Nor Baizura Hamid

Sound absorption study on acoustic panel from kapok fiber and egg tray

Noise also known as a sound, especially one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes disruption. The level of noise can be reduced by using sound absorption panel. Currently, the market produces sound absorption panel, which use synthetic fibers that can cause harmful effects to the health of consumers. An awareness of using natural fibers from natural materials gets attention of some parties to use it as a sound absorbing material. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the potential of sound absorption panel using egg trays and kapok fibers. The test involved in this study was impedance tube test which aims to get sound absorption coefficient (SAC). The results showed that there was good sound absorption at low frequency from 0 Hz up to 900 Hz where the maximum absorption coefficient was 0.950 while the maximum absorption at high frequencies was 0.799. Through the noise reduction coefficient (NRC), the material produced NRC of 0.57 indicates that the materials are very absorbing. In addition, the reverberation room test was carried out to get the value of reverberation time (RT) in unit seconds. Overall this panel showed good results at low frequencies between 0 Hz up to 1500 Hz. In that range of frequency, the maximum reverberation time for the panel was 3.784 seconds compared to the maximum reverberation time for an empty room was 5.798 seconds. This study indicated that kapok fiber and egg tray as the material of absorption panel has a potential as environmental and cheap products in absorbing sound at low frequency.Noise also known as a sound, especially one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes disruption. The level of noise can be reduced by using sound absorption panel. Currently, the market produces sound absorption panel, which use synthetic fibers that can cause harmful effects to the health of consumers. An awareness of using natural fibers from natural materials gets attention of some parties to use it as a sound absorbing material. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the potential of sound absorption panel using egg trays and kapok fibers. The test involved in this study was impedance tube test which aims to get sound absorption coefficient (SAC). The results showed that there was good sound absorption at low frequency from 0 Hz up to 900 Hz where the maximum absorption coefficient was 0.950 while the maximum absorption at high frequencies was 0.799. Through the noise reduction coefficient (NRC), the material produced NRC of 0.57 indicates that the materials are very absorbing. In additio...

Effectiveness of corn cob as a thermal isolation material

Each year global warming creates a phenomenon of increased heat in building structures, especially indoor. At present, building constructions apply various new materials which focus only on load-bearing material strength in order to be stronger and more durable. However, in order to achieve these criteria, the materials have to be good thermal conductors. Therefore, in this study, in order to overcome this, an alternative material, namely corncob was studied to determine its effectiveness as a thermal isolation material. Dried corncob was ground, glued and compacted in a mold with dimensions of 0.3m x 0.3m x 0.02m to produce a corncob plate. After being dried at 130°C and at room temperature for a day, it was installed on the mini house ceiling. The findings showed that on the third day of experiment, the indoor temperature of the mini house demonstrated a significant difference, where the temperature reading outside and inside the model house showed p-value (of the T-test) of more than 0.05. This proves that the corncob is effective in reducing indoor temperature and it can be an alternative material for thermal isolation.Each year global warming creates a phenomenon of increased heat in building structures, especially indoor. At present, building constructions apply various new materials which focus only on load-bearing material strength in order to be stronger and more durable. However, in order to achieve these criteria, the materials have to be good thermal conductors. Therefore, in this study, in order to overcome this, an alternative material, namely corncob was studied to determine its effectiveness as a thermal isolation material. Dried corncob was ground, glued and compacted in a mold with dimensions of 0.3m x 0.3m x 0.02m to produce a corncob plate. After being dried at 130°C and at room temperature for a day, it was installed on the mini house ceiling. The findings showed that on the third day of experiment, the indoor temperature of the mini house demonstrated a significant difference, where the temperature reading outside and inside the model house showed p-value (of the T-test) of more than 0.05. This proves ...

The application of micro UAV in construction project

In every outstanding construction project, there is definitely have an effective construction management. Construction management allows a construction project to be implemented according to plan. Every construction project must have a progress development works that is usually created by the site engineer. Documenting the progress of works is one of the requirements in construction management. In a progress report it is necessarily have a visual image as an evidence. The conventional method used for photographing on the construction site is by using common digital camera which is has few setback comparing to Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). Besides, site engineer always have a current issues involving limitation of monitoring on high reach point and entire view of the construction site. The purpose of this paper is to provide a concise review of Micro UAV technology in monitoring the progress on construction site through visualization approach. The aims of this study are to replace the conventional method of photographing on construction site using Micro UAV which can portray the whole view of the building, especially on high reach point and allows to produce better images, videos and 3D model and also facilitating site engineer to monitor works in progress. The Micro UAV was flown around the building construction according to the Ground Control Points (GCPs) to capture images and record videos. The images taken from Micro UAV have been processed generate 3D model and were analysed to visualize the building construction as well as monitoring the construction progress work and provides immediate reliable data for project estimation. It has been proven that by using Micro UAV, a better images and videos can give a better overview of the construction site and monitor any defects on high reach point building structures. Not to be forgotten, with Micro UAV the construction site progress is more efficiently tracked and kept on the schedule.In every outstanding construction project, there is definitely have an effective construction management. Construction management allows a construction project to be implemented according to plan. Every construction project must have a progress development works that is usually created by the site engineer. Documenting the progress of works is one of the requirements in construction management. In a progress report it is necessarily have a visual image as an evidence. The conventional method used for photographing on the construction site is by using common digital camera which is has few setback comparing to Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). Besides, site engineer always have a current issues involving limitation of monitoring on high reach point and entire view of the construction site. The purpose of this paper is to provide a concise review of Micro UAV technology in monitoring the progress on construction site through visualization approach. The aims of this study are to replace the conventional ...

The Behaviour of Palm Oil Fibre Block Masonry Prism under Eccentric Compressive Loading

Dry-stacked masonry offers great benefits in constructing masonry buildings. Several examples from previous research show that dry masonry is reasonable alternative to the traditional building system. By addition of fibre, the ductility and the propagation of cracking will be improved. This study investigates the dry stack oil palm fibre block prisms which were subjected to eccentricity compression loads. These concrete blocks were cast using a single mould with suitable fibre-cement composition namely 1:4 (cement: sand) and 0.40 water to the cement ratio based on cement weight. Prisms test using 400 (length) x 150 (width) x 510 (height) mm specimen was carried under eccentric load. There were forty eight (48) prisms built with different configurations based on their volume of fibre. In this study, one types of grout were used namely the fine grout of mix 1:3:2 (cement: sand: aggregate (5mm maximum). Based on the test performed, the failure mechanism and influencing parameters were discussed. From compressive strength test result, it shows that the strength of concrete block decreased with the increase of fibre used. Although the control sample has the higher strength compared to concrete with EFB, it can be seen from mode failure of masonry prism that fibre could extend the cracking time. These results show that the oil palm fibre blocks can improve the failure behaviour and suitable to be used as load bearing wall construction in Malaysia.

Performance of asphalt mixture incorporating recycled waste

Nowadays, the amount of premix waste was increased every year, especially at the batching plants. Normally, the waste materials will be discarded without doing any innovative and effective research about those materials. This situation has become one of the global concerns due to the increasing number of premix waste produced every year. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of hot mix asphalt (HMA) using premix waste on improving asphalt mixture fatigue behaviour.The method used in this study was Superpave mix design method. The sample conducted in this study were 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 100% of premix waste respectively. For a binder test, the laboratory test conducted were penetration test, softening test and thin film oven test while for the performance test were resilient modulus test and indirect tensile fatigue test. From the laboratory test, the resilient modulus test was conducted with two different temperature which was 25oC and 40oC. The result from that test was 20% of premix waste had higher resilient modulus at that two different temperatures compared to another samples. From that test also shown that the sample at the lower temperature which was 25oC has higher resilient modulus compared to the temperature of 40oC. Indirect tensile fatigue test showed that the 30% of premix waste sample was suitable for the modified asphalt mixture with referring to the maximum deformation and strain for comparison control, 10%,20%, and 100% of premix waste samples. So, it can be concluded that premix waste inhibits great potential as road construction material and suitable for repeated traffic loading.

Assessment of accessible facilities for disabled passenger movement in aerodrome terminals in Klang Valley

The effectiveness of accessibility in public transport has prompted a great deal of weakness and confines many disabled from moving around unreservedly. As far as the built-up environment is concerned, it is important that it should be barrier-free and adapted to fulfill the needs of all people equally. The consideration of equal accessibility to outdoor environments is still lacking. These cause the problems with poor accessibility, the disabled people face more challenges and difficulties while travelling and using the public transport. Therefore, the aim of the study is to evaluate the performance of accessible facilities for disabled movement in aerodrome terminals in Klang Valley. An assessment rating was developed from an established guideline to assess the disabled facilities provided in the Aerodrome Terminal 1 and Aerodrome Terminal 2 by using manual observation and measurement technique. Based on the results obtained, the facility for disabled people in both aerodrome terminals are moderate. Aer...

Water Quality of Hills Water, Supply Water and RO Water Machine at Ulu Yam Selangor

The rapid development resulted in the deterioration of the quality of drinking water in Malaysia. Recognizing the importance of water quality, new alternatives for drinking water such as mineral water processing from reverse osmosis (RO) machine become more popular. Hence, the demand for mineral water, natural spring water or water from the hills or mountains rose lately. More consumers believed the quality of these spring water better than other source of drinking water. However, the quality of all the drinking water sources is to meet the required quality standard. Therefore, this paper aims to measure the quality of the waters from hills, from RO machine and the water supply in Ulu Yam, Selangor Batang Kali, Malaysia. The water quality was determined based on following parameters: ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3), iron (Fe), turbidity (NTU) and pH. The results show that the water from hills has better quality compared to water supply and water from RO machine. The value of NH3 ranged from 0.03 mg/L- 0.67 mg/L; Fe was from 0.03mg/L - 0.12 mg/L, turbidity at 0.42 NTU - 0.88 NTU and pH is at 6.60 - 0.71. Based on the studied parameters, all three types of water are fit for drinking and have met the required national drinking water quality standard.

Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Analysing Rainfall Distribution Patterns in Batu Pahat District

Rainfall forecasting reports are crucial to provide information and warnings to the population in a particular location. The Malaysian Meteorology Department (MMD) is a department that plays an important role in monitoring the situation and issued the statement of changes in weather and provides services such as weather advisories and gives warnings when the situation requires. Uncertain weather situations normally have created panic situation, especially in big cities because of flash floods due to poor drainage management. Usually, local authorities provided rainfall data in tables, and it is difficult to analyse to acquire the rainfall trend. Therefore, Geographic Information System (GIS) applications are commonly used to generate rainfall patterns in visual formation with a combination of characteristics of rainfall data and then can be used by stakeholders to facilitate the process of analysis and forecasting rainfall. The objective of this study is to determine the pattern of rainfall distribution using GIS applications in Batu Pahat district to assist interested parties to understand and easy to analyse the rainfall data in visual form or mapping form. Rainfall data for a period of 10 years (2004-2013) and monthly data (Dec 2006 - Feb 2007) are provided by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) for 12 stations in the district of Batu Pahat, and rainfall maps in each year was obtained using the interpolation Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) method was used in this research. The rainfall map was then analyzed to identify the highest rainfall that was received during the period of study. For the conclusion, this study has proved that rainfall analysis using GIS application is efficient to be used in gaining information of rainfall patterns as the results show that the highest rainfall occurred in 2006 and 2007, and it were the years of major floods occurrence in Batu Pahat district.