Analysis and Development of the Generic Maintenance Management Process Modeling for the Preservation of Heritage School Buildings

Preservation of heritage school buildings requires special maintenance management practices. A thorough understanding of the maintenance management process is essential in ensuring effective maintenance practices can be instituted. The aim of this paper was to develop a generic process model that will promote the understanding of an effective management of maintenance process for heritage school buildings. A process model for the Maintenance Management of Heritage School Buildings (MMHSB) was developed using the Integration Definition for Function Modeling (IDEF0) system through an iterative process. The initial MMHSB process model was submitted to a team of management experts from the Malaysian Ministry of Arts and Heritage and the Ministry of Education Malaysia for verifications. Based on their feedbacks the initial model was refined and a proposed model was developed. From the second verification, the feed back received formed the basis for the final model. The final model elucidates the items for the input, mechanism, control and output elements that are critical in the maintenance management of heritage school buildings. The model also redefines the existing scope of responsibilities of the Headmasters’ and Senior Assistants’ in the management of maintenance. The perceived effectiveness of the model by potential users was surveyed using a selected number of administrators from potentially recognized heritage schools. The results indicated that the process model is perceived as being helpful in clarifying the maintenance management process of heritage school buildings and is useful in changing the current reactive management practices to that of a more proactive practice. In conclusion, it is believed that the MMHSB Process Model is helpful in promoting the understanding of the maintenance management process which would lead to improve preservation practices of heritage school buildings

Finite Element Modelling of Creep Rupture on Grade 91 Steel using Monkman-Grant Ductility based Damage Model

Failure strain is a main parameter used in the ductility exhaustion based damage model in which the accuracy of the prediction is dependent on its input value. The experimental measured has indicated that the value of strain at fracture is extensively scattered, therefore may affect the prediction. This paper presents the result of creep rupture time using a modified creep damage model incorporating Monkman-Grant (MG) failure strain as an alternative to strain at fracture. Both strains at fracture and MG failure strain are separately employed in the damage model to predict the failure time of uniaxial smooth specimen and notched bar with different acuity ratios of 3.0 and 20. The FE model of the specimen is loaded under different stress values and the multiaxial failure strain at each stress level is estimated using Cock and Ashby void growth model. The predicted creep rupture time that is compared to the experimental data (in a range of 40-1000 hours) showing a good agreement within the scatter band of +/- factor of 2. Both approaches using strain at fracture and MG failure strain can be used in predicting the creep failure under uniaxial and multiaxial features. The advantage of using MG strain is that the laboratory creep testing can be interrupted prior to specimen fractured or once the secondary creep deformation occurs. Meanwhile, the determination of strain at fracture needs longer test duration where the test can be stopped only when the specimen broken

Structural, electronic and optical studies of Sr<inf>2</inf>NiTeO<inf>6</inf> double perovskite by first-principle DFT–LDA + U calculation

The structural, electronic and optical properties of monoclinic Sr2NiTeO6 double perovskite have been studied using corrected density functional theory–local density approximation with applying of Hubbard U corrected energy (DFT–LDA + U) method in plane-wave pseudopotential basis. The influence of on-site Coulomb interaction on structural, electronic and optical properties of Sr2NiTeO6 double perovskite compound, which consists of strongly localized Ni 3d electrons, were investigated. The highly Coulomb repulsion between electrons was corrected using Hubbard U parameter, varying from 0 to 8 eV for Ni 3d orbitals. The calculated results demonstrated that Sr2NiTeO6 double perovskite was sensitive to the change in U values. The optimized structural properties give a good agreement with experiment and other calculation data with lattice parameters a = 5.673 Å, b = 5.565 Å, c = 7.847 Å, α = 89.999°, β = 90.257° and γ = 90.000°. The DFT–LDA + U predicted the calculated electronic band structure of Sr2NiTeO6 was showed metallic behaviour (0 and 2 eV) and insulator behaviour (4, 6 and 8 eV). The density of state (DOS) shows that there was a significant effect on hybridization of Ni 3d and O 2p states at the conduction and valence band, respectively. Moreover, the results of optical studies such as dielectric function, absorption and reflectivity were found significant to the variation of U values applied indicates that the U values give a better description on the electronic localization of Ni 3d states

Revitalising critical components of urban decay features

Conservation and sustainability of historic cities in Malaysia have been drawing a lot attention from different stakeholders as many researches were undertaken relating heritage conservation and heritage tourism. The declaration of historic cities in Penang and Malacca as World Heritage Cities by UNESCO had proven that the conservation and preservation of tangible heritage assets not only essential to sustain the continuity of local cultural identity but also contribute to the economic regeneration and domestic heritage tourism. However, there have been only a small number of studies done on the urban decay features experienced by old towns in Malaysia and the corresponding revitalisation tools which suit the local culture context. Based upon the conflicts between urban decay issues arise within Ipoh Old Town and the lack of effective revitalisation efforts, the objectives are to identify the urban decay features currently experienced by Ipoh Old Town and to recommend the critical components to be revitalised in Ipoh Old Town. The mixed methods research which incorporated both quantitative and qualitative research approaches is adopted as the methodology for this study. The quantitative data is obtained through questionnaire surveys whereas the qualitative research methods involved the gathering of information through interviews and case study analysis. These suggestions are categories into three major themes which are revitalisation, stricter enforcement and financial funding

Determination of flow resistance coefficient for vegetation in open channel: laboratory study

This study focused on determination of flow resistances coefficient for grass in an open channel. Laboratory works were conducted to examine the effects of varying of roughness elements on the flume to determine flow resistance coefficient and also to determine the optimum flow resistance with five different flow rate, Q. Laboratory study with two type of vegetation which are Cow Grass and Pearl Grass were implementing to the bed of a flume. The roughness coefficient, n value is determine using Manning’s equation while Soil Conservation Services (SCS) method was used to determine the surface resistance. From the experiment, the flow resistance coefficient for Cow Grass in range 0.0008 - 0.0039 while Pearl Grass value for the flow resistance coefficient are in between 0.0013 - 0.0054. As a conclusion the vegetation roughness value in open channel are depends on density, distribution type of vegetation used and physical characteristic of the vegetation itsel

Current review towards the new best practices of Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) in Malaysia

Corporate Real Estate (CRE) is referring to land and buildings owned by companies which are not primarily in the real estate business used for operational purpose. CRE covers the entire range of activities. Awareness of knowledge of CRE in Malaysia lacks because the researcher found that the operation of properties owned by a few large companies is undermanaged and underused. This review paper focuses on the definition of corporate real estate (CRE), components of CRE, and the current practice in the industry. This paper a desk analysis reviewing the literature on general management of the corporate real estate. By using the secondary data such as Company Annual Report, Previous studies and other relevant sources. There are several different issues to examine along the way, from the business strategies, Constituent and tools to help make the right decisions. It draws a framework for CRE analysis. From this paper, we can find the issue to improve the current practice on the CRE in Malaysia

Design and analysis of dedicated real-time clock for customized microcontroller unit

In this paper, a Real Time Clock (RTC) system for a dedicated microcontroller is proposed to provide the customized microcontroller its own time and date system. The RTC is developed using Verilog Hardware Description Language (HDL) and simulated using Synopsys software. This RTC is developed with standard Advance Peripheral Bus (APB) to be interfacing with the microcontroller through Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture (AMBA). This RTC will be used as an on-chip RTC in the microcontroller system to provide precise time and date which can be used for various applications. The basic architecture of RTC, APB standard for interfacing the RTC with AMBA bus, and the result in term of RTL, waveform, and layout will be discussed in this documentation. For this research, the part covered is on the logic part of the RTC that is bus interface, register, frequency divider and counter

Finite Element Modelling of Creep Rupture on Grade 91 Steel using Monkman-Grant Ductility based Damage Model

Failure strain is a main parameter used in the ductility exhaustion based damage model in which the accuracy of the prediction is dependent on its input value. The experimental measured has indicated that the value of strain at fracture is extensively scattered, therefore may affect the prediction. This paper presents the result of creep rupture time using a modified creep damage model incorporating Monkman-Grant (MG) failure strain as an alternative to strain at fracture. Both strains at fracture and MG failure strain are separately employed in the damage model to predict the failure time of uniaxial smooth specimen and notched bar with different acuity ratios of 3.0 and 20. The FE model of the specimen is loaded under different stress values and the multiaxial failure strain at each stress level is estimated using Cock and Ashby void growth model. The predicted creep rupture time that is compared to the experimental data (in a range of 40-1000 hours) showing a good agreement within the scatter band of +/- factor of 2. Both approaches using strain at fracture and MG failure strain can be used in predicting the creep failure under uniaxial and multiaxial features. The advantage of using MG strain is that the laboratory creep testing can be interrupted prior to specimen fractured or once the secondary creep deformation occurs. Meanwhile, the determination of strain at fracture needs longer test duration where the test can be stopped only when the specimen broken

Corrosion Performance of Nanopaint for Automotive Application

Nanostructured coating that possessed high density of grain boundaries enable excellent physical coverage of the coated surface against corrosion and mechanical problems compared to the larger grain size of particles found in conventional paint. The current study focusses on the effect of SiO2 and TiO2 nanoparticles as additive in acrylic automotive paint for corrosion. The new paint namely nanopaints was prepared at three different concentrations. The nanopaint were characterized using Electro-chemical test and the open circuit potential (OCP) is recorded. Electrochemical test in a saltwater solution method also used to determine the potential of nanopaint concentration on automotive surfaces. The results reveal that nanoparticle additive provide better corrosion rate as compared to the original basecoat. The optimum anticorrosion behaviour for both TiO2 and SiO2 nanopaints were achieved at weight percentage of 1.5 wt% and 1.0 wt%, respectively. Therefore, the nanopaint has potential to provide better corrosion performance for automotive surface application