Effect of various kenaf fiber content on the mechanical properties of composites

Kenaf fiber has been cultivated as an industrial crop. In this paper, we present the on-going works of an assessment on the mechanical properties of its fiber composites. Tensile, flexural and impact tests were executed on untreated short kenaf fiber reinforced epoxy composites. Its fiber content is varied from 5% up to 20%, and was compared to neat epoxy (NEAT). Using a hand lay-up technique, a mixture of kenaf fiber and epoxy is poured into a mould and left to dry at room temperature for 24 hours. Seven specimens were cut according to ASTM D3039, ASTM D790 and ASTM D256 for the tensile test, flexural test and impact test, respectively. The results showed that the tensile, flexural and impact strengths of the kenaf fiber are lower compared to NEAT. Samples at 5% kenaf fiber content shows the highest tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength at 27. 1 MPa and 18.2 MPa and 0.56 kJ/m2, respectively. The 5% fiber content was finalized as the fiber content that can be applied in archery

Genetic diversity and geographical differentiation of nipa (Nypa fruticans Wurmb.) populations in peninsular Malaysia based on AFLP

Nipa (Nypa fruticans Wurmb.) is a useful and widely distributed palm in Southeast Asia, but its habitats are declining due to industrial development. Information on genetic diversity, geographical differentiation, and phylogenetic relationships among the populations is important in order to develop conservation strategies for this species. In this study, the genetic diversity within and among 29 natural populations in Peninsular Malaysia was analyzed using the AFLP molecular technique. Polymorphism within a population was detected for 27 populations and three geographically distinct groups of nipa. The results showed that the highest frequency of heterozygosity was found in the west coast southern region, followed by the west coast northern region, and with the lowest frequency in the east coast region. In the phylogenetic tree, the three geographical regions that formed distinct groups with the west coast southern region group were located between the west coast northern region group and the east coast region. These results may suggest that nipa in Peninsular Malaysia has been diffused from or along the west coast southern region to the other regions. The three regional groups are differentiated genetically and it is recommended that all three regions should be targets for the conservation of nipa habitats, in order to reduce genetic erosion within the nipa in Peninsular Malaysia

Cost estimation for remanufacture with limited and uncertain information using case based reasoning

Assessing products prior to remanufacture is an important part of the remanufacturing process, ensuring that unsuitable cores are removed at an early stage to avoid unnecessary processing. In particular, understanding the economic cost of remanufacturing a product can be an important aspect of the assessment, especially for businesses operating in low volumes and on high value products, where the risk associated with unexpected costs or failure to complete remanufacture are much greater. Estimating these costs can however be difficult, as important information required to make a prediction is often uncertain, such as the product design, its condition and also the understanding of the resource requirements for remanufacture. Within this research a method has been developed to estimate the economic cost and risks of conducting a remanufacturing activity to a product when information is uncertain. Summation of the individual activities can then be conducted to determine the economic cost and risks of the entire remanufacturing process. The method utilises a combination of case based reasoning and probability theory to identify similarities between historical data records and the product under assessment, to predict the cost and risks of remanufacture. In particular this method enables cost estimation when important product information is missing including the manufacturer, model or condition. Additionally estimates can be made when exact historical information is not present, which can be useful to business remanufacturing bespoke or rare products. The method is then implemented within a service oriented architecture and functionally demonstrated using an example of an independent wind turbine gearbox remanufacturer

Develop a cost model to evaluate the economic benefit of remanufacturing based on specific technique

Remanufacturing is a process of recovering used products to a like-new condition. It can potentially achieve considerable economic, environmental and social benefits in many applications. However, its economic benefit varies for different products and remanufacturing processes. This research aims to develop a framework and cost model to quantitatively evaluate the benefits of remanufacturing techniques to assist the decision making on end-of-life strategies. Additive manufacturing-based remanufacturing process has been modelled first, then cost breakdown structure for the process has been created, and the cost model has been developed. Validation of the cost model has been conducted based on expert judgement, and a case study has been carried out by using the developed cost model to compare the benefit of remanufacturing a specified component or making a new one

Finite Element Analysis Approach on 3D Modeling of Archery Bow Design

This paper presented the simulation analysis of 3D modeling of the archery bow design using finite element analysis. The objective of this study is to develop and optimized new design of bow based on the current design used in the competition. It leads to the comparison of the previous and the optimized designs have been developed. The bow was simulated under static and maximum condition of bow using finite element analysis software. During shooting an arrow, full draw stage is the most critical point of shooting and sustains the maximum load applied on the bow. In this analysis, the maximum draw length was considered is 660 mm and 710 mm which exerted in two different forces behaviour. Modelling software was performed 3D image archery bow before analyzing in commercial finite element software. Aluminium alloy 6061 T6 was applied for the material properties similar to the current bow, in order to optimise the designs that have been proposed in the first place. Furthermore, isotropic material and the tetrahedral meshing element were selected for acceptable results. The results reveal that the current design can sustain both set of forces with maximal deflection of 0.29 mm with factor of safety (FOS) is 10.6. Hence, to optimize the design, the material was removed about 16% from the total mass to get the final weight approximately 0.92 kg. However, this method will increase the maximum deflection and reduced the FOS to the optimum number. Then, the optimum design was fabricated using 3-axis CNC machining to compared with the previous design. This approach considered the basic method of design to reduce the time and cost taken in fabricating products. It is beneficial for the manufacturer and engineer to enhance the sports equipment capability to the limit especially in Archery

Development of Conceptual Technique by Using Integrated Approaches

In order to be a competent player in the market, the product should arrive into market within a short of time and reasonable price. In order to shorten the time to reach the market, most of the manufacturers develop the technique to reduce the assembly cost at the early stage of the design phase. This could be achieve by reducing the part numbers which would reduce the assembly time and assembly cost as well. Design for assembly is one of the techniques that could be adopted by the manufacturers in order to reduce the assembly cost. The objective of this paper is to present the develop methodology which is based on integrated design for assembly technique with other design process. This integrated technique using the philosophy of Theory Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), Axiomatic Design (AD) and Boothroyd – Dewhurst DFA. It is aim to provides guidelines for the designer to design a product at the early design phase. The AD is aimed to identify the user needs. The user needs then, are translated into functional requirements and design parameters. At the design parameters, the TRIZ methodology is applied in order to produce several redesign alternatives. The best alternative is then, will be evaluating in terms of design for assembly. The case study is implemented on the table fan. It shows that, by using the develop methodology; the table fan would able to be assemble with lesser time

Investigation of Thermal Behavior for Natural Fibres Reinforced Epoxy using Thermogravimetric and Differential Scanning Calometric Analysis

This paper presented the research works on the investigation of the thermal behavior of the natural fibres; i.e. pineapple leaf fibre, kenaf fibre and mengkuang fibres reinforced epoxy. The thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetric analysis were used to measure the thermal behavior of the treated and untreated pineapple, kenaf and mengkuang fibres reinforced epoxy. The samples for both analysis were subjected to maximum temperature 600°C at the heating rate of 10°C/min. The results showed that the treated fibres show higher maximum peak temperature as compared to the untreated fibres. Additionally, the glass transition temperature showed a lower value for all treated fibre. It can be concluded that investigation of thermal properties of these natural fibres could improve the utilization of natural fibre composites in various applications i.e. sports applications

Investigation of Thermal Behavior for Natural Fibres Reinforced Epoxy using Thermogravimetric and Differential Scanning Calorimetric Analysis

This paper presented the research works on the investigation of the thermal behavior of the natural fibres; i.e. pineapple leaf fibre, kenaf fibre and mengkuang fibres reinforced epoxy. The thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetric analysis were used to measure the thermal behavior of the treated and untreated pineapple, kenaf and mengkuang fibres reinforced epoxy. The samples for both analysis were subjected to maximum temperature 600°C at the heating rate of 10°C/min. The results showed that the treated fibres show higher maximum peak temperature as compared to the untreated fibres. Additionally, the glass transition temperature showed a lower value for all treated fibre. It can be concluded that investigation of thermal properties of these natural fibres could improve the utilization of natural fibre composites in various applications i.e. sports applications

Design, Fabrication and Testing of New Invented Spring Sickle Pole "ZappIt®" for Palm Harvesting

A new harvesting pole, specifically designed for palms trees, was designed, developed and tested. It comprises three sections, the locking, extension and spring sickle, which were joined through an aluminum pole. The pole can be adjusted to certain length to reach different height of tree. It is built using standard circular rod with cross section diameters of 50 mm. This newly invented spring sickle pole called ZappIt® has been designed based on the ordinary sickle widely used in Malaysia palm estates. ZappIt® introduced new mechanism concept of spring compression as a source of mechanical force to cut the frond and fruit bunch. The locking system was designed and located at the bottom of the pole for manual hand operated. While the threaded steel used to link the locking systems and spring sickle system

Optimization of Assembly Sequence Planning Using Soft Computing Approaches: A Review

Assembly sequence planning (ASP) is an NP-hard problem that involves finding the most optimum sequence to assemble a product. The potential assembly sequences are too large to be handled effectively using traditional approaches for the complex mechanical product. Because of the problem complexity, ASP optimization is required for the efficient computational approach to determine the best assembly sequence. This topic has attracted many researchers from the computer science, engineering, and mathematics background. This paper presents a review of the research that used soft computing approaches to solve and optimize ASP problem. The review on this topic is important for the future researchers to contribute in ASP. The literature review was conducted through finding related published research papers specifically on ASP that used soft computing approaches. This review focused on ASP modeling approach, optimization algorithms and optimization objectives. Based on the conducted review, several future research directions were drawn. In terms of the problem modeling, future research should emphasize to model the flexible part in ASP. Besides, the consideration of sustainable manufacturing and ergonomic factors in ASP will also be the new directions in ASP research. In addition, a further study on new optimization algorithms is also suggested to obtain an optimal solution in reasonable computational time