Chemical Stabilization of Amorphous Peat Using Cement and Fly Ash at Different Water Additive Ratios

Peat is a very problematic soil as it is poor in strength. However, previous researchers have proven that the compressive strength of peat can be improved by using various methods of soil improvement including chemical stabilization method. In this study, cement and fly ash and lime were additives used and were mixed with amorphous peat at various water additive ratios. To replicate actual stabilization on site, water additive ratio is proposed as to allow stabilization to be performed at natural water content of the peat. Peat samples were collected from Kampung Endap, Samarahan and mixed at its natural moisture content with cement and with fly ash and lime at different water additive ratios of 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0. The compressive and bearing strengths of the samples were obtained by the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test respectively. The results of the study have shown that there is marginal strength gained after 28 and 56 days of air curing period. The peat samples stabilized with cement at 3.5 water additive ratio recorded the highest value with UCS value of 69.48 kPa after 56 days of curing and 0.52 % for CBR test after 28 days curing period. These strength values obtained are lower compared to published data from previous studies. Different technique of mixing in the laboratory that is mixing peat at its natural water content with varied amount of additives at selected water additive ratio as opposed to mixing at maximum dry density and optimum moisture content that is mostly performed in laboratory contributes to the outcome. However, this study has proven that there is an increase in compressive and bearing strengths of stabilized peat in its natural water content compared to original peat without stabilizer

Chemical Stabilization of Amorphous Peat Using Cement and Fly Ash at Different Water Additive Ratios

Peat is a very problematic soil as it is poor in strength. However, previous researchers have proven that the compressive strength of peat can be improved by using various methods of soil improvement including chemical stabilization method. In this study, cement and fly ash and lime were additives used and were mixed with amorphous peat at various water additive ratios. To replicate actual stabilization on site, water additive ratio is proposed as to allow stabilization to be performed at natural water content of the peat. Peat samples were collected from Kampung Endap, Samarahan and mixed at its natural moisture content with cement and with fly ash and lime at different water additive ratios of 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0. The compressive and bearing strengths of the samples were obtained by the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test respectively. The results of the study have shown that there is marginal strength gained after 28 and 56 days of air curing period. The peat samples stabilized with cement at 3.5 water additive ratio recorded the highest value with UCS value of 69.48 kPa after 56 days of curing and 0.52 % for CBR test after 28 days curing period. These strength values obtained are lower compared to published data from previous studies. Different technique of mixing in the laboratory that is mixing peat at its natural water content with varied amount of additives at selected water additive ratio as opposed to mixing at maximum dry density and optimum moisture content that is mostly performed in laboratory contributes to the outcome. However, this study has proven that there is an increase in compressive and bearing strengths of stabilized peat in its natural water content compared to original peat without stabilizer

Thermal degradation study of waste polymer matrix polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride as polymer matrix filled rice husk decking structure

The aim of this study is to find another alternative material to replace the additives of polymeric materials. From previous works, wood-chips are used to act as filler instead of rice husk. Thus, in this case, the woodchips is being exchange with rice husk and mixed with the waste polymer in order to reduce the cost. This study is about the effect of thermal towards the mechanical and physical properties of this WPC. Therefore, heat test and UV Irradiation Exposure test were conducted on this wood polymer composite (WPC). Then, three pa-rameters were being examined which were difference in density, hardness and physical properties after undergoing heat test and UV Irradiation Exposure test. The density and hardness appearances from both test only had slightly reduction and it can be considered as negligible. The physical changes were not too apparent such as crack that would lead to failure even after being heated and exposed to the UV light for a long period. Thus, it proves that rice husk could replace woodchips in order to be used as decking structure

Mechanical properties of wood polymer composites (WPCs) after prolonged ultra-violet (UV) irradiation exposure

This research aims to compare the mechanical properties of WPC made from 30 % of rice husk as fibre and 70 % of polypropylene as polymer with and without prolonged UV irradiation exposure. WPC samples are tested with UV irradiation at 5000, 10000, 15000 and 20000 hours with temperature 50 °C and tested with compression test (ASTM D695-15) and tensile test (ASTM D638-02), while physi-cal properties characterization was done by density test (ASTM D792-13) and OM test. The compression and tensile result shows de-crease value of mechanical properties due to the presence of chain breaking activity contributed from the process of photo oxidation throughout the UV exposure. The effect of UV exposure also resulted in decrease of WPC samples density value as the longer the expo-sure, the lower the samples density due to the losses of volatile particle. In conclusion, the weather ability of WPC was observed by pro-longed exposure to UV radiation thus highlights the influence of parameters involved in the degradation rate of WPC as to contribute a good guidelines and resolution for the future growth of polymer composite structure

Influence of pavement condition towards accident number on Malaysian highway

Accidents in Malaysia are alarming and have been in the rise for the past decades. Increasing numbers of road users, condition of road surface, expanded road network and weather conditions are being carefully looked into determining the contributors towards fatality. Human factors has been widely known and established as one of the main contributor to road accidents. Therefore, this study had focused more on to pavement conditions, where its relation with accidents needs to be further explored. The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of pavement condition towards accident number on Malaysian Highway. Pavement condition data which consist of Mean Texture Depth (MTD), Rutting Depth (RD) and also International Roughness Index (IRI) were measured along 265 km southern stretch of Malaysia highway, by using Multi Laser Profiler (MLP). Accident data were also collected from the accident report prepared by Southern region of Malaysian Highway Authority. Based on the results, it was found that more than 70% of the accidents happened at a good condition of road which having high MTD, low RD and minimum IRI. MTD was found as the most significance parameters that relates to accident. Other factors such as human negligence and environments (weather and lighting), might be the major cause that contribute to the accidents that happened along Malaysian highway

A common MET polymorphism harnesses HER2 signaling to drive aggressive squamous cell carcinoma.

c-MET receptors are activated in cancers through genomic events like tyrosine kinase domain mutations, juxtamembrane splicing mutation and amplified copy numbers, which can be inhibited by c-MET small molecule inhibitors. Here, we discover that the most common polymorphism known to affect MET gene (N375S), involving the semaphorin domain, confers exquisite binding affinity for HER2 and enables METN375S to interact with HER2 in a ligand-independent fashion. The resultant METN375S/HER2 dimer transduces potent proliferative, pro-invasive and pro-metastatic cues through the HER2 signaling axis to drive aggressive squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (HNSCC) and lung (LUSC), and is associated with poor prognosis. Accordingly, HER2 blockers, but not c-MET inhibitors, are paradoxically effective at restraining in vivo and in vitro models expressing METN375S. These results establish METN375S as a biologically distinct and clinically actionable molecular subset of SCCs that are uniquely amenable to HER2 blocking therapies

A common MET polymorphism harnesses HER2 signaling to drive aggressive squamous cell carcinoma.

c-MET receptors are activated in cancers through genomic events like tyrosine kinase domain mutations, juxtamembrane splicing mutation and amplified copy numbers, which can be inhibited by c-MET small molecule inhibitors. Here, we discover that the most common polymorphism known to affect MET gene (N375S), involving the semaphorin domain, confers exquisite binding affinity for HER2 and enables METN375S to interact with HER2 in a ligand-independent fashion. The resultant METN375S/HER2 dimer transduces potent proliferative, pro-invasive and pro-metastatic cues through the HER2 signaling axis to drive aggressive squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (HNSCC) and lung (LUSC), and is associated with poor prognosis. Accordingly, HER2 blockers, but not c-MET inhibitors, are paradoxically effective at restraining in vivo and in vitro models expressing METN375S. These results establish METN375S as a biologically distinct and clinically actionable molecular subset of SCCs that are uniquely amenable to HER2 blocking therapies

Liquid-phase exfoliated graphene-MoS2 based saturable absorber for Q-switched Erbium Doped fiber laser

Upon exfoliation from the bulk form, two-dimensional materials have shown ubiquitous properties which are suitable for Q-switched pulsed laser generation. In this research, a successful solution process of graphene-MoS2 nanocomposite saturable absorber through liquid phase exfoliation has been carried out. The method offers a low-cost route for simple and scalable production while providing a promising material quality with on-demand properties and integration flexibility. Stable Q-switched laser operation was realized with graphene-MoS2 hybrid saturable absorber. The pulse duration was measured to be 6 µs with repetition rate of 63.92 kHz corresponding to a peak power and pulse energy of 5.05 mW and 30.87 nJ, respectively

3D Printing and Shaping Polymers, Composites, and Nanocomposites: A Review

Sustainable technologies are vital due to the efforts of researchers and investors who have allocated significant amounts of money and time to their development. Nowadays, 3D printing has been accepted by the main industry players, since its first establishment almost 30 years ago. It is obvious that almost every industry is related to technology, which proves that technology has a bright future. Many studies have shown that technologies have changed the methods for developing particular products. Three-dimensional printing has evolved tremendously, and currently, many new types of 3D printing machines have been introduced. In this paper, we describe the historical development of 3D printing technology including its process, types of printing, and applications on polymer materials