. as Wastewater Treatment in Removal of Heavy Metals from Food Stall Wastewater
Authors: Ahmad Latiffi Nur Atikah , Radin Mohamed Radin Maya Saphira , Mohd Apandi Najeeha , Mohd Kassim Amir Hashim
Published: July 2015

This paper represents the results of using phycoremediation technology in treating the wastewater produced from food stall activity by using microalgae of Scenedesmus sp. in removal of heavy metals. Phycoremediation has advantages over physic-chemical approaches as it is can completely degrade organic pollutants without destroy the surrounding flora and fauna. Aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of microalgae Scenedesmussp to assimilate the pollutant load based on the optimum time and concentration. Characteristics of food stall wastewater need to be identified and analyse before phycoremediation process taken place. The wastewater sampling was collected at food stall during peak time i.e. at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Microalgae Scenedesmus sp. to be injected to the batch reactor based on five (5) different concentration cells. The results shows that the optimum removal of heavy metals are dominant by concentration no. 1 (C1) compare to other concentration in the treatment i.e. removal of Ferum by 88.22% and 69.63%, Copper by 60% and 53.85% at both sampling time while removal of zinc is dominant by concentration no.4 (C4) by 75.61% and 76.63% respectively.
An Investigation into the Combustion of Mixed Fuel Consisting of Bituminous Coal and Crude Bio-Oil
Authors: Hamdan Hazlin , Shahruddin Munawar Zaman , Mohamad Daud Ahmad Rafizan , Syed-Hassan Syed Shatir A.
Published: July 2015

The combustion of bituminous coal, bio-oil, and their slurry mixtures were performed under air atmosphere using Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA). All samples were run from room temperature to 110°C and held for 10 minutes before the temperature was ramped to 1100°C and held again for 10 minutes at 1100°C at the heating rate of 10°C/min and gas flow rate of 50mL/min. Kinetic evaluation was conducted using a simple Arrhenius-type kinetic model with first-order decomposition reaction. Apparent activation energy, Ea, and pre-exponential factor, A, were calculated from the modelling equation. Results reveal that the reactivity of CBS fuel is higher than a single coal fuel to which the addition of bio-oil helps to increase the combustion performance of the blends. The optimum fuel ratio appears at 50:50 ratio with equal contribution of coal and bio-oil properties that contribute to the increase in volatile matter causing maximum combustion rate achievable at much lower temperature compared to single coal fuel.
Removal of Nutrients and Selected Heavy Metals in Wet Market Wastewater by Using Microalgae Scenedesmus Sp.
Authors: bte Jais Noor Maisara , bte Radin Mohamed Radin Maya Saphira , Wan Mohamad Apandi Wan Asma , Matias Peralta Hazel Monica
Published: July 2015

The wet market wastewater may lead to pollution, odour and aesthetic problems to the environment and society if not treating properly. Thus, this research was conducted to culture microalgae Scenedesmus sp. and to identify the optimal concentration of microalgae Scenedesmus sp.due to the nutrient and heavy metal removals from wet market wastewater based on laboratory scale. The samples were taken from Public Market Parit Raja, Batu Pahat at 9a.m. in the morning using grab sampling technique. The characteristics of raw wastewater and microalgae Scenedesmus sp. were determined. There are five sample wastewater (used 625ml for each five sample wastewater) with five different sample concentrations of microalgae which are 6.50x105, 49.88x104, 34.75x104, 19.63x104 and 49.88x104 cell/ml with 16 days as duration for period study. The microalgae were cultured by BBM for eight days and another eight days for treatment with replicates three times for each sample. The analysis were measured due to the nutrient and heavy metal removals which are TN, TP, TOC, Fe and Zn during eight days treatment process. Based on experimental result, the optimum efficiency removals for each concentration were achieved 45.6-86.4% of nutrients and heavy metals removal. The highest amount of nutrient and heavy metal removals after wastewater treatment by microalgae are TN 74.77%, TP 82.17%, TOC 86.36%, Fe 65.76% and Zn 84.14%. As conclusion for this experiment, Sample 2 (concentration 49.88x104 cell/ml of microalgae Scenedesmus sp.) is the optimum concentration due to the highest percentage of nutrients and heavy metals removal which achieved 65.3-82.1% which TN 65.32%, TP 76.77%, TOC 80.34%, Fe 65.76% and Zn 82.12%.
A Review of Sustainable Management of Mine Tailings
Authors: Mahmood Ali A. , Elektorowicz Maria
Published: July 2015

This paper summarizes research done on mine tailings management and explores new trends in the sustainable re-use of these tailings in construction activities. It is concluded that no research to date had addressed the issue of using hardened mine tailings as construction materials for temporary access unpaved roads in cold climates.
Comparison of Distribution Methods of Low Flow Analysis for Bandar Segamat, Johor
Authors: Erfen Yuliarahmadila , Adnan Mohd Shalahuddin , Ali Noorfathiah Che , Amat Nurul Farehah , Zahudi Zawani Mohd
Published: July 2015

During the monsoon season, certain areas in Malaysia are experiencing a flood. While during the transition period Malaysia is experiencing a drought. This phenomenon could lead to severe disaster and precaution monitoring is needed to avoid this occurrences. Low flow during the dry season could lead to several negative effects on the river ecosystem. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the low flow frequency and intensity for the Segamat city. The duration for 2 years to 100 years based on the previous 20 years of stream flow data were used to calculated. Stream flow data were obtained from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID). Two prominent distribution analyses methods known as Gumbel Distribution and Log pearson Type III Distribution were applied. The distribution results were validated using Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and California method and Weibull method are selected. Based on the analyses results, it clearly shows that the distibution of low flow are between 1 m3/s to 10 m3/s. The flow are significantly correlate with the rainfall intensity. RMSE was selected based on the lowest value of 0.721 for the Gumble Distribution and 1.831 for Log Pearson Type III Distribution. Chi-square test shows a good agreement for Gumble Distribution (7.615<12.59) and Log Pearson Type III(5.201<11.07) using 5% significant level. The confident level form both tests are valid (p>0.05), thus, this results could be used for further analyses to alleviate the low flow in the study area.
Effect of Mechanical Mismatch on the Stress Intensity Factors of Inclined Cracks under Mode I Tension Loading
Authors: Azlan Mohd Azwir , Ismail Al Emran
Published: July 2015

This paper presents numerical analysis of stress intensity factors (SIFs) of inclined cracks due to mechanical mismatches. According to literature survey, tremendous amounts of SIFs can be found elsewhere. However, the SIFs for inclined cracks are difficult to obtain especially when mechanical mismatch at the crack interface are considered. ANSYS finite element program is used to model the cracks embedded in plain strain plates. The cracks are oriented at the interface between two different materials and subjected to mode I tension loading. It is showed that when mechanical mismatches are introduced the mode I SIFs reduced and on the other hand mode II SIFs increased. When the cracks are inclined, the mode I SIFs diverged but it is not for mode II SIFs and gradually increased when compared with the normal cracks.
Climate Change Impacts on Rainfall Distribution at Teluk Intan Catchment
Authors: Zahudi Zawani Mohd , Adnan Mohd Shalahuddin , Amat Nurul Farehah , Erfen Yuliarahmadila , Ali Noorfathiah Che
Published: July 2015

Many studies have been conducted on determining the effect of climate change on the precipitation. The increasing of temperature has led to increase of evaporation rate, rainfall intensity, sea water level and so forth. These changes will lead to greater disaster such as increase of flood magnitude, flood event, drought intensity and prolong the drought period. The main objective of this study is to analyze the monthly rainfall pattern from 1984 to 1993 for the Teluk Intan Basin. Five stations of rainfall data were retrieved from DID. The rainfall distribution pattern was calculated by using two types of probability distributions known as Log-Pearson type-III and Gumbel using California’s method. Later, Chi-square test of goodness of fit was applied to validate the results. Based on the calculated results, out of the five stations used in this study, only three stations shows are fitted to apply the mentioned method which is Mengkuang River St, Labu Kubong St and Telok Intan station. Maximum total rainfall for ten years period occurs at Pt. IV Sg. Manik St as the value is 5570.5 mm, meanwhile minimum total rainfall occurs at Pt. I Sg. Manik St as the value is 1462.5 mm. For the average temperature, year 1990 gives the maximum value that is 29.18°C, while year 1986 gives the minimum value that is 28.79°C. The chi-square test was performed to determine which method is fitted to use as statistical analyses. Lastly, correlation test was tested to determine the correlation between rainfall and temperature. Based on the correlation result, it clearly shows a weak correlation between rainfall and temperature. For Telok Intan St the correlation value is 0.17, Pt. I Sg. Manik St is 0.28, Mengkuang River St is 0.17, Pt. IV Sg. Manik St is 0.4, and lastly Labu Kubong St gives the smallest correlation value that is 0.07. As a conclusion, the distributions of rainfall pattern in this area are not really affected by the temperature. However, the temperature distribution still will affect the rainfall distribution in a longer period.
Experimental Study for Phycoremediation of Botryococcus Sp. on Greywater
Authors: Gani Paran , Sunar Norshuhaila Mohamed , Matias-Peralta Hazel Monica , Abdul Latiff Ab Aziz , Kamaludin Nabila Syazwanie , Parjo Umi K. , Emparan Quin , Er Chin Ming
Published: July 2015

Greywater (GW) is identified as waste disposal from home activites that is discharging from laundry, bath and wash-basin. GW useful in irrigation of a garden and aids to reduce cost as well as maintain the environmental prosperity. This paper discussed the effectiveness of Botryococcus sp. to clean GW in phycoremediation treatment. This process involves as growing the Botryococcus sp. in the GW which is contributing to utilize supplements in GW for its grow. The results indicated that Botryococcus sp. is effective to reduce COD (88%), BOD (82%), TIC (76%), TC (58%), TN (52%), TOC (39%), Phosphate (37.5%) and pH (7%) for 100% concentration of GW. Meanwhile, for the 50% of GW concentration Botryococcus sp. capable to remove such as COD (83%), TIC (82%), BOD (68%), TN (67%), Phosphate (36.8%), TC (34%), TOC (31%) and pH (1.2%). Then, the study concludes that Botryococcus sp. can grow effectively in GW and be able to reduce the rate of nutrient in GW.
Ammonia Nitrogen Removal from Domestic Wastewater via Nitrification Process Using Aerated Rock Filter
Authors: Hamdan Rafidah , Ibrahim Izzati Izwani , Haron Siti Zahirah
Published: July 2015

Excessive nitrogen in domestic wastewater discharge accelerates eutrophication in an aquatic ecosystem. To treat wastewater high in nitrogen conventionally are more expensive, complex and generate high amount of sludge. In line with this situation, rock filters (RF) emerged as one of attractive natural wastewater treatment method to treat wastewater high in nutrient because this filter system is easier to maintain, using low-cost filter media, and environmentally-friendly technology. However, studies on the removal of nitrogen in the system are still limited due to nitrification study under warm climate. Thus, an aerated rock filter system has been designed in this study to remove ammonia nitrogen from domestic wastewater using the recommended hydraulic loading rate in warm climate condition. The laboratory aerated rock filter system has been in operated for 2 months with 5 weeks of sampling. The filter influent and effluent samples have been collected and analyzed twice a week for Total Kjeldhal Nitrogen (TKN), ammonia nitrogen (AN), nitrates ,pH, temperature, DO and alkalinity to monitor the filter performance in removing nitrogen. Results from the laboratory experiments show that AN in wastewater was oxidized to nitrate and efficiently removed as the removal of ammonia nitrogen was ranged from 66.05 % to 91.30 % and the removal percentage of TKN was ranged from 63.23 % to 87.68 %. The temperature was in the range of 25°C to 27.5°C, pH value was in the range of 6.34 to 8.04, DO was from 6.64 mg/L to 7.75 mg/L, and the alkalinity was from 15 to 110 as mg /L CaCO3. Therefore, from this laboratory experiment it can be concluded that aerated rock filter system has high potential in removing AN and TKN. The system also able to produce a good final effluent quality which is comply with the effluent requirement for nutrient removal in wastewater under the Environmental Quality Act (Sewage) Regulations, 2009 that is safe to be released to the water body.
Effect of Plasticity on Liquefaction Susceptibility of Sand-Fines Mixtures
Authors: Marto Aminaton , Tan Choy Soon , Makhtar Ahmad Mahir , Ung Shu Wen , Lim Mei Yen
Published: July 2015

The usability of the clay fraction as one of the criteria in the assessment of liquefaction susceptibility is questionable since year 2001. The use of plasticity index to replace clay fraction as a controlling parameter in the criterion is proposed. This paper aims to compare the usability of different parameter in describing the cyclic behaviour of sand-fines mixtures with various plasticity characteristics. The sand-fines mixtures were reconstituted by mixing clean sand with two types of plastic fines at different percentages by weight, at a standardized ratio of 80% of clean sand with 20% of plastic fines. All soil samples were mixed using the dry tamping method to achieve a constant relative density of 20% throughout the specimen. The soil specimens are tested with stress controlled cyclic triaxial apparatus under consolidated undrained condition, with an effective confining pressure of 100kPa. The soil specimens were considered liquefy when the value of pore pressure is equivalent to the initial cell pressure, resulting zeroes effective stress in soil specimen. The results showed that the liquefaction resistance of the sand-fines mixtures increased as the value of plasticity index increased. The plasticity index is a better indicator to describe the liquefaction susceptibility of sand-fines mixtures compare to clay content, plastic limit and activity.
Biocementation Potential of Tropical Residue Soil Infused with Facultative Anaerobe Bacteria
Authors: Ping Chiet Kenny Tiong , Kassim Khairul Anuar , Chong Siaw Yah
Published: July 2015

Biomediated soil improvement, a promising new branch of microbial geotechnology; which involved multi disciplines has successfully attracted abundant attentions among researchers, geotechnical engineers, and other industries practitioners. Few of the researches were conducted to examine the potential implementation of this technique on tropical residue soil. However, the uncertainties outcomes and inconsistency of bio mediated soil improvement, especially on the clayed soil have made this technique remained at the laboratory stage. Therefore, this paper intended to provide better understanding of this technique by investigating the relation between the bacteria, cementation reagents, and tropical residue soil. The residual soil was mixed with facultative anaerobe bacteria, Bacillus Subtilis before it was compacted into a prefabricated PVC mould. The soil samples were treated with different treatment condition such as (1) control or untreated, (2) treated with cementation solution, (3) treated with bacteria only, and (4) treated with bacteria and Cementation reagent. A worth noting finding showed that the sample treated with bacteria and nutrient only has produced the highest increment of shear strength. This phenomenon might have been caused by the effect of the chemical reagent to the mineralogy of residue soil. The presence of the chemical reagents is believed to have weakened the shear strength of the tropical residual soil.
Geochemical Properties of Peat Soil in Sarawak - A Review
Authors: Tong Teong Ing , Ling Felix Ngee Leh
Published: July 2015

In geotechnical field, peat soil is defined as soil which is formed by accumulation of purely one hundred percent organic matter and which the distinction between soil and vegetative accumulation is not clear. The main objectives of this review paper are to summarize and compare the geochemical properties of peat soil in different districts of Sarawak. Case studies that have been chosen covered central of Sarawak up to the North of Sarawak. Geochemical properties of peat soil that being observed are pH, total carbon, organic matter, bulk density and the total nitrogen. Geochemical properties are found to be governed by the types of material inside the soil and also strongly correlated with the engineering properties of soil. Notably showed that the types of organic matter, namely fibre and/or humidified organic inside the soil will influence the soil porosity. The findings of the studies showed that geochemical properties of the peat soil in different districts of Sarawak is site dependent and could be affected by the different land use or land activities. The differences in land use and land activities affected the bulk density, pH and types of organic matter in the soil. The result indicated that peat soil land in different district can categorized as acidic soil because of the pH range is between 3.3-3.75. For the bulk density, the lowest value is recorded at the Dalat sago plantation site, which is 0.14 g/cm3. For the value of the total carbon, peat soil from the Laogan Bunut National Park is the lowest, 47.6%. Furthermore, total carbon is related to the soil organic matter, coincidentally the value of soil organic matter in Miri found to be the lowest which is 74.59%. Result for the total nitrogen, there are little difference between the district. Range of the total nitrogen is from 0.9% to 2.4%, Sibu site is getting the lowest value in this case.
Comparison of Geotechnical Properties of Laterite, Kaolin and Peat
Authors: Mohd Yusoff Siti Aimi Nadia , Bakar I. , Wijeyesekera Devapriya Chitral , Zainorabidin Adnan , Madun Aziman
Published: July 2015

This paper compares some geotechnical properties of Kaolin, Laterite and Peat. Laterite was collected from Bukit Banang while Peat sample was collected from Parit Nipah, both locations were in Batu Pahat, Johor. Meanwhile, kaolin that was used in this research was manufactured kaolin. These soil samples were subjected to routine laboratory analysis and resulting data were analyzed statistically using a correlation analysis. A laboratory testing program consists of “Basic properties test” to obtain general information on the materials (e.g Natural moisture content, Atterberg Limit, Specific gravity, grain size analysis, chemical composition and pH) and “Geotechnical properties tests” to measure specific properties that characterize soil behaviour for design and constructability assessments (e.g Standard Proctor Test, Unconfined Compressive Strength and CBR).The results showed that the Natural/initial moisture content for laterite, peat and kaolin is 22.54%, 480.61% and 0.22% respectively. Meanwhile Specific gravity for each soil was in the range 1.50-2.79.It was also found that the pH of all soil is acidic which lay in the range of 3.76-5.95.The UCS for the optimally compacted sample of laterite is 445.77 kPa, kaolin is 199.23 kPa and for peat is 58.70 kPa. This paper summarizes the result of analysis performed on all tests conducted. Based on the results, the geotechnical property of the soil is a highly dependent with the type of soil and therefore, determining the soil characterization and the soil strength should be considered during the planning phase of any earthwork construction operation.
Consolidation Parameters of Reconstituted Peat Soil: Oedometer Testing
Authors: Johari Nurul N. , Bakar I. , Aziz M.H.A.
Published: July 2015

This paper presents the consolidation parameters of reconstituted peat soils with different peat soil particle sizes. The reconstituted peat sample was used to determine the consolidation parameters since the undisturbed samples were difficult to collect. The selected sizes of soil particles passing have been collected and formed the reconstituted peat samples by preloaded a pressure to remove the extra water. The testing involve was one-dimensional oedometer consolidation test with the load increment method (5 – 320kPa). It is important to gather the information about a soil profile, especially on consolidation properties which were important in predicting the settlement of soil. Based on the results, compression index (Cc) and swell index (Cs), the values were increased with the increasing peat particles size.
Strength Characteristics Of Polyurethane (PU) With Modified Sand
Authors: Sidek Norbaya , Mohamed K. , Jais I.B.M. , Abu Bakar I.A.
Published: July 2015

Soil stabilisation is defined as a technique to improve the engineering characteristics in order to improve the parameters such as shear strength, compressibility, density, hydraulic conductivity. There are many techniques that can be used for different purposes by enhancing some aspects of soil behaviour and improve the strength and properties of soil. One of the cheapest techniques is by using Polyurethane grout, which is workable for construction and enhances the performance of soil compressive strength. Polyurethane (PU) foam is non-toxic, having an indefinite life span and non-environment unfriendly. PU is a chemical substance that normally used in polymer industries for instance resilience foam seating, rigid foam insulation panels and microcellular foam seals. In this research, different percentages of PU content are mixed with sand to test the compressive strength of modified sand. The compressive strength of sand is determined by conducting the Unconfined Compression Test (UCT) with the mold samples of 50mm diameter and 100mm height. The test determines the compressive strength and generates the stress-strain relationship of the modified sand. It is shown that the compressive strength of modified sand will gradually increase with an increasing PU content percentage (varying from 10% (20 kPa) – 95% (500 kPa). Conclusively, this research could be used as the benchmark of ground improvement technique.
Integration of Artificial Intelligence into Dempster Shafer Theory: A Review on Decision Making in Condition Monitoring
Authors: Rosli Muhammad Firdaus , Hee Lim Meng , Salman Leong M.
Published: July 2015

Machines are the heart of most industries. By ensuring the health of machines, one could easily increase the company revenue and eliminates any safety threat related to machinery catastrophic failures. In condition monitoring (CM), questions often arise during decision making time whether the machine is still safe to run or not? Traditional CM approach depends heavily on human interpretation of results whereby decision is made solely based on the individual experience and knowledge about the machines. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated ways for decision making in CM provides a more objective and unbiased approach for CM industry and has become a topic of interest in the recent years. This paper reviews the techniques used for automated decision making in CM with emphasis given on Dempster-Shafer (D-S) evident theory and other basic probability assignment (BPA) techniques such as support vector machine (SVM) and etc.
Settlement Prediction of Soil at Closed Dumping area using Power Creep Function
Authors: Pauzi Nur Irfah Mohd , Omar Husaini , Misran Halina , Othman Siti Zubaidah , Manap Abreeza
Published: July 2015

In Malaysia, total dumping sites are 73 sites, controlled dumping sites are 71 sites and sanitary landfill are 11 sites. These disposal sites will increase over time because population in Malaysia has been increased at a rate of 2.4% per annum or about 600,000 per annum since 1994. The increase in population would increase the amount of waste generated. Thus, it will increase the number of dumping sites. The dumping area which has a full capacity of waste will eventually closed. These closed dumping area which are to be developed for new development are prone to settlement. The settlement at dumping area are to be predicted and simulated using Power Creep Function. The heterogeneous content of waste soil from dumping area are complicated to characterize and classified. The content of waste dumped at the dumping area is important to analyse because the degradation process changes with time. The degradation process are called power creep function. Power Creep Function (PCF) is time dependent deformation which is under constant stress. The two constant variables which are M’ and N’. M’ is the compressibility constant and N’ is rate of compression varies with age placement condition. The input parameters for PCF are H0, ∆σ, t, Tr, M’ and N’. These parameters are simulated based on two cases whereby, case 1 where M’ and N’ are kept constant and time (t) increases from 25 days to 75 days. Tr is kept constant at 1 day. Case 2 is where M’, N’ and Tr are kept constant and time (t) increases from 240 days to 730 days. The settlement prediction at the dumping area for Case 1 is 0.024 meters to 0.042 meters and for Case 2 the settlement is in the range of 0.074 meters to 0.130 meters. The prediction of total settlement for dumping area would be used to determine the depth of foundation for the new development at the dumping area.
Soil Velocity Profile on Soft Soil Using Seismic Refraction
Authors: Mad Said Mohd Jazlan , Zainorabidin Adnan , Madun Aziman
Published: July 2015

Soil velocity profile often used as subsurface characterization by using geophysical technic. Seismic refraction is one of geophysical technique to determine primary wave (p-wave) velocity of soil profile. In this paper, seismic refraction technique has been performed on two different types of soft soil (peat soil and RECESS clay) for comparison of its p-wave velocity soil profile. From p-wave velocity soil profile comparison, its show the peat soil has soil velocity range from 211 m/s – 534 m/s at depth of 0 – 4 m while the soft clay show soil velocity range from 248 m/s – 1842 m/s at depth of 0 – 5.5 m. The profiles of peat soils and RECESS clay have been verified using peat samplers and existing borehole data. Both of velocity soil profiles, indicated that peat soil have lower velocity compare with soft clay due to its unique and soft soil characteristics. The difference of p-wave velocity soil profile between peat soil and soft clay are clearly showed both soils have different soil p-wave velocity with different soils characteristics.