The Performance of Bamboo Fiber as Fine Aggregate Replacement in Concrete

The rapid growth of construction industry has caused a huge demand on natural aggregate as the production of concrete requires massive use of natural stone materials. Due to the increase of demand of this material, it has affected to the shortage of natural aggregate and increased the cost of construction material. On the other hand, bamboo is one of the materials which have a big population and potential to be used in construction due to its durability, flexibility and strength performance. So, bamboo fiber was used as aggregate replacement material to reduce the cost of construction material and pollution as well as to improve the quality of the concrete. The research objectives in this study are to determine the optimum percentage of bamboo fiber as aggregate replacement in concrete and to compare the compressive strength of the bamboo fiber concrete with standard concrete. There were 4 cube specimens casted for each proportion of 0%, 5%, 12.5%, 10%, 12.5%, 15% and 17.5% of bamboo fiber as aggregate replacement in concrete. Then, the compressive strength test was conducted to find the optimum bamboo fiber contents with the maximum workability and strength of the concrete. The findings showed that the replacement of 5% of bamboo fiber achieved the highest strength with 27.77 N/mm2 and the strength decrement difference is only about 2.38% with standard concrete. Based from the result, the 5% bamboo fiber concrete can be suggested as the optimum percentage of bamboo fiber as aggregate replacement in concrete. This study is not only aim in reducing the cost of construction material but it also can be one of the effectives ways to reduce environmental impact by using natural fibers as aggregates replacement

The Performance of Bamboo Fiber as Fine Aggregate Replacement in Concrete

The rapid growth of construction industry has caused a huge demand on natural aggregate as the production of concrete requires massive use of natural stone materials. Due to the increase of demand of this material, it has affected to the shortage of natural aggregate and increased the cost of construction material. On the other hand, bamboo is one of the materials which have a big population and potential to be used in construction due to its durability, flexibility and strength performance. So, bamboo fiber was used as aggregate replacement material to reduce the cost of construction material and pollution as well as to improve the quality of the concrete. The research objectives in this study are to determine the optimum percentage of bamboo fiber as aggregate replacement in concrete and to compare the compressive strength of the bamboo fiber concrete with standard concrete. There were 4 cube specimens casted for each proportion of 0%, 5%, 12.5%, 10%, 12.5%, 15% and 17.5% of bamboo fiber as aggregate replacement in concrete. Then, the compressive strength test was conducted to find the optimum bamboo fiber contents with the maximum workability and strength of the concrete. The findings showed that the replacement of 5% of bamboo fiber achieved the highest strength with 27.77 N/mm2 and the strength decrement difference is only about 2.38% with standard concrete. Based from the result, the 5% bamboo fiber concrete can be suggested as the optimum percentage of bamboo fiber as aggregate replacement in concrete. This study is not only aim in reducing the cost of construction material but it also can be one of the effectives ways to reduce environmental impact by using natural fibers as aggregates replacement

Automated prediction of noise from construction site using stochastic approach

The excessive of noise causes annoyance and suffering to the surrounding neighborhoods. A reliable method of noise prediction is needed to minimize this impact which can be utilized whilst the construction is still in the planning stage and tendering period. This will help the engineers to carry out the proper mitigation method. One such prediction model is stochastic modelling using Monte Carlo approach which has been identified to be able to predict the content of sound for a working day period and has been found to have a good agreement with deterministic method. However, this method is yet to be validated with measurement data and has not been presented in a way that user can utilize them with easy manner. This study investigates the accuracy of the model by comparing the result of the model with measurement of data from real construction sites. Also, this study develops the construction noise prediction tool by using Graphical User Interface, GUI which is useful for the user in noise management. In development of prediction tool, the model was designed to have two parts which are local model and global model that represent the small site and large site respectively. The model has taken into consideration of both the random movement of machines onsite and the random acoustic power of machines for samplings. The model results in the temporal distribution of noise level generated in a working period, including the equivalent noise level, LAeq and the standard deviation. The results were validated with the noise levels for a working day period measured from two different sites which represent a small construction site and a busy construction site. The prediction parameters obtained from measurements on site were applied in current prediction in BS5228 using deterministic approach, for further validation on LAeq. The accuracy of the developed construction noise prediction tool was carried out by means of t-test and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). It was found that LAeq between measurements, stochastic approach and deterministic were not statistically significant at 0.05. MAPE of temporal distribution noise levels between measurement and modelling showed that the discrepancy was classified in range of 10-50 which was between good and acceptable condition classes. With these results, it showed that stochastic approach can be used as an alternative method of noise prediction to assist the environment engineers as early as in the planning stage in determination of noise arising that may affect the quality of life to the neighborhoods

The Modification of Boundary Treatment in the Incompressible SPH for Pressure Calculation Accuracy on the Solid Boundary

The Incompressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (ISPH) is one of the particle methods and commonly used to solve some complicated physical problems including free surface flow problems. The study regarding the boundary treatment has become an active research area in the mesh-free or particle method recently for measuring the accurate and robust pressure near the boundary. The penetrations of fluid particles may be happened if the adequate pressure boundary condition on the solid boundary cannot be satisfied. In this paper, a simple boundary treatment, which can be satisfied the non-homogenous Neumann boundary condition on the solid boundary and Dirichlet condition on the water surface, is proposed. The key point of our proposed treatment is that these boundary conditions are automatically satisfied by solving a modified pressure Poisson equation. Lastly, the effectiveness and accuracy of boundary treatment proposed are then authenticated with couples of numerical analysis and compared with the experimental tests

Development of design charts for the prediction of noise from construction activities

Prediction of noise at the planning stage of construction can help to set out noise mitigation strategies in order to reduce the disruption caused by construction activities. This study focused on the development of design charts based on the stochastic modelling, and comparison, of noise prediction using design charts with measurement results. Two design charts in the form of mean level deviation versus ratio r/w, and standard deviation versus r/w, were established based on analysis using a stochastic model as a response to systematic changes of site parameters. The charts were applied to predict construction noise in a physical case of excavation work, and the noise levels predicted using design charts is slightly higher, by 3 dB (A), than results obtained from actual measurements, due to the assumptions made during modelling. The advantages of design charts is that the level of noise and its standard deviation at various locations of the receiver can be determined manually and quickly using various sound power of equipment that may be employed in real construction processes. These results may help identify early the potential annoyance among the public, and strategies for mitigation could be introduced to comply with the limits specified by local authorities while still in the planning stage