Recently, Malaysia has been recognized as one of the most popular destinations for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Southeast Asia. But how do these FDI inflows affect Malaysia economy? This paper aims to identify the role of FDI inflows in Malaysia economic growth through a proposed endogenous growth model. Annual data covers from 1975 to 2010. Unit root test and Johansen Co-integration test are adopted to respectively verify the time series data is stable and the linear combination of the variables is stationary. Hierarchical Multiple Regressions (HMR) Analysis is then conducted to find out the momentum of the Malaysia economic growth including FDI inflows. The results show that the FDI inflows together with the human capital deve

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of hydrated lime addition methods as filler replacement on fatigue performance of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). Three types of addition methods of hydrated lime were introduced namely dry HL on dry aggregate and saturated surface aggregate above 3% and slurry HL on dry aggregate, ordinary Lime stone powder was reduced by three HL percentage (1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 %). The effect of different methods were investigated on the fatigue properties of HMA using, third-point flexural fatigue bending Test. Pneumatic Repeated Load System (PRLS) was carried out to establish the effect of hydrated lime on the fatigue failure criteria and to select the proper hydrated lime application methods on fatigue behavior o

This research is carried out to investigate the behavior of self-compacting concrete (SCC) two-way slabs with central square opening under uniformly distributed loads. The experimental part of this research is based on casting and testing six SCC simply supported square slabs having the same dimentions and reinforcement. One of these slabs was cast without opening as a control slab. While, the other five slabs having opening ratios (O_R) of 2.78%, 6.25%, 11.11%, 17.36% and 25.00%. From the experimental results it is found that the maximum percentage decrease in cracking and ultimate uniform loads were 31.82% and 12.17% compared to control slab for opening ratios (O_R

The main aim of this research paper is investigating the effectiveness and validity of Meso-Scale Approach (MSA) as a modern technique for the modeling of plain concrete beams. Simply supported plain concrete beam was subjected to two-point loading to detect the response in flexural. Experimentally, a concrete mix was designed and prepared to produce three similar standard concrete prisms for flexural testing. The coarse aggregate used in this mix was crushed aggregate. Numerical Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was conducted on the same concrete beam using the meso-scale modeling. The numerical model was constructed to be a bi-phasic material consisting of cement mortar and coarse aggregate. The interface between the two c

This study investigates the possibility of using waste plastic as one of the components of expired lead-acid batteries to produce lightweight concrete. Different percentages of lead-acid battery plastic were used in the production of lightweight concrete. The replacements were (70, 80 and 100%) by volume of the fine and coarse aggregate. Results demonstrated that a reduction of approximately 23.6% to 35% in the wet density was observed when replacement of 70% to 100% of the natural aggregate by lead-acid battery plastic. Also, the compressive strength decreased slightly with the increase in plastic content at different curing ages of 7, 28, 60, 90, 120 days. The lowest value of compressive strength was (20.7 MPa) for (wa

The performance and durability of the asphalt pavement structure mainly depend on the strength of the bonding between the layers. Such a bond is achieved through the use of an adhesive material (tack coat) to bond the asphalt layers. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of moisture in conjunction with repeated traffic loads on the strength of the bonding between asphalt layers using two types of tack coats with different application rates. Using the nominal maximum size of aggregate (NMAS), the layers were graded (25/19) and (19/9.5) mm. The slabs of multilayer asphalt concrete were prepared using a roller compactor using two types of tack coats to bond between layers, namely rapid curing cut back a

Despite widespread agreement on the beneficial nature of hydrated lime (HL) addition to asphalt concrete mixes, understanding of the effect of HL particle size is still limited. Previous investigations have focused mainly on two different size comparisons, and so certain guidance for a practical application cannot yet be produced. This study investigates three distinct sizes of HL, in the range of regular, nano, and sub-nano scales, for their effects on the properties of modified asphalt concretes. Five different percentages of HL as a partial replacement of ordinary limestone filler in asphalt concrete mixes were studied for wearing course application purposes. Experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties

Roller compacted concrete (RCC) is a concrete compacted by roller compaction. The concrete mixture in its unhardened state must support a roller while being compacted. The aim of this research work was to investigate the behavior and properties of roller compacted concrete when constructed in the laboratory using roller compactor manufactured in local market to simulate the field conditions. The roller compaction was conducts in three stages; each stage has different loading and number of passes of the roller. For the first stage, a load of (24) kg and (5) passes in each direction had been employed. For the second stage, a load of (104) kg and (10) passes in each direction were conducted. Finally, at the third stage, a load of (183) kg a

Abstract

     Machining residual stresses correlate very closely with the cutting parameters and the tool geometries. This research work aims to investigate the effect of cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut on the surface residual stress of steel AISI 1045 after face milling operation. After each milling test, the residual stress on the surface of the workpiece was measured by using X-ray diffraction technique. Design of Experiment (DOE) software was employed using the response surface methodology (RSM) technique with a central composite rotatable design to build a mathematical model to determine the relationship between the input variables and the response. The results showed that both

In this paper, preliminary test Shrinkage estimator have been considered for estimating the shape parameter α of pareto distribution when the scale parameter equal to the smallest loss and when a prior estimate α0 of α is available as initial value from the past experiences or from quaintance cases. The proposed estimator is shown to have a smaller mean squared error in a region around α0 when comparison with usual and existing estimators.