bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A nuclear-reaction-based method for probing the nonthermal ion energy spectrum in high energy density laboratory plasmas
Authors: Li K. , Liu Z.Y. , Liu A.D. , Zhu S.P. , He X.T. , Qiao B.
Published: September 2023

The nuclear reactions in a plasma system with particle distributions deviated from the Maxwellian are proved to have some unique characteristics, in particular, in their reaction product energy spectra. Based on this, a new nuclear-reaction-based method for probing the nonthermal ion energy spectrum in high-energy-density (HED) laboratory plasmas is proposed, where the energy spectrum of the nonthermal ion high-energy tails can be accurately evaluated through analysis from the spread and peak of the product energy spectrum. The principle of this diagnostic method is theoretically derived and verified by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations that self-consistently includes the nuclear reaction calculations. As an example, our simulations demonstrate clearly how this method is applied for probing the nonthermal high-energy protons produced in the HED magnetic reconnection experiment, where a small ratio of boron element is dopped in the laser-ablated hydrocarbon target and the proton-boron (pB) reaction is chosen as the referenced nuclear reaction. The simulations also show that the pB reaction rate is increased by four orders of magnitude and the peak of the energy spectrum of the generated alpha particles shift significantly towards the high-energy range due to the nonthermal protons accelerated from the reconnections.
Measurement of the neutron energy response curve of 4H-SiC detector based fission target detection system at the CSNS Back-n white neutron source
Authors: Zhang Xianpeng , Song Zhaohui , Zhang Jianfu , Liu Linyue , Liu Jinliang , Yi Han , Chen Yonghao , Jiang Wei
Published: September 2023

The fission target detection system, which is based on
U-235(or U-238)fission target and large area 4H-SiC detector, has
been developed for pulsed neutron detection. However, calibration of
its neutron energy response curve is challenging due to its very low
detection efficiency to fast neutrons. In the past, the calibration
of the neutron sensitivity for the fission target detection system
was limited to using ∼ 14 MeV neutrons generated by the
Cockcroft-Walton accelerator. To obtain the response function for
the complete range of neutron energies, extrapolation based on
neutron fission cross sections was required. In this paper, we
present the calibration of its energy response at the China
Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) Back-n beam line using the time of
flight method, both with double-bunch and single-bunch mode in
end-station 1(with a flight path of ∼ 55 m). The SiC detector
with a thin sensitive thickness of 30 μm has lower scattering
background than the traditional Si-PIN detector . As a result, the
energy response curve of the fission target detection system above
0.26 MeV has been successfully acquired. The spectrum of the
double-bunch mode was unfolded using the Bayesian algorithm, and the
results indicate that, under conditions of sufficient counts, this
method can yield results similar to those obtained from the
single-bunch mode. The issue of pulse height defect of SiC detector
to fission fragments is discussed. This experiment confirms that our
detection system of SiC+fission target has a strong signal-to-noise
ratio and anti-interference capability. At the same time, it
demonstrates that this device has its own advantages in measuring
the energy response of low sensitivity detectors.
Neotectonics of the eastern Matano fault, Sulawesi, Indonesia: Preliminary results
Authors: Patria Adi , Puji Anggraini Rizkita , Tsutsumi Hiroyuki
Published: September 2023

The Matano fault in central Sulawesi is one of the major strike-slip faults that accommodate the rapid left-lateral slip between the Pacific and Australian plates. The Matano fault has a high seismic potential of producing large (Mw≥7) earthquakes. However, the Matano fault was less studied, unlike the Palu-Koro fault. This paper presents preliminary results of our active fault investigation in the eastern Matano fault which may help in understanding the neotectonics and earthquake hazard in central Sulawesi. The late Quaternary deformation of the eastern Matano fault is evidenced by deformed young geomorphic surfaces. The fault shows predominantly left-lateral motion and has steeply dipping fault plane. The eastern portion of the Matano fault may form a seismic gap that potentially host the next surface-rupturing earthquake.
Geological slip rate study on Renun Segment of Sumatran Fault in Dolok Sanggul area, North Sumatra using UAV photogrammetry and DEMNAS
Authors: Daryono Mudrik R. , Hanif Muhammad , Wardhana Dadan Dany , Natawidjaja Danny Hilman
Published: September 2023

Renun Segment is located in the center of the Sumatran Fault, parallel to the Famous Toba Lake Volcano. The fault cuts the thick, and vast Young Toba Tuffs (YTT) deposited ∼74,000 years ago during the supervolcano eruptions. It shows a series of noticeable dextral strike-slip offsets of the river valleys that deeply incised the tuffs. Our study will determine the geological slip rate in this location by measuring river-valley offsets in the Dolok Sanggul area using UAV photogrammetry and DEMNAS images. Detail morphology shows a fault lineament, monocline, and anticline structure. Three rivers about a hundred meters deep cross perpendicular to the fault line and have 585±83 meters dextral offset. This amount is only half of the other dextral offsets on the northern and southern parts of the site. Hence, the slip rate is also a half slower, approximately 7±1 mm/yr. This indicates that the other half of the slip budget is accommodated by the Samosir Fault in the center of Toba Lake.
Development of a Land Subsidence Fragility Curve in Bandung Basin: a Preliminary Result
Authors: Gumilar Irwan , Virtiana Riantini , Bramanto Brian , Sidiq Teguh P. , Abidin Hasanuddin Z. , Sudarsono Ramdan , Haq Titis Idam
Published: September 2023

Land subsidence has been historically detected and observed using the Global Positioning System (GPS) observations since the year 2000. At present, the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) method is used to monitor the ongoing subsidence in the Bandung Basin. Due to its significant subsidence rate, reaching up to -20 cm/year, much evidence of its impact has been found in this area, e.g., damaged buildings. This study aims to develop a land subsidence fragility curve for damaged buildings, which is very beneficial for estimating economic losses and developing a risk map of land subsidence. The study area will be focused on Bandung District Area. Field surveys are carried out in areas that experience large land subsidence. More than 200 buildings are surveyed to estimate the damage to buildings due to land subsidence. Damage classification is divided into four categories: heavy, medium, low, and no subsidence. The classification is based on subsidence slope and cracks in the building. Survey results showed that damage occurred in all these categories. The modeling of the fragility curve shows the tendency of the increasing subsidence slope to cause more severe damage. However, this study only shows the preliminary result of a land subsidence fragility curve in the Bandung district and will be further investigated for optimal results.
Fault Delineation and Geological Carbon Storage (GCS) Characterization for the CCS and CCUS Facilities Based On Gravity Dataset. A Case Study in the Northern Part of East Java, Indonesia
Authors: Handyarso A.
Published: September 2023

lobal warming, the impact of greenhouse-gases emission has triggered climate change and caused various geological and hydro-meteorological disasters in the world. Most countries have carried out decarbonization efforts following the Paris Agreement, which aims to reduce carbon emissions from 29% of domestic effort up to 41% with international support by 2030. Sustainable Development Goal number 13 states combating climate change is a globally accepted framework adopted by the Indonesian Ministry of Development Planning. One aspect of decarbonization efforts involves establishing successful CCS/CCUS facilities, which requires readiness of geological carbon storage (GCS). The GCS has limited capacity, locate specifically underneath, and must consider nearby faulting system to avoid leakage and uncontrollable behavior after the injection phase of the liquefied (high-pressure) carbon. This study optimizes gravity dataset analysis to identify the existing faults and characterize the initial stage of proposed GCS in the northern part of East Java, Indonesia. Synthetic modeling of a strike slip fault was conducted to support data interpretation. The GCS characterizations, which include shape, depth, and storage capacity estimations, are inferred through 3D gravity inverse modeling. This study deduced the presence of a large-scale anticline closure without any intersecting of strike-slip fault in the area. The existing fault system is identified as the Baribis-Kendeng Reverse Fault Zone, trending west-east, and intersected by a sinistral strike-slip fault in the northeast-southwest direction. The study area is suggested as a potential GCS location with low-risk of leakage, located adjacent to the Central Processing Plant Gundih and Sukowati in East Java, Indonesia
Predictive Modelling of Land Subsidence Due to Groundwater Level Decline in Gedebage District, Bandung, Indonesia
Authors: Sarah D , Soebowo E , Satriyo NA , Zulfahmi  , Wahyudin
Published: September 2023

The Gedebage district in Bandung city has experienced a vast physical development in recent years. Previous geodetic studies showed that the area undergoes high-rate land subsidence. The subsurface soil of the Gedebage area has remarkably high compressibility, void ratio, and water content. A thick sequence of soft organic clay of 20-27 m exists, making the area prone to subside. As the district continues to develop, it is important to predict the future rate of land subsidence in the area. This paper aims to analyze the contribution of groundwater exploitation to the land subsidence rate. A combination of 1-dimensional Terzaghi consolidation analytical analysis and numerical modeling was employed in this study. Groundwater level data up to 2015 was used, and hydrostatic condition was assumed to occur in 1986. Results show that the Gedebage area has subsided as much as 161 cm since 1986. Modeling results are consistent with geodetic survey results. It is predicted that the land subsidence will slow down in the next 40 years, provided that the groundwater level remains stable.
Implementation of Frequency Characteristics Technique in Ground Penetrating Radar to Identify Steam Vent
Authors: Pambudi R A , Chrisnawan T S , Warsa W , Laesanpura A , Parnadi W W
Published: September 2023

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that widely used and developed in a lot of fields because of the non-destructiveness and relatively high resolution of the method. Despite all that, this method can produce a biased result because of factors that could affect the anomaly. To prevent those, advanced analytical methods are used, one of them is frequency characteristic analysis technique. Frequency characteristic technique used GPR’s frequency content to then analyze it in frequency and time domain. The result is quantified in various characters of frequency. This technique is used to help identify steam vents in geothermal environment in Darajat, Garut. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is used to generate a synthetic model then we applied frequency characteristic technique to analyzed and compared with the field data to identify the property of steam vent. Based on the result, frequency characteristic technique can be used to help identify presence of a steam vent.
The Effects of Porosity on The Anisotropy Parameters of The Slope Fan Facies Sand Reservoirs in The Deepwater Kutai Basin, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Authors: Nurhazlita R , Sanny T A , Ambarsari D S , Murdianto B S
Published: September 2023

For good interpretation and modelling, knowledge about the effects of anisotropy and its relationship with reservoir properties is needed. Related to this issue, this study evaluated the effects of porosity on the anisotropy parameters for sand reservoirs deposited in the upper slope fan facies. The study objects are obtained from core plug samples of sand reservoirs in the deep-water Kutai Basin. Core plug samples were collected from 13602.5 ft to 13704.5 MD depth. The ε, γ, δ, and η anisotropy parameters data were obtained by ultrasonic measurements, and porosity data were obtained by laboratory measurement with Coreval 700 apparatus and Boyle’s law. The analysis results show that the relationship of the anisotropy parameters with porosity appears when high-porosity sandstone and low-porosity sandstone are separated. The plots of anisotropy ε, γ, and δ, show trends for greywacke, with increasing anisotropy value the porosity increases. The effect of porosity on the high porosity (29%-37%) sandstone shows a steeper change than on the lower porosity (12%-13%) sandstone. The analysis also shows that the higher composition of lithic mineral grain reduces the effect of anisotropy on porosity.
One-dimensional magnetotelluric (MT) data inversion modeling using convolutional neural network
Authors: Khatami M I , Grandis H
Published: September 2023

The magnetotelluric method is a geophysical method commonly used to map subsurface resistivity. The subsurface’s true resistivity is generated by inversion of the magnetotelluric data. Inversions carried out using conventional methods such as linear and global approaches have several limitations including the need for an initial model, models trapped in local minima, a large number of iterations and long computation time. To overcome the drawbacks, this paper proposes to invert one-dimensional magnetotelluric data using one of the deep learning methods, the convolutional neural network, which is heavily inspired by the human nervous system. This method starts by training the network with large amounts of data. The trained network is then used for inversion by receiving input in the form of apparent resistivity data and generating true resistivity and thickness values instantly. This method has been tested on synthetic data with curves of type A, H, K, and Q. The inversion results show that the convolutional neural network could approach the true resistivity and thickness values with a fairly small error and extremely fast computation time without initial model guess and iteration.
The 2021 Semeru volcano eruption: An insight from visual, seismic, and deformation monitoring data
Authors: Kristianto  , Basuki Ahmad , Purnamasari Heruningtyas Desi , Syahbana Devy Kamil
Published: September 2023

Semeru is the highest volcano on the island of Java and one of Indonesia’s volcanoes that has a potential threat of pyroclastic flows. The eruption of Semeru often shows a transition pattern between explosive and effusive styles. An increased eruptive activity occurred in 2021 with series of explosions dominated the first two thirds of the year and then transition to series of pyroclastic flows in December 2021. On 4 December 2021, a dome collapse triggered significant pyroclastic flows that reached a maximum distance of 16 km from the crater and resulted in 51 casualties. In this paper, we aimed to study the dynamics of magma movement from depth to the surface and assessing the style transition of the eruptions between explosive and effusive activity from visual, seismic and deformation monitoring data. We analyzed Semeru volcano monitoring data throughout the year 2021. The volcanic activity monitoring system of Semeru volcano consists of 4 seismic stations, 5 deformation stations (2 tiltmeters and 3 GPS stations), and 2 Web Camera/CCTV. Our analysis on seismic data indicates that the series of large pyroclastic flows were triggered by excess pressure at shallow depths a few hours before the events. Deep volcanic earthquakes are relatively increased after the collapse of the lava dome or pyroclastic flows, possibly caused by the sudden decrease in hydrostatic pressure of the rock mass around the magma pocket, thus triggering gas expansion. Deformation monitoring using a tiltmeter at Argosuko and Jawar stations indicates inflation of a deep source since 15 August 2021. Since 7 November 2021, tiltmeter measurement has shown deep source deflation patterns which indicate magma movement from the deep reservoir to a shallower reservoir. After 21 November, inflation of the deep source was observed again, indicating an increase in magma supply from the deep pocket. The results of the pressure source modeling from GPS vector data in the period before the eruption, 1 November – 4 December 2021, showed an anomaly in the form of an increased volume at a depth of > 1.7 km of about 0.84 million/m3. Between 5 December and 31 December 2021, after the 4 December pyroclastic flow, the deformation modeling indicates the transition of the pressure source from a depth of 1.7 km to 8 km. In addition, we also observed a decrease in volume of 5.6 million/m3. The deformation pattern at shallow depths showed a deflationary pattern indicating a decrease in magma overpressure.
Ultrasonic Tomography of Core Plug Using Fresnel Volume Approach
Authors: Aryan H N , Sanny T A , Septama E , Murdianto B S
Published: September 2023

Tomography was a non-destructive method for investigating the internal structure of an object, usually used to find internal anomalies caused by differences in the physical parameters. The fresnel volume tomography method was an alternative method for reconstructing the image of an object using travel times, whereas this method did not use a ray path in its calculations. In calculating the fresnel zone, the finite difference method which was the solution to the equation of wave propagation was used. The frequency of the waves was also considered, here we used ultrasonic waves with a frequency of 1 Mhz for the inverse modelling process. The reconstruction algorithm we used was Modified Simultaneous Iterative Reconstruction Technique for Fresnel volume. The application of the inversion of synthetic data resulted in an estimation of a velocity model that has good imaging quality and similarity with the synthetic model.
Preliminary Results: Determination of Microseismic Event Locations on Anisotropic Medium Using Time Reverse Modeling
Authors: Rizal Syamsurizal , Priyono Awali , Nugraha Andri Dian , Apri Mochamad , Moelyadi Mochamad Agoes , Safani Jamhir
Published: September 2023

Determining the microseismic event location is crucial in various fields of science such as hazard mitigation, exploration of new fossil energy sources, and others. However, in determining the source location, several problems arise, namely the determination of the source location that is not appropriate due to limited data. To determine the exact location of the event requires a lot of microseismic recording data. We developed a time reverse modeling method for elastic waves. The data used is synthetic data that is generated from forward modeling which seems to originate a source that is located in subsurface at 1,300 m depth. The seismic velocity model used is a layered seismic velocity model with the assumption that every layers is unabsorbed layers. Data from the wavefield recording on the surface is propagated back to the source. From the study, this was found that the microseismic event was at a depth of 1,300 m.
Early Results of Modelling Subsurface Study in Lake Toba, North Sumatra Using Receiver Function
Authors: Julio L , Ratna W S , Siregar I R , Pranowo W
Published: September 2023

The island of Sumatra was dominated by tectonic interaction between the Indo-Australian plate subducting beneath the Eurasian plate. Lake Toba is one of the results of the collision and had a large eruption several tens of thousands of years ago. The goal of this study was to use the receiver function approach to calculate the depth variation of the Moho layer and identify the presence of a low-velocity zone (LVZ) under Lake Toba, and then compare the results of the deconvolution method. To process data on receiver functions around Lake Toba, 31 data stations from the Lake Toba (LT) project have been chosen, with data sources coming from Geofon (Germany). Water level (frequency domain deconvolution) and iterative time-domain deconvolution are the receiver function methods employed. According to the findings, the depth of the Moho layer varies between 27.5 and 36.95 kilometres, and it thickens to the northeast of Lake Toba. The average depth of Moho is roughly 31.05 km, and the Vp/Vs ratio obtained is around 1.86 on average. The presence of a low-velocity zone was then detected at a depth of 15 km to 25 km in the A-A′ section leading from northwest to southeast on the east side of Lake Toba, and at a depth of 8 km to 22 km in the B-B′ section leading from southwest to northeast across Lake Toba, as indicated by low amplitude. The Investigator Fracture Zone (IFZ) beneath Lake Toba was identified as a magma reservoir and source of volcanic activity. The iterative time-domain deconvolution approach was then used to illustrate the result of the best receiver function in this investigation, which revealed that the arrival time of the Ps wave was more spiky than the result of the water level.
Reinforced concrete surface cracks length detection and length estimation by using digital image processing approach
Authors: Senin Syahrul Fithry , Yusuff Amer , Rohim Rohamezan , Chan Hun Beng
Published: September 2023

Surface cracks are a common failure that occurs in reinforced concrete structures (RC). With the help of new technologies, access to crack properties should be easier and help the inspector to provide better results. However, most inspectors still prefer manual visual inspection approach, which leads to inconsistent results when investigating this flaw. Moreover, cracks with inconsistent shapes and irregularities are a difficult task for crack extraction, and inspectors overlook the details of cracks. Therefore, in this study, crack detection and thin crack appearance enhancement using various digital image processing algorithms (DSP) were proposed to improve the accuracy of crack length estimation. By using certain DSP on the captured crack images on RC, several algorithms were created and coded in MATLAB via the morphological approach to produce good quality of the original crack images. At the end of this study, the appearance of the thin crack was improved and helped to improve the estimate of the total length of the crack in pixels. The maximum percentage error between the estimated crack length was calculated and compared to the actual length and was 7.10 %. The surface crack detection algorithm and the has the potential as a helpful structural health monitoring (SHM) tool for crack inspection.
Effect of floating plant growth rate on water quality performance of wetland in treating domestic sewage
Authors: Shamsudin Nur Dhaniah Athirah Binti , Goh Hui Weng , Shaharuddin Syafiq Bin
Published: September 2023

A man-made system that mimics the function and structures of natural wetlands is called constructed wetlands. It is able to treat sewage water with low technology, low energy requirements, affordable and easy to maintain. However, how it works in tropical climates is still unknown and there is a need to figure out the sustainability of floating plants in treating domestic sewage. This study aims to investigate the pollutant removal efficiency of two selected floating plant species, water hyacinth and water lettuce, in treating domestic sewage. The growth rate of both plants will be examined for the best-recommended plants in the constructed wetland systems for domestic sewage treatment. The data was collected through a pilot-constructed wetland in the USM, Engineering Campus that is integrated with two species of floating plants: water hyacinth and water lettuce. The parameters studied were chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and ammoniacal nitrogen (AN). The findings reveal that the removal efficiency of water hyacinth is higher for COD and TSS at 40.96 % and 43.94 % respectively compared to Water Lettuce with 26.86 % for COD and 17.79 % for TSS. However, Water Lettuce has a slightly higher removal efficiency of NH3-N at 26.52 % compared to Water Hyacinth at 24.35 %. In terms of growth rate, Water Hyacinth is lost to water lettuce, but they have higher biomass to uptake nutrients with just a small increment of area coverage. Therefore, water hyacinth is favourable to implement in floating plant-constructed wetlands as it needs less maintenance than water lettuce to achieve discharge with standard A for TSS and COD and standard B for NH3-N based on Malaysia Wastewater Effluent Discharge Standards.
Survey on solar photovoltaic (PV) technology utilization at residential area at Kampar, Perak
Authors: Sanmargaraja Shalini , Chong Poh Kien , Olanrewaju AbdulLateef , Ponniah Vignes , Kanniyapan Gunavathy , Mathalamuthu Anselm Dass
Published: September 2023

The tropical climate of Malaysia is conducive to the development of solar energy, yet the adoption of solar PV technology in the construction industry is relatively low. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify the difficulties faced by home users when installing solar PV and to propose recommendations to encourage solar PV. This research was conducted on residential construction sites in Kampar. More than 100 questionnaires were administered physically and online but only 50 responded, which represents a 50% response rate. The respondents were selected purposively mainly among the clients, contractors, developers, and consultants. The data revealed that the major difficulties that the home users encountered in the installation of solar PV include lack of motivation and incentives, huge capital outlay, and inability to secure financial support for the solar PV. To install solar PV, the research found that there is a need to provide attractive loans and incentives, implement policy, educate the households, reduce fossil fuel subsidies, and others. Although this research has been carried out diligently, there are several limitations such as this research only focusing on residential construction projects, having a very small sample size, and this research only using one method for data collection.
Daily fresh water production from Malaysia’s urban atmosphere using 6 thermoelectric cooling units
Authors: Hassan Muhd Hazwan Hisyam Bin Abu , Riahi Ali , Zainol Mohd Remy Rozainy Mohd Arif , Zakaria Nor Azazi , Jusoh Azman Mat , Yusof Mohd Fazly , Shaharuddin Syafiq
Published: September 2023

Extracting fresh water from Malaysia’s atmosphere which stores a wealth of water can be conducted via the air condensation. In this study, a miniature atmospheric water generator (AWG) system named Mini-AWG was designed and constructed using 6 thermoelectric cooler (TEC) units, a mesh-shaped air filter and a ventilation fan. Subsequently, the Mini-AWG was experimented for several days under Malaysia’s outdoor climate at River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC) in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) which is located in the urban area of Nibong Tebal. The objectives of this work are to develop a miniature AWG system using 6 TEC units to generate water by vacuuming the urban outdoor Malaysia’s atmosphere into the system, determine the impacts of the humidity rates and ambient temperatures values on the quantity of water production and analyze the quality of the water generated by the Mini-AWG system. The daily percentages of relative humidity, rates of ambient temperatures and the volume of produced water were measured which was resulted that the hourly amount of produced water by Mini-AWG were proportional to the hourly percentages of relative humidity, though they had inverse relationship with the hourly rates of ambient temperatures. The Mini-AWG produced the maximum daily fresh water of 0.355 litres experimentally in 12 hour-period in the day. According to the various hourly rates of relative humidity ranged between the least of 46% and the peak of 75% in Malaysia from morning to night, an equation of y= 1.3136x + 16.936 with R2 of 0.8901 was attained experimentally to project the amount of water production of Mini-AWG, where Y and X were designated as the percentage of humidity and the amount of water production, respectively. The examined quality parameters of the water produced from Mini-AWG was in compliance with the World Health Organization (WHO) and Malaysia class I drinking water standards.
Behaviour of normal concrete with Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA) as partial cement replacement
Authors: Imran Nik Farhanim , Hashim Nor Hafida , Hasan Daliah , Radzi Ahmad Shalabi Mohd , Harizan Muhammad Tasnim
Published: September 2023

Concrete has been known to the world to be one of the most crucial components of a developing country but there some downsides to the environment in making the concrete. Mixing concrete needs water, fine aggregates, coarse aggregates, and cements as the main component. Cement is the main cause of the disadvantages of normal concrete mixing because in cement production, it will emit a lot of carbon dioxide to the environment. The emission of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere is proven as one of the main problems that cause air pollution and greenhouse effect. Furthermore, in an agricultural dependent country like Malaysia, the agricultural waste had been concerning to the public whereby the Sugarcane Bagasse (ScB) is one of the agricultural wastes. Sugarcane Bagasse can be useful towards the civil engineering communities where the Sugarcane Bagasse can turn into ash by burning and grinding the Sugarcane Bagasse residual and turn into Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA). The Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA) need to grind to make the particles of the ash to be cement-like of the particle size. Therefore, the purpose of the Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA) in this research is to replace some percentage of the cement to minimize the production of cements. So, the objective of the research is to identify the optimum percentage of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash that can produce maximum value of compressive strength of concrete when it is being replace by Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA). The percentage of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA) that will replace the percentage of cements is 0%, 4%, 8%, and 12%. Based on the results obtained the compressive strength of the concrete mix with 4% of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA) is higher compared to the control sample which is 45.60MPa where the control sample only have 38.83MPa. In conclusion, by using the Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA) it is proven that with the agricultural waste, it can be useful to the not only civil engineering communities but also to the world with the invention of using the Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA) as a replacement for cements where it can reduce the carbon dioxide emissions and the concern towards agricultural waste.
A Study on Crushed Coconut Shells as Stabiliser to Soil
Authors: Kamarudin Faizah , Jaya Alif Akhmizan Mohd , Roslee Muhammad Haziq Md , Ahmad Azura , Abdullah Muhammad Sofian
Published: September 2023

Road construction over soft subgrade soil is a major issue affecting cost and scheduling of highway projects. Many techniques have been conducted to strengthen the highway soil subgrade. One of them are using additives such as coconut shells, rice husk ash, stone dust, and fly ash. to strengthen the soil. The strength of the subgrade is commonly expressed as California Bearing Ratio (CBR). In this study, the crushed coconut shells (CCS) of 65 mm to 10 mm ranges of size was mix with the laterite soil. A series of unsoaked CBR test were conducted with an addition of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8% of CCS to determine the strength of the stabilized laterite soil. The laterite soil is classified as sandy SILT of high plasticity (MH) according to British Standard Classification System (BSCS). The results show that the CBR values of the stabilized soil increase with an increasing percentage the CCS. The stabilized soil with 4% CCS is the highest CBR value, 27.5%. The CBR% then decreasing as further additional of CCS %. The stabilised soil with an 8% CCS content had the lowest CBR value at 5.25%, which is lower than the unstabilised laterite soil’s CBR value. It is concluded that the additions of CCS have greatly improved the soil strength with the increment increase of CBR value. Hence CCS has a good potential for upgrading the CBR value of subgrade soil.
Ability of Ceramic Tiles Waste as a Pre-treatment for Laundry Wastewater
Authors: NurSetiawan  , Yusri Khairunisah Mohd , Hanafiah Nurhaziqah Affifah , Bakar Siti Asmah , Zin Nur Shaylinda Mohd , Kamil Nor Amani Filzah Mohd , Mohamed Radin Maya Saphira Radin , Akhbar Nor Azliza , Ishak Mohd Fakhrurrazi
Published: September 2023

The discharge of laundry of laundry wastewater (LWW) into rivers contaminates the water and exposes it to harmful chemicals present in detergents and fabric softeners. This draws attention to the need to implement treatment for LWW. This study focused on determining the ability of ceramic tiles to remove total phosphorus (TP) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from commercial LWW. The coarse aggregate of ceramic tile waste (CTW) was used as the adsorbent. The effectiveness of CTW as an adsorbent to remove TP and COD in LLW was determined by using different adsorbent dosages, contact times, and shaking speeds in a batch experiment. LWW samples were collected from the discharged point of commercial laundry shop. The results revealed that the highest TP removal was 71% with a dosage of 6 g/100 ml ceramic adsorbent, a contact time of 90 minutes, and a shaking speed of 100 rpm. Meanwhile, the highest removal of COD was 80% at a dosage of 6 g/100 mL of ceramic adsorbent, a contact time of 90 minutes, and a shaking speed of 300 rpm. The optimal value of removal for COD 60 mg/L and TP is 1.79 mg/L while pH value is 7.13. Thus, it can be concluded that the CTW aggregate as an adsorbent was effective in reducing TP and COD from LWW.
Assessment of isotherm and kinetic adsorption modelling for dye removal using banana stem as green alternative adsorbent
Authors: Akbar Nor Azliza , Malek Amirah Abdul , Hamzah Nurakmal , Hambali Satira , Ismail Badrul Nizam , Zin Nur Shaylinda Mohd
Published: September 2023

Wastewater effluent from the batik industry which contain dyes such as Methylene Blue (MB) will cause pollution to the adjacent water bodies if not treated effectively. A batch adsorption experiment using banana stem was conducted for various dosage (0.2 g – 1.4 g) and various contact time (15 to 120 minutes). Adsorption isotherm was employed to understand the nature of the sorption process. Feasibility of the sorption process of MB were evaluated by developing kinetics adsorption modelling, while error function suggested the best-fitted sorption model on sorption data. From isotherm analysis, the adsorption process fits the Freundlich better than other models due to r2 value, 0.917 even though Langmuir Type IV is relatively higher. In Langmuir Type IV model, the negative sign of b value signifies the surface of banana stem has heterogeneous coverage instead of homogeneous coverage. For the adsorption kinetic models, it reveals that Pseudo-Second-Order model fitted well with r2 value of 0.996. The adsorption of MB is dominated by multi-layer adsorption on the heterogeneous surface of banana stem adsorbent which influenced by chemisorption process. Therefore, banana stem has the potential as an alternative, eco-friendly adsorbent media for effective removal of dyes in textile effluents.
A preliminary development of a coupled surface and subsurface flow model for swale system
Authors: Othman Noor Ezlyn , Puay How Tion , Lau Tze Liang
Published: September 2023

This study presents the preliminary stage of the development of a conjunctive surface-subsurface model for simulating the flow in a swale. The surface flow is modelled by one-dimensional dynamic wave equation. To improve accuracy, a third-order numerical scheme is used to solve the advection terms in the dynamic wave model. Meanwhile, the subsurface flow is modelled as one-dimensional vertical flow through nondeformable porous media without air compression effect. At preliminary stage, the surface and subsurface model are verified separately. The surface model is verified against the experimental data of surface runoff from a simulated rainfall. The surface model showed promising performance in terms of the reproduction of surface hydrograph. The overall discrepancy between the experimental and numerical model result in the reproduction of the hydrograph discharge is around 14%. For the subsurface flow model, the vertical moisture profile of the soil is verified against Philip’s analytical solution. The moisture profile obtained from the numerical model shows 100% agreement with Philip’s solution.
Influence of spur dike’s angle on sand bar formation in a rectangular channel
Authors: Li Bai Hao , Puay How Tion , Hamidi Muhammad Azfar Bin
Published: September 2023

Spur dike is one of the various technologies utilized in river rehabilitation. Spur dike provides many advantages, such as promoting aquatic habitat, improving channel for navigation, and protecting the stream banks. This study serves to evaluate the effect of a spur dike on the formation of sand bars in a straight rectangular channel fed by suspended sediment. The performance of spur dike in inducing the formation of spur dike is investigated under three different spur dike angles. A three-dimensional (3D) model was developed using Flow-3D® to investigate the flow depth and velocity around spur dike. Based on the velocity distribution, the influence of spur dike angle on the formation of sand bar was explained. A scalar concentration is used to represent the suspended sediment in the simulation, and the formation of sand bar is represented by the scalar concentration. According to the numerical results, the 90° spur dike produced a larger and longer sand bar than the 45° and 135° spur dikes.
Assessment of NASA POWER for Climate Change Analysis using the De Martonne Climate Index in Northern Peninsular Malaysia
Authors: Bandira Puteri Nur Atiqah , Tan Mou Leong , Teh Su Yean , Shaharudin Shazlyn Milleana , Samat Narimah , Mahamud Mohd Amirul
Published: September 2023

Global warming is threatening human population, one of which is the frequent climate disasters, i.e., floods and drought, which affect the global food security. However, the assessment of regional climatic changes is constrained by the lack of high-quality long-term climate data. Taking the Northern Region of Peninsular Malaysia as the study area, this paper aims to assess the performance of NASA POWER in estimating annual and seasonal variability of the climate variables via De Martonne climate indices from 1985 to 2021. The findings shows that NASA POWER performed satisfactory in estimating both mean temperature and rainfall over the northern Peninsular Malaysia. The NASA POWER project performs the best in Bayan Lepas station with C = 0.70 for annual mean temperature while for annual rainfall is at the Ipoh station with C = 0.50. The annual De Martonne climate index shows that the study area is dominated by wet climate conditions, since the index classify the climate as “very humid” to “extremely humid”. The De Martonne climate indes is calculated from both data source is very similar. Therefore, NASA POWER data is useful in climate studies, while the knowledge of climate variability is beneficial for climate change mitigation and adaptation plans, particularly for agriculture.
Study of hybrid nanofluids used in direct absorption solar collectors
Authors: Vardaru G A , Huminic G , Huminic A
Published: September 2023

The use of hybrid nanofluids in direct-absorption solar collectors is an efficient approach to harnessing solar energy. To address current energy challenges, in this study new hybrid nanoparticle aggregates containing distinct silver-based and iron-oxide nanophases (Ag+Fe2O3) were used to improve the photothermal conversion characteristics of direct absorption solar collectors. The main goal of the study was to investigate the effect of hybrid nanoparticle concentration and the efficiency of hybrid nanofluids on solar energy absorption performance. Experimental results showed that increasing the temperature of the nanofluid is higher than that of the base fluid, which means that nanoparticles dispersed in water have a stronger absorption of solar energy. The results also indicated that the efficiency decreases as increases time or temperature because the heat loss through the top surface of the sample increases at higher temperatures.
Theoretical aspects of the use of hydrogen in the diesel engine
Authors: Cernat A , Negurescu N , Pana C , Nutu C
Published: September 2023

The promotion of fuels with low carbon content is the solution to reduce pollutant emissions in all areas of transport in a relatively short time. In this context, hydrogen is privileged, being a viable alternative fuel for internal combustion engines in all fields of transport, having the advantage of preserving the basic structure of the engine. The main obstacles to the large-scale expansion of the use of hydrogen as a fuel in internal combustion engines in transport are determined by the cost of production, storage on board the vehicle and the distribution network, large investments being required. The concept of using hydrogen as an alternative fuel to the diesel engine is relatively recent, the concerns of specialists being more intense in the last two decades. The improvement of the energy and pollution performance of the diesel engine when operating in a dual system, with diesel and hydrogen, is determined by the improvement of the combustion process due to the good combustion properties of hydrogen. The paper presents theoretical modeling results regarding the influence of hydrogen on the combustion pressure, the pressure rise rate, the heat release rate, the indicated efficiency and the nitrogen oxides emission level.
An analysis of the economic production and use of green hydrogen
Authors: Lăzăroiu G , Mihăescu L , Negreanu G , Grigoriu R M , Simion I
Published: September 2023

The paper studies technological and economic details of green hydrogen production. Among all hydrogen categories defined by the ratio between production technology and CO2 environmental pollution, for energy applications, only green hydrogen has a future. The same projection can be seen in the transport sector. An analysis of the H2 thermochemical formation technologies showed that ecological hydrogen, called blue hydrogen, can be obtained only by a total separation of hydrogen from CO2, to be recirculated. The thermochemical decomposition of water involves the use of three types of electrolysis cells, of which the solid acid cell (SOEC) is the most economical. Membrane-free water electrolysis is considered as a technology of the future. Production costs are related to storage, compression and distribution. The environmental tax through CO2 emission was also included in the production cost calculation. A numerical application related to the green hydrogen production is also presented, as well as the achievements in field in EU and Romania, along with future perspectives.
Constitutive equation and microstructure evolution of TiAl alloy during hot deformation
Authors: Tian Shiwei , Yang Zhenyu , Zhang Siyuan , Liao Zhiqian , Zhang Yongjun , Yang Yonggang , Chen Yulai , Jiang Haitao
Published: September 2023

The hot deformation behavior of TiAl alloy is analyzed by combining the true stress–strain curve and microstructure analysis. The results show that the flow stress of TiAl alloy presents the characteristics of work hardening-dynamic softening, it increases with the increase of strain rate and decreases with the increase of temperature. Based on the true stress–strain curves, the flow stress of TiAl alloy under different deformation conditions is predicted by hyperbolic sinusoidal formula. In addition, the effects of deformation temperature and strain rate on the microstructure evolution of TiAl alloy are revealed. In the process of hot compression deformation, dynamic recrystallization and γ→α, β→α phase transformation occurs. During tensile deformation, TiAl alloy exhibits super-plasticity, which is mainly due to grain rotation and coordinated deformation of β phase.
Piecewise linear functions representable with infinite width shallow ReLU neural networks
Authors: McCarty Sarah
Published: September 2023

This paper analyzes representations of continuous piecewise linear functions with infinite width, finite cost shallow neural networks using the rectified linear unit (ReLU) as an activation function. Through its integral representation, a shallow neural network can be identified by the corresponding signed, finite measure on an appropriate parameter space. We map these measures on the parameter space to measures on the projective

n
n

-sphere cross

R

\mathbb {R}

, allowing points in the parameter space to be bijectively mapped to hyperplanes in the domain of the function. We prove a conjecture of Ongie et al. [A Function Space View of Bounded Norm Infinite Width ReLU Nets: The Multivariate Case, arXiv, 2019] that every continuous piecewise linear function expressible with this kind of infinite width neural network is expressible as a finite width shallow ReLU neural network.
Clinical Neuropsychology of Bilingual Mexican American Adults: Effect of Language Proficiency and Dominance
Authors: Ontiveros Gabriela , Gasquoine Philip Gerard
Published: September 2023

Objective

To assess the association between language proficiency and absolute dominance on language versus visual-perceptual formatted and executive versus delayed memory neuropsychological measures in bilingual adults.

Methods

Data from 55 bilingual, conversationally fluent, neurologically intact, Mexican American, consecutive, adults tested in separate sessions in Spanish and English in a counterbalanced order were analyzed. Age, years of education, self-reported language proficiency, Woodcock–Muñoz Language Survey—Revised (WMLS-R) picture vocabulary measures of language proficiency, and dominance (absolute Spanish—English WMLS-R difference scores) were correlated with 11 measures from La Batería Neuropsicólogica en Español and its original English language tests.

Results

Self-reported and WMLS-R measures of language proficiency were significantly correlated in each language. Absolute language dominance was not significantly associated with any Spanish or English neuropsychological raw score. The WMLS-R language proficiency, but not age or years of education, was significantly correlated with language-formatted neuropsychological measures of California Verbal Learning Test delayed free recall number of words (both languages), letter fluency (both languages), delayed story memory (in English), and Stroop interference (Spanish). Linear regression models using age, years of education, and WMLS-R picture vocabulary scores as predictors were significant for all these measures excepting the last. The WMLS-R language proficiency was not significantly associated with raw scores on any visual-perceptual formatted measure.

Conclusions

Monolingual neuropsychological test norms for language-formatted tests likely overestimate bilingual Mexican Americans’ performance.