Comparative Study of Product Quality Perception between Malaysian and Non-Malaysian Electrical Appliance among Tertiary Students

The high quality of a product is much demanded by consumers today. However, it is difficult to understand the perceptions of consumers towards product quality. Thus, this study intends to identify the relationships between brand and nine product quality dimensions as well as to compare the difference in quality perception between Malaysian and Non-Malaysian electrical appliances amongst Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia students. This is a quantitative study. Nine research hypotheses were examined while considering the nine dimensions of product quality (performance, features, conformance, durability, reliability, serviceability, aesthetics, perceived quality, and environmentally friendly) which were believed to affect the consumers' perceptions of product quality. In this study, the respondents were students from the Faculty of Technology Management and Business, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. The data were analysed by using SPSS software. The result reveals that only two quality dimensions, i.e. feature and serviceability were significantly correlated with the brand. Besides that, four quality dimensions, i.e. performance, features, aesthetics, and perceived quality had a significant difference in quality perceptions between Malaysian and Non-Malaysian electrical appliances. The result of this study will help to provide guidance and information for future research in the field of electronics

Observing the behaviour of reinforced magnesium alloy with carbon-nanotube and lead under 976 m/s projectile impact / M.F. Abdullah ...[et al.]

This paper presents the effects of reinforced magnesium alloy, AZ31B with carbon-nanotube (CNT) and lead (Pb), in terms of ballistic resistance. Magnesium alloys possess high energy absorption capability for impact resistance. However, its capability is limited and needs to be enhanced to resist ballistic impacts. The addition of a reinforcement material within the magnesium alloy, such as CNT or Pb, can improve impact resistance. This study is divided into two ballistic test methods, namely experiment and simulation. The samples involved are the original AZ31B and reinforced AZ31B with CNT and Pb. The projectile type used for ballistic testing was a 5.56 mm FMJ NATO at a velocity of 976 m/s and the thickness of the plate was 25 mm. The aim is to study the ability of the plate against the ballistic resistance. The ballistic experiment utilises a high speed camera, at 100,000 fps, to capture the impact occurring on the plate’s surface. A Cowper-Symonds model is used for the ballistic simulation and indicates the ballistic resistance of the reinforced AZ31B with increments of CNT and Pb. The velocity of the projectile penetrating through the plate was reduced by over 45% compared to the original AZ31B alloy. Reinforcement using CNT and Pb on AZ31B improved the ballistic resistance behaviour and therefore, this material is suitable for use on ballistic panel

Characterising Ballistic Limits of Lightweight Laminated-Structure as a Protective Panel for Armoured Vehicle / N.A. Rahman...[et al.]

This study investigates the ballistic performance of aluminium alloy Al7075-T6 and magnesium alloy AZ31B served as the intermediate layer in triple-layered laminated panel using computational analysis. Aluminium and magnesium alloys offer a considerably potential for reducing the weight of an armoured vehicle body due to low densities and high energy absorption capabilities. The poor ballistic performance of these materials can be improved by layering with the high strength steel, Ar500. A commercial explicit finite element code was implemented to develop triple-layered panels impacted by a 7.62 mm armour piercing projectile at velocity range of 900 to 950 m/s. Two models were constructed where aluminium alloy and magnesium alloy served as intermediate layer in the first model and the second model respectively. The ballistic performance of each model in terms of ballistic limit velocity and depth of penetration was evaluated. Considering the 25% existing armour vehicle weight reduction, it was found that magnesium alloy has equivalent ballistic limit to that of aluminium alloy which is at 1020 m/s. At the standard projectile velocity, aluminium stopped the projectile at 24 mm depth and magnesium stopped at 25 mm. Thus, lightweight materials can be suitable combinations for designing lighter armoured vehicle panel without neglecting its ballistic performance

A Glass Polyalkenoate Cement Carrier for Bone Morphogenetic Proteins

This work considers a glass polyalkenoate cement (GPC)-based carrier for the effective delivery of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) at an implantation site. A 0.12 CaO–0.04 SrO–0.36 ZnO–0.48 SiO2 based glass and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA, Mw 213,000) were employed for the fabrication of the GPC. The media used for the water source in the GPC reaction was altered to produce a series of GPCs. The GPC liquid media was either 100 % distilled water with additions of albumin at 0, 2, 5 and 8 wt% of the glass content, 100 % formulation buffer (IFB), and 100 % BMP (150 µg rhBMP-2/ml IFB). Rheological properties, compressive strength, ion release profiles and BMP release were evaluated. Working times (Tw) of the formulated GPCs significantly increased with the addition of 2 % albumin and remained constant with further increases in albumin content or IFB solutions. Setting time (Ts) experienced an increase with 2 and 5 % albumin content, but a decrease with 8 % albumin. Changing the liquid source to IFB containing 5 % albumin had no significant effect on Ts compared to the 8 % albumin-containing BT101. Replacing the albumin with IFB/BMP-2 did not significantly affect Tw. However, Ts increased for the BT101_BMP-2 containing GPCs, compared to all other samples. The compressive strength evaluated 1 day post cement mixing was not affected significantly by the incorporation of BMPs, but the ion release did increase from the cements, particularly for Zn and Sr. The GPCs released BMP after the first day, which decreased in content during the following 6 days. This study has proven that BMPs can be immobilized into GPCs and may result in novel materials for clinical applications

Psychosocial Workplace Hazards and Workers' Health in Factory Sector

Nowadays, issues on psychosocial workplace hazards have become a hot topic. However, only a small amount of research has been conducted in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between psychosocial workplace hazards and workers' health which is measured using Body Mass Index (BMI) as well as mental health. Two research hypotheses related to psychosocial workplace hazards, i.e. Body Mass Index (BMI) and mental health were examined. In this study, 105 workers were selected randomly from factories located in Klang, Selangor, and questionnaires were distributed to them. The result revealed that there is a significant relationship between psychosocial workplace hazards and BMI, while there is no significant relationship between psychosocial workplace hazards and mental health. This study serves as a guideline for organisations concerning the relationship between psychosocial workplace hazards with workers' health

Step and Step-Nc as a Tool for Big Data in Cloud Manufacturing

The terms big data, cloud manufacturing, predictive and additive manufacturing, and Internet of Things (IoT) are being most commonly used in the manufacturing industry nowadays. These terms are related to the fourth industrial revolution that emphasizes automation and data exchange between manufacturing tools/elements. Communication occurs between machines, products and even technicians or operators through various technologies while creating records of each interaction resulting in rapid growth of amount of data to be stored. Data acquisition is not a major issue since a structure or framework can properly connect these data in improving manufacturing efficiency. However, lack of effort in collecting and storing manufacturing data in the whole product life cycle process has made integration to be almost difficult to achieve. In this study, the adoption of STEP-NC method/technique was demonstrated in suiting the current explosion of big data in the industrial and manufacturing sector. The proposed methodology was developed through a study of an entity file structure and hierarchical concept in STEP and STEP-NC in gathering manufacturing data in a unified database. The challenge would be in making sense of the data, revealing the patterns in it and using them for operational improvements. The outcome of this study will be useful to support strategic decision making in product manufacturing

Flexural behaviour of the two-way spanning reinforced concrete slab using spherical plastic bubble balls

The use of conventional reinforced concrete in the construction industry increases each year, especially in developing countries. However, the concrete content, particularly cement production contributed to the greenhouse gas emission subsequently increase to climate change. Thus, the reinforced concrete slab containing high-density polyethene (HDPE) hollow spherical plastic bubble balls also known as bubble deck slabs were introduced for sustainable construction. This type of slab forms a slab that has less concrete volume compared to the normal solid reinforced concrete slab. Although this unique system can facilitate up to a 50% longer span compared to the conventional reinforced concrete solid slab, yet, it can cause the performance of the slab structure such as flexural and shear capacity may be affected due to the thirty to forty per cent of fewer concrete volumes. Hence, this paper studies the comparison of the performance of the two-way supported slabs; reinforced bubble deck slab and normal solid reinforced concrete slab after being subjected to the area loading. The square slabs are 1200mm by 1200mm in width and length with a thickness of 235mm. The investigations of the experiments included flexural strength, bending stiffness and load-deflection behaviour due to the impact of the area loading. Also, the crack propagation and crack pattern which differs also was shown for each type of slab system, especially in shear strength

Effect of Steel Fibres And Wire Mesh Reinforcement on Flexural Strength and Strain Energy Steel-Epoxy-Aluminium Composite Laminates / W. N. M. Jamil ...[et al.]

This paper evaluates the effect of reinforcement materials on the flexural strength and strain energy in metal laminates under bending tests. Traditionally, high hardness monolithic steel has been utilised in lightweight armoured vehicles. In order to increase the performance of the armoured plates, their weight is reduced by incorporating adhesive bonding metal laminates technology. Simultaneously, the application of metallic fibres in construction is also being developed for the same purpose. Therefore the incorporation of metallic fibres in adhesive layer can reduce the weight and increase the strength of armoured panels. It is important to assess and predict the flexural strength and strain energy in the metal laminated armour. The effects of steel fibres and stainless steel mesh were investigated through flexural tests. The flexural strength was assessed by a three-point bending test using a universal testing machine. The strain energy was measured from the stress-strain curve using the data from the bending test. From the results, the steel fibre-reinforced and wire mesh-reinforced composite laminates exhibited higher flexural strength compared to non-reinforced composite laminate by 10% and 9%, respectively. Further, steel fibre-reinforced and wire mesh-reinforced composite laminates had higher strain energy at 23% and 31% compared to non-reinforced composite laminate, respectively. Cracks occurred at the back layer of the aluminium alloy and propagated vertically through the aluminium and adhesive layer and stopped at the steel layer. This is due to the higher strength and ductility of the steel in withstanding the load. Reinforcement with steel fibres and wire mesh enabled the metal laminate to bear higher load, while decreasing the damage and delamination due to its higher strength, strain energy and ductility compared to the non-reinforced composite laminate. The reinforcement materials have the potential to produce tough adhesive-bonded metal laminates for ballistic impact applications

The Development of Ball Control Techniques for Robot Soccer based on Predefined Scenarios

Robotic soccer is an attractive topic in artificial intelligence and robotics research. However, to develop techniques and algorithms in this domain is a complex task. This study presents the development of ball control techniques and algorithms for robot soccer based on several predefined scenarios. In this study, we study the robot can do ball passing, obstacle avoiding and ball shooting according to certain situations. A vision system is used in this case where it calculates the robot position in x, y coordinates to make sure the robots move to the right direction. The velocity of each robot wheel is manipulated to control the speed of the robots and allow them to make turning and shooting. Algorithm testing was carried out by using a robot soccer simulator. Several techniques in obstacle avoiding and positioning were successfully implemented. The results prove these algorithms can be applied to execute the given tasks. © 2011 Asian Network for Scientific Information