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Abstract. Bamboo is a rapid renewable plant that has a fast growth rate as compared to trees, which increases its suitability to be used as a sustainable source for wood industry, especially in construction works. Due to the lack of understanding on bamboo properties, the utilization of bamboo in construction has always been neglected. This paper presents an investigation on the mechanical properties of four species of treated bamboos that are available in Malaysia, which include Bambusa Vulgaris, Dendrocalamus Asper, Schizostachyum Grande, and Gigantochloa Scortechinii. A mechanical testing was carried out in various parts along the culm of these bamboo species in order to examine the differences of their compressive strength and tensile strength. The strength development and moisture content of these bamboo species were also monitored at a five-month interval. The results showed that Bambusa Vulgaris, Dendrocalamus Asper, and Gigantochloa Scortechinii possess excellent mechanical properties in compression and tensile strength, which indicate a good quality to be used as a construction material. As bamboo offers promising advantages, thus, it is suitable to be used as a substitute in place of structural timber in construction, which indirectly facilitates the preservation of the global environment.

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Arc thermal metal spray coating provides excellent corrosion, erosion and wear resistance to steel substrates. This paper incorporates some results of aluminum coating applied by this method on plain carbon steel. Thereafter, coated panels were exposed to an environment known to form stable corrosion products with aluminum. The coated panels were immersed in Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) J2334 for different periods of time. This solution consists of an aqueous solution of NaCl, CaCl 2 and NaHCO 3 . Various electrochemical techniques, i.e., corrosion potential-time, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and the potentiodynamic were used to determine the performance of stimulants in improving the properties of the coating. EIS studies revealed the kinetics and mechanism of corrosion and potentiodynamic attributed the formation of a passive film, which stifles the penetration of aggressive ions towards the substrate. The corrosion products that formed on the coating surface, identified using Raman spectroscopy, were Dawsonite (NaAlCO 3 (OH) 2 ) and Al(OH) 3 . These compounds of aluminum are very sparingly soluble in aqueous solution and protect the substrate from pitting and uniform corrosion. The morphology and composition of corrosion products determined by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analyses indicated that the environment plays a decisive role in improving the corrosion resistance of aluminum coating.

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