Applications of ferrocement as a low cost construction material in Malaysia

The efficient use of alternative building materials and technology, appropriate to the local needs of a country must be studied and developed in order to assist the country in sustaining its building activities. Ferrocement, as a relatively new construction material in Malaysia, is slowly gaining acceptance. Various applications of ferrocement as a low cost construction material in the country is discussed

Development of Basic Mechanical Tests for Malaysian Bamboos

Bamboo has found various applications, especially to the rural people but its potential as 1117· engineering material has not been fully realised because of a lack of knowledge of its strength properties. In the absence of 1% commonly accepted standard for the mechanical testing of bamboo, a procedure for basic strength tests was developed. Results for the strength properties of Bambusa vulgaris, locally known as Buluh Minyak, are presented

A review of prefab home and relevant issues.

Having an easily built house has been always one of human wishes. Prefabricated home makes this wish come true because of its affordability and fast completion. This paper gives an overview of different types of prefab home and its terminology. This review sheds light on the characterisation of prefab home, which takes the aspects of off-site technology, mass customisation, and sustainability into consideration. This paper is confined to general review of prefab home without going through different systems utilised in off-site technology. In spite of the fact that prefab home has many advantages, which are discussed in this review, it suffers from a few drawbacks which should be considered by designers. Various exploitations in this field may merit further research in future, including finding the optimum prefabricated systems among the existing systems such as roof, wall, and floor systems for different applications of prefab homes. Nevertheless, there is still a universal design and practice code for prefab homes that emphasize on green technology and sustainability yet to be discovered

Development of nanotechnology in high performance concrete

Concrete is the most widely used building material all around the world which has been undergoing many changes aligned with technological advancement. The most recent available type of concrete is high performance concrete which is produced employing different admixtures both chemical and mineral to enhance mechanical and durability qualities. As sustainability emerged as an indispensable factor in concrete industry, many researchers targeted micro sized mineral admixtures such as silica fume, fly ash, rice husk ash, slag and so on in order to replace Portland cement which is known to be responsible for almost 7% of carbon dioxide emission into atmosphere. Recently, technology has made it easy for scientist to study nanoscale admixtures and their effect on structure of concrete. This paper reviews nanomaterials in cement composites and how they can improve different properties of concrete

Characterization of high strength mortars with nano alumina at elevated temperatures

In this study, the effect of elevated temperatures on chemical composition, microstructure and mechanical properties of high strength mortars with nano alumina was investigated. Mortars with 1, 2 and 3% nano alumina as cement replacement were prepared and then exposed to 100 °C, 200 °C, 300 °C, 400 °C, 600 °C, 800 °C and 1000 °C. XRD, DSC and SEM tests were carried out to identify chemical composition and microstructure changes in the cement matrix after being exposed to elevated temperatures. Residual compressive strength, relative elastic modulus and gas permeability coefficient of samples were also obtained. A brittleness index was defined to monitor changes in brittleness of samples after being exposed to elevated temperatures. Nano alumina enhanced compressive strength of samples up to 16% and improved residual compressive strength. An increase in the relative elastic modulus, higher energy absorption and lower permeability were also observed when 1% nano alumina was added

Incorporation of Mineral Admixtures in Sustainable High Performance Concrete

Concrete is a widely used construction material around the world, and its properties have been undergoing changes through technological advancement. Numerous types of concrete have been developed to enhance the different properties of concrete. So far, this development can be divided into four stages. The earliest is the traditional normal strength concrete which is composed of only four constituent materials, which are cement, water, fine and coarse aggregates. With a fast population growth and a higher demand for housing and infrastructure, accompanied by recent developments in civil engineering, such as high-rise buildings and long-span bridges, higher compressive strength concrete was needed. At the beginning, reducing the water-cement ratio was the easiest way to achieve the high compressive strength. Thereafter, the fifth ingredient, a water reducing agent or super plasticizer, was indispensable. However, sometimes the compressive strength was not as important as some other properties, such as low permeability, durability and workability. Thus, high performance concrete was proposed and widely studied at the end of the last century. Currently, high-performance concrete is used in massive volumes due to its technical and economic advantages. Such materials are characterized by improved mechanical and durability properties resulting from the use of chemical and mineral admixtures as well as specialized production processes. This paper reviews the incorporation of mineral admixtures in binary, ternary and quaternary blended mortars in concrete

A Review for Characterization of Silica Fume and Its Effects on Concrete Properties

 Mineral additions which are also known as mineral admixtures have been used in Portland cement for many years. There are two types of additions which are commonly mixed into the Portland clinker or blended directly with cement these days. They are crystalline, also known as hydraulically inactive additions and pozzolanic, which are hydraulically active additions. Silica fume is very reactive pozzolan, while it is used in concrete because of its fine particles, large surface area and high SiO2 content. Silica fume is much fined separated silica obtained as a by-product in industry. It is used as an admixture in the concrete mix and it has significant effects on the properties of the resulting material. Simultaneously, silica fume can be also utilized in production of refectory and porcelain, to increase intensity and durability. In addition, it can improve the overall performance of the material as filler used in coating resin, paint, rubber and other high molecular materials. This review paper discusses the effects of silica fume on the concrete properties such as strength, modulus, ductility, permeability, chemical attack resistance, corrosion, freeze-thaw durability, creep rate. Characterisation of silica fume as well as its physical and chemical properties will also be reviewed in this paper.&nbsp

Characterization of mechanical and microstructural properties of palm oil fuel ash geopolymer cement paste

This study delineates activation of palm oil fuel ash (POFA) by a combination of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide at 60 °C to be used as a geopolymer binder. Qualitative observations as well as compressive strength were recorded to assess the viability of POFA utilization. Also, XRD, SEM/EDX, DSC, FTIR tests were conducted to investigate underlying mechanisms of geopolymerization. The post-test observations revealed that activation of POFA is applicable and compressive strength of up to 32.48 MPa at the age of 28 days was achieved. Chemical tests indicated that formation of calcium silicate hydrate was the dominant cause of geopolymerization