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Abstract. The use of brick in construction is commonly used, especially in the construction of buildings and infrastructure. Various studies have been conducted to produce methods that can increase the strength of brick at the same time can reduce the cost of manufacturing bricks. In order to reduce cost of manufacturing, one of the solution applied was by using waste as part of bricks production materials. In this study, sugarcane bagasse (SuCaB) ash was used as a part of compressed earth brick (CEB) by replacing the quantity of cement for SuCaB ash. The study focused on the physical and mechanical properties of CEB containing SuCaB and the optimum percentage of SuCaB ash as partial cement replacement in CEB. There are 4 types of percentages used; 0%, 20%, 25% and 30% from cement content. All mixed use the same water content of 30% of cement content by weight and the ratio for cement: laterite soil used was 1: 6. A total of 72 specimen with size of 100mm x 50mm x 40mm was produced. The test conducted were Initial Rate Absorption Test (IRA), Density Test, Dimensions Test, Compression Test and Water Absorption Test. From the experimental results, the optimum SuCaB ash percentage as cement replacement in CEB was 20%. It recorded the highest compressive strength of 16.23 MPa at 28 days while for the Initial Rate Absorption test, it lies within the range specified. The density of CEB containing 20% of SuCaB shows slightly lower value where it decreased for about 0.4% from the control specimen. From this study, it can be concluded that waste materials such as sugarcane bagasse can be used as part of construction materials. However, further study needs to be conducted such as on the energy consumption, chemical properties and others to enhance the knowledge on this area before it can be applied into the brick production.

The objective of this study is to determine the physical and chemical characteristics of Coal Bottom Ash (CBA) obtained from Tanjung Bin Power Plant Station and compare them with the characteristics of natural river sand (as a replacement of fine aggregates). Bottom ash is the by-product of coal combustion during the electricity generating process. However, excess bottom ash production due to the high production of electricity in Malaysia has caused several environmental problems. Therefore, several tests have been conducted in order to determine the physical and chemical properties of bottom ash such as specific gravity, density, particle size distribution, Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) and X- Ray Fluorescence (XRF) in the attempt to produce sustainable material from waste. The results indicated that the natural fine aggregate and coal bottom ash have very different physical and chemical properties. Bottom ash was classified as Class C ash. The porous structure, angular and rough texture of bottom ash affected its specific gravity and particle density. From the tests, it was found that bottom ash is recommended to be used in concrete as a replacement for fine aggregates.

Abstract. The rapid growth of the car wash industry today results in the need for wastewater reclamation. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the effect of using car wash wastewater on concrete properties in terms of mechanical properties. The basic characteristics of wastewater were investigated according to USEPA (Method 150.1 & 3 00.0) while the mechanical properties of concrete with car wash wastewater were compared according to ASTM C1602 and BS EN 1008 standards. In this research, the compressive strength, modulus of elasticity and tensile strength were studied. The percentages of wastewater replaced in the concrete mix ranged from 0% up to 40%. In addition, the results also suggest that the concrete with 20% car wash wastewater achieved the highest compressive strength and modulus of elasticity compared to other compositions of wastewater. Moreover, the results also recommended that concrete mixed with car wash wastewater has better compressive strength compared to conventional concrete.

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Acoustic emission technique is a method of assessment for structural health monitoring system. This technique is an effective tool for the evaluation of any system without destroying the material conditions. It enables early crack detections and has very high sensitivity to crack growth. The crack patterns in concrete beam have been identified according to the type of cracking process and the crack classifications using the AE data parameters are mainly based on the AE amplitude, rise time, and average frequency. These data parameters have been analysed using statistical methods of b-value analysis. This research paper will mainly focus on the utilization of statistical b-value analysis in evaluating the emission amplitude distribution of concrete beams. The beam specimens (150 X 250 X 1900) mm were prepared in the laboratory system and tested with the four point bending test using cyclic loading together with acoustic emission monitoring system. The results showed that this statistical analysis is promising in determining the cracking process in concrete beams.

Abstract. An experimental study was conducted to improve the strength of foamed concrete by adding fibres reinforced material, polypropylene (PP) fibres. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of PP fibres on the microstructure and tensile strength of foamed concrete. Foamed concrete with density 1600 kg/m 3 and 1800 kg/m 3 were cast and tested with 0.05%, 0.10% and 0.15% percentage of PP fibres. The findings shows that foamed concrete added by PP fibres gave better performance in tensile strength compared to foamed concrete without PP fibres. With the addition of 0.05% of PP fibres, the tensile strength increased by 35.06% and 40.30% for foamed concrete with densities 1600 kg/m 3 and 1800 kg/m 3 , respectively. Through the study of microstructure of foamed concrete, the air voids of foamed concrete with various densities and the interfacial adhesion between concrete and fibres were observed. The foamed concrete added by PP fibres gave better performance in tensile strength compared to foamed concrete without PP fibres.