SCOPE OF IMPROVING MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CONCRETE USING NATURAL FIBER AS A REINFORCING MATERIAL

Using natural (Jute) fiber in concrete as a reinforcing material can not only augment the concrete strength but also restrict the use of synthetic fiber which is environmentally detrimental. To achieve this goal, this study evaluated compressive strength, tensile strength and plastic shrinkage of concrete incorporating ‘Natural (Jute)’ fiber of different length (15 mm and 25 mm) with various mix proportions of 0.10%, 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.4% respectively by volume of concrete. Concrete is vulnerable to grow shrinkage cracks because of high evaporation rate in dry and windy conditions. Incorporating of fibers could abate development of this crack. The large length (25 mm) and higher content ( 0.3%) of reinforcing materials (jute fiber) result to the lowering of mechanical properties of JFRC compare to plain concrete. But in the incorporation of short (15 mm) and low fiber content ( 0.3%), enhances the mechanical properties of the same JFRC. Inclusion of 0.3% (15 mm length) fiber gave maximum enhancement of both concrete compressive and tensile strength by 12.4% and 58% respectively compared to the non-fiber reinforced concrete. A drastic suppression of crack occurrence and area of crack between non-fiber reinforced concrete and fiber reinforced concretes was attained. Experimental results of incorporating 0.1–0.4% fiber with 15 mm length in concrete revealed that plastic shrinkage cracks were decreased by 75–99% in contrast to non-fiber reinforced concrete. Therefore, it is concluded that the incorporation of jute fiber in making FRC composite would be one of the favorable methods to enhance the performance of concrete.

RECYCLED TIRE ISOLATOR AS EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE SYSTEM FOR SINGLE STOREY BUILDING IN MALAYSIA

The studies of seismic isolation have gradually become important particularly in countries of active seismicity activity. The main idea of isolation is to provide flexibility to the structural foundation as well as to absorb energy and mitigating ground acceleration generated from earthquake forces. However, the cost to manufacture conventional commercial rubber isolator is high due to its heavy weight complicated in the process of preparation involving expensive machinery. When earthquake occurs, the building structure especially low rise residential buildings such as single storey buildings are subjected to high inertia forces which lead to structural damages. Country such as Malaysia which located outside the earthquake region is now even facing the threat of earthquake too in some areas especially Sabah. This alerts Malaysia that there is a need to develop an earthquake resistance mechanism. Recycled Tire Isolator (RTI) is a model designed to be embedded into the foundation of a low rise building in order to withstand earthquake forces. The main component in the fabrication of RTI is recycled tire. The useable section of the recycle tire is the tread and will be split into small pieces with measurement of 300mm x 210mm. Each piece of cut tire is about 10mm thick. The method of preparation of RTI samples is simple which is cost effective and sustainable. RTI samples consist of four to five layers of cut recycled tire pads. Static compression test was conducted to examine the vertical capacity of RTI. A controlled vertical force of 380 kN (maximum capacity of the compression test machine) was applied on to the RTI during the compression test. An average displacement of 11.5mm was recorded when the cracking sound was heard indicating the failure of RTI sample. The static or vertical stiffness of RTI was determined. Besides, dynamic compressive load test was another experiment carried out to examine the damping coefficient, damping ratio and also dynamic stiffness of RTI. The results obtained from the experiment were compared with the commercial available isolators and also compared among the RTIs. The similarities of characteristics between RTI and the commercial isolators have given an indication that RTI has great potential to be adopted as earthquake base isolator for single storey residential buildings.

DEVELOPMENT OF A GPS-GIS-BASED ROAD SIGNAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR SELECTED ARTERIAL ROADS

Traffic signs, pavement markings and other road safety assets such as speed bumps are provided on roadway facilities to enhance traffic flow and safety. They will however perform their functions effectively if they meet the basic requirements of i. fulfill a need ii. command attention iii. convey a clear simple meaning iv. command respect from road users and v. give adequate time for proper response. It is noticed and rightfully observed by the Nigeria National Council on Works that these assets on Nigeria roads are not adequately managed and maintained. Some of them are not well positioned, some are missing and some others are damaged. There is therefore the need to assess the existing roadway assets, their conditions and adequacy, and generate a database needed for their effective operation, management and maintenance. The study thus aims at addressing the observed inadequacies by proffering a GPS-GIS-based solution. The objectives are to i. carry out an inventory of existing road signs and markings; ii. determine their adequacy or otherwise and iii. develop a GIS- based road signage management system. It is anticipated that the application of the developed system will enhance the performance of the agencies responsible for the operations of the road assets.

PARADISGM SHIFT AGENDA IN “THE WORLD IN 2050”

“The World in 2050” (TWI-2050) aims not only to contribute to this understanding of sustainable development goals (SDGs) but also develop science-based transformational and equitable pathways to achieve it. TWI-2050 article which was published by The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), covers members from National Member Organizations in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. This publication is a tool or guideline- for policy-makers, experts, scientist and engineers, and revolutionist in SDGs implementers [Nakicenovic, 2019]. TWI-2050 represents the integrated pathways which harness the synergies and multiple benefits across SDGs, and approaches to governing this sustainability transformation [UNSDN, 2019]. The Roadmap 2050 anchored six pillars and reported the most influential component in SDGs. It is translated with variety of hopes, intentions, action plan and more holistic approach with the vital transformational agenda [Horan, 2019]. The endeavour of transformation is about courage to utilize the Industrial Revolution 4.0 [Lafortune and Schmidt Traub, 2019] with the numerous data and autonomous technical system should be the advantage in improving the global issues. The limitation to the poorest country or region must be shaped through the sustainable empowerment, create more benefits rather than competing, and exploitation of opportunities. Finally, transformation on connectivity is the most tremendous effort in the future

GROUNDWATER VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF SYLHET SADAR USING GIS

Groundwater has been treated as a vital water supply because of its comparatively low vulnerability to pollution compared to surface water. Due to the health and economic impacts of groundwater contamination, steps to measure groundwater vulnerability are necessary for sustainable groundwater protection and management planning. In this study, an attempt has been made to assess groundwater vulnerability using the overlay index method and to prepare a groundwater vulnerability map using Geographic Information System (GIS) of Sylhet Sadar, a northeastern region of Bangladesh. Also, for the water depth-wise vulnerability assessment, the Water index was generated to observe the effect on chemical concentration for the depth of water. By assigning weight to each pollutant map in the overlay index approach, a combined hazard map was successfully created. The combined hazard map shows a total of 16.04%, 41.36%, and 42.59% of the studied area located in a less, moderate, and severely vulnerable zone, respectively. The combined effect of the chemical concentrations of water gradually decreases with the increase in water depth. Therefore, the developed map can be used as a tool for the management to take initiatives for sustainable use of groundwater.

DESIGN OF A TRAFFIC SIGNALISATION SCHEME AT OLA-OLU INTERSECTION, ILORIN, NIGERIA

Ola-Olu intersection in Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria, is a 3-legged intersection in a typical urban centre of a developing economy. It is presently traffic warden controlled at morning peak period on weekdays and occasionally in the evening when there’s an event in a neighbouring public event centre that is expected to increase the traffic at the intersection. It is observed that the delay experienced at the intersection is quite high and traffic crashes at the intersection is a weekly occurrence. The study thereby aims at ameliorating the hazards by designing a fixed-time traffic signalization for the intersection. The objectives are to i. determine the geometric layout of the intersection ii. determine the traffic volume and vehicular turning movement pattern and iii. design and provide the signal timings at the T-intersection. Traffic volume survey and geometric layout survey were carried out at the intersection and analyzed to determine the optimum cycle length and signal setting using the Webster’s method. A 3-phase fixed time traffic signalization of 155 seconds cycle length was designed for an effective signal traffic control. The green time for phases 1, 2 and 3 are 102 seconds, 16 seconds and 22 seconds respectively. The implementation of the traffic signal will enhance both traffic flow and safety at the intersection.

PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE CONTAINING BLENDED CEMENT AND LIGHTWEIGHT ARTIFICIAL AGGREGATE

The limitation of natural resources and the increase in industrial waste materials have been being the main concern in many developing countries. Therefore, many studies have been conducted to investigate the feasibility of industrial by-products to be used as artificial aggregate in concrete manufacturing. This study examined the influences of using artificial materials as aggregate replacement of natural aggregate and active pozzolana cement as a binder in concrete. Numbers of tests were performed to investigate the fresh and hardened concrete properties in terms of workability, density, expansion and shrinkage, ultrasonic pulse velocity, flexural strength, compressive strength and mode of failure. The specimens consist of cube and prism were prepared and tested after 3, 7 and 28 days of water curing and air curing. Results of concrete with artificial aggregates recorded lower workability due to the high water absorption, lower density of concrete, lower drying shrinkage due to the reduced free water content and lower pulse velocity in concrete. However, the compressive and flexural strengths were improved by 10% and 38% as of normal concrete, respectively. Therefore, the results obtained from this study indicated that the artificial aggregates and pozzolan cement used have positive effects on concrete properties.

STRENGTH CHARACTERIZATION AND GRADING OF LESS-USED NIGERIAN GROWN TIMBER SPECIES FOR STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS

The demand for timber is unlimited as it continues to increase rapidly in Nigeria. There is problem of undocumented properties of unpopular timber species used locally, especially in developing countries such as Nigeria. This research therefore aimed at characterizing and grading of three (3) less-used timber species in Nigeria for structural uses. Ayunre (Albizia zygia), Eku (Brachystegia eurycoma) and Ire (Funtunia elastica) timber species were obtained from different sawmills in Ilorin, Nigeria and preparation of various test specimens are in accordance with British Standards BS 373: 1957. A total of 300 specimens were used in determining the strength characteristics of the timber species a 300 kN capacity Testometric Universal Testing Machine (UTM) at Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Laboratory, University of Ilorin. Twenty (20) specimens for each timber species were tested for structural/strength properties according to the British Standard. Results show that the timber species had average moisture contents of 12.47, 11.78 and 12.71% for Ayunre, Eku and Ire, respectively. For density classification, Ayunre and Eku were classified as heavy wood and Ire as light wood. The results obtained provided quantitative details of the strength properties of selected timber species which can be used in determining the application of these timber species for structural applications. The timber species were, therefore graded according to NCP 2 (1973), EN 338 (2009) and BS 5268 (2002).

ENHANCED MESHFREE RPIM WITH NURBS BASIS FUNCTION FOR ANALYSIS OF IRREGULAR BOUNDARY DOMAIN

Radial Point Interpolation Method (RPIM) has become a powerful tool to numerical analysis due to its ability to provide a higher-order approximation function with the Kronecker delta property, by which the field nodes can be fitted exactly. However, one of the major drawbacks of RPIM is the inefficiency in handling irregular domain problems. This paper presents an enhanced RPIM formulation that employs Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) basis functions to represent the exact geometry of the boundary domain. The NURBS is a mathematical model which provides an efficient and numerically stable algorithm to exactly represent all conic sections in engineering modelling. Taking advantage of the flexibility and adaptivity of RPIM approximation and the accuracy of geometric representations by NURBS, this new method is able to improve geometry accuracy and flexibility in numerical analysis, thus providing a better and more rational approach to analyze irregular domain problems. Numerical problem of steady heat transfer considering curved beam is presented to verify the validity and accuracy of the developed method. The essential boundary condition can simply be imposed using direct imposition as in Finite Element Method (FEM). The result shows that the RPIM/NURBS achieved the converged solution much faster than conventional RPIM and FEM, with the number of nodes required only less than 200 for an error of less than 0.01%. This shows the potential of the developed method as a powerful numerical technique for future development.

ENDORSEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs) IN ENERGY-RESEARCH SECTOR

The renewable energy industry is instrumental to the achievement of all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Given the urgency and scale at which renewables must be deployed to meet the world’s sustainable development and climate goals, it is critical that the industry understand its potential impact on all of the SDGs [McCollum et al., 2019]. This mini revision of energy and its relationship with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is mainly towards the agenda of Decarbonize by Mid-Century, Roadmap to 2050, as the aspiration of the “The World in 2050” (TWI 2050), which transformational of six exemplary to achieve SDGs in long-term period [Stanford et al., 2017]. The Roadmap 2050 dreams for six pillars, which are (1) Zero-Carbon electricity, (2) Electrification of end users, (3) Green Synthetic Fuels, (4) Smart Power Grids, (5) Material Efficiency, and (6) Sustainable Land-use. This pillar is only emphasizing the most intensified sectors that could threaten future society, which are Power, Industry, Transportation and Buildings [Khanna et al., 2019]. However, this update only describes the most related topic on Energy (or Power) as the subject matter. Currently, the recent attention of the common energy sector is to promote the Energy Efficiency Index (EEI), minimizing the coal-fuel or fossil-fuel burning system in energy and transportation sectors, and implementing the Renewable Energy initiatives [Anderson et al., 2018]. SDGs and all impose materials (indicator, measurement, impact and outcome) is not only strategize to make further improvement in life and planet, but beyond the prosperity of humanity in the future with the emphasize of “No One Left Behind”. Energy-research based is the contemporary engagement with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), industry-driven, community translational project and government policy. The aims of this interesting topic are concurrent with the ASEAN Renewable and Energy Roadmap under the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for the agenda 2030. Therefore, the initiative by “The Hitachi Global Foundation” is recruiting more youth program in the assessment of “promoting of academic research, science and technology” since 2015 for the purpose of pioneering research in society [Hitachi report, 2019]. One of the important enabling sustainability activity is “Energy, Environment” as the contribution to the international community and provide solution to the various issues and challenges. Any research related to the energy will bring back the concepts of SDGs, which combining the 5Ps (Prosperity, People, Partnership, Peace and Planet). Numbers of researchers participating the utmost inspiring “research and empowerment of society” program is being selected based on scientific knowledge, creativity and contribution to the publics. One of the global outcome is a similar targeted by “Roadmap to 2050”, with the clause supporting the RD activities that should aims for continuous process of decarbonisation society and lock-in the solution in long run. Thus, as one of the influential contribution in the roadmap and TWI 2050, The Global Hitachi Foundation is a one step ahead to engage more researchers in the SDGs implementation.