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PublicationNew wood dust reinforced recycled polypropylene composite filament and traditional polypropylene filament for FDM applications: Life cycle assessment study(UMT Press, 2023)Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an effective method for determining the environmental impact of a composite material over its lifetime. Consequently, it is important to the composites sector, particularly for Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) filament manufacturers as a material selection tool when determining the usability of recycled material utilised in component design phases. This article investigates the LCA framework of utilising wood dust as reinforced material and recycled polypropylene material in the production of composite filament for the FDM sector. Eco Audit, a feature of the CES Edupack programme, was utilised to evaluate the LCA from an environmental standpoint for product makers. Using recycled polypropylene containing an increasing weight percentage of wood dust to produce new types of composite filament materials reduces energy consumption (MJ) and lowers the carbon footprint (kg). This is because the quantity of energy required for recycling is far less than that required for initial manufacture. When compared to the new polypropylene material that is used to create filament, this study reveals a 56% and 37% reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions, respectively. This is a considerable improvement from an environmental point of view.
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PublicationEffect of the sintering mechanism on the crystallization kinetics of geopolymer-based ceramics(MDPI, 2023)This research aims to study the effects of the sintering mechanism on the crystallization kinetics when the geopolymer is sintered at different temperatures: 200 °C, 400 °C, 600 °C, 800 °C, 1000 °C, and 1200 °C for a 3 h soaking time with a heating rate of 5 °C/min. The geopolymer is made up of kaolin and sodium silicate as the precursor and an alkali activator, respectively. Characterization of the nepheline produced was carried out using XRF to observe the chemical composition of the geopolymer ceramics. The microstructures and the phase characterization were determined by using SEM and XRD, respectively. The SEM micrograph showed the microstructural development of the geopolymer ceramics as well as identifying reacted/unreacted regions, porosity, and cracks. The maximum flexural strength of 78.92 MPa was achieved by geopolymer sintered at 1200 °C while the minimum was at 200 °C; 7.18 MPa. The result indicates that the flexural strength increased alongside the increment in the sintering temperature of the geopolymer ceramics. This result is supported by the data from the SEM micrograph, where at the temperature of 1000 °C, the matrix structure of geopolymer-based ceramics starts to become dense with the appearance of pores.
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PublicationProperties and tribological evaluation of graphene and fullerene nanoparticles as additives in oil lubrication(SAGE Publications, 2023)In this study, SAE-0W20 engine oil was mixed with graphene and fullerene nanoparticles. The goal of this study was to evaluate and compare the effects of different carbon nanoparticles on the thermal, rheological, and tribological properties of engine oil, such as thermal degradation, viscosity, friction, and wear. Using a two-step process, graphene and fullerene nanostructures were dispersed in low-viscosity SAE-0W20 engine oil at a concentration of 0.05 wt.%. The friction and wear characteristics were evaluated in a customized cylindrical block-on-ring tribology test according to the ASTM G77 standard. Graphene and fullerene nanoparticles protect contact surfaces by forming a very thin protective film between moving mechanical parts thus resulting in wear and friction reduction. The results showed graphene nanoparticles have improved significantly the tribological performance of SAE-0W20 engine oil.
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PublicationMicrostructural analysis of martensitic hard surfacing on low chromium alloy steel(Wiley, 2023)This study focuses on the metallurgical characterization of single and multi-layer martensitic hard surfacing onto non-standardized low-chromium alloy steel with a single buttering layer using an automatic submerged arc welding process as a standard reference. The metallurgical properties of hard surfaced samples are examined using an optical microscope, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and x-ray diffractometer. Micro-Vickers hardness testing is also conducted to analyze and confirm the metallographic results of hard surfacing. The current study finds that the microstructure of each region is influenced by three key factors: chemical composition, heat input, and dilution. The structural type is determined by the chemical composition of materials, heat input influences the structural characteristics in the heat-affected zone (needle-shape martensite and tempered martensite), and dilution affects the structural characteristics of the hard surfacing layers (martensite with retained austenite). Comparing multi-layer hard surfacing to single-hard surfacing, the hardness values of the heat-affected zone of the multi-layer hard surfacing are greatly reduced, while the hardness values of the hard surfacing layers are raised.
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PublicationSound absorption coefficient measurement and analysis of bio-composite micro perforated panel (BC-MPP)(Springer, 2023)The sound absorption performance of bio-composite micro-perforated panel (BC-MPP) made from composite polypropylene (PP) filled rice husk (PP/RH), and coconut coir (PP/CC) is presented. The sound absorption coefficient (SAC) of BC-MPP was obtained via the impedance tube two-microphone method, and the investigation was according to types of fillers, filler compositions, perforation ratio, and the air gap size. It was found that the SAC of BC-MPP PP/RH provides a higher SAC value than BC-MPP PP/CC. Furthermore, the SAC peak was observed to shift to the lower frequency spectrum when there was an increment in filler content, the distance between the perforation, and the air gap size. The SAC value from the simulation also shows a good agreement with the experimental result.