THERMAL PERFORMANCE COMPARISON ON FLOORING MATERIALS

New building materials and technologies that provide thermal comfort are expected to gain popularity in the recent past. Hence, efforts to incorporate new building material solutions are needed to protect potential populations from the threats of thermal stress that cause an increase in temperatures due to climate change. The earth is identified as the most effective building material to improve the thermal comfortability inside the building. Among several building construction materials, the flooring material provides a more effective role with respect to thermal comfort in a building. This paper present the evaluation and comparison work carried out to investigate the thermal performance of newly invented soil based flooring material with other common floorings in Sri Lanka. Temperature measurements were taken on the top surface of flooring materials and were compared the surface temperature of each other and indoor air temperature. The results reveal that the soil floor shows a lesser temperature at a significant level than the other floorings. Hence, it can be proved that the building construction materials play an important role and earth is the best sustainable material with respect to the indoor thermal comfortability thus, end-user.

Profitability Analysis of Small and Medium Scale Salt Enterprises, Misamis Oriental, Philippines

The study analyzed the profitability of small and medium scale salt enterprises in Alubijid and El Salvador City, Misamis Oriental, Philippines. It determined salt production practices; assessed the profitability of salt production; and identified the problems encountered in salt production. Forty-two salt producers in the area were personally interviewed using a pre-tested interview schedule. Descriptive and cost and returns analysis, rate of return on investment (ROI), and ANOVA were employed. Results revealed that the production practices of the salt producers are dictated by the flooring materials of salt beds and the type and volume of salt produced were highly dependent on the flooring materials and on weather. It was concluded that salt production is a profitable enterprise and the salt beds with transparent polyethylene plastic as flooring material were the most profitable, despite having the most labor-intensive production process. Recommendations include usage of transparent polyethylene plastic as flooring material and teaching appropriate technology for seawater filtration to address the problem on degraded quality of seawater with the local government unit (LGU) taking the lead. Also, a soft loan program be put up for buying flooring materials so that more members of the lakeshore community can engage in the salt making.

Deterioration of PVC floor covering due alkaline moisture

Concrete as alkaline (pH ∼12,5) and moist material can cause deterioration of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) floor coverings and adhesives through alkaline hydrolysis. Attempts to prevent alkaline hydrolysis have mainly been made by installing PVC floor coverings above ‘dry-enough’ concrete or by using self-levelling low-alkali (pH ∼11…11,5) screeds between concrete and floor coverings. In this study, screed, adhesive and PVC floor covering combinations have been varied by using different floor covering conditions in laboratory test series. VOC emissions have been analysed from flooring material samples (Bulk-VOC). The test samples have been measured for two to three years after installing floor covering. According to the results, a 5 mm layer of low-alkali screed (pH less than 11,5) will effectively protect PVC flooring against alkaline hydrolysis. It could also be concluded that the pH level immediately under floor covering has a better correlation with VOC emission than the RH of concrete in the moment of installing the floor covering.

The Effect of an Active Plant-Based System on Perceived Air Pollution

Active plant-based systems are emerging technologies that aim to improve indoor air quality (IAQ). A person’s olfactory system is able to recognize the perceived odor intensity of various materials relatively well, and in many cases, the nose seems to be a better perceiver of pollutants than some equipment is. The aim of this study was to assess the odor coming out of two different test chambers in the SenseLab, where the participants were asked to evaluate blindly the level of acceptability, intensity, odor recognition, and preference at individual level with their noses. Two chambers were furnished with the same amount of new flooring material, and one of the chambers, Chamber A, also included an active plant-based system. The results showed that in general, the level of odor intensity was lower in Chamber B than in Chamber A, the level of acceptability was lower in Chamber A than in Chamber B, and the participants identified similar sources in both chambers. Finally, the preference was slightly higher for Chamber B over Chamber A. When people do not see the interior details of a room and have to rely on olfactory perception, they prefer a room without plants.

Mechanical Properties of Eco-Friendly and Energy-Saving Mortar with Porous Feldspar

ABSTRACTPorous feldspar is a silicate mineral that is made up of more than 80% of SiO2 and Al2O3 as components. It has a large specific surface area than sand. It has an excellent reactivity with cement as a pozzolanic component. A normal mortar as a construction material is composed of 75% of sand and 25% of cement. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a cause of environmental pollution. It is often made when making cement contained in mortar. Therefore, it is necessary to study alternative materials that can reduce the amount of cement used. This study was conducted using feldspar as a fine aggregate instead of sand. First, feldspar was standardized through physical testing. Compressive strength tests were then carried out to compare feldspar mortar and sand-based mortar. Hydration products of mortars were confirmed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Result of these tests revealed that when feldspar was used, the compressive strength tended to be high. In this study, Case 3 consisting of feldspar 80% and cement 20% with reduced use of cement was found to be the most suitable one. Secondly, to confirm the appropriateness of using feldspar mortars as a floor material, thermal conductivity and thermal efficiency experiments were conducted using mortars with ingredients that differed from a normal mortar. Results of these experiments revealed that feldspar mortar was more effective as an insulating material than a normal mortar because it had lower thermal conductivity and longer heat retention time than a normal mortar. Therefore, the use of feldspar mortar could have an energy reduction effect compared to a normal mortar as a flooring material in an ondol (under-heating) type floor-heating system in Korea.

Investigation Method for Carpet Fires by Analyzing Carbonation Patterns and Oil Vapor

We present a fire investigation method for carpets by analyzing the carbide pattern and oil vapor. The combustion of carpets is dominated by laminar and turbulent flow, and the combustion pattern on the floor surface is shaped like a halo pattern. The combustion pattern on flooring material sprayed with an flammable liquid takes a donut-shaped and a circular pattern in which the core is burned. Surface analysis by substance microscopy showed that the boundary surface was melting and recombining, regardless of whether or not the carpet was treated with flame retardant. In the analysis of the capture of oil vapor using a gas detector tube after combustion was completed, the general carpet was discolored to dark green with one to two divisions, and combustion of ordinary carpets and gasoline exhibited two to three divisions. It was found that one to two divisions of flameproof carpets were discolored to dark green, and combustion of flameproof carpets and gasoline produces five to six divisions. The differences in combustion products could not be clearly distinguished using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC & MS), but the strengths of their response patterns were found to be different.

Effect of Impact Velocity, Flooring Material, and Trochanteric Soft-Tissue Quality on Acetabular Fracture during a Sideways Fall: A Parametric Finite Element Approach

A low-energy acetabular fracture, as a result of falling from standing height, is common among elderly patients and the number of cases is increasing rapidly in developed countries. Several biomechanical factors contribute to the incidence, severity, and type of acetabular fractures, such as body configuration at the impact moment or bone and soft-tissue quality. The current parametric study developed a comprehensive finite element model of the pelvic girdle and simple representation of the whole body and investigated the effects of impact velocity, conventional indoor/outdoor flooring material, and trochanteric soft-tissue stiffness on an acetabular fracture. Our results show that whereas the impact velocity has a substantial influence on the incidence and type of acetabular fracture, the effects of conventional flooring materials and trochanteric soft-tissue quality are not remarkable. It seems that other factors such as the quality of bone (healthy vs. osteoporotic), the thickness of trochanteric soft-tissue, and body configuration at the impact are more critical in the occurrence and type of the acetabular fracture. These results can be valuable in the prevention of acetabular fractures and the design of protective measures such as hip pads or novel flooring materials.

Measurement of Marketing Challenges Being Faced By Traditional Textile Manufacturers of Garhwal Region of Uttarakhand

Handloom division under material industry is the second-biggest work producing segment for a significant provincial populace in India after agribusiness. It gives direct work to a significant populace occupied with weaving and partnered exercises. Extraordinary plans and artfulness is the claim to fame of Indian handloom industry alongside the masterfulness of weavers, it additionally exhibits the wealth and assorted variety of the country. Handlooms contribute a significant part in sends out too. The area has a bit of leeway of being less capital escalated, insignificant utilization of intensity which makes it eco-accommodating, adaptability of little production, receptiveness to advancements and versatility to showcase necessities. Some significant handloom export Indian centres are Varanasi, Panipat and Kannur some more places which involved in the handloom items like Bed clothing material, Table material, Linen, Kitchen material, Flooring material, weaved materials, curtains and so forth are delivered for export markets. Present research paper has measured the marketing challenges which are faced by the traditional textile manufacturers of Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. On the basis of research findings various suggestions and recommendations are made to manufacturers, state Government and other associated stakeholders.