Youventharan Duraisamy | The University of Sydney (original) (raw)
Papers by Youventharan Duraisamy
Construction Technologies and Architecture
Landslide is a major geological hazard and poses high risk to most countries in the tropical regi... more Landslide is a major geological hazard and poses high risk to most countries in the tropical regions. This problem is more severe in places like Malaysia where residual soil is abundant. High temperature and humidity will easily disintegrate soil particles and therefore loosen the bonding between the soil and the root system. The main goal is to elucidate the interaction mechanism of bio-inspired soil anchorage system to enhance bonding between residual soil matrix in tropical region. Hence, this research aims to establish correlation between the pattern of root and its tensile strength to reinforce tropical residual slope. Basic soil property tests and classification protocols were carried out in the laboratory. Root tensile test results from the laboratory was correlated with field pull-out test data. Slope stability in the area where the plant roots were introduced have been disturbed. The factor of safety of slope with bio-anchorage system was one third of the slope with grass. ...
Sustainability
Foamed concrete is a lightweight construction material that has gained popularity due to its exce... more Foamed concrete is a lightweight construction material that has gained popularity due to its excellent thermal and acoustic insulation properties. Foamed concrete production involves using cement as a binding agent, which results in a high carbon footprint. In response to sustainable development goals (SDG), there has been a growing interest in exploring alternative materials that can replace cement to improve energy efficiency, climate change, resource efficiency, and overall improvement of foamed concrete properties. Several tons of waste generated annually from industry, agriculture, and quarries are dumped into landfills and cause environmental impacts. Nevertheless, the efficiency of this waste presents an interesting question and there is limited knowledge of its use in foamed concrete. Hence, a review study is needed to evaluate the efficiency of different waste materials that could be used to replace cement in foamed concrete production. The objective of this research is to ...
Key Engineering Materials
The use of waste materials as a substitute for natural aggregate has been widely tested in all ar... more The use of waste materials as a substitute for natural aggregate has been widely tested in all areas of the construction industry. Yet, there is a lack of study on the suitability of the physical properties of waste material when used as one of the components in track ballast. This study evaluates the suitability of conventional ballast (CB) incorporated with concrete debris (CD) and bottom ash (BA) as track ballast material. To achieve the objective, sieve analysis, shape analysis, specific gravity test, water absorption test, and permeability test were carried out. Furthermore, microscopic analysis was used to validate the presence of voids. The result shows that the waste mixed ballast has a coefficient of uniformity (Cu) in the range of 1.92 to 12, a coefficient of curvature (Cc) in the range of 0.8 to 1.18, fines less than 14 mm account for 0.1 % to 28 %, and the mean size is in the range of 22.5 mm to 27.5 mm. Furthermore, the flakiness ranged from 7.56% to 22.5%, the void rat...
CONSTRUCTION, May 18, 2022
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
Pidie Jaya is one of the districts in Aceh Province – Indonesia. On December 7, 2016, Pidie Jaya ... more Pidie Jaya is one of the districts in Aceh Province – Indonesia. On December 7, 2016, Pidie Jaya experienced a shallow 6.4 Mw earthquake which destroyed some vital buildings and also human loss. Based on preliminary field investigation, some geological damages like soil movement, soil cracks, and liquefactions occur because of the earthquake. Some liquefaction phenomena scattered in the area of Ulim, Panteraja, Meunasah Balek, Manohara Beach and Sagoe Trienggadeng. An evidence of liquefaction in Pidie Jaya area was displayed in this research based on several literature review. Furthermore, these paper aims to identify liquefaction possibilities in Trienggadeng Reusep Prestress Bridge based on a geotechnical investigation of N-SPT and some seismic data by using Kishida method. The surrounded area of the bridge was first evaluated in terms of geological setting, tectonics and seismic activity related to 6.4Mw of the previous earthquake. Furthermore, it was found from the soil profile ...
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020
Nowadays construction industry continuously looking for new, better and efficient construction ma... more Nowadays construction industry continuously looking for new, better and efficient construction material and method due to environmental impact. This research reported the effect of reinforced foamed concrete square hollow beam in order to reduce the effect of the application of concrete materials. Foamed concrete with density of 1600kg/m³ is now widely used as a structural component like slab and wall due to it lighter than the normal concrete. Meantime, it helps in saving cost and reduce the use of formwork. The hollow section also can reduce the dead loads which contribute to seismic effect in high rise buildings. In addition, the Processed Spent Bleaching Earth (PSBE) is an industry waste which possess a good pozzolanic reaction is used as partial cement replacement in order to make it more environmentally friendly. The experimental program consists of casting and testing of foamed concrete beams of size 150 x 200 x 1500 mm with and without square hollow section. To study the fle...
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020
The environmental impact of cement production has prompted innovative measures to reduce the usag... more The environmental impact of cement production has prompted innovative measures to reduce the usage of cement in accordance with the principle of sustainable construction. At the same time, the palm oil industry generates about 2 million tons of spent bleaching earth (SBE) are generated annually with most of it ends up in the landfill, causing environmental degradation. This research focuses on the effect of hollow section on the strength of foamed concrete beam by using processed spent bleaching earth (PSBE) as partial cement replacement. Hollow section of two shapes were implemented at three different locations along the beam specimen. The foamed concrete beams with 30% cement replaced with PSBE were subjected to tensile test at 28 days to observe the effect of hollow section on the maximum load and tensile strength. The deflection of the specimen was compared with theoretical value and the mode of failure was studied. Hollow section of circular and square shape was studied while t...
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020
The growing demand for sand supply for construction industry use especially in concrete productio... more The growing demand for sand supply for construction industry use especially in concrete production drives the sand mining industry to flourish. However, excessive sand mining would affect the river environment, aquatic life and water quality. At the same time, the increasing quantity of palm oil clinker, which is a by-product at palm oil mill disposed at landfill, poses negative impact to the environment. The use of palm oil clinker waste as sand replacement in concrete production would be able to reduce the use of natural sand from the river and dumping of clinker waste at landfill. The current research investigates the fresh and mechanical properties of concrete containing palm oil clinker as partial fine aggregate replacement. A total five concrete mixes were produced. The control specimen was prepared by using 100% natural sand. Other mixes were formed by integrating crushed palm oil clinker as partial fine aggregate replacement ranging from 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%. All specimens ...
Materials, 2021
This study aims to obtain the relationship between density and compressive strength of foamed con... more This study aims to obtain the relationship between density and compressive strength of foamed concrete. Foamed concrete is a preferred building material due to the low density of its concrete. In foamed concrete, the compressive strength reduces with decreasing density. Generally, a denser foamed concrete produces higher compressive strength and lower volume of voids. In the present study, the tests were carried out in stages in order to investigate the effect of sand–cement ratio, water to cement ratio, foam dosage, and dilution ratio on workability, density, and compressive strength of the control foamed concrete specimen. Next, the test obtained the optimum content of processed spent bleaching earth (PSBE) as partial cement replacement in the foamed concrete. Based on the experimental results, the use of 1:1.5 cement to sand ratio for the mortar mix specified the best performance for density, workability, and 28-day compressive strength. Increasing the sand to cement ratio increa...
Use of Sandy Materials in Civil Engineering [Working Title], 2019
The ureolytic bacterium, Bacillus Megaterium has been investigated to determine its viability and... more The ureolytic bacterium, Bacillus Megaterium has been investigated to determine its viability and efficiency as a microbe for soil bio-cementation as an alternative to previously studied ureolytic bacteria. For this investigation, 'B. megaterium' has been grown in batch systems under controlled conditions to measure its growth rate and enzymatic activity and its ability to catalyze urea hydrolysis. The experimental data show that the growth rate of 'B. megaterium' correlates with urea hydrolysis and is significantly faster than for other bacteria used in bio-cementation. At optimal conditions with temperature of 30 degreesC and pH=8.5 a biomass of 9 x 109 cfu/mL has been produced. The highest hydrolysis rate is recorded when calcium concentrations double the urea concentrations. Urea hydrolysis is found to follow first-order kinetics while microbial urease activity can be described by Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The kinetic parameters, urea hydrolysis rate (Vmax) and ...
Lately there are high occurrences of natural disasters in Malaysia. Does it have anything to do w... more Lately there are high occurrences of natural disasters in Malaysia. Does it have anything to do with earth been suffering from extreme weather conditions or could be any other reasons to it. Some scientists say that the temperature of the Earth is on the rise, which results in global warming. As the consequence to that, scientific theory also explains how global warming causes icebergs to melt in the colder regions, which in turn causes natural disasters around the world. If these theories are real, can we humans manage and control the climate changes as well as mitigate the post disasters issues more efficiently? Can this unwanted natural phenomenon be stopped for good if we can predict the occurrence more accurately and the effects reversible? To what extend all these disasters impaired the livelihood of fellow Malaysian? With all these questions in mind, this book has been drafted to give some useful insights into the most traditional and the typical disasters in Malaysian land. ...
Materials, 2021
This study aims to obtain the relationship between density and compressive strength of foamed con... more This study aims to obtain the relationship between density and compressive strength of foamed concrete. Foamed concrete is a preferred building material due to the low density of its concrete. In foamed concrete, the compressive strength reduces with decreasing density. Generally, a denser foamed concrete produces higher compressive strength and lower volume of voids. In the present study, the tests were carried out in stages in order to investigate the effect of sand–cement ratio, water to cement ratio, foam dosage, and dilution ratio on workability, density, and compressive strength of the control foamed concrete specimen. Next, the test obtained the optimum content of processed spent bleaching earth (PSBE) as partial cement replacement in the foamed concrete. Based on the experimental results, the use of 1:1.5 cement to sand ratio for the mortar mix specified the best performance for density, workability, and 28-day compressive strength. Increasing the sand to cement ratio increa...
European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering
Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, 2012
DFI Journal: The Journal of the Deep Foundations Institute, 2015
ABSTRACT This paper describes a small-scale demonstration of an ex situ mixing technique that use... more ABSTRACT This paper describes a small-scale demonstration of an ex situ mixing technique that uses biocementation as an alternative to existing ground improvement techniques. The main objective of this research is to improve the strength and the stiffness of loose sand. Biocemented sand specimens have been produced by mixing a urease producing bacteria with nutrients and Sydney sand. Triaxial test with bender elements and the physical model test are conducted to investigate calcium carbonate precipitation and the properties of the soil. The model foundation tests have been performed at 1 g in a cylindrical tank with diameter of 600 mm. The tank has been filled with loose Sydney sand and a cemented column of 38 mm in diameter has been created in the center of the tank. A footing of 90 mm diameter has been placed on the sand surface and loaded to large displacements. The ability of the biocemented column made by ex situ mixing to significantly improve the foundation response is well demonstrated. Triaxial test perfo...
Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, 2009
This paper presents the compressibility of fibrous peat reinforced with cylindrical cement column... more This paper presents the compressibility of fibrous peat reinforced with cylindrical cement columns. The effects of the cement column diameter on the compressibility have been investigated in this study. The results indicated that compressibility index C c and C α decreased with increasing diameter of the cement column. Specimens with 45 mm (area ratio = 0.09) diameter and 60 mm (area ratio = 0.16) diameter of cement columns were cured for 7, 14 and 28 days, after which they were subjected to Rowe Cell consolidation test. Results are also presented from tests conducted on groups of cement columns using four (area ratio = 0.04) and nine (area ratio = 0.09) columns of 15 mm diameter each to investigate the influence of the number of cement columns on compressibility of peat. Apart from that various proportions of cement were used to form cement columns in order to study the influence. Based on the results obtained, it shows that cement columns can successfully reduce the compressibility of fibrous peat.
American Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2007
Construction Technologies and Architecture
Landslide is a major geological hazard and poses high risk to most countries in the tropical regi... more Landslide is a major geological hazard and poses high risk to most countries in the tropical regions. This problem is more severe in places like Malaysia where residual soil is abundant. High temperature and humidity will easily disintegrate soil particles and therefore loosen the bonding between the soil and the root system. The main goal is to elucidate the interaction mechanism of bio-inspired soil anchorage system to enhance bonding between residual soil matrix in tropical region. Hence, this research aims to establish correlation between the pattern of root and its tensile strength to reinforce tropical residual slope. Basic soil property tests and classification protocols were carried out in the laboratory. Root tensile test results from the laboratory was correlated with field pull-out test data. Slope stability in the area where the plant roots were introduced have been disturbed. The factor of safety of slope with bio-anchorage system was one third of the slope with grass. ...
Sustainability
Foamed concrete is a lightweight construction material that has gained popularity due to its exce... more Foamed concrete is a lightweight construction material that has gained popularity due to its excellent thermal and acoustic insulation properties. Foamed concrete production involves using cement as a binding agent, which results in a high carbon footprint. In response to sustainable development goals (SDG), there has been a growing interest in exploring alternative materials that can replace cement to improve energy efficiency, climate change, resource efficiency, and overall improvement of foamed concrete properties. Several tons of waste generated annually from industry, agriculture, and quarries are dumped into landfills and cause environmental impacts. Nevertheless, the efficiency of this waste presents an interesting question and there is limited knowledge of its use in foamed concrete. Hence, a review study is needed to evaluate the efficiency of different waste materials that could be used to replace cement in foamed concrete production. The objective of this research is to ...
Key Engineering Materials
The use of waste materials as a substitute for natural aggregate has been widely tested in all ar... more The use of waste materials as a substitute for natural aggregate has been widely tested in all areas of the construction industry. Yet, there is a lack of study on the suitability of the physical properties of waste material when used as one of the components in track ballast. This study evaluates the suitability of conventional ballast (CB) incorporated with concrete debris (CD) and bottom ash (BA) as track ballast material. To achieve the objective, sieve analysis, shape analysis, specific gravity test, water absorption test, and permeability test were carried out. Furthermore, microscopic analysis was used to validate the presence of voids. The result shows that the waste mixed ballast has a coefficient of uniformity (Cu) in the range of 1.92 to 12, a coefficient of curvature (Cc) in the range of 0.8 to 1.18, fines less than 14 mm account for 0.1 % to 28 %, and the mean size is in the range of 22.5 mm to 27.5 mm. Furthermore, the flakiness ranged from 7.56% to 22.5%, the void rat...
CONSTRUCTION, May 18, 2022
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
Pidie Jaya is one of the districts in Aceh Province – Indonesia. On December 7, 2016, Pidie Jaya ... more Pidie Jaya is one of the districts in Aceh Province – Indonesia. On December 7, 2016, Pidie Jaya experienced a shallow 6.4 Mw earthquake which destroyed some vital buildings and also human loss. Based on preliminary field investigation, some geological damages like soil movement, soil cracks, and liquefactions occur because of the earthquake. Some liquefaction phenomena scattered in the area of Ulim, Panteraja, Meunasah Balek, Manohara Beach and Sagoe Trienggadeng. An evidence of liquefaction in Pidie Jaya area was displayed in this research based on several literature review. Furthermore, these paper aims to identify liquefaction possibilities in Trienggadeng Reusep Prestress Bridge based on a geotechnical investigation of N-SPT and some seismic data by using Kishida method. The surrounded area of the bridge was first evaluated in terms of geological setting, tectonics and seismic activity related to 6.4Mw of the previous earthquake. Furthermore, it was found from the soil profile ...
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020
Nowadays construction industry continuously looking for new, better and efficient construction ma... more Nowadays construction industry continuously looking for new, better and efficient construction material and method due to environmental impact. This research reported the effect of reinforced foamed concrete square hollow beam in order to reduce the effect of the application of concrete materials. Foamed concrete with density of 1600kg/m³ is now widely used as a structural component like slab and wall due to it lighter than the normal concrete. Meantime, it helps in saving cost and reduce the use of formwork. The hollow section also can reduce the dead loads which contribute to seismic effect in high rise buildings. In addition, the Processed Spent Bleaching Earth (PSBE) is an industry waste which possess a good pozzolanic reaction is used as partial cement replacement in order to make it more environmentally friendly. The experimental program consists of casting and testing of foamed concrete beams of size 150 x 200 x 1500 mm with and without square hollow section. To study the fle...
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020
The environmental impact of cement production has prompted innovative measures to reduce the usag... more The environmental impact of cement production has prompted innovative measures to reduce the usage of cement in accordance with the principle of sustainable construction. At the same time, the palm oil industry generates about 2 million tons of spent bleaching earth (SBE) are generated annually with most of it ends up in the landfill, causing environmental degradation. This research focuses on the effect of hollow section on the strength of foamed concrete beam by using processed spent bleaching earth (PSBE) as partial cement replacement. Hollow section of two shapes were implemented at three different locations along the beam specimen. The foamed concrete beams with 30% cement replaced with PSBE were subjected to tensile test at 28 days to observe the effect of hollow section on the maximum load and tensile strength. The deflection of the specimen was compared with theoretical value and the mode of failure was studied. Hollow section of circular and square shape was studied while t...
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020
The growing demand for sand supply for construction industry use especially in concrete productio... more The growing demand for sand supply for construction industry use especially in concrete production drives the sand mining industry to flourish. However, excessive sand mining would affect the river environment, aquatic life and water quality. At the same time, the increasing quantity of palm oil clinker, which is a by-product at palm oil mill disposed at landfill, poses negative impact to the environment. The use of palm oil clinker waste as sand replacement in concrete production would be able to reduce the use of natural sand from the river and dumping of clinker waste at landfill. The current research investigates the fresh and mechanical properties of concrete containing palm oil clinker as partial fine aggregate replacement. A total five concrete mixes were produced. The control specimen was prepared by using 100% natural sand. Other mixes were formed by integrating crushed palm oil clinker as partial fine aggregate replacement ranging from 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%. All specimens ...
Materials, 2021
This study aims to obtain the relationship between density and compressive strength of foamed con... more This study aims to obtain the relationship between density and compressive strength of foamed concrete. Foamed concrete is a preferred building material due to the low density of its concrete. In foamed concrete, the compressive strength reduces with decreasing density. Generally, a denser foamed concrete produces higher compressive strength and lower volume of voids. In the present study, the tests were carried out in stages in order to investigate the effect of sand–cement ratio, water to cement ratio, foam dosage, and dilution ratio on workability, density, and compressive strength of the control foamed concrete specimen. Next, the test obtained the optimum content of processed spent bleaching earth (PSBE) as partial cement replacement in the foamed concrete. Based on the experimental results, the use of 1:1.5 cement to sand ratio for the mortar mix specified the best performance for density, workability, and 28-day compressive strength. Increasing the sand to cement ratio increa...
Use of Sandy Materials in Civil Engineering [Working Title], 2019
The ureolytic bacterium, Bacillus Megaterium has been investigated to determine its viability and... more The ureolytic bacterium, Bacillus Megaterium has been investigated to determine its viability and efficiency as a microbe for soil bio-cementation as an alternative to previously studied ureolytic bacteria. For this investigation, 'B. megaterium' has been grown in batch systems under controlled conditions to measure its growth rate and enzymatic activity and its ability to catalyze urea hydrolysis. The experimental data show that the growth rate of 'B. megaterium' correlates with urea hydrolysis and is significantly faster than for other bacteria used in bio-cementation. At optimal conditions with temperature of 30 degreesC and pH=8.5 a biomass of 9 x 109 cfu/mL has been produced. The highest hydrolysis rate is recorded when calcium concentrations double the urea concentrations. Urea hydrolysis is found to follow first-order kinetics while microbial urease activity can be described by Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The kinetic parameters, urea hydrolysis rate (Vmax) and ...
Lately there are high occurrences of natural disasters in Malaysia. Does it have anything to do w... more Lately there are high occurrences of natural disasters in Malaysia. Does it have anything to do with earth been suffering from extreme weather conditions or could be any other reasons to it. Some scientists say that the temperature of the Earth is on the rise, which results in global warming. As the consequence to that, scientific theory also explains how global warming causes icebergs to melt in the colder regions, which in turn causes natural disasters around the world. If these theories are real, can we humans manage and control the climate changes as well as mitigate the post disasters issues more efficiently? Can this unwanted natural phenomenon be stopped for good if we can predict the occurrence more accurately and the effects reversible? To what extend all these disasters impaired the livelihood of fellow Malaysian? With all these questions in mind, this book has been drafted to give some useful insights into the most traditional and the typical disasters in Malaysian land. ...
Materials, 2021
This study aims to obtain the relationship between density and compressive strength of foamed con... more This study aims to obtain the relationship between density and compressive strength of foamed concrete. Foamed concrete is a preferred building material due to the low density of its concrete. In foamed concrete, the compressive strength reduces with decreasing density. Generally, a denser foamed concrete produces higher compressive strength and lower volume of voids. In the present study, the tests were carried out in stages in order to investigate the effect of sand–cement ratio, water to cement ratio, foam dosage, and dilution ratio on workability, density, and compressive strength of the control foamed concrete specimen. Next, the test obtained the optimum content of processed spent bleaching earth (PSBE) as partial cement replacement in the foamed concrete. Based on the experimental results, the use of 1:1.5 cement to sand ratio for the mortar mix specified the best performance for density, workability, and 28-day compressive strength. Increasing the sand to cement ratio increa...
European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering
Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, 2012
DFI Journal: The Journal of the Deep Foundations Institute, 2015
ABSTRACT This paper describes a small-scale demonstration of an ex situ mixing technique that use... more ABSTRACT This paper describes a small-scale demonstration of an ex situ mixing technique that uses biocementation as an alternative to existing ground improvement techniques. The main objective of this research is to improve the strength and the stiffness of loose sand. Biocemented sand specimens have been produced by mixing a urease producing bacteria with nutrients and Sydney sand. Triaxial test with bender elements and the physical model test are conducted to investigate calcium carbonate precipitation and the properties of the soil. The model foundation tests have been performed at 1 g in a cylindrical tank with diameter of 600 mm. The tank has been filled with loose Sydney sand and a cemented column of 38 mm in diameter has been created in the center of the tank. A footing of 90 mm diameter has been placed on the sand surface and loaded to large displacements. The ability of the biocemented column made by ex situ mixing to significantly improve the foundation response is well demonstrated. Triaxial test perfo...
Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, 2009
This paper presents the compressibility of fibrous peat reinforced with cylindrical cement column... more This paper presents the compressibility of fibrous peat reinforced with cylindrical cement columns. The effects of the cement column diameter on the compressibility have been investigated in this study. The results indicated that compressibility index C c and C α decreased with increasing diameter of the cement column. Specimens with 45 mm (area ratio = 0.09) diameter and 60 mm (area ratio = 0.16) diameter of cement columns were cured for 7, 14 and 28 days, after which they were subjected to Rowe Cell consolidation test. Results are also presented from tests conducted on groups of cement columns using four (area ratio = 0.04) and nine (area ratio = 0.09) columns of 15 mm diameter each to investigate the influence of the number of cement columns on compressibility of peat. Apart from that various proportions of cement were used to form cement columns in order to study the influence. Based on the results obtained, it shows that cement columns can successfully reduce the compressibility of fibrous peat.
American Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2007
IntecOpen Limited, 2019
Bio-cementation is an innovative green technology that complements existing ground improvement te... more Bio-cementation is an innovative green technology that complements existing ground improvement techniques, but it is yet to be proven for large-scale foundation works. Previously attention has been focused on strategies to inject the bacteria and nutrients to produce the cement in the ground. This study looks at the performance of geomechanical response when the bacteria and nutrients are mixed in sand, an approach that is used in producing cemented soil columns. To explore the mechanical response of bio-cemented soil, results from unconfined compres-sive strength (UCS) tests and triaxial tests have been analyzed to understand the effects of bio-cementation for sand in contrast to alternative cement, gypsum. The stiffness has also been monitored using bender element techniques in triaxial cell. Both the shear wave signals during the cementation phase and the shearing phase were recorded using this technique. The results show that for a given amount of cement, higher resistances are measured for the bio-cemented samples compared to gypsum. The mixing process is shown to produce homogeneous bio-cemented samples with higher strength and stiffness than the technique of flushing or injection commonly used, provided the amount of calcite is less than 4%. The results show that the bio-cement produces similar mechanical behavior to other artificially cemented sands.