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Article
Publication date: 2 December 2022

Lijun Dong, Naichao Chen, Jiawen Liang, Tingting Li, Zhanlin Yan and Bing Zhang

The purpose of this study is to provide an in-depth understanding about the indoor-orbital electrical inspection robot, which is useful for motivating the further investigation on…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to provide an in-depth understanding about the indoor-orbital electrical inspection robot, which is useful for motivating the further investigation on the inspection of electrical equipment. Currently, electric energy has a strong correlation with the economic development of the country. Intelligent substations play an important role in the transmission and distribution of the electricity; the maintenance of the substation has attracted intensive attention due to the requirement of reliability and safety. The indoor-orbital electrical inspection robot has increasingly become the main tool to realize the unmanned. Hence, a systematic review is conducted systematically reviewing the current technical status of the indoor-orbital electrical inspection robot and discuss the existed problems.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the most essential achievements in the field of indoor-orbital electrical inspection robots were reported to present the current status, and the mechanical structures and key inspective technologies were also discussed.

Findings

Four recommendations are provided from the analyzed review, which have made constructive comments on the overall structural design, functionality, intelligence and future development direction of the indoor-orbital electrical inspection robot, respectively.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic review study on indoor-orbital electrical inspection robots; it fills the theoretical gap and proffers design ideas and directions for the development of the indoor-orbital electrical inspection robot.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. 50 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 July 2020

Zhuming Bi, Chaomin Luo, Zhonghua Miao, Bing Zhang and Chris W.J. Zhang

Since the market penetrations of service robots are only successful to a limited types of services, the purpose of the paper is to look into the reasons why the market…

Abstract

Purpose

Since the market penetrations of service robots are only successful to a limited types of services, the purpose of the paper is to look into the reasons why the market penetrations are lagged from both technical and nontechnical perspectives. Automatic robotic recharging services, especially robotic refueling systems, are used as the case study for the investigation.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper surveyed the relevant technologies and products and conducted the feasibility study and risk management for new development of automated robotic refueling systems. This paper developed a cost model for the evaluation of robotic refueling systems.

Findings

There are no major technical barriers that exist for the development of robotic refueling systems, but two main risks of developing new robotic refueling systems are interference of existing patents and the extreme effort to further reduce the development cost of automated refueling systems. The recommendations have been made to new developers of service robots.

Research limitations/implications

The suggestions are made for further development on service robots, in general; however, this paper does not cover the physical development of service robots.

Practical implications

This study was actually conducted for a client company who has a strong interest in developing new products for automatic robotic refueling systems. The reported work has great significance for new comers in this area to understand the state of the art, technological challenges and some potential risks in the field.

Originality/value

To the best of authors’ knowledge, it will be the first academic paper to summarize the research and development effort on automatic recharging business. The targeted field is very typical in promoting robots in services. Even robotic refueling was proposed at very early stage of robotic application, the market penetration of refueling robots the market penetration is very limited, not because the technology readiness but some other factors. This work has its significance to identify technical and nontechnical challenges to promote robots in services.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. 48 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2021

Ru-Jing Hou, Sheng-Hao Han, Yu-Dong Zhang, Chu-Bing Zhang and Kun Wang

The biggest obstacle to the sustainable development of online brand communities is social loafing. Based on 3M Hierarchical Model of Personality, this paper aims to discuss the…

Abstract

Purpose

The biggest obstacle to the sustainable development of online brand communities is social loafing. Based on 3M Hierarchical Model of Personality, this paper aims to discuss the influence of the Big Five on social loafing in online brand communities, and consider the mediating role of dehumanization from the perspective of moral disengagement theory, so as to alleviate social loafing and promote the sustainable development of online brand communities.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected utilizing the online self-report questionnaires. Community members of mobile phone brands represented by HUAWEI and Xiaomi completed the questionnaire sets. Based on the responses of 214 participants, a structural equation modeling was applied to examine the relationship between Big Five on social loafing in online brand communities. Later, bootstrap analysis was used to further explore the indirect effect of dehumanization.

Findings

Only two personality traits, neuroticism and extroversion, have direct effect on social loafing, while agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness not. However, all the Big Five personality traits can indirectly influence social loafing through dehumanization.

Originality/value

This study introduces the concept of social loafing into online brand communities, and analyzes social loafing from the unique research perspective of moral disengagement theory, which can not only contribute to the development of moral disengagement theory and social loafing theory but also provide guiding points for relieving social loafing in online brand communities.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 45 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2024

Linghuan Li, Shibin Sun, Ronghua Zhuang, Bing Zhang, Zeyu Li and Jianying Yu

This study aims to develop a polymer cement-based waterproof coating with self-healing capability to efficiently and intelligently solve the building leakage caused by cracking of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop a polymer cement-based waterproof coating with self-healing capability to efficiently and intelligently solve the building leakage caused by cracking of waterproof materials, along with excellent durability to prolong its service life.

Design/methodology/approach

Ion chelators are introduced into the composite system based on ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer emulsion and ordinary Portland cement to prepare self-healing polymer cement-based waterproof coating. Hydration, microstructure, wettability, mechanical properties, durability, self-healing performance and self-healing products of polymer cement-based waterproof coating with ion chelator are investigated systematically. Meanwhile, the chemical composition of self-healing products in the crack was examined.

Findings

The results showed that ion chelators could motivate the hydration of C2S and C3S, as well as the formation of hydration products (C-S-H gel) of the waterproof coating to improve its compactness. Compared with the control group, the waterproof coating with ion chelator had more excellent water resistance, alkali resistance, thermal and UV aging resistance. When the dosage of ion chelator was 2%, after 28 days of curing, cracks with a width of 0.29 mm in waterproof coating could fully heal and cracks with a width of 0.50 mm could achieve a self-healing efficiency of 72%. Furthermore, the results reveal that the self-healing product in the crack was calcite crystalline CaCO3.

Originality/value

A novel ion chelator was introduced into the composite coating system to endow it with excellent self-healing ability to prolong its service life. It has huge application potential in the field of building waterproofing.

Details

Pigment & Resin Technology, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0369-9420

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2017

Fangwei Xie, Diancheng Wu, Yaowen Tong, Bing Zhang and Jie Zhu

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of structural parameters of oil groove (such as central angle number, depth and so on) on pressure, flow, load capacity and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of structural parameters of oil groove (such as central angle number, depth and so on) on pressure, flow, load capacity and transmitted torque between friction pairs of hydro-viscous clutch.

Design/methodology/approach

According to the working process of friction pairs of hydro-viscous clutch, mathematical models of hydrodynamic load capacity and torque transmitted by the oil film were built based on viscosity-temperature property. Then analytical solutions of pressure, flow, load capacity and transmitted torque were obtained; effects of central angle of oil groove zone and friction contact zone, oil film thickness, number of oil grooves on pressure, flow, load capacity and torque were studied theoretically.

Findings

The research found that the central angle of oil groove zone, number of oil grooves and oil groove depth have similar effects on flow, which means that with the increase of central angle, number or depth of oil grooves, the flow also increases; pressure in friction contact zone and oil groove zone drops along radial direction, whereas its value in oil groove zone is higher. With the increase of the central angle of oil groove zone, pressure in friction contact zone and friction contact zone rises, and the load capacity increases, whereas the transmitted torque drops. Number of oil grooves has little effect on load capacity. When the oil film thickness increases, its flow increases accordingly, whereas the pressure, load capacity and transmitted torque drops. Meanwhile, the transmitted torque decreases with the increase of number of oil grooves, whereas the oil groove depth nearly has no effects on transmitted torque.

Originality/value

In this paper, mathematical models of hydrodynamic load capacity and torque transmitted by oil film were built based on viscosity-temperature property in the working process of hydro-viscous clutch, and their analytical solutions were obtained; effects of structural parameters of oil groove on transmission characteristics of hydro-viscous clutch based on viscosity-temperature property were revealed. The research results are of great value to the theory development of hydro-viscous drive technology, the design of high-power hydro-viscous clutch and relative control strategy.

Details

Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, vol. 69 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0036-8792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 July 2021

Bing Zhang, Raiyan Seede, Austin Whitt, David Shoukr, Xueqin Huang, Ibrahim Karaman, Raymundo Arroyave and Alaa Elwany

There is recent emphasis on designing new materials and alloys specifically for metal additive manufacturing (AM) processes, in contrast to AM of existing alloys that were…

Abstract

Purpose

There is recent emphasis on designing new materials and alloys specifically for metal additive manufacturing (AM) processes, in contrast to AM of existing alloys that were developed for other traditional manufacturing methods involving considerably different physics. Process optimization to determine processing recipes for newly developed materials is expensive and time-consuming. The purpose of the current work is to use a systematic printability assessment framework developed by the co-authors to determine windows of processing parameters to print defect-free parts from a binary nickel-niobium alloy (NiNb5) using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) metal AM.

Design/methodology/approach

The printability assessment framework integrates analytical thermal modeling, uncertainty quantification and experimental characterization to determine processing windows for NiNb5 in an accelerated fashion. Test coupons and mechanical test samples were fabricated on a ProX 200 commercial LPBF system. A series of density, microstructure and mechanical property characterization was conducted to validate the proposed framework.

Findings

Near fully-dense parts with more than 99% density were successfully printed using the proposed framework. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of as-printed parts showed low variability, good tensile strength of up to 662 MPa and tensile ductility 51% higher than what has been reported in the literature.

Originality/value

Although many literature studies investigate process optimization for metal AM, there is a lack of a systematic printability assessment framework to determine manufacturing process parameters for newly designed AM materials in an accelerated fashion. Moreover, the majority of existing process optimization approaches involve either time- and cost-intensive experimental campaigns or require the use of proprietary computational materials codes. Through the use of a readily accessible analytical thermal model coupled with statistical calibration and uncertainty quantification techniques, the proposed framework achieves both efficiency and accessibility to the user. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that following this framework results in printed parts with low degrees of variability in their mechanical properties.

Article
Publication date: 17 August 2018

Fangwei Xie, Xudong Zheng, Yaowen Tong, Bing Zhang, Xinjian Guo, Dengshuai Wang and Yun Wang

The purpose of this paper is to study the working characteristics of hydro-viscous clutch at high rotational speeds and obtain the trend of flow field variation of oil film.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the working characteristics of hydro-viscous clutch at high rotational speeds and obtain the trend of flow field variation of oil film.

Design/methodology/approach

The FLUENT simulation model of the oil film between the friction disks is built. The effect of variation of working parameters such as input rotational speed, oil flow rate and film thickness on two-phase flow regime and transmission torque is studied by using the volume of fluid model.

Findings

The results show that the higher the rotational speed, the severer the cavitation is. In addition, the two-phase flow region makes the coverage of oil film over the friction pairs’ surface reduce, which results in a decrease in transmission torque for the hydro-viscous clutch.

Originality/value

These simulation results are of interest for the study of hydro-viscous drive and its applications. This study can also provide a theoretical basis for power transmission mechanism of oil film by considering the existence of a two-phase flow regime consisting of oil and air.

Details

Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, vol. 70 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0036-8792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 January 2020

Le Yun, Jingyuan Wan, Ge Wang, Ju Bai and Bing Zhang

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the demographic characteristics of top management teams (TMTs) (i.e. age, gender, administrative level, senior…

1013

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the demographic characteristics of top management teams (TMTs) (i.e. age, gender, administrative level, senior management experience and educational background) and megaproject performance, with respect to schedule, cost, quality, safety and technological innovation. The results shed new light on the effectiveness of different types of TMT.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper collected secondary and objective data from 208 TMT members in 42 megaprojects and employed hierarchical regression analysis to test the research hypotheses.

Findings

The findings revealed that age has a significant influence on schedule performance; gender has a significant influence on safety performance; senior management experience has a significant influence on cost performance; and educational background has a significant influence on both schedule and technological innovation performance. However, this study did not find evidence of a significant relationship between the administrative level and megaproject performance.

Research limitations/implications

This paper mainly focused on China’s megaprojects, most of which are globally influential (e.g. Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge and Shanghai Expo), however this sampling approach still limits the generalizability of research findings to other contexts.

Originality/value

The results of this paper contribute to a better understanding of how management team capabilities translate into better project achievements. This paper also provides implications on the criteria for selecting top megaproject managers to optimize the composition of the TMT and realize better performance.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 27 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2018

Fangwei Xie, Xinjian Guo, Diancheng Wu, Bing Zhang, Xudong Zheng, Dengshuai Wang and Yun Wang

In this paper, a kind of an oil groove structure which could improve the transmission torque of an oil film was designed, i.e. the width and depth of oil groove gradually decrease…

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper, a kind of an oil groove structure which could improve the transmission torque of an oil film was designed, i.e. the width and depth of oil groove gradually decrease with the increase in the radius.

Design/methodology/approach

Effects of the structural parameters of the oil groove on the hydro-viscous drive (HVD) characteristics with variable rotational speed were investigated by means of numerical calculation.

Findings

Research results show that with the decrease of the width and depth of the oil groove at the outer diameter, transmission torque increases, while the temperature is almost unchanged. Keeping the effective area unchanged, comparing the transmitted torque under the oil groove angle θ2 = 0.5° and θ2 = 4.5°, the former was almost 200 per cent of the latter; the torque transmitted with h2 = 0.05 mm was almost 150 per cent of that with h2 = 0.2 mm.

Originality/value

In this paper, the authors analyze the friction surface of the friction plate between the oil groove, oil distribution and oil film transfer torque from the oil groove structure parameters and found methods to improve the transmission torque. For the first time, the influence of the structural parameters of oil groove on the characteristics of HVD was studied under the condition of variable rotational speed, and a better method to improve the transmission torque was proposed.

Details

Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, vol. 70 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0036-8792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 June 2019

Chu-Bing Zhang and Yi-Na Li

In the digital era, business-to-business (B2B) salespersons are encouraged to communicate with buyers on social media platforms and shape customer loyalty. However, the effect of…

5489

Abstract

Purpose

In the digital era, business-to-business (B2B) salespersons are encouraged to communicate with buyers on social media platforms and shape customer loyalty. However, the effect of social media usage and its mechanism remain unexplored. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how salespersons’ social media usage influences B2B buyers’ trust beliefs and purchase risk, and therefore, customer loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct an online-survey, use partial least squares structural equation modeling to analyze the data, and adopt SPSS PROCESS macro 2.13 to test mediation effects.

Findings

Salespersons’ social media usage can enhance buyers’ trust beliefs on salespersons’ ability, integrity and benevolence, but only the latter two can improve customer loyalty. Social media usage does not directly affect purchase risk, and only benevolence can reduce purchase risk. Serial mediation models reveal that the effect of social media usage on customer loyalty is mediated by buyers’ trust beliefs on salespersons’ integrity/benevolence and purchase risk.

Originality/value

First, the authors confirm the effect of social media usage on customer loyalty in B2B context and refute the fallacy of social media uselessness in B2B practices. Second, the research shows that buyers’ trusting beliefs on salesperson’s ability and integrity do not significantly influence perceived risk. The finding is different from the stereotypical judgment in B2C scenarios. Third, the authors distinguish differently weighted influences of buyers’ trusting beliefs on salesperson’s ability, integrity and benevolence, and highlight the role of salespersons’ altruism attributes in shaping customer loyalty.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 34 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

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