Energy Efficiency, Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort Studies at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University Kebangsaan Malaysia

The study was conducted to identify indoor air quality and the level of thermal comfort in various selected locations in Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment （FKAB）, University Kebangsaan Malaysia （UKM） with built-up area of 250,936 fie. The indoor air quality and thermal comfort were measured at various selected locations by using indoor air quality equipment （Thermal Comfort SERI）. The thermal comfort assessments are based on Malaysian Code of Practice Indoor Air Quality 2005 and Moderate Thermal Environments-Determination of the PMV and PPD indices specification of the condition for thermal comfort （ISO7730：1994） From the data analysis, the FKAB building is considered inadequately vented space. The concentration of CO2 for all sampling area evaluated exceeds the recommended concentration （〉 1000 ppm）. The ventilation system used in FKAB building is designed by delivering fix amount of fresh air into building from external building without consideration on the number of occupants. This common ventilation design will increase the amount of CO2 dramatically all day long and these reflect the inefficiency of energy used. The faculty needs to be equipped with a comprehensive energy management system that can allow detailed documentation of continuous performance of all energy system and consumption in the building.

Probabilistic back-analysis of rainfall-induced landslides for slope reliability prediction with multi-source information

Probabilistic back-analysis is an important means to infer the statistics of uncertain soil parameters,making the slope reliability assessment closer to the engineering reality.However,multi-source information(including test data,monitored data,field observation and slope survival records)is rarely used in current probabilistic back-analysis.Conducting the probabilistic back-analysis of spatially varying soil parameters and slope reliability prediction under rainfalls by integrating multi-source information is a challenging task since thousands of random variables and high-dimensional likelihood function are usually involved.In this paper,a framework by integrating a modified Bayesian Updating with Subset simulation(mBUS)method with adaptive Conditional Sampling(aCS)algorithm is established for the probabilistic back-analysis of spatially varying soil parameters and slope reliability prediction.Within this framework,the high-dimensional probabilistic back-analysis problem can be easily tackled,and the multi-source information(e.g.monitored pressure heads and slope survival records)can be fully used in the back-analysis.A real Taoyuan landslide case in Taiwan,China is investigated to illustrate the effectiveness and performance of the established framework.The findings show that the posterior knowledge of soil parameters obtained from the established framework is in good agreement with the field observations.Furthermore,the updated knowledge of soil parameters can be utilized to reliably predict the occurrence probability of a landslide caused by the heavy rainfall event on September 12,2004 or forecast the potential landslides under future rainfalls in the Fuhsing District of Taoyuan City,Taiwan,China.

Fabrication of graphene oxide decorated with poly(dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate) brush for efficient Cr(Ⅵ) adsorption from aqueous solution

Confronting the severe health threats and environmental impacts of Cr(Ⅵ) in aquatic environments demands innovative and effective remediation approaches. In this study, Graphene oxide(GO)-decorated poly(dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate)(PDMAEMA) brush nanocomposites(GOP1, GOP2, GOP3, and GOP4) were fabricated using atom transfer radical polymerization(ATRP) by the “graft from” method.The resulting nanocomposites were utilized for removing Cr(Ⅵ) with good adsorption performance due to the electrostatic interaction of protonated nitrogen groups in the brush chains with negatively charged particles in the solution. The kinetic model of pseudo-second-order best represented the contaminants' adsorption characteristics. The Weber-Morris model further indicated that surface adsorption and intraparticle diffusion mechanisms primarily controlled the adsorption procedure. Additionally, the Langmuir and Temkin isotherm models were found to most accurately represent the adsorption characteristics of the pollutants on the nanocomposites, and GOP4 can achieve the maximum adsorption capacity of 164.4 mg·g^(-1). The adsorbents' capacity maintains above 85% after five cycles of adsorption-desorption. The nanocomposites in this study demonstrate promising potential for eliminating Cr(Ⅵ) from aqueous solutions.

A Comprehensive Classification and Analysis of Geomagnetic Storms Over Solar Cycle 24

A geomagnetic storm is a global disturbance of Earth?s magnetosphere,occurring as a result of the interaction with magnetic plasma ejected from the Sun.Despite considerable research,a comprehensive classification of storms for a complete solar cycle has not yet been fully developed,as most previous studies have been limited to specific storm types.This study,therefore,attempted to present complete statistics for solar cycle 24,detailing the occurrence of geomagnetic storm events and classifying them by type of intensity(moderate,intense,and severe),type of complete interval(normal or complex),duration of the recovery phase(rapid or long),and the number of steps in the storm?s development.The analysis was applied to data from ground-based magnetometers,which measured the Dst index as provided by the World Data Center for Geomagnetism,Kyoto,Japan.This study identified 211 storm events,comprising moderate(177 events),intense(33 events),and severe(1 event)types.About 36%of ICMEs and 23%of CIRs are found to be geoeffective,which caused geomagnetic storms.Up to four-step development of geomagnetic storms was exhibited during the main phase for this solar cycle.Analysis showed the geomagnetic storms developed one or more steps in the main phase,which were probably related to the driver that triggered the geomagnetic storms.A case study was additionally conducted to observe the variations of the ionospheric disturbance dynamo(Ddyn)phenomenon that resulted from the geomagnetic storm event of 2015July 13.The attenuation of the Ddyn in the equatorial region was analyzed using the H component of geomagnetic field data from stations in the Asian sector(Malaysia and India).The variations in the Ddyn signatures were observed at both stations,with the TIR station(India)showing higher intensity than the LKW station(Malaysia).

Privacy-Preserving Information Fusion Technique for Device to Server-Enabled Communication in the Internet of Things:A Hybrid Approach

Due to the overwhelming characteristics of the Internet of Things(IoT)and its adoption in approximately every aspect of our lives,the concept of individual devices’privacy has gained prominent attention from both customers,i.e.,people,and industries as wearable devices collect sensitive information about patients(both admitted and outdoor)in smart healthcare infrastructures.In addition to privacy,outliers or noise are among the crucial issues,which are directly correlated with IoT infrastructures,as most member devices are resource-limited and could generate or transmit false data that is required to be refined before processing,i.e.,transmitting.Therefore,the development of privacy-preserving information fusion techniques is highly encouraged,especially those designed for smart IoT-enabled domains.In this paper,we are going to present an effective hybrid approach that can refine raw data values captured by the respectivemember device before transmission while preserving its privacy through the utilization of the differential privacy technique in IoT infrastructures.Sliding window,i.e.,δi based dynamic programming methodology,is implemented at the device level to ensure precise and accurate detection of outliers or noisy data,and refine it prior to activation of the respective transmission activity.Additionally,an appropriate privacy budget has been selected,which is enough to ensure the privacy of every individualmodule,i.e.,a wearable device such as a smartwatch attached to the patient’s body.In contrast,the end module,i.e.,the server in this case,can extract important information with approximately the maximum level of accuracy.Moreover,refined data has been processed by adding an appropriate nose through the Laplace mechanism to make it useless or meaningless for the adversary modules in the IoT.The proposed hybrid approach is trusted from both the device’s privacy and the integrity of the transmitted information perspectives.Simulation and analytical results have proved that the proposed privacy-preserving information fusion technique for wearable devices is an ideal solution for resource-constrained infrastructures such as IoT and the Internet ofMedical Things,where both device privacy and information integrity are important.Finally,the proposed hybrid approach is proven against well-known intruder attacks,especially those related to the privacy of the respective device in IoT infrastructures.

Experimental simulation investigation of influence of depth on spalling characteristics in circular hard rock tunnel

A series of true-triaxial compression tests were performed on red sandstone cubic specimens with a circular hole to investigate the influence of depth on induced spalling in tunnels.The failure process of the hole sidewalls was monitored and recorded in real-time by a micro-video monitoring equipment.The general failure evolution processes of the hole sidewall at different initial depths(500 m,1000 m and 1500 m)during the adjustment of vertical stress were obtained.The results show that the hole sidewall all formed spalling before resulting in strain rockburst,and ultimately forming a V-shaped notch.The far-field principal stress for the initial failure of the tunnel shows a good positive linear correlation with the depth.As the depth increases,the stress required for the initial failure of the tunnels clearly increased,the spalling became more intense;the size and mass of the rock fragments and depth and width of the V-shaped notches increased,and the range of the failure zone extends along the hole sidewall from the local area to the entire area.Therefore,as the depth increases,the support area around the tunnel should be increased accordingly to prevent spalling.

Influence of Cu content on microstructure and mechanical properties of thixoformed Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloys

The effects of Cu content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of thixoformed Al-6Si-xCu-0.3Mg(x= 3,4,5and 6,mass fraction,%) alloys were studied.The samples were thixoformed at 50%liquid content and several of the samples were treated with the T6 heat treatment.The samples were then examined by optical microscopy(OM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),energy dispersive X-ray(EDX) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction(XRD) analysis,as well as hardness and tensile tests.The results show that the cooling slope casting and thixoforming process promote the formation of very fine and well distributed intermetallic compounds in the aluminium matrix and the mechanical properties of the alloys increase considerably compared with the permanent mould casting.The results also reveal that as the Cu content in the alloy increases,the hardness and tensile strength of the thixoformed alloys also increase.The ultimate tensile strength,yield strength and elongation to fracture of the thixoformed heat-treated Al-6Si-3Cu-0.3Mg alloy are 298 MPa,201 MPa and 4.5%,respectively,whereas the values of the thixoformed heat-treated alloy with high Cu content(6%) are 361 MPa,274 MPa and 1.1%,respectively.The fracture of the thixoformed Al-6Si-3Cu-0.3Mg alloy shows a dimple rupture,whereas in the alloy that contains the highest Cu content(6%),a cleavage fracture is observed.

Assessment of noise and ground vibration induced during blasting operations in an open pit mine——A case study on Ewekoro limestone quarry,Nigeria

Our study was carried out to assess the level of noise generated and ground vibrations induced during blasting operations at the Ewekoro limestone quarry in Nigeria.To achieve this objective,vibro monitor equipment was used to take readings related to noise generated and ground vibrations during all blasting operations that took place in the quarry for a period of one month.As well,a digital camera was used to take photographs of residential structures within villages near the quarry.The results obtained indicate that the ground vibration readings fall between 0.5 mm/s and 2.1 mm/s and the noise generated during the blasting operations between 82 dB and 89 dB.These readings when compared with the limits set by FEPA(Federal Environmental Protection Agency) of 5.0 mm/s and 150 dB) all fall within the permissible limits.However the photographs of most structures near the quarry reveal cracks and dilapidated building walls.Recommendations are made on how to sustain and improve current blasting techniques.

Effect of intermetallic compounds on the fracture behavior of dissimilar friction stir welding joints of Mg and Al alloys

Joining Mg to Al is challenging because of the deterioration of mechanical properties caused by the formation of intermetallic compounds(IMCs) at the Mg/Al interface. This study aims to improve the mechanical properties of welded samples by preventing the fracture location at the Mg/Al interface. Friction stir welding was performed to join Mg to Al at different rotational and travel speeds. The microstructure of the welded samples showed the IMCs layers containing Al12Mg17(γ) and Al3Mg2(β) at the welding zone with a thickness(< 3.5 μm). Mechanical properties were mainly affected by the thickness of the IMCs, which was governed by welding parameters. The highest tensile strength was obtained at 600 r/min and 40 mm/min with a welding efficiency of 80%. The specimens could fracture along the boundary at the thermo-mechanically affected zone in the Mg side of the welded joint.

Microstructural evolution during semisolid processing of Al-Si-Cu alloy with different Mg contents

A series of Al-6Si-3Cu-(0.3-2)Mg alloys were produced by a conventional casting process.Cooling slope technique wasemployed to produce feedstocks before they were thixoformed at50%liquid fraction.The effect of Mg on the microstructure ofAl-Si-Cu aluminium alloys under as-cast and semisolid conditions was investigated.It was found that by adding Mg to Al-Si-Cualloy,some of the Al2Cu phase and silicon were consumed to form Al5Cu2Mg3Si5and Mg2Si phases.The needle-likeβ-Al5FeSi phasetransformed to Chinese-script-likeπ-Al8Mg3FeSi6with the addition of Mg.In the as-cast alloys,the primaryα(Al)was dendritic,butas the Mg content increased,the phase became less dendritic.Moreover,the Mg addition considerably modified the size of theα(Al)phase,but it had no significant effect on the silicon morphology.In the thixoformed alloys,the microstructure showed a fine globularprimary phase surrounded by uniformly distributed silicon and fragmented intermetallic phases.The eutectic silicon was modifiedfrom a flaky and acicular shape to fine fibrous particles.The effect of Mg on eutectic silicon during semisolid processing wasevident.The primary Mg2Si particles were modified from big polygonal particles to become smaller and more globular,whereas themorphology of the Chinese-script-likeπ-Al8Mg3FeSi6changed to a compact shape.The results also exhibit that as the Mg content inthe A319alloy increased,the hardness,yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the thixoformed alloys significantly improved,but the elongation to fracture dropped.

Comparison of catalyst-coated membranes and catalyst-coated substrate for PEMFC membrane electrode assembly:A review

Catalyst-coated membranes(CCMs)have gained popularity among membrane electrode assembly(MEA)fabricators for their abilities and advantages compared with those of other methods,such as catalyst-coated substrates(CCSs).CCMs show a profound new analysis for reducing platinum(Pt)catalyst loading.In addition,they increase the total number of reactions that occur on the MEA because of their active area amplification,which leads to an improved catalyst-utilization efficiency rate.Moreover,several characteristics are involved in the MEA fabrication methods.Material-manufacturing effects with regard to catalyst inks and analysis of the overall performance of MEAs prepared by the CCM and CCS methods are deliberated.This deliberation emphasizes the practical approaches in minimizing performance deterioration during the fabrication of MEAs using the CCM method and converses the commercialization of the CCM fabrication method toward developing an end product.Novel research is required for MEA fabrication using the CCM methods to ensure that the fuel cell performance is improved.Therefore,this review is focusing on the pros and cons of both distinguished methods,that is,CCM and CCS fabrication,for better comparison.

An assessment study of absorption effect:LED vs tungsten halogen lamp for noninvasive glucose detection

Noninvasive gluoose monitoring development is critical for diabetic patient continuous moni-toring.However,almost all the available devices are invasive and painful.Noninvasive methods such as using spectroscopy have shown some good results.Unfortunately,the drawback was that the tungsten halogen lamps 1usage that is impractical if applied on human skin.This paper compared the light emitting diode(LED)to traditional tungsten halogen lamps as light source for glucose detection where the type of light source plays an important role in achieving a good spectrum quality.Glucose concentration measurement has been developed as part of noninvasive technique using optical spectroscopy.Small change and overlapping in tungsten halogen results need to replace it with a more convenient light source such as LED.Based on the result obtained,the performance of LED for absorbance spectrum gives a signifcantly different and is directly proportional to the glucose concentration.The result shows a linear trend and scucssully detects lowest at 60 to 160 mg/dL glucose concentration.

Ensuring water security by utilizing roof-harvested rainwater and lake water treated with a low-cost integrated adsorption-filtration system

Drinking water is supplied through a centralized water supply system and may not be accessed by communities in rural areas of Malaysia.This study investigated the performance of a low-cost, self-prepared combined activated carbon and sand filtration(CACSF) system for roofharvested rainwater and lake water for potable use. Activated carbon was self-prepared using locally sourced coconut shell and was activated using commonly available salt rather than a high-tech procedure that requires a chemical reagent. The filtration chamber was comprised of local,readily available sand. The experiments were conducted with varying antecedent dry intervals(ADIs) of up to 15 d and lake water with varying initial chemical oxygen demand(COD) concentration. The CACSF system managed to produce effluents complying with the drinking water standards for the parameters p H, dissolved oxygen(DO), biochemical oxygen demand(BOD5), COD, total suspended solids(TSS), and ammonia nitrogen(NH_3-N). The CACSF system successfully decreased the population of Escherichia coli(E. coli) in the influents to less than 30 CFU/m L. Samples with a higher population of E. coli(that is, greater than 30 CFU/m L) did not show 100% removal. The system also showed high potential as an alternative for treated drinking water for roof-harvested rainwater and class II lake water.

Optimization of drilling and blasting operations in an open pit mine——the SOMAIR experience

Drilling and blasting play vital roles in opencast mining. These operations not only affect the cost of production directly but as well and significantly, the overall operational costs. This research was carried out to find a possible way of optimizing the drilling and blasting operations in an open pit mine of Somair (Société des Mines de l’Air), in the Niger Republic. In order to optimize the drilling operation, the time taken by two drilling machines to accomplish the same task was analyzed statistically. The result indicates that the Down the Hole Hammer Drilling Rig (DMNo406) is more efficient than the Drill Master (DM405). The relative unit consumption of two explosives (Explus and Nitram 9), when used under the same operating conditions, were also considered and the results indicate Explus to be more economical per unit consumption with a range of 0.15 g/t–0.183 g/t, when compared with Nitram 9 with a unit consumption range of 0.19 g/t-0.24 g/t in the study area.

Fracture evolution and localization effect of damage in rock based on wave velocity imaging technology

By utilizing wave velocity imaging technology,the uniaxial multi-stage loading test was conducted on siltstone to attain wave velocity imagings during rock fracture.Based on the time series parameters of acoustic emissions(AE),joint response characteristics of the velocity field and AE during rock fracture were analyzed.Moreover,the localization effect of damage during rock fracture was explored by applying wave velocity imagings.The experimental result showed that the wave velocity imagings enable three-dimensional(3-D)visualization of the extent and spatial position of damage to the rock.A damaged zone has a low wave velocity and a zone where the low wave velocity is concentrated tends to correspond to a severely damaged zone.AE parameters and wave velocity imagings depict the changes in activity of cracks during rock fracture from temporal and spatial perspectives,respectively:the activity of cracks is strengthened,and the rate of AE events increases during rock fracture;correspondingly,the low-velocity zones are gradually aggregated and their area gradually increases.From the wave velocity imagings,the damaged zones in rock were divided into an initially damaged zone,a progressively damaged zone,and a fractured zone.During rock fracture,the progressively damaged zone and the fractured zone both develop around the initially damaged zone,showing a typical localization effect of the damage.By capturing the spatial development trends of the progressively damaged zone and fractured zone in wave velocity imagings,the development of microfractures can be predicted,exerting practical significance for determining the position of the main fracture.

Risk based security assessment of power system using generalized regression neural network with feature extraction

A comprehensive risk based security assessment which includes low voltage, line overload and voltage collapse was presented using a relatively new neural network technique called as the generalized regression neural network (GRNN) with incorporation of feature extraction method using principle component analysis. In the risk based security assessment formulation, the failure rate associated to weather condition of each line was used to compute the probability of line outage for a given weather condition and the extent of security violation was represented by a severity function. For low voltage and line overload, continuous severity function was considered due to its ability to zoom in into the effect of near violating contingency. New severity function for voltage collapse using the voltage collapse prediction index was proposed. To reduce the computational burden, a new contingency screening method was proposed using the risk factor so as to select the critical line outages. The risk based security assessment method using GRNN was implemented on a large scale 87-bus power system and the results show that the risk prediction results obtained using GRNN with the incorporation of principal component analysis give better performance in terms of accuracy.

Time-dependent lateral response of pile embedded in elasto-plastic soil

A two-dimensional （2D） finite element analysis was carried out to assess the time-dependent behavior of single vertical pile embedded in elasto-plastic soil. The finite element analyses were carried out using the linear elastic model for the structure of the pile, while the Mohr-Coulomb model was used for representing the soil behavior surrounding the pile. The study includes cohesionless and cohesive soil to assess the lateral response of pile in the two types of soil. The whole geoteehnical model is suitable for problem of piles to determine the design quantities such as lateral deformation, lateral soil stress and its variation with time. The model is verified based on the results of published cases and there is good comparison between the results of published ease and the present simulation model. It is found that, the pile in cohesionless soil has more resistance in the rapid loading and less one in the long term loading. On the other hand, the pile in cohesive soil shows opposite behavior.

Automatic prediction of time to failure of open pit mine slopes based on radar monitoring and inverse velocity method

Radar slope monitoring is now widely used across the world, for example, the slope stability radar(SSR)and the movement and surveying radar(MSR) are currently in use in many mines around the world.However, to fully realize the effectiveness of this radar in notifying mine personnel of an impending slope failure, a method that can confidently predict the time of failure is necessary. The model developed in this study is based on the inverse velocity method pioneered by Fukuzono in 1985. The model named the slope failure prediction model(SFPM) was validated with the displacement data from two slope failures monitored with the MSR. The model was found to be very effective in predicting the time to failure while providing adequate evacuation time once the progressive displacement stage is reached.

Modelling and thermodynamic properties of pure CO_(2)and fue gas sorption data on South African coals using Langmuir,Freundlich,Temkin,and extended Langmuir isotherm models

Carbon sequestration in unmineable coal seams has been proposed as one of the most attractive technologies to mitigate carbon dioxide(CO_(2))emissions in which CO_(2)is stored in the microporous structure of the coal matrix in an adsorbed state.The CO_(2)adsorption process is hence considered one of the more efective methodologies in environmental sciences.Thus,adsorption isotherm measurements and modelling are key important scientifc measures required in understanding the adsorption system,mechanism,and process optimization in coalbeds.In this paper,three renowned and reliable adsorption isotherm models were employed including Langmuir,Freundlich,and Temkin for pure CO_(2)adsorption data,and the extended-Langmuir model for multicomponent,such as fue gas mixture-adsorption data as investigated in this research work.Also,signifcant thermodynamics properties including the standard enthalpy change(ΔH°),entropy change(ΔS°),and Gibbs free energy(ΔG°)were assessed using the van’t Hof equation.The statistical evaluation of the goodness-of-ft was done using three(3)statistical data analysis methods including correlation coefcient(R^(2)),standard deviation(σ),and standard error(SE).The Langmuir isotherm model accurately represent the pure CO_(2)adsorption on the coals than Freundlich and Temkin.The extended Langmuir gives best experimental data ft for the fue gas.The thermodynamic evaluations revealed that CO_(2)adsorption on the South African coals is feasible,spontaneous,and exothermic;and the adsorption mechanism is a combined physical and chemical interaction between the adsorbate and the adsorbent.

Noise Reduction Technique Applied to the Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves

This paper shows the presence of noises and technique to reduce these noises during the surface wave analysis. The frequency-dependent properties of Rayleigh-type surface waves can be used for imaging and characterizing the shallow subsurface. Interference by coherent source-generated noise inhibits the reliability of shear-wave velocities determined through inversion of the phase velocities of Rayleigh waves. Among these interferences by non-planar, non-fundamental mode Rayleigh waves （noise） are body waves, scattered and non-source-generated surface waves, and highermode surface waves. For the reduction of noise, the filtering technique is implemented in this paper for the multichannel analysis of surface wave method （MASW）. With the de-noising technique during the MASW method, more robust and reliable outcome is achieved. The significance of this paper is to obtain pre-awareness about noises during surface wave analysis and take better outcomes with denoising performance in near surface soil investigations.