Development of a Laboratory Model Retaining Wall Test Facility.

In an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of cement bound waste material geocomposite stabilised retaining wall, a laboratory model wall test facility has been developed

Investigation on California Bearing Ratio (CBR) characteristics of cement bound shredded tire geocomposite / Chow Shiao Huey and Sayani Khorim

This study investigates the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) characteristics of cement bound shredded tire geocomposite. A total of five test series were conducted to investigate the effect of curing day, repeatability of test specimen, effect of curing condition, effect of cement content and effect of rice husk ash (RHA) as cement replacement material on the cement bound shredded tire geocomposite. The CBR test results revealed that higher curing day and cement content increase the CBR of shredded tire geocomposite. On the contrary, a higher RHA content reduces the CBR of the geocomposite

Shear Strength Characteristics of Sand-Waste Material Mixture

This study investigates the shear strength characteristics of sand-waste material mixtures using direct shear test. Two different waste materials namely tire shred and rubber shred were investigated in this study

Investigation on Compressive Strength of Opc-Waste Material Geocomposite

This study investigates the compressive strength of cement (OPC) bound waste material geocomposite. Two different waste materials namely tire shred and rubber shred were investigated in this project

A non-associative macro-element model for vertical plate anchors in clay

This work proposes a new plastic hardening, non-associative macro-element model to predict the behaviour of anchors in clay for floating offshore structures during keying and up to the peak load. Building on available models for anchors, a non-associated plastic potential is introduced to improve prediction of anchor trajectory and loss of embedment at peak conditions for a large range of padeye offsets and different pull-out directions. The proposed model also includes a displacement-hardening rule to simulate the force and displacement mobilisation at the early stages of the keying process. The model is challenged and validated against different sets of numerical and centrifuge data. This extensive validation process revealed that two of the four newly introduced model parameters assume a constant value for the range of simulated cases. This suggests that only two of the newly introduced parameters may need to be calibrated for the use of the proposed macro-element model in practice.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

A survey on student acceptance of e-Learning at UiTM Pulau Pinang / Chow Shiao Huey, Ng Set Foong and Salwah Che Mat

e-Leaming has become a necessity among Malaysian universities in order to be competitive. Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) launches its e-leaming system known as i-Learn on 31st December 2005. However, i-Learn is yet to open for usage of student in UiTM Pulau Pinang (UiTM PP). Numerous researches abroad and local have indicated that effectiveness of e-learning depends mostly on student’s behaviour. This study therefore conducted an observational survey to investigate student readiness in accepting e-Learning in UiTM Pulau Pinang. Multistage cluster sampling was adopted with a total sample size of 180. A supervised self-administered questionnaire adopting group administration was then developed. There are eight sections totaling 42 questions in the questionnaire, namely demographic, ICT infrastructure availability and accessibility, information technology literacy, e¬learning experiences, e-learning acceptance, course pedagogy, e-learning functions and training necessities. Pretesting, pilot testing, face and content validity assessment were conducted prior to data collection with positive results. Reliability and statistical analysis was conducted on the survey data. Moderate to high inter split-half reliability was found for the questionnaire. Statistical analysis using SPSS reported that the student acceptance on e-learning at UiTM PP is low with only 38.7% preferring e¬learning. Demographic, ICT infrastructure availability and accessibility, e-learning experiences were found not to affect the student acceptance on e-learning except information technology literacy. Based on the findings of the survey, recommendations to i-Learn Centre (i-Lec) are made in hope to improve the student acceptance on i-Learn in UiTM PP

Reduction of downdrag on bored piles using plastic sheets

This project investigated the use of plastic sheets as friction reducer for bored piles. The scope of work included laboratory interface shear resistance tests using direct shear apparatus, model pile pull-out tests, development of plastic sheet installation system for micropiles and bored piles, and lastly full-scale field tests.Master of Engineering (CEE

Consolidation characteristics of lime stabilised soil.

Soft clay is always associated with settlement and consolidation. Stabilisation of soft clay with lime as bearing stratum is an alternative to replacement of that material. The compression and consolidation characteristics of the stabilised material need to be fully understood for design purposes. This paper presents the results of study on the consolidation characteristics in terms of compressibility, rate of consolidation and the permeability characteristics of both unstabilised and lime stabilised soil samples using Oedometer test. Oedometer specimens of 50 mm diameter and 20 mm height were tested with respect to age at 0, 7, 14 and 28 days and effective stress at 0, 200, 400, 800 and 1600 kPa. Three soil types were selected and studied in this project; they are Tapah Kaolin, Sungai Buloh clay and UTM clay. From the test results, it is discovered that lime stabilisation improved the consolidation characteristics and reduced the settlement of unstabilised clay with age especially after stabilisation phase is achieved, i.e., after the age of 14 days

Towards a simple and reliable method for calculating the uplift capacity of plate anchors in sand

his paper investigates the uplift capacity of horizontal plate anchors in sand through finite element analyses and centrifuge experiments. Finite element simulations adopt a sophisticated bounding surface plasticity model that accounts for stress and density dependent behaviour, as well as loading and fabric related anisotropic effects in sands. Failure mechanisms at peak anchor capacity show that failure occurs progressively, with a marked decrease in mobilised friction angle within the shear bands close to the anchor edge. Numerical simulations of a large set of centrifuge experiments on rectangular, strip and circular plates at different relative densities and stress levels are in good agreement for dense conditions, but perform poorer for loose conditions due mainly to the open cone yield surface in the bounding surface model. Equivalent comparisons with current limit equilibrium methods highlight the challenges in direct application of element level strength equations. Finally, the paper proposes a modified limit equilibrium solution based on a ‘rigid-block’ failure mechanism extending to soil surface, but with anchor factors that encompass the results from the finite element simulations. The modified solution provides a higher level of agreement with results from a large database of plate and pipeline test data than existing limit equilibrium methods.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author