Institutional-Repository, University of Moratuwa
Welcome to the University of Moratuwa Digital Repository, which houses postgraduate theses and dissertations, research articles presented at conferences by faculties and departments, university-published journal articles and research publications authored by academic staff. This online repository stores, preserves and distributes the University's scholarly work. This service allows University members to share their research with a larger audience.
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Recent Submissions
item: Thesis-Full-text
Assessing the consumers’ attitude towards sustainability on purchase decisions in personal care products in Western Province, Sri Lanka
(2025) Ranasinghe, DK; Dissanayaka, P; Jayasundara, DRT
Environmental problems are rapidly increasing in the global context. This has urged many businesses to think about sustainable aspects to incorporate in their supply chain activities. With rapid external environmental changes, businesses have to be extra attentive on how consumer purchasing patterns have changed in current environment.
Personal care product category is one of the most highly valued product categories under Fast moving consumer goods segment. Several international businesses who are in personal care products manufacturing have initiated to combine sustainable elements in their product features whereby consumer attraction has gained and rapidly changed purchasing behavior towards sustainable products. With this understanding, this study is analyzing how consumers’ attitude on sustainable aspects has impacted on purchase decisions in personal care category in Western province Sri Lanka.
This research was performed using the survey method with an online structured questionnaire. Data were gathered from 325 number of participants who purchase or potential to purchase personal care products in Western province Sri Lanka. In this cross sectional study under the quantitative approach, structural equation modeling was mainly applied for the analysis. In prior to the actual data collection, a pre-study and a pilot study were conducted. The statistical software IBM SPSS and AMOS were used for data analysis. As per the results, the factors awareness about sustainability, green advertising and beliefs & attitudes were identified as factors which are having a significant positive impact on purchase decision. Moreover, among those factors, green advertising has a strong positive impact on purchase decisions than other factors.
Based on these findings, personal care products manufacturing can improve consumer purchase decisions positively by making consumers aware about sustainability and its importance, promote product features through green advertising, and change consumer thinking including beliefs and attitudes towards sustainability. Findings of this research are helpful to contribute towards sustainability to reduce environmental problems.
item: Conference-Extended-Abstract
Integrating albedo and remote sensing indices to assess the urban heat and greening priorities in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
(Engineering Research Unit, 2025) Keerthi, T; Vathsalayan, V; Keshara, KI
Rapid urbanisation causes a dramatic increase in built-up areas, while natural vegetation is significantly diminished. Although this supports economic and social development, it has negative impacts on the environment and biodiversity. One of the challenges is the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, where built-up surfaces absorb and retain heat, raising urban temperatures compared to surrounding rural areas. The reduction of vegetation, expansion of impervious surfaces, and decline in surface reflectivity (albedo) collectively contribute to thermal stress and reduced urban livability. Assessing these interactions is crucial for climate-sensitive urban planning, especially in rapidly developing coastal cities such as Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. By analysing and correlating key remote sensing indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Land Surface Temperature (LST), Urban Heat Island (UHI), Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI), Greening Priority Index (GPI), and Albedo, this study aims to identify the spatio-temporal variations in green cover and heat patterns between 2015 and 2025 in Trincomalee Town and Gravets DS Division.
item: Conference-Extended-Abstract
Influence of temperature and composition ratios on polyurethane foam properties
(Engineering Research Unit, 2025) Weerasinghe, WDC; Polkotuwa, PWCLK; Perera, IKHK; Pramod, ABR; Himansala, BGC; Yasasri, MAH
This aims to summarize the influence of processing parameters, raw material composition, and environmental factors on the mechanical and physical properties of polyurethane foam (PUF), with a focus on tailoring foam for industrial applications. Polyurethane (PU) was first synthesized in 1849 by Wurtz and however, it was not until 1937 that Otto Bayer made a significant breakthrough by synthesizing PUs from the reaction of a polyester diol and a diisocyanate. [1] This marked the beginning of the modern PU industry, as it introduced a new class of polymerization reaction called polyaddition as shown in figure 1. Initially considered useless, PU quickly gained recognition for its versatility and found applications in a wide range of industries. PU is a foam material that can be either soft or rigid, depending on its raw materials. Polyol and isocyanate are the main materials used to make polyurethane foam (PUF). PUF has mechanical properties such as high tensile strength, elasticity, and the ability to recover its shape after compression. The density of PU can be adjusted by varying its composition. This property measures the foam's ability to return to its original thickness after being compressed. Physical properties include adjustable density, porosity, excellent thermal insulation due to low thermal conductivity, sound absorption, biocompatibility, and flammability [1], [2].
item: Thesis-Abstract
Interactive system with speech therapy for children with level 01 autism spectrum disorder
(2024) Appuhamy, EJGS; Jayasekara, AGBP
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition characterized by social communication challenges and repetitive behaviors. Early intervention, typically before age two or three, is crucial despite the lack of a cure. Specialized therapies enhance communication, social skills, and quality of life. Severity levels range from Level 1 (least severe) to Level 3 (most severe). Speech therapy is essential for improving communication skills, using techniques to enhance speech, language, voice, and fluency. Technological innovations like facial expression and speech recognition improve diagnosis and treatment outcomes, aiding societal inclusion. The research aims to design an interactive system tailored for speech therapy for Level 01 ASD children around three. Objectives include integrating facial expression and speech recognition to enhance therapy effectiveness and developing an interactive platform for seamless communication during sessions. This approach aims to improve communication, social interaction, and therapeutic outcomes. The system includes sound and interactive touch systems for image selection and a PC-based intelligent system with a mic and webcam for interaction. Facial expression identification, interactive system engagement, and speech recognition are manually evaluated. The conclusion is based on facial expression identification, interactive system engagement, and speech recognition results. Results indicate good progress at 80%-100%, moderate progress at 50%-80%, and poor progress below 50% for Level 01 ASD children. The pre-trained facial expression recognition module effectively identifies emotions such as sadness, surprise, anger, and neutral states, integrating them into memory classification. During therapy, the system assesses similarities between typical human emotions and those of ASD children, enhancing interaction dynamics. The module includes a Haar cascade for face detection and a CNN model for facial expression identification. In the initial stage, the system uses real-time speech clips to construct the CNN model for speech recognition, aiding interaction during cartoon image selection. The overall accuracy of the developed system is 92.5% for together with speech recognition, facial expression identification and interactive platform engagement. This integrated approach aims to manage ASD symptoms effectively, improve communication skills, and enhance the quality of life for affected individuals. It underscores the importance of early intervention and personalized therapeutic strategies in supporting individuals with ASD.
item: Conference-Extended-Abstract
A Comparative study on the mechanical properties of caryota urens and sisal fiber reinforced composites
(Engineering Research Unit, 2025) Deepthika, IK; Hewaarachchi, NK; De Silva, KTKM; Piyarathna, MWSB
In recent times, the global focus on sustainable development and environmental preservation has greatly impacted the domain of materials science and engineering. Among the numerous advancements, natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites have gained attention as viable substitutes for traditional synthetic composites due to their environmental friendliness, renewability, biodegradability, and affordability [1]. These materials are increasingly being utilized in automotive parts, marine industry construction materials, packaging, and consumer products [1],[2]. In this research study, among the natural fibers, Caryota urens and sisal fibers are selected to make natural composite materials due to their biodegradability, availability, and low cost. This study investigates composites reinforced with pure Caryota urens, pure sisal, and a hybrid mix of Caryota urens and sisal (50:50 weight ratio) to determine whether hybridization can yield a material with enhanced or balanced mechanical performance compared to individual fiber composites. A 50:50 ratio was chosen to study the mechanical properties of the blend after mixing in equal amounts by weight and the difference between the mechanical properties of pure Caryota urens and pure sisal fibers.