Technology acceptance : Malaysian industrialised building system (IBS) case

In embracing globalisation, it is necessary for all industries, including the AEC/FM industry, to be equipped with relevant technology. One such technology available for the sector is the industrialised building system (IBS). Since 1998, a substantial work of campaign in order to encourage the use of IBS in Malaysia has been done by Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). For example providing large funds for research, creating standard through various training and promotional programmes. Previous studies have shown that using IBS can enhanced the management of project quality, automatically save cost and led to less rectification work of construction project. However, result revealed the adoption of IBS in Malaysia construction industry is still far from government desired. Disintegration among stakeholders during the design stage has been identified as one major barrier for implementing IBS. As such, this paper explores the potential solutions to reduce disintegration. The research presented uses focus groups to obtain qualitative data. It was found that increased collaboration and team integration, such as team accountability, structural organisation and operation in terms of work processes and environment will enhance the IBS adoption in the Malaysian construction industry

Mechanical and thermal properties of organosolv lignin/sodium dodecyl sulphate binary agent-treated polypropylene/chitosan composites

The effects of filler content and chemical treatment on mechanical and thermal properties of polypropylene–chitosan composites were investigated. Filler chemical treatment was carried out by reacting chitosan with organosolv lignin/sodium dodecyl sulphate binary modifying agents under mild condition. Filler–matrix interfacial adhesion enhanced considerably in presence of the binary agent that effectively modified the chitosan surface, leading to increased tensile and impact strength of the composites. Even though the chemical treatments did not change the thermal degradation mechanism of the composites, the obtained results exhibited that the treated composites had better thermal properties than the untreated composites. These finding implies that organosolv lignin-containing binary modifying agents could be a potential reagent to replace synthetic modifying agents