Journal of Advanced Research in Applied Mechanics

Real Time Recognition of Face Covered with Facemask using CNN for Application in Classroom Attendance System

Muhammad Aiman Rohaizi — 2024-10-30

Because each person has a different face identity, facial recognition relies on the distinctness of individual facial traits. However, the recent Covid-19 pandemic has substantially altered daily living, required the usage of facemasks while walking outside, including for educational activities such as attending lectures at schools and universities. Facemasks' widespread use presents a significant problem to facial recognition systems since they obscure a significant area of the face, limiting the availability of important facial clues. In response to this critical issue, this project aims to create a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architecture suitable for use in a classroom attendance system. The research process begins with the creation of a large training dataset that includes five different students with four different facial circumstances, including facemask covering. The best CNN design is determined through painstaking testing to enhance accuracy during both the training and validation phases. The empirical findings demonstrated that the finalized CNN architecture has a remarkable validation accuracy of up to 96.2%. The trained system demonstrated outstanding precision in recognizing persons during real-time recognition tests. This experiment highlights the CNN's ability to recognize students with high accuracy even while they are wearing facemasks, indicating its potential in solving the issues provided by the prevailing public health measures.

The Measurement Method for Planning Green Campus Based on Bicycle

Melawaty Agustien — 2024-10-30

Although there are small buses and Damri (state-owned company bus) public transportation that some students use, the majority of traffic at the Indralaya Campus of Sriwijaya University consist of to support an eco-friendly college environment, the institution suggests enhancing bicycle riding as an alternative. The main purpose of this study is to develop strategic, secure and comfortable bike lanes and evaluate potential bicycle users’ interest. Bicycle Level of Service (LOS) was assessed using Vissim software under three scenarios. The results show that many road segments achieved LOS A. Scenario 2, which is based on the shortest public route, is identified as the best possible bicycle lane plan for city bikers. Out of 100 respondents who were interviewed, including students, faculty personnel and employees; about 80% were in favor of implementing bicycle lanes implementation on campus.

Using a Yolov8-Based Object Detection Model for an Automatic Garbage Sorting System

Quoc Thien Pham — 2024-10-30

This study presents the development of an automatic garbage sorting system based on computer vision techniques and the You Only Look Once version 8 (YOLOv8) algorithm. RGB images of garbage, including cans and plastic bottles, were collected by a camera. The YOLOv8 model, trained on a dataset of both RGB images of cans and plastic bottles, acts as the core for detection and classification. During real-time sorting, the classification results and picking points from the YOLOv8 model are used by a gantry robot. The gantry robot is developed and controlled by a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) to place each type of garbage into its respective categories. A conveyor tracking algorithm was implemented to pick up garbage moving on the conveyor. The system's performance is evaluated using 20 garbage samples for the can and the plastic bottle category. The accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score were 92.5%, 90.5%, 95%, and 92.7%, respectively. The system proposed in this study can be modified to sort other garbage types.

Performance Evaluation of RC Structures using Next- Generation Performance-Based Seismic Assessment Procedures

Amey Raju Khedikar — 2024-10-30

Seismic forces have wreaked havoc on buildings around the world, resulting in both property damage and human deaths. Reinforced concrete structures under cyclic loading cannot be predicted using current methods, according to relevant design codes. Code-based seismic design procedures have been replaced by performance-based design procedures (PBSD). PBSD describes a building's overall performance by taking into account its structural and non-structural performance categories. Immediate occupancy, life safety, and collapse prevention are the three types of damage that can be encountered in a construction site. They are ranked based on the amount of damage, downtime, and casualties they inflict. Although these procedures can detect damage, they are unable to assign a numerical value to the seriousness of the damage. The use of damage indices, which are based on structural and response-based parameters, has been proposed by many researchers in the past. The objective of current research is an attempt to summarise all of these efforts and identify grey areas for further investigation. Numerical approaches to integrate structural damages with various PBSD performance levels have been proposed.

Experimental Tests of Slope Failure due to Rainfall using Physical Slope Modeling

Jayant Raut Raut — 2024-10-30

In order to investigate the damage due to slope failure is very important. The main aim of this study is to found experimentally the effects of slope and rainfall intensity on stability of slope. We performed number of experimental tests using our varying slope model. To understand the failure mechanism of slopes there are various methods and also some models are been prepared for testing purpose. Slope failure can be occurred due to increase in pore water pressure, weathering of soil, cracking, decomposition of clayey rock fills, intensity of rainfall, duration of rainfall. By considering all these causes analysis of slope stability is most important to protect the slopes from failures. Slope stability analysis can be static, analytical methods to evaluate the stability of hills, natural slopes, excavated slopes etc. Analysis is generally done to understand the causes of failure or factors which affect the movement of slopes etc. Model development is also one of the ways to analyse the slope failure because of some specific reason. So understanding the rainfall effect on the slopes in hilly region is the major aspect to study. Our experimental result shows that vegetation is the effective and economical way of improving stability of slope. It increases that stability of slope by 15 to 25 %.

An Optimization of RSRP on Wi-Fi and LTE-LAA Coexistence Networks

Nur Haidah Mohd Hanapiah — 2024-10-30

Over the last decade, mobile traffic has grown at an exponential rate, resulting in a scarcity and incompetent use of licensed spectrum by mobile network operators. Therefore, it is important to maintain effective communication to avoid disconnecting signals. The technique of regulating the power of a transmitter in order to improve the communication signal or entire quality of service is known as power control. It is mostly used to improve the performance of a communication device by controlling the transmission power. Power control, in most scenarios, allows the transmission or signal power to be scaled, leading to improved signal quality. On the other hand, power control methods are aimed at avoiding unnecessarily high-power transmission. Hence, particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a computational method for optimizing the reference signal received power (RSRP) by iteratively attempting to improve an unnecessarily high-power transmission solution in terms of a given quality measure. The objective of this research is to evaluate the optimum RSRP value and proposed ideal energy detection threshold for Wi-Fi and LTE-LAA in order to obtain fair coexistence between two networks. Thus, simulations for PSO are carried out using MATLAB software. Based on the results obtained, there are improvement in throughput for both networks after PSO implementation therefore, an ideal energy detection threshold is suitable to use in order to get fair coexistence between Wi-Fi and LTE-LAA networks. Consequently, all the results obtained will be used in following research work in order to evaluate user’s handover in various scenarios.

Effect of Alumina as Reinforcement on the Mechanical and Physical Properties of Recycled AA6061 Aluminium

Ahmad Amirul Mukmin Yusof — 2024-10-30

The utilisation of reinforcement materials in aluminium metal matrix composites is widely used in the manufacturing sector due to their lightweight nature, excellent strength-to-weight ratio, enhanced fracture toughness, and improved mechanical properties. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of reinforcing alumina in recycled AA6061 aluminium on the properties of the resulting aluminium matrix composite. Various compositions of recycled AA6061 aluminium reinforced with alumina were prepared and analysed using the cold compaction method. The results show that the addition of alumina composition increases the hardness properties of the composite by up to 5 wt.% at 32.91 Hv compared to the unreinforced sample at 30.63 Hv, but the hardness decreases as the alumina mass composition increases. According to the analysis of physical properties, in comparison to the unreinforced sample, the density decreases with increasing mass composition of alumina up to 10 wt.%, which is from 2.4636 g/cm³ to 2.3014 g/cm³, respectively. In relation to the microstructure of the samples, the addition of alumina results in irregular shapes with larger pores. An increasing in the mass composition of alumina results in increased porosity and water absorption.

Surface Post-Treatments of Different Lattice Structures Manufactured by 3D Printing using Selective Laser Melting

Moqdad J. Dakhil — 2024-10-30

Selective laser melting (SLM) offers great potential for the fabrication of Ti6Al4V lattice structural components, but the resulting surface roughness of the manufactured products severely limits the use of the parts in biomedical applications. To reduce the influence of high surface roughness, the post processing process techniques applicable to all different lattice structures. In this study, two techniques were combined: ultrasonic abrasive flow and electro polishing treatment. To analyze Selective laser melted parts after post processing process, porosity and microstructural analyses were done. Furthermore, checking the influence of Electro polish time on surface of lattice structures. EP treatment conducted, applying a voltage of 20 ,18, and 16(V) And also (8), (6) and (4) minutes sequentially at a temperature of (4-7) C⁰ for HC, FCC, and BCC lattice structure specimens, sequentially. Acid-based electrolyte to perform Electro Polish, its solutions proved to be effective in reducing average surface roughness Ra from 7.325,7.465 and 6.7732.7 μm to 4.661 .3.911 and 4.20 for hexagonal, face center cubic and body center cubic lattice structures. In addition to, Rz from 36.766 ,35.768 and 30.029 to 22.482 ,17.88 and 18.249 μm sequentially. After post processing process, the findings of surface roughness, Young’s modulus, yield strength, and Porosity percentage are compatible with the properties of bone, allowing it to be utilized as a scaffold.

The Effect of the Ratio of Fly Ash to Alkaline Activator and the Molarity of NaOH on the Mechanical Properties of Fly Ash-Based Aggregates

Aland Kurnia Zawawi Jared — 2024-10-30

The global demand for aggregates has escalated, leading to a decline in the availability of quality natural aggregates. In response, the cold bond pelletization (CBP) process emerged in the early 2000s as a novel approach to artificial aggregate production, utilizing dry powdered fly ash. This method involves agglomerating fly ash particles at room temperature in an inclined rotating pan to form pellets. However, the abstract lacks clarity in elucidating the significance of this approach. Our study investigates the mechanical properties of aggregates produced through the CBP method via experimental laboratory methods, focusing on variations in the ratio of fly ash to alkaline activator (FA/AA) and the molarity of Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH). Notably, we found that an effective molarity of 15 resulted in the lowest Aggregate Impact Value (AIV) percentage, indicating improved mechanical properties. Furthermore, we observed fluctuations in AIV values across different FA/AA ratios and NaOH molarities, suggesting nuanced effects on aggregate quality. Our findings underscore the importance of optimizing parameters in the CBP process for enhanced aggregate performance.

The Use of Heart Rate Measures to Evaluate Stress Levels among Air Traffic Controllers

S.M.B. Abdul Rahman — 2024-10-30

This paper looks at the possibility of using a heart rate monitor to evaluate stress levels among Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs). Air Traffic Control (ATC) service requires constant good planning, situation awareness, and always making sound decisions. A study was conducted on two ATCOs for three complete work cycles: the morning shift from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the afternoon shift from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., and the night shift from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. Both participants have different roles, with Subject A being a planner controller while Subject B is a radar controller. The study used the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) survey to collect the subjective workload rating and a heart rate monitor armband to measure the heart rate reading of an ATCO and then compare it with the number of aircraft within the controlled area. Two hypotheses were investigated: the first one is the relationship between the number of traffic and heart rate readings, and the second hypothesis is the relationship between the elapsed working time and heart rate reading. The Spearman correlation test has been used to determine these relationships. Based on the results, a p-value of less than 0.05 and a positive correlation indicates a significant relationship between the number of aircraft and heart rate readings for both subjects. Elapsed time and heart rate measurement, on the other hand, do not significantly correlate with a p-value greater than 0.05 and a negative correlation was produced for both subjects. The unweighted NASA-TLX workload measure confirmed the findings for Subject A but not for Subject B. This might be due to the different roles carried out by both subjects during the experiment. This shows that different work tasks resulted in different workload-induced factors. The results show a promising outcome of using a heart rate monitor to evaluate stress levels among ATCOs. However, more subjects were needed to enable the use of this concept for future purposes of measuring ATCO stress levels to manage workload.

Evaluation of Impact of Additive-Blended Biofuels (ABFs) on Single-Cylinder Motorcycle Engines

Kazeem Babalola Olawale — 2024-10-30

The elimination of subsidies for conventional gasoline (E0) in Nigeria has led to a surge in fuel prices, prompting researchers to explore alternative automotive biofuels. Among the promising options are additive-blended biofuels, which can be used in spark ignition engines (S.I.E.). However, biofuels have limitations, such as lower energy density, compatibility issues, and potential infrastructure degradation. Additive-blended biofuels (ABFs) represent an advanced technology that can address these shortcomings and enhance the performance of blended biofuels in automotive engines. In this study, additives were prepared and added to ethanol-gasoline blends, which are referred to as additive-blended biofuels (ABFs). E0 and ABFs were then tested in a single-cylinder motorcycle engine on a chassis dynamometer to evaluate the performance and emission characteristics of ABFs at partial and full load respectively. It was found that ABFs exhibited an increase in engine torque (T), brake power (BP) and brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) by 42.3%, 25.2% and 48.3%, respectively over E0. In addition, ABFs showed a 40% reduction in brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) compared to E0. On the other hand, the emission measurements showed that NO_X and HC emissions were reduced by 76 % and 35.3 % respectively for ABFs compared to E0.

Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Masked Multiple Passes Abrasive Waterjet Machining Surface Texturing on Coefficient of Friction

Hafiz Husin — 2024-10-30

The surface texturing method is popular because of its ability to improve surface properties, specifically surface functioning, and friction control. It is a common technique used on material surfaces to improve friction performance. Laser surface texturing is the popular choice; however, this method suffers drawbacks such as cracking, heat-affected zone, and generation of hazardous fumes. The Abrasive Water Jet Machining (AWJM) was chosen is that, because the eroded material is carried by the waterjet, the process is clean and does not produce dust, chips, or chemical contaminants. This experiment examines the influence of AWJM and investigates how crater density and a multiple-pass machining path affect the stainless-steel friction characteristics when sliding in dry conditions. The texture was applied on the surface of stainless steel by masked multi-passes AWJM technique. According to the findings, there is less friction in craters with greater densities because there are more craters in the contact zone, which improves the trapping of debris particles and reduces friction, when the crater density rises from 4% to 18%, there is a greater chance of worn debris becoming trapped, which reduces friction. The coefficient of friction and crater roughness of the stainless-steel surface are all proportionally affected by the multiple-passes approach. The coefficient of friction increases with higher machining passes. There is more erosion and greater roughness when there are more jet passes. It is concluded that the masked multiple passes AWJM Surface Texturing technique has a significant impact on the Coefficient of Friction (COF).

Educational Software for Stress Analysis of Open Thin-Walled Structures

Jaffar Syed Mohamed Ali — 2024-10-30

Thin-walled structures are commonly employed in aerospace and automotive structures because of their high strength to weight ratio. Design and hence the stress analysis of thin-walled structures is tedious and time-consuming. An educational software which can aid students in stress analysis of thin-walled open sections will enhance the teaching-learning process. With the present available software, the number of sections that can be analysed is limited, hence in this work, a generalized section has been developed through which many new complex sections can be generated and analysed for stresses. The objective of the present work is to develop educational software that will provide a solution for the section properties like centroid, moment of inertia and shear centre, and the stresses on the section for a given loading. The software enables students to select different cross-sections which may be subjected to bending, shear or torsional loads and evaluate the stresses on it. Results obtained through this software have been validated against literature. The software has been developed using MATLAB with graphical user interface (GUI). The software is expected to be a useful tool for effective teaching learning process of courses on thin-walled structures, aircraft structures and advanced mechanics of materials.

Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based on Tin Doped Zinc Oxide and Polyvinyl Alcohol Composite Thin Film for Energy Harvesting Applications

Mohamad Hafiz Mamat — 2024-10-30

The triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) collects mechanical energy from its surroundings and converts it to electrical signals that can be used in sustainable energy harvesting technologies to help maintain the social ecosystem. However, TENG operation with pure triboelectric material may not be sufficient to power a small electronic system without modification. The optimal material capable of producing significant electrical energy with flexible structures remains a major barrier to practical application. In this study, tin-doped zinc oxide (Sn:ZnO) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite thin films were prepared using a simple solution immersion technique at various Sn atomic percentage (at.%) concentrations for use in TENG devices. The crystalline quality of a composite thin film made of Sn:ZnO and PVA was identified using x-ray diffraction. The microstructure changes of the composite thin film were found to be influenced by Sn doping, as studied using optical microscopy. The TENG with 2.5 at.% Sn:ZnO/PVA composite thin film and Kapton film achieved the highest peak voltage of 8.5 V in open circuit and 90 µW output power at 1 MΩ. The produced electrical output was then used to store energy in capacitors. According to its TENG properties, the Sn:ZnO/PVA composite thin film-based TENG has the potential to be used in low power electronic devices.

Brain Tumor Detection and Size Estimation using Microwave Imaging

Mohamad Hamizi Limbah — 2024-10-30

This project focuses on developing an antenna that utilising microwave imaging technology for visualising, detecting, and estimating the size of human tumors using simulation approach. A rectangular microstrip patch antenna is chosen for its advantages of low cost, convenience, efficiency, and compactness, offering a non-ionised alternative. To meet the antenna specifications, rectangular slots are incorporated into the design. The antenna performs effectively at 7.5 GHz, exhibiting a return loss of -24.20383 dB, well below the -10 dB threshold. Placing the antenna 15 mm away from the human brain model results in a specific absorption rate (SAR) value of 0.2 W/kg for 10g, indicating its safety for brain imaging. By scanning a human head phantom with and without a tumor, the antenna captures reflected signals from different locations, enabling the generation of tumour images. A 10-mm-radius tumor is introduced to the phantom, and the unique reflected signal serves as an indicator for tumor detection, using the signal without a tumor as a reference. MATLAB software is employed for image processing, allowing the generation of tumour images and the estimation of tumor size. The simulation results demonstrate 63% accuracy in tumor size estimation. In conclusion, the antenna proves to be a safe and effective brain imaging system for tumor detection.

Application of Internet of Things (IoT) on Monitoring EC and pH Values for Fertigation System

Nur Shafiqa Azwa Mahmudin — 2024-10-30

This paper introduces a novel Internet of Things (IoT) based fertigation control system designed to enhance traditional agricultural practices in Malaysia, particularly in rural areas. The system integrates a fertigation approach, combining fertilization and irrigation, with smart devices and a NodeMCU ESP32 microcontroller to automate the tracking of data from liquid fertilizer mixtures. By utilizing EC and pH sensors, the system accurately monitors the nutrient concentration and pH levels of the fertilizer mix, with data displayed on an IoT platform for real-time observation and control. This approach mitigates common issues such as overfertilization and inefficient nutrient use, offering significant improvements over manual data collection methods. The system's performance was validated, showing successful monitoring and control of the fertilization process, leading to enhanced plant health and crop quality. Key findings indicate that the system's integration with IoT technology provides a more efficient, automated solution for managing fertilizer applications, reducing labor and time while ensuring optimal plant nutrient levels. The study also highlights the potential for future development, including the integration of additional sensors and advanced data analytics to optimize fertigation practices further. The implementation of this IoT-based system represents a significant advancement towards sustainable agriculture, offering practical benefits for Malaysian farmers and setting a foundation for further innovation in fertigation technology.