Many unsuitable soils for construction purposes can be made suitable by using unconventional soil stabilizers. This study investigates the effects of banana fibre-reinforcement of a soil stabilized with sodium silicate on the geotechnical properties of the composite. It involved the application of 1% sodium silicate with varying proportion (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5%) of banana fibre to a gravelly sand. Index properties, unconfined compression, direct shear, splittensile and California bearing ratio (CBR) tests were determined for the stabilized soil and the reinforced soil samples. The results show that the plasticity index, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), shear strength, splittensile strength and CBR of the specimens stabilized with sodium silicate increased with increasing percentage of banana fibre content. The application of 0.5% banana fibre strengthened the soil -the UCS increased by 445%, shear strength by 80%, split tensile strength by 194% and the soaked CBR increased by 1083%. The banana fibrereinforcement of the sodium silicate stabilized sandy soils made the stabilized soil become suitable for road pavement application as sub-base material.

As auto manufacturers strive to meet imposed fuel economy and emissions regulations while producing vehicles with the quality and features that consumer expect, the industry needs to rely on advancements made in the field of metal matrix composites. The efforts of combining or replacing metals with the use of advanced metal matrix composites (MMCs) not only reduce weight, but can also improve safety, reliability and efficiency. A hybrid MMC was developed for the cylinder liner of advanced diesel engines. Composites of Al-6063 aluminium alloy reinforced with, fly ash particulate containing 10% and graphite particulate containing 5, 10 and 15 % were produced by stir casting. The wear and frictional properties of the casted hybrid metal matrix composites were investigated by performing dry sliding wear test using a pin-on-disc wear tester. The investigation was done to find the influence of applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance on wear rate, as well as the coefficient of friction during wearing process. From the investigation, it is evident that wear resistance of Al-6063 is increased while adding the fly ash and graphite reinforcement content. The results were compared with the existing liner material. From this comparative study the Al-6063/fly ash/graphite hybrid metal matrix composite can be the considered as an alternative material for existing cylinder material.

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Aluminium recycling has gained focus in the recent years due to the profound application of aluminium. In addition to that the world is moving towards the method of sustainable method of production. Aluminium recycling consumes only 5% of the energy required for the production of aluminium through traditional method. Recycling is beneficial in terms of reduction in energy, usage of conventional natural resources, waste disposal in landfills, emission of greenhouse gases that lessen global warming and production costs Currently, the refining of aluminium is restricted to removal of alkali or alkali earth metals, non-metallic inclusions and hydrogen. Technologies for removal of these types are commercially mature and there is a need for focus on the removal of other undesirable or tramp elements such as copper, silicon, iron, iron or zinc from the aluminium melt and application of chlorine must be discouraged due to their toxic nature. Considering these problems, a review has been conducted to evaluate the current practice in the refining of aluminium alloys by the application of gas to eliminate the defects in aluminium castings. The study has been extended to focus on the various techniques that are applied for the cleaning of melt.

Ceramics have been used since the earliest civilization. The field of ceramic materials has its roots in more traditional aspects of the subject like clay based ceramics and glasses. Ceramics are defined as solid compounds that are formed by the application of heat and sometimes heat and pressure. It has been defined ceramics as, "the art and science of making and using solid articles, which have as their essential component, and are composed in large part of, inorganic nonmetallic materials. Sub grass ash is consider for manufacture of ceramics since it has rich silica content and easily available in cheaper cost. Ceramics are developed by using poly vinyl alcohol as binder in composition of silica, the composition is heated at temperature of 1000deg 3hours, the samples are prepared by varying composition of silica. The newly developed ceramics samples are exhibit better mechanical characteristics like compressive, flexural strengths. KEYWORD: Subordinate grass ash, polyvinyl alcohol, compressive and flexural strength