S. M. Sapuan

Universiti Putra Malaysia | UPM · Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

This paper describes the conceptual design phase in the product development of a natural fibre composites cyclist helmet liner, beginning with idea generation and ending with selecting the best design concept. The integrated Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), Biomimetic methods, and the Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) method are demonstrate...

Heat treatment is a commonly known treatment subjected to aluminum alloy and their composites to improve their mechanical properties for automotive, aerospace, and marine applications. The heat treatment was carried out to determine the influence of aging time and temperature on the mechanical properties of LM26 Al alloy reinforced with 0, 2, 4, 6,...

Sustainability has been a global awareness due to the serious reduction of synthetic materials, especially petroleum. Many sectors and researchers have shifted toward lignocellulosic fibers from biomass wastes to replace synthetic fibers and reinforced bio-based polymer composites. The shift in composite landscape toward green composites is due to...

Black liquor is obtained as a by-product of the pulping process, which is used to convert biomass into pulp by removing lignin, hemicelluloses and other extractives from wood to free cellulose fibers. Lignin represents a major constituent in black liquor, with quantities varying from 20% to 30%, of which a very low share is used for manufacturing v...

Water absorption study is vital for polymer composites when using natural fibre as a reinforcing agent. This is for predicting and understanding the composite products' suitability placement and shelf life upon immersion in water, temperature, humidity, weather, and resistance to water characteristics. Hence, this study aims to investigate the effe...

Biocomposite materials are essential for environmental protection, as they have the ability of substituting synthetic plastic with natural materials. This work investigated how different plas-ticizers (Glycerol (G), Fructose (F), Sorbitol (S), and Urea (U)) affect the morphological, mechanical, thermal, and physical characteristics of films made of...

Many real-scale fire tests have been performed on timber connections to analyze the mechanical behavior of timber connections in previous years. However, little research focused on the bending performance of glued laminated (glulam) timber beam bolted connections after fire exposure. In this paper, the three-dimensional numerical model of the glula...

Biocomposite materials have a significant function in saving the environment by replacing artificial plastic materials with natural substances. They have been enrolled in many applications, such as housing, automotive engine components, aerospace and military products, electronic and circuit board components, and oil and gas equipment. Therefore, c...

Many researchers have become more interested in utilizing plant based natural fibre as reinforcement for the fabrication of aluminium matrix composites (AMCs) in recent time. The utilization of these environmentally friendly and cost effective plant based natural fibre is necessitated to avoid environmental pollution. The desire for cost-effective...

Additive (Manufacturing) technology offers the ability to produce personalized products with lower development costs, shorter lead times, less energy consumed during manufacturing and less material waste. It can be used to manufacture complex parts, and enables manufacturers to reduce inventory, make products on-demand, create smaller localized man...

The development of environmentally benign silicone composites from sugar palm fibre and silicone rubber was carried out in this study. The mechanical, physical, and morphological properties of the composites with sugar palm (SP) filler contents ranging from 0% to 16% by weight (wt%) were investigated. Based on the uniaxial tensile tests, it was fou...

Materials that exhibit highly nonlinear behaviour are intricate to study. This is due to their physical properties, as they possess a very large deformation. Silicone rubber is among the materials that can be classified as possessing such characteristics, despite their being soft and frequently applied in medical applications. Due to their low mech...

Drilling is a secondary material removal and usually carried out to facilitate fastening of parts together. Drilling of composite materials is not usually a problem-free process. Issues related to delamination composite laminates need to be addressed because it introduces the stress concentration point on the composite. This study focussed on the i...

This research is driven by strict government environmental regulations that requires the use of environmentally friendly products. In this study, the physical, environmental as well as sand barrier properties of arrowroot fiber (AF) reinforced arrowroot starch (AS) composites film were investigated by using different percentage of arrowroot fiber (...

The objective of this study is to evaluate the tensile and flexural properties of epoxy composites reinforced with sugar palm (Arenga pinnata) fiber (SPF) harvested from various geographical locations, in Malaysia; Kuala Jempol, Negeri Sembilan (SPFN9); Benta, Pahang (SPFP); and Tawau, Sabah (SPFS), and from Java, Indonesia (SPFJ). Due to its optim...

Combining two or more different types of fibers within a polymer matrix is defined as hybrid composites. The requirements for an impressive hybrid composites include compatible weight ratio, good compressive strength, low-cost production and ease of fabrication. Moreover, hybrid composites provide a combination of remarkable mechanical properties i...

Oil Palm Biomass for Composite Panels: Fundamentals, Processing, and Applications explains the preparation and utilization of oil palm biomass for advanced composite panel products. It introduces the fundamentals of oil palm biomass and wood-based panel products, including basic properties, durability, deterioration, and adhesives. It also includes...

A novel double cell wall interlocking square core was fabricated from flax fibre reinforced polylactic acid composite. Initially, a series of square core panels with cell sizes of 20, 30, and 40 mm were manufactured using a hot press machine and later fabricated using a simple slotting technique. Then, a series of quasi-static compression test load...

In the study, Al7075-TiC composites were synthesized by using a novel dual step blending process followed by cold pressing and sintering. The effect of ball milling time on the microstructure of the synthesized composite powder was characterized using X-ray diffraction measurements (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectr...

This paper reviews the mechanical performance of bamboo fiber reinforced polymer composites (BFRP) for structural applications. Bamboo fibers are very promising reinforcements for polymer composites production due to their high aspect ratio, renewability, environmentally friendly, non-toxicity, cheap cost, non-abrasives, full biodegradability, and...

The innovation in material science reveals more materials day by day and the material database grows exponentially. The conventional material selection systems fail to handle this large material database. The explosion all over the world is increasingly using the computing power to solve complex problems. Accordingly, it is applied in the field of...

The adequacy of timber joints determines how much load it can sustain, commonly called load-carrying capacity. European Yield Model (EYM), also known as Johansen yield theory, has been widely adopted in the design of timber joints for predicting load-carrying capacity. In EC5, the pulling out capacity is known as the 'rope effect' and becomes one p...

Carbon-based composites, including carbon reinforced composites and carbon-matrix composites, in defence technologies have raised a lot of attention due to its significant physical capabilities, superior thermal and mechanical stability, and its eco-friendly nature. Carbon-based composite which incorporating with various carbonaceous materials such...

At this time, the material made from plastic is widely used because it has strong and inexpensive properties. However, the amount of plastic waste is an environmental problem in every region. One way to overcome is to create environmentally friendly plastics that can decompose naturally. The purpose of this study was to prepare and investigate the...

New product development review article aims to consolidate the principles and current literature on design for sustainability to seek the field’s future direction. In this point of view, the design for sustainability methods can be established under the idea of sustainability in dimensions of ecology, economy and social pillars. Design for sustaina...

There has been much effort to provide eco-friendly and biodegradable materials for the next generation of composite products owing to global environmental concerns and increased awareness of renewable green resources. This review article uniquely highlights the use of green composites from natural fiber, particularly with regard to the development...

The composite materials utilized in the aerospace sector are discussed in this chapter. Fabrication of aviation materials begins with the use of natural composite materials, such as wood. The aerospace industries are then dominated by steel, which is followed by the plastic era. There has been significant development made on composite materials for...

Continual development and establishment of innovative materials in aerospace applications intends at reduction in weight, improved fuel efficiency, superior performance, and decreased cost. Progress of engineering materials for aerospace application affects both financial and ecological issues. Latest developments in advanced composites impact aero...

In recent years, a lot of progress has been created on aerospace materials for structural and engineering applications. Composites are made when two or more different materials are combined to create superior and distinctive materials. For aerospace engineering, there is considerable progress in material science and engineering with the technologic...

Rapid development of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) reinforced to polymer composites has been recently noticed in many aspects. In this work, the latest developments on fatigue and fracture enhancement of polymer composites with CNTs reinforcement with diverse methods are thoroughly compiled and systematically reviewed. The existing available researches c...

This chapter deals with the recent and emerging development of hybrid biocomposites. Hybrid composites have specific and idiosyncratic characteristics that can be used in a variety of structural components and structures without losing their structural efficiency and physical and mechanical properties; not only can hybrid biocomposites have imp...

The rapid depletion of petroleum products, together with growing awareness of worldwide environmental concerns associated with the use of petroleum based plastics, are the primary driving reasons behind the broad adoption of natural fibres and biopolymers. Sugar palm fibre (Arenga pinnata (Wurmb)Merr) (SPF) is one of the most abundant and renewable...

The rising environmental concerns caused by petroleum-based plastics used today highlight the need to produce environmentally friendly bioplastics to protect our ecosystem. To meet this need, research on natural fibre reinforced polymer composites has been conducted over the last decade. Besides the numerous advantages of natural fibre reinforced p...

This study was performed to evaluate the biodegradability of sugar palm fiber (SPF)/glass giber (GF) reinforced polylactic acid (PLA) composite. Both SPF and PLA are biodegradable and 100% obtained from renewable resources, while the glass fiber is non-biodegradable. This biodegradability analysis was done only for 150 days. The research concludes...

INTROPICA 2021

The importance of carbon-based nanomaterials for various uses in today's world has prompted efforts to develop simple, cost-effective synthesis methods from abundantly available wastes. By thermally processing organic waste, pyrolysis in a broad spectrum is commonly used for the creation of carbon nanostructures. The growth of carbon nanomaterials...

Recently, biocomposites became highly valuable due to their environmental advantages. The growing environmental awareness of people and the new stringent green policies enacted by governments has intensify the search and development of more environmentally friendly materials to preserve our immediate environment and public health. However, the sele...

Plastics and Non-biodegradable materials remain the most common material used by the food industry for packaging applications. As a result, the widespread use of these traditional plastics has resulted in a dangerous negative environment. Several studies have been conducted over the years to replace plastic packaging materials with environmentally...

The importance of carbon-based nanomaterials for various uses in today's world has prompted efforts to develop simple, cost-effective synthesis methods from abundantly available wastes. By thermally processing organic waste, pyrolysis in a broad spectrum is commonly used for the creation of carbon nanostructures. The growth of carbon nanomaterials...

The widespread use of biopolymers in the place of standard plastics would help to reduce the weight of waste. Therefore, biodegradable materials take part in the natural cycle “from nature to nature” and play an important role for environmental sustainability. Various parts from the green plant fibre can be utilized as the bionanocomposites product...

Polymer blending is yet another adapted method to offset the drawback of a polymer with another superior polymer. However, the developed polymer blend is often ended up with inferior properties due to their poor immiscibility. The introduction of compatibilizers effectively stabilize the interconnection of the two phases allowing finer dispersion o...

The widespread acceptance of natural fibers and biopolymers as green materials is being driven by the rapid exhaustion of petroleum resources, as well as growing awareness of global environmental problems associated with the usage of conventional plastics. The concerns over current environmental issues have forced scientists and engineers to find s...

Industrial Applications of Nanocellulose and Its Nanocomposites provides an extensive, up-to-date review of this fast-moving research field. The chapters cover a wide range of aspects, including synthesis, surface modification, and improvement of properties toward target applications. The main objectives of the book are to reflect on recent advance...

This research is driven by stringent environmental legislation requiring the consumption and use of environmentally friendly materials. In this context, this paper is concerned with the development and characterization of thermoplastic arrowroot starch (TPAS) based biocomposite films by incorporating arrowroot fiber (AF) (0−10%) into a glycerol pla...

This study aims to review all requirements of the optimum design of the cross-arm structure in terms of materials , fabrications and the steps of concurrent engineering methods. Principles of conceptual design including all techniques that are used to select optimum design were reviewed and discussed. Decision Making strategies for analytics networ...

This study aims to review all requirements of the optimum design of the cross-arm structure in terms of materials , fabrications and the steps of concurrent engineering methods . Principles of conceptual design including all techniques that are used to select optimum design were reviewed and discussed. Decision Making strategies for analytics netwo...

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a thermoplastic polymer produced from lactic acid that has been chiefly utilized in biodegradable material and as a composite matrix material. PLA is a prominent biomaterial that is widely used to replace traditional petrochemical-based polymers in various applications owing environmental concerns. Green composites have gai...

Sustainable technologies are vital due to the efforts of researchers and investors who have allocated significant amounts of money and time to their development. Nowadays, 3D printing has been accepted by the main industry players, since its first establishment almost 30 years ago. It is obvious that almost every industry is related to technology,...

Citation: Azlin, M.N.M.; Ilyas, R.A.; Zuhri, M.Y.M.; Sapuan, S.M.; Harussani, M.M.; Sharma, S.; Nordin, A.H.; Nurazzi, N.M.; Afiqah, A.N. 3D

2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) or widely called as COVID-19 has spread vigorously throughout 2019 until present. This Wuhan-originated virus had been the cause of global pandemic and thus, impaired global economy, industry as well as health issues. Various approaches, non- and pharmaceutical remedies, had been practiced by the publics. The best...

This chapter discusses on the introductory and background of safety and health in general aspect. In this section, the elaborations on theories and theroretical frameworks of accident and its causes are outlined accordingly. Later, this section narrows toward the foundation of safety and health in term of composites and engineering perspectives, su...

This chapter introduces the basic fundamental and concept for design for safety. It reveals the technical gaps between design for safety and current state of the art to produce a new products. This chapter introduces the background of design for safety which covers those ten paradigms for safe designs to guide the designer to do right things at the...

This book chapter reviews the issues of occupational safety and health administration in the composites industry in three countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia. In the United States, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established in 1971 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. It was the...

For more than 3000 years, natural fibres are used to reinforce materials generally, or biopolymer composites specifically. Water hyacinth, coir, sisal, oil palm empty fruit bunch, ramie, kenaf, grass reeds, sugarcane (sugar and bamboo), oats, rye, barley, wheat, rice husks, wood fibre, straw, jute are the examples of natural fibres. Hemp, flax, pen...

In this chapter, it reveals on the review of safety in composite laboratory. Throughout this topic, it elaborates on the steps and safety measures needed to be taken in the laboratory in three periods such as before, during and after handling composites. Several safety and protective equipment also have been mentioned to allow reader to understand...

The phrase “carbon footprint” has been increasingly used over the last decade and is now all over the media. This can be credited to the strong correlation between carbon emissions and climate change, not to mention the ever-worsening effect on the earth and its inhabitants. Carbon footprint calculations are in demand due to climate change being hi...

Composite production contributes to air pollution by releasing hazardous pollutants into the atmosphere. This study reviews the emission of styrene from the fibre reinforced plastics composites and thermoset composites manufacturing, formaldehyde emission in wood-based composites production, the national standard for hazardous air pollution in comp...

There are increasing concerns regarding the health hazards from composites these days. There are a few types of composites discussed in this study, e.g. carbon fibre, dental composite resin, nanocomposite of Low-density Polyethylene (LDPE), Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF), and concrete compound. Health hazards from carbon fibre include the fibrous...

Currently, the application of composite materials has been ubiquitous in defence, automobile, aerospace, sports, household products and medical equipment. The composite materials were made up from two major phases called as fibre as reinforcement and polymeric matrix. The combination of both phases allows the material to be lightweight and high str...

People who work in the fibre reinforcement industry are susceptible to certain diseases, e.g. respiratory problems, skin irritation, and cancer. Respirable particles of reinforced fibres are the main problems contributing to the health issues. This shows the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE) to minimize health problems among workers...

The applications of polymeric materials have been widely used to meet the usage and requirements of conventional fire retardants. However, the presence of halogen-based and phosphorus compounds generates corrosive and toxic combustion products. The compounds, which are organic pollutants, have been persistent global environmental concerns as they a...

With the recent development of technology as well as rapid modernisation, transportation has been a vital part of them. Awareness about safety has been prioritised among people. Therefore, safety design in different transportations plays a huge role in ensuring the safety of everyone. In this review, several safety issues are being discussed which...

This book provides the latest developments on safety practices utilized in composite manufacturing facilities for students, workers, engineers, and other participants. It includes commentary from academic experts in the field who present cutting-edge research on advanced composite materials. Illustrations, figures, and tables are included in this b...

Nanocellulose has emerged as one of the most significant green materials of the modern era over the last few years. Nanocellulose with nanometer widths are nature-based materials with unique and potentially valuable characteristics. These new nanocelluloses open up to natural polymer cellulose the strongly developing range of sustainable materials,...

Biomass and plastic wastes which produced from various sources including agricultural, industrial and domestic activities had created a chronic situation towards environmental health. The recycling of these wastes by mean of transforming it into carbon-based product via thermal decomposition approach is one solution for the environmental pollution...

The bio-inspired structure (e.g., honeycomb) has been studied for its ability to absorb energy and its high strength. The cell size and wall thickness are the main elements that alter the structural ability to withstand load and pressure. Moreover, adding a secondary structure can increase the compressive strength and energy absorption (EA) capabil...

In the past decades, many different resources have been utilised to prepare nanofibre from the macrofibre of lignocellulosic fibre, including sugar palm fibre. There are different methods of disintegration that would lead to different types and sizes of nanofibres materials. These processing methods include mechanical treatments (high pressurized h...

In recent years, biopolymers have received a lot of attention intending to develop high-performance biocomposites with low environmental impact due to their unique and useful characteristics such as renewability, abundant availability, eco-friendliness and lightweight. As investment and research into biopolymer composites raise, composite materials...

The escalating environmental devastation caused by the disposal of packaging plastic waste has resulted in an urgent need to produce environmentally friendly packaging materials in order to save our ecosystem. Natural biopolymers have been studied as potential alternatives to conventional plastics in an effort to tackle the ongoing environmental ca...

In this study, sugar palm crystalline nanocellulose (SPCNC)-reinforced thermoplastic sugar palm starch (TPS) was blended with poly(lactic acid) (PLA) in order to prioritize the biodegradation feature while offsetting individual polymer limitation. Prior to melt blending process, SPCNC was dispersed through sonication in advance of starch gelatiniza...

Natural fiber‐reinforced polymer composites are well‐recognized materials for construction, packaging, aerospace, and automotive industries due to their outstanding properties, such as high specific strength, low cost, renewability, ease accessibility, and lightweight. Hybridization of fibers has become a very popular technique to increase the prop...

Hybrid laminated composites were fabricated from woven kenaf, woven polyester and polylactic acid (PLA) using the hot compression method. The hybrid composites consist of woven material as reinforcement having the fiber weight-matrix ratio of 40:60. Six samples of hybrid laminated composites were prepared in different stacking sequences using the h...

Yields of carbonaceous char with a high surface area were enhanced by decreasing the temperature to improve the conversion of hazardous plastic polypropylene (PP), the major component in abundantly used isolation gowns. This study applied pyrolysis with different low pyrolytic temperatures to convert disinfected PP-based isolation gown waste (PP-IG...

Dry powder products are highly sensitive to oxygen and water vapour and must have a long shelf life. Currently, they are vacuum-packaged in sachets whose walls are made of a composite film that stops oxygen and water vapour from entering the package. Most of these composites are not biodegradable, a situation that the most agricultural company now...

The aim of this review is to investigate the recent development of kenaf derived biochar and its composites in various engineering and agricultural applications including nanostructure catalysts and polymer composites as kenaf biochar and activated carbon are mainly used as material adsorbents and soil amendments. A systematic review on the effect...

Numerous situations in daily life necessitate a decision. Several of them entail selecting the best option from a number of available options. In many such cases, no single solution is optimal for all of the performance characteristics. This study proposes using grey relational analysis (GRA), a multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) method, to s...

In the recent past, significant research effort has been dedicated to examining the usage of nanomaterials hybridized with lignocellulosic fibers as reinforcement in the fabrication of polymer nanocomposites. The introduction of nanoparticles like montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay was found to increase the strength, modulus of elasticity and stiffness...

This research was carried out to develop a reinforcing structure with different geometrical shapes and patterns from recycled HDPE motor oil containers to be embedded in concrete structures. The reinforcing structure was prepared by dimensioning, cutting and joining of waste HDPE. In this study, different basic engineering shapes of rHDPE were used...

This study set out with the aim of assessing the morphology and properties of lignocellulosic fiber extracted from the tubers mainly found in tropical forests called arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea). Arrowroot bagasse (ABF) and husk fibers (AHF) were extracted and the physical, chemical, thermal, morphological properties, as well as crystallinity, w...

The number of road accidents has increased annually over the last 20 years, and this is a matter of considerable concern. Automobile safety systems must therefore be carefully evaluated to ensure they are able to serve their purpose in protecting passengers. One of these safety systems is the car bumper system. The bumper system plays a vital role,...

In this study, the effects of various quantities of sorbitol and glycerol plasticizers (0%, 30%, 45% and 60%) on cornstarch-based film were examined to develop a novel polymer for usage with biodegradable materials. The film was prepared using the casting process. According to the test findings, the application of the plasticizer concentrations aff...

Biocomposite materials create a huge opportunity for a healthy and safe environment by replacing artificial plastic and materials with natural ingredients in a variety of applications. Furniture, construction materials, insulation, and packaging, as well as medical devices, can all benefit from biocomposite materials. Wheat is one of the world’s mo...

This research was performed to evaluate the physical, mechanical, and morphological properties of treated sugar palm fiber (SPF)/glass fiber (GF) reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) hybrid composites. Morphological investigations of tensile and flexural fractured samples of composites were conducted with the help of scanning electron microscopy (SEM...