Lawatan PanelPenasihatanIndustri ke

PPKBSM

Nibong Tebal, 3 Mei - Mesyuarat PertamaPanel Penasihatan Industri PusatPengajian Kejuruteraan Bahan danSumber Mineral (PPKBSM) telah berjayadiadakan. Panel Industri terdiri daripadawakil-wakil industri dalam bidang keju-ruteraan bahan, polimer dan sumber min-eral. Lawatan panel ini merupakan salahsatu daripada keperluan Majlis AkreditasiKejuruteraan Malaysia (EngineeringAccreditation Council) untuk memastikansesuatu program kejuruteraan itudijalankan seiring dengan keperluanindustri-industri yg berkaitan.

Antara tanggungjawab PanelPenasihatan Industri ini adalah untuk:(i) memberi sumbangan pendapat secaraaktif dalam penambahbaikan kurikulumyang dilaksanakan oleh setiap program ;(ii) membantu memperkukuhkan hubun-gan Universiti-Industri. Panel PenasihatanIndustri dilantik selama 2 tahun dan akanbermesyuarat sekurang-kurangnya sekalidalam satu sidang pengajian.

Mesyuarat dimulakan dengan penge-nalan oleh Dekan PPKBSM mengenaipusat pengajian dan program-programkejuruteraan yang dijalankan. Dekanjuga menjelaskan tentang perlaksanaan

Pendidikan Berasaskan Hasil (OutcomeBased Education) yang bermula padasidang akademik 2006/2007 ini. Satutaklimat mengenai latihan industri yangwajib diikuti oleh pelajar PPKBSM selama10 minggu juga diberikan.

Antara perkara-perkara yang dibangk-itkan oleh Ahli Panel Penasihatan Industri(APPI) ialah mengenai penekanan skilkomunikasi dan penguasaan BahasaInggeris di kalangan para pelajar, mem-perbanyakkan lawatan industri dalamusaha untuk menambahkan pendedahandan membantu dalam pembelajaran sertamenaik taraf makmal dengankelengkapan moden dan terkini.

Secara keseluruhannya Ahli Panelberpuashati dengan tahap bilik kuliah,makmal dan usaha-usaha pusat penga-jian khususnya pensyarah-pensyarahuntuk memberikan persediaan yang men-cukupi kepada para pelajar sebelum

mereka menceburi alam pekerjaaanmenurut bidang yang bersesuaian denganindustri.

Syarahan UmumPelantikan Profesor

Zainal Arifin

Nibong Tebal, 14 Jun - Satu syarahanumum pelantikan profesor bertajuk"Seramik: Tamadun, Sains, Teknologi,Kejuruteraan dan Hala Tuju" telahdisampaikan oleh Profesor Zainal ArifinAhmad dari Pusat Pengajian KejuruteraanBahan dan Sumber Mineral. Siri syarahanumum USM merupakan satu programyang terancang, sebagai satu usahapenyebaran dan pendedahan ilmu kepadamasyarakat.

Profesor Zainal Arifin Ahmad telahdilantik menjadi profesor USM padaDisember 2004. Pengiktirafan beliausebagai profesor adalah berdasarkanpenglibatan cemerlangnya dalam bidangpenyelidikan terutama berasaskan bahan-bahan seramik. Di dalam syarahannyabeliau telah menyentuh peranan,kepentingan serta sumbanganbahan-bahan seramik di dalamperkembangan tamadun dan peradabanmanusia. Menerusi kajian-kajian yangtelah dan sedang dijalankan oleh beliaudan kumpulan penyelidiknya, ProfesorZainal Arifin Ahmad merumuskan bahawamasih terdapat banyak ruang danpeluang yang boleh diterokai agar lebihbanyak lagi kegunaan baru bahan-bahanseramik dapat dihasilkan.

Syabas dan tahniah daripada semuawarga PPKBSM. Diharapkan ProfesorZainal Arifin Ahmad akan terusmenyumbangkan idea dan tenagadisamping mengharumkan nama PPKBSMpada masa akan datang. Semogakecemerlangan ini menjadi contoh kepa-da warga PPKBSM yang lain dan dapatditeruskan pada masa-masa akan datang.

ENJINIERBuletin Pusat Pengajian Kejuruteraan Bahan dan Sumber Mineral

Bulletin for the School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering Universiti Sains Malaysia

JIL. 08 BIL. 01 No. ISSN: 1511-5275 http://www.usm.my Jun 2006

1Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006

Lawatan Panel Penasihatan Industri ke PPKBSM

Profesor Zainal Arifin sedangmenyampaikan syarahan umumnya

AUN/SEED-Net 8thField-Wise Seminar

Penang, 22 -23 May 2006 - The 8thAUN/SEED-Net Field-Wise Seminar on"Advanced Materials: Processing andCharacterization" was held at Holiday Inn,Penang.

For the year 2006, the school hadbeen given another opportunity toorganize the Field-Wise Seminar. Theworking committee was chaired byAssoc. Prof. Dr. Azizan Aziz. The main goalof the 8th Field-Wise Seminar was tocontinue to exchange experiences andresearch findings in the host field amongthe member institutions with theinvolvement of Japanese SupportingUniversities Consortium (JSUC). Thisseminar was participated by three invitedspeakers from (JSUC), AUN/SEED-Netsecretariat, representatives from Memberinstitutions (MIs), researchers from HostInstitution (USM) and AUN/SEED-Netscholars. The seminar was officiated byDeputy Vice Chancellor (Research andInnovation), Dato' Professor MuhammadIdiris Salleh during the conference din-ner on 22nd May 2006.

The seminar was attended by 60participants including from UP(Philiphines), NUS (Singapore), UGM(Indonesia), ITB (Indonesia), KMITL(Thailand), CU (Thailand) and HUT(Vietnam). At the moment, there aremore than 15 ongoing research projectsbeing carried out at SMMRE laboratories.The projects revolve around three mainresearch umbrellas; nano materials,biomaterials and advanced materials. Inthe seminar, the representatives fromUSM, MIs and AUN/SEED-Net scholarswere given opportunities to present theircurrent research findings. Besides oraland poster presentation, a specialmeeting was held during the seminarto discuss the implementation plan includ-ing continual collaborative research activ-ities in Materials Engineering Research.

ITEX 2006 and MTE2006 : SMMRE

Lecturers Won 1 Gold,1 Silver and

2 Bronze Medals

The 5th Malaysian Technology Expo(MTE 2006) was held from February 23- 25, 2006 at the Putra World TradeCentre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur. Theexpo was organized by MalaysianAssociation of Research Scientific(MARS), and supported by Ministry ofScience, Technology and Innovation(MOSTI) Malaysia in Collaboration withSIRIM and MINT.

At this MTE 2006, 3 SMMRElecturers had won 1 silver and 2 bronzemedals. 1 silver medal was awarded toProfesor Hanafi Ismail and his group fortheir invention of "From Various RubberWastes Into Multifunctional Adhesive(MFA) : A Novel Recycling Process".Assoc. Prof. Dr. Khairun Azizi Mohd.Azizli, Professor Radzali Othman andtheir research groups with their inven -tion of " SiL-An Innovative Mineral Fillerfor Epoxy Used in Electronic Industry"and "JERA-Ash :Versatile Raw Materialsfor Glasses, Glazes and Polymers" wereawarded bronze medals respectively.

The 17th International Invention,Innovation, Industrial Design &Technology Exhibition (ITEX 2006) washeld at Kuala Lumpur ConventionCentre (KLCC), Kuala Lumpur from19 -21 May 2006. Profesor Zainal ArifinAhmad and his group had won the goldmedal for their excellent invention"Ceramic-Metal Cutting Tool ProducedVia Friction Welding".

Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006 2

Ir. Dr. Mior Termizi Mohd Yusof

Prof. Zainal Arifin Ahmad

Encik Samayamutthirian Palaniandy

Encik Mohd Nazri Idris

Delegates of the 8th. AUN/SEED-NET Field Wise Seminar

Prof. Hanafi Ismail(Ketua Pengarang)

Dr. Azura A. Rashid

Penolong Pengarang

Sidang Pengarang

Mohd Al Amin Muhamad Nor

Muhammad Fitri

A Short Course OnPolymeric Materials:

Recent Development andApplications

Penang, 13-14 February 2006- A ShortCourse On Polymeric Materials: RecentDevelopment and Applications was jointlyorganized by SMMRE, Plastics and RubberInstitute of Malaysia (PRIM) Northernregion and Institute of Materials Malaysia(IMM) Northern Region. This short coursewas held at the SMMRE Seminar roomand was officiated by Deputy ViceChancellor (Research & Innovation), Dato'Professor Muhammad Idiris Salleh on 13February 2006.

This two day short course, emphasisedon the recent developments andapplications of polymeric materials withthe presentations given by representa-tives from academia and industries. Thekeynote speakers for this short coursewere Professor Mohamad Nasir Zainal Ariffrom Selangor Industrial University(UNISEL) with the topic on "Recentdevelopment and application of polymericmaterials" and Professor Hanafi Ismailfrom SMMRE, USM with the topic on"From waste to valuable products: Anovel recycling approach". Apart from thistwo keynote speakers, the short courseincluded other 9 prominent speakers fromvarious polymer background industries.

The objectives of this short coursewere to provide an understanding of theadvantages of polymeric materials andissues in their applications and to give anup-to-date appreciation of thedevelopment and application of polymericmaterials. This short course provided aplatform for researchers, educators,consultants, engineers and postgraduatestudents involved in the research ofdevelopment and applications ofpolymeric-based materials to meet anddiscuss. There were 100 participants, including industries, government agenciesand postgraduate and undergraduate stu-dents.

A one day Seminar onNano Research at USM:

Today's ChallengesTomorrow's

Opportunities

Nibong Tebal, 22 June 2006 - The"One day Nano Research Seminar whichwas organized by the NanoMaterialsInitiative Group (NanoMIG) of the Schoolof Materials & Mineral ResourcesEngineering, USM was held at AuditoriumHall, Universiti Sains Malaysia,Engineering Campus. The seminar wasofficiated by Yang berbahagia Dato' Prof.Muhammad Idiris Salleh, Deputy ViceChancellor of Research and Innovation on22nd June 2006. There was such a richmixture of delegates from both the pri -vate and the public sectors comprising ofabout 90 participants from variousAcademic Institutions, Research Centers,University Colleges and Companies. Therewere distinguished speakers in atten-dance from Accelrys, Japan, Dr. AbhijitChatterjee, Prof. Kamarulazizi Ibrahimfrom School of Physics, USM, Mr. ShahromMahmud from KDU College, Prof.MadyaDr. Azizan Aziz (SMMRE) and Dr. SharifHussein Sharif Zein from School ofChemical Engineering USM. The seminarincluded presentations from all 6 distin -guish speakers and also exhibition boothsfrom several companies (Zugo PhotonicsSdn.Bhd., Intran Technologies Sdn. Bhd.,Virtual Tech Consulting Sdn. Bhd,Cadence Technologies Sdn. Bhd., QSInstruments Sdn.Bhd and Koperasi USM.Other postgraduates and researchers par -ticipated in poster sessions.

The objectives of the seminar were tocreate opportunities for technical profes-sionals, academicians and research stu-dents to exchange knowledge, ideas,information and to share achievementsand contributions. Knowledge generationis crucial as it is the precursor to techno-logical innovation. The final core ingredi -ent to a K-Malaysia is having a culture oflifelong learning, of managing and usingknowledge and of innovation and entre-preneurship.

And most importantly, through theOne Day Seminar, it had helped to createthe professional networking, that is, tofoster professional friendship andresearch platform for all to share, learnand pursue new knowledge and experi -ences with one another. Through thisSeminar, we also hope that the synergyand sharing of ideas will lead to new ini -tiatives that will enhance the develop-ment of research in Nanoscale Scienceand Nanotechnology Education inMalaysia.

Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006 3

Presentation by an invited speakerduring Polymeric Short Course

Call for Papers EMSM 2006

INTRODUCTIONThe 15th Scientific Conference & 16thAnnual General Meeting of ElectronMicroscopy Society of Malaysia will beheld during December 4-6, 2006 at SutraBeach Resort, Merang. Research contri-butions and review articles will be consid-ered for presentation in the followingrelated areas of Material, Metallurgical,Biological and Medical Sciences. Thefocus are:1. Scanning Electron Microscope 2. Transmission Electron Microscope 3. Laser and Confocal Microscopy 4. Light Microscopy- Flouresence/DIC 5. Electron Spectroscopic ChemicalAnalysis 6. Low Energy Electron Diffraction 7. Specimen Preparation Techniques Participant representing various industriesand organization including universities,government sector, private sectors andnon-governmental organization (NGOs)are expected to participate in the elec-tron microscopy conference.

Submission of AbstractAbstract including title, author(s), textand figure (if any) should be confined toone page (A4 size paper). The abstractshould be typed in single spacing,Tahoma (11 font). The abstract could besubmitted by email attachment atemsmkustem@yahoo.com andemsm2006@kustem.edu.my or by postalservice to the Secretariat EMSM2006.

Important Dates15th September 2006 : Deadline for abstract submission30th September 2006 : Notification ofabstract acceptance31st October 2006 : Full paper sub-mission

FeesMembers : RM400, Non Member : RM 500, Student : RM300,

Further InformationThe Secretariat15th EMSM 2006 ConferenceInstitute of Oceanography Kolej Universiti Sains dan TeknologiMalaysiaMengabang Telipot21030 Terengganu, MalaysiaTel: 609-6683195/3123/3546/3107/33555/3384Fax: 609-6692166Email: EMSM2006@kustem.edu.my/ orEMSMkustem@yahoo.edu.my/

Website:http://www.kustem.edu.my/EM/index.html

Hari Keluarga PPKBSM

Jun 2006 - Kelab Sukan dan RekreasiPPKBSM dengan kerjasama JawatankuasaKampus Sejahtera sekali lagi telah berjayamenganjurkan hari keluarga pusatpengajian di Cameron Highlands. Acaraini telah berjalan selama dua hari dandipengerusikan oleh Dr. Azhar Abu Bakar.Program ini telah berjaya membawawarga pusat pengajian bercuti sambilberamah mesra di samping mengikuti pel-bagai aktiviti yang telah dirancang. Antaratempat-tempat menarik yang telah dikun-jungi termasuklah melawat ke ladang tehSungai Palas, membeli-belah di pasarmalam Brinchang, lawatan ke TamanAgroteknologi MARDI dan beberapatempat menarik lainnya. Aktiviti-aktivitiseperti ini sekurang-kurangnya mampumeningkatkan motivasi dan menjadi pen-dorong kepada semua warga pusat pen-gajian untuk terus maju kehadapan.Keseluruhan aktiviti ini berakhir sekitarpukul 2.00 petang hari berikutnya.

A Short Course inBlasting and Explosives

Technology

Nibong Tebal, 30th June 2006. Ashort course on Blasting and ExplosiveTechnology was held at the School ofMaterials and Mineral ResourcesEngineering. There were 19 participants.Those attended were from the quarryingindustries and government agencies. TheGovernment Departments such as theDepartment of Environmental,Department of Occupational Safety andHealth and the Police were also present.The staff of School of Materials andMineral Resources Engineering alsoattended the course.

The speakers were Mr. Bruce Fagan(Australian blasting expert), Mr. Manohand Mr. Ramesh (General Manager ofOrica-CCM) from Orica Explosives, Ir.Look Keman Sahari, the BlastingConsultant and Ir. Dr. Mior Termizi MohdYusof, a senior lecturer from the School ofMaterials and Mineral ResourcesEngineering. The course covered theblasting techniques used in Malaysia andAustralia and the latest innovation inexplosives such as the usage of electron-ic detonators at the mines or quarry or forbuilding demolition. The course was rec-ognized by the Board of Engineers for theContinuous Professional Development(CPD) of 16 hours credit which can beused as part of the training for theGraduate Engineers as well for theProfessional Engineers.

The participants were activelyinvolved during the course.This wasmaybe due to problems that arise in han-dling and licensing of explosives materi-

als. The Police sent their staff to thecourse to enhance their understanding ofcommercial explosives and in a way oftrying to understand the problems facedby the quarry operators. The participantswere quite satisfied with the course andto some of them this was a sort of an eyeopener, and to some this course hadwided up their exposures on the usage ofthe explosives at the mines and quarries.

Sidang Pengarang Enjinier menjemputsemua staf, pelajar dan graduan PPKBSM memberi sumbangan rencana dan pandanganmereka kepada:

Sidang Pengarang Enjinier,Pusat Pengajian Kejuruteraan Bahandan Sumber Mineral,Kampus Kejuruteraan,Universiti Sains Malaysia,14300 Nibong Tebal.

The Enjinier Editorial Board invites allstaff, students and graduates of theSchool of Materials and MineralResources Engineering to contributearticles and views to: (Articles must benot more than 3 A4 pages font 12 single spacing)

Enjinier Editorial Board,School of Materials and MineralResources Engineering, EngineeringCampus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal.

Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006 4

Ucapan Tahniah kepada Staf PPKBSMYang Dinaikkan Pangkat ke PensyarahKanan:

1. En. Tuan Besar Tuan Sarif2. Dr. Hazizan Md. Akil3. Dr. Mariatti Jaafar @

Mustapha4. Dr. Norlia Baharun

Ucapan Tahniah kepada Staf PPKBSMYang Mendapat AnugerahPerkhidmatan Cemerlang Tahun2006

1. Dr. Nurulakmal Mohd. Sharif2. Dr. Kamar Shah Ariffin3. En. Mohd. Nazri Idris4. En. Abd. Rashid Selamat5. En. Mohd. Shahid Abd. Jalal6. Pn. Norhaizan Mahamad

Shari

Workshop on Geologyand Mineralogy of Gold

Mineralisation.

Nibong Tebal, 28-30 June - This 3 daysworkshop was designed to provide par -ticipants with a broad knowledge on thetechniques in identifying and classifyingvarious mineralogy associated with goldmineralisation systems such asmesothermal and epithermal gold. Thisworkshop mainly involved with materialpreparation and microscopic works andwas attended by 9 technical staff mem-bers of Penjom Gold Mine, Kuala LipisPahang.The workshop was held on 28-30 June2006 and inaugurated by Prof Madya DrAzizan Aziz, Deputy Dean (Research andInnovation). The workshop was coordi-nated and given by Dr Kamar ShahAriffin.

Sebahagian ahli keluarga staf PPKBSM bergambar kenangan di Cameron Highlands

Mini sukan MIMATES

Feb 2006 - MIMATES dengan bantuandaripada exco sukannya telah berjayamengadakan mini sukan untukpelajar-pelajar PPKBSM yang telahdiadakan di Komplek Sukan KampusKejuruteraan. Antara acara sukan yangtelah dipertandingkan adalah kejohananbola jaring, bola tampar dan bola sepak.Pertandingan ini terbuka kepada semuapelajar PPKBSM bagi menyemai semangatkesukanan di samping menjalinkansilaturrahim antara para pelajar.

HARI SISWI (ladies@eng)

Mac 2006 - MIMATES dengan kerjasamaMajlis Perwakilan Pelajar telah Berjayamenganjurkan acara 'Ladies atEngineering' selama tiga hari bermula10-12 Mac yang lalu. Projek ini hanyadikhususkan untuk siswi-siswi KampusKejuruteraan, USM sahaja. Projek yamgmerupakan julung-julung kali diadakan inidilaksanakan selaras denganperkembangan sosial semasa yangmemperlihatkan peranan wanita dalamhampir kesemua bidang sama ada profe-sional mahu pun sebaliknya. Projek inidiilhamkan bagi membuka mata danminda para siswi untuk berhadapandengan arus perkembangan wanita masakini. Sumbangan daripada pelbagai pihaktermasuk agensi kerajaan, swasta danorang perseorangan turut menjayakanlagi perjalanan projek ini. Pelbagai aktivititermasuk sukan, sesi ceramah berkenaanpengurusan kewangan, peluang-peluangkerjaya dalam bidang kejuruteraandaripada tokoh-tokoh terkemuka danberpengalaman dan sebagainya telahberjaya menarik minat kesemua pesertayang hadir. Sehubungan dengan itu,projek ini diharapkan mampu menjadisumber aspirasi kepada peserta-pesertayang terlibat terutama setelah melangkahke alam pekerjaan.

Mahasiswa tahun satuturun sekolah

Mac 2006- Mahasiswa-mahasiswi tahunpertama dengan kerjasama MIMATEStelah berjaya menganjurkan satu khemahkerja untuk pelajar-pelajar tingkatanempat dan lima di dua buah sekolahdalam daerah Kerian. Kedua-dua sekolahyang telah dikenalpasti ini adalah Sek.Men. Seri Nibong Tebal dan Sek. Men.Lubuk Buntar. Aktiviti ini bertujuanmemperkenalkan pusat pengajian kepadapelajar-pelajar luar di samping memupuk

semangat pelajar-pelajar untuk terusberjaya dalam pelajaran. Program iniberkonsepkan bahawa setiap pelajarperlu megetahui minat masing-masingdan jenis kursus yang ditawarkan olehpihak universiti sebelum merekamenjejakkan kaki ke menara gading.Antara penceramah yang dijemput bagimenjayakan program ini adalahProf. Madya Dr. Radzuan Razali danDr. Zainovia Lockman. Secarakeseluruhannya aktiviti ini telah berjayamenarik minat hampir keseluruhanpeserta daripada kedua-dua sekolahberkenaan.

COPA DE MATERIA 2006

MAC 2006 - Copa De Materia 2006merupakan pertandingan bola sepak yangtelah dianjurkan olah PPKBSM dengankerjasama MIMATES dan Kelab IjazahTinggi. Kejohanan buat pertama kalinyaini muncul kerana demam piala duniaFIFA 2006 yang bakal berlangsung diJerman. Terdapat lima pasukan yangbertanding terdiri daripada pelajar-pelajartahun 1 hingga tahun 4 dan pasukan jem-putan khas yang dianggotai oleh gabun-gan pelajar ijazah tinggi dan staf PPKBSM.Kejuaraan telah dimenangi pasukan pela-jar-pelajar tahun 1 setelah menundukkanpasukan pelajar-pelajar tahun 3 di per -lawanan akhir. Piala pusingan COPA DEMATERIA disumbangkan oleh Prof MadyaDr. Azizan Aziz. Syabas diucapkan kepadasemua yang terlibat.

Kejohanan BadmintonBerpasukan Tertutup

PPKBSM Piala Profesor Dr.Hj. Zainal Arifin Hj. Ahmad

Pada 06 dan 07 Mei 2006, pelajarijazah tinggi PPKBSM telah menganjurkanKejohanan Badminton BerpasukanTertutup PPKBSM bagi merebut PialaProfesor Dr. Hj. Zainal Arifin Hj. Ahmadedisi kedua bertempat di dewan KomplekSukan, Kampus Kejuruteraan, USM.Kejohanan kali ini telah disertai olehpelajar tahun akhir Ijazah Sarjana Muda,

pelajar ijazah tinggi, staf akademik danbukan akademik PPKBSM. Sebanyak 7pasukan yang terdiri daripada 4 pasukanstaf, 2 pasukan ijazah tinggi serta 1 pasukanpelajar tahun akhir dan melibatkan seramai38 pemain telah menyertai pertandingan ini.Kejohanan ini adalah bertujuan untukmerapatkan hubungan silaturrahimdikalangan warga PPKBSM. Di samping itujuga ia bertujuan untuk memilih pemainberkaliber untuk menyertai pertandinganantara Jabatan.

Kejohanan edisi kedua ini telahmenawarkan hadiah keseluruhan bernilaiRM600.00 dan sehelai T-Shirt untuk setiappemain. Penaja utama kejohanan kali iniadalah Kulim Hi-Tech Sdn Bhd. Juarakejohanan mendapat piala pusingan, pialairingan, wang tunai dan hamper, tempatkedua hingga keempat mendapat pialairingan, wang tunai dan hamper, manakalatempat kelima hingga ketujuh mendapatwang tunai dan hamper.

Memandangkan pihak penganjur telahmengubah format pertandingan iaitu 2acara berpasangan dan 1 acaraperseorangan untuk edisi kedua ini, ianyatelah memberi impak yang besar kepadasetiap pasukan. Oleh kerana setiap pasukanmempunyai kekuatan yang seimbang, makapercaturan strategi menjadi pertaruhanterbaik untuk memenangi setiapperlawanan. Selain itu kekuatan mentalpemain ketika menghadapi pasukan lawanjuga menjadi penentu kemenangan bagipasukan. Komitmen setiap pasukan untukmemenangi perlawanan adalah amatmembanggakan dan ini merancakkan lagikejohanan edisi kedua ini.

Juara kejohanan edisi kedua ini telahdimenangi oleh Tangkis Eagle yangmenewaskan Goosen Power dengankiraan 2 - 1. Perebutan tempat ketiga dankeempat telah menyaksikan satu per-tarungan yang sengit dan mendebarkanantara pasukan Pelajar Tahun Akhir yang

bertemu dengan X'Calibur. Perlawananberkesudahan dengan kemenangan kepa-da Pelajar Tahun Akhir dengan kiraan 2 -1. Kejohanan kali ini juga berjaya men-cungkil bakat beberapa pemain bagiacara perseorangan yang julung kalidiadakan. Pihak penganjur telah memilihEn Razak Embi sebagai pemain terbaikkejohanan.

Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006 5

Sebahagian peserta Kejohanan Badminton Berpasukan Tertutup PPKBSM Piala ProfesorDr. Hj. Zainal Arifin Hj. Ahmad edisi kedua bergambar kenang-kenangan

Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006 6

KEJURUTERAAN BAHANTahun 1Chiew Yi LingFoo Yin Lin EvonKhoo Li JianKoay Hoay BinLai Chin WeiLau Yee ChauLim Saw SingLim Way FoongNg Chai YanYap Hui ChekTahun 2Boon Moon SeeChin Hui KitKenneth Kong Thean SoonKhor Gaik HooiLee Chen WenLee See YauLeong Wei ChengLim Shu LeeQuah Hock JinSasikumar A/L ArumugamTan Shen MeiYong Khai LingTahun 3Chen Peh SunChen Suet FernCh'ng Bee HweiCh'ng Lay EanCho Swee JenEng Siew TzeHo Jung KitJohn Paul Wang Sing SiewKhoor Siang TianKhor Siew ChengLee Chee SanLee Lit WeeLee Siew ShyuanLiew Kein FeeLoh Poh LinNor Syaidatul Akma Binti Mohd RasliOng Lay LimOng Yee WeiOoi Mey LingSiew Sok FunTan Kean BengTang EfeiWong Gar Shen

Tahun 4Chong Tun ShinFarah Anis Binti JasniGoh Chiou BeeHo Kar Fei Iruwanizudin Bin ShariffKoay Seong TakKok Yi SeongLee See ChinLim Eng ChuanLim Ling ChingLim Shwu ChooLim Soo WahLoo Huai SunLum Sek YewMohana Pria A/P Rainoo RajMohd Fadhli Bin AhmadMohd Nor Azahan Bin MohamadNeoh Eng SuanNg Li SianNg Mei ChanNg Soo BeeNoor Rehan Binti Zainal AbidinNoor Syamiza Binti Abdul MalikOng Ghee MeiPeter Chin Ting SoonRosmawati Binti AriffinSalwa Suhana Binti Jamil @ SuaidSoon Li LianTan Cheng HeeTan Hoay YoongTan Ruo YeeTiong King HockTung Wei NamWong Goon HengWong Pei PeiWong Yoong YoongWoon Wu SiangYap Siew LinYap Soo ChinZuraidah Binti Mohd Yasin

KEJURUTERAAN POLIMERTahun 1TIADATahun 2Phua Yi Jing Tuan Noraihan Azila Binti Tuan RahimTahun 3Ho Hui LingHo Kar Wei

Lee Suh SiaLim Cheng SeeLim Ee MayLim Kong FeiLim Yuk ThongLow Lai ChingMohana A/P SubramaniamRaa Khimi Bin ShuibTay Hong KangTay Min MinTahun AkhirChew Siou LianFoo Pei MingFua Tai YeeHor Khang YuanKu Mohd Syahril Bin Ku AhmadLam Seow FongLee See YinMas Idayu Binti RamliMohd Khairuddin Bin JailaniMohd Zharif Bin Ahmad ThirmizirNg Lay PingRosmaniza Binti Ibau NuiSiew Chai LingSuganthi A/P SelvathuraiSuganti A/P RamaradSyakila Binti Aziz @ Abdul AzizTay Lee Hwa

KEJURUTERAAN SUMBER MINERALTahun 1TIADATahun 2Chi Cheng Weng Kok Chee Weng Tahun 3TIADATahun AkhirAl Izudin Abdullah Azzad Hafiz Bin Abdul Latif Dg Harba Aini Binti Abd Halim Elvina Cassandra Yumbod Hariyanto Bin Salleh Haryati Binti Abdul Rahman Mohammad Ghazi Bin Ismail Nirwanshah Bin Nasharudin Nurul Izza Binti Ismail Ramai Anak Impak Sharifah Mona Binti Abd Aziz Abdullah Wan Zahiran Shah Bin Wan Mashor

NO DATE VISITOR INSTITUTION PURPOSE 1. 19.01.2006 - Mr. Mohammed E-Souni IMST, University of Applied

Science of Kiel, Germany Visiting SMMRE

2. 22.02.2006 - Mr. Anuar Fadzil Ahmad - Mr. Al Koedesch

Silterra Malaysia Discussion with Electronic Group

3. 06.03.2006 - Mr. Ian R. McGeie ITRI Ltd, St.Albans, London Research Collaboration with ITRI

4. 13.03.2006 - Mr. Stacy Goldsworthy

Metso Minerals, New Zealand

Collaboration with Mineral Resources Engineering Group

5. 15.03.2006 - Miss Jariyah Hashim AMD, Malaysia Visiting SMMRE - Prof Ariga Tadashi Tokai University, Japan AUN-SEED-Net Research

Collaboration 6. 24.03.2006 - Prof. Shahjahan Mridha UIA, Malaysia External examiner for Materials

Engineering Programme 7. 29.03.2006 - Prof. Jun-ichi Matsushita Tokai University, Japan AUN-SEED-Net Research

Collaboration 8. 06.04.2006 - Prof. Eric Grimsey WA School of Mines, Curtin

University External examiner for Mineral Resources engineering Programme

9. 25.05.2066 - Prof Mitsuyu Todo - Prof. Kunio Ishikawa

Kyushu University, Japan AUN-SEED-Net Research Collaboration

10. 29.05.2006 to

30.05.2006

- Prof.Dr Esah Hamzah UTM, Skudai, Malaysia External examiner for Mixed Mode Viva

Visitors to the SMMRE (January to June 2006)

SIJIL DEKAN PUSAT PENGAJIAN KEJURUTERAAN BAHAN DAN SUMBER MINERAL

SEMESTER II, SIDANG AKADEMIK 2005/06

EFFECT OF JET MILL'SOPERATIONAL

PARAMETER ON THEPRODUCT FINENESS

Samayamutthirian Palaniandy, KhairunAzizi Mohd Azizli , Ee Xun Hong, SyedFuad Saiyid Hashim, and Hashim Hussin

AbstractThe objective of grinding process is to

achieve maximum breakage withminimum energy consumption. As finegrinding is known for high energyconsumption, the need to optimize theprocess is very essential and all thepossible parameters must be consideredto improve the process. In this experi-mental work, fine grinding of silica wascarried out in fluidized bed opposed jetmill by varying the grinding pressure andclassifier speed and keeping the feed rateconstant. Four level two factor factorialdesigns were used to carry out this exper-imental work. Response surface plotswere used to optimize the fine grindingprocess. Ironically, the maximum break-age did not take place at maximum grind-ing pressure and classifier speed, but atthe optimum grinding pressure of 4 bar,and the classifier speed of 10000 rpm.

IntroductionThe stringent demand for ultra fine

particles in terms of its size, shape andsurface texture and the high energy con-sumption during the fine grinding processhave created an enormous interest in theresearch of fine grinding process.Recently, the quality of the product hasbeen the main criteria for the end userand more stringent specification has beenimposed by various parties in order toimprove the quality of the productespecially in pharmaceutical,

manufacturing and food1,2. Improvementin the grinding technologies has beenremarkably tremendous as the demand isnot only concern with the narrow sizedistribution but also tailor value addedmineral with specific requirement such asparticle shape and surface texture

specifically for certain application1.

Jet mill is one of the industrial millsthat have created the interest due to itscapability of producing ultra fine particle

with ultra high purity3,4. Otheradvantages of the jet mill are theextremely low wear rate in the mill partthat has created the interest to use thismill especially for abrasive materials,small footprint, high degree of fragmenta-tion, low noise and ability to grind heat

sensitive materials5. Currently jet mill isused to produce particle finer than 10 µmand it is vastly used in pharmaceutical,

mineral, agriculture, manufacturing and

food industry2. The demand for ultra fineparticle with high purity is emerging invarious industries as mentioned above asfiller, extender, pigment and coatingmaterias.The demand has created aninterest to optimize the fine grindingprocess in the jet mill. Careful control ofthe feed characteristics, design parameterand operational parameter is the key tooptimize the energy consumption and theoverall operating cost to produce ultra

fine high purity particles5. Many researchers have focused in

fluidized bed oppose jet mill and the workhas been focused on optimisation of theoperating parameters such as the feedrate, classifier speed and modelling of the

mill6,7. In fluidized bed jet mill, there isanother parameter that needs to beoptimised for efficient grinding process,i.e. the characteristics of the fluidizedbed. Henri et.al. and Laurence et. al.mentioned that the mass of the fluidizedbed is ranged from 200g up to 280gdepending on the types of the raw mate-

rial6,7. Thus is an important parameterthat needs to be focused to successfullyoptimize the fluidized bed as oppose to jetmill.

In this experimental work silica waschosen as the raw material for the finegrinding process because it has atremendous demand as functional andunfunctional fillers, coating agent,abrasive materials and extender in thepolymers, paint, coating, ceramics,composites, cement and also surfacetreatment industries.The amount of flu -idized bed in the grinding chamber wasmeasured and characterized in terms ofits particle size. The ground product wascharacterized in terms of its particle size.

ExperimentalThe experiment was performed in 100

AFG (Aeroplex-Flie bettGegenstrahlmuhle) of Alpine AG,Augsburg, Germany with an innerdiameter of the grinding chamber of100mm. On top of the grinding chamberwas a dynamic classifier Alpine 50 ATP(Alpine Turbo plex) that was installed witha ceramic classifier wheel of 50mmdiameter. Figure 1 shows the schematicdiagram of the 100 AFG. The performanceof the mill was controlled by varying the

grinding pressure and classifier speedwhile the feed rate was kept constant at 8kg/h. The externally driven classifier runswith a constant speed, independent of thegas phase concentration in the grindingchamber, as long as the classifier did notbecome overloaded. The grinding processwas performed for 20 minutes and thencrashed stop at the 30th minute to collectthe samples from the grinding chamberand the product bin. Laurence suggestedthat the 100 AFG will be in steady stateoperation condition within 15 minutes.The material ground in this experimentwas silica from Sibelco Malaysia. Thecharacteristics of silica are given inTable 1.

The experiment was designed usingthe two factor factorial design withoutreplication and the grinding pressure andthe classifier speed were varied in fourdifferent levels as shown in Table 2. Thesamples were labeled according to itsoperational parameter.

The particle size analysis of the feedand the ground product was done inFritsch Particle Sizer 'analysette 22'.

Results and Discussion The factorial design for this

experiment suggested 16 points eachcorresponding to the variation of theoperational parameter. Figure 2 shows theresponse surface plots of media particlesize (d50) of ground product with respectto grinding pressure and classifier speed.A rapid size reduction was obtained andthe median size of the ground productranged from 4.64 µm to 11.18 µm. Theparticle size of the ground product wascoarse at lower grinding pressure andhigher classifier speed. The minimum par-ticle size was obtained at grinding pres-sure of 5 bar and the classifier speed of10000 rpm. An interesting phenomenon

was the d10 and the d70 values of the

ground product. The d10 and the d50 val-ues at respective classifier speed did notshow significant changes as the grinding

Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006 7

Moisture content 0.89 % d50 15.66µm

SiO2 content 99.00 %

Table 1: Characteristics of silica.

Classifier Speed (rpm)

Grinding Pressure (bar)

5000 10000 15000 20000

3 JMS0503 JMS1003 JMS1503 JMS2003 4 JMS0504 JMS1004 JMS1504 JMS2004 5 JMS0505 JMS1005 JMS1505 JMS2005 6 JMS0506 JMS1006 JMS1506 JMS2006

Table 2: Two factor factorial design for experimental work

pressure increased but the d70 valueswas decreasing as the grinding pressureincreases as shown in Table 2. This phe-nomenon may be due to the classifieroperation that classify the particle accord-ing to their median size. Theoretically, themaximum comminution rate took placewhen the particle was accelerated at max-imum velocity, but at 8kg/h, maximumbreakage happened when the grindingpressure was 5 bar. In jet milling process,the generation of compressed air con-

sumed much energy and most of it wasused for particle breakage. Reduction inthe grinding pressure would reduced thecompress air consumption and overall itwould reduced the operating cost of thejet mill as lower energy was consumed formaximum particle breakage.

The fineness of the ground productwas very much dependent with the parti-cle size distribution, the mass and theheight of the fluidized bed in the grindingchamber. Optimization of these three

factors would improved the grindingefficiency in the jet mill by controlling thegrinding pressure and classifier speed.Higher grinding pressure and classifierspeed would not necessary produce finerparticles as shown in Figure 2. Figure 3shows the response surface plots of medi-an particle size (d50) of fluidized bed withrespect to grinding pressure and classifierspeed. The median particle size of the flu-idized bed ranged from 8.5 m to 21.8 m.The response surface showed a minimumparticle size when the grinding pressurewas around 5 bar and the classifier speed10000 rpm, where as at other parametersthe particle size was coarser. This phe-nomenon was due to the mass of the flu-idized bed in the grinding chamber andfeed rate. Although the feed rate was keptconstant in this experimental work butthere was optimum feed rate for therespective classifier speed and grindingpressure.

ConclusionOptimization of the fine grinding

process is essential as the processconsume very high energy. The mass offluidized bed or its height is an importantcriterion that needs to be optimizedbesides the grinding pressure and theclassifier speed. The optimum classifierspeed and grinding pressure at feed rateof 8 kg/h were 10000 rpm and 5 barrespectively.

AcknowledgementThe authors wish to gratefully

acknowledge Universiti Sains Malaysiaand Ministry of Science, Technology andEnvironment Malaysia for granting theresearch fund under fundamental grantno. 6070004 for this research project.

References 1.Mostafa Nakach, Jean-Rene

Authelin, Alain Chamayou and JohnDodds. (2004). International Journal ofMineral Processing. 74S. S173-S181.

2.Benz, M. Herold H. and Ulfik B.(1996) Performance of a fluidized bed jetmill as a function of oiperatingparameters. International Journal ofMineral Processing. 44-45. 507-519.

3.Kolacz J. (2004) Process efficiencyaspects for jet mill plant operation.Mineral Engineering. 17. 1293-1296.

4.Alfano, G. Saba P. and Surracco M.(1996). Development of a new jet mil forvery fine mineral grinding. InternationalJournal of Mineral Processing. 44-45.327-336.

5.Lynch A.J., 1979; Mineral Crushingand Grinding Circuits - Their Simulation,Optimisation, Design and Control, ElsevierScientific Publishing Company

6. Berthiaux, H. and Dodds J. (1999).Modelling fine grinding in a fluidized bed

8Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006

Nozels

Grinding Chamber

Classifying Chamber To cyclone

Classifier

20 cm

Optimum level of Fluidized Bed

Figure 1: Schematic diagram of 100 AFG

d50

Figure 2: Response surface plots of media particle size (d50) of ground product withrespect to grinding pressure and classifier speed.

d50

Figure 3: Response surface plots of median particle size (d50) of fluidized bed withrespects to grinding pressure and classifier speed.

opposed jet mill. Part 1: Batch grindingkinetics. Powder Technology. 106. 78-87.

7. Laurence Godet-Morand, AlainChamayou and John Dodds. (2002) talcgrinding in an oppose air jet mill: start-up,product quality and production rateoptimisation. Powder Technology. 128.306-313

EFFECTS OF HEAT AGEINGON TEAR STRENGTH ANDCYCLIC CRACK GROWTHBEHAVIOUR OF UNFILLEDNATURAL RUBBER VUL-CANISATE

A.R. Azura, A.H. Muhr, 2 and A.G.Thomas32TARRC, Hertford, UK3Queen Mary, University of London, UK

AbstractWhen natural rubber (NR) is aged in air atelevated temperatures its strengthproperties are diminished. The effects ofaccelerated ageing on strength propertieswere investigated for unfilled NR withefficient vulcanisation (EV), conventionalsulphur vulcanisation (CV) tested foraerobic and anaerobic ageing at 100°C.The strength properties were measuredusing fracture mechanics approach toinvestigate the intrinsic materialsproperties. The crack growthmeasurements were carried out usingtrouser test pieces for the tear strength orcatastrophic tearing and tensile strip testpiece for cyclic crack growth tests. Resultsshowed a reduction of catastrophictearing energy and crack growth rate withlonger time of ageing for both curingsystems.

INTRODUCTION Thermo-oxidative ageing of natural

rubber (NR) is strongly affected by choiceof vulcanisation systems. It is reported inthe literature that an efficiently curedvulcanisation (EV) has a great thermalstability due to the predominantlymonosulfidic crosslinks in the network[Chapman & Poter 1988]. The majoradvantage of rubber vulcanised with EVsystems is the better resistance tothermo-oxidative ageing. Forconventionally cured vulcanisation (CV)with di- and poly-sulfidic crosslinks, whichare claimed to have less thermal stability[Porter, 1968]. It has been reported thatthe advantages of CV systems comparedwith EV systems are better physicalproperties such as tensile strength,modulus and elongation at break[Batemann et al, 1963].

The loss in physical properties,associated with ageing processes, is

normally caused by chain scission,crosslinking or some form of chemicalalteration of the polymer chains [Buist,1956]. This leads to the loss of physicalproperties. One possible mechanism forthe change in strength is a diminishedcapability of the aged material to undergostress-induced crystallisation, aphenomenon that is known to beresponsible for the excellent strengthproperties of NR [Gee, 1947; Flory,Rabjohn and Schaffer, 1949]. Barker[1990] suggested that at highageing temperatures, network breakdown, leading to loss of strength, tend-ed to have the dominant influence.

The strength of elastomers can bemeasured in several ways, such as tensilestrength, tear strength, fatigue resistanceand abrasion resistance. It was shown forelastomers that the tearing energy couldbe related to the tensile strength[Thomas, 1955; Greensmith, 1960], andthat the crack propagation characteristicsof the material governed its tensilestrength [Thomas, 1966] and fatigueresistance [Gent, Lindley and Thomas,1964]. Thus the most fundamentalprocess, determining all these different

strength properties, is the resistance tocrack propagation. The crack growth inelastomers had been successfullydescribed utilising a fracture mechanicsapproach based on tearing energy con-cept [Lake and Thomas, 1988]. In thispaper, the effects of accelerated ageingon strength properties ware investigatedfor unfilled NR with different curing sys-tems that has been subjected to ageing at100°C.

Materials & ExperimentalStandard Malaysian Rubber grade NR withMooney viscosity stabilized to 60(SMR CV60) was chosen for its cleanliness andgood batch-to-batch reproducibility ofviscosity. In order to avoid anyinconsistencies within and betweencompounds, the same bale of rubber wasused throughout the investigation. Table1 gives the formulations used for theinvestigations. Three vulcanisation

systems were used: efficient vulcanisation(EV) and conventional sulphurvulcanisation (CV).

Catastrophic tearing energyCatastrophic tearing energy wasdetermined using trouser test pieces ofdimensions 100 mm in length, 50 mmwidth and of 0.5 mm thickness, cut to adepth of 40.5 mm in the direction oflength. It is important that the last 1 mmof the cut was made using a razor blade.Catastrophic tearing energy (Tc) usingtrouser test pieces were calculated inaccordance with ASTM D624, using medi -an force, F required to propagate the cutby tearing acting in a direction substan-tially in the plane of cut divided by thethickness of the rubber sheet :

The test was carried out using an Instron4301 machine at rate of grip separation of100 10 mm/min resulting in a steadilyincreasing traction force was applied untilthe test piece fractured. The forcethroughout the tearing process was

recorded using a chart plotter. The resultsshown are the averages of 5 differentsamples.

Cyclic crack growth Tensile strips approximately 120 mmlength, 25 mm width and of 0.5 mmthickness were cut from vulcanised sheetsboth unaged and aged at 100°C. Thestrain energy density, W at a specificstrain was obtained from the area under astress versus strain curve up to thatstrain. After stress-strain measurementsfor the strips had been obtained, the testpiece was then set up to the requiredmaximum extension and a crack about0.5 mm length was made in the centre ofone edge with a razor blade. Samplesthen were cycled using TARRC's in-housefatigue machine from a fully relaxedcondition to a maximum constantextension.

During the test, the crack length c, was

9Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006

Ingredient*

efficient vulcanisation (EV ) conventional vulcanisation (CV)

SMR CV60 100 100 Zinc oxide 5 5 Sulphur 0.5 2.0 CBS** 5 0.6 Dicumyl peroxide - - Cure time, min @150oC 36 22 Physical crosslink density, unaged mol/m3

151

139

Physical crosslink density, aged 3d@100oC, mol/m3

148

155

Crosslink type Predominantly monosulphide

Predominantly Polysulphide

Table 1: Vulcanisate details

* numbers give parts per hundred of rubber** cyclohexylbenzothiazole-2-sulphenamide

Tc = tF

(Equation 1)

measured with a travelling microscopefitted with an eyepiece scale, the stripbeing slightly strained during the cracklength measurement to facilitateobservation. Readings were taken atintervals of n cycles corresponding to a10-30% increase in crack length. The rateof growth per cycle dc/dn was determinedfrom the difference in crack lengthdivided by the number of cycles betweentwo readings. The tearing energy for thisperiod was calculated from the average ofthe initial and final crack lengths duringthis increment of crack growth and thestrain energy density at the maximumstrain of the cycle using equation

(equation 2)

The test is stopped when the cut reaches20% of the test pieces width, as theoryassumes this ratio to be small. The crackgrowth per cycle, dc/dn, was then plottedas a function of tearing energy on adouble logarithm plot.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Catastrophic tearing energy, TcThe tear behaviour of elastomers is such

that at a certain severity of thedeformation a tear or crack will suddenlyincrease in length by a readily visibleamount perhaps growing right across thetest piece. The magnitude of the load ordeformation required to produce thiscatastrophic tearing depends upon thenature of the material and also on thetype of test piece used. However, if theresults are expressed in terms of tearingenergy then the onset of the catastrophictearing can be defined by the criticaltearing energy value Tc, which isindependent of the form of test pieceused [Rivlin and Thomas, 1953].

The tearing energy of an unfilledelastomer depends upon the nature ofthe molecular backbone, the molar massof the polymer and the concentration andthe nature of the crosslinks. Differentcuring systems can produce widelydifferent strengths for the same polymerbackbone, even when compared at a sim-ilar degree of crosslinking [Gee, 1947].Figure 1 shows how the catastrophictearing energy Tc as a function of ageingtime for conventionally cured NR andefficiently cured NR aged aerobically andanaerobically at 100°C. The Tc for theefficiently cured vulcanisates aged underanaerobic conditions for 3 days wasreduced by about 35% when compared tothe unaged sample. Increasing the ageingperiod from 3 to 6 days had little furthereffect. For aerobically aged vulcanisate,Tc was reduced by 34% after ageing for 3days and reduced by 48% after 6 days.

For a conventionally cured vulcanisate

aged anerobically at 100°C, Tc fell by15% after a 3 days period. It was furtherreduced by 15% after the next 3 days.For aerobic ageing, Tc for conventionallycured vulcanisates fell by 65% afterageing 3 days and further reduced byanother 24% after the next 3 days. Thelarger reduction in Tc for theconventionally cured system whencompared with efficiently cured systemprobably relates to a larger amounts ofnew crosslinks, scission of the main chainand crosslinks and chemical modificationto the main chain, all of which arebelieved to occur in conventionally curedNR during oxidative ageing [Cunneen,1968]. Although efficiently cured NRshowed a better heat ageing resistance,the initial strength was inferior whencompared to the conventionally cured NR[Baker, 1988].

Figure 2 shows the percentageretention of Tc after anaerobic andaerobic ageing at 100°C forconventionally cured NR and efficientlycured NR. Results show that both systemsretain about 75% of Tc after ageing

anaerobically for 6 days. During the earlystages of ageing, a conventionally curedNR retained slightly more Tc whencompared to an efficiently cured NR. Foraerobic ageing, efficiently cured NRretained about 50% of Tc after ageingwhile conventionally cured NR test pieceslost almost 90% of their original Tc. Forthe conventional cured NR, a lower reten-tion of Tc was observed. Ageing at lowertemperatures gave a slightly higherretention of Tc but still with drastic loss oftheir original strength. This systemcontains predominantly poly-sulphidecrosslinks which are thermally unstableand undergo a number of competingreactions (crosslink shortening, crosslinkdestruction and main chain modification)[Morrison, 1984; Chapman and Porter,1988] resulting in lower strength afterageing. A smooth tearing similar to that

for a non-crystallising rubber wasobserved for conventional cured NR afterageing 6 days at 100°C. This suggeststhat strain-induced crystallisation isinhibited after ageing for extendedperiods at 100°C.Cyclic crack growthThe tearing energy approach has provedto be successful in treating the fracture ofelastomers [Gent, Lindley and Thomas,1964]. However, the tearing testspresented before only estimate the

strength of elastomer under a singleloading cycle producing rapid crackgrowth. For the majority of elastomericcomponents, failure is not usually due tolarge static load resulting in catastrophicfailure but to the smaller cyclic fatigueloads. Cyclic crack growth behaviour isthe most appropriate approach to predictthe service life of components.Relationship between the incrementalcrack growth rate per cycle dc/dn andtearing energy T have been referred toas the "crack growth characteristics",since it represents the basic tearing

property of the vulcanisates [Lake andLindley, 1964].

The effect of accelerated ageing on thecyclic crack growth has been investigatedfor both aerobic and anaerobic ageing forefficiently cured NR and conventionallycured NR. Samples were aged for 3 and 6days at 100°C. The crack growth ratedc/dn as function of tearing energy, T isgiven in figures 3 and 4. In general,results for different periods of ageingshowed that for a given tearing energy,the rate of crack growth per cycle wasincreased after aerobic ageing. Duringanaerobic ageing, the efficiently cured NRshowed little change in properties withageing whilst the conventionally cured NRshowed an initial increase in the crackgrowth rate at a given tearing energyduring ageing.

10Buletin Enjinier, JUN 2006

WcKT )(2 λ=

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

unaged 3 days(anaerobic)

6 days(anaerobic)

3 days(aerobic)

6 days(aerobic)

Aged time / days

Tc

/ kJm

-2

Conventionally cured NR

Efficiently cured NR

Figure 1: Tc as function of ageing time forNR vulcanisates aged aerobically and anaer-obically at 100°C.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7Ageing days at 100°C

% T

c re

tain

ed

Conventionally cured NR

Efficiently cured NR

anaerobic

aerobic

aerobic

Figure 2: Percentage retention of Tc asfunction of ageing time for NR vulcanisatesaged aerobically and anaerobically at100°C.

With the efficiently cured material, thepresence of oxygen during ageing clearlyplays a significant role in the ageingprocess. The tearing energy required to

cause a crack to grow at 1.0 x10-4 mmper cycle was decreased by a factor of 1.6during ageing for 3 days and by a factor3.2 during ageing for 6 days. This is inmarked contrast to the anaerobic ageingwhich appears to have virtually no effecton cyclic crack growth behaviour.

Figure 4 shows the tearing energy, forthe conventional cured NR vulcanisate, ata crack growth rate of 1.0 x10-4 mm percycle decreased by a factor 3.8 afterageing 3 days and by a factor about 10after ageing for 6 days aerobically whencompared with the unaged sample. Forconventionally cured NR, anaerobicageing did initially produce an increase inthe crack growth rate. However, itappears that increasing the ageing periodfrom 3 to 6 days has little further effecton the crack growth properties unlike thesample aged under aerobic conditions.The effects of ageing on the crack growthproperties of the efficiently curedcompound were not as pronounced asthat for the conventionally cured NR. Thismay be due to the inhibition of straincrystallisation in the conventionally curedcompound as a result of ageing, causedby chain modification [Bristow and Tiller,1970].

The effects are more significant forsamples aged 6 days at 100°C.This ispossibly due to the fact thatconventionally cured systems containpredominantly poly-sulphide crosslinkswhich are thermally unstable andundergo a number of competing reactions(crosslinks shortening, crosslinksdestruction, main chain modification)

[Morrison, 1984; Chapman and Porter,1988] and the inhibited of strain inducedcrystallisation.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONSMeasuring the strength and cyclic crackgrowth behaviour of the test pieces,before and after ageing gives a goodmeasured of the amount of ageing thathas occurred. Conventionally cured NRshows higher initial strength compared toefficiently cured NR. However, afteraerobic ageing at up to 6 days at 100°C,conventionally cured NR lost almost 90%of it strength. The high strength ofconventionally cured NR is believed todepend critically upon its ability tocrystallise on stretching. The decrease incatastrophic tearing energy Tc forconventionally cured NR was about 3times greater after aerobic ageing for 6days at 100°C when compared to that ofefficiently cured NR aged for the sameconditions. The effect of anaerobic ageingwas not as pronounced as that of aerobicageing.

For both conventionally cured NR andefficiently cured NR, the tearing energyrequired to achieve a given crack growthrate decreased with longer time of ageingwhen aged aerobically. Results show thatsamples aged for 6 days at 100°C for theconventionally cured NR exhibited highercrack growth rate when compared to theefficiently cured NR. For samples agedanaerobically, a different crack growthbehaviour was observed for compoundswith different curing systems, withefficiently cured NR showing little or noeffect after anaerobic ageing.

References1. Baker, C.S.L., "Non-sulphurvulcanisation," in Roberts, A.D., (ed.),Natural Rubber and Technology, OxfordUniversity Press, (1988), 457.2. Barker, L.R., (1990), "Acceleratedlong-term ageing of natural rubbervulcanisates. Part 2: Results from age-ing tests at 40°C," Journal NaturalRubber Research, 5, 4, 266.3. Bateman, L., Cunneen, J.I., Moore,C.G., Mullins, L. and Thomas, A.G.,(1963), "Correlation of vulcanisatestructure and properties," in Bateman,L., (ed.), The Chemistry and Physics ofRubber-like Substances, Mclaren andSons Ltd., Chapter 19, 715.4. Bristow, G.M. and Tiller, R.F., (1970),"Correlation of structure and propertiesof natural rubber vulcanisates,"Kautshuck Gummi Kunstsoffe, 23,2, 55.5. Buist, J.M., (1956), Ageing and

weathering of rubber, I.R.I, Monograph,Heffer, London, 9.6. Chapman, A.V. and Porter, M., (1988),

"Sulphur vulcanisation chemistry," inRoberts, A.D., (ed.), Natural Rubber andTechnology, Oxford University Press,Chapter 12, 513.7. Cunneen, J.I., (1968), "Oxidative agingof natural rubber," Rubber Chemistry andTechnology, 41, 1, 182.8. Flory, P.J, Rabjohn, N. and Schaffer,M.C., (1949), "Dependence of tensilestrength of vulcanised rubber on degreeof crosslinking," Journal Polymer Science,4, 435.9. Gee, G., (1947), "Tensile strength ofpure gum natural rubber compounds,"Journal Polymer Science, 2, 451.10. Gent, A.N., Thomas, A.G. and Lindley,P.B., (1964), "Cut growth and fatigue ofrubbers. Part I: The relationship betweencut growth and fatigue," Journal ofApplied Polymer Science, 8, 45511. Greensmith, H.W., (1960), "Ruptureof rubber. Part 8: Comparisons of tear andtensile rupture measurements," JournalApplied Polymer Science, 3, 183.12. Lake, G.J. and Lindley, P.B., (1964),"Cut growth and fatigue of rubbers. PartII: Experiments on a non-crystallisingrubber," Journal Applied Polymer Science,8, 707.13. Lake, G.J. and Thomas, A.G., (1988),"Strength properties of rubbers," inRoberts, A.D., (ed.), Natural Rubber andTechnology, Oxford University Press,Chapter 15, 73114. Lake, G.J., Lindley, P.B. and Thomas,A.G., (1969), "Fracture mechanics ofrubber," Proceeding Second InternationalConference on Fracture, Brighton,Chapman and Hall, London, 493.15. Morrison, N.J., (1984), "The reactionsof crosslinks precursors in natural rubber,"Rubber Chemistry and Technology,57,1,86.

Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006 11

1.0E-05

1.0E-04

1.0E-03

1.0E-02

0.1 1 10T / kJm-2

dc/

dn/ m

m/c

ycle

s

Unaged

3 days (aerobic)

6 days (aerobic)

3 days (anaerobic)

1.0E-05

1.0E-04

1.0E-03

1.0E-02

1.0E-01

0.1 1 10

T / kJm- 2

dc/

dn /

mm

/cyc

les

Unaged

3 days (aerobic)

6 days (aerobic)

3 days (anaerobic)

6 days (anaerobic)

Figure 3 and figure 4: Crack growth rate (dc/dn) as function of tearing energy (T) forefficiently cured NR and conventionally cured NR aged aerobically and anaerobically at100°C.

16. Porter, M., (1968), "The chemistry ofthe sulfur vulcanisation of natural rubber,"In Tobolsky, A.V., (ed), Chemistry ofSulphides, Interscience Publishers, NewYork, 16517. Rivlin, R.S. and Thomas, A.G., (1953),"Rupture of rubber. Part I: Characteristicenergy for tearing," Journal PolymerScience, 10, 291.18. Thomas, A.G., (1955), "Rupture ofrubber. Part 2. The strain concentration atan incision," Journal Polymer Science, 18,177.19. Thomas, A.G., (1966), "Fracture ofrubber," Second International Conferenceon Fracture, Brighton, 134.

Preparation of AluminaFibre from Sol Gel

Isopropoxide Systemand its Application in

Aluminium MatrixComposite

Hasmaliza, M., Zainal, A.A., Ahmad Fauzi,M.N.e-mail : hasmaliza@eng.usm.my

AbstractAlumina fibre is one of the ceramic fibres,which offer good properties especially inhigh temperature applications. In thisstudy, alumina fibre using aluminumisopropoxide and 0.5M aluminum nitratenonahydrate aquoes sol as startingmaterial was succesfully produce througha new method, modified from a newmethod for producing mullite fibre. Theformation of fibre was made usingin-house built spinnerets. The spinned gelfibre were dried and then calcined atdifferent temperatures ranging from500ºC to 1200ºC. The gel and calcinedfibre were characterized using X-RayDiffraction (XRD) and Scanning ElectronMicroscopy (SEM). XRD shows thatincreasing in calcination temperaturechanges the phases formed, i.efrom -alumina to the stable -alumina. SEMshowed flexible and almost uniform indiameter of the fibres. Alumina fibresproduced were then applied in aluminiummatrix composite. It also shows thatfibres produced have the tendency toincrease the mechanical property of MMCand gave similar properties compare toMMC using commercial fibres.

Introduction.Alumina fibres have good temperatureresistance due to its physical and

chemical properties1,2,3. Of more than15 distinct crystallographic phases ofalumina, the and forms find wide

applications due to their distinctproperties. The high specific surface areof -alumina are enable its use as a cata-lyst support whereas thepolycrystalline -phase finds applications

as a structural ceramics4. Among of theways to produce alumina fibre, sol-gelmethod has been used for the synthesisof ceramic fibres precursor sincerefractory oxide have extremely highmelting points as well as the highviscosity of melts. Some advantages ofthe sol-gel method over the conventionalmelting method are better homogeneityand purity from raw material, lowerpreparation temperature which saveenergy cost and the ability to form unique

composition5. Ceramic fibres haveincreasing applications for thereinforcement of metals and ceramics.Light-metal composites reinforced withceramic particles and short fibres areincreasingly being introduced in structuralapplications because they can offeradvantageous properties at competitiveprice. It is generally agreed that aluminafibres is an ideal reinforcing material foraluminium and its alloy, since the metaland fibres are physically and chemically

compatible6. This paper presents aninexpensive sol gel route to producedquality alumina fibres using appropriateratio of aluminium isopropoxide (ALP) toaluminium nitrate nonahydrate (ALN) andits determined the properties of thealuminum matrix composite reinforcedsynthesized alumina fibres compared tothe composite system reinforcedcommercial alumina fibres.

Materials and MethodAluminum Isopropoxide, ALP (Al (OPr3),

Merck 98% and aluminium nitratenanohydrate, ALN (Al (NO3)3. 9H2O,

R&M Chemical, 98%) were used as astarting materials at molar ratio,aluminium isopropoxide (ALP): 0.5Maluminium nitrate nonahydrate (ALN) =3.Synthesized sol was then evaporate usingrotating evaporator to raise up the viscos-ity then spin using in-house spinneretdrum and the spun fibre were calcinedone hour at temperature ranging fro 500°C to 1200 °C in air with 5 °C/min heat-ing rate. The oxide fibres characterizedusing XRD and SEM to observe the phasetransformation and the properties of thefibres. Fibres (namely Alkoxide) were thenapplied in aluminium matrix composite toobserve the tendency and their effectcompare to MMC with commercial alumi-na fibre, Almax (Mitsui Mining Co. Ltd,Japan) and Saffil (Saffil, USA). The Al andAl2O3 fibre at weight % ratio 90:10, were

mixed via wet blending technique for 10hours,filtered and dried, then pressed at210 MPa. Samples were sintered at 600°C

for 7 hours in normal atmosphere with10°C/min heating rate. Characterizationsdone on MMC were hardness (Vickers)and three bending test to observe theyield strength of the composite

Result and DiscussionsXRD results were summerized in Table 1,its shown the tranformation of the thealpha phase was clearly observed at

1200°C. According to Hyuk_Joon et al7,the complete of the most stable phase,alpha ( ) occurs at about 1200°C.Thischaracterization (XRD) were done tomake sure that the alpha phase weredominantly occured in fibres producedwhich is important for application incomposite, because, according to Wilson

and Visser8, pollycrystalline alumina fibrewith higher phase content which is freefrom glassy phase were chemically stable.Thus, give good stablization in corrosionatmosphere, low reactivity with metalmatrix such as aluminum and lessinteraction to varieties of ceramic matrix.

SEM analysis (Figure 1) shows that thefibre calcined have the flexible propertyand uniform diameter. The flexibility was

an important characteristic needed inceramic fibre reinforcement, so thatpreforms can be made by weaving orother related technologies. SEM analysisalso shows that the fibre have a uniformdiameter at range of 10 - 20 um.

According to Bunsell and Berger9, fibreswith diameters in the range of 10 - 20 umare candidates as reinforcement. A lowerlimit in fibres diameter is around 1 m asat this diameter the fibre become a healthhazard, if inhaled, as they block thealveolar structure of the lungs.

Analysis on the composite fabricatedshows that the yield strength (Figure 2) ofthe composite reinforced Alkoxide hashighest value but lower then the yieldstrength for pure aluminium (84.93 MPa).

For the hardness analysis (Figure 3), theresults shows that the composite

Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006 12

Calcinations temperature (°C)

phase

500 am 700 γ + δ 900 δ + θ 1100 α 1200 α

Table 1: Transformation phase of alumi-na fibre

Note : am= amorphous,= gamma alumina, ICDD: 10-425= delta alumina, ICDD:16-394= theta alumina, ICDD:11-517= alpha alumina, ICDD: 10-173

reinforced Akoxide gave the lowest valuecompared to the composite reinforcedcommercial fibre therefore the value isnot too much different. However thevalue still higher than the hardness forpure aluminium (40.1 HVN). Regarding to

Pangounis and Lindroos10, generally, theaddition of ceramic reinforcement candecrease the strength of the composite.It was supported by Martinez and co-

workers11 which reported, addition of thealumina fibre resulted in a poor contactbetween metal particles, reducing the

possibility that diffusion bonding occursbetween them and so the materialbehaves in a very brittle manner becauseparticle/alumina decohesion occurs.

ConclusionsAlumina fibres produced fromisopropoxide system through sol-gelmethod were produced using ALP-0.5MALN molar ratio=3. The fibres have theproperties which is suitable for thecomposite applications. The application ofthe fibre in aluminum matrix compositegave better mechanical propertiescompared to composite reinforcedcommercial alumina fibres where theyield strength was increase and thehardness is not too much different.These, shows that alumina fibressynthesized were having the tendency toapply in MMC and increase themechanical properties.

AcknowledgementThe authors would like to express theirthanks to Malaysian Ministry of Science,Technology & Innovation for funding thisproject under Intensification of Researchin Priority Area (IRPA) grant03-02-05-8003.

References1. Yogo, T. & Iwahara, H., 'SynthesisOf -Alumina Fibre From ModifiedAluminium Alkoxide Precursor', Journalof Material Science, 27 (1992), p 1499-1504.2. Vankatesh., R. & Ramanan, S.R., 'Effectof Organic Additives On The Properties OfSol-Gel Spun Alumina Fibres', Journal OfThe European Ceramic Society, 20(2000), p 2543-2549.3. Ramesh, S. et. al ,'Nanocrystalline -Alumina Synthesized BySonohydrolysis Of Alkoxide Precursor InThe Presence Of Organic Acids', JournalOf American Ceramic Society, Vol. 83, No1 (2000).4. Sivarajan, R. Elena, S., Barnel, C.,Rachman, C. & Aharon, G.,Nanocrystalline-Alumina Synthesized BySonohydrolisis Of Alkoxide Precursor InThe Presence Of Organic Acids: StructureDan Morphological Proprerties, Journal OfAm. Cer. Soc., vol.83, no 1 (2000)5. J.D Mc Kenzie, 'Glasses From Melts and

Glasses from Gels, A Comparison',Journal Of Non-Crystalline Solid, 48(1982), p 1-10.6. Akbulut, H. & Durman, M., (1999),Temperature dependent strength analysisof short fibre reinforced Al-Si metal matrixcomposites, Materials Science andEngineering, A262, p 214-216.7. Hyuk-Joon Youn et. al, 'LowTemperature Formation Of -Alumina ByDoping Of An Alumina Sol', Journal OfColloid & Interface Sc. 211, (1999), p110-113.8. Wilson, D.M. & Visser, L.R., (2001),High performance oxide fiber fort metaldan ceramic composites, Composite: PartA, 32, p 1143-1153.9. Bunsell, A.R. & Berger, M.H., (2000),Fine ceramic fibres, Journal of EuropeanCeramic Society, 20, p 2249-2260.10. Pangounis, E. & Lindross, V. K,(1998), "Processing and properties ofparticulate reinforced steel matrix com-posites", Materials Science andEnginering, A246 (1998), p 211-23411. Martinez-Flores, E., Negrete, J. &Torres V. G. (2003), Structure andProperties of Zn-Al-Cu Alloy Reinforcedwith Alumina Particles, Materials andDesign, Vol. 24: p 281-286.

13Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006

Figure 1: SEM shows the flexible and almost uniform diameter of the fibre calcined

at 1200 oC.

Figure 2: Yield strength value obtainedfor the composite reinforced differentfibre

Figure 3: Hardness obtained for thecomposite reinforced different fibre

She was driven to a beautiful garden

She was driven to a beautiful gardenHad a stroll side by side

with flowers and greeneriesthe wistful voice beside

the world was felt wonderfulthen she thought,

…"this is a new world"… "this is a newworld"…

Reached the far endShe turned left and right

Then all aroundShe was barely alone

Her thought began unstableWhere am I…

…No fixity of purpose…No anchor of righteousness

Sat painfully under the old treeMidnight came

As she rose with miserable wretchHer boots tramped slowly under the

moonlight

"There it grew the old worn love""And there too, an invulnerable soul

was left"

She walked…Until the new day begun.

Koe-Shizuka

SEMBILAN PENSYARAHPPKBSM TERIMA

ANUGERAH SANGGARSANJUNG

13 Januari 2006 - Seramai 9 orangpensyarah Pusat Pengajian KejuruteraanBahan & Sumber Mineral (PPKBSM) telahmenerima Anugerah Sanggar Sanjung2005 yang telah diadakan di HotelEquatorial, Pulau Pinang.

"Anugerah Sanggar Sanjung 2005"merupakan satu majlis pengiktirafan USMuntuk staf yang telah mengharumkannama USM dengan mendapatkankajayaan yang cemerlang dalam aktiviti-aktiviti penyelidikan,akademik, kualiti dankreativiti sepanjang tahun 2005.

Antara penerima anugerah SanggarSanjung 2005 ialah Profesor HanafiIsmail, Profesor Radzali Othman, ProfesorZainal Arifin Ahmad, Prof. Madya Dr. LuayBakir Hussain, Prof. Madya Dr. Azizan Azizdan En. Ahmad Badri Ismail bagi kategoriProduk Penyelidikan.Manakala Dr.Zainovia Lockman, Dr. Ahmad AzminMohamad dan Dr. Cheong Kuan Yew pulapenerima anugerah bagi kategori pener-bitan.

Antara tetamu kehormat MalamSanggar Sanjung ialah Seri PadukaBaginda Yang Dipertuan Agong, TuankuSyed Sirajuddin Ibni Al-Marhum TuankuSyed Putra Jamalullail dan Seri PadukaBaginda Permaisuri Agong, TuankuFauziah Binti Al-Marhum Tengku AbdulRashid.

Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006 14

Pensyarah Pusat Pengajian Kejuruteraan Bahan & Sumber Mineral (PPKBSM) bersamapasukan penyelidiknya bergambar kenangan di malam Anugerah Sanggar Sanjung

2005 yang telah diadakan di Hotel Equatorial, Pulau Pinang.

Research Grants Recieved

No.

Title Sponsor Researcher Amount (RM)

1. Preparation and characterization of high-K dielectric material of CCTO

Nippon Sheet Glass Dr. Sabar Derita Hutagalung 26110.00

2. Production of raw material for ceramic and glass industries through processing of pegmatite ore.

Short term grant USM

Dr. Hashim Hussin 16315.00

3. Development of SiO2 thin film on single crystal sic by anodic oxidation

Short term grant USM

Dr. Cheong Kuan Yew 17318.00

4. Hydro-electrometallurgical extraction of zinc from zinc bearing industrial waste

Short term grant USM

Dr. Norlia Baharun 18338.32

5. Polymer composite for thermal interface material. Intel Assoc. Prof. Azizan Aziz 60000.00 6. The study of the tin based lead free solder alloy

composition and its effect on surface finish. Intel Assoc. Prof. Luay Bakir Hussin 60000.00

7. Development of low temperature tenery solders system ranging from 600C to 800C.

Intel Assoc. Prof. Luay Bakir Hussin Mr. Ahmad Badri Ismail

49000.00

8. The influence of dopant on the properties of SnAgCu lead free solder.

Intel Mr. Ahmad Badri Ismail Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luay Bakir

Hussain

39500.00

9. Assessment of various oxide and mineral filler for epoxy substrate in order to improve rigidity and reduce CTE mismatch.

Intel Dr. Hazizan b. Md Akil 33000.00

10. Conductive polymer composite for electronic packaging.

Intel Dr. Mariatti Jaafar @ Mustapha 37000.00

11. Preparation and study of low CTE substrate materials in electronic packaging.

Intel Dr. Mariatti Jaafar @ Mustapha 30000.00

12 Barmee VSI Crushing Technology Metso Minerals New Zealand

AssocProf Khairun Azizi Mohd Azizli Dr. Hashim Hussin

Dr. Syed Fuad Saiyid Hashim Mr. Samayamutthirian Palaniandy

28328.18

New Staff 2006Lecturer

Dr. SrimalaSreekantan

Dr. ZulkifliAhmad

JERA-Ash: Versatile RawMaterial For Glasses,Glazes And Polymers(Won Bronze Medal

at MTE 2006)

Researchers:Prof. Radzali OthmanDr. Hasmaliza MohamadHabsah HalimanHamisah IsmailErvina Efzan Mohd NoorFaridah Mohd YusufMahizan Hijaz Mohammad

Introduction.Paddy stalks posed numerousenvironmental problems all over the worldafter they are harvested. The problemsinclude safety hazards when open burningof this waste material is carried out.Producing JERA-Ash from paddy stalks isakin to "turning waste into gold".

What is new about the material?The novelty of JERA-Ash lies in the factthat this product which is resourced fromagricultural waste materials, especiallyjerami, can be produced in various gradethat can be tailored to specific end-uses inthe glass, ceramics and polymerindustries. The various grades areengineered through a novel proprietraryprocess of pre-treatment followed byeither a soft or hard firing process.

What is so special about theJERA-Ash?Much can be said about rice husks butthere has never similar research work onjerami (also from the paddy plants). Theash that is produced has numerousattractive properties such as lightness,porosity and diversity in morphologicalforms. These attributes render the ashsuitable for the intended applicationsmind.

What are the potential applicationsof JERA-Ash?It can be used as the major component inthe production of specialty glasses.It can be used in glaze formulations tocoat ceramic materials and the variouslytreated products can affect exotic coloursand shades.It can be incorporated as fillers inpolymers and rubbers which are lighterbut still retaining its stiffness as comparedto conventional fillers.

What are economic and scientificplus factors?Cheap and abundant waste raw materialseasily resourced in Malaysia and withinASEAN.

Tangible products engineered fromscientific principles in glass, glaze,polymer and chemicals technology.

From Various RubberWastes into

MultiFunctional Adhesive(MFA): A Novel Recycling

Process(Won Silver Medal

at MTE 2006)

Researchers: Prof. Hanafi IsmailDr Azura Ab. RashidSupri

Introduction.One of the various problems whichmankind faces as it enters into the 21stcentury is the problem of waste disposalmanagement. Since polymeric materialsdo not decompose easily, disposal ofwaste polymers is a seriousenvironmental problem. Scrap rubbersare made up of rubber that does not meetprocessing and product specifications,leftover rubber from manufacturingactivities and also old and defectiverubber products such as gloves,catheters, tubes, old tyres etc. Presently,the amount of discarded tyres reaches 10million/year worldwide. In Malaysia, theoutput of rubber gloves in 2003 was13.05 billion pairs, catheters 84.75 millionunits and inner tubes 13.05 million units.With the development of rubber industry,a lot of waste rubber is produced not onlyin Malaysia but all over the world everyyear.

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION1. To reduce the amount of variousrubber wastes such as tyres, gloves,catheters, tubes, etc by recycle them intoMultiFunctional Adhesive.2. Help Malaysian government and othercountries to solve the environmentalproblem of disposal various rubber wastesthrough the recycling of various rubberwastes into valuable products.3. To recycle rubber wastes using a novelprocess and low cost.

THE MAJOR ADVANTAGES OF THEINVENTION1. Using the conventional rubberprocessing two roll mill at roomtemperature, novel process and low cost,various rubber wastes can be recycledand converted into MultiFunctionalAdhesive with the help of a new recyclingchemical, DeCrossCHEM.2. MultiFunctional Adhesive (MFA) is astrong contact adhesive speciallyformulated for bonding wood, PVC pipe,laminates, leather, cork, foam,polyurethane (PU), rubber, etc.3. advantages of MultiFunctional Adhesive(MFA) are:-

-easy to apply, Strong bonding - fast drying, Multipurpose-high water resistance - Multicolour, cheap

4. MultiFunctional Adhesive (MFA)can also be used to trap rat, fly, bird,etc.

15Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006

CERAMIC-METAL CUTTINGTOOL PRODUCED VIAFRICTION WELDING

(Won Gold Awardat ITEX 2006)

Researchers:Prof. Zainal Arifin AhmadAssoc. Prof. Luay Bakir HussainMohamad Zaky Noh

Currently most commercially cutting tipsare made from tungsten carbide, which isproduced via expensive process i.e.powder metallurgy route. In order toapply these cutting tips for cutting ormilling process, it must bescrewed/brazed to cutter holder (madefrom metal). Therefore, when the screw isnot properly tightened, it will producevibration during cutting process and thecutting tips will finally break. Or, ifscrewing is too tight, the cutting tips alsowill easily break.

Ceramic has excellent hardness, possesshigh melting point and good wearresistance and it is the best candidate tobe made as the cutting tips. Meanwhile,metals are tough and ductile materials. Inorder to realize the full potential of cuttingtips, the combinations of both materialsare needed.Therefore, our new invention is aspecially designed alumina ceramiccutting tips bonded to tough stainlesssteel holder via friction weldingtechnique.Alumina cutting tip was produced throughslip casting. Stainless steel rod wassupplied by local supplier.Alumina-stainless steel was joint viafriction welding. Friction time needed foreach joining is 10 seconds. This product is unique because itcombines an excellent hardness, brittle,high melting point and good wearresistance material (derives from aluminaceramic) with a tough, ductile, lowermelting point, and conductive material(from stainless steel). The joining of materials with very largedifferences in mechanical and chemicalproperties was achieved through frictionwelding technique. This product issuitable as an alternative product forcutting tool. The various advantages ofthis product are:-This cutting tool could avoid cutting tipvibration during cutting process becauseof the direct joining between alumina andsteel.-Service life of the cutting tool is longerdue to this characteristic.-This product may withstand bendingstrength at the joining to up to 233 MPa.-Mass production is possible due to the

friction welding process and can be donewithin a few seconds.-Reduce the production cost whenengages in mass production process.-Reduce the power consumption becausethe process takes shorter time toaccomplish.-Waste or scrap materials could beavoided because the joining process onlyinvolved metal and ceramic surfaces.

uSIL

Researchers:Assoc.Prof Khairun Azizi MohdAzizli,Samayamutthirian Palaniandy,Dr. Mariatti Jaafar @ Musthapa,Dr. Hashim Hussin and Dr. SyedFuad Saiyid Hashim

(Won Bronze Medalat MTE 2006)

The mismatch of coefficient of thermalexpansion (CTE) of IC, solder and sub-strate is a common problem in the elec -tronic industries and it has been solve byusing encapsulate, epoxy. The high CTEvalue of epoxy can be decreased by incor-porating inorganic filler such as silica.Currently exorbitant fused silica (FS) andprecipitated silica (PS) has been used asfiller in the epoxy. Alternatively glass pow-der can be used but due to the massiveagglomeration and poor particle shapeand texture will result in poor perform-ance of epoxy. SIL which is a locally pro-duced silica filler is an ideal solution tosubstitute the exorbitant FS and PS. SILis a series of ultra fine silica product which

has been reengineered in terms of physi-cal properties to cater the stringent spec-ification of industrial filler needs. SILseries consists of SIL4, SIL6 and SIL10which are categorized based on its equiv-alent diameter and particle shape whichhas been well quantified. SIL is producedthrough a well controlled fine grindingoperation in a fluidized bed jet mill. Theprecise control of the fluidized bed jet millcan solved both problems by producingnarrow size distribution with very minimalagglomeration and additionally theenhancement of particle shape. SIL seriesare strong particles as the weak planeshad been removed and it has smooth sur -faces with folds. Rounded edges aftertrimming process reduces the stress pointin the particle and eventually reduced theprobability of particle failure. SIL is a uni-versal mineral filler which can be used invarious industry according to its physicalcharacteristics. SIL4 which has been test-ed in the epoxy, resulted in excellent per-formance in terms of thermal andmechanical characteristics. It has a com-parable CTE values to FS and thermal sta-bility. SIL4 also exhibits high flexuralmodulus and flexural strength at higherfiller loading with minimal agglomeration.The production cost of SIL is around RM1.00/kg which is much cheaper thanimported fine silica particle. The hugelocal silica resources and electronicsindustries in Malaysia will enhance theproduction and consumption of SIL.

16Buletin Enjinier, Jun 2006

0

20

40

60

80

100

Unfilled Fusedsilica

Glasspowder

uSIL

Type of Fillers

CTE

X 1

0-6

(ppm

/oC

)